Zhao Yun had come to eliminate bandits, so how could he refuse Qiao Yan’s request?

The title “Junhou” was originally a respectful form of address for a marquis, and the character “Jun” carried considerable weight, suggesting a sense of entrustment.

Observing Qiao Yan’s demeanor and actions, she truly lived up to this title.

If she simply wanted to defend her territory with her feudal land and food allowance,

She could easily have mobilized half of the labor force among her ten thousand households.

With the personnel under Chuyan’s command, she would undoubtedly have the upper hand.

Alternatively, if she aimed to amass wealth, her previous improvements in brewing techniques could have turned grains into wine for profitable sale, resulting in considerable wealth.

However, every step she took exuded a sense of steadfastness, truly living up to the expectations of the ten thousand households in her county.

What struck Zhao Yun even more deeply was her resolute and decisive demeanor.

Even in his youthful and impulsive teenage years, how could he not feel uplifted by Qiao Yan’s swift and thunderous decision-making, akin to placing a stone on the board?

Almost immediately after Qiao Yan’s words settled, he replied with a respectful gesture, “I will do my utmost and not disappoint the trust of Marquis Qiao!”

For Qiao Yan, Zhao Yun’s commitment was undoubtedly a good start.

Regardless of his character, even without considering the records passed down to future generations, simply observing his performance over the past month was enough for Qiao Yan to make a judgment.

Although Qiao Yan appointed him temporarily as the county captain, Zhao Yun clearly didn’t treat his responsibilities as merely temporary.

He didn’t engage in any perfunctory actions due to the temporary nature of his appointment; instead, he genuinely demanded strictness from himself as a county official, diligently patrolling day and night.

Moreover, compared to newcomers like Dian Wei, he was naturally more familiar with the terrain of the Taihang Mountains,

Making him better suited for the role of leading the bandit suppression campaign.

Seeing his firm and resolute expression as he accepted the task, to the extent that one could temporarily forget his age, Qiao Yan knew that he would give his all to the task.

“Perhaps I misspoke earlier. It’s not about aiming for tigers but rather aiming for swift birds,” Qiao Yan said to Zhao Yun as she walked towards the door. “You are both the spear that captures tigers and the net that catches swift birds. Don’t let me down.”

With these words from her, how could Zhao Yun dare to slack off?

It’s said that warriors train in the bitter cold of winter and the scorching heat of summer.

Zhao Yun’s display of martial prowess at his age wasn’t solely due to talent; it also required a lot of hard work and dedication.

Now, with Qiao Yan’s statement that the time for bandit suppression was imminent, he needed to ensure that he was in top form.

He didn’t have the background of idle chatter.

The master named Tong Yuan, under whom Zhao Yun studied, achieved mastery in spear technique through self-study and rigorous training.

Although Qiao Yan wasn’t knowledgeable about martial arts, she intuitively felt that Zhao Yun’s spear technique, despite its roughness, possessed a natural and innate aura, which was even more remarkable than exquisite moves.

As she glanced back, she noticed a hint of provocation in Dian Wei’s gaze directed towards Zhao Yun.

“Do you want to give it a try?” Qiao Yan raised an eyebrow.

Not to mention Dian Wei’s eagerness for the challenge, she herself was curious about who between these two was stronger.

However, considering Zhao Yun’s youth and the fact that he hadn’t fully developed physically due to his age, she couldn’t help but feel that Dian Wei had the upper hand.

But for warriors, how could they demonstrate their full potential in life-or-death battles without experiencing combat and honing their skills?

After a moment of contemplation, Qiao Yan simply cautioned, “Be mindful of your limits,” before allowing Dian Wei to proceed.

The system couldn’t help but feel that this scene didn’t fit the demeanor of a strategist.

According to its understanding, a strategist shouldn’t be able to control two top-tier warriors in the world like this.

However, it soon noticed Qiao Yan retracting her gaze from the two men and suddenly asking as she turned to walk towards the county office, “Do you think I could learn martial arts?”

System: “Aren’t you a strategist?”

“Even a strategist needs to ensure personal safety,” Qiao Yan replied seriously. “There are always rulers in this world who may seem wise at times but foolish at others.

At those times, one must have the ability to withdraw.

System: “…”

Qiao Yan continued confidently, “Take Pang Tong, for instance, who died in battle. If I had the strength to fight, even if I couldn’t reverse a defeat, with abilities like Zhao Yun’s agility on Changban Slope, couldn’t I at least temporarily save my life and plan for a comeback?”

The system paused for a moment before weakly responding, “Your example are quite extreme. Besides, didn’t you mention personal safety before, citing Dian Wei?”

If we must delve further, Qiao Yan had previously mentioned that she would wait until she had garnered enough reputation to carefully observe and wait for a suitable lord to serve, aiming for a single decisive move.

But the system was once again puzzled by Qiao Yan’s sophistry, failing to recall this at the moment.

It heard Qiao Yan ask, “I’m just discussing the worst-case scenario, emphasizing necessity. Even if I were to train in martial arts, I couldn’t devote as much energy as a general. At most, I’d just be enhancing my ability to protect myself.”

The system felt like it could foresee the future.

Initially, Qiao Yan had only been improving her physique, ensuring she had the stamina to outlast other strategists.

Now, according to her logic—

Had the system truly seen the day when she would enhance her intelligence?

Of course, what left the system speechless was Qiao Yan’s immediate follow-up question: “Speaking of which, I remember you once told me a saying. You said—since you’re not the saintly system next door, then—”

“Do you have a martial arts system next door?”

[System: “?????”]

The system displayed a screen full of question marks, revealing its sudden silence.

“I’m not looking for any ancient martial arts secrets. I just wanted to ask if there are any conditions to exchange for some systematic attack techniques, like spear techniques.”

On ancient battlefields, weapons clearly followed the rule of “a short weapon is dangerous at close quarters.”

So, while Qiao Yan had used a sword as an adviser in the Yellow Turban Army, she had never considered making a sword her own weapon.

Compared to swords, spears were naturally much more suitable.

But tasks like drawing maps, setting up terrain, strategizing, debating, and organizing marches and formations were all things she could adapt to, even as a modern person.

However, using weapons, especially hardcore ones like spears, was not her forte.

Qiao Yan had considered seeking advice from Zhao Yun, but even if the mentorship relationship wasn’t formally established, it would undoubtedly introduce some additional interference factors between their original superior-subordinate relationship, affecting her directives to Zhao Yun.

This wasn’t a situation she was eager to encounter.

If the system could achieve this goal through some exchange means, it would definitely be more suitable.

[System: “I’ll go ask, but don’t get your hopes up too high. And of course, any trade will require bargaining chips.”]

For some reason, it felt a strange sense of satisfaction from Qiao Yan’s request.

Perhaps it was because its host think he was so capable and full of ideas that now he might uncover a bit of new territory and not just being an alarm clock and a map.

The utility of it all gave the system a taste of what it was like to be somewhat of an auxiliary system.

However, connecting to the neighboring system would take some time.

At least before the system could provide a response, the granary selected by Qiao Yan had already been quickly organized, and the grain convoy from Jinyang had arrived in Le Ping.

Just as Qiao Yan had requested from Wang Yang earlier, these convoys loaded with grain had departed from Jinyang city under the cover of night.

When they arrived in Le Ping, it was precisely when the local people were busy with agricultural activities.

This string of convoys, loaded with sacks of grain, was undoubtedly a spectacle worth watching for the local residents.

As for how they knew it was grain—

One of the sacks happened to have a hole, spilling millet onto the ground.

Watching farmers picked it up, saying, “This is fine millet, freshly threshed…”

The gazes of the crowd towards those sacks of grain immediately changed.

Freshly threshed meant that these grains were actually much more abundant than the one or two stones they usually talked about.

This was truly an astonishing stockpile.

Although every household had fields to cultivate, last year’s drought and the fact that this year’s harvest hadn’t arrived yet meant that almost every family’s granary was nearly empty.

It was only by combining the grains from all the households in the county that they could witness the quantity of grain they were seeing now.

Qiao Yan and the envoy from the Wang family of Jinyang looked at the convoy, feeling somewhat surprised.

They wondered just how much grain could be transported with the allocation of 15,000 stones decided by Wang Yang.

Qiao Yan had previously “robbed” some wealthy strongholds with Liang Zhongning, so she had a rough estimate.

However, this batch, sent as she wished, clearly exceeded that amount.

However, Wang Yang, as the head of the Wang family in Jinyang, wouldn’t likely make a foolish decision or give any improper commands in such matters.

The only possibility was that this additional allocation was a directive he had given to his subordinates.

Qiao Yan asked, “May I inquire about your master’s instructions?”

The servant of the Wang family replied, “Our master has a message.”

Qiao Yan unfolded the scroll and saw Wang Yang’s words.

He mentioned that after learning about a new fermentation technique, he intended to discuss trade with Wang Shuyou, the Chief Protector of the Southern Xiongnu.

Compared to Wang Yang, Wang Shuyou was evidently more aware of the extent of dissatisfaction among the Southern Xiongnu in Xihai County towards King Qiang Qu.

He had thoughts of mediation rather than outright military suppression.

Now, the news brought by Wang Yang was undoubtedly an unexpected development.

So, it was like sending charcoal in snowy weather.