About Cao Cao's reincarnation as the emperor's uncle

Chapter 18 The Bridge Family Woman's Ambition Soars

The revelry at the banquet didn't last long. Xu Feng had already taken orders to prepare for the afternoon's important matters, leaving Liu Fang alone wandering in the courtyard.

A gust of wind swept through, rustling the withered leaves onto the blue bricks. In the empty corridor, only the sound of his boots echoed.

Those who achieve great things should not be bound by trivialities. He stroked the jade pendant at his waist, repeatedly chewing on this proverb between his teeth.

But whenever he thought of Qiao Xuan, he felt conflicted. If he were to use this man's scheme...

The entire Qiao family is likely to be caught in a turbulent storm.

He paused, gazing at the winter plum blossoms in the corner of the courtyard, and murmured to himself:
"We must not let down the bridge master..."

Lost in thought, he suddenly heard light footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Qiaolan walking slowly towards him.

"Why is Lord Yuanyi lost in thought here? The wind and dew are heavy; be careful not to catch a cold."

She took out a silk handkerchief and gently wiped away the dew from the stone bench.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to keep you company for a while, Lord Yuanyi..."

Looking at her gentle appearance, Liu Fang felt a mix of emotions.

He slowly sat down, the cool stone bench seeping through his robes. After considering his words carefully, he finally asked:
"Nun, why didn't you go with Master Qiao?"

"After all, I am a woman, and it is not appropriate for me to enter Lord Weiming's house to visit him."

Liu Fang gazed into the distance, his eyes deep, and couldn't help but sigh:
"If only there were more people like Qiao Gong and Huangfu Gong in this world."

Qiao Lan nodded slightly, but a cloud of worry gathered between her brows:
"Although Lan lived in seclusion, she had heard a lot about the affairs of the court. However, she had a heart full of patriotism, but was constrained by her status as a woman and had no way to put it into practice."

After saying that, she sighed softly, her voice filled with helpless melancholy.
-
In common parlance, "小娘" is often used to refer to a young woman, while "姑子" carries a respectful connotation. People often refer to themselves as "小女子".

"君" and "公" are both respectful terms for men and are used in situations where people are unfamiliar with each other or where it is necessary to maintain proper etiquette.
-
Liu Fang's heart skipped a beat, and he turned to look at her:
"You're too modest, nun. Ban Zhao wrote books and established theories, Zhuang Jiang created her own school of thought, and Fu Hao could also be a commander..."

"If a woman harbors lofty ambitions, how can she be inferior to a man?"

His gaze was intense, as if he wanted to infuse his words with the regrets of his past life and the expectations of this life.

Qiao Lan's cheeks flushed under his gaze, and she lowered her head and whispered:
"You flatter me, Yuanyi Gong. I am merely a woman with a rudimentary understanding of literature. How could I dare to compare myself to the sages of the past?"

She looked up, her eyes filled with admiration, "It is truly admirable that Lord Yuanyi has the world in his heart."

Liu Fang waved his hand and caught a glimpse of half a bamboo scroll peeking out from Qiao Lan's sleeve, its edges stained with ink, clearly something she read often.

Qiao Lan understood immediately, took out a bamboo slip, and tapped her fingertips on the six characters "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette".

"This volume of Guanzi was annotated by my father when he and I read it together."

Liu Fang raised his hand in a gesture of respect, his gaze sweeping over the bamboo slip in her hand. Seeing the notes beside it barely touching, a slight smile played on his lips.

"Guanzi governs Qi...and this nun is actually well-versed in the 'Light and Heavy' chapter?"

Qiaolan rose to return the greeting and was about to unfold the scroll to show it to him when her jade wrist trembled slightly and the bamboo scroll fell to the ground with a "thud".

Liu Fang bent down to pick it up, his fingertips tracing the newly applied vermilion characters she had just written:
"'The Kingdom of the Sea King, with its strict salt policy,' does the nun believe that the state monopoly on salt and iron can strengthen the army?"

Qiaolan looked at the sparkling light in his eyes and suddenly remembered his conversation at the dinner table.

"In the past, Duke Huan of Qi dominated the feudal lords by relying on the art of managing the nine ministries of power."

She unconsciously took half a step forward:

"At the beginning of Emperor Guangwu's restoration of the Han Dynasty, the world had not yet recovered from the chaos caused by Wang Mang. The fields were barren and the cities were desolate..."

"In order to allow the people to recuperate, the imperial court issued a new policy, abolishing the old system of state monopoly on salt and iron, and allowing the people to boil salt and smelt iron themselves."

“Only in counties and prefectures that produce salt and cast iron are salt officials and iron officials appointed to collect taxes on a site-by-site basis. This is called the ‘site-by-site tax collection system’.”

"This policy continues the tradition of 'allowing the people to boil and cast iron' since Emperor Zhao, with the aim of benefiting the people and stimulating the vitality of all industries in the country."

"In an instant, smoke rose from the salt-boiling stoves along the coast, the iron-smelting workshops in the Central Plains roared with fire, and caravans of merchants transporting salt and iron came and went."

Her voice trailed off, her fingertips tracing the watermarks on the stone table:

"But now... the salt and iron policy has become deeply flawed. Although private enterprises have gained freedom, due to the lack of regulation, the price of salt fluctuates like the tide, being as cheap as mud and sand in good years and as expensive as pearls and jade in famine years."

“Smugglers formed gangs and carried weapons, running rampant on major waterways and land routes. Furthermore, wealthy merchants colluded with local officials to monopolize the supply of salt and iron, hoarding goods and speculating on prices.”

"This has led to impoverished people having no salt to eat and no iron to use, causing resentment among the people to deepen daily, and has become a major threat to the imperial court..."

Liu Fang frowned slightly. He had never discussed these things with Qiao Lan in his previous life, and he never imagined that she would have such knowledge.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Fang's eyes lit up with a smile, and he continued Qiao Lan's words: "During the Yongping era of Emperor Ming, there was an attempt to restore government-run enterprises, but considering that the people's livelihood was just recovering, he dared not implement it on a full scale..."

"Official offices were set up only in some salt and iron producing areas, and the products produced were given priority to the military and the court, while private salt and iron production could continue as usual."

"During the reign of Emperor Yongyuan, the rebellion of the Western Qiang broke out again, and the flames of war spread to several prefectures, costing a huge amount of grain, fodder, and armor..."

"Therefore, the policy of restarting the state monopoly on salt and iron was implemented. Once the edict was issued, all salt and iron workshops in various places were placed under the jurisdiction of the government, and production, transportation and sales were all controlled by the government."

"However, after only one year of this policy, chaos ensued. The quality of government-made salt was poor and the price was high, causing widespread discontent among the people. The existing salt and iron households lost their livelihoods and turned to theft."

"In the imperial court, officials submitted memorials one after another, vehemently criticizing the abuses of state-run enterprises. Emperor He had no choice but to issue an edict to abolish them and restore the old system of private enterprise."

"Nun... have you considered the difficulties of this plan?"

Qiao Lan suddenly flicked her sleeve, and the golden bell on her wrist jingled softly:
"There are no fixed laws in governance; advantages and disadvantages are interdependent. In the past, when Guan Zhong governed Qi, the state monopoly on salt and iron strengthened the army. If our great Han Dynasty were to follow this policy..."

At this point, her brows furrowed slightly, and she sighed softly:
"However, it's difficult to implement government orders at present. If we really want to implement state monopoly on salt and iron..."

The conversation suddenly stopped there, as it was ultimately inappropriate for a young woman to discuss politics.

Liu Fang naturally understood the principle of not speaking too deeply with someone you don't know well, especially since Qiao Xuan now held a high position, and as a daughter of the Qiao family, there were some things that were indeed inconvenient to say easily.

So he stopped asking questions and was about to hand the bamboo slip back when a sudden gust of wind swept across the plum branch.

Just then, two plum blossom petals gracefully fell, one sticking to the collar of Liu Fang's white robe, and the other falling into Qiao Lan's teacup.

He raised his hand and plucked a petal, crushing it in his palm, leaving a faint red stain on his fingertips.

Qiao Lan glanced at him and felt as if the young man before her was holding half of the sunset.

She lowered her head, but then noticed the thin calluses on the back of his hand...

For some reason, her mind wandered, and she fiddled with the folds of her skirt.

As the midday sun shone on the eaves, Liu Fang rose to take his leave.

Qiao Lan watched his figure disappear behind the hanging flower gate, and suddenly noticed that a line of small characters had appeared on the bamboo slip:
"Once the nun has a plan in mind, we will bring wine to celebrate."

The characters are strong and vigorous, like a knife, penetrating the bamboo back.

As she traced the words with her fingertips, she suddenly heard her heart pounding like a drum.

The plum blossoms were still falling one after another, and one of them landed right on the blue brick where she had just stood, as if someone had left a mark.

……

That night, Qiaolan rummaged through the bottom of her makeup box and found half a piece of plain silk. She ground ink and wrote:
"Looking around the world, I see men as beautiful as jade..."

"As white as a robe, it becomes even purer when shrouded in mist."

"Elegant as a clear zither, her words startle even the most restless souls."

"Its spirit is like the striking of a long spear, its sound resounding through the clouds."

"His ambition is like that of a swan soaring through the clouds."

The pen tip hovered over the silk for a long time before finally adding a sentence:

"I long to hear the sound of long spears, I long to see you spread your wings..."

Before the ink was dry, the sound of the night watchman's drum came from afar. Suddenly, he felt his face burning and quickly folded the plain silk and hid it under his pillow.

Outside the window, clumps of orchids cast dappled shadows in the moonlight, resembling the lingering floral patterns on the hem of someone's dress.

She suddenly recalled the line from the Book of Songs, "There is a beautiful woman, graceful and elegant," but felt it wasn't enough...

This person should be like a strong blade of grass in a strong wind, a spark in a cold night...

That night, the orchids in the west corridor of the bridge mansion slept more slowly than usual.

　Note:

　　①There is a beautiful woman, graceful and charming.

　　From the pre-Qin period poem "Wild Grasses Grow".

　　It describes a morning when the dew is still wet, a young man and woman meet unexpectedly on a country road, fall in love with each other, and are overjoyed.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)