Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 360: The Teeth Soldiers Are Crying
"The green grass by the river makes me think of the distant road."

"The journey is so long that I cannot imagine it. I dreamed of it last night..."

In mid-July, when war was raging in Xichuan and the people were displaced, the people in other provinces were not having an easy time either.

Except for the aristocratic families and large commoners who were officials in the court, the lives of the common people and small commoners were almost equally difficult.

In Yuanju County of Caozhou, there was singing and dancing in the Huang's mansion. But except for Yuanju County Magistrate Wang Shi, who sat in the main seat with Huang's father, everyone else looked unhappy.

After three rounds of dancing and music, Father Huang tentatively poured wine for Wang Shizhi and said:
"Summer taxes have only been collected for a month. May I ask why you are here this time?"

“Haha…” Wang Shizhi chuckled, but his eyes never moved away from the dancer: “Of course I’m here for the autumn tax.”

After these words were spoken, the faces of the Huang family members became even uglier.

They sold hundreds of acres of land to raise the salt money required by the government. Now Wang Shizhi came again for the autumn tax. Could it be that he wanted to take advantage of the Huang family before he would let them go?

Huang's father looked embarrassed and tried to say something, but Huang Chao, who was sitting in the main seat on the left, stood up and looked at Wang Shizhi, saying neither servile nor arrogant:

"County Lord, the matter of autumn tax is not difficult to discuss, but I, Huang, do not intend to do the official salt business."

Wang Shizhi's face suddenly darkened. He knew everything about Huang's affairs. Just as he was about to scold Huang Chao, he saw Huang Chao take out a letter from his arms.

"I, Huang, am planning to do some business as a dental merchant in Longyou Town. What do you think, County Lord?"

"Longyou Town?!" Wang Shizhi was stunned. He didn't expect that the Huang family could climb up to the top in Longyou Town.

He watched Huang's servant hand the letter to him, and then he opened it with suspicion and uneasiness.

The official seal of the Longyou Jinzouyuan was clearly visible on the corner of the letter, and Wang Shizhi's breathing paused.

Although this was only the official seal of an eighth-rank official, whose rank was far lower than that of a seventh-rank county magistrate, this eighth-rank official represented the officials of the Longyou Jinzouyuan stationed in Chang'an, that is, the face of Longyou Town in front of the imperial court.

With such an identity, not to mention a mere county magistrate of a middle-level county, even the governor of Caozhou would have to treat him with caution.

Because of this, after a moment of panic, Wang Shizhi immediately smiled and said, "I never thought that Mr. Huang had such a connection. So I will hand over the official salt business to someone else."

The two were talking about official salt, but everyone knew it was a private salt business.

Although Huang's father was also the head of the family, the Huang family had never produced an official of high rank, so he had always been servile to the officials in the yamen.

Now seeing that Wang Shizhi called him Mr. Huang and lowered his status by calling himself someone, Huang's father felt that the scene before him was unrealistic.

"In that case, thank you very much, Lord..."

Huang's father bowed to express his gratitude, but Wang Shizhi felt as if he had been stabbed in the back. He smiled and stood up to return the greeting, saying:
"There are still many government affairs in the county government, so I will not bother you here."

Wang Shizhi stood up. Huang's father looked at Huang Chao and said, "Erlang, see the county lady off."

"No need, no need..." Wang Shizhi just wanted to leave here as soon as possible, so he left the Huang Mansion without waiting for Huang Chao to speak.

After he left, the Huang family members immediately became delighted.

"Haha, this dog official also has such a face!"

"It all depends on my brother's relationship with Longyou, otherwise how could we have such treatment!"

"Looking at him like that, it's really refreshing!"

Huang Ye, Huang Kui, and Huang Cun were talking at once, and Huang's father looked at Huang Chao with a sense of relief:
"With this letter, my family's output will be enough to cope with the summer tax and autumn harvest from the imperial court."

Although they had lost their private salt business and hundreds of acres of fertile farmland, the Huang family still had nearly two thousand acres of farmland, with a considerable annual output, enough to support more than a dozen family members and their relatives.

But the family will develop, so I have to find another way to make a living.

Thinking of this, Huang's father said to Huang Chao: "Erlang, can we really become tooth merchants in Longyou?"

"Of course!" Huang Chao nodded, and this was the protection that Chen Ying gave to Huang Chao.

After Huang Chao returned to Yuanju County at the end of last week, he had the confidence to deal with Wang Shizhi.

If Dou Yun's letter could not save them, then he could only ask Chen Ying to write a letter personally and deliver it to the Caozhou government office.

Fortunately, Wang Shizhi bullies the weak and fears the strong. Huang Chao didn't even bring up Chen Ying, but he was frightened by Dou Yun's mark.

"Aye, now that the private salt trade is no longer in operation, what should we do with the servants and salt farmers we employ?"

Huang Kui's words put a problem before the Huang family's descendants.

In the past, in order to ensure that the private salt trade was not robbed by bandits, they had to support many servants and salt merchants.

It is easier for salt households, as they can transfer their business to other private salt dealers and even take the opportunity to make some money (brokerage fees), but this is not the case for domestic servants.

These servants have lived in the Huang Mansion since childhood, so it is naturally impossible to dismiss them easily.

"How many servants are there in this mansion?" Huang Chao turned around and asked his younger brother with a calm expression.

Huang Kui heard this and said without hesitation: "One hundred and twenty-two people."

"It's not that much..." Huang Chao's words shocked everyone. Before anyone could speak, Huang Chao said to Huang's father:
"If my family wants to run a dental business, we will naturally be short of manpower."

"You have seen what the world is like now, Aye."

"Before this, Wang Xianzhi and Pang Xun rebelled and almost reached Caozhou first."

"If they come to Caozhou to cause chaos, our fertile land will be worthless, and we can only escape with some gold and silver."

"Although Wang and Pang have been forced into the mountains by the government troops, the imperial court has increased taxes again, and I'm afraid there will be more thieves."

"I want to sell the good farmland outside the city and earn money to do some business."

"If there are bandits causing trouble again, we can buy the land at a low price and seek shelter with the help of the Longyou merchants."

Huang Chao's words made Huang's father nod his head. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Aye is old, and you still have to take charge of this family."

"Forget it. From today on, you are the head of the family. All household affairs will be left to you."

"Yes..." Huang Chao did not refuse, but agreed decisively.

Father Huang stood up with satisfaction upon seeing this, and returned to the inner hall with the help of the servants.

After Huang's father left, Huang Kui and his men looked at Huang Chao and asked, "Brother, what kind of business are we going to do?"

In response to their inquiry, Huang Chao said calmly: "The world is getting chaotic. Let's sell the good farmland first and buy some iron materials to stockpile."

"By the way, don't sell the farm outside the city. It can be used to store iron materials and make some defensive swords and bows and arrows."

The imperial court did not ban bows and arrows and other defensive weapons such as swords, but armor and crossbows were military equipment and were strictly prohibited items.

"Okay!" Huang Kui and others nodded excitedly when they heard Huang Chao say this.

Huang Cun and Lin Yan, two young men, asked, "Uncle, I heard that the Longyou Army has clear rewards and punishments. Do you think we can join the army?"

Huang Chao was silent for a moment after hearing their words. It was not until their eyes gradually turned disappointed that he said, "Yes!"

The two were excited when they heard this and started praising each other. Huang Chao then instructed Huang Kui and Huang Ye to sell their land, buy iron materials, and then walked out.

As soon as he walked out of the main hall, Huang Zhou followed him.

The two men walked out of the Huang Mansion and took a carriage out of the city.

In the carriage, Huang Zhou showed a flash of hesitation, but Huang Chao closed his eyes and said, "Ask whatever you want to ask."

"Yes..." Huang Zhou took a breath and then asked:
"My dear, why did you lie to the old general and the third general? General Chen's letter did not mention that we should become tooth dealers."

When Huang Chao heard this, Chen Ying's letter flashed through his mind.

The letter sent by Chen Ying did not mention anything about dental merchants, because he was very clear about how dangerous the situation in Longyou was now. If he invited Huang Chao to be a dental merchant in Longyou, it would only harm him, not help him.

Because of this, he wrote two separate letters.

The first letter was written to an official in Caozhou, claiming that Huang Chao was his old friend and hoping that he would take care of him.

The second letter invited Huang Chao to go to Longyou. He was willing to recommend Huang Chao to Liu Jilian. At the very least, he could get a ninth-rank clerk in the Protectorate.

With Chen Ying's help, Huang Chao would be able to reach at least the seventh or even sixth rank in three to five years.

You should know that many Jinshi who passed the imperial examination were usually not awarded very high official positions unless they came from a prominent family.

For someone like Huang Chao, who came from a minor commoner family, not only would he not be able to pass the imperial examination to become a Jinshi, even if he did, he would only be a seventh-rank county magistrate, a sixth-rank governor, or a Sima in his life.

With Chen Ying's promise, if Huang Zhoulai made a choice, he would probably immediately move his family to Longyou and serve as an official according to Chen Ying's arrangement.

Because of this, Huang Zhou was very puzzled. He didn't understand why his husband declined Chen Ying's invitation and even lied that he had become a dental dealer in Longyou and sent people to sell fertile land and buy iron materials.

Facing his confusion, Huang Chao slowly said, "Huang Zhou, what do you think of Wang Xianzhi?"

"Wang Xianzhi? That thief?" Huang Zhou was stunned, thinking of Wang Xianzhi who had been hiding in Dabie Mountains for nearly a year without any news.

Seeing Huang Chao nod, Huang Zhou then spoke: "That bandit leader had good luck. After he turned from a bandit, he was recruited into the government army and became a general." "It's a pity that he rebelled in the end, otherwise he would be considered a person with a say in the Tianping Army now."

"I never thought that this man was just a scoundrel in the past, selling salt honestly, but in the end he could cause unrest in more than a dozen states."

At the end, Huang Zhou even felt a little admiration for Wang Xianzhi, but before he could express his admiration, the carriage stopped.

Huang Chao got off the carriage without saying a word, and Huang Zhou followed closely behind him.

Behind the two men was a large tract of fertile farmland, and in front of them was a farm covering more than ten acres.

All the fertile fields nearby belonged to the Huang family, and Zhuangzi was where the Huang family stored grain during the summer and autumn harvests.

Huang Chao glanced at Zhuangzi and then said, "Go find some people in a few days to raise the wall of this village by three feet, and invite some blacksmiths to come."

"Blacksmith?" Huang Zhou was puzzled, but Huang Chao looked calm: "Yes, blacksmith..."

Huang Zhou seemed to understand, but he still followed Huang Chao's instructions and recruited a number of blacksmiths.

Although blacksmithing is a skill that will ensure one's livelihood, in this world, blacksmith shops open in the morning, government officials come to collect taxes at noon, and soldiers come in the afternoon to have the blacksmith repair their weapons.

Without a background, even if one has skills, they will be wiped out in this cannibalistic world, so many craftsmen choose to join aristocratic families and large common people.

Huang Chao's reputation was very famous not only in Yuanju County, but also in Caozhou, so he recruited many craftsmen very smoothly.

Everyone else thought he was going to sell self-defense weapons and didn't think much about it.

However, while he was selling off his properties and recruiting craftsmen, the war in Xichuan had already reached a fever pitch...

"kill!!!"

Therefore, outside Taoguan, there was constant war and the troops of Duokang Tubo poured in like a tide.

Countless Tibetan soldiers pushed the Cloud Cart, the Nest Cart and the Lu Gong Cart, slowly approaching the pass.

The cloud chariot towered into the clouds. The Tibetan soldiers hid behind heavy wooden boards and slowly advanced, trying to get close to the city wall.

On the nest chariots, Tibetan archers kept shooting arrows at the top of the city, and the arrows rained down like locusts, while the Tang army of Fengxiang Army and Shannan West Army also kept responding with bows and crossbows.

"Bam—"

The crossbow cart was fired, and several huge hook-and-sickle crossbow arrows as big as spears pierced through the nest cart. There were iron rings and ropes at the tails of the crossbow arrows as tall as a person.

When the Tang army saw that the nest car was shot through, they immediately began to pull the ropes, trying to pull the nest car down.

However, the nest car is so heavy that it cannot be pulled down by human power alone.

The Tang army on the horse road was not discouraged. They immediately threw pottery jars filled with kerosene at the nest car and cloud car, and then used rockets to ignite the kerosene.

A huge fire with black smoke continued to burn. Dozens of Tibetans pushed battering rams into the corridor and began to ram the city gate, making a deafening roar.

When the Tang army noticed this, they immediately poured asphalt into the mechanism and then lit the torches.

The fire ignited the battering rams and countless Tibetan soldiers. They wailed and fled. Even though they jumped into the moat, they could not be treated for their burns and were eventually killed by the supervisory team...

Countless Tibetans were still charging, and the catapults in the rear never stopped.

More than fifty catapults fired continuously, and huge rocks streaked across the sky like meteors and smashed into the city walls of Gutao Pass.

The Tang army's catapults inside the pass were not to be outdone and quickly fought back.

Stones as big as human heads flew through the air, making a dull whistling sound.

Occasionally a stone would miss its target and hit one of our own people, and the screams were instantly drowned out by the noise of the battlefield.

In this life-and-death battlefield, such mistakes have become commonplace, and no one would care whether the dead were hit by stones thrown by the enemy or accidentally injured by their own side.

Therefore, Taoguan was built against the mountain, and next to the pass was the surging Yangtze River (Minjiang River). The river water was rushing endlessly, but it could not cover the sound of fighting on the battlefield.

On the horse trail at the pass, the bodies of the foreign soldiers were piled up in pieces and the ground was dyed red with blood.

The officers and soldiers of Fengxiang Town and Shannan West Road had already become numb. They simply threw the bodies into the Yangtze River, leaving them to float and sink in the water. Soon, they were swept downstream by the rushing water and disappeared into the distance.

"Damn it! These Tibetans are dying!!"

During the fight, fear gradually arose in Li Changyan's heart, while his younger brother Li Changfu guarded him with more than ten armored soldiers.

"Brother, we can't defend Gutao Pass anymore. Our morale is gone!"

Li Changfu shouted loudly, and Li Changyan realized that after five days of fighting, half of the Fengxiang army had been killed or injured, and there were less than two thousand people who could still fight.

"Commander-in-Chief, we are here to make money, not to lose our lives in a foreign land!"

"Damn it, if reinforcements don't arrive from Chengdu, we won't defend it!"

After finally repelling another round of attack from the foreign soldiers, the Fengxiang army started to make a fuss.

Li Changyan was timid in his heart. Although he was reluctant to give up his money, he valued his life more.

In five days, thousands of foreign soldiers died, and thousands of Fengxiang soldiers also died.

If this continued, Gutaoguan would be defended, but he would not be able to keep his position as the Left Military Commander.

Thinking of this, Li Changyan wanted to retreat, and at this time Wang Fuyan also came quickly with more than ten soldiers.

"Damn it, Li Changyan, you want to run away?!"

Wang Fuyan naturally heard the clamor of the Fengxiang Army. He thought that Li Changyan wanted to escape, so he hurried over to question Li Changyan.

Seeing Wang Fuyan coming, Li Changyan immediately said, "We can't defend Gutao Pass anymore. Are you going to retreat to Guankou with me, or are you going to defend this place to the death?"

"Let's see who dares to leave!!" Wang Fuyan roared angrily, scaring Li Changyan.

"You bastard, how dare you block Ye Ye's way to survival?!"

The soldiers of Fengxiang Army didn't care about all this. They only knew that they had been defending for five days, 30% of their brothers had died, and no reinforcements had arrived.

Their hometown was far away in Fengxiang, and they came to Xichuan just to earn some rewards, and had never thought of burying their bones in a foreign land.

Now they were finally about to retreat, but Wang Fuyan showed up unexpectedly. They were naturally annoyed.

"If you dare to desert the battlefield, I will report this to the Heavenly Emperor!!"

Wang Fuyan stared with his eyes wide open, thinking that he could scare the soldiers of Fengxiang Town, but he saw that the soldiers of Fengxiang Town actually approached him.

"Stop, what are you doing?!"

Li Changyan was shocked, but he didn't dare to let his soldiers kill Wang Fuyan.

"Commander-in-Chief, this bastard dared to block our way to survival, how can we not kill him?!"

"Yes! Kill him!"

"Kill, kill, kill!!"

The soldiers of Fengxiang Town approached Wang Fuyan while making noises. Wang Fuyan broke out in a cold sweat. He did not expect that the soldiers of Fengxiang Town would even dare to touch him.

Li Changyan looked at Wang Fuyan and said, "We can't defend Gutao Pass anymore. If you withdraw with us now, my brothers and I will not pursue the matter any further!"

He made a look at Wang Fuyan, who hesitated when he saw this. But when he saw the soldiers from Fengxiang Town approaching, he finally nodded and said, "Kill the talented people, do it!"

Seeing Wang Fuyan agreed, Li Changyan raised his arm and said, "It is still noon, it is not the time to withdraw the troops."

"If you believe in me, brothers, then stay with me until nightfall. After nightfall, we will retreat to Guankou together!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers of Fengxiang Town looked at each other in bewilderment and finally put away their weapons.

Wang Fuyan and Li Changyan breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this, but at this time the sound of horns and drums could be heard again outside the pass.

"Damn it, here they come again!!"

The two of them cursed in unison.

The Fengxiang soldiers who were still clamoring also returned to their bases. Seeing this, Li Changyan hurriedly grabbed Wang Fuyan:
"Damn it, if you want to leave, you need to speak with one voice!"

"Tell me, how many foreign soldiers are there outside Gutao Pass?!"

Wang Fuyan had not yet gotten over the fierce gazes of the Fengxiang Town soldiers. Now that he was questioned by Li Changyan, he said with a pale face: "Five... no, one hundred thousand!"

"That's right, it's one hundred thousand!" Li Changyan nodded firmly, then looked at his younger brother Li Changfu.

"Erlang, send a message to Chengdu with light cavalry, saying that Tubo has led 100,000 troops to attack, and our army has held out for five days without any help. The pass is about to fall. Please ask Supervisor General Yang to send reinforcements to hold Guankou firmly!"

"Yes!" Li Changfu agreed without hesitation, and then hurriedly sent light cavalry to Chengdu to deliver the message.

At the same time, the soldiers of Duokang Tubo also attacked again...

(End of this chapter)