Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 158 Fire
Yuan Xiwei was accompanied by both military and political officials from Gushi, who gave him ample face. Of course, this was mainly because of Zhao Huai'an's influence. On Zhang Xuan's side, this military commander had this kind of face.

After entering, Zhang Xuan naturally sat in the main seat, leaving the guest seat next to him to Yuan Xi. Then the two people sat in rows on either side. As for our county magistrate Xie Yuanshang, he sat in a separate row with a group of county officials by the tent.

There was nothing he could do; in the Shuanghe Town army, Xie Yuanshang only had this much influence, even though he was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).

However, our old Xie is quite used to it. He is sitting with the county magistrate, drinking and chatting, which is quite like watching a play.

With the wine and meat served, Zhang Xuan, on behalf of the town, toasted Yuan Xi. After some polite exchanges, the two drank together, and after a few rounds of drinks, they naturally got down to business.

Yuan Xi didn't put on airs and spoke very frankly:
“Zhang Zhen’e, ever since you eliminated the bandit gang led by Pang Xun that was entrenched in Guangshan, the mountains have been in turmoil. Now you are summoning all the local militias and armed groups in the prefecture to go to the prefectural city to suppress the mountain bandits.”

Yuan Xi brought up the matter of sending troops again, and Zhang Xuan could no longer evade the issue. He put down his wine cup, stroked his beard, and said:
"To be honest, I greatly admire Commander Zhao. These meritorious border generals are all pillars of our Great Tang Dynasty, and I am very willing to serve under Commander Zhao. However, the matter of troop deployment still needs to be considered carefully."

Yuan Xi glanced at Xie Yuanshang, who was still eating. Xie Yuanshang noticed and realized it was time for him to step in. He then smiled and said:

“Military Advisor Yuan, you don’t know this, Shuanghe Military Town is under the jurisdiction of the Huainan Military Governor. Not to mention that the Governor has no right to mobilize it, even if Zhang Zhen’e wanted to move troops, it wouldn’t be allowed.”

Then Yuan Xi suddenly realized, but the next sentence was:
"You can rest assured about this garrison commander. My lord has already informed the military governor, who is very supportive of our lord's efforts to suppress the bandits. He has allocated 400 taels of gold for military expenses. So, garrison commander, please send out your troops. My lord is already waiting for you in Dingcheng."

Seeing that Yuan Xi had already said this much, Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment, and finally nodded:
"Alright, join the army and wait a moment. Once our troops are ready, we will head to Ding County to meet the magistrate. Come, let's continue drinking."

Then, ignoring the anxiety of Li Chengxian and the others behind him, he and Yuan Xi exchanged toasts.

This young Yuan, unaware of the harsh realities of life, had learned to be worldly and sophisticated at a young age. He had followed the example of his master, and in any case, he had no barriers with Zhang Xuan, who came from a military background. They quickly became acquainted while drinking together.

While the two of them were enjoying their meal, Li Chengxian and the rest of the Li family members were finding it tasteless.

……

Soon, the banquet ended. Yuan Xi didn't mention any of the past years' checkpoint accounts, nor did he say anything about inspecting the camp. After bidding farewell to Zhang Xuan, he and County Magistrate Xie Yuanshang headed south to Gushi County in their carriage.

While Zhang Xuan was drinking and contemplating alone in his tent, Li Chengxian had already lifted the curtain and entered.

He angrily asked Zhang Xuan:

“Zhang Xuan, who gave you permission to send troops? Do you know how important Shuanghe Ferry is to the military commander? If something goes wrong after you take the troops away, can you take responsibility for it?”

Zhang Xuan was still drinking and didn't pay attention to Li Chengxian; she was still thinking about something.

Then, enraged, Lee Sung-hyun lunged at him, shouting:
"Let me tell you..."

He couldn't say anything more, because a gleaming, cold blade was already stuffed into his mouth.

If Li Chengxian had run any closer, the sword would have been shoved into his mouth.

At this moment, Zhang Xuan held a knife in one hand and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp with the other, then sighed:
"Good wine, good wine, it's a pity I can't drink with Zhao Dalang! I heard from my brothers in the army that Zhao Dalang once held a drinking party with a group of heroes outside Yazhou, saying that fame and fortune, gentle breeze and bright moon, are not as good as drinking with his brothers. It's a pity that I, Zhang Xuan, cannot be there."

Then he glanced at Li Chengxian and sneered:

"How could a muddle-headed wretch like you possibly understand my feelings, Zhang San? Get out!"

Li Chengxian dared not say another word and quickly withdrew from the tent.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xuan shook his head, looking at the pig-like figure with disdain.

……

As soon as Li Chengxian stepped out of his tent, he hurried back to his own tent, where several of Li's family guards and attendants were already waiting.

When they saw that Li Chengxian looked unusually pale, they knew something was wrong.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Chengxian entered, he said in a deep voice:
“Let’s pack up and go home right away. I have a feeling something is wrong.”

The attendants obeyed, while the retainer asked in confusion:

"Erlang, what's wrong? Why do you want to go back?"

Li Chengxian, now completely devoid of his previous arrogance, frowned and said:
"Do you think the soldiers from that prefecture came here just to check out the situation in Shuanghe Town?"

This general was also intelligent; upon hearing this, he immediately shook his head.

"This is like Xiang Zhuang's sword dance aimed at Liu Bang; in my opinion, it's directed at us!"

Lee Sung-hyun was surprisingly calm and nodded, saying:

“My father said before that our family is in great danger. Over the years, we have been selling stolen goods in Guangshan. Even though we have been doing it secretly, it is impossible to hide it from the core of the gang. Now that Xu Ying and his gang have been captured in one fell swoop, it is hard to say that no core members have been arrested and then exposed our family.”

"At worst, the reason Yuan, the military advisor, came to the town was probably to observe Zhang's attitude. I originally thought he was one of Commander Liu's men, so I relied on him a lot. But after today's drinking session, this man has developed his own ideas."

The family retainers also realized the seriousness of the situation. The reason they hadn't panicked too much after Xu Ying and his group were wiped out was because they had the three hundred soldiers of Shuanghe Town as their support.

Zhang Xuan, the garrison commander of Shuanghe Town, was promoted by the military governor Liu Ye. Since Liu Ye came to Huainan, the Li family had offered half of their business as local products to Liu Ye. Otherwise, they could have easily climbed to the position of military governor just by relying on their looks.

But now, judging from his second son's words, the garrison commander seemed unreliable, so the man couldn't help but ask:

"Erlang, this is wrong! Isn't that Zhang guy afraid of being blamed by the military governor? You know we work for the military governor, how could he not be diligent?"

By this time, Li Chengxian had already driven everyone out, leaving only this trusted retainer behind, and then he revealed his suspicions:
"It's because that Zhang fellow changed his mind so quickly that I think the military governor might abandon us."

The servants were dumbfounded, not knowing why they had been abandoned.
Then Li Chengxian sighed:
“You’re not an official, so you don’t know how things work in officialdom. Do you think the military governor is the highest authority? In Hebei, of course, anyone would dare to say that, but it’s not like that in Huainan. Above Military Governor Liu is Military Supervisor Liu Jishu, also known as Old Man Liu, who represents the court.”

"Do you know what the profits from smuggling salt mean? It means stealing money from the Emperor's pocket, and those who steal from the Emperor are the eunuchs. Do you think the military governor will protect us once this gets out? Let me tell you, to clear his name, the military governor will push all the blame onto our family. How many heads will the Li family have to chop off then?"

Upon hearing even the most intelligent member of the household, Erlang, speak with such certainty, the servant was completely flustered and hurriedly asked:
"Erlang, what should we do?"

Li Chengxian's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he asked:

"Did Military Advisor Yuan really return to the city with Magistrate Xie?"

The servant nodded, indicating that he had seen it with his own eyes.

Li Chengxian paced back and forth, steeling his resolve:

“We can’t just sit here and wait to die. Take all of us with you now and let’s go back to the city. I need to discuss this with my father first.”

The servants knew nothing, and when they saw that Erlang had given the order, they could only sigh and carry it out.

At this moment, Li Chengxian stomped his feet and said fiercely:

"I'd like to see who dies first."

……

A caravan of carriages and horses sped toward Gushi City.

At this moment, Yuan Xi, a military advisor in the Guang Prefecture, and Xie Yuanshang, the magistrate of Gushi, were sitting in a donkey cart, talking about something.

Xie Yuanshang frowned, somewhat apprehensively saying:
"Your Excellency intends to transfer the troops from Shuanghe Town and then eliminate the Li family? Wouldn't that be too extreme? After all, the Li family are the military governor's people. If Your Excellency kills them, what will happen if the military governor blames you?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said:
"Oh? Is Lady Xie afraid? If you are afraid, it's alright. I'll have someone send you to the magistrate first. You can leave the seal here, and I'll stay in Gushi to oversee things."

Xie Yuanshang isn't stupid; why would he hand over the seal?
So he shook his head and smiled sheepishly, and said:

"I'm just thinking of the governor's best interests. After all, the governor is about to conquer the Dabie Mountains. If he falls out with the military governor at this time, wouldn't he be in a passive position? Not to mention, we still need Yangzhou's money and grain to suppress the bandits, don't we?"

Yuan Xi wouldn't say much about this. Would he tell you, Lao Xie, that Liu Jiedushi's treasury might not even have more money than the governor's?
After joining Zhao Huai'an's staff, he participated in several meetings of senior officials from various departments. At one of these meetings, Wang Duo, the chief secretary in charge of managing money and provisions, gave the staff's budget.

Currently, the Gwangju Shogunate has about 40,000 kan of summer tax in its provincial treasury, and about 760,000 kan in its treasury, of which 300,000 kan were recently seized from the Gwangju rebels.

When this number was revealed, Yuan Xi, who had never met him before, was completely stunned. If he hadn't been able to control his temper, he would have screamed out in surprise.

After calculating everything, it turned out that the magistrate had a fortune of 800,000 strings of cash. What an enormous amount of wealth!

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi, inside the donkey cart, smiled slightly, not replying to Old Xie, but instead uttering a few words:

"Besides, who is anyone's man? Aren't we all people of the court? We all share the court's burdens and solve its problems. Now that Your Excellency has eliminated the parasites in the Jianghuai salt industry, isn't that a blessing for the country?"

But Xie Yuanshang was displeased upon hearing this, and he said to Yuan Xi:
“Military Advisor Yuan, if you don’t want to say it, then don’t say it. Why try to fob me off with these kinds of words? I, Xie Yuanshang, stopped believing these words the very second I went to the capital to take the imperial examination. You know, in Chang’an, who receives whose invitation and who you visit is far more important than any policy essays or articles you write.”

Hearing about taking the imperial examinations, going to Chang'an, and submitting exam papers made Yuan Xi uncomfortable, but he kept a good expression on his face and smiled flatteringly:
"I almost forgot that the county magistrate is also a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and has a family tradition of learning. She is naturally well-versed in these matters. I am merely showing off my limited skills in front of an expert."

Xie Yuanshang also ignored Yuan Xi's meaning and wanted to find out more:

“Military Advisor Yuan, this matter will definitely have to be handled by me. I haven’t been in the county for nothing all these years. I have a few trusted confidants. There’s that county clerk outside who carries the flag, named Wang Chao. He has two brothers, both known for their bravery and strength. With them around, I only need to write a letter to lure the Li family father and son into the yamen, and the matter will be taken care of.”

Yuan Xi thought for a moment and asked:

"Can those three Wang brothers be trusted?" Xie Yuanshang asked with a smile.
"Their ancestors were officials, and it seems that their ancestors served as magistrates of Gushi many generations ago. Because the local people insisted on keeping them, they eventually settled in Gushi, so their family tradition is quite good. When I came here, Wang Chao was just a lowly laborer, and his family had fallen to the level of rich peasants. I promoted him and have done him a favor, so how can I not use him?"

Yuan Xi sighed:

"I never imagined that the descendants of the county magistrate would end up as lowly officials who only knew how to fight for food."

Xie Yuanshang laughed at Yuan Xi's words. Right there in the donkey cart, a county magistrate from a prominent family in Jiangnan was giving a military advisor from a humble background to a state governor, who was also a scholar from a lowly background.

“Military Advisor Yuan, you are ignorant. Have you not heard the saying, ‘The blessings of a virtuous man last for five generations’? What is a virtuous man? In the past, he was at least a high-ranking official in a vassal state. Even now, he would have to be at least a fourth-rank official to be considered a virtuous man.”

"Why? Because only the descendants of officials of the fifth rank and above can receive imperial favor. Officials of the first rank can receive the favor of officials of the seventh rank or above, officials of the second rank can receive the favor of officials of the seventh rank or below, officials of the third rank can receive the favor of officials of the seventh rank or above, and so on down to officials of the fifth rank who receive the favor of officials of the eighth rank or below. After that, there is no more favor."

"These privileged sons can become officials as long as they pass the selection process of the Ministry of Personnel. Moreover, it is said that they must pass the selection examination of 'appearance, speech, writing, and judgment' to be appointed to an official position. But which son of an official does not possess these skills? So it is just a formality."

“As for us county lords, even if we are called marquises of a hundred miles, if we don’t climb to the level of state officials or above, we will only have wealth and honor for one lifetime. If any of our descendants are not virtuous, we may not even be able to burn a few bowls of paper money during the Qingming Festival. Even if we go down to the lower levels, we will still suffer from hunger and poverty.”

"And the same goes for the Wang family ancestor. He himself probably only reached the position of county magistrate. His descendants, without any favors or connections through the imperial examinations, are destined to decline."

These things were common knowledge to aristocratic scions like Xie Yuanshang, but Yuan Xi had never heard of them before, so he pondered them for a moment.

Then Xie Yuanshang said:
"Moreover, look at what I just mentioned about hereditary privilege. Even a first-rank official can only be granted a seventh-rank position. If the son is unfilial, he can't even climb to the fifth rank, and his descendants will basically have no way to become officials. But in the Southern Dynasties, when you became a high-ranking official, your descendants could be officials for generations, and you could maintain your wealth and status forever. That was true hereditary officialdom."

At this moment, Yuan Xi couldn't help but laugh, realizing that the magistrate in front of him was indeed surnamed Xie, and what he missed most was the Southern Dynasty.

Finally, Yuan Xi made a sarcastic remark:
"Hereditary official positions? I don't think so. That's why Lady Xie is still working in Guang Prefecture right now."

One sentence jolted Xie Yuanshang out of his reverie about the past, and he replied rather awkwardly:

"Haha, I've gone a bit off-topic! But that's the gist of it. In our Great Tang Dynasty, you can't expect to be rich and powerful for generations like you used to. If you want to stand out and have your descendants enjoy wealth and prosperity, you have to keep climbing the ladder. You either rely on imperial favor, join the government, or take the imperial examinations."

"It's not because of that. Do you think those aristocratic families flocked to Chang'an to settle down in the past? Wasn't it because there were many powerful and influential people there, and more opportunities?"

Yuan Xi had heard of this before, so he naturally asked:
"Is the Xie family also in Chang'an?"

These words made Xie Yuanshang blush. After all, the Xie family hadn't left their home for many years. How could they possibly settle down in Chang'an, where every inch of land was precious? Their Xie family had only built a manor on the plateau outside Chang'an. Chang'an? They wanted to go there too.

But he didn't want to appear weak in front of Yuan Xi, and maintained the pride of a Chang'an native:
“Yes, we moved there five or six generations ago. My wife is still living in our family home in Chang’an. I have two more years. I’ll ask a friend to help me get a job in Chang’an and reunite with my family.”

Yuan Xi suddenly realized, "So that's why Xie Yuanshang kept going on and on, he was waiting for me here."

He smiled and replied:

"Don't worry, my lord has already made arrangements. After this is done, he'll give you a top-notch performance review. Then he'll have his friends in Chang'an pull some strings for you, and you might even get a prestigious position. Not only will you be able to reunite with your wife, but you'll also rise to a higher position, ensuring your family's prosperity. When you're rich and powerful, don't forget the friendship we shared today! Haha!"

Xie Yuanshang chuckled and offered a perfunctory, polite reply:
"Not at all, not at all. Military Advisor Yuan has a bright future ahead of him. The governor is so young and already a prefect of a province. It will be no problem for him to be promoted even further. And the governor trusts you so much, Military Advisor Yuan. Who knows, you might even surpass me in the future. When you are rich and powerful then, don't forget the friendship we shared today when we rode in the same donkey cart! Haha!"

Then they both burst into laughter.

There is a scenario where you are a high-ranking official in the capital, and I am a staff member in a local area; we both have a bright future ahead of us.

After laughing for a while, Yuan Xi said seriously:

"Since this concerns our futures, we should be more cautious. Let me be frank with you, Magistrate, I don't trust the people of Gushi. And can you really trust the Wang Chao brothers you recommended? If the news leaks out, it won't just be a matter of our futures being hindered; it could lead to our deaths!"

His words were chillingly menacing, immediately reminding Xie Yuanshang of his trusted confidant who had "accidentally" died and his beloved dog who had "mistakenly eaten" something that had killed him.

Yes, we still need to be more cautious.

Knowing that Yuan Xi wouldn't say anything more, he clasped his hands in a fist salute:
"Then it will all depend on what Military Advisor Yuan does at that time!"

Yuan Xi smiled and nodded, and then voices came from ahead:
"Your Excellency, we have arrived in Gushi."

Upon hearing this, Xie Yuanshang straightened his turban and called out towards the carriage:
"Set up the sign and return to the county office!"

Then a deep voice came from outside the car:

"promise"

And so, the carriage gradually entered Gushi City.

……

Back at the county office, Xie Yuanshang slumped onto a soft couch and called out to his maid:
“Go get some water from the well for my husband to cool off. In June, we still have to entertain guests. I always said that I can’t be a county magistrate and we should go back to Chang’an.”

Thinking about what he had seen and heard today, Xie Yuanshang still lacked confidence. He had no manpower and no money, and the only thing he could use was his official robes on the little maid on the bed.

With a sigh, Xie Yuanshang resigned himself to his fate and could only wait and see what Yuan Xi would do.

Sometimes he would complain that Zhao Huai'an was indeed a brute, whose only methods were beheading, beheading, and more beheading.

That's not how an official should act.

He also wanted to take action against the Li family, but being threatened was one thing, the real issue was that he couldn't handle the military governor behind him.

Liu Ye is clearly a higher-ranking official than you, and most of the governors in Huaidong listen to him. How can you, a mere governor of Guang Prefecture, possibly compete with him?
Even if we're talking about military strategy, you, Zhao Huai'an, only have a thousand elite soldiers and a thousand volunteer soldiers, right? Yes, at most you also have a cavalry force, but look at Liu Ye, the military commander, whose 35,000 troops in Huainan all obey him.

Even today, Zhang Xuan of Shuanghe Military Town only has three hundred garrison soldiers under his command. So what? Without the order of the military governor, you can't move him away.

But Zhang Xuan is also an idiot. He didn't even look at the transfer order and just broke camp without any explanation. I've never seen Zhang Xuan so stupid before.
Ok?
Suddenly, Xie Yuanshang sprang up from the soft couch, immediately realizing that something was wrong.

Could Zhang Xuan have left on purpose? Did he know we were going to target the Li family? Was he going to abandon them? No, no, how could Zhang Xuan dare to make such a decision? It must be that Liu Ye thought the dirty work had been exposed and started dealing with the people on this line.

Tsk tsk, Liu Ye truly lives up to his reputation as a notorious black-hearted man in Chang'an; his methods are truly ruthless!

Just as Xie Yuanshang relaxed and was about to lie down again, he realized something was wrong:
"How could Liu Ye react so quickly? Did he hear something?"

In a flash, Xie Yuanshang recalled something Yuan Xi had said earlier:
"What do you mean 'your people' and 'my people'? Aren't they all people of the imperial court?"

Then I suddenly understood.

Damn it, could it be that our governor has become the adopted son of Liu Jishu, the military supervisor of Huainan? Liu Jishu is only in his thirties, and you, Zhao Huai'an, aren't that old either!
Tsk tsk, it's such a waste of Zhao Da's talents to be a local military man! If he could make it in Chang'an, he would have risen to a high position long ago.

Just as Lao Xie, who was being bullied by Zhao Huai'an, was desperately making up stories about his leader in his mind, a voice came from outside. It was the voice of his trusted confidant, Wang Chao:
"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! It seems there's a fire somewhere in the western part of the city."

Displeased that his reverie had been interrupted, Xie Yuanshang asked:
"If there's a fire, go and put it out! I can put out the fire."

There was silence outside.

After Xie Yuanshang finished speaking, he felt as if he had been electrocuted, and he was thrown from the bedside to the door. When he opened the door, he saw thick black smoke rising from the sky in broad daylight to the west.

Xie Yuanshang's face turned deathly pale, and he shouted:
"Come with me to put out the fire!"

With that, Xie Yuanshang rushed out first.

My God, the Li family is truly audacious, incredibly audacious.

Then, as Lao Xie led Wang Chao around the courtyard, they bumped into someone at the corner. Just as he was about to scold them, he suddenly saw the person and couldn't help but hug them and cry:

"Military Advisor Yuan, you're not dead!"

It turned out that this person was Yuan Xi, and next to him, several armored soldiers were leading dozens of men to blockade the county office, allowing anyone to enter but not leave.

Then the sound of horses' hooves echoed from the street outside the government office, and dozens of cavalrymen shouted:
"No unauthorized persons are allowed to go out on the streets! The Prefect of Guang Prefecture has ordered the extermination of the Li family of Gushi for harboring traitors, embezzling military farmland, and carrying out armed rebellion. All three crimes are punishable by death!"

"All three crimes combined, exterminate their entire families!"

In an instant, the gates along the streets of Gushi were tightly shut. The common people and local tyrants outside stared intently at the galloping cavalry and the ranks of armored infantrymen carrying spears, who were approaching the Li family residence in the west of the city. They realized that the world in Gushi was about to change.

Because the place where the fire started was the residence of the Li family of Gushi.

As the torch burned down the gate, countless armored warriors poured into the mansion. The shouts of battle only lasted for a moment before they stopped. Then, one by one, members of the Li family with sacks wrapped around their heads were thrown into cages and immediately sent to the prefectural capital.

At this moment, Xie Yuanshang, who had accompanied Yuan Xi to the high tower of the county temple to observe, stared blankly for a moment after watching the teams of Li family members being taken away in prison carts, before saying to Yuan Xi:
"Is this the end?"

Looking at the Li family mansion, half of which was reduced to ashes after the fire was extinguished, Yuan Xi said meaningfully:
"Yes, that's the style of our lord! He's ruthless towards the enemy, like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves!"

Then he tilted his head and looked at Xie Yuanshang, smiling:
"But to his brothers and friends, our lord is as warm as the sun!"

Xie Yuanshang looked at Yuan Xi, put his legs together, and shouted:

"loyalty!"

"My loyalty to you, my lord, is beyond words!"

(End of this chapter)