Chapter 472 Extra 10 (5)
Although he felt that he had not done anything wrong, Qiao Huan still felt that it would be better to lose as little face as possible.
She said seriously, "I think you should remain a little more mysterious, Queen Mother. You don't have to attend this event."
"Have you forgotten that I attend the graduation ceremony of Leping Academy every five years? Unless you graduate early, I will definitely miss it." Qiao Yan replied, "And... before sending you to Leping Academy, I told you that your situation is different from that of the Han emperor, and also different from Zhuge Kongming and others who only needed to spend a few years in the academy. Since you have to spend six years in the academy to experience life, you can't give up halfway."
Qiao Huan counted on his fingers.
The founding time of Leping Academy was calculated from the time when the Queen Mother captured the Black Mountain bandits in Leping and brought them under her command for education, which was the first year of Zhongping, when it was just taking shape.
The year she graduated was the 30th anniversary of the founding of Leping Academy.
So when Qiao Yan said that she would definitely go, it was not nonsense.
Even if I don't go as a parent, I must go as His Majesty Dayong to show His Majesty's absolute importance to Leping Academy as a place of education.
In other words, this was to demonstrate her determination to fight against the monopoly of aristocratic families by building schools and popularizing education.
How could Qiao Huan not understand this?
Although most of the people she interacted with on a daily basis still had aristocratic family backgrounds, in a place like Leping Academy, they were bound to be in the upper class of the academy due to their innate advantages, but there were still many talented people who were gradually gaining a place among them.
For example, the protection provided by the Xinye Deng family's aristocratic family no longer existed on Deng Ai.
Perhaps with his diligence he could have seized an opportunity to come to the fore, but the existence of Leping Academy undoubtedly brought this hope forward by who knows how many days and years.
Well, let's go.
But in this case, she would have to let her words of praise override the complaints.
Qiao Huan secretly made up his mind.
So when the new semester started, everyone around Qiao Huan noticed that she seemed to be much more obedient than usual.
Jiang Wei and the others were originally wondering whether she had been hit by some bad news during the New Year and whether they needed someone to find out indirectly. However, before they could try to find out the news, Qiao Huan had already returned to his previous arrogant self.
According to Qiao Huan himself -
What are you afraid of? There are still four and a half years left.
It won't be a big problem if the trouble continues for another two or three years.
Anyway, everyone’s memory is probably not that good.
Nowadays, if a person is not frivolous when young, he will be wasting his youth.
After she figured this out, she immediately put the writing plan she had planned for last year on the agenda.
Zhang Niujiao, who was visited by a group of children, was still in charge of the supervision of the previous agricultural factory.
If we go back a dozen years, he might still feel a little regretful that he could not hold a military position like Chu Yan. But now, wherever he goes, people respectfully call him Director Zhang, and he can casually meet up with friends to drink, so he no longer has such thoughts.
At best, he felt that there was no need for a large-scale expedition at the moment. Even if there was, there would be little need for military rations to be produced from him. At most, it would be some production of agricultural tools, which was a bit boring no matter how you looked at it.
It was no longer boring now that someone came to him, but he never expected that the girl in charge actually said that she wanted to create a story based on the Black Mountain Bandits.
ah? Are people nowadays so idle and have nothing to do that?
Zhang Niujiao thought so in his heart and asked so.
If we talk about the people under His Majesty who have brilliant resumes, he would not even be among the next twenty.
He didn't know if it was his illusion, but when he faced Qiao Huan, he always felt that he could see a little bit of Qiao Yan's past shadow on the other's face.
Perhaps it was because he had seen Qiao Yan when he was young, and had seen that he was young, talented, and had the bearing of a commander, so he had this strange idea when he saw Qiao Huan in the lead.
He heard Qiao Huan reply: "If you look for generals and officials to write books, the people of the world will admire you, but they know that they will never have such a day. The game of top officialdom is often obscure and difficult to understand. It is better for you to start from being a bandit and then turn to the light, and from being a prisoner in Leping to holding an important position."
Qiao Huan would never say that he had reached a bottleneck in the editing of the previous mythological version of the struggle for hegemony at the end of the Han Dynasty and was unwilling to give up its exaggerated descriptive techniques, so he had to settle for the second best and start from a small place, using Zhang Niujiao's Black Mountain Bandits as the entry point, trying to create something closer to people's livelihood.
But Zhang Niujiao would not say that he chose to submit to Qiao Yan in the beginning simply because the "prison food" here was tastier.
When hearing Qiao Huan ask why he became His Majesty's vassal instead of joining forces with thousands of Black Mountain bandits to rebel and return to the Taihang Mountains to make a living by looting, Zhang Niujiao replied calmly: "Because we saw the potential of Your Majesty back then."
Zhang Niujiao never tells lies without thinking.
In the past, he could say that he didn't care about settling down in Leping as long as he grew yam, but he worked very hard. Now, he has been working in the position of "factory director" for so many years, and he often brags about the past with his subordinates, and he speaks about it very skillfully.
"You came from Leping Academy, so you should have seen Houzhang Peak to the east of Leping Academy. That's where I was captured."
"Your Majesty is really amazing. At that time, we just wanted to rob this place and leave. Anyway, the Marquis of Leping who is here is favored by the emperor. If there is a shortage of supplies, someone can deliver them as soon as possible. On the contrary, I don't know how many of us, the elderly, the weak, women and children, will not survive the winter."
"But what kind of person is Your Majesty? She used the excuse of protecting the local granary to make the local soldiers and civilians serve her wholeheartedly, and she also divided the troops into two groups to set up an ambush in the mountains. Just this one move -" Zhang Niujiao said confidently, "is enough to show that she is not only precocious, but also has an outstanding ability to mobilize troops and generals."
"Why are we hiding in the mountains? Isn't it because there is no one in Jizhou that we can rely on?"
"Seeing this kind of defense arrangement, I, Zhang Niujiao, immediately decided to follow His Majesty!"
Qiao Huan: “…”
She slowly moved her gaze away from Zhang Niujiao's face and turned to the face of Sun Luban who came with her.
The bewildered look on the other person's face confirmed to Qiao Huan that she had not misheard what Zhang Niujiao said.
But if she remembered correctly, Zhang Niu Jiao should have been captured by Dian Wei, Cheng Yu and others, while Chu Yan was captured by Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun and Dian Wei were both military commanders directly under the emperor, and Cheng Yu was the Minister of the Central Secretariat in the court. They had all dealt with Qiao Huan, and he had occasionally heard them talk about past events, which were completely different from what Zhang Niujiao said.
"Did you really do that?" Qiao Huan couldn't help but ask.
Zhang Niujiao puffed out his chest, and spoke with an indescribable sense of righteousness, "Just think about it, how many troops did our Black Mountain Army have at that time? How many people were there in Leping, including the defenders and civilians in the city who could participate in the battle?"
"My brother Chu is very good at mountain warfare, and he can help us to exert an additional combat capability. But we still surrendered, and this..."
He paused, holding back his tone, and then continued, "Of course, this is due to your Majesty's command. He first destroyed our formation through the grain bags, and then defeated us one by one, making it difficult for us to call for help. But what do you think would have happened if we refused to cooperate?"
"All of us in the Black Mountain Army are not cowards who can be bullied. I, Zhang Niujiao, cannot bring wealth and glory to you, but I can sacrifice my life with you. We will never forget why we went into the mountains just because we have a good meal in Leping."
"That is, my brother Chu and I both believe that Your Majesty is the wise leader to whom we can all be loyal, so we led the people to surrender."
Zhang Niujiao said mysteriously, "Think about it, the Yellow Turban Great Sage Teacher that Your Majesty defeated was named Zhang Jiao. I have one more character than him, that is, Zhang Niujiao, so I must have some ability to calculate. It's a pity that Your Majesty doesn't like this, otherwise I can tell you how I know that Your Majesty is destined by heaven."
Qiao Huan was silent for a long time and didn't dare to say anything. Based on her intuition as a child, the four words "food to fill the stomach" in Zhang Niujiao's words sounded so sincere and at least sounded more reliable than the nonsense that followed. ”
Moreover, if the name Zhang Niujiao is linked to Zhang Jiao, believe it or not, Zhang Jiao in the underground would jump up and protest against him!
Qiao Huan asked, "If you really have such an extraordinary vision as you said, why are you only willing to do this kind of job?"
Zhang Niujiao stroked his beard and said, "You don't understand this, do you? I used to be the leader of the Black Mountain Army and was well-loved by my subordinates. Although Her Majesty is not suspicious of others, if I were to hold an important position under her, who knows if I would get into trouble one day."
"And if I were just a small person holding an idle position, the tens of thousands of people in the Black Mountain Army would have the opportunity to stand out in front of Your Majesty."
"If you go to the Leping Textile Bureau and ask around, you'll find out that before Brother Chu recommended himself to Your Majesty to be an official, he came to me and asked me if the general was planning to do so. I persuaded him that I only wanted to be a village chief."
"It was because I had no intention of rebelling that Your Majesty dared to order Zhang Wenyuan and Zhang Zhishu to claim that they were taking my surname when they defeated the bandits in Yunzhong Mountain."
"When Guo Fengxiao first came to Leping, it was my test paper that fell into his hands, and he knew that your majesty believed in the principle of education for all, and even someone like me who could not read a single word had the opportunity to receive an education. No wonder the refugees from all over Leping could live and work in peace and contentment."
"Think about it again. If I had not had a heart-to-heart talk with Your Majesty, how could Your Majesty dare to entrust the important task of raising military rations to me before marching into Liangzhou? You know, this is something that needs to be imported. If there is any mistake, it may lead to unpredictable consequences!"
After hearing what Zhang Niujiao said, Qiao Huan, who had some understanding of the past, felt that it was difficult for him to tell whether what the other party said was true or not, let alone Jiang Wei, Deng Ai and others.
This fellow not only affirmed Your Majesty's trait of trusting people, but also used various examples in his words to portray himself as a genius.
But when they looked at each other, it clearly didn't seem like there was anything special about them.
Zhang Niujiao said again: "If you still don't believe it, do you know Tian Fengtian Yuanhao?"
How could they not know Tian Feng?
Even before the Battle of Yecheng ended, Tian Feng was no longer a subordinate of Yuan Shao, but served under Qiao Yan and became a powerful weapon against Yuan Shao on the northern front of Jizhou.
After the war was settled, he continued to serve as an official in the Secretariat, assisting the Minister of the Chancellery in handling government affairs.
The fact that Yuan Feng was Tian Feng was completely revealed to everyone as Yecheng fell.
According to the revised records in the Leping Monthly Report, Tian Feng was once driven by Yuan Shao to Bingzhou to steal military secrets. However, because he was grateful to Your Majesty for making the people of Bingzhou, Liangzhou and Sili live and work in peace and contentment, and for allowing him to be discovered and promoted to a high position as an ordinary person, he felt that Your Majesty's magnanimity was beyond the reach of ordinary people, so he decided to reveal his identity and declare his loyalty.
However, Qiao Yan did not care about Tian Feng's deception at all. Instead, he took the initiative to send someone to exchange his family back to ensure that he could still work under his command with peace of mind.
This can be said to have exposed the fact that Yuan Shao tried hard to conceal when exchanging hostages, and it also created a good story of the master and the undercover agent getting along well with each other.
However, since Qiao Huan was Qiao Yan's daughter and grew up in the Luoyang Imperial Palace, there were many mischievous people willing to tell her about the actual situation back then.
Rather than saying that Tian Feng surrendered voluntarily, it would be better to say that he was kidnapped and put on the pirate ship.
Oh, wait…
If that's the case -
Zhang Niujiao said: "Tian Yuanhao was discovered by me and sent to Leping Academy of Sciences to study abacus. Otherwise, he would not have had the opportunity to appear in front of Your Majesty. Do you really think that I just did this casually?"
At the beginning, Zhang Niujiao certainly didn't know that Tian Feng had such a complicated identity. Instead, he sincerely wanted to train him to be his right-hand man.
But it’s all about the outcome.
Just tell me, was it because of his behavior that Tian Feng took the first step towards his rapid rise?
That's it.
Anyway, Your Majesty, considering that he has often boasted about the policies of the Great Yong Dynasty, does not mind his self-flattering behavior. If he follows this Spring and Autumn style of writing when speaking to these young people, who can say there is anything wrong with that?
It is hard to say whether at this moment, Zhang Niujiao’s thought process reached a subtle resonance with Lu Bu.
What’s wrong with a little exaggeration in the storybook?
Even if you are the director of a processing factory, you can still go for the cool writing route!
At most, when Qiao Huan and others later asked him about the specific situation of the Black Mountain Army's distribution in the Taihang Mountains, the situation when yam planting and textile and papermaking gradually became popular in Leping, and the subsequent development of the Black Mountain Army in all directions, Zhang Niujiao told them all the truth.
For example, after the Black Mountain Army moved into Leping, it was because three women in the Black Mountain Army played an important role in the improvement of mulberry leather clothing that led to the beginning of their settlement here.
For example, in the second year of Zhongping, the most exciting sentence the Black Mountain Army heard was "one million stones" when the yam was harvested.
For another example, the Black Mountain Army no longer cares about what they used to be called the Black Mountain Army. They only say that they are the first group of die-hard supporters of His Majesty the Great Yong who have transformed from outsiders to residents of Leping.
At this point, Zhang Niujiao pointed to a lump hanging on the wall and said, "You can't tell what it is, right? It was the pot-shaped helmet that Your Majesty distributed to the soldiers during the expedition to Liangzhou. I was responsible for making it. At that time, Your Majesty personally shot an arrow to see if it could penetrate it, so that it could be used to provide the soldiers with self-defense when necessary."
"I thought this item had some commemorative value, so I sent it for another round of drying to ensure that it could continue to be stored. Look, you can still see where the arrow was inserted."
Qiao Huan walked over and touched the traces left on the food that she had never eaten before, and she seemed to vaguely see the glory of the past.
But after she returned to Leping Academy with a basket full of notes, she was a little troubled again.
"We never thought that Zhang Niujiao would be such a powerful person."
She held her chin in her hand and thought: "According to the original plan, this should be a group portrait story, with General Chu as the core character, but what should I do now?"
Normally, it was Qiao Huan who fooled others, but this was the first time she fell into someone else's trap.
But if this book were written as a eulogy to Zhang Niujiao, Qiao Huan would no longer be Qiao Huan.
Sun Luban had just asked, "Should we advance on two fronts?" when Qiao Huan clapped his hands and said, "I know how to handle this!"
"Since it is about the gathering of the Black Mountain Heroes, and we also want to show the clash between them and the old dynasty and the new dynasty, we naturally have to make some exaggerations and... and first criticize before we praise."
"Why not make Zhang Niujiao a rough and ignorant person, and give him the nickname Niujiao King! And give him a nickname, Useless."
Jiang Wei, Sun Luban, Deng Ai and others: "..."
Qiao Huan's exaggerated technique is very similar to the previous mythological version, both of which are determined to shock people.
But Qiao Huan obviously felt that there was something wrong with her statement. She continued, "There is no need to give him too many positive portrayals in the whole text. Let people see how a bandit leader clumsily integrates into the rule of the new dynasty officials. Wait until the end to take it back and unveil all the preparations he made."
"Wow, what a wonderful contrast, it can also make some readers of the storybook cry. It turns out that the Horned King can have so many thoughtful considerations."
Feeling that everyone's expressions were different, Qiao Huan asked, "Do you think this is wrong?"
Jiang Wei: It’s not that I’m wrong, I just feel that Qiao Huan is trying something very new, and the general public may not be interested in it…
He asked tentatively: "Are you planning to use this to submit articles to Leping Monthly?"
Qiao Huan replied: "Of course, what other ways are there?"
She was stirring up trouble within the academy, and the Queen Mother might be kept in the dark for the time being, but if she used other connections to ensure that her books could be sent for direct printing, she would probably... be beaten.
It’s better to be honest.
"I'm not saying there are other ways," Jiang Wei sighed, "Have you ever considered a problem? With the length of Leping Monthly, it can only be published in sections and chapters during the publication period. If you first label the character of Zhang Niujiao as useless, the subscribers will definitely blame him. If there is a reversal in the end, they will only think that it is the result of being scolded. If you really want to write it this way, you should write the whole book."
Qiao Huan pondered: "Then the workload of writing this all at once is huge."
The sunk costs are also considerable.
But after she thought about it, she really couldn't bear to give up the materials she had accumulated today.
Never mind, let’s do it!
But then she changed her mind and felt that if only Zhang Niujiao and Chu Yan were on the list, it would fail to reflect the significance of Zhang Niujiao's action of "bearing humiliation and bearing heavy burdens". It would be better to have thirty, fifty or even one hundred and eight names on the list, so as to show the impact of the entire book "Bandits".
"Go find Zhang Niujiao and get a list of names of characters?" Sun Luban had no objection to Qiao Huan's suggestion, and even suggested that the three female heroes who improved the mulberry leather jackets could be nominated.
Qiao Huan thought about it and replied: "No, let's try another way this time."
If Zhang Niujiao is asked to select people, there will inevitably be some differences in closeness and distance. Letting people who were present at the time but did not belong to the Black Mountain Army to evaluate them can best tell the truth and show who is the truly capable person.
Don’t they have a ready-made person to ask?
You can even ask him for help under the pretext of contributing to the literary cause!
Thinking of this, Qiao Huan immediately went to find Cai Yong.
But after hearing about the series of gains she had made after interviewing Zhang Niujiao, Cai Yong couldn't help but scratch his hair, which had become a little thinner recently, and showed an expression of doubt about his life.
No, is Zhang Niujiao really that powerful?
Could it be that he had misunderstood that guy all these years?
The author has something to say:
Zhang Niujiao and Cai Yong may become the two most misunderstood figures in later generations (dog head)
See you tomorrow morning at 9:30
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