Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 169 Rainbow
At this moment, amidst the torrential rain, in the main camp in the valley, several commanders of the mountain huts were also drinking in a tent.

The aroma of wine and meat wafting from inside the tent tempted the guards in the mountain huts outside, who couldn't help but swallow hard. They cursed under their breath and decided to leave the tents to avoid the rain, hiding in nearby tents instead.

Inside the tent, the men were eating and drinking heartily, toasting each other and deepening their affection.

Suddenly, a drunken man from the next stall shouted:
"In my opinion, Zhou Dalang is the right person to lead us. Yang Dadu has been captured, so what is Yang Er? He can't even lift a knife, how can he be in charge?"

Although everyone was drunk, they all fell silent upon hearing this, secretly glancing at the person in the very center.

This man was dressed in a rough and unkempt manner, wearing straw sandals, with his long trousers rolled up, revealing his hairy legs. He had sinister eyes like a vulture, with most of the whites of his eyes making up the rest of his face, making him a strange-looking man.

And he is Zhou Dalang, who was just mentioned.

At this moment, seeing that the people he had arranged had started to put on their act, he placed the wine bowl on the mat. The water seeping in from outside had made the tent muddy, and when the wine bowl was knocked over, it was covered with muddy water.

Zhou Dalang didn't care at all. Instead, he scanned the people present. Apart from the one on the far left who was looking directly at him, everyone else seemed to be deep in thought.

These people present were all powerful figures among the leaders of the mountain outposts, each with one or two hundred brave men under their command. Whether they could replace the Yang family at this moment depended on whether they could gain the support of these people.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhou Dalang spoke:
“Brothers, I, Zhou Dalang, don’t play games with you guys. Tell me, has Yang Shi done us any favors? If you say no, then you’re heartless. But we’re all mountain folk, and mountain folk know that kindness can’t be eaten. The women and children in the shed don’t live off kindness; they live off us men earning rice outside.”

"When Yang Da was here, with his skills and the heroes under his command, he could naturally be the leader. But what about Yang Er? He has some money, but instead of supporting heroes, he spends it on books outside the mountains. Can books feed us? Can books keep us from starving? So it's not that Zhou Da had any designs on him, but that Yang Er is just not a capable person. What good will it do us to follow him? Not to mention, this time he even tricked us brothers into coming down the mountain. Today Yang Er can deceive us, tomorrow he can betray us! I'm not willing to follow him."

At this moment, after Zhou Dalang finished speaking, he saw that most of the camp leaders remained silent. He cursed inwardly, then his eyes welled up with tears, and he cried out:

“We mountain people suffer. We can’t support our own people. My father handed the shed over to me when I was sixteen, hoping I would take care of it. But I couldn’t even support my elderly mother. When I turned forty, my mother went to the mountains alone.”

"Is Zhou Da heartless? No, even if I, Zhou Da, am poor and useless, can't I get a single grain of rice? It's just because she's our mother, she knows the difficulties her son faces. Who in our shed isn't someone else's son? I, Zhou Da, can use the rice from the shed to support my mother out of filial piety, so why would others be unfilial? But there's only so much rice; if one person eats more, others will eat less. That's why my mother took the lead in coming into the mountains to set an example. Without rules, we mountain people will all starve to death."

These words brought tears to the eyes of many studio hosts, because they had similar experiences, and many of them cried out with red eyes:

"Zhou Da, just tell us what you want to do. Give us a plan, and if it's suitable, the brothers will support you."

Zhou Dalang wiped away his tears and said in a deep voice:

“We need a alpha wolf in our mountains, not a useless person. The Yang family has been our leader for four generations, not because of any blood they shed, but because all four generations of them are heroes who can lead us to work with other mountain groups and guard our Yinshan Pass.”

"So fists are the rule in the mountains."

"The reason we've gathered here today is to discuss and decide on someone who can lead us to defeat the Guang Prefecture army and prevent us mountain people from being bullied. If that person is Yang Er, we'll continue to support him. But if Yang Er doesn't have the ability, then we won't let our brothers down, and we'll choose someone ourselves. Don't think that I, Zhou Da, have ulterior motives. To be frank, I do want to be in that position, but if any of you think you're better than me, I, Zhou Da, will support you without hesitation."

At this point, Zhou Dalang spoke with righteous indignation:
"In the end, we're still doing this for the shelters in our mountains!"

His words were well-reasoned and persuasive, causing many honest villagers to nod in agreement. At this moment, one of the village leaders, who had been pre-arranged, smashed his wine bowl on the ground and roared:
“Zhou Da, you’ve spoken so well. Tell us what we should do. Let’s drive those Guangzhou people out, and then we’ll make you our leader.”

Others, caught up in the atmosphere, smashed their wine bowls and shouted:

"Yes, we'll do whatever you say."

"People in the mountains don't believe in morality. If you can help them survive, that's morality. I don't care what your surname is."

“That’s right. If the Yang family doesn’t work, we’ll switch to the Zhou family. Didn’t the Yang family get their way back then in the same way?”

At this moment, the tent was filled with the aroma of wine, and everyone was excited and shouting.

This week, Da Lang laughed heartily, gestured for everyone to sit down, and then he explained his plan:

“These past two days, we also attacked that small village by the water, but as you can see, we lost hundreds of brothers and didn’t even get close to their gates. And that was just a small force they sent; once their main force arrives, we’ll be even less able to defeat them. This isn’t to boost morale, but we all have hundreds of lives on our shoulders, and we have to accept whatever comes our way.”

"But we can't break through the Guangzhou army. What can those Guangzhou soldiers do to us? With their small numbers, we can drown them with a single spit from each of us as soon as they leave the camp. As for their large army coming again, we'll just hide in the mountains. Do they need supplies? We'll just circle around to the rear and cut them off. Then we'll block them in front and let them starve to death."

"So these Gwangju troops are actually not a concern. Instead, we need to consider something else."

Everyone was puzzled, wondering what else they needed to consider besides defeating the Gwangju army.

Then Zhou Dalang said:

"Over the past two days, at least ten thousand people have come down the mountain. This is a rare major event in our Xishan area, which shows that when we mountain people encounter a big event, we can still work together. But with so many people coming down, even if our granaries are full, we can't keep up with this kind of consumption. So we have to make up for it from other places."

Seeing that everyone was thinking, Zhou Dalang finally dropped the bombshell, saying:

“I won’t lie to you, people from Shuzhou have approached us, asking us to take our brothers to Shuzhou to make a fortune. We have a grudge against those mountain bandits in Shuzhou, but this time they’ve really done a great job. Shuzhou was originally their territory, but now they’re willing to share it with our brothers. I think this can be done.”

At this moment, one of the shed leaders stood up, pointed at Zhou Dalang, and cursed:
"Zhou Dalang, I thought you had some brilliant idea! So it's just about taking the brothers to be dogs for the Shuzhou thugs? Three of my brothers died at their hands, and you want me to be their dogs? I curse your ancestors!"

After saying this, the commander strode out of the tent, and several people were about to follow him out.

Suddenly, two warriors rushed in from outside the tent, raised their swords and slashed at the commander's neck. Blood gushed out like a fountain, and the man fell to the ground before he could even utter a word.

At this moment, the tent was as quiet as a cicada's cry in the cold; even the sound of breathing had become faint.

Zhou Dalang finally came down. He saw that the commander's neck had been cut in half, with his head and body still connected by skin and flesh. He cursed the warrior who had done it:
"Useless. He can't even wield a knife properly."

As he spoke, Zhou Dalang took the sword from his attendant, snorted, and suddenly swung the sword horizontally, severing the head of a military commander sitting on the left side of the mat.

At this moment, all the tent leaders were terrified and shrank back in unison. One of the bolder ones shouted, trembling:
"Zhou Da, we've already pushed you, how can you do this? We're all brothers!"

At this moment, Zhou Dalang, whose entire face was covered in blood, coldly snorted:

"This guy looks down on me. What? I'm trying to help my brothers survive, and instead of being grateful, they're spouting morals and benevolence in front of me?"

As he spoke, he kicked the tent commander who had first insulted him on the head. The little bit of flesh left on the tent was no match for his kick, and the head was kicked out of the tent and rolled into the muddy pond outside.

Zhou Dalang cursed:
"You damned ghost, you played the brotherhood card with me, but you couldn't bear to part with your three dead brothers. So I'll send you down to join them. I was trying to help you find a way to make money, but you two just made me angry."

Inside the tent, apart from those who had previously sided with Zhou Dalang, everyone knew they had entered a wolf's den, and they were filled with regret.

Only then did Zhou Dalang wipe the blood off his knife and say to the remaining men:

"There are over 100,000 people in the mountains of Shuzhou. Now we're going to get rich together. Anyone who's willing to follow us is still a brother. But anyone who tries to block our path to wealth, don't blame us for being quick with our knives."

Before Zhou Da could speak again, all the mountain hut members prostrated themselves on the ground, wailing and pledging their loyalty:
"We are all willing to follow you, Brother."

"Yes, yes, I'll do it with you, Dalang."

Zhou Da laughed heartily. Suddenly, he seemed to hear a drumbeat, but it was too far away to hear clearly. A moment later, he felt the ground shaking. Just as he was feeling confused, he suddenly jumped up and shouted to the people outside:

"Quick, go check if there's been a landslide."

There was no reply from outside for a long time. When he got impatient, he opened the tent flap and saw a huge cavalry force moving at high speed toward them amidst the rising mist in the distance.

Zhou opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

……

"kill!"

The three commanderies and the four commanderies on the left flank each led three squads of cavalry, a total of 330 riders, who charged forward at high speed in the torrential rain.

Behind them, five heavily armored infantrymen, mounted on large mules, followed silently.

Ahead of them lay nearly ten thousand undefended, chaotic mountain shelters scattered across the valley.

Because of the heavy rain, no one in the mountain huts was willing to stay outside in the rain. They all hid inside their tents to avoid the rain until a burst of war drums sounded from the Baoyi Army camp across the way, at which point they came out in a daze.

Then they saw death rushing in through the torrential rain.

Liu Zhijun took the lead, raised his lance, grinned maliciously, and cut off the head that had just emerged from the tent.

Then he cut the tent ropes with a single stroke of his spear and continued running forward.

Behind him, a dozen or so riders lined up and trampled over the collapsed tents, accompanied by cries of agony, leaving only blood-stained mud beneath their feet.

Three hundred and thirty cavalrymen, acting as the vanguard, ripped out the heart of the mountain camp, while the strong mules that followed advanced all the way. Wherever there were many people, a group of armored warriors would dismount and form ranks to pursue and kill the retreating mountain camp.

But these people are destined to be uncatching up.

Because at this time, cries and shouts could be heard throughout the entire camp:

"The government troops are coming! Run!"

The mountain huts, comprised of nearly a hundred settlements, were already a motley crew. Upon discovering their leader was missing, they panicked and fled towards Yinshan Pass before the Baoyi Army's knights could even arrive. The camp was in chaos, littered with fallen figures. The Baoyi cavalry, pursuing from behind, killed indiscriminately, beheading anyone they saw, showing no mercy.

One group that had organized to resist was instantly turned into mincemeat in this torrent of iron.

Then no more mountain huts organized a resistance.

In the torrential rain, the Baoyi Army was like a series of flesh-and-blood millstones, crushing any life that dared to stop in their way.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an led a troop of cavalry behind, looking at the valley in front of him.

In the iron torrent of the Baoyi Army, the seemingly massive mountain camp collapsed like a giant with feet of clay.

Zhao Huai'an reveled in the downpour and the bloodshed before him.

The anxiety and fear of the future that had plagued me for days vanished in that moment.

Fighting, only fighting, is a man's romance, and also Zhao Da's destiny.

Whether it's Gao Pian and Liu Ye standing in his way, or Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao behind him, he will choose to fight in this way.

I don't care if you're an imperial envoy or a high-ranking official, nor do I care if you're a bandit hero or someone who's made a name for yourself in history. If you don't come to my Guangzhou, fine.

Come on? Then it'll be a battle to the death. You want to gamble with your life? Then let's see who's tougher!
……

"Hehehe, stop running! Quickly eat Liu Zhijun's big spear! Stop running!"

The ambition that had just welled up in his heart was instantly extinguished by these words. Zhao Huai'an was furious and roared into the depths of the torrential rain:
"Liu Zhijun, if you keep messing with me, I'll beat you up! Charge towards Yinshan Pass!"

Liu Zhijun was nearby, riding his warhorse at a leisurely pace, chasing after a group of mountain bandits. The arrogant laughter had just come from there.

But he hadn't expected the magistrate to be nearby. He ducked back, then shouted towards the panting mountain hut ahead:
"What are you running for? Bury your faces in the mud and stick your butts out, and I won't kill you."

After saying that, Liu Zhijun ignored the mountain huts and led a group of cavalrymen forward, heading straight for Yinshan Pass.

As soon as he left, the group of mountain cavalry promptly buried their faces in the mud and water, and miraculously, no more cavalrymen pursued them.

That enemy general was a good man!
……

At this moment, on Yinshan Pass, Yang Yanbao looked blankly at everything before him.

The mountain strongholds that had filled the valley collapsed completely after a single drumbeat from the opposite side.

Countless huts fled in panic like dogs and sheep, only to be trampled into mincemeat by their own people rushing in from behind.

Sometimes Yang Yanbao didn't understand this either. Clearly, each of those mountain huts was a tough and unruly hero on their own, but why did they act like pigs and sheep when they were all together?

He had no idea what was happening before his eyes.

Has reinforcements from Gwangju arrived? Or has the governor of Gwangju arrived with his cavalry?
At that moment, Yang Yanbao felt utterly powerless.

He truly felt he had done his best.

His elder brother was a muscle-bound brute, and his family's vassal commanders were treacherous and two-faced. He wanted to try his best to bring the family ashore, but the evil winds in the mountains were too strong, and in the end, one's talent could not overcome fate.

When his elder brother led the troops away, Yang Yanbao knew something was wrong. In a flash, he thought of a way to survive the ordeal.

Judging from the previous actions of the Guangzhou army, they must have suffered enough from searching the mountains and forests, otherwise they wouldn't have bypassed a large area of ​​forest in the middle and attacked Yinshan Pass directly.

Since the Guang Prefecture army needs to wipe out all the mountain strongholds, why not let him do it? In that case, he can both pledge his loyalty and cut himself off from the strongholds, and also make a great contribution to the Yang family in front of the governor.

So he hurriedly sent people to the mountains to gather those mountain huts, and once they arrived, he would wipe them out in one fell swoop, then lead the huts to surrender to the Gwangju army on the other side.

This is the essence of "no poison, no manhood!"

As he had predicted, the enemy general soon arrived at the pass with his army, and his proud brother was also brought along bound.

Even though he was tied up, the elder brother remained proud, raising his neck to mock the enemy general.

But in the blink of an eye, without knowing what the enemy general said, the elder brother was completely dumbfounded.

He had never seen his brother so listless, so devoid of light.

At that moment, Yang Yanbao even considered surrendering the pass.

But he forced himself to stay; he had to take Yang ashore and couldn't stay in the mountains any longer.

Then the Guangshan army retreated, and that very night, the mountain hut appeared nearby.

And what happened next was exactly as he had predicted. Once they realized that his brother was not in charge, those mountain huts didn't even bother to show him any respect.

But this is what he wants. According to his plan, he will invite these mountain herders to a banquet tonight, ostensibly to abdicate and let a virtuous person take over, and then wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

But just one day short, just one day short, and the Gwangju army's counterattack came, as powerful and unstoppable as ever.

As more and more mountain huts poured into the pass, Yang Yanbao sighed and gave the order:
"Let them in, then disarm them."

As the gates swung open, countless soldiers from the mountain strongholds surged into the pass. Meanwhile, atop the gates, Yang Yanbao watched the approaching Guang Prefecture cavalry, sighed, then pointed to a figure inside the barbican and shook his head.

“Drag that Zhou Dalang out and chop him up. I’m tired of seeing the whites of his eyes.”

At his command, a squad of Yang clan soldiers clad in iron armor descended the gate wall and headed straight for Zhou Dalang, who was hiding in the crowd. Amidst the latter's panicked cries, they were dragged back onto the gate.

Yang Yanbao glanced around, confirmed it was that annoying Zhou Da, and nodded.

Then, a burly warrior drew his sword and chopped off Zhou Da's head with a single stroke. He then wrapped the head in cloth and presented it to Yang Yanbao.

Looking at the blood-soaked cloth bag, Yang Yanbao gave a self-deprecating laugh:

"No wonder people are obsessed with power. The feeling of having other people's lives in your hands is really exhilarating."

The portly warrior hesitated, as if he wanted to speak, but Yang Yanbao shook his head to stop him:
“Uncle, I know what’s important. If I can kill people at will today, others can kill us at will. Since I’ve taken this step, I’m prepared for it. Now, I only hope that the governor is a good governor and that his fortunes will be good and that he won’t ruin the Yang family’s path. Otherwise, we’ll only be a few steps behind Zhou Dawan.”

The fat warrior sighed, looking dejected and lost.

Yang Yanbao took a deep breath, looked at the large "Yang" banner that was completely soaked and drooping in the downpour, and said softly:

"Change the flag and go to Shimonoseki."

A moment later, the core members of the Yang family, led by Yang Yanbao, walked out of Yinshan Pass shirtless and braving the torrential rain.

Upon seeing the approaching Gwangju cavalry, they slowly knelt down in the mud.

Yang Yanbao, wearing the official hat of a scholar, was in tears and shouted:
“The criminal Yang Yanbao, along with my entire Yang family, surrenders the pass.”

Upon seeing this, the cavalry split into two groups, unwilling to stand in front of these people.

Then a cavalry unit, with umbrellas on its backs and flags raised, slowly appeared in front.

In the very center, a tall knight rode forward, gazing thoughtfully at the kneeling members of the Yang clan and the several heads hanging on the gate.

Then, smiling, he said to Yang Yanbao, who was lying prone in the mud:
"You made a not-bad choice."

Upon hearing this, Yang Yanbao quickly looked up at the tall knight protected by thousands of troops in the pouring rain. Overwhelmed with joy, he shouted:
“Yang Yanbao, a criminal, has met with the Prefect of Guang Prefecture and is willing to offer up a hundred miles of mountains to atone for the great sins of my Yang family.”

Zhao Huai'an listened quietly until Yang Yanbao trembled with fear, then finally uttered a single sentence:
"I have taken this land and rivers. As for your Yang family, the fact that you surrendered and offered up the pass shows that you know your mistakes and can correct them. I, Zhao Da, will give you this opportunity, but you must exchange your blood and loyalty for this opportunity."

At this moment, Yang Yanbao burst into tears, leading his clansmen in a collective bow and shout:

“My Yang family will be loyal to the general for generations to come. Our sons and grandsons are willing to serve as whips and stirrups to repay the kindness of not killing us today.”

Strangely enough, as the vow was made, the torrential rain gradually stopped, and a dazzling rainbow appeared before Yang Yanbao amidst the mountains and above the Huangshui River.

At this moment, the governor of Guang Prefecture, who was also the new lord of the Yang family, sat high on his white horse, with a rainbow overhead, holding a whip and gazing into the distance.

This scene was deeply etched in Yang Yanbao's mind for the rest of his life.

(End of this chapter)