Chapter 91 Elders and Juniors...
“…”
Qiao Yan exchanged a glance with Fu Shou on the wall, and felt that the other party had the courage to participate in the killing of Cao Cao. This courage could be seen at a young age.
But after Qiao Yan agreed, she climbed down the ladder and came in through the main gate of the Qiao Mansion. When she mentioned the whole story of growing mustard greens, Qiao Yan inexplicably felt that there was a bit of sadness in it.
After all, Fu Shou was not the daughter of Princess Yang'an, so no matter how bad her temper was, she could not make trouble in her own home. But when she saw that her uncle who stayed in the yard next door looked like he had lost all hope in life, she thought that she might as well make trouble in front of him.
So Fu Shou pointed at the vegetable patch and asked, if one day Mr. Qiao's mind was sent back with the breeze, and he saw that this place where he had originally planted vegetables was so desolate, would he feel depressed?
Why don’t we grow some vegetables!
She said something like "I used your land to grow a crop of mustard greens", but the harvested vegetables were placed in the cellar of the Qiao Mansion.
Except for a small amount kept for eating during the season, the rest is pickled into salted mustard greens.
Fu Shouyin, who had never been involved in such a matter before, felt that he could not give up halfway, so he secretly ran to ask his servants about it, and then came over with a pile of empty pottery jars.
Although the old servant left by Qiao Xuan didn't talk much, when he heard Fu Shou chattering about the whole process of making salted pickles, he looked at Fu Shou with a loving look as if he was a junior.
Qiao Yan noticed this and asked Dian Wei to go to the market to buy some vegetables.
Upon hearing her order, Fu Shou quickly interrupted and said, "When guests come from afar, we should have wine!"
Because she didn't see many people like him on a daily basis, the person who left a particularly deep impression on her during these three years was Qiao Yan.
She tried to compare the other person's current height with her impression of her, and found that she looked a lot taller, so judging by her appearance, she should have grown up a lot.
In this case, how can we have a dinner party without wine?
This is how my father treats guests!
"Now I am the host and you are the guest, so I have the final say on this matter." Qiao Yan pushed her back and asked the old servant to explain the matter to the people in Fu Shizhong's mansion.
Before the young Fu Shou had experienced the harshness of society, he had already experienced what it meant to be powerless.
But she remembered the question she wanted to ask Qiao Yan the most when she heard the noise. After confirming that her plan to taste the wine had failed, she turned to ask Qiao Yan about Leping's situation.
The letter that Qiao Yan had sent her before was still placed on the bookshelf by her. Among the mountain products gifts that came with the letter, in addition to the things to soak in water, there were also two wooden carvings, which were also placed on the side.
All these made her really interested in the Taihang Mountains.
But she was born and raised in the capital and had never had the opportunity to go out for a walk. She could only imagine what the Taihang Mountains looked like based on what she saw from the North Mountain from afar.
Now, hearing Qiao Yan mention the 500,000 acres of farmland and more than 100,000 acres of mountain fields in Leping, Fu Shou first counted the number on her fingers, then compared the area difference between them and the vegetable patch she planted, and couldn't help but frowning.
"If you don't know the outside of the capital, you don't know how big the world is."
Qiao Yan couldn't help but laugh.
She sounded a bit like a little adult when she said this.
However, her "maturity" is different from the precocious behavior that Cai Zhaoji developed during her early years with Cai Yong. There are still some naive ideas of a child in her.
I didn't hear her complain a bit about how it was a pity that she didn't get to see the bumper harvest of more than 600,000 acres of farmland in person. Instead, I heard her talk about how she had asked her father to find her travel notes from all over the country in order to know the situation outside the capital.
She still looked very familiar and outgoing as she did three years ago, but she had undoubtedly grown in more than just height.
Qiao Yan listened to her recalling with her chin in her hand: "I finished reading Ban Shupi's Beizhengfu and Lanhaifu last year, and the year before last I finished reading Ma Dibo's Fengshan Yiji. Oh, and Zhang Pingzi's Dongxun Gao."
This level of reading is extremely rare even nowadays.
Although Qiao Yan heard her say the next moment -
"I won't mention the poems. I'm young and can't understand those words with "zhi" and "xi". At most, I just make up the numbers and see the world."
Fu Shou didn't realize that her honest words made her look adorable, and said seriously, "But the Fengshan Ritual Record was written by Ma Dibo when he followed Emperor Guangwu to Fengshan and saw Mount Tai. The Eastern Tour Edict was also created when the emperor went hunting in Mount Tai. Alas, there are so few people in the world who can go to Mount Tai. Most people only go to the mountains and tombs near my hometown. So why is there no book that records all the mountains and rivers in the world?"
"Let's talk about the Luo River outside Luoyang City. It has been around since the Spring and Autumn Period until today. I don't know how many stories there are. If we can put all of them together, it will be a really interesting book."
Fu Shou had obviously been confused about the problem for a long time. It just so happened that Fu Wan felt that her questions were too many and too strange, so he asked them in front of Qiao Yan.
Qiao Yan replied: "If it is recorded as you said, then people who stay at home can also see the mountains and rivers. If it is supplemented with pictures, it can also let the children in the house know the vastness of the land. Is it true?"
Fu Shou's eyes lit up, "That's right! Unfortunately, my father said that my idea was a bit naive. How could I have the time to go around and collect records? The adults have a lot of things to do."
Qiao Yan didn't think her idea was naive.
If she lived in the Tang Dynasty, she would be able to read "Shui Jing Zhu" written by Li Daoyuan in the Northern Wei Dynasty and "Luoyang Jialan Ji" written in the Eastern Wei Dynasty while in the house.
If she lived in modern times, she could still experience the reality of enjoying the beautiful scenery without leaving home, and even experience the feeling of being bombarded by works such as The Drunken Old Man Pavilion and The Small Stone Pool.
But nowadays it is indeed less common. You should know that travel literature only began to emerge in the Eastern Han Dynasty and has not yet become mainstream.
And such travel records, at this time and in this environment, do need political support.
Just like Shuijingzhu——
Although this book records the hydrology of various places, it also includes more than 300 battles that took place within the scope of these waterways. This is because the recorder, Li Daoyuan, once served as the governor of East Jingzhou, which is why he had this "pioneering way of recording geography for military purposes."
Of course, this book, which will not be published for more than 300 years, is obviously not suitable for the examples Qiao Yan gave to Fu Shou, but Qiao Yan also knew that she should not say something like her father was right to dampen her enthusiasm.
He replied, "Perhaps after a few years, when the war is somewhat settled, someone will measure the world's scenery with his footsteps and leave these records. Who can guarantee that you are the one who recorded it? After all, there are people working hard to suppress the chaos now."
When Fu Shou heard Qiao Yan ask her to record it, she wondered if she was lying to her, but seeing the firm expression between her eyebrows, it seemed that she really believed so.
Thinking of the second half of her sentence, I asked curiously, "Someone is working hard to suppress the chaos... Are you talking about you, sister?"
When Fu Shou was borrowing books from her father's study, she heard her father say that Qiao Yan was acting arrogantly in Bingzhou and asked her to have less contact with him to avoid getting into trouble.
But then he heard his mother, Princess Yang'an, scolding Qiao Yan, saying that Qiao Yan was at least loyal to the Han Dynasty, so why didn't Fu Wan lead a few people to kill the Liangzhou bandits who were attacking the three prefectures?
The very different evaluations from these two people actually sounded like the same news to Fu Shou, which was that Qiao Yan had done something to eliminate bandits in Bingzhou and was very capable.
Think again about what Qiao Yan did in Luoyang? The only thing under her nose is growing vegetables.
Fu Shou seemed to have already regarded Qiao Yan as half her idol, so naturally she wanted to imitate him.
However, at her age, she obviously did not understand why Qiao Yan chose farming to protect himself and clarify his mind. She also did not understand why after she asked this question, Qiao Yan smiled with an ambiguous smile and said, "It is hard to say. The one who is working hard is the current emperor of Nangong."
As for which direction the efforts should be made to provide conditions for pacification, that is a matter of opinion.
In short, on the 15th day of October in the fourth year of Zhongping, Liu Hong announced a piece of news in the court.
Because the Baibo bandits and the Heishan bandits rebelled in Bingzhou successively, and the Xiutuguhu people were rebellious, so they intended to re-establish the post of General Du Liao.
Most of those who are qualified for this position now have other duties to suppress rebellions, so this general will be selected through military exercises in the suburbs of Beijing.
As soon as this news came out, it caused an immediate sensation.
The method of military training?
During the reign of Emperor Xiaozhao of the Western Han Dynasty, Fan Mingyou, the first person appointed as the General Du Liao, was promoted from the position of General of the Central Army. Another example is Qiao Gongzu, who was recommended by the Three Dukes to this position.
The authority of General Du Liao was to safeguard the northern border. Although it did not seem to be a lucrative job nowadays, he was still a real high-ranking official with a silver seal and a green ribbon and a salary of two thousand stones.
But according to Liu Hong, any official with a salary of more than 600 dan, who is not an official in the rebellion war zone, whether in office or unemployed, can try for this position!
These people will use military training to prove that they are indeed capable of commanding an army, and will then be promoted to the post of General Du Liao.
The troops from the five schools of the Northern Army will serve as the soldiers for this selection.
"This selection method is too strange..."
Not to mention the numerous discussions in the court today, some people did not understand why after Leping Hou came to the capital and requested to re-establish the post of General Du Liao, Liu Hong would come up with such a selection process. Even during the meeting in General He Jin's mansion, everyone had many puzzles.
But if you think about it carefully, what Liu Hong said about most people who can take up this position have other important tasks, and it is indeed not nonsense.
These people were either suppressing rebellions in other parts of the Han Dynasty, or had been promoted to higher positions and were not suitable to be the General Du Liao, or were feared by Liu Hong and would not be able to take control of the military power in the short term.
These various reasons made the selection of generals, which sounded ridiculous, become an inevitable thing.
Moreover, apart from the fact that Liu Hong asked Jian Shuo to participate in the selection because he was strong and had military strategy, he at least did not propose to let everyone select the General Du Liao by testing their martial arts. Instead, he assigned soldiers from the five schools of the Northern Army to each of them, and decided the outcome by commanding the troops and performing martial arts exercises.
If one really wants to supervise the military operations in the north, one must have this kind of fighting ability.
He Yong and Yuan Shao exchanged a glance, and Yuan Shao stood up and replied, "I don't think this is strange."
He Jin has been in a high position in recent years, and his butcher's habits have been reduced a lot. However, because he is surrounded by these children of noble families and famous people from all over the country, he has developed an arrogance that is beyond words.
Seeing that it was Yuan Shao who stood up, he asked with a more serious expression, "What do you mean by this, Benchu?"
Yuan Shao bowed and replied, "Earlier, Bo Qiu and I accidentally got a piece of news, saying that the emperor intends to select the best of the generals of Du Liao as the captains of the eight schools of Xiyuan. We were suspicious of this news, but now that I see that your majesty has also arranged that eunuch to be included in this selection, this news is somewhat true."
The smile on He Jin's lips froze.
Yuan Shao did not wait for He Jin to interrupt and continued, "We all know how capable Jian Shuo is. These eunuchs who surround the emperor can only hold positions in the inner court. There has never been a precedent of them being sent out. I think the emperor would never expect him to stand out from the crowd and become a two thousand stone official who guards a place."
"Then, in your opinion, what is the purpose of this Lord Jian, who is highly trusted by Your Majesty, coming here?"
He Jin was not so stupid that he could not tell the difference between good and bad. He asked in a deep voice, "Are you going to give this man a new official position on the grounds that he performed outstandingly despite his defeat?"
He was asking, but when he thought about Liu Hong's attitude towards the eunuchs, he realized that this was not impossible.
If Yuan Shao had not reminded him, his attention would still be focused on the position of General Du Liao.
But now that I think about it carefully, I suddenly feel angry.
During the Han Dynasty, the generals commanded all the troops in the world, which was very different from the generals who focused more on military policy decisions but had no actual military power!
Take He Jin as an example. Since he took office as the general in the seventh year of Guanghe, he has enjoyed the power to open a government office and recruit soldiers. Even a famous general like Huangfu Song has a lower status than him.
But if it is true as Yuan Shao and He Yong guessed, Liu Hong wanted to take this opportunity to set up a private army, which clearly showed his intention to dilute the power in his hands.
First there were the deaths of Liang Ji and Dou Wu, and then there was Liu Hong's occasional dissatisfaction with Liu Bian in the past two years. It is hard not to think of He Jin, who came to a high position by relying on his relationship with his relatives rather than his real ability, in a negative way.
He glanced in the direction of He Yong again and saw him nod, indicating that what Yuan Shao said was exactly the result they had deduced together. He couldn't help but feel even more depressed.
However, at this time he heard Yuan Shao say: "General, why do you have to look like you are facing a powerful enemy?"
He Jin couldn't help but frown: "Benchu, just say what you want to say."
Yuan Shao replied: "If we were unaware of this matter before, then your Majesty was in the dark and we were in the light, but now it is us in the dark and your Majesty is in the light. So now there are two ways to deal with it. One is that we don't have to do anything, just wait for the eight schools of Xiyuan to be selected and then try to win them over."
"This method is not feasible." He Jin shook his head, unwilling to act in such a passive way.
"That's the second option," Yuan Shao was not surprised that He Jin did not choose the first option, but continued, "We help our own people who are not clear about their camp to ascend to a high position. As long as Your Majesty thinks they are not our people, what reason is there to abandon them?"
"Who are you talking about...?"
"For example, Han Fu and Han Wenjie." Yuan Shao gave this answer without hesitation. 1
This was exactly the answer given by Yuan Wei after he discussed it with Yuan Wei.
This man had the opportunity to enter the official career in his early years thanks to the kindness of the Yuan family, but he was able to reach the position of Chief Censor today mostly due to his own abilities.
What is most special is that he is more inclined to engage in military work, and in his early years he recruited a general named Qu Yi from Liangzhou to follow him.
Whether letting him seize the position of General Du Liao or becoming one of the Eight Commandants of Xiyuan, it would be a sure win for the Yuan family.
He Jin thought about it for a while and nodded, "If so, it is a good way to deal with it."
But in his opinion, the people proposed by Yuan alone were not enough. If the eunuch Jian Shuo had any problems during the military training, he would be left behind.
Seven positions.
He has to arrange some of his own people to go in.
Seeing that Yuan Shao still had something to say, he immediately waved his hand to indicate that that was enough for today.
Seeing that He Jin was unmoved after learning the situation, Yuan Shao exchanged glances with He Yong again. Both of them saw a bad premonition in each other's eyes.
But considering that it will take some time for registration, approval and entry into Kyoto from various places, I think there should still be a chance to dissuade them.
Fortunately, another person who could be selected as the Xiyuan Captain arrived in Luoyang.
It was Cao Cao who was mentioned in Qiao Yan and Liu Hong's suggestions.
Speaking of which, his reputation during his tenure as the prime minister of Jinan was polarized.
To the people, he was an absolutely good official, especially in preventing and controlling major epidemics and locust plagues, he came up with practical and effective measures.
But to the officials in Jinan, he was simply a living devil.
The action of dismissing eighty percent of the senior officials in the counties and prefectures in one breath was so swift and decisive that it even caused corrupt officials to flee with their bags.
But he also felt that the power-trading was boring. Even though he had the appointment to be a counselor, he still ran back home and became idle. Now, when he heard about the selection of the Bingzhou Du Liao General, he felt that this position was suitable for him, so he rushed to the capital immediately.
However, the person who saw him first was not Yuan Shao, but Qiao Yan.
She handed in the Shangshu Jinxue homework today and was preparing to go to Lingtai to meet Madam Ma, but she saw Cao Cao abandoning his boat and going ashore, coming from the opposite side of the Luoshui floating bridge.
It's really a coincidence.
He was still a commoner, so naturally he could not wear official uniform, but the way he walked with a bold and chivalrous air made him stand out from the crowd in Luoyang.
The only special thing this time was that there was a handsome young man following him.
Thinking of what Cao Cao had said to her before - that she was about the same age as Cao Ang, the identity of this young man became obvious.
As expected, Cao Cao was quite surprised to meet her here. He immediately grabbed the young man beside him and said, "This is my eldest son Ang. I brought him with me to Luoyang this time."
Cao Cao and Qiao Yan exchanged many letters. Even though they hadn't seen each other for three years, they didn't feel that their relationship had become unfamiliar. They continued the topic while chatting and laughing freely.
He even mentioned a problem that Qiao Yan had not realized before.
"Speaking of which... now that you, the Marquis of Leping, are the head of the Qiao family, it's fine if we keep on exchanging letters like this, but it's not appropriate to address each other as uncle and niece to outsiders. If you do, it will be beneath your status."
Cao Cao calmly patted Cao Ang on the back and said, "Then we are of the same generation. Let my Ang regard you as his elder!"
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