Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 181 Inciting the Mountain Barbarians
"Shang Rang is a mere brat, easily defeated!"

When Gao Maoqing, the Jiangxi Inspector, learned that Shang Rang, a general under Huang Chao, was leading his troops toward Jiangxi, he couldn't help but stroke his beard and laugh heartily.

His understanding of Shang Rang was that this young new leader of the Zhenyi Alliance was easily manipulated by Qian Liu, a young general from western Zhejiang, with only twenty soldiers.

"Minister Gao, do not underestimate him!" General Zhong Chuan said gravely. "Shang Rang is also known as a cunning thief. Although he suffered a temporary defeat at the hands of Qian Liu, he should not be underestimated..."

Like Gao Pian and Gao Yan, Gao Maoqing also came from the Bohai Gao clan, but from a different lineage. Gao Maoqing's ancestor was Gao Shi, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty.

In the late Tang Dynasty, the title of "Puye" was often used as an honorary title for military governors, observers, and other high-ranking officials, indicating their rank. Gao Maoqing, who came from a prestigious family, obtained the position of Puye, hence Zhong Chuan addressed him as Gao Puye.

"Zhong Chuan, you call yourself a tiger-slaying hero, is this all the courage you have?" Gao Maoqing rebuked, his beard bristling and eyes wide.

He had a lot of opinions about Zhong Chuan, a local strongman who served as governor.

Zhong Chuan was originally a local tycoon from Hongzhou, Jiangxi. In the fifth year of the Qianfu era, Cao Shixiong's remnant army, led by Wang Xianzhi, captured Fuzhou but then abandoned it. Zhong Chuan, who had organized local militia to resist the rebel army, immediately led his troops to take over the chaotic Fuzhou and petitioned the court to recapture the city. To everyone's surprise, the court readily granted the position of Prefect of Fuzhou to this young man who was only in his early thirties!
I come from a distinguished family, and it wasn't until I was nearly forty that I was appointed governor. You, a peasant, how did you manage to climb the ranks faster than me?

In Gao Maoqing's eyes, there was no clear distinction between local bullies like Zhong Chuan and bandits like Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao; they were simply gathering a group of people to cause trouble and seek official positions. If things didn't go their way, these local tyrants could easily turn into rebels.

The imperial court's constant leniency and bestowing of high ranks upon these people is far too generous of them!

"Be lenient in assessing the enemy, but strict in defending against them." Zhong Chuan said awkwardly, "The number of troops from Jiangxi is insufficient. Setting up camp on the road and blocking them is still acceptable. It would be safer to wait for more reinforcements to arrive."

"Hahaha!" Gao Maoqing laughed loudly: "How could I not know about your so-called tiger-fighting when you were young? You were merely entangled with a tiger, and only survived when your servants arrived and slashed the tiger with their swords. How can you claim to have fought a tiger? Do you think you can use the same trick against bandits?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Chuan's face immediately turned bright red, and the veins on his temples bulged.

From a young age, he was impulsive and chivalrous, drawing his sword at the slightest provocation. If Gao Maoqing hadn't been his superior, Zhong Chuan would have stabbed him in the stomach with his waist knife long ago, a classic case of white knife in, red knife out.

Zhong Chuan was only twenty years old at the time. After a banquet with relatives and friends, he returned home drunk. As he passed a stream, a large tiger with black fur and white mane suddenly emerged from the forest.

Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger. Even from a hundred paces away, the stench of blood is already palpable.

Zhong Chuan was accompanied only by a young servant, who, seeing this, trembled with fear and urged Zhong Chuan to quickly climb a large tree to save his life.

Zhong Chuan knew that tigers could sometimes climb trees, and after drinking, he became even bolder. He snatched the white ash wood cudgel from the servant's hand and swung it to meet the tiger.

The tiger kept thrashing about, and Zhong Chuan dodged left and right.

After several fierce exchanges, the tiger snapped the staff in two with a single claw. Seeing the tiger's two front paws coming at him, Zhong Chuan was shocked to find himself unarmed. He shuddered, and the mountain breeze seemed to dispel the effects of the alcohol, giving him the strength to leap onto the tiger's back and grab its neck tightly.

The tiger roared and clawed wildly at the ground, raising two mounds of yellow mud beneath it, but it couldn't grab Zhong Chuan, and Zhong Chuan dared not let go.

After a long struggle, the servant finally summoned the household guards, who wielded swords and knives in a chaotic frenzy, killing the tiger on the spot, thus freeing Zhong Chuan from his predicament.

This incident caused a sensation throughout Jiangxi. Later, Zhong Chuan raised an army in Fuzhou, and his reputation for killing the tiger allowed him to gather an army of up to 10,000 men with a single call.

Later generations of enthusiasts adapted Zhong Chuan's story of fighting the tiger into the legend of "Wu Song Fighting the Tiger," which became very popular.

Zhong Chuanxin thought to himself, "The Inspector thinks I can't kill a tiger by myself and need the help of my servants. It's nothing special. Why don't you try fighting a tiger bare-handed and see how long you can last in its jaws?"

Gao Maoqing looked smug and asked, "When did we receive the report that the bandits planned to leave Wuzhou, pass through Lishui and Yongjia River, attack Wenzhou, and then enter Fujian along the coast?"

Zhong Chuan replied, "Ten days ago."

"Today, Shang Rang has invaded my Jiangxi. This shows that the bandits' eastward march is nothing more than a feint." Gao Maoqing laughed, "Shang Rang is just a child who can play some tricks of maneuvering and deception. How could he possibly fool my sharp eyes?" "Your Excellency is wise, I am no match for you." Zhong Chuan could only suppress his anger and offer flattery.

"If we wait for reinforcements from other states to arrive, the main force of the bandits will follow soon. Will the reinforcements from other states arrive faster, or will Huang Jutian arrive faster? If we don't eliminate Shang Rang now, will we be able to deal with the bandits once they have gathered in large numbers?"

Gao Maoqing was also dissatisfied with the prefects of the other prefectures, feeling that Emperor Xianzong's Yuanhe reforms, which distributed some of the military power of the military governors and inspectors to the prefects, were simply a waste of their time. Whenever it was time to send troops, these prefects would preserve their strength and procrastinate. This time, when he called on the prefectures to send troops, it was Zhong Chuan, that nouveau riche, who arrived the fastest—it was simply unbelievable!

Otherwise, how could bandits be allowed to run rampant like this?

"Your Excellency's insight is profound. However, I believe that we should proceed with caution in any case..." Zhong Chuan fulfilled his last duty.

"I am well-versed in military affairs, and I need no reminder from you," Gao Maoqing said coldly. "Zhong Chuan, follow me into battle!"

Gao Maoqing's self-righteous military expedition had a predictable outcome.

During the march, Shang Rang suddenly led a light cavalry charge.

Gao Maoqing laughed loudly: "The mountain road is treacherous and narrow. The bandits have arrived suddenly with light cavalry, so their troops must be few. We can attack them!"

Before the words were even finished, a dense mass of heads suddenly appeared on both sides of the mountain road, and one after another, barbarians with short hair and tattoos roared as they charged down the mountain.

Their weapons were crude, and they had few suits of armor. However, Gao Maoqing's army, in order to march quickly, rolled up their armor and carried it mostly on oxcarts, so there were not many soldiers wearing armor.

Zhong Chuan was extremely familiar with these barbarian tribes. When he first gathered local militia, a large portion of the soldiers came from these mountain barbarians.

After Cao Shixiong's death in battle, Wang Chongyin and Xu Tangju, two generals, faked their deaths and infiltrated the mountain tribes of southern Zhejiang. Shang Rang had already made contact with them, and once Inspector Gao sent troops to meet them, they would gather the mountain barbarians and attack from both sides.

Caught off guard by attacks from three sides, the Jiangxi army collapsed on the spot. Zhong Chuan led his troops in a fierce battle, blocking Shang Rang's cavalry. He then ordered his subordinates to use their kinship to persuade the barbarians attacking from both sides in their native language, and to bribe them with generous gifts. Only then did the barbarian soldiers allow them to escape, and the defeated Jiangxi army was able to flee in disarray.

Just as Shang Rang was achieving a great victory and searching the ground for spoils of war, Zhu Wen looked bitter.

Huang Chao adopted Shang Rang's strategy, but also anticipated that although Shang Rang could win, he could not annihilate the Jiangxi army alone. Therefore, he sent Zhu Wen with a light force to advance rapidly, intending to cut off the Jiangxi army's rear.

Unexpectedly, they were intercepted by Gao Yan and his troops, who appeared out of nowhere.

These mountain barbarians, scattered across southern Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi, are not only useful to Shang Rang. Many of the maids of Flower King Youdi are of barbarian origin; they are all short, with rough hands and feet, dark faces, and are extremely fierce.

There's no need to ask who summoned these mountain barbarians who blocked Zhu Wen's army's path.

These guys moved the wooden fences used to build the village down in sections and placed them in the road, and pushed large stones down the hillside, creating a solid blockade line in a very short time.

Although Zhu Wen reacted quickly after being ambushed, he still suffered some minor losses. The barbarians' arrows and javelins rained down, causing considerable casualties to the vanguard of the rebel army.

Tian Jun bravely charged forward, only to become entangled in rows of wooden fences and nearly captured alive by grappling hooks and nets. Zhu Wen risked his life to rush forward, wielding his sword to cut the ropes and nets, thus rescuing her.

On the narrow mountain path, retreating would make them vulnerable to pursuit, so they could only set up camp on the road, confront the enemy, and then make further plans.

Faced with such a predicament, it was certainly not that Zhu Wen was inferior to Shang Rang.

Although both were from the Bohai Gao clan, the two were perhaps more different than a person and a dog.

Compared to the boastful Gao Maoqing, Gao Yan, who had infiltrated the Ming Cult in his teens and devised a plan to dismantle Pang Xun's rebel army, was undoubtedly a formidable opponent.

(End of this chapter)