Chapter 44: Aiming at the Tiger
Can it be sold to Southern Xiongnu?
With the relationship of Wang Rou, the General who protected the Xiongnu, this would naturally be no problem, and one could even gain an advantageous position in trade.
You should know that the Lieutenant General who Protects the Xiongnu can "participate in lawsuits and observe movements" in the Southern Xiongnu royal court in Xihe County, and his status is even higher than that of the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu.
Moreover, since the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, the governor of Yunzhong began to set up military markets in border areas, that is, market areas for soldiers to trade. On the basis of the military markets, customs markets were derived. When there was peace on the border, garrison soldiers could also trade with the Hu people, which further gave rise to some private markets.
This is the case even for a frontier like Yunzhong County, and it is even more so for the Southern Xiongnu in Xihe County, who have already surrendered to the barbarians.
The productivity and nomadic lifestyle of the Xiongnu meant that even after they surrendered and settled down, they still had a huge demand for goods from the Han Dynasty.
This trade did not embolden the Huns.
The Battle of Jiluo Mountain in the first year of Yongyuan, the Battle of Yiwulu and the Battle of Heyunbei in the second year of Yongyuan, the Battle of Jinwei Mountain in the third year of Yongyuan, and the two suppression of Southern Xiongnu rebellions in the third year of Yongchu and the fifth year of Yonghe, made the Southern Xiongnu very afraid of the Han Dynasty in recent years and they were submissive to it.
As long as the central government remains stable, whether the Northern Huns roam outside or the Southern Huns surrender inside, this kind of trade will only allow the Huns' cattle, sheep and horses to flow into the Han Dynasty, further promoting stability on the border.
The only thing that needed to be worried about was what Cai Yong said in the memorial he wrote to Liu Hong before he was demoted, "The borders are not strictly guarded, the prohibitions have many loopholes, and the fine gold and iron are all in the hands of the thieves." Therefore, it was necessary to strictly guard against the Han Dynasty's ironware falling into the hands of the Hu people.
This is also what the General of the Guards of the Xiongnu needs to do now.
But wine is obviously not affected by this, especially good wine.
The Huns' grain cultivation was not yet on a large scale, so how could they use the excess grain to make wine?
Wang Yang remembered that Wang Rou had written to him before and mentioned that the Southern Xiongnu loved wine, especially strong and mellow liquor, but the brewing cost of good wine was here, and the profit from trading it to the Xiongnu was not much different from that from sending it to Luoyang and other places, so the sales volume had always been small.
But according to Qiao Yan, the raw materials of the wine in front of him were not carefully selected. It could even be said that the conditions were the same as the most common wine. Once the method was mastered, it could indeed be sold to the Southern Xiongnu.
"For ordinary wine, the yield is more than doubled. This method is the same and there is no loss." Seeing that Wang Yang understood the subtext of her words and was obviously moved, Qiao Yan added.
This statement is equivalent to further acknowledging the cost of brewing wine.
Wang Yang unconsciously moved forward again.
"Why do I say that handing this method over to the Wang family is a great benefit? It is because apart from the Wang family, no one else has the conditions to trade with the Southern Xiongnu on a large scale. In addition, the previous General of the Central Army who protected the Xiongnu appointed the Right Wise King as Chanyu, and the Left Wise King and the Left Guli King are still ready to make a move. If the wine trade can exchange for some of the Southern Xiongnu's war horses, can it also make Wang Shuyou more confident in suppressing the Southern Xiongnu?"
"If one cart of rough wine could be exchanged for five horses, is it feasible to exchange the brewed wine for seven horses from the Southern Xiongnu?"
feasible! Why not?
Wang Yang was calculating quickly in his mind.
He had personally tasted the difference between this wine and the previous wine made from the same raw materials. Although the Southern Xiongnu were a foreign race, they did not have tongues with opposite tastes, so how could they not taste the difference?
They might even feel that the Han people were giving them concessions in this trade, selling them wine worth ten horses at the price of seven horses.
The dissatisfaction of some people in the Southern Xiongnu and the hatred of the rising Xiutu tribes towards the Han Dynasty are two completely different attitudes. The latter must be suppressed by force, but the former only needs to make them realize the benefits of submitting to the Han Dynasty.
After the previous Protector of the Xiongnu General's forceful act of replacing the Xiongnu Chanyu, this Protector of the Xiongnu General can indeed live up to his name and implement a conciliatory policy.
If there is a way to make Wang assist him in accomplishing this "appeasement" without damaging his own interests, Wang Yang would naturally be happy to do it.
There is even a high possibility of making a lot of money.
And among the "fame" that Qiao Yan mentioned, which was both great fame and great profits, most of it must have been obtained by Wang Rou, which was equivalent to adding a code to their Jinyang Wang family!
The Wang family of Qi County produced Wang Zishi, who is now accumulating reputation in the subsequent suppression of the Yellow Turbans in Yuzhou. Although his position is not as high as that of Jinyang Wang Shuyou, who was promoted to the position of Lieutenant General of Protecting the Xiongnu, he can still be overtaken by the other side.
It is always a great joy to be able to add another bargaining chip now.
In exchange, he would report a share of the credit to Lord Qiao after achieving his goal.
When Wang Yang thought of this, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips slightly, but he thought that he shouldn't show it so obviously, so he tried to suppress it.
He said, "If it is true as you said, this matter is more than profitable for my Wang family. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a great favor. I just don't know-"
"Since you have tens of thousands of households in Leping and a lot of land, why don't you do it yourself? You should know that the private market in Xihe County has grown to a considerable scale. You can just take people there directly, and you don't have to go through Shuyou."
Qiao Yan shook his head. "That's wrong. Leping is not as prosperous as Jinyang. To fully recover from the natural disaster last year, we must continue farming and storing grain for two or three years. If we brew the harvest into wine and sell it now, what should we do if there is another drought or locust plague next year? This is no different from draining the pond to catch all the fish. I can't do such a thing."
"Secondly, the Wang family owns a winery, and both manpower and utensils are much more economical than what I can buy on the spur of the moment. And to dissolve the resentment of the Southern Xiongnu is not just for one family, but for the benefit of the Han Dynasty. In this case, we must understand what it means to specialize in a profession, so as to achieve our goal as soon as possible. My grandfather had the Han Dynasty in his heart, and he was buried in Leping, so Yan must not let him down."
After hearing these two sentences, Wang Yang couldn't help but feel that this Lord Qiao was indeed not a simple person.
If this kind of steady and sophisticated method was used on an opponent, it would be the most terrifying thing in the world. Fortunately, she obviously did not have the arrogance of an ordinary genius in dealing with human relationships. Instead, she established a cooperative relationship with them right from the start.
Qiao Yan raised the still warm wine glass in front of him and said, "Don't worry if you laugh at me. If you really want to explain, there is a third reason."
"I'd like to hear more about it."
Qiao Yan: "It is normal for people in this world to pursue fame and fortune. There is really no need to avoid talking about it. Wang wants the profit from selling wine, and the Southern Xiongnu wants the profit from trade. Can I, Qiao Yan, be exempt from this? Since it was mentioned at the beginning that it was a deal with Wang, I naturally want to make a profit. After all, Wang can give me this profit, so why should I let the people of Leping rashly engage in the winemaking business?"
"I wonder what benefit you want..." Wang Yang asked.
"Good breeds, food and horses."
After Qiao Yan gave this answer, Wang Yang laughed without any hesitation.
What kind of benefit is this?
Compared with the development of the wine industry due to Xin Fang, which further squeezed the Tang family's market, and compared with the political benefits brought by Wang Rou by selling low-priced wine to the Southern Xiongnu, Qiao Yan's only need for some good breeds and horses was no different from not giving money in Wang Yang's view.
Not to mention that Qiao Yan seemed mature and tactful in the way she acted and spoke, and didn't seem like someone who would ask for too much on such a matter. Her skills and reputation were enough to make Wang Yang willing to pay a part of the price to win her over.
Given the Wang family's status in Jinyang, it was not difficult to collect high-quality grain varieties, and horses could be supplied in sufficient quantities after a deal was reached with the Southern Xiongnu.
He immediately said decisively: "Just speak up, my lord."
He even considered whether he should select a good horse from Wang's collection as a gift for Qiao Yan. Or perhaps he should ask Shuyou to pay special attention to this matter in his future transactions with the Huns.
After learning the Nine-Brew Spring Wine Recipe from Qiao Yan, he finally felt relieved.
While handing the record of the method of adding ingredients to his servants, he invited Qiao Yan to have a good banquet at his place. During the banquet, Wang Yang heard Qiao Yan talk about how he had heard his grandfather talk about Wang Rou when he was in Luoyang, and praised him for having the style of a great general. The smile on his face became more genuine.
"Speaking of which, there is one more thing I would like to trouble you with, Elder." Qiao Yan said again.
Wang Yang was not surprised. What he heard from her was still something that was not difficult to achieve.
It was just that he needed to keep a low profile when he set out from Jinyang when transporting the next ten thousand shi of grain to Leping, and act more high-profile after arriving at the border of Leping.
Regardless of whether Qiao Yan wanted to create an image of surplus grain in the warehouse to reassure the people, or whether she wanted to let everyone in Leping County know that she had reached a cooperative relationship with the Wang family so that the government decree could be implemented, or whether she had some other idea, it would not be bad for their Wang family after all.
"Don't worry, Lord Qiao. I will definitely handle this matter for you. However, Lord Qiao's winemaking recipe only exchanges for 10,000 dan of millet and reduces the purchase price a little. I, who got the advantage, feel a little uneasy." Wang Yang thought for a while and said, "Let me make the decision. How about increasing it to 15,000 dan? Then I will send a few Wang family members to deliver it for you."
Why should Qiao Yan reject his gesture of goodwill? After all, the transaction between the two of them was a win-win for both of them, and there would be opportunities for further exchanges in the future.
The Wang family of Taiyuan, apart from Wang Rou who has now become the General of the Guards against the Xiongnu, his younger brother is currently the prefect of Dai County and will be the General of Andong in the future. He may have the opportunity to deal with Qiao Yan.
She cupped her hands and replied, "Thank you in advance."
After both the host and the guests had a great time, Wang Yang had the good seeds loaded onto the truck and then personally escorted Qiao Yan out the door.
Such treatment undoubtedly meant that Qiao Yan had gained the friendship of the Wang family of Taiyuan.
When she turned back to Leping, she saw Yang Xiu's extremely complicated expression at a glance.
Even though Yang Xiu had known before in Luoyang City that Qiao Yan's foresight far exceeded his imagination, otherwise he would not have been able to write the theory of feudal governors outside the Dingzhongguan. But today, comparing his proposal of seeking a deal with the Tang family to gain more benefits and Qiao Yan's statement that he could dump fine wine to the Southern Xiongnu and directly win the support of the Bingzhou families, these are obviously two strategies of different levels.
"How did you come up with this idea?" Yang Xiu asked after hesitating for a while.
"The night before my grandfather passed away, he told me about his career, especially his time as General Du Liao. He learned a lot from the previous General Du Liao in suppressing the Xiongnu during the months he spent training the army and raising the soldiers after he took office. He also taught me how to maintain a balanced relationship between the Han and Xiongnu."
Then, she knew about the Southern Xiongnu rebellion three years later from her overall judgment as a later person, and had to make arrangements in advance to avoid being affected by the Xiongnu rebellion in Bingzhou just after the Black Mountain bandits' incident. Even if there were mountains to block the way, it would be difficult to live in peace under the iron hoofs of the barbarians.
Then Leping can be said to be frequently affected by war, with no chance to breathe, let alone develop.
Qiao Yan added: "It's all thanks to you that you came along. If I hadn't wanted to give you a test, I wouldn't have thought of this."
This is what is called a flash of inspiration.
But this is what she thought. To Yang Xiu, these words obviously did not sound like human words!
He couldn't help but turn his head away to look at the other side, secretly complaining that no one would give others a test question while he was the first to answer an answer that was beyond the syllabus.
But he had to admit that he had benefited a lot from Qiao Yan's actions.
Even a man of such talent as Qiao Yan had to make concessions in the trade-off between fame and fortune in order to ensure that Leping could get a chance to develop. Yang Xiu wasn't even that smart, so how could he be so proud?
He turned his head back and asked, "Should I continue to study the method of brewing wine?"
"Of course not," Qiao Yan replied, "I asked you to focus on the Nine Brewing Methods before, just to come up with convincing results as soon as possible. Now that Wang's Winery is gradually adding materials, the scale will definitely expand, which is not comparable to us. But since we started it, I don't plan to give up just like that. I plan to use some clever tricks. In the past two years, you can watch some people research and improve the techniques and research and development of wine categories. I have other things for you to do."
Hearing Qiao Yan say "these two years", it was obvious that he would not be driven away easily, and Yang Xiu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"What can I do?"
Qiao Yan replied, "Since I am in charge of Leping, I need some people to handle government orders. However, many people are illiterate, and Leping is remote, so few officials will be sent here. It would be better to select some talented young people to teach, just like Xu Fu."
"Although you started learning at an early age, it has only been a few years since then. I would like to trouble you to write a manual for your learning. If you are unsure about something, you can ask Mr. Bo Ji for advice."
Yang Xiu accepted the task in a daze.
Perhaps only Qiao Yan could think of letting children write words to enlighten their minds.
But Qiao Yan vaguely remembered that there was a man named Li Han in the Tang Dynasty who compiled a children's literacy textbook called "Meng Qiu". There was a sentence in it called "Yang Xiu's quick answer, Luo You memorized it silently". This kind of literacy method that combines celebrities with their deeds can undoubtedly be adopted today. With Yang Xiu's talent for quick answer, it is undoubtedly appropriate to use it to fill in the entire literacy poem.
This is also less impressive than classics such as "Three Character Classic".
Naturally, she would not tell Yang Xiu what she was thinking, but Yang Xiu noticed that she spoke seriously when entrusting him with this matter, and it did not sound like she was trying to get rid of him, so he started to think about it on the way.
If you want to teach someone to read, you have to think about what characters he learned when he first started to read and write.
Of course, he wouldn't think, considering that Qiao Yan is almost the same age as him, why doesn't she do it herself.
As the Marquis of Leping County, Qiao Yan had too many things to do and had no energy to do this.
Cai Zhaoji could have helped with this matter, but Qiao Yan gave her another task after returning to Leping, so she had no time to spare.
Qiao Yan asked her to cooperate with Qin Yu to classify the good varieties brought back. They should first integrate the planting methods, write them down and copy them to the county officials, and then ask each household to come and collect them and register them to ensure that the good varieties can be distributed to every household and play their due role.
You have to know that Jinyang and Leping are not far apart, and the good varieties are not introduced foreign species. This is a real improvement measure.
Qin Yu, Xu Fu's mother, obviously knew more about Tian Sang's affairs than Cheng Li, Xu Fu and others, and was also quite knowledgeable in literature. She was indeed the most suitable person to be responsible for this matter.
Her bold act of driving here by herself impressed Qiao Yan very much. Her outstanding teaching of Xu Fu also made Qiao Yan eye her as a possibility for education. Now she could be put into the top priority of agriculture and sericulture. Qiao Yan felt that recruiting Xu Fu was really a good deal, and he generously gave her the position of Leping Hou's housekeeper, which was in line with Cheng Li's previous guess.
Qin Yu, who was given the position of prime minister and the important task of distributing good seeds, immediately led Cai Zhaoji into action in a swift and decisive manner.
After she received this important trust, Qiao Yan said: "Yu Ran is in a stable state. I wonder if I can attribute the stability of Leping to you one day."
This was undoubtedly a statement of extremely high expectation, and it also made her feel alarmed.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty when early marriage was common, Xu Fu was fifteen years old and Qin Yu was only in his thirties, which was not an age that could be considered old.
She originally chose to follow Xu Fu to Leping to seek refuge with Qiao Yan because she saw that her son, who had previously only wanted to be a knight, actually wanted to learn knowledge. She felt that Qiao Yan had a significant influence on him, and it was a positive influence.
If that was the case, why couldn't she follow the example of Meng's mother moving three times and go to Leping with Xu Fu?
But what she didn't expect was that Qiao Yan, the young county marquis, not only promoted talents in an unconventional way, but also promoted and appreciated talented and capable women.
Qin Yu's initial hesitation disappeared without a trace after hearing Qiao Yan's words.
Yes, compared to being recorded as "the mother of Xu Fu", how can it compare to leaving a book with your own name?
What's more, she is now Xu Fu's superior, and obviously has a motivating effect on him.
However, in this case, Qin Yu really did not dare to slack off and must complete the task entrusted to her by Qiao Yan.
Since the Marquis of Leping County is not wealthy, every drop of good seed must be used wisely.
Qin Yu had experience in farming, but she could not say that she was fully familiar with Bingzhou's agriculture and sericulture. However, she had lived at the bottom of society after all, so it was not difficult for her to communicate with the local residents of Leping.
When these county residents saw Qiao Yan bringing back the good seeds, they thought that these were things to be planted on the county marquis's own land, but they did not expect that they were to be distributed to them. After hearing Qin Yu's words, they seemed to be willing to tell him everything they knew.
Therefore, such scenes can often be seen in Leping County.
A woman in her thirties was in charge of asking questions, and a seven-year-old girl was in charge of taking notes.
Qiao Yan was quite pleased to see the farm work being carried out in an orderly manner.
With the tax cuts and the donation of good seeds to benefit the people, and the basic stock of 15,000 shi of grain, she can start her next move.
Qiao Yan turned his gaze to Zhao Yun. "I see that the war is getting ready, so I would like to trouble Mr. Zhao to come with me."
It was obvious that what Qiao Yan was doing was more like infrastructure construction than military armament, and Zhao Yun followed without objection.
If he had previously felt that Qiao Yan was somewhat unprofessional in promising to let him see her actions within a month, then after going to Jinyang with her and witnessing her performance and speech in front of Wang Yang, this idea had long since disappeared.
He earned the grain reserves in Leping by brewing wine, and used this ingenuity to target the Southern Xiongnu. This is definitely not something that an ordinary person can do!
Although Zhao Yun had never seen many heroes in the world, he felt that Qiao Yan's performance was the best in the world.
What made him feel that Qiao Yan was particularly worthy of the praise he had heard before was that although she had mastered these methods of making money, she was well aware of the practical principle of not exhausting the resources, and she showed kindness in both tax cuts and grain distribution.
Even though Qiao Yan claimed that pursuing fame and fortune was normal, and felt that the current situation in Leping could only be said to be developing in accordance with the law, Zhao Yun looked at what she did rather than what she said, and felt that it was indeed the right choice to place his hope of wiping out the Black Mountain bandits on Qiao Yan.
After following Qiao Yan into a room in the county government office, he was stunned.
Qiao Yan did not look back, but just looked ahead and said, "In the past month, during my free time, I built this according to the instructions left by my grandfather."
In the middle of the room, there was a large wooden board, raised to about waist height, and above the board, a mountainous terrain was piled up with mud.
During the battle when Emperor Guangwu defeated Wei Xiao and pacified Longxi, Ma Yuan gathered rice to form the terrain of a valley, and explained the form by pointing and drawing. It already had the prototype of a sand table. So the model that Qiao Yan came up with was not out of the ordinary.
But if the mountains and rivers in this model are like a miniature Taihang Mountain, and even the passes in the mountains are sculpted clearly, with mountains and valleys above and flowing water below, then it can truly be called a miracle.
Zhao Yun looked around the Taihang Mountains surrounding Leping and soon found the place where he met Qin Yu and Xu Fu mother and son that day. The environment of the depression here was exactly the same as he remembered.
This was a scenario he had never imagined before.
If it weren't for the fact that Master Qiao had been buried underground for a long time and was unable to provide any response or proof, even though Zhao Yun considered himself to be steady, he would have wanted to ask him how he had left such a record before.
In the book that Qiao Yan had held in his hand at some point, because he had never opened it thoroughly, he could only vaguely see some drawings of mountain ranges, and there seemed to be densely packed text recorded on it. Although the full picture was not revealed, it was probably a remarkable atlas.
But he soon had no time to think about how the map had been recorded before.
He saw Qiao Yan pick up a piece of wood from the side and press it on one of the spots at the foot of the mountain, and he subconsciously looked in the direction of Qiao Yan's finger.
This is a really clear and straightforward statement.
When Qiao Yan Yu Guangzhong saw Zhao Yun's performance, he couldn't help but feel fortunate for the decision he made.
Since the system already has the 3D map function, Qiao Yan would naturally think of making a sand table.
It was a pity that she was the only one who could see it. It would be more likely that miscommunication would occur when planning a battle strategy. But now...
Seeing that Zhao Yun had recovered from the shock of seeing this thing, she said, "The 15,000 dan of millet purchased from Wang Shi of Jinyang will be delivered to Leping soon. I intend to find a place to store it."
"The bandit leader in Taihang Mountain is not only agile but also cautious. However, if there is a tempting profit within reach, I wonder if they can still stay in the mountain."
What this meant was that the piece of wood that Qiao Yan placed was exactly the location of the granary she had chosen.
From what Zhao Yun saw, it was indeed not an ordinary position.
"I've heard people say that if the benefits are great enough, some normally calm people might take risks and trample on the law. And if the benefits are several times greater than the cost, they might risk their lives." Qiao Yan chuckled slightly when he said this. "Of course, this is an exaggeration."
"But no matter how exaggerated it is, there is always one truth: if the bait is tempting enough, even if a tiger knows there may be a hunter behind it, it will think whether it can not only successfully eat the bait, but also hit the hunter."
Zhao Yun saw her picking up something from the side while talking.
That is——
A miniature general's flag.
Even mountains, rivers, roads and valleys can be piled up here, so replicating a miniature general's flag is obviously not an impossible task. On this scarlet mini general's flag, the word "Qiao" is written in a way that really has a sense of wantonness and arrogance.
He suddenly thought that this might be the reason why Qiao Yan asked Wang to make a big show when sending the millet to Leping. Rather than calming the people's hearts, its more important significance was undoubtedly to disrupt the enemy's military morale!
He even saw Qiao Yan suddenly reach out and decisively and resolutely insert the flag between the Beishan and Taihang mountains.
In this movement that seemed like dropping a chess piece, there was the same chilling feeling as when she had mentioned earlier that the war was unfavorable.
When she let go of her hand and looked back, she didn't know whether it was because of the wind blowing in from the open door, but it was blowing the shrunken "Qiao" character on the general's flag to the field which was also shrunk to the size of a table.
Compared with the flamboyant flags, Qiao Yan himself was completely different from his usual calm and composed demeanor, and was even more aggressive.
Zhao Yun heard her tone was slow, but it was full of a momentum that was as frightening as thunder. "Although hunters don't have claws and fangs, they know how to use tools, dig traps, and control their companions."
This was obviously a continuation of her previous statement about the tiger and the hunter.
The next moment, she raised her eyes and looked towards him: "I am aiming to defeat the tiger, and I dare to ask you to lend me a hand."
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