Qiao Yan couldn’t help but suspect that Cai Zhaoji, in a sense, had inherited Cai Yong’s habit of blunt honesty.

She replied earnestly, “How can you say that? Mulberry grows in the Taihang Mountains.

Although it has not been processed and its quality is not outstanding, it is still a spirit of the mountains and wilderness.

Mulberry tree sap has a gluey effect, making the wax seal more secure to prevent deterioration of the gift to His Majesty.

And the mulberry bark we use to make clothes is only the lowest grade among them.”

Cai Zhaoji glanced at her and felt that when it came to sophistry, Qiao Yan was clearly a master.

After all, even if His Majesty saw this mulberry bark clothing, it would be difficult to find any flaws in her twisted reasoning.

The mulberry bark clothing was then tested on a county resident with a thinner physique.

Having experienced the cotton and feather garments of later eras, the resident’s evaluation of the mulberry bark clothing was inevitably biased.

After all, whether in terms of softness or warmth, mulberry bark was far from meeting the standards he was familiar with.

But it wasn’t the same for people of this era.

In the northern regions, most households used a heated bed, which had been around since the Shang and Zhou periods.

By the time of the Han Dynasty, the design of flue installation became more reasonable.

However, without firewood, the bed couldn’t be heated.

Maintaining a heated bed and cooking for a day required twenty kilograms of firewood.

In this long winter, it was undoubtedly impossible to stay indoors for so long.

And once they went out, they would be exposed to the cold, especially dangerous when going up the mountain.

The county resident brought in by Qiao Yan skeptically put on the peculiar-looking mulberry bark clothing.

He found that although it was not as close-fitting as ordinary clothes, besides maintaining the light weight of clothing, it was surprisingly effective in blocking the wind.

His physique couldn’t be compared to warriors like Zhao Yun and Dian Wei, who were resistant to cold.

He had shivered a bit earlier due to the sudden drop in temperature, but now that the wind was blocked, he straightened up.

He couldn’t help but marvel at this unassuming piece of clothing.

“I was wondering why Marquis Qiao wanted people to find those mulberry trees. The bark of this thing is really tough, and it’s really hard to bite through. It turns out it has such miraculous effects. Fortunately, we didn’t eat that stuff last year.”

“…”

“Marquis?” He noticed that Qiao Yan seemed stunned for a moment after hearing his answer.

But soon he saw her regain her composure and asked, “What do you think of this clothing?”

“It’s very good. It’s more resistant to cold than linen clothing, and it blocks the wind. If you wear a few more layers of clothing underneath, you can even go up the mountain in winter.” He reached out and tugged at the mulberry bark clothing, finding that it inherited the toughness of tree bark, so it didn’t stretch much even when pulled.

It might be torn apart.

It’s because of its resilience that, despite appearing stiff, it didn’t seem prone to breaking during slightly vigorous movements.

He began to quite like this item, then heard Qiao Yan’s reply, “Then wear this clothes.”

He looked at Qiao Yan incredulously, seeing her serious determination, and happily took the paper clothes and left.

As he walked away, Qiao Yan felt a bit distracted.

If before, she only tried making these paper clothes to prevent a decrease in the population during the winter in the county, now she realized the necessity was even greater.

Under what circumstances would someone say what he had said earlier about the toughness of the bark saving material for her to make paper clothes?

And yet, he seemed to treat it all casually, speaking with such an offhand tone.

He didn’t even realize the impact his words had on the Lord of Leping County.

Qiao Yan pushed aside his words and focused on making the paper clothes again.

With one finished piece, the direction for improvements became clearer.

The technique of soaking the peeled bark in a pool, hammering the bark fibers throughout the clothes, the number of layers of paper, and the shape of the paper clothes, all became more optimized with each sample.

The women in the Black Mountain labor camp played a particularly important role in this matter.

Qiao Yan first gave half of the first batch of paper clothes to them, while the other half went to the young and strong who needed to go up the mountain to chop wood and collect bark.

The need for warmth undoubtedly improved their efficiency.

After seven days, Qiao Yan saw the second batch of paper clothes.

They were getting very close to the paper clothes used in later generations for rewarding commoners.

One woman even tried inserting a layer of hemp fiber between two layers of paper during the steaming and hammering process, and someone else tried adding walnut seed oil to slightly soften the stiffness of the paper clothes.

Qiao Yan vaguely remembered that frankincense produced from the resin of the frankincense tree could achieve a similar effect,

But compared to frankincense, walnuts were clearly more accessible.

And since this plant oil could achieve the goal, obviously other oily crops could also be used as materials.

By the time the third batch of paper clothes appeared…

At this point, the model of Leping’s terrain in front of her had completely turned into a record of various crops grown in the mountains.

Although the Black Mountain bandits only occupied the Taihang Mountains for a month, during their repeated raids, they inevitably paid attention to various landmarks.

Highlighted in red on the map were the locations of the paper mulberry trees.

The rest indicated the whereabouts of auxiliary materials such as walnut wood.

Xi Zhicai didn’t find this map odd at all.

Using such a finely crafted map model for agricultural records might have seemed like a waste to him before.

But if this could record every detail of Leping’s land, saving a whole county, where’s the waste in that?

He noticed Qiao Yan looking at the terrain model in front of her, with a satisfied smile.

“I want to set the price of these paper clothes at twenty coins,” Qiao Yan said suddenly, leaning on the table and examining the various red and green markings in front of her. “By the standards of Bianzhou, the cheapest linen clothes cost about a hundred coins. If a household of five buys five paper clothes, it’s the price of one linen clothes.”

“Now that the autumn harvest is over, every family can afford to buy new clothes with their leftover money. Your estimate, Lord Qiao, is spot on,” Xi Zhicai replied.

Xi Zhicai found Qiao Yan quite interesting.

She seemed to maintain a balance — giving the countyfolk a deal while never letting them think she could solve everything or provide everything for free.

But this had a more subtle and profound effect than just giving favors.

It was more like a unique trading framework.

In this framework, they weren’t just buying clothes with money; it was like giving a small amount of money for a chance to survive under Qiao Yan’s rule.

With Xi Zhicai’s insight, if this trust accumulated to a certain degree, the habituated countyfolk would undoubtedly choose to adapt to Qiao Yan’s trading system.

Or, to put it another way, paying for survival, in a sense, was equivalent to paying taxes because they lived in this territory under Qiao Yan’s rule.

This kind of tax, in terms of its meaning, was vastly different from paying taxes simply because “Qiao Yan was appointed as the county lord by the Han Dynasty.”

His thoughts turned, deeply sensing Qiao Yan’s clever pricing strategy, but he continued to ask, “So, in Lord Qiao’s opinion, how should we deal with the Black Mountain bandits?”

“Borderland laborers, under the condition of having their food and accommodation managed by their employers, are paid 300 coins a month. Their situation isn’t much different now.”

“That’s true, but even at this price, I can’t afford it,” Qiao Yan admitted very frankly that she was still a pauper.

Even if she priced a paper clothes at twenty coins, in the whole county of Leping, she could only get a million coins at most.

Divided among the laborers of the Black Mountain bandits, there would only be a little over a hundred coins left, which obviously didn’t match the market price.

“But I also cover their clothes, provide firewood for heating,” Qiao Yan continued, “and their food is much better than ordinary laborers. Plus, they’re still half-criminals, so let’s say thirty coins a month. It’s still within their means, with a little over two months left.”

“The only ones who deserve special treatment are those who suggested adding hemp fiber between the paper and those who suggested using walnut oil to soften it,” Xi Zhicai chuckled, clapping his hands.

“You’re setting a precedent, Lord Qiao. So, I guess they can restore their status as ordinary citizens and be included in the household registration of Leping County.”

Under the Han Dynasty’s household registration system, if you wanted to move to a new place, you needed permission from the local officials, but Leping was a bit special.

Qiao Yan, as the county lord, had real local control, manifested in Cheng Li, the Leping magistrate, following her orders.

So, it wasn’t difficult to issue certificates for relocating household registrations.

Xi Zhicai had no doubt that those who received special treatment from her would stay after this invitation.

The stocks in Leping’s granary, Qiao Yan’s tax reduction decision, and the development of paper clothes undoubtedly had great appeal to those who had experienced hunger.

In this environment that seemed like a chaotic era despite the suppression of uprisings, these were particularly valuable.

“Not only that, according to Han law, the time for unified editing of household registrations is in August,” Qiao Yan shifted her gaze from the model to Xi Zhicai, “What do you think if I set next August as the deadline and limit it to three thousand?”

Choosing three thousand from the nine thousand Black Mountain bandits in August…

As long as she could maintain the current situation in Leping, these three thousand household registrations would be like bait placed in front of the Black Mountain bandits, stirring up competition amidst her original benevolent governance.

This undoubtedly proposed a kind of healthy competition.

Very clever!

However…

“I think Lord Qiao misspoke,” Xi Zhicai straightened his sleeves, suddenly bowed to Qiao Yan, and said, “Leping County isn’t setting aside three thousand household registration quotas; it needs to reduce one more household.”

With those words, a hint of surprise appeared on Qiao Yan’s face.

Three thousand, minus one household!

There seemed to be no other answer as to which household that would be.

Although Xi Zhicai had previously proposed a plan to help her calculate the three county magistrates, and he had tacitly agreed to help draft the memorial that would be sent to Luoyang later, he had only discussed offering advice from start to finish and had never said he would stay here.

But what he just said about settling in Leping undoubtedly showed a sense of belonging more explicitly than he was willing to serve here.

Although this settlement did not mean that he would introduce himself as “Xi Zhicai from Leping”

When greeting others in the future, and his decision also had something to do with his solitary nature and lack of many local connections, the underlying implication of this decision was,

He had quite a lot of confidence in Qiao Yan’s performance and was willing to bet on her.

Even if there was still a possibility of leaving later, at least for now, he was binding himself to Leping as a community of interests.

This was not a decision that a strategist with vision and talent would easily make.

At first glance, this sudden boldness seemed somewhat different from his usual leisurely and carefree demeanor.

But to Qiao Yan, there was no conflict in this.

For any strategist, hesitating too much in handling matters was an extremely fatal problem.

Afraid that Xi Zhicai might regret it, she immediately replied, “It’s fortunate for me, Lord Xi, and also for Leping, if you’re willing to stay.”

“In that case, I wonder how much Lord Xi’s salary is?”

Since the decision had been made, Xi Zhicai also showed a lazy look and a somewhat teasing tone, “I see that Lord Qiao likes to speak in terms of laws. Does the law mention how much a good drinker like me should be paid?”

Since he wasn’t speaking seriously, Qiao Yan also replied in a casual tone, “The law says, for a common laborer, the monthly wage is two thousand coins.

Most common laborers only have one skill, but Lord Xi can provide advice and make wine, so it should be calculated as two wages.

How about four thousand coins a month?”

The so-called common laborer referred to craftsmen recruited by the government at a standard rate.

Xi Zhicai calculated the current grain prices.

According to what Qiao Yan said, his standard wage, plus the many benefits of food and accommodation provided by Leping, was exactly equivalent to six hundred stones.

That was only slightly lower than Cheng Li’s treatment.

Considering the time he had served under her and the contributions he had made, this arrangement was obviously reasonable.

But she didn’t say it in a serious manner; she really said “the law says,” which somehow had a magical sense of humor.

In terms of her career, Xi Zhicai naturally admired Qiao Yan’s meticulous attitude towards Leping, and even this meticulousness was reflected in the model she built.

But if it was for a strategist’s evaluation of his lord, her joking manner seemed to be more to his taste.

Perhaps his decision was really not bad.

However, the next moment, he heard Qiao Yan say, “But forgive me for being straightforward; the standard wage for common laborers mostly applies to strong men. I’m afraid Lord Xi’s physique is still a bit lacking.”

“…”

“I cannot withhold wages, I can only supervise Mr. Xi’s drinking and eating during leisure time,” Qiao Yan said leisurely, watching Xi Zhicai’s expression stiffen. “I wonder, what does Mr. Xi think?”

What… what does Xi think?

Xi Zhicai couldn’t help but start to think, was it still possible for him to retract his previous decision?

Or—

Could he find someone to share the attention?