The soldiers accompanying were from the Northern Army’s five battalions, victorious under Qiao Yan’s command in the contest.

They held a certain admiration for this almost legendary Marquis of Leping.

Since the centurions did not restrict them, the soldiers who were asked did not hesitate to temporarily halt or rein in their horses, spreading the news of Qiao Yan’s appointment as Governor of Bingzhou.

Most passersby and curious locals in Bingzhou couldn’t fully grasp why Marquis Qiao had to go to the capital to confess for leading troops against the Xiongnu without authorization, but the outcome was undoubtedly favorable!

In short, Marquis Qiao had excelled in the contest to select the General of Northern Expeditions, and the Emperor in the capital saw her as capable.

Hence, after appointing the General of North, the Emperor also made Qiao Yan the Governor of Bingzhou.

The revival of the governorship system was still unknown to some less informed people, but the soldiers escorting Qiao Yan clarified that the Governor was the highest official in Bingzhou, which was easily understood.

The highest official!

This was undoubtedly uplifting news for the people of Bingzhou.

Though they didn’t know how long Qiao Yan would hold the position of Governor, at least, judging by her previous actions, they could expect a period of peace!

Han Fu suddenly felt someone looking in his direction.

Instinctively straightening his posture, he heard someone ask, “Is that the person defeated by Marquis Qiao?”

Han Fu’s expression froze on his face.

But remembering that before he left Luoyang, Yuan Benchu had specifically warned him not to conflict unnecessarily with Qiao Yan, he gradually relaxed and pretended he hadn’t heard such remarks.

Yuan Shao was right.

With her current authority over his supervision and military command, and her method of securing the position of Governor of Bingzhou, she could certainly make him suffer losses.

At least until he found a way to balance the situation, it seemed he would have to tread carefully.

For someone like Han Fu, this…

This wasn’t something he couldn’t accept.

However, as he looked towards the enthusiastic Bingzhou residents who had received the news and left, he found it difficult to understand why they didn’t find it strange for a woman to become Governor of Bingzhou.

He voiced his thoughts and asked Qu Yi about it.

Qu Yi replied, “Given the bold and martial spirit of Bingzhou inherited from Liangzhou, as long as Marquis Qiao is strong enough, she could proclaim herself ruler here without opposition. Of course, I’m just using an extreme example.”

He didn’t imply support for Qiao Yan proclaiming herself ruler.

Qu Yi was always straightforward, and Han Fu had known him for quite some time, so he took his words well.

But if what Qu Yi said was true, and the people of Bingzhou held such high regard for their Governor, Han Fu would have even less confidence in challenging her.

The only person Han Fu thought might conflict with Qiao Yan was the former Governor of Bingzhou, Cui Lie.

His behavior was particularly noteworthy to Han Fu.

Upon hearing that Qiao Yan had assumed the position of Governor of Bingzhou, and that Cui Lie had been appointed concurrently as Prefect of Taiyuan County and Prefect of Xihai County, along with the responsibility to guide Qiao Yan, he wore a pained expression for a long time before sighing, “Why so many more tasks?”

“…,” Han Fu felt it necessary to refresh his understanding of this famous man from Jizhou.

Was he lacking ambition!

Yet, despite previously criticizing Cui Lie as being nothing but a penny-pincher, Han Fu couldn’t help but think that in an environment where everyone must strive for themselves and their descendants, Cui Lie’s actions were understandable.

But from what he saw, Cui Lie seemed like a retired man idling around in Bingzhou.

If that were the case, holding the responsibilities of two Prefectures was indeed more tiresome than being just a Governor.

Then, almost casually, Cui Lie turned to Qiao Yan and asked, “Have you thought through the matters related to appointing officials? The Governor has far more subordinates than a mere County Lord. You probably won’t inherit my team, so I’ll have to bring more people to assist me.”

His tone, both explicit and implicit, matched that of someone going out to buy something today.

Han Fu then heard Qiao Yan reply in a similarly relaxed tone, “Just leave Zhang Wenyuan with me. I still intend to keep him in his position as Director of Military Affairs.”

Cui Lie nodded, “That’s fine. After all, he was left by the previous Governor, and it won’t hurt to switch supervisors now. Give me two days to pack up my belongings in the provincial government. You go back to Leping and stay there for now.”

…for some reason, Han Fu couldn’t get this conversation out of his head:

‘Today we bought some meat. Sorry, we’ve sold out. Come back in a couple of days, I’ll prepare it for you in advance.’

He couldn’t stand hearing those words.

Under the pretext of going to serve as General of the North, he left immediately, heading straight for Wuyuan County.

Qiao Yan watched Han Fu and Qu Yi’s figures disappear, unconcerned with Han Fu’s outburst at the moment, her gaze briefly fixed on Qu Yi.

Although she now had several fierce generals, being in Bingzhou and already holding actual authority as the provincial governor, more military leaders were always welcome.

Despite Qu Yi’s earlier defeat under her command in the Battle of Luoyang, he was undoubtedly one of the top generals.

As scions of the Qiao clan from Xiping, before leaving Liangzhou, most had led their family’s troops in battles against the Qiang, accumulating considerable combat experience.

Qu Yi was among the best.

In the Battle of Jieqiao, Qu Yi used eight hundred shield soldiers and a thousand crossbowmen in an ambush, forcibly repelling tens of thousands of cavalry under Gongsun Zan.

Anyone who heard this would doubt it was a fabricated story.

But it was indeed true.

He even pursued into Gongsun Zan’s main camp, and after withdrawing, rescued Yuan Shao from another of Gongsun Zan’s divisions.

Whether it was because of arrogance due to his accomplishments, or suspicion from Yuan Shao due to his rising influence, Qiao Yan couldn’t say for sure at that moment.

Without a doubt, securing the services of such a heroic general as Qu Yi would be a great boon.

But for now, he was within the borders of Bingzhou and there was no rush.

Qiao Yan’s first task was to arrange the positions of the provincial officials.

As governor, responsible for both military and civil affairs, she naturally had numerous subordinate officials.

Below the governor were two key positions: the assistant and the deputy. Qiao Yan had already mentioned the former to Jia Xu during their discussion, intending to leave it for Cheng Li.

As for the latter, Qiao Yan didn’t share Sima Zhao’s aspirations for promotion, but this position was indeed intended for him.

Then there were various clerks, each responsible for different tasks.

The clerical official managed the registration of grain and treasury stocks, a position which Qin Yu naturally took.

Previously overseeing agricultural affairs in Leping, and being steward to the Marquis of Leping’s household, this position was a natural progression for her.

The military clerk and the armory clerk were both military positions, but the former tended to oversee inspections and deployments during local conflicts, whereas

…including security matters within the provinces and counties.

Qiao Yan favored leaving Zhang Liao in his current role and promoted Zhao Yun from county officer to a higher position.

However, Qiao Yan had more military officers than just Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun at her disposal, so she needed to reward others as well.

Fortunately, there were more military positions in Bingzhou than just the military clerk and armory clerk.

As governor, Qiao Yan had the authority to appoint officials in each county to oversee governance and report on administrative matters.

In this special situation in Bingzhou, officials in Yanmen, Yuncheng, Wuyuan, and Xihe counties could all hold military positions.

Thus, Qiao Yan appointed Zhang Yang as the official in Yanmen County to assist Zhang Liao in combating the Xianbei.

This left one position open.

But she didn’t intend to split Xu Huang, Dian Wei, and Chu Yan into the remaining three places.

Compared to those three positions, they had more suitable placements.

For Chu Yan, Qiao Yan appointed him as the commander of the Menting Pass.

The commander of Menting Pass wasn’t like those village posts; it was a position to guard the main entrance of a province.

Where was the main entrance of Bingzhou? It was precisely the gap between the mountains, a position that only Chu Yan could handle to Qiao Yan’s satisfaction.

As for Dian Wei and Xu Huang, Qiao Yan appointed them as supervisor and assistant supervisor of the Inner Court.

The former continued as the governor’s chief bodyguard, and the latter, despite having joined her recently, she preferred to keep close.

So how to arrange the officials in Yuncheng, Wuyuan, and Xihe?

After all, Wuyuan has a General of the North’s camp, and Qiao Yan doesn’t plan to sever ties completely.

The relationship between the two sides still needs to be maintained. It’s better to keep the seat empty for now.

But for Yuncheng and Xihe, Qiao Yan has a suitable candidate in mind.

And that candidate is none other than Guo Jia.

She had discussed with Guo Jia before about him taking on the responsibilities of intimidation, assimilation, and deception on her behalf.

Her thinking hasn’t changed, so she appointed Guo Jia as the official in Xihe County, concurrently holding the position in Yuncheng County as well.

This undoubtedly facilitates his gradual actions.

With this arrangement, apart from the vacancies in Taiyuan, Shangdang, Dingxiang, Shuofang, Wuyuan, and Shangjun counties, there are two positions left.

One is for the position of assistant clerk, and the other is for the position of academic clerk.

The latter is straightforward; Qiao Yan plans to consult Cai Yong’s opinion.

She will ask if he’s willing to take on this role alongside his teaching duties at the Leping Academy.

After all, it could also help him build some savings, as one can’t rely solely

The students in the academy secretly handed him their fascicles.

However, the former—this was a position responsible for inspecting and recording achievements.

When she had just taken over as the governor of Bingzhou Province, she rashly placed someone in this position, overly aggressive in attacking various counties, so it might be better to leave it vacant temporarily.

This did not mean Qiao Yan had no intention of establishing this position.

After all, this was also an important source of credentials for the governor’s authority to impeach officials.

It was also the most suitable position to place a trusted confidant.

Qiao Yan intended to leave this position to Lu Yuan, but due to the gradual progression, she could only place her in the position of the chief clerk for now.

Apart from this were some standard low-level officials of the governor.

For example, Cai Yan, because of her young age, Qiao Yan first arranged a position as a scribe(recorder) for her.

As for what a scribe was, it was one of the categories among the twenty-five standard auxiliary officials appointed in each province.

The duty of these auxiliary officials was precisely to handle the administrative documents and decrees of the provinces and counties.

Therefore, Qiao Yan borrowed Jia Xu from the Ministry of War to fill this position.

Along with him, Xu Fu and Fu Gan were also being considered by Qiao Yan to be placed in this position together.

Jia Xu was adept at “survival tactics,” so Qiao Yan didn’t think she had the capital to make the other party submit as soon as she came up, or even to strategize for her.

However, it should be fine to let him play out the residual heat from his time of loafing around and clocking in, right?

Coincidentally, her Leping was facing the problem of being too young on average.

In terms of knowledge, she had Cai Yong and Cui Lie to help with teaching, but in terms of political acumen, it was better to entrust it to old hands like Jia Xu.

At this moment, Jia Xu, who had just settled down with his wife, inexplicably felt a chill behind him, as if he had been calculated by someone.

But for the time being, he didn’t need to worry about facing this pile of “burdens.”

In sequence, Qiao Yan had to meet one by one.

So she first met naturally with Cheng Li.

This scene really didn’t seem like a scene of communication between a newly appointed governor and the subordinate about to be entrusted with an important task.

Cheng Li calmly and unhurriedly reported to Qiao Yan about everything that had happened here in the past two months since she had taken over Bingzhou, before congratulating her on obtaining the position of governor.

And Qiao Yan just flipped through the scrolls in her hand, looked up at Cheng Li, and in the same steady tone asked, “Mr. Zhongde, should we fulfill that promise to change the name now?

That promise—

To change Li to Yu.