Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 149: Blessing and Disaster
The plum rains in the Jianghuai region begin in mid-May and last until mid-June.

The heavy rain brought military drills and government affairs to a standstill, so Zhao Huai'an simply gave everyone a day off and allowed them to find their own accommodations in the public housing near the government office.

After Zhao Huai'an entered Dingcheng, he inquired about the money in the Guang Prefecture government office's accounts and then used the public funds from lending to buy a cluster of houses near the government office to use as accommodations for the staff.

Although Dingcheng is not large, if people live scattered, it can still be quite inconvenient to find someone if something comes up unexpectedly.

Moreover, Zhao Huai'an was well aware that the best way for a group to maintain cohesion was to stay close together geographically.

The brothers live close to each other, which not only makes it convenient for them to work, but also allows their families to help each other out. They can quickly become close friends.

In his previous life, Zhao Huai'an was a factory worker's son, so he knew very well the relationship between his neighbors when he was a child. They were colleagues and neighbors, and their feelings for each other were even closer than those for some relatives.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an also borrowed this experience and started by living together to form a core community of shared interests.

Besides having aligned interests, brotherhood is also very important, even more so than pure interests.

Human beings are rarely purely driven by self-interest; most people are driven by a combination of interests and emotions.

However, Zhao Huai'an couldn't pay for this, because theoretically, this accommodation area was allocated to the officials of the prefecture, the shogunate, and the military academy. It was public property, not private property, so of course, it had to be paid for with money from the public account.

Then Zhao Huai'an instructed Hong Yanshi to retrieve all the principal from the public funds that had been lent out, and he used most of the money to buy a house.

Many officials in the prefectures and courts were very dissatisfied with this, because this money was being lent out to pay their salaries. Now that the principal was less, where would their salaries come from?

But Zhao Huai'an told them that not only would their salaries not be reduced, but he would also evaluate the performance of the state officials every quarter, and those who received good evaluations would receive bonus salaries.

Everyone is happy to receive more money, but actions speak louder than words. They only believed the governor's words after they received their first month's salary.

In fact, Zhao Huai'an was quite serious about this matter; he wasn't just making empty threats.

When he was in Xichuan, he looked down on the current government system, which used usury to pay employees' salaries. He considered it a disgrace to the founders!

Now that Zhao Huai'an has established a trade network and identified core products and corresponding business strategies, all that's left is to secure upstream manufacturers as stable suppliers.

Once this part is filled, it's no exaggeration to say that Zhao Da will take off!
Even when tea taxes were still very rudimentary in the Tang Dynasty, it was still possible to earn 800,000 strings of cash a year. Following Lao Wu's method, he focused on intensive cultivation and controlled only the tea-producing area of ​​Huainan, and he was able to earn that much money.

It's been raining outside these past few days, and his subordinates have been moving into their new homes one after another. Zhao Huai'an, on the other hand, has been hiding in the small hall, spending most of his time studying this tea-making method, except for occasionally indulging in some romantic pursuits.

He discovered that Lao Wu's approach was rather rudimentary, essentially resembling that of Moutai. Those who wanted to purchase Moutai had to first pay a distribution fee to become distributors, and then pay for the goods before they could receive them.

In essence, this method allows Moutai to transfer all of its operational risks to its distributors at various levels.

The same principle applies to Lao Wu's trading market: monopolizing the market for premium goods and then earning profits from distribution fees and the products themselves.

Even so, this method can still make a lot of money; otherwise, Maozi wouldn't have become the Maozi of China.

But these past few days, with the blessing of countless "wise man" modes, Zhao Huai'an has seen a much larger aspect of this business model.

This is the unassuming tea maker.

In Wu Xuanzhang's eyes, the tea token he used was nothing more than a piece of paper, but in Zhao Huai'an's eyes it was clearly a piece of paper money!
Moreover, he doesn't need to take such a big step; he can start by using barter.

For example, when tea merchants come to Gwangju to buy tea, don't they first have to pay for a tea permit? But you can pay money. When you arrive by ship, you can bring the goods that Gwangju needs and exchange them for tea permits according to the quantity of goods.

To the tea merchants, this was nothing more than bartering, and the tea certificate was dispensable. But Zhao Huai'an knew that the tea certificate was the real culprit.

As long as the tea license system is used for a long time and tea merchants trust the tea license, the phenomenon of privately trading tea licenses will naturally emerge.

The logic is simple: sometimes business is about taking risks, and high returns naturally come with high risks.

For example, a tea merchant might impulsively spend money to buy a quota of 10,000 jin (5,000 kg) of tea. However, after a few days, he might realize he acted rashly, as his distribution channels wouldn't be able to handle 10,000 jin of tea. In this situation, if he doesn't want his money to go down the drain, what would he do? He would inevitably seek out other tea merchants to sell his tea quota.

Because you are timid, but there are always bold people; you are weak, but there are always stronger people. They are eyeing the profits from this batch of tea and will buy at your bottom when you dare not take the risk.

Of course, if he makes a wrong judgment, he will suffer a greater loss, but if he is right, he can make a big profit from this deal!
That's what businessmen are like. They never make money from simply exchanging goods; they make money from boldness and risk!
In this era, no one understands this kind of business operation better than Zhao Huai'an.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an was very excited and made establishing the tea market his top priority for developing Guang Prefecture and protecting the Yi Army. Especially since he also needed to implement the Yi Bao system within the army and open a money exchange—all of these things required money!

When it comes to setting up organizations, military units, or projects, the first thing to do is secure funding. Once you have enough money, the project is half done.

In order to concentrate his efforts on preparing for the subsequent campaign to suppress bandits in the mountains, Zhao Huai'an even turned down the appointment with Liu Ye, the military governor of Huainan.

That day, Liu Ye sent him a letter, which was about one thing: asking Zhao Huai'an to go to Yangzhou.

In fact, after settling the people in the prefecture, Zhao Huai'an should have gone to Yangzhou to pay his respects to the military governor Liu Ye.

Although Huainan was a region largely controlled by the imperial court, and the officials of its prefectures and counties were generally appointed by the court, Huainan was still a vassal state, and it followed the rules of the time.

That is, if a military governor is given the additional title of observer, he will have the authority to supervise all the prefectural and county officials within his domain, and will be the highest administrative official within the domain.

This military governor, Liu Ye, also held the title of observer.

It's like when a county magistrate from below comes to pay a visit to Zhao Huai'an; those who don't are either reprimanded or punished, which has almost become an important means of testing the local government's attitude.

Even after Liu Ye condescended to greet him and even wrote a personal letter expressing his hope to meet him in Yangzhou, Zhao Da still refused to go to Yangzhou.

Of course, he had Zhang Guinian write a reply with extremely humble wording, which was a necessary step. Then, citing the unrest caused by bandits in the mountains within his territory, he indicated that he needed to quell the banditry first before going to Yangzhou to report for duty.

However, besides this reason, there are several other reasons that cannot be discussed openly.

After witnessing Gao Pian's methods in the wooden building that day, Zhao Huai'an knew that these people who were engaged in power struggles were most adept at deceiving and then killing!

If Zhao Huai'an is in Guang Prefecture, what can Liu Ye do to him? But if he leaves Guang Prefecture to take up his post, how many people can he take with him to Yangzhou? Once there, his life or death will still depend on Liu Ye's bottom line.

However, Zhao Huai'an had already learned about Liu Ye's character from Li Shitai, Pang Cong, and others. Liu Ye's character was so bad that even a warrior would feel ashamed of himself. He had just dealt with Liu Ye's local interests in Shouzhou. If he went there, would he get away with it?

Therefore, the more Liu Ye "condescends to his position" and the more courteous he is to others, the less Zhao Huai'an dares to go.

When can he go?

Lead 10,000 elite troops straight to Yangzhou; that's the safest course! No? Then let's stay in Guang Prefecture for now!

As for whether Liu Ye will be angry and the consequences will be severe? Zhao Da will worry about you a lot!
I've already replied to your letter and given my reasons, what more do you want?

Do you really think this governor isn't arrogant?
……

Meanwhile, while Zhao Huai'an was enjoying himself in the small hall due to the plum rains, nine hundred li to the southeast in Yangzhou, the military governor Liu Ye was traveling through wind and rain. Yangzhou was the most important economic center of the Tang Dynasty, precisely because of its excellent geographical advantages.

To its north lies the Huaihe Plain, comparable to the Central Plains, a region that has been the granary of the nation since Xuzhou, a land of abundant resources and prosperous people. To its south lies the Wu-Yue Taihu Plain, a vital economic center, renowned for its silk and tea.

But this is only part of Yangzhou's unique advantages. Its most important geographical advantage lies in the Yangtze River to its south and the Grand Canal to its west.

After Emperor Yang of Sui excavated the Grand Canal, he left the last vestiges of the empire's dignity in Yangzhou. This was because Yangzhou was the hub of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. By being stationed there, he could use supplies from the Jiangnan region to support Luoyang. Back then, Wang Shichong was able to fight so fiercely against the Wagang Army, which occupied the Central Plains, in Luoyang, and the supplies from the Jianghuai region played a huge role in that.

At the same time, the Tang Dynasty was also like this. As the hub of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, all the supplies in the south were transferred and concentrated in Yangzhou, and then departed from Yangzhou and transferred to Chang'an via the Grand Canal.

Moreover, Yangzhou not only had inland waterway transport, but also sea transport. At that time, the riverboats would stop at the Yangzijiang Wharf north of Guazhou, and then the fleet could sail directly into the city. The sea transport would stop at Hailing in the east of Yangzhou, where ships would change to enter the inner harbor.

So if Zhao Huai'an came to Yangzhou, he would feel very familiar with it, because this is the magical city of the Tang Dynasty!

A giant industrial and commercial city with access to rivers and the sea.

It can be both made and lost by the rivers and seas. When the rainy season arrives, this city will face more challenges than other cities.

At this moment, Liu Ye, the military governor of Huainan, who was of very low status among the military men, had just finished inspecting the dikes and warehouses and rushed back to his government office in the city in the wind and rain, preparing to handle the remaining official business there.

Anyone who sees such a weathered and hardworking military governor would have to sigh in admiration:
"What a good official!"

……

As soon as Liu Ye entered, having just changed into dry clothes, his advisor Xiao Gongjin walked in.

As soon as this person entered, he saw Liu Ye wearing a long black robe, his head casually tied with a headband, exuding the elegance of a noble family, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:

"My lord, our men who went to Guangzhou have returned."

Liu Ye laughed:

"How was it? Did you see Zhao Da?"

Xiao Gongjin nodded:
"Yes, after they delivered the letter, they waited in the side room for a while, and then Zhao Huai'an arrived. After that, they had a meal and drank wine. Before leaving, they each gave one string of cash, and they all handed over the money."

Liu Ye shook his head:

"Let them accept the money, otherwise my subordinates will say that I, Liu Ye, cannot tolerate my subordinates making money."

Then he said, in a cryptic tone:
"This Zhao Da really knows how to handle people. It is said that he was good at winning people over when he was in Xichuan. When he left, I don't know how many people from Xichuan went to the ferry to see him off. This man is not simple."

After thinking for a moment, he said to Xiao Gongjin:
Will Zhao Daneng come to Yangzhou?

Xiao Gongjin thought for a moment and concluded:

"He must be making excuses not to come. As Gao Shixiang's letter said, this man is outwardly respectful but inwardly arrogant. He is not the kind of person who can remain subservient to others for long. And the more like this a person is, the more he will think. Back then, An Lushan lived in Yuyang for more than ten years and dared not enter the court. Why? Wasn't it because he was afraid that he would be trapped like a tiger in a cage and have no control over his own life? In my opinion, Governor Zhao's intentions are not far off."

But after hearing this, Liu Ye said solemnly:
"Is Chu Yu referring to Zhao Da, this human An Lushan?"

Upon hearing Liu Ye's response, Xiao Gongjin realized something was wrong and quickly shook his head to explain:
"How could Zhao Da be An Lushan? He was just a minor prefect."

Unexpectedly, Xiao Gongjin's words sparked Liu Ye's imagination.

Zhao Huai'an made contributions to the country, as did An Lushan. Zhao Huai'an was good at winning people's hearts, and An Lushan was even better at it. An Lushan's subordinates were a mix of Han and non-Han peoples. It is said that when Zhao Huai'an came to Guang Prefecture, his ship was full of Qiang, Yi and Dangxiang people.

An Lushan appeared loyal but was actually treacherous, and Zhao Huai'an was outwardly obedient but inwardly arrogant. Don't they match up perfectly?

Thinking of this, Liu Ye quickly wrote a letter on the table, called the doorman in, and asked him to send it to Gao Pian in Xichuan as soon as possible.

However, Gao Pian had already ventured deep into Nanzhao and could not be contacted for the time being, so they waited in Chengdu and made sure to deliver the letter to Gao Pian.

After giving his instructions, Liu Ye was still a little uneasy. He paced back and forth a couple of steps and said to Xiao Gongjin:
"Do you think that if Guang Prefecture rebels, Huainan can quell the rebellion?"

At this moment, Xiao Gongjin's back was covered in sweat. He really hated himself for making such a random analogy. Wasn't this just asking for trouble?
So he quickly said:
"My lord, Governor Yan previously reported that Zhao Huai'an has at least a thousand elite soldiers and several thousand followers. In particular, he has a cavalry unit of more than five hundred men, which is unique in Huainan. With the strength of my headquarters, it is somewhat difficult to capture him."

After saying that, Xiao Gongjin added:
"Although Zhao Huai'an is a bit arrogant, the envoy also said that this person needs to be properly guided and can become a pillar of the state. If you, the envoy, make an enemy of Zhao Huai'an now, you may push him further and further away."

Liu Ye pondered for a moment, then nodded, acknowledging that Xiao Gongjin's words made sense.

He thought for a moment, then sighed to Xiao Gongjin:

"The world is in turmoil, and Huainan also needs to prepare its military. The bandits in the Central Plains are already at risk of growing too powerful. Wang Xianzhi has actually captured Puzhou and Caozhou, and now has tens of thousands of soldiers. Several other bandit groups have also gathered and joined forces. One of them is called Huang Chao. Have you heard of him?"

Xiao Gongjin's heart tightened. How could the people of Yangzhou not have heard of Huang Chao? The salt they illegally traded was all sold out through wealthy merchants from the Central Plains, and Huang Chao was one of them.

Without revealing his true feelings, he said to Liu Ye:

"They're probably just some bandits, nothing to worry about."

Liu Ye thought the same way, but still made his stance clear:

"Bandits are rising up everywhere in the Central Plains, and things aren't much better in Huainan. Pang Xun's defeated soldiers are scattered all over the place, and the rebels in western Zhejiang still haven't been quelled. This will greatly affect the grain transport. Go and assess my troops; they'll all come in handy when the time comes."

Liu Ye assigned Xiao Gongjin a difficult task with just a few words, which Xiao Gongjin accepted reluctantly.

Then Liu Ye laughed to himself:

"It's good that Zhao Da is here now. Whether he comes to Yangzhou or not is fine, but this bandit must be wiped out! Let's start with Guangshan. I've wanted to kill those river bandits and mountain huts for a long time!"

Xiao Gongjin finally breathed a sigh of relief and was about to ask how much military pay the man would receive when Liu Ye spoke up himself:

"As for military pay and deployment? Didn't this man ask the magistrate of Huoshan County for four hundred taels of gold? Give it to him, that will be his military pay."

Xiao Gongjin looked up and quickly acknowledged.

Then, at Liu Ye's signal, he withdrew.

As soon as he left the hall, Xiao Gongjin sighed:

"Given such cunning towards Zhao Da, who knows what fortune or misfortune awaits!"

(End of this chapter)