Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 162 Sou Shan
The Dabie Mountains stretch for eight hundred miles from east to west, passing the Yangtze River to the south, blocking the Huai River to the north, the Yangtze and Han Rivers to the west, and the Yangtze and Huai Rivers to the east. This is a gift from heaven to heroes, who have dominated the southeast.

In the autumn of the ninth month of the second year of Qianfu.

In order to control the Huaihe River tea region and capture the mountain sheds, Zhao Huai'an, the governor of Guangzhou, sent troops into the mountains to search the forests. Before they knew it, summer had turned to autumn, and two months had passed, but the offensive still showed no signs of ending.

……

A stream originating from the deep mountains flows slowly through the valleys and then merges with a waterway running from north to south. This is the Huangshui River, which runs through the entire territory of Gwangju and eventually flows into the Huai River.

At this moment, in this valley stream, there were seven or eight corpses in the emerald green pool. Some of them were naked, and some were wearing hemp clothes. They lay in the pool, their blood staining the stream red.

Several more corpses floated down from upstream, some with arrows stuck in their backs, and then they slid down in an arched manner.

On the riverbank, there was a corpse wearing a cloth armor, which looked like a leader. But upon closer inspection, his head had been cut off, and his spine was exposed at the neck, sending chills down one's spine.

Several crabs were going in and out, using their pincers to devour the flesh and blood on the neck.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came from the depths of the winding valley. Two riders rushed ahead and, upon seeing the scene, raised a yellow flag.

Two flag bearers, who were lying on a small slope behind, saw this and pulled out a yellow flag from their backs and began to wave it.

Below, upon seeing the flag of that color, a warrior in chainmail, leaning on his sword, ran towards the rear, where a small squad of about fifty men was sitting on jagged rocks, eating cold steamed buns.

The warrior immediately rushed to a general who was sitting on a rock with a protruding belly. This man was wearing a willow-leaf armor and a bright green cloak, and was biting into a steamed bun.

As soon as he arrived, he knelt on one knee and shouted:

"General, the valley ahead is safe."

This warrior was none other than Fu Tong.

Yes, he finally achieved his goal of becoming a team general, but it was definitely not because of the five strings of cash he spent.

The real reason was that his old leader, Zhou Dexing, had been promoted to the rank of general, and Zhou Dexing appreciated Fu Tong, so he also submitted his name, making him a mid-to-low-level military officer in the Baoyi Army.

But Fu Tong knew nothing of this. He thought that Zhao Chang'er was indeed very capable and felt that the five strings of cash were well spent.

So after he was promoted to the position of squad leader, Fu Tong also brought Zhao Chang'er into the squad and arranged for him to be a junior officer.

And so, Fu Tong and Zhao Chang'er both achieved their wishes, and the ending was happy.

Just now, Fu Tong, along with his team and led by the surrendered prisoners, went deep into the mountains and attacked the settlement where the prisoners were located. They captured more than twenty mountain huts, two strong mules, sixty tea bags, and some venison and herbs from the mountains. They were preparing to return to camp.

Upon hearing the signal scouts ahead, Fu Tong nodded and called out to the officers and soldiers:

"Let's go. Once we cross this valley, we'll reach the main camp. We can get some rest then."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Chang'er, wearing chainmail and an eight-lobed helmet, brightened up and asked:
"Is it our turn to step out of seclusion?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Tong immediately launched into a tirade:
“You’re lazy and good-for-nothing all day long. Other teams make contributions every day. The people below are eager to go into the mountains to raid the mountain strongholds, but you’re always thinking about going out to rest! If you dare to say another word, I’ll strip you of your clothes and kick you out of the Baoyi Army.”

After being scolded, Zhao Chang'er pouted and dared not say another word.

After all, didn't he know whether he had contributed or not? So he was also feeling guilty, how could he dare to act recklessly in front of Fu Tong?

As Fu Tong got up and set off, the Bao Yi, who had marched five or six miles along the mountain path in armor, were also exhausted. However, none of them dared to take off their armor to continue the journey, because anyone who did so would already be dead.

In the first two months after Bao Yidu entered the mountains, he directly destroyed several mountain strongholds that dared to confront them head-on.

These are all mountain strongholds in the Dabie Mountains within Guangshan County, and they are the group most deeply connected with the former Jiang bandits. When Xu Ying was killed, it was this group of people who rushed out of the mountains and harassed the villages within Guangshan County.

Now, these people have become either loggers in the mountains or tea pickers in tea factories, contributing to the economy of Gwangju.

However, with the destruction of these mountain strongholds that were most closely connected with the bandits, the difficulty of the Baoyi Army's clearing of the mountains increased exponentially, and the number of casualties also increased.

The mountain huts no longer chose to fight the Baoyi Army head-on. Instead, they would gather in small groups and suddenly launch arrows at the Baoyi Army marching in the valley below from high in the mountains.

Most of the bows and arrows in the mountains are made of bamboo or single-wood structures, and the bows have a very low draw weight, so they are basically difficult to harm the armored soldiers of the Baoyi Army. However, if you are not armored, you can be killed by these arrows.

Therefore, Bao Yidu also began to wear armor during short marches. They generally did not stray too far from their camps, usually five or six li away, and they never attacked mountains, so this distance was acceptable to them.

After resting, Fu Tong led his team into the valley. Upon seeing the stream, they began to fill it with water, and then they saw the dozen or so corpses.

With just one glance, Fu Tong knew that this was a mountain bandit group. Although he didn't know which bandit group it belonged to, judging from their equipment, some of whom were even naked, they were definitely not one of their own.

He led his men over, inspected the area, and then frowned:
"Which friendly force did this? Don't they know it will pollute the water? They're so sloppy. But how did all these mountain huts end up here?"

Fu Tong didn't think much of it, had the body moved to the shore, and then left it alone.

The group continued along the valley, and in the middle of the group, a group of more than twenty mountain guards, bound and tied, followed along.

They also saw the dozen or so corpses, but didn't react much, nor did they feel any sense of shared sorrow; they simply continued to be led around.

Within the 800-mile-long Dabie Mountains, there are thousands of settlements. Some of them have lived in the mountains for generations, some came from Andun in Huai'an in earlier years, and some even came most recently because of the great disaster in the Central Plains in the last two years. These people left their homes and fled into the mountains.

These people are basically organized into settlements based on blood ties and shared experiences, with each settlement ranging from fifty to a hundred people. The conditions in the mountains simply don't allow for large, centralized organizations, because the surrounding resources can't meet their needs.

Therefore, once each settlement has more than fifty or sixty people, a tribe will be separated to find suitable mountain areas and then reproduce and thrive on their own.

These mountain strongholds who were captured at this time were the ones who had escaped into the mountains in recent years. When they saw those lying down and those who had been beheaded, they showed almost no emotional reaction.

And so the group marched on in silence, the clanging of armor intimidating the hearts of every mountain hut, leaving them unable to muster the slightest resistance.

After turning a corner through a valley, the waterway suddenly turns north, passing through a narrow gap between the two mountains ahead.

There was a sentry post on the hilltop, and they could see Fu Tong and the others returning from afar, but they still kept a watchful eye on their backs.

Without any pleasantries or greetings, the rather weary group continued forward. After passing through the mountain pass, the view suddenly opened up, and a wide river came into view.

On the western terrace of this river, a camp was set up, with a semi-circular enclosing wall made of large timbers from the mountains, which connected to the Huangshui River behind it.

This is the location of Zhou Dexing's camp, in the San Du area to the left of the Baoyi Army Headquarters.

After Fu Tong changed the password outside the camp, he led his troops back to the main camp. Then he saw that at the dock behind the camp, many porters and soldiers were busy loading boxes of sealed tea and soldiers onto the ships.

Meanwhile, many boats were already poling with bamboo poles and rowing downstream to the north.

Fu Tong gave the order to the commander and then disbanded the troops.

Back in his tent, he was about to lie down and rest when he suddenly got up again.

After thinking for a moment, Fu Tong pulled out a bundle from behind her soft couch, took out a heavy deerskin bag from it, weighed it in her hand, and couldn't help but laugh.

After hesitating for a moment, Fu Tong took off another small deerskin bag from her waist, poured half of the gold sand from the large bag into the small bag, and then carefully sealed the bag back up.

After carefully placing the small bag close to her body, Fu Tong got up and left the tent, heading towards the large tent in the middle of the camp.

But on the way, I saw two familiar soldiers and asked them:

"Will they all be there?"

The two cavalrymen, who were bathing their warhorses with buckets, shook their heads upon hearing this.

"Du Du received the magistrate's orders this morning and has already taken a boat downstream. Old Fu, what brings you here?"

Fu Tong shook her head:

"Nothing much. On the way back, we found a group of corpses in a nearby valley, but they didn't look like the ones we killed, so I thought I'd report it to the general."

After hearing this, one of the cavalrymen thought for a moment and said to Fu Tong:
"You won't be here right now. Tell me the location of that valley later, and I'll take a few cavalrymen to go there and see what's going on."

Fu Tong nodded and gave a reminder:
"Let's go now. I'll lead the way. Otherwise, if we're any later, our corpses will be eaten by wild beasts."

The cavalryman nodded, put the washed warhorse into the stable, then selected a few of his colleagues, rode mules, and followed Fu Tong out of the camp.

……

The oars stirred the waters of the Huangchuan River, carrying Zhou Dexing and a minor official from the Ministry of Revenue to a river bend.

This is the largest river bend on the banks of the Huangshui River in the mountains, stretching three miles from east to west and two miles from north to south, enough to build a small town.

And indeed, that was the case. Two months ago, the Baoyi Army set off from Guangshan County, traveled by boat up the Huangshui River to the south, and then discovered this river bend. However, to be precise, this river bend was not discovered by Zhao Huai'an and his men. Xu Ying from outside the mountains had previously used it as a cargo yard, a transit point for supplies between the outside and inside the mountains.

In Xu Ying's trade network, they used smuggled salt and some looted silk to transport along the Huangshui River to this river bend. Then, when it was time to harvest the tea, the mountain herders would carry bamboo baskets full of tea leaves down the mountain to this river bend to sell the tea.

The Xu family's followers then transported the tea they had acquired along the Huangshui River to the downstream dock, where they had established their estate. There, they steamed and packaged the tea before trading it with tea merchants who arrived there.

Therefore, everyone thought that Xu Ying controlled the Dabie Mountains within Guangshan, but in reality, he did not have the ability to go deep into the mountains. He traded with the mountain huts through this river bend.

Now, Zhao Huai'an has acquired this secret cargo yard hidden in the mountains and turned it into a semi-permanent forward camp.

Now, Zhao Huai'an and his seven sons are stationed here, in charge of overseeing and coordinating this search and forestry campaign, while Zhou Dexing and his six sons are stationed on the north and south sides of the river bend, lined up along the west bank of the Huangshui River.

For the past two months, these six groups have been constantly attacking mountain strongholds, targeting anyone who is unwilling to be under the jurisdiction of the Gwangju Shogunate.

Zhou Dexing was the one who went the deepest into the Dabie Mountains among the six cities. From his side, it would take another fifty or sixty li along the Huangshui River to reach Macheng in Huangzhou.

These past two days, Zhou Dexing had been preparing to launch a major offensive. He had previously lured the enemy deep into his territory and feigned weakness, successfully ambushing a mountain stronghold coalition and capturing seven or eight settlements from the prisoners. He conservatively estimated that he could capture more than five hundred people.

So in the past two days, he first sent a team to take the lead and find out the situation. If the situation was really as the prisoners said, then Zhou Dexing's military achievements this time would definitely be in the top three.

Just as he was waiting for news from the squad, he received a military order delivered by a small boat from the main camp, instructing him to return to the main camp with the funds.

After the reorganization of the Self-Protection Army, in addition to the major changes in its organization, the biggest change was that each of them had an additional financial support unit.

Unlike previous grain and ration cases, the officials in charge of the finances were all people dispatched by the shogunate's finance department and were responsible for the financial income and expenditure of the capital.

In short, with the support of the Ministry of Finance, the military commanders no longer needed to worry about how much money to distribute to their subordinates, how much to reward for meritorious service, how to calculate military merits, or how much spoils they had captured. These were all basically calculated by the Ministry of Finance and its subordinate officials.

This also means that in the Baoyi Army, the generals were basically separated from money. The army's trade, spoils, and rewards were all handled by the Ministry of Finance, which was the shogunate behind them.

So when Zhao Huai'an ordered Zhou Dexing to bring the finance department back to the main camp, he knew that the governor wanted to check the accounts.

However, Zhou Dexing was not panicked. It wasn't that he hadn't embezzled money, but he had already done so once last month. At that time, the six generals who were out there brought back the funds to check the seizure situation for this month.

Zhou Dexing still quite liked returning to the main camp. The last time they came back, the governor didn't talk to them about money. They just ate, drank, and boasted in the camp. Then the finance departments of each city gathered together to summarize the figures and report them to the shogunate's finance department.

Outside, the magistrate forbids everyone from drinking alcohol, especially for those like Zhou Dexing who are sent to advance into the mountains.

So, it was only when they returned to the main camp that they were able to have a drink, how could they not be happy?

When Zhou Dexing and Du Zhi stepped onto the dock, they saw that Zhang Dai and Gao Renhou had already arrived and were talking quietly on the dock, their expressions not very good.

After seeing Zhou Dexing arrive, the two men walked over, the three hugged each other, and then Gao Renhou laughed:
"We've been waiting for you. Old Han and the other two in the right wing have already gone in."

Zhou Dexing's first reaction was:
"They're probably already drinking, aren't they? Damn it, they didn't even wait for me, Old Zhou. Let's go, let's hurry up."

As Zhou Dexing was speaking, he tried to pull Zhang Dai and Gao Renhou inside, but Gao Renhou stopped him and asked in a low voice:

How has the past month been for you three cities?

Zhou Dexing was puzzled, thought for a moment, and said:

"It's alright. We don't know exactly how many people we captured; the Ministry of Revenue is calculating it. But we probably destroyed seven or eight villages."

As for the locations of the villages he had discovered, Zhou Dexing did not tell the two of them.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai and Gao Renhou exchanged a glance, confirming that it was indeed true.

So Zhang Dai said to Zhou Dexing, who was still puzzled:

"Old Zhou, you don't count, so you don't feel anything. Do you know how many villages we destroyed last month?"

Zhou Dexing nodded:
“I had about twenty of those places. Things were really going well back then. The mountain settlements were one after another, and arresting one meant arresting a whole bunch.”

Zhang Daidao:
"It's the same here. Lao Gao and I just checked with each other and found that we've both lost almost half of our earnings this month. At first, we thought it was a problem with our positions, but now that you're in the same boat, you're probably going to be out of there too."

Zhou Dexing was puzzled, not understanding what Zhang Dai meant.

Gao Renhou added over there:

“We suspect that those mountain huts have already started to run away.”

Zhou Dexing was taken aback:
"Run? Where can you run to? This is all mountains..."

Suddenly remembering something, Zhou Dexing slapped his thigh:
"Damn it, we shouldn't have come. We just found seven or eight huts and were about to close the net. If they get away, I'll be devastated. No, I have to go back."

As Zhou Dexing was about to hurriedly board the boat back to camp, Zhang Dai stopped him, and the latter cursed:
"Are you stupid? The military orders told you to come to the camp, and you still want to leave? Don't you want to live?! If you're going to run away, then run away. What's the rush? Can't you tell what's important?"

After being scolded by Zhang Dai, Zhou Dexing came to his senses and realized that attitude was far more important than performance. However, he was still filled with remorse and muttered to himself:

"This drinking session must also be devoid of any flavor."

The two shook their heads and pushed Zhou Dexing into the camp. They then found that things were being packed up inside. The three of them looked at each other, said nothing, and went into the main tent in the middle.

At this moment, the military officers inside and outside the yamen were all seated, and at the head of the table, the magistrate was talking to the chief secretary, and he looked very angry.

The three of them dared not disturb them and carefully sat down in the same seats they had used last time.

……

In front of a screen depicting the contours of the Dabie Mountains, Zhao Huai'an was cursing:

"Who is that Huangzhou governor? He's just a governor from Ezhou and Yuezhou, impeaching me? I'm from Huainan, does he even have the right to impeach me? If he impeaches me, I'll impeach him too! I think this guy is the black umbrella of the mountain hut! He's a big tiger!"

Zhao Huai'an was furious.

Just yesterday, Wang Jin, who was stationed in Ding County, sent a fast boat into the mountains to deliver a memorial impeaching Zhao Huai'an from the military governor's office.

This impeachment memorial was forwarded by the military governor Liu Ye; the one impeaching Zhao Da was his neighbor, the prefect of Huangzhou.

The governor of Huangzhou wrote a letter of impeachment directly to the imperial court, accusing Zhao Huai'an of mobilizing troops and entering the mountains without cause, causing unrest in Shen, Huang, and Qi prefectures. He claimed that a large number of mountain bandits had emerged from the mountains and invaded places like Macheng in Huangzhou, causing heavy losses to the local area and displacing the people.

The culprit behind all this is Zhao Huai'an, and then everyone is shouting for his life! Not only should they dismiss Zhao Huai'an from his post, but they should also compensate Huangzhou for its losses. That old geezer is really wicked!
So what if I didn't invite him for a drink when the fleet passed through? Is he really that stingy?
However, the governor of Huangzhou was a fool, but the imperial court was not. For someone like Zhao Huai'an who had made great contributions to the country, he was stripped of his position as governor of Guang Prefecture before he had even warmed his seat.

At that time, the world will think that the Li family mistreated their meritorious officials!
Therefore, in the end, the imperial court not only returned the letter of impeachment, but also comforted Zhao Huai'an for his original intention in eliminating the bandits in the Dabie Mountains, which was to safeguard the country's salt interests, and this was commendable.

However, the imperial court still fined Zhao Huai'an three months' salary, on the grounds that Huangzhou had indeed suffered losses because of Zhao Huai'an's efforts to eliminate the thieves, and therefore he deserved to be punished.

Furthermore, the imperial court imposed a further constraint on Zhao Huai'an at the end of the document, stipulating that he was only allowed to suppress bandits within his own territory, and should not affect the security of the surrounding prefectures, and was even more prohibited from crossing borders to carry out the suppression.

Originally, up to this point, the document was still a simple edict to resolve a local dispute.

However, at the end of the document, the court suddenly began to emphasize the tasks of Guang Prefecture: one was to maintain the safety of the Huai River waterway, and the other was to block the passage for bandits from the Central Plains to move south. Anything that did not meet these two requirements should not be done.

The first point has always been there, but this second point is the first time that the imperial court has seriously mentioned the matter of bandits in the Central Plains in a document issued to local governors.

Clearly, the situation in the Central Plains was far from optimistic at this time.

However, Zhao Huai'an was very dissatisfied with the court's handling of the matter.

If you were to advocate for a middle ground, then at least both sides should be held equally accountable. But now, it seems that Zhao Huai'an is the one who suffers the loss? And the Prefect of Huangzhou bears no responsibility?
I was suppressing the bandits, but they grew legs and ran away. What could I do? Did I send them to plunder Huangzhou? How can this be Zhao Da's fault? Shouldn't we blame the Huangzhou governor for not even being able to stop a mountain stronghold?

Isn't it the greatest crime for an official to be unable to even protect the land properly?

What angered Zhao Da even more was that the imperial court was acting unethically!
Because the imperial court's official documents make no mention what the actual situation is in the Central Plains.

Liu Ye gave a brief account in his letter, and finally reminded him that if Huainan were to use troops later, it was very likely that he, Zhao Huai'an, would lead the troops out of the country, and that he should prepare in advance.
But Zhao Da, whose grand plan to make a fortune had been disrupted, threw the imperial edict down in public and cursed:
"Prepare? Prepare my ass! Let's continue sweeping the mountain and let that Huangzhou governor continue impeaching us. Let's see if he impeaches us faster or if he begs me for help later!"

As he spoke, Zhao Huai'an asked Zhang Guinian:
"I need to think of a way. We can't beat these mountain huts, so we've started heading to Huangzhou. Old Zhang, can you help me think of a solution?"

Then he called out to the generals present:
"You all need to think about it too, instead of just thinking about drinking. If we can't come up with anything today, none of us will drink."

Therefore, including Zhang Guinian, all the military officers wore bitter faces and frowned in deep thought.

And you, those mountain huts, why are you running away! We came here to help you live a better life!
　Chapter Two will be a little later today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)