Chapter 194 The Sins of the Four Surnames...
Lu Yuan was right.
Even if the counselors and generals have already surrendered to him, he may not be able to trust them completely when he is in control of the intelligence organization.
But the sisters Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting are a little different.
The dual restrictions of surname and gender mean that only when Qiao Yan is in power can they get truly fair and just treatment, and get ahead by relying on their own brains and abilities, rather than their beauty.
Qiao Rui died in the battle between Yuan Shu and Liu Bei, which freed them from the shackles brought by their fathers.
In the final analysis, even if Yuan Shu was forced to retreat to Yuzhou because of the chain reaction of Qiao Yan's interference in the battle situation in Jingzhou, and even if Yuan Shu's falling out with Yuan Shao was the result of Qiao Yan's instigation, Qiao Rui's death should not be blamed on her.
On the contrary, taking them in is a favor, cultivating them is a favor, and allowing them to have independent personalities instead of being someone's vassal is also a favor that Qiao Yan has done for the Qiao sisters.
This is reason enough to choose it.
However, this is a relatively dangerous job. When the states are at war, merchants are often robbed or forced to hand over their property. It is also not uncommon for bandits to run rampant when people's lives are difficult. No matter how many armed bodyguards are arranged, there is still the possibility of accidents.
At the same time, his identity as the chief of intelligence and the situation of having to deal with various forces in a perfunctory manner also means that he will face the risk of losing his life once his identity is exposed.
Unless, by that time, the power that Qiao Yan holds has reached a point where all the states are wary of him.
In that situation, as long as the Qiao sisters were marked as Qiao Yan's own people, no one dared to touch them.
Qiao Yan pondered the pros and cons and risks involved, and did not speak for a while.
But Lu Yuan could tell from her face that she was actually satisfied with this candidate.
Even if an outsider is appointed to this position, there will be a need to weigh the pros and cons of loyalty and personal safety. In comparison, the Qiao sisters are the least risky.
"Let them study in the academy for half a year to adapt to the life there. After the matter in Chang'an is settled, I will ask them about this matter." Qiao Yan made the decision. "If they are willing to take over this matter, the courses they need to study will have to be changed."
Just relying on their performance when they chose to defect to Bingzhou is not enough for them to calmly take over such a special position.
Specialized training is required in everything from manners and speech, to accent, the ability to judge intelligence, to techniques for dealing with crises, etc.
In order to ensure that they would not attract the attention of the students in the academy after arriving at Leping Academy and then disappearing to carry out the business of traveling all over the country, Qiao Yan also needed to be prepared by then.
Fortunately, the candidate with the best chance of taking the position has already been chosen, and other things are just subsequent supplements.
Before that, let Guo Daxian, who came from the Montenegrin Army, take charge of the business development work.
Qiao Yan knew very well that the best way to prevent this business transaction from being associated with her in the short term was not to have no connection with Bingzhou, but to have trade but the core industry would not be the special products produced in Bingzhou.
So after meeting Guo Daxian, the first assignment she gave was to ask him to go to Shu.
He used the money he brought with him to purchase Shu brocade and sold it to Bingzhou, Jizhou and Xuzhou.
Then Qiao Yan met Sun Qian again.
If we only talk about the ability of Sun Gongyou from Beihai to further his knowledge, his level is definitely not first-rate among the disciples taught by Zheng Xuan. At least he did not develop in the direction of further studying classics.
But for Qiao Yan, practical talents like Sun Qian and Guo Yuan mean more to her in such troubled times.
Sun Qian had no objection to serving under Qiao Yan, but Qiao Yan could not assign him a high position just because he had such a talented person.
After thinking it over again, she arranged Sun Qianxian to be a clerk in the government, responsible for assisting Xi Zhicai in his work.
Bingzhou receives news from various places and summarizes it here for Xi Zhicai.
Therefore, in a sense, the appointment of Sun Qian can be regarded as a relief for Xi Zhicai.
"My lord, are you asking me to have a capable assistant, or are you asking me to judge his ability in general affairs?" Xi Zhicai asked with a smile.
This seems to be both reducing the burden and increasing it.
Qiao Yan replied: "With Mr. Zhicai's brain, he would naturally reduce the burden. If he doesn't let his subordinates do more things, wouldn't you be exhausted to death if you act as governor instead of governor?"
Assigning more tasks will help you better see the other party's level.
This is such an obvious truth.
Xi Zhicai said, "Why do I feel like you are talking about me?"
In order to ensure that he would not work himself to death, Qiao Yan was good at pushing all the tasks onto his subordinates.
It just so happens that this is a boss who always comes up with new ideas.
Fortunately, she now has enough people under her command, which allows her to have the capital to act like this.
Qiao Yan raised his glass towards Xi Zhicai and replied, "Sir, you understand me. When I think about how much we still have to do, I feel that we have a long way to go."
What this means is that you have to live longer.
She is like this, and so is Xi Zhicai.
But Xi Zhicai looked at the cup in Qiao Yan's hand and really wanted to complain. In this case, shouldn't she put tea or wine in the cup instead of this mixture of milk and tea, plus rock honey, which she called milk tea?
This thing was even taken to Lingyin to be chilled before being served.
But if Qiao Yan herself said that drinking iced milk tea in summer is just like covering herself with a quilt in winter, this kind of spiritual satisfaction cannot be replaced by anything.
How is this not a way to prolong life?
After Qiao Yan made a final inspection of Bingzhou and confirmed that even the newly arrived people had adapted to life in Bingzhou, he turned back to Liangzhou. As July approached, the weather had become increasingly hot.
Fortunately, the temperature at the Jincheng County military settlement where Qiao Yan arrived first was actually no more than ten degrees according to modern temperature calculation methods.
When she asked Cheng Yu about what happened during her time away from Liangzhou, she glanced out the window and for a moment thought that she might have come here to escape the summer heat.
Compared to those who are still gathering power in states and counties and suppressing rebellions, Qiao Yan's current environment is undoubtedly the most comfortable.
But it cannot be denied that a comfortable temperature and environment does not mean that the crises she faces will be much less.
For example, what Cheng Yu said at this moment was: "Your Excellency should pay attention to the four surnames of Hanyang."
Compared to the "chickens" that she killed as a warning to the nobles in Liangzhou, the treatment of the four surnames of Hanyang by her was definitely good.
What's more, Qiao Yan concentrated the military and civilian settlements of Liangzhou in Jincheng County, Wuwei County and Anding County, and the control of Hanyang was still handed over to the original prefect Zhang. In this way, the freedom of the four surnames in Hanyang was taken to a higher level.
In their opinion, it was natural for Qiao Yan to show this attitude towards them.
Jiang Jiong of the Hanyang Jiang clan accompanied Gai Xun to Bingzhou, and they also provided a lot of help when Qiao Yan led his army to attack Longxi County and the army passed through Hanyang.
Therefore, the arrival of the Bingzhou Army was not a trouble to them, but rather an opportunity for them to take advantage of it to remove some more stumbling blocks.
Cheng Yu continued, "At the end of June, I followed your advice and recruited more and more Qiang people in my army. Among them, there was a talented person in Hanyang named Xue Xia. People in the county said that this person could be used, but unfortunately he came from a poor family and had no connection with the four surnames in Hanyang. He also repeatedly refused their recruitment and his reputation in the local area became increasingly loud."1
"The young men of the four families in Hanyang hate him deeply and are even more worried that he will have an adverse effect on them after serving you, so they decided to punish him before you return to Liangzhou."
"Your Majesty's reputation in Liangzhou lies in military affairs rather than government affairs. He has been very kind to the Four Clans of Hanyang, and even sent their children to Bingzhou to study as Zheng Xuan's disciples. Xue Xuansheng was afraid that Your Majesty and the Four Clans were in cahoots, so he prepared to flee overnight. Fortunately, I invited him back to Jincheng County first."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Yan's expression became a little solemn.
The ecology formed in Liangzhou over the past hundred years destined that not only the Qiang people would be prone to surrendering to the Han Dynasty and then rebelling, but the Liangzhou warlords would also be prone to forming an alliance and then establishing their own regimes.
When these forces still exist, the upward channels are blocked, and Xue Xia is by no means the only victim.
Xue Xia could still rely on his fame and knowledge to let Cheng Yu hear this news, but what about others?
Compared with the powerful families in Bingzhou who were relatively restrained in the face of the threat from the barbarians outside the Great Wall, those in Liangzhou really had the audacity to do whatever they wanted outside the rules written on their faces.
Or maybe in their opinion, this is the rule.
Therefore, if she wanted to completely bring Liangzhou under her control, these unstable factors had to be completely destroyed and rebuilt.
"I have an idea about this matter and I'd like to hear Mr. Zhongde's opinion." Qiao Yan's fingertips tapped rhythmically on the table, and his calm tone concealed a hint of murderous intent.
From this tone, it was not difficult for Cheng Yu to hear that the "matter" she was talking about was obviously not just about Xue Xia being treated unfairly.
As expected, Qiao Yan said, "Mr. Wenhe is planning in Chang'an. Whether it is Dong Zhuo himself or his generals, one army must attack Liangzhou before the autumn harvest in order to break the deadlock. The key point for the attack on Liangzhou is in Hanyang."
"I want to arrest and wipe out the four families of Hanyang on the pretext that they are colluding with Dong Zhuo, and then send troops to Chang'an. This battle——"
"We must make sure that the whole world is shocked and Liangzhou surrenders!"
Collude with Dong Zhuo?
This was of course a false accusation against the four families of Hanyang.
But they have been in charge of Liangzhou for many years, and the number of people they have harmed is too numerous to count.
In another record that Cheng Yu submitted to Qiao Yan, it was recorded that by taking advantage of the opportunity of the four surnames giving away land, their people had investigated countless evil deeds of powerful people in Hanyang County.
Compared with the Hanyang Yang family, who were previously targeted by Qiao Yan, the four families of Jiang, Yan, Ren and Zhao were much more dangerous.
Therefore, this cruelty to them may be a blessing to the people of Liangzhou.
Before entering Guanzhong, Qiao Yan must also let the people of Liangzhou, especially the remaining powerful families in Liangzhou, know whose surname this place belongs to now!
As for the possible counterattack after the elimination of the four surnames of Liangzhou, as Qiao Yan said, as long as she can make the battle to attack Chang'an a shocking situation, these resistances will not cause any waves in a short time.
By the time they could really have some impact, the force that would replace them as the backbone of Liangzhou would have been formed under Qiao Yan's hands.
So - can kill!
Cheng Yu was well aware of the parasitic nature of these Liangzhou families. Also, because he himself came from an ordinary small family background and had no power connection with them, he could more clearly see the drawbacks of the combination of power.
Is this method cruel?
It may be cruel, but it is better to cut the Gordian knot than to let the deep-rooted problems in Liangzhou recur and become a burden to Qiao Yan.
At most, he considered the feasibility of Qiao Yan's words with the rational thinking of a counselor at this time, and only after judging it did he reply: "This is feasible."
"But we still need to make a balance between who should be killed and who should be kept alive."
If you kill too many of them, it's not like you're digging a hole in your land for other crops to grow, but it's like you're digging through the land.
If people want to survive, they probably won't care what kind of opponent they are facing.
Anyway, you will die whether you resist or not, so you might as well die quickly.
Therefore, the action must be just right, starting with the light and ending with the heavy.
When Qiao Yan and Cheng Yu looked at each other, they both saw the profound meaning in each other's eyes.
She replied: "I know what I am doing."
With Cheng Yu's approval, Qiao Yan felt more confident to go for it.
Now I just hope that the people on Dong Zhuo's side can cooperate a little.
Before this borrowed knife kills, Xu Rong and Ma Teng, who went to Kushan for the second time, also returned to Wuwei County.
The last time they went to Kushan, they spent a lot of time purchasing cotton from India. This time, on the one hand, they already had experience on the road, and on the other hand, their real target was Dayuan, so the round trip would be faster than the last time.
They set out at the end of the month and did not return until mid-July.
But this time, I brought back more things.
When Qiao Yan heard the news of their return and arrived at the border of Wuwei and Zhangye, he saw from afar a large number of Dayuan horses accompanying the returning caravan.
Under the July sunlight, these magnificent horses, famous for their Ferghana horses, came in a mighty force, causing Yan Jun, who came with Qiao Yan to greet them, to change his expression.
It is impossible to dump such a number of famous horses from Dayuan abroad, and it is impossible to purchase them with the money they brought with them, so they can only have been robbed!
However, when he looked towards Qiao Yan, he did not see any surprise on the other's face, but instead an indescribable sense of self-righteousness.
This made him suddenly realize a terrible fact.
The fundamental purpose of the second trip along the Silk Road was precisely this. There was no talk of purchasing rock honey!
But he realized this only now, and it was of no use.
The people have returned, the horses have returned, and even Xu Rong and Ma Teng, who he thought were disliked by Qiao Yan, have already bowed in front of her, as if they had fulfilled their mission.
Let’s think about the situation of military farming in Wuwei County…
It is not difficult to judge the harvest amount in August and September based on the field conditions in July.
Not to mention the Lushui Qiang people who were incorporated into the military farming area, even Yan Jun himself was so impressed by the growth of the military and civilian settlements that he wished he could hand over his private land to Qiao Yan.
All the facts and signs indicate that becoming her enemy is a choice that should not be made as long as one has any brains.
Thinking of this, Yan Jun subconsciously wiped the sweat from his head.
"Are you hot?" Qiao Yan looked at him and asked.
Yan Jun originally wanted to point at the scorching sun above his head, but he found that above him there was a sunshade made of oil paper, which prevented the sun from shining on his face.
“…”
He only wanted one thing now.
His subordinates who are involved in the Silk Road trade had better be smart, before they have the chance to win over Ma Teng!
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