Chapter 48 Planting Strategy
Yingchuan Xi Zhicai——
This person is Guo Jia's predecessor in the Cao Wei camp.
It was only after his death that Xun Yu recommended Guo Fengxiao to Cao Cao.
This was a person that Qiao Yan had never expected to appear in his territory.
Before, when he suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Changsha, Yingchuan, Qiao Yan had not met several famous scholars from Ruying. Naturally, he would not have such expectations after arriving in his own fiefdom.
But I never expected that something would be delivered to my door.
This is completely different from Zhao Yun's behavior of coming to her to discuss the elimination of the Black Mountain bandits.
Especially...
Since Xi Zhicai did not choose to reveal his identity at the beginning, but came to Leping as an "employee" in the wine-making business, his sudden act of introducing himself seemed to have some deep meaning.
Qiao Yan met his gaze and asked, "Mr. Xi, why did you use a false name first and now come here to offer advice? This doesn't seem like a gentleman's way of interacting."
Xi Zhicai even wrote in such a style when writing to He Yong, so how could he consider himself a gentleman? When he heard Qiao Yan's ridicule that hiding one's true intentions and showing one's true intentions were not the behavior of a frank gentleman, he just smiled and replied:
"The person who offers advice should be aware of the actions and strategies of the person he is helping. Only in this way can the advice be tailored to the actual pros and cons. Moreover, I have stayed in Leping for a month and have not explored any secrets, set foot on any key points, or received any salary. Although I dare not call myself a gentleman, I have no intention of offending Lord Qiao. Please forgive me."
What he said was actually true. In this sense, even his behavior as a drunkard who could do without money as long as he had wine to drink became proof of his good sense of propriety in this sentence.
This ability to make amends is indeed something that only a strategist who can turn black into white can possess.
And that was enough for him to say.
There was really no need for him to continue speaking. He chose to reveal his identity because he saw Qiao Yan's actions in eradicating the Black Mountain bandits. Although she was in charge of only a county and was dealing with the Black Mountain bandits who had risen up temporarily and had little strategy, her performance in controlling people's hearts was truly worthy of Xi Zhicai's exclamation of being wonderful.
This is to control people's hearts and minds. What is being controlled is the need of Taiyuan Wang family to appease the grievances of the Southern Xiongnu, the demand for food of the Black Mountain bandits, the difference in behavior between the two leaders, and how the people of Leping County can fully support her as the county marquis.
Her ability to deploy her subordinates with ease and her respect for Zhao Yun, the uninvited guest, undoubtedly elevated Xi Zhicai's impression of her to a higher level as he was watching from the sidelines.
When the Black Mountain bandits attacked that night, although it was a bit inappropriate to say this, he seemed to have seen some potential for a leader in the young county marquis.
The so-called counselors, if they come from a superior family, can even become the king's assistants. Wang Yun and Xun Yu were such cases, but what about someone like him? It is extremely difficult to find a suitable lord for yourself and to fully display your talents.
In this way, it is not unreasonable for him to take the initiative to reveal his identity and offer advice.
Qiao Yan's subsequent behavior further confirmed to him that there was indeed nothing wrong with his judgment of her.
After receiving Xi Zhicai's answer, Qiao Yan immediately stood up from his bed, walked to Xi Zhicai, and said solemnly: "Since this is the case, I wonder what strategy you would like to teach me."
This behavior showed no intention of caring about his hidden identity, nor did it mean that he was looked down upon because of his previous lack of fame.
Xi Zhicai replied: "Marquis Qiao is very smart. What he needs now is just a transition method, so what I am offering is a brilliant strategy."
A brilliant plan?
This kind of self-proclaimed title is not very common.
But when Xi Zhicai made this suggestion, even though Qiao Yan himself really liked to use those unconventional methods, he had to admit that Xi Zhicai's method was indeed not something that ordinary people could think of.
Three days later, the governors of Shangdang, Changshan and Taiyuan all received a letter from Qiao Yan.
When Qiao Yan first came to Leping, he wrote a letter of greeting to these three people out of courtesy.
At that time, the three men were very curious about this "neighbor". After all, being granted a title of nobility at a young age, and a marquis of ten thousand households at that, was something that really made people feel incredible. This undoubtedly gave Qiao Yan enough capital to be proud of.
However, after receiving the letter, the humble attitude revealed in her words undoubtedly made them feel relieved.
This is not a difficult genius to get along with.
Therefore, when they received Qiao Yan's letter this time, the three of them just thought it was just an ordinary greeting from her one month after she arrived in Leping.
However, the beginning of this letter is big news!
Qiao Yan came up and said that her tiny place of Leping had been coveted by the Black Mountain bandits in the Taihang Mountains because of the storage of grain. When the bandits came to attack, she designed a plan to capture all the bandits in order to maintain the stability of Leping.
This way, you won't have to worry about the Black Mountain bandits.
Although there were still some bandits camped somewhere in the mountains, the leaders Zhang Niujiao and Chu Yan had been captured by her and were now in shackles. The ones they brought with them were the most elite among the Black Mountain bandits, so the others were really not a concern.
The three of them were immediately shocked.
How long has this Marquis of Leping County been here?
In such a short period of time that was not enough for her to convince the county residents to form a local armed force, she had already accomplished such an act, which should perhaps be called a feat. It was really too amazing.
In addition to the places where the royal army passed through, there were still some places that were affected by the Yellow Turban bandits. If she reported this matter to the central government, although there was no higher rank of marquis than the county marquis, she would definitely receive rewards from Luoyang and commendation from the current emperor.
But just as the three were about to pay more attention to this neighbor because of this news, they saw that she wrote in the subsequent letter:
According to the current strategy for dealing with the Yellow Turbans, although these bandits did not respond to Zhang Jue's call immediately, they have finally formed a considerable force. In fact, we should refer to the previous handling methods of the Yellow Turban remnants in Guangzong and Quzhou.
Either give them the opportunity to redeem their death by paying money, or send them directly to Wuyuan County to perform labor service based on the principle of proximity.
But after thinking it over, Qiao Yan felt that there was a better way to deal with it.
She specifically mentioned that when the Black Mountain bandits attacked, the bandit leader Zhang Niujiao had the opportunity to kill the clerk guarding the warehouse, but he just knocked him unconscious, showing some mercy.
Of course, this was actually just because Zhang Niujiao felt that this was enough for him to stabilize the situation, so there was no potential mercy at all.
In addition, when all the bandits had been brought under control, before making the final decision on how to deal with them, Qiao Yan arranged for them to contribute to the construction of Qiao Xuan's sacrificial temple. These people knew that they had committed serious sins and did not choose to escape.
The purpose of the uprising was to have enough food to eat and survive. Now that they have enough food to eat, why do they still need to do such a thing?
After Qiao Yan's beautified description, the Black Mountain bandits suddenly became people with good natures, who only did banditry out of necessity. There is indeed room for persuasion to guide them to good.
After reading a few sentences in the letter, the three governors could almost imagine what kind of idealistic idea Qiao Yan was holding at the moment.
While they were thinking about how to correct some unnecessary ideas of this promising junior, they continued reading.
[Yan thought that serious crimes should not be punished lightly, otherwise everyone would follow suit and it would become a big problem. 】
Fortunately, fortunately, it can still be saved.
[However, since he has a heart for good and is not a direct descendant of Zhang Jiao, sending him to the border defense is inappropriate. 】
It seems that it is not impossible to say so...
[In my humble opinion, it would be better to let them atone their sins through labor, which would surely become a good story within a year. 】
【Yan has been in Leping for a month and feels that although it is surrounded by mountains and has rich resources, it is still inconvenient to move around. It would be better to let the Black Mountain bandits open up a passage in the mountains and reach your place. By then, the exchanges between Leping and your place will be smooth, trade can be achieved, and it will definitely be a win-win situation. 】
“…”
If one could use words to sum up the expressions of these three governors, it would most likely be -
Don't come over here!
At first glance, the idea behind Qiao Yan's words sounds good.
Leping is surrounded by hills and mountains all around, with the Taihang Mountains on the right. It can only be connected to the outside world through the mountain roads between the hills and Jingxing, one of the Eight Xings of Taihang. It was not easy for Wang Shi of Jinyang to deliver food to her before. If the human resources at hand could be used to widen these mountain roads a little bit so that carriages and horses can travel freely, wouldn't it be a win-win solution for both places?
Moreover, forcing these Black Mountain bandits to do hard labor is not considered to be too lenient towards them, and it is enough to serve as a warning to others.
But this is only on the surface.
What is the reality?
In the minds of these people, bandits are bandits. Now it is because Qiao Yan is more skilled that he captured them first. But if they are given the opportunity to build a highway in the mountains, what if they take the opportunity to escape into the mountains?
By then, when these people flee back into the mountains, having been defeated in Leping, there is no guarantee that they will not, out of their instinct to seek profit and avoid harm, simply bypass Leping and choose to cause trouble in Changshan, Shangdang, Taiyuan and other places.
Whether it would be possible to catch someone so easily after releasing the bait next time is really an unknown.
It might be a feasible method for them to write a letter to the court as a county governor, asking the court to put pressure on Qiao Yan and severely punish the Black Mountain bandits, but...
Firstly, Qiao Yan is still young, and she has a grandfather, Qiao Xuan, who is a loyal and honest man. Her slightly idealistic behavior is not bad in nature, but if it is reported to the emperor, it will inevitably seem a bit like she is being ostentatious, and if it is made public, it will still be seen as bullying an orphan girl.
Secondly, under the guidance of the strategy given by Xi Zhicai, Qiao Yan added another sentence in the letter.
The general meaning is that if you feel that these Black Mountain bandits were once bandits and are only making them do hard labor within the country, which seems a bit too lenient and not in accordance with the law, then you can go through the legal process first.
Emperor Guangwu proposed a method to deal with bandits, which was "If five people kill one person together, the crime will be forgiven."
This decree was also used by later generations to compare with Emperor Wu of Han's strategy for eliminating bandits.
Under this decree, if five thieves captured another thief, beheaded him, and then surrendered to the authorities, they would not be charged with any crime. And then it was continued to be used.
So this was roughly what Qiao Yan was thinking at the time. If you think I just want them to be laborers and open up this trade channel, and some of the fines are too light, then that's not a big problem. Let's go through the procedure.
I selected those with the most serious crimes from among them, and dealt with them according to the method of selecting one out of six. In this way, the remaining people were cleared of the label of thieves. In this way, I provided them with food, advised them with good deeds, and in the process of building the highway, I would definitely let them reform themselves, and it would not be considered as letting the criminals off lightly.
“……” I don’t know why, although it is clearly in accordance with the law, I just feel like there is something stuck in my throat.
If it were still the Warring States Period, then the idea of connecting various parts of Taiyuan, or widening Jingxing, might involve some national disputes.
But now it is the Han Dynasty, and the capital is Luoyang!
It is fine for various places in Taiyuan to continue to maintain this state of being easy to defend and difficult to attack and protected by mountains, but it cannot be said openly. It is also completely understandable that Qiao Yan wants to open up various places.
But it is——
The three of them felt something was wrong when they thought that these bandits who had been roaming around in Taihang Mountains might bring disaster to their territory at any moment.
As Qiao Yan held the righteousness in her hands and had the sagely idea that human nature was inherently good and should be educated, they could not write to rebuke her for being too childish.
The three of them thought about it and finally came up with a good idea.
Anyway, it's just "labor reform". Widening the road in the mountains is labor, but does it count as labor if you are building Leping?
How about this, as a recognition and reward for Qiao Hou's act of capturing the bandit leader, they gave him a food subsidy.
But now that you have the manpower and food to sustain these people, don't rush to open up any trade routes. After all, the current road is not impossible to travel. It is better to develop the local construction of Leping first.
Qiao Yan had previously reduced their tax burden in Leping as a token of his welfare after the Lord's arrival, and these things would more or less reach their ears.
With the reduction or exemption of per mu tax, farmland cultivation in Leping will definitely develop.
but--
Don't just focus on the existing fertile land, you can also take a look at the mountains that are still included in her territory!
In the end, all she had to do was to find a way to keep people from leaving Leping, and she could educate them however she wanted in her own territory.
This is roughly what was said in the letter that arrived along with the 50,000 shi of grain given by each of the three parties.
Although the fact that the three parties had sent food was known to each other to some extent, it could be said that there was no deception in Qiao Yan's letter. After all, making friends with neighbors naturally requires consideration from many aspects.
No one said that she couldn't divide the Black Mountain bandit captives in her hands into three groups and send them to different places to dig mountain roads.
What's more, since they are all prefects, they should naturally know what it means not to change their orders every day. Since this batch of grain has already fallen into Qiao Yan's hands, there is absolutely no possibility that she will spit it out.
As for the locals in Leping County, Qiao Yan's explanation for this batch of grain was that it was a reward for eliminating the bandits.
It was the end of June when Qiao Yan left Beijing, and now it is approaching mid-August. However, the Mid-Autumn Festival that is almost deeply rooted in Qiao Yan's impression began in the early Tang Dynasty. There is no such festival now. But the close time does not prevent her from finding a reason that the full moon on August 15th is a good omen, and distributing part of the grain as a reward to the county residents.
This amount of food was not much and was more like a gift, but it did convey a signal that "what goes around comes around, and what goes around also comes around."
Since Qiao Yan arrived in Leping, although the county marquis was the "lord" of the territory rather than an official, it did not prevent the county residents, who were quite simple and honest in those days, from sending the mountain products they had picked recently, or some coarse linen and the like, to the county government as gifts for Qiao Yan.
This naturally could not be compared with what she had given, but it was enough for her to see some signs that the people here were turning to her.
In the face of successive natural disasters, it is now easier than before to win the hearts of the people.
A benevolent policy at home could protect one side, feed the people, and satisfy... no, in other words, as long as it could show the possibility of satisfying basic survival needs, it would be enough to make the people of the late Han Dynasty turn to his side.
Qiao Yan was looking at the small basket of violets in his hand while thinking, and he did not forget to thank Xi Zhicai again at this time: "Sir, you are really a great talent."
If it were not for Xi Zhicai's judgment and the brilliant method of Emperor Guangwu to eliminate bandits in his narrative guidance, it would be hard to guarantee that the three county governors would have found opportunities to exploit loopholes, and it would be very likely that things would not develop in the expected direction.
It is true that he said his method was a brilliant one.
Xi Zhicai was not very particular about etiquette, but now he had some leisure time to look through what the people of Leping County had given as gifts.
He didn't think he needed to take credit for it. After all, the fact that these county residents sent wild vegetables and mountain products as a reward was not just because Qiao Yan had extra food in his hands.
This was just a driving force at best, but the bottom line was that everything she had done since arriving in Leping till now had been perfect.
His behavior was more like that of a Yingchuan native who wanted to see what special gifts the Jinzhong area could offer.
However, he had previously visited Yunzhong Mountain and stayed in Jinyang City for a few days, so it was obvious that he would not see anything particularly new or interesting.
He turned around and asked, "In Lord Qiao's opinion, now that we have manpower and food, what do you plan to plant on the mountain?"
"It seems that the master has another brilliant strategy to teach me?" Qiao Yan asked.
"For civil planting, we should adapt to local conditions, and there is no need to come up with any strange strategies." Xi Zhicai laughed, "It's just...hiss!"
Xi Zhicai suddenly jumped up with a start.
While he was replying to Qiao Yan, his hand was casually resting on the pile of mountain products. He was just groping for a stick and reached out to grab it, intending to use it as a leaning support, but he didn't know that it was not a wooden stick, but yam!
He withdrew his hand and looked back, and as expected, he saw a red spot on his hand.
Dioscorea is not a very rare thing. There are some wild ones in Yingchuan. But when it comes to the Taihang Mountains, due to its different species, it grows into long strips. This is the yam that Duke Huan of Wei presented to the King of Zhou in the past.
And Huaishan yam is a type of yam.
This yam, which should now be called Dioscorea, is actually a bit offensive to Xi Zhicai. He found out that he was allergic to it when he was in Yingchuan. When others touched the Dioscorea skin, they just felt a little itchy at most, but he got a rash and swelling.
"Go get some vinegar." Qiao Yan gave the order quickly, and immediately a county official with quick legs and feet brought down the vinegar.
Xi Zhicai took it and, after hearing what Qiao Yan said, he smeared the vinegar on his hands doubtfully, and indeed he felt a lot better.
"Please forgive me, Lord Qiao, this yam is really..." It is really the nemesis of Xi Zhicai.
But before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Qiao Yan, "This thing is really a savior!"
When he turned around, he saw Qiao Yan taking the yam out from the pile of mountain products.
In the way she looked at the yam, it was not difficult to see the satisfaction in her burning expression.
Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that this attitude is surprise rather than satisfaction.
She then asked, "In your opinion, sir, what if I plant yam among the mountains and hills?"
At this time, yam has not yet been transformed from a wild state to artificial cultivation, probably because the method of cutting cultivation has not yet been extended to this ugly-looking thing.
However, "Shennong's Herbal Classic" has already recorded that this product has the effects of invigorating energy, replenishing the middle, and growing muscles. Zhang Zhongjing also later wrote in "Golden Chamber Synopsis", "For all kinds of deficiencies due to deficiency, and hundreds of diseases caused by wind and pathogens, Dioscorea Pills are the main treatment." At the end of the Han Dynasty when the epidemic was rampant, this was undoubtedly a good medicine to subtly enhance immunity.
As an important origin of yam, Taihang Mountains undoubtedly have naturally suitable geographical conditions for growing this plant.
But this is not the fundamental reason why Qiao Yan made this decision.
If she had not seen this thing before, it would be fine if she could not remember it at the first time, but when she really saw it, she suddenly realized that as potato foods, yam and sweet potato, excluding the yield in extreme cases, if only the average yield per mu is considered, are both about 3,000 kilograms!
Although due to considerations of water and fertilizer utilization efficiency and the risks of overeating, this plant is indeed not suitable for large-scale promotion as a staple food, but under the current situation, it can be planted for two years.
It is also a rational use of this mountain environment.
What's more, the cultivation of Dioscorea actually requires the manpower required at each stage. But now that Qiao Yan has captured the Black Mountain bandits, wouldn't it be a good opportunity to use this process to temper their character?
If not for this, she really wouldn't dare to recruit them rashly.
It’s decided, let’s plant yam!
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