“Provincial Governor Zhao? Provincial Governor Zhao?” Liu Yi almost couldn’t resist waving his hand in front of her eyes.

Zhao Hanzhang came back to herself and withdrew her gaze from the distance. Turning her face, she smiled warmly: “Does Prince Beihai have any doubts?”

Liu Yi also glanced eastward and asked: “What’s over there? You were so lost in thought, Provincial Governor Zhao.”

Zhao Hanzhang said: “There are pigs over there.”

“Ah?” Liu Yi looked completely puzzled.

Zhao Hanzhang said: “I set up a ranch in Yonghe County. Besides raising cattle and sheep, it also raises pigs. Would Prince Beihai like to go see it?”

Liu Yi looked conflicted. He had already been in Yonghe County for two days. First, he spent a day eating and socializing with the county officials and gentry, then he went with Zhao Hanzhang to see the refugees she had taken in. Today was already the third day, and he wanted to go home.

Liu Yi didn’t really want to see her ranch. What was there to see at a ranch?

Herding was his people’s specialty. He wasn’t interested at all.

He was about to refuse when Zhao Hanzhang said: “Is Prince Beihai worried about the Xiongnu King’s concerns? Don’t worry, I’ve already written to your father telling him you’re with me. I’ll treat you well. I also want you to better understand our Han people’s policies for governing territory.”

“I’ve heard that your Xiongnu people internally strongly oppose the Xiongnu King’s Han governance. But honestly, looking at the entire Han dynasty, only Han governance can make a unified regime last for hundreds of years. Your five Xiongnu tribes now ostensibly all obey the Xiongnu King’s commands, but secretly, the five tribes each govern themselves.”

“Your father has prestige yet still cannot truly unify them. When you brothers take power, will you be able to command the five tribes?” Zhao Hanzhang said: “This shows that using Xiongnu methods to govern the five tribes won’t work. Han governance is still needed.”

She said: “Use Han institutions and have Han people participate in governance.”

Liu Yi’s heart pounded. He stared at her with wide eyes. “Why are you telling me this, Provincial Governor Zhao? You and I, although we’ve negotiated peace, are still…” enemies.

Liu Yi’s face turned red. He felt he was being petty. Zhao Hanzhang seemed to regard him as a friend, speaking so earnestly, while he still considered her an enemy.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him and said: “My goal isn’t to be enemies with you, but to want this world to be unified and peaceful. The realm doesn’t only have the Huaxia people, but also the Xiongnu, Jie, Qiang, and Xianbei. To the south there are also the Baiyue. If the realm is unified, these peoples should be the same as the Huaxia people. So I’m exploring with you the methods of governing people and the country.”

Liu Yi stared at her blankly. “But we’re just subjects. Such matters should be considered by the emperor…”

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head: “No. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the various states attacked each other. The people of that time all thought about methods to save their countries and strengthen their people. Only then did strong Qin unify the realm. The Han inherited the Qin system, which led to over three hundred years of unity. The sages of that time contributed greatly. Did they also think about these issues because they wanted to become emperor?”

Liu Yi was deeply ashamed. “I was short-sighted.”

His eyes brightened as he asked: “Does Provincial Governor Zhao want to emulate the sages and become a sage of this era?”

No, she wanted to recruit sages and become emperor herself.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him, then brought the topic back: “Prince Beihai, my domain has Han people, Xiongnu people, and Jie Hu, but the latter two are very few and mostly soldiers. As ordinary common people, I don’t know what kind of governance is best for them. So I wanted to ask Prince Beihai to help me look.”

“Since you are a Xiongnu prince and of Di descent, you should understand their living habits and needs well.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Yi was no longer in a hurry to return. After all, Zhao Hanzhang had said she’d already written to his father. Staying a few more days wouldn’t matter.

Moreover, he was very interested in this topic. Just as she said, his father had always wanted to implement Han governance, but the five Xiongnu tribes had always opposed it. He also wanted to help his father share his worries. Perhaps he could find good methods from her?

So Liu Yi followed Zhao Hanzhang to see the ranch.

The so-called ranch was Zhao Hanzhang casually gesturing broadly, pointing at a large expanse: “Look, this is my ranch.”

Liu Yi didn’t think anything was amiss. Looking at the endless dry, barren land, he asked: “Where are the livestock?”

Zhao Hanzhang said with a smile: “They’ll be delivered soon. Let’s go see the ranch’s layout first.”

“Ah?” Liu Yi followed along in complete confusion. “What do you mean they’ll be delivered soon?”

Zhao Hanzhang said: “Prince Beihai, I only took Yonghe County twelve days ago. Whether sheep, cattle, or pigs, they all need to be slowly selected and slowly delivered, right? So the ranch is still empty now and temporarily has no livestock.”

Liu Yi felt utterly helpless and asked: “If there are no livestock, what are we here to see?”

“To see my arrangements for the ranch.” Zhao Hanzhang kicked her horse’s belly and quickened her pace, leading Liu Yi to a large puddle. She gestured to the houses under construction: “Look, this is where I’m raising pigs. What’s being built now are pig pens. That area is for building sheep sheds, and that side is for cattle barns, forming a triangle that encloses this entire area. The activity range is also large.”

Liu Yi frowned. “You’re building mud houses. Why not use tents? Won’t the cattle and sheep migrate?”

“They won’t migrate,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “Look at the land in that direction. What do you notice, Prince Beihai?”

Liu Yi stared for a long time before saying uncertainly: “Flat?”

Zhao Hanzhang was stunned, then burst out laughing. “Put that way, it’s not wrong—it is indeed flat.”

The smile gradually faded from her face as she said: “That was farmland two years ago. But after your Xiongnu left tribe occupied Yonghe County, they turned this entire large expanse into ranch land, forbidding people from farming. Good farmland gradually became wasteland, only for herdsmen to graze.”

Liu Yi, whose blood carried half Di heritage: …

His face turned red again, this time from shame.

As Di people who were skilled at cultivation, he sometimes couldn’t understand some Xiongnu people’s behavior of turning good fields into ranches.

Clearly farming had higher returns—why insist on turning good farmland into grassland?

Liu Yi coughed lightly and asked quietly: “So is Provincial Governor Zhao going to turn it back into farmland?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded. “It’s only been two years, so it shouldn’t be difficult. So the grazing area is reduced, and migration grazing won’t work well. I want to plant some pasture grasses in this area, as well as grain and vegetables for raising pigs and cattle—more refined animal husbandry.”

Liu Yi said: “Can this work? People still don’t have enough to eat.”

“Don’t you Xiongnu feed beans to your horses and cattle?”

Naturally they did. Not only beans, but also highland barley and wheat. It was even more refined than raising people—raising horses cost much more than raising people.

Liu Yi instantly understood and nodded: “It’s worth trying.”

“I’m short of just one thing for everything else.”

Liu Yi asked: “What’s missing?”

“Good pasture grass,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “I heard that the Di people help the Xiongnu farm and raise horses, and there are two types of pasture grass that cattle and sheep particularly love to eat. What’s it called… alfalfa?”

“Purple alfalfa?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, that’s it. Do you have any?”

“We do,” Liu Yi said generously. “When I return, I’ll send Provincial Governor Zhao a few bags of seeds. Besides purple alfalfa, we also plant peas. Cattle and sheep love eating them too. After eating them, they become fat and robust, and their fur becomes especially smooth and lustrous.”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately looked at him eagerly.

Liu Yi instantly lost himself and proudly puffed out his chest: “When I return to Pingyang City, I’ll have someone send some to Provincial Governor Zhao.”

“Thank you, Prince Beihai.”

Liu Yi smiled so broadly only his teeth showed. “No need to be polite.”

—