Chapter 251: Prohibition
Changan, Changan...
Although everyone knows that the prospect of beautiful hope is more important, when the word "Chang'an" is written on the ground in this way, it inexplicably makes people feel at ease.
This was a spring day in the first year of Jian'an.
Among the people coming and going were some who had just returned from farming.
Perhaps it was because the atmosphere in Chang'an was much better than last year, or perhaps it was because the good prospects this year could be seen from the orderly farming in the spring, or perhaps it was because the extra one million dan of rice in the Chang'an granary last month gave people confidence. In short, these people looked relaxed and cheerful.
The person who wrote these two words was Leping Hou of the Han Dynasty.
It is hard not to feel that the word "Chang'an" has more confidence that makes visitors feel at ease.
"But this Lord Qiao's calligraphy attainments are beyond imagination."
The old man deliberately turned from the East Gate where he was supposed to go and went to the South Gate. After the people who had stopped to watch left, he slowly walked forward, stopped in front of these two words, and uttered this sigh.
Thinking of the fact that she had specially asked her brother to write the three words "Hongwenguan" inscription, he couldn't help but guess some of the intention behind it.
The man next to him, who was about thirty years old, looked at the two characters on the ground and asked, "Both are written in official script. How do these two characters compare to yours?"
The three words "Hongwenguan" came from Zhang Zhi, the eldest son of Zhang Huan, one of the three famous people in Liangzhou. The two people here at this time are Zhang Zhi's two younger brothers.
The second brother is Zhang Chang, and the third brother is Zhang Meng.
In terms of attainments in cursive script, Zhang Chang is called the second sage of cursive script because he and Zhang Zhi are both outstanding talents but Zhang Chang is slightly inferior to his brother. However, in terms of attainments in official script, there are very few people in the world who can match him.
Twenty-seven years ago, in the eighth year of Yan Xi, Zhang Chang left a "Hua Yue Stele" on Mount Hua, the Western Peak. This stele is also known as a model of Han Li, which is a recognition of his attainments in calligraphy.
Hearing Zhang Meng's question, Zhang Chang shook his head and replied: "You can't judge a person's calligraphy by just looking at two characters. You should know that there are three styles in Han Li, and the strokes are not necessarily all in one style, square and round, and the tip of the brush is hidden and exposed. I said that her calligraphy is superb because she used iron tools to write, but it was completed in one go, with both a soul-stirring momentum and..."
He paused before saying, "It also carries the weight of people's support."
Zhang Meng didn't take this seriously. "Brother, what you said makes it seem like the Marquis of Leping is less than 20 years old, but has made great achievements over a hundred years."
He looked at the cement road ahead that extended all the way to Gui Palace.
When they arrived here, it was three days after the road was paved. The wet surface had changed a bit, and even the color had changed slightly.
But at this time, someone came with a spray bottle and sprayed the cement road to ensure that it was in the necessary moist state.
Zhang Meng looked at the road construction materials he had never seen before and the humidification behavior that went against common sense, and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "This is just a trick."
Zhang Chang was much older than his third brother and his hearing was a little impaired, but he still heard these four words clearly and quickly rebuked him in a cold voice, "Don't talk nonsense."
When Zhang Chang thought about his elder brother Zhang Zhi's not-so-good health and that he himself was already over fifty years old, and that his younger brother had an incomprehensible arrogance, he felt an unstoppable headache.
This younger brother of his was born in the sixth year of Yan Xi when his father was the prefect of Wuwei, and is not yet thirty years old.
When the mother was pregnant with this child, she dreamed that she was wearing her father's seal as a prefect and climbing up the city wall and singing.
The parents thought it was an unusual omen, so they sought out a dream interpreter to inquire about the reason. The interpreter said that it meant that the child she was carrying would also become the governor of Wuwei County in the future, but would die in office. 2
The father was quite open-minded and did not take the second half of the dream interpreter's words to heart at all. He just thought that this late-born child would inherit his duties of stabilizing Liangzhou and guarding the border.
Because his father had not been affected by the court struggles at that time, and was later appointed as General Du Liao because of his outstanding political achievements and military exploits, Zhang Huan had high hopes for his youngest son and named him Meng.
It's totally different from the names of his two elder brothers.
If it was just a dream and the name was given like this, it would be fine. But in Zhang Chang's opinion, Zhang Meng himself also had a reckless attitude.
"You didn't grow up in Liangzhou, but in Hongnong. How did you become such a fierce bandit?" Zhang Chang tried to act like a brother and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Don't blame me for not reminding you, this is Chang'an, not the prefecture of Hongnong County where you work. Now that His Majesty is in charge of Guanzhong, Hongnong is at your disposal. Put away your arrogance."
It cannot be said that Zhang Meng has no ability.
Before Zhang Huan passed away, he taught his disciples in Hongnong and compiled "Shang Shu Ji Nan". Zhang Meng was a student who listened in.
He was also very brave and strong, and learned a lot of self-defense skills from his father.
But in Zhang Chang's opinion, the subsequent impact of the so-called dream interpretation almost accompanied the growth of his younger brother.
Just like before they came to Chang'an, Zhang Meng said shamelessly that Wuwei County among the four counties in Hexi currently had no prefect, and who knew whether it was waiting for the appearance of him, the destined prefect.
The military achievements of Qiao Bingzhou in Liangzhou and Guanzhong could actually give Zhang Meng such unrealistic hopes. Zhang Chang couldn't imagine what would happen to his younger brother if he and his brother died one after another.
So he had to order Zhang Meng to accompany him to Chang'an in the name of his brother.
On the way from Huayin to Chang'an, Zhang Chang asked Zhang Meng to pay attention to the farming conditions along the way, but Zhang Meng did not take it seriously. Now that he has arrived in Chang'an, seeing that the capital is much more prosperous than half a year ago, Zhang Meng begins to dislike the pretentiousness of this cement road.
With his attitude, Zhang Chang would never dare to let him go directly to Qiao Yan or Liu Yu to recommend himself, otherwise he might lose his life.
Zhang Chang pondered in his heart, and when he thought of the noble character revealed by the word "Chang'an" that Qiao Yan mentioned at the beginning of this road, he came up with an idea.
He had experienced many turbulent times and had seen the times when Liangzhou and Sanming successively flourished. It was precisely because of this comparison that he became more certain about what kind of person Qiao Yan was.
Such a person would never come up with something useless at this critical stage of the game between all parties.
Although Zhang Chang couldn't tell what the new road would look like based on his experience, he turned to Zhang Meng and said, "Shuwei, I want to make a bet with you."
Zhang Meng thought he had misheard, but when he looked at his brother, he felt that he didn't seem to be joking.
He withdrew his gaze from the surroundings and replied nonchalantly, "What do you want to bet on, brother?"
Zhang Chang pointed to the road and said, "Let's bet on this road. Since you think this thing is just a trick, I bet that the Grand Marshal will have an important use for this road."
Zhang Meng shrugged and said that he had no objection to the bet.
In his opinion, it is just a road, and a road that one can write on. Could it possibly become something that can be passed down from generation to generation?
Since his brother thinks this method is useful, he will bet that this thing is just a test product for the other party in his spare time.
I don't know what the Lord Qiao was thinking when he made it a clear law that "no one should trample on the imperial road before the guardrails are removed."
Zhang Meng didn't intend to break the law and bring shame to the Zhang family, but that didn't matter. He felt that it would only make this path more pretentious.
Zhang Chang saw through his indifferent expression clearly, and he also knew exactly what kind of temper his younger brother had.
Unless he sees the facts with his own eyes, he is afraid that he will not be able to change this idea.
He then added: "Before we decide the winner, you are not allowed to seek any promotion. You should stay by my side honestly. Can you do that?"
Zhang Meng had originally planned to go directly to Hongwenguan, but now he suddenly heard Zhang Chang make such an additional rule for him, and his expression suddenly became a little ugly.
But when Zhang Huan passed away, he was only a teenager and was raised by his two elder brothers as if they were his father. He did not have the confidence to challenge his brothers, so he just slowly replied with a "yes" and followed Zhang Chang to find a place to stay in Chang'an City.
Coincidentally, if the dispute between the two brothers had not taken place in Chang'an, on the cement road that Qiao Yan had guarded strictly for the past two months, Qiao Yan probably would not have known that this road, which seemed a bit puzzling to most people in Chang'an, could actually trigger a bet.
"Zhang Wenshu and Zhang Shuwei?" When Qiao Yan heard the news from his subordinates, he paused as he was about to raise the teacup.
The moment he learned about this, Qiao Yan was definitely more happy than worried, compared to his dislike for Zhang Meng's rebellious temper and the unhappiness of being questioned again.
Just now she was talking about how, when this cement road was officially opened, if people were only allowed to walk on it to compare it with ordinary brick and dirt roads, wouldn't it be enough to create a sensational effect?
Now, a useful "talent" has come to our doorstep.
Guo Jia, who was sitting opposite her, could easily tell what Qiao Yan was thinking from her face, and he felt a bit of pity for the rebellious Zhang San.
But when he thought about it, he really had no reason to sympathize with others.
Although he had successfully made the story of Yuan, an inspirational figure from Jizhou, appear in the April issue of the first year of Jian'an in Leping Monthly, and had seen Tian Feng's joke; and had heard that Jia Xu would come to Chang'an after the autumn harvest this year after receiving the iron-gnawing beast doll, and could be considered to have seen Jia Wenhe's joke; and now he was watching the good show of the prince using cement roads to broaden Zhang Meng's horizons -
He also failed to successfully persuade Qiao Yan to withdraw the decision not to drink for three months!
This isn’t even just a three-month ban.
After the cement road was paved and entered the solidification and maintenance state, Qiao Yan immediately turned to the next target.
She proposed a decision to Liu Yu to implement a two-year ban on alcohol in the three states.
Two years!
This was tantamount to torture for Guo Jia.
But judging from the seriousness with which Qiao Yan submitted the memorial to Liu Yu, this was a decision she had no intention of changing.
What makes it even more clear that there is no room for maneuver is that she did not make the prohibition of alcohol very reasonable and well-founded.
If she had said something like "Drinking is immoral and should correct the social customs" as Cao Cao did when he proposed the prohibition order in history, then there would definitely be people like Kong Rong who would make rebuttal remarks like "There were so many ancient sages who loved drinking." 3
And if she meant that the soldiers were starving and had little food, and needed to store enough food and fodder for future marches, and therefore proposed such a ban on alcohol, someone would probably say that there was actually no such shortage of food in Chang'an, and that the million dan of military rations were delivered to the granary in Chang'an under everyone's noses.
But she chose neither of these two statements.
Just like how Qiao Yan made her first fortune in Leping, she did it by handing over the fermentation method of Yingxiong wine to Wang family of Taiyuan. This enabled her to have the capital to lure the Black Mountain bandits down the mountain. At this time in history, drinking is a popular trend and a model of the upper class.
This is also a trend that cannot be curbed in a short period of time, especially since we have not yet experienced the drought and locust plagues of the following years. This has made people feel less sense of crisis in these few years of recovery.
Therefore, she could not rashly touch the interests of the aristocratic class in this precautionary action.
In Guo Jia's opinion, Qiao Yan's profound mastery of the art of language was fully demonstrated in his speech on prohibiting alcohol.
When she made this suggestion to Liu Yu, she said:
Bingzhou's liquor distillation technology allowed her to have alcohol to carry with the army as early as when she attacked Liangzhou, but this alcohol could be further improved, and a certain amount of it needed to be stockpiled.
This is not only a requirement for combat readiness, but also has another more universal value.
The disinfecting effect of alcohol is not just used in the military.
If the war spreads, there is no guarantee that everyone will be safe and sound, and there is a possibility of injury.
Alcohol disinfection and wound suture have been widely used in the army under Qiao Yan's command, so he is the most qualified to speak in this regard.
In addition, the major epidemics in the past few years have proved that if you want to slow down the spread of the epidemic, a very effective way is to maintain proper hygiene in your home.
And it just so happens that the role of alcohol in disinfection is something that other things cannot achieve.
So she needed to stockpile a batch of alcohol, and even needed to reduce the living space for other people to drink, just to enhance the Chang'an court's ability to withstand the disaster of this epidemic and war.
Can these ministers from aristocratic families ensure that they will not be attacked by disasters and diseases?
In the face of life threats, it doesn't seem too difficult to decide whether to abstain from alcohol or to maintain the so-called upper-class demeanor.
If the Prohibition can be successfully implemented for two years, and she regulates the production of alcohol, it seems that a lot of alcohol is still produced, but all of it is used for medical treatment and epidemic prevention, and the part brewed by the people for enjoyment is less. The difference in the middle is quite considerable.
But for some people, this ban may be an unbearable burden on their lives.
Qiao Yan looked at Guo Jia pulling his thoughts away from Zhang Meng, and then he showed a look of grief. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Do you think that my proposal can really make everyone stop drinking? I know that everything is too much or too little. In the situation of great pressure during the war, it is impossible to leave people without a way to relieve themselves. At least give them a sip of wine."
Guo Jia's eyes lit up, and he heard Qiao Yan say, "It is easier to first tighten this rule to the most stringent degree and then retract it than to gradually seize the initiative from others. We must also have a solution for what these people who originally worked in the wine industry are going to do, otherwise, aren't we pushing them into a dead end?"
"But there is one step I won't give up," she said firmly, "Even the Wang family of Taiyuan, who have learned about the feeding fermentation method, are far less efficient than us in making wine from grain. This channel that allows us to drink a little wine can only be controlled by us."
Seeing Guo Jia's face showing some intention, Qiao Yan replied mercilessly: "Don't think about it. It was Dezu who assisted in this matter in Leping. Let him do it now."
"Some words—"
"It's more appropriate for him to say it than for you to say it."
Yang Xiu, who came from the Hongnong Yang family, could not only maintain relations with the court in Yecheng, but also in situations like this.
Not allowing Guo Jia to do this, in addition to preventing him from drinking too much and harming his health, the greater purpose is to protect him.
Guo Jia obviously understood this and felt relieved.
He raised his glass towards Qiao Yan, using tea instead of wine, "Then I wish you all the best."
Of course, everything went smoothly for Qiao Yan, and even the performance tools for two months were in place.
It wasn't so smooth for others.
For example, Yuan Shu.
At first, he had to face only Liu Bei and his followers, and relying on his closer ties with the Yuzhou families, it was not difficult to deal with them.
But when Yuan Shao was enraged by the accusation that Wen Chou had plotted to murder Yuan Ji and ordered Wen Chou to lead his troops south, Yuan Shu's situation became a little bad.
This was no longer a team that he could easily block on the other side of the river, but a group of fierce and powerful troops.
If Qiao Yan had already gone east from Tongguan and returned to Luoyang, then Yingchuan and Runan would be under the emperor's feet. With strong support like Qiao Yeshu, it would be no problem for him to deal with the coalition forces of Wen Chou and Liu Bei.
But the current situation is -
The court in Chang'an seemed to have given him the title of Governor of Yuzhou, and even gave him the title of former general, but it still hid its main force in the dangerous fortresses, as if it wanted to watch the descendants of the Yuan family of Runan in the south and the north to determine who was the better.
They clearly had no intention of interfering.
Yuan Shu was so angry that he cursed Qiao Yan in his heart, but he also knew that he did not have much time to hesitate.
Even during the busy spring farming season, Wen Chou showed no signs of suspending his military action.
The time it took for the enemy to enter Runan from Pei State was not enough for Yuan Shu to send another request for help to Chang'an.
So he made a decision immediately, ordering Ji Ling to lead an army with Yuan Huan as the military advisor, and Zhang Xun to lead an army with Yan Xiang as the military advisor, to fight Wen Chou and Liu Bei first!
I don’t care about anything else, just fight first! ：,w,
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