Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 170 (Briefly)
After the Baoyi Army captured Yinshan Pass and subdued the Yang family of Xishan, they completely controlled the key passages in the Dabie Mountains area of ​​Guangzhou. This beautiful mountainous area, which is seventy miles long from north to south and two hundred miles long from east to west, fell into the hands of Guangzhou.

Because of the months-long campaign of logging and the final battle at Yinshan Pass, Zhao Huai'an captured a large number of people from the mountains. These people were fearless and could traverse mountains and valleys as if they were flat ground, making them an excellent source of soldiers.

However, Zhao Huai'an could not organize them according to the standards of the Baoyi Army. The reason was simple: only by differentiating treatment could there be insiders and outsiders, core members and vassals.

Today, the Baoyi Army has become the dual core of the eight inner and eight outer districts of the government, one guarding the interior and the other protecting the exterior, together radiating throughout the entire territory of Gwangju and forming the cornerstone of the power of the Gwangju government.

However, the mountain huts within the Dabie Mountains were theoretically Zhao Huai'an's prisoners of war and servants of the Zhao family. These people could certainly not be compared to the samurai of the shogunate.

However, this did not mean that Zhao Huai'an would give up these high-quality soldiers. Therefore, he adopted a new system to organize these mountain huts into a semi-civilian, semi-military organization, which was the Duhu system.

As the Baoyi Army completely blocked the passage, the mountain huts in the mountains accepted the reality. During the period when Zhao Huai'an stationed his troops at Yinshan Pass, more and more huts came down the mountain to surrender, bringing with them the old and the young.

To date, Zhao Huai'an has acquired a total of 6,000 households, including 2,364 orphans without household registration, almost wiping out all the mountain shelters in Guang Prefecture.

For those with families, Zhao Huai'an organized them into "du" (communities) of 300 households each. Smaller settlements were grouped together to form a "du," while larger settlements were split up and merged with other split-up large settlements to form a "du."

The six thousand households were then organized into twenty districts, each of which was an independent unit. The leader of each district was a district commander, selected from among the most prestigious individuals within the district, and was responsible only for military affairs, defense, and training.

Then, a respected person from other settlements within the capital was selected as the deputy commander, in charge of matters such as farming, tea picking, and transportation within the capital.

Then, a respected person from other settlements was selected as the Chief Justice, in charge of military discipline, disputes, and criminal cases within the capital.

Finally, the shogunate will select two people from the province who are good at writing or skilled in martial arts to serve as instructors of literature in the capital, and one retired soldier from the army to serve as instructor of military affairs in the capital, in charge of supervision, education and recommendation within the capital.

In other words, each city has 300 households, with a population of between 1,000 and 1,500, and those in charge of military affairs, economy, justice, and education are all separated.

Of these, only those in charge of supervision and education were appointed and dismissed by the state government; the others were selected from their respective communities or directly appointed by Zhao Huai'an after investigation, and once appointed, the position was hereditary.

As for the inspectors dispatched from the shogunate, they also had a certain privilege: each year, the three instructors could select three skilled warriors from among the sons of the capital to be sent to the military.

These four parts constitute the management structure of the capital, and Zhao Huai'an only needs to pay and provide benefits to these commanders, legal officials, and instructors.

In terms of treatment, these commanders were treated better than the officers of the yamen army. The yamen army's salary was divided into five grades, ranging from fifty to one hundred strings of cash per year, while they were in the third grade, with an annual salary of eighty strings of cash.

In addition to their salary, they also received a monthly allowance of two shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice, enough to support a family of five. They also received two sets of clothing for spring and winter, as well as silk and cotton fabric to keep the family warm.

In addition to these regulations, there are various festival gifts and subsidies, such as subsidies for going to war, subsidies for national sacrifices, festival subsidies, and "firewood and charcoal money" and "snow and cold money" from December to January each year.

In this way, the salary of each military officer would be around 100 kan. Thus, the cost of six registered military officers in one commandery would be 600 kan for the shogunate. For twenty commanderies, it would be 12,000 kan.

This is no small sum of money, but what can Zhao Huai'an gain from it?

Six thousand vegetable and tea factory workers, six thousand farmers, and six thousand soldiers—if needed, these twenty groups could be directly incorporated into the combat sequence as a whole, which would amount to six thousand soldiers.

This only requires an annual expenditure of 12,000 guan.

However, each city has more than a thousand people, and it is impossible to manage them with just six people. Therefore, each commander needs some hangers-on. However, these hangers-on are not part of the official staff and receive the city's grain, salt, and pickles.

Where did the grain in the capital come from? It came from the cultivation of the three hundred households within the capital.

After being registered in the military, these shantytown dwellers were transformed from mountain people into collective households. After bringing their families down from the mountains, they would live and work collectively in groups of three hundred households.

Like their commanders, these people's descendants inherited the position from generation to generation. If there were no descendants, the original family would fill the vacancy. These commanders usually farmed around the commander's post and trained in writing and warfare with retired military and civil instructors from the Baoyi Army.

As for the income from land reclamation and tea picking by the villagers, it was distributed according to the principle of keeping 30% for themselves, 30% for the headquarters, and 30% for the shogunate.

Of the 30% left at the capital command post, it was mainly used for daily training and rewards at the garrison posts, as well as provisions for departures when needed.

As for the tea harvest, it was purchased at a uniform price. The shogunate's finance officials used money, grain, and rice as payment to each regional command post, which then distributed the tea to the households that produced it.

Therefore, the Protectorate became a bridge between the militia and tens of thousands of mountain strongholds, which shows its importance.

……

From September to the entire month of October, for almost two months, Zhao Huai'an traveled by boat and horseback across almost the entire Huangshui River, and he settled the forts of the twenty Dutun garrisons in the valleys along the banks of the Huangshui River.

The advantage of doing this was that it secured transportation lines between the mountains and the surrounding areas, and allowed for the cultivation of tea in the valleys, ensuring the storage and transshipment of tea.

Furthermore, the fact that all these command posts were located on both sides of the Huangshui River had another advantage: if something happened outside the mountains, the post horses could enter the mountains and notify the twenty commanderies in an instant. Then, they could go down the Huangshui River and reach Guangshan County outside the mountains in a short time.

In addition, Zhao Huai'an also sent people to build beacon towers on the high ridges on both sides, still following the Huangshui River waterway all the way to Yinshan Pass.

The purpose of this was to enable rapid military suppression.

Zhao Huai'an's plan was to send one outside officer and one inside officer to be stationed in the mountains, one to be stationed at the river bend camp in the north to control the transportation of tea and supplies, and one to be stationed at Yinshan Pass.

The eight teams, both inside and outside the city, will take turns stationed in the mountains, both to facilitate training in the mountains and to ensure that the teams do not have too much connection with the local area.

The main task of these two capitals was to control the twenty capital command posts along the Huangshui River.

If any changes occur in these twenty cities, or if the mountain garrisons who still do not submit to the rule of Guangzhou descend the mountain and cause trouble, then beacon fires will be lit at the place where the changes occur, and the fires will spread all the way to the River Bend Camp and Yinshan Pass.

After that, the troops from these two locations would immediately take boats and head south or north along the Huangshui River. Along the way, they would draw troops from each of the regional command posts and head south together.

When the troops from both sides attack the rebellious areas from the north and south, what bandit cannot be quelled?

Thus, this was the overall strategy that Zhao Huai'an and his advisors had discussed to subdue the mountains of Guang Prefecture: two points, one line, and twenty areas along the way, to completely control the northern foothills of the Dabie Mountains.

But building a fortress isn't just about drawing a map. The reason Zhao Huai'an had to personally go there was because these locations were very important.

Following the idea that whoever controls the transportation lines controls the region, Zhao Huai'an also followed this approach in building fortified outposts, constructing them in locations with strategically important terrain, passes, watchtowers, and waterways.

Moreover, the more ruthless the local bandits are, the more important it is to build fortresses to control these special places.

From the perspective of land reclamation, the site selection for the forts should be based on the valleys and dams of various sizes, so that the slopes become the forts, the land below becomes the farmland, and the surrounding area is filled with streams, which can meet the needs of farming and daily water use.

Then, these fortified villages were used as the core to radiate outwards, and post stations and sentry posts were set up.

The post stations were all built along the Huangshui River.

Because some forts were located in valleys slightly inside the mountains, daily communication and transportation relied on these post stations.

The sentry post was a post located deep in the mountains, set up by various fortresses for the purpose of communication, guard duty, and observation.

If any disturbance occurs in the mountains, these sentries will be able to detect it and quickly relay the information back to the fortified positions in the valley behind, so that timely preparations can be made.

These outposts were essentially the end of the transportation lines, helping the shogunate's rule extend deeper into the mountains.

Zhao Huai'an is indeed a master of the art world.

He used the garrison troops of two capitals as the inner circle to control the twenty outer capitals, and then each capital was a circle to control the sentry posts on the outer line. These sentry posts, in turn, acted as the vanguard to penetrate deep into the mountains and make direct contact with the wild mountain huts.

This is how 600 people controlled 6,000 households. Once the 6,000 households were under control, they could extend their control to countless places deep in the mountains.

Zhao Huai'an was very satisfied with his system, believing it would function effectively in his generation. As for what would happen after that? It would either have to be abandoned or restructured.

After the selection of commanders and fortresses was completed, the most crucial part of the system remained: the selection of the commanders and deputy commanders of each office, as well as the legal personnel.

……

Ultimately, the success of any system depends on the people involved; if the right people are chosen, the system will be effective.

So, what kind of people should be used? That depends on Zhao Huai'an's current goals.

His most important task now is to completely appease the Dabie Mountains and bring the mountain dwellers who have lived there for hundreds or even thousands of years into the trade network.

Therefore, at this stage, he needs the help of these local mountain shelters and can only rely on them because they are familiar with the local network and people.

Respecting the locals is the primary prerequisite for governing them.

Under this principle, Zhao Huai'an basically retained most of the commanders in their original positions. Except for Yang Zongbao, who reported that some were extremely restless, almost all the rest were promoted to commanders of the main and secondary divisions or legal departments, and their families were given the title of "Guiyi Lang".

These military officers were all hereditary, and only the eldest son or grandson had priority in inheriting the position. Only if the officer himself had no children or grandchildren would his younger brother or nephew succeed him.

Zhao Huai'an's method was very effective. It not only quickly stabilized the captive shantytowns, but also triggered a chain reaction, which led the Huoshan bandits, who had been watching from the sidelines, to lead their settlements to surrender.

When Zhao Huai'an first arrived in Guang Prefecture, he said he would use both the hilt of a knife and the official robe to suppress and pacify the bandits. If he had used the hilt of a knife to deal with the bandits of Guang Mountain, he would use the official robe to deal with the bandits of Huo Mountain, his own fellow villagers.

What these Huoshan commanders valued most was Zhao Huai'an's promise of hereditary succession. Even if they became commanders, they couldn't actually leave their positions to their descendants.

In the mountains, strength is the measure of power. Whoever can lead the community to prosperity will have prestige and become the leader of the settlement.

Everyone loves their children and grandchildren. Before Zhao Huai'an's household registration system was implemented, it was fine, but now that it's in place, people are tempted.

As the leader of the largest violent organization in the region, Zhao Huai'an has enough prestige to guarantee the effectiveness of this system.

Even in the eyes of these mountain dwellers, Zhao Huai'an was enough to be the master of the 800-li Dabie Mountains, even without the title of Governor of Guang Prefecture from the imperial court.

Therefore, once Zhao Huai'an could protect the interests of these warlords, they all flocked to him.

Taking this opportunity, Zhao Huai'an sent Ding Hui and other Huoshan Party members back to Huoshan to proclaim the policy of protecting the righteous army and to call on familiar settlements to return.

Zhao Huai'an's identity and reputation played a decisive role in this.

These people, who were originally from Huoshan and claimed to be fellow villagers of Zhao Huai'an, did not hesitate to join him. They were more loosely organized than the mountain huts in Guangshan and Shuzhou.

Therefore, after the Huoshan Party members in the army entered the mountains, there were settlements returning almost every day.

The wave of people joining the cause originated from a small settlement located west of the Ju River.

The leader of the settlement was named Jia Shichen. He led sixty households from Huoshan Mountain to join him and presented Zhao Huai'an with ten cowhides, ten pairs of deer antlers, twenty fox pelts, two fine horses, two strong mules, and four hunting dogs.

As the first Huoshan bandit to submit, Zhao Huai'an rewarded him handsomely. Instead of giving him gold and silver that the mountain people couldn't comprehend, he directly bestowed upon him a large amount of supplies.

Upon hearing that Jia Shichen had led sixty households from the mountain village to return, Zhao Huai'an not only sent his troops to welcome them, but also personally went out of the pass to greet them.

After the guests arrived, a grand banquet was held, and then Zhao Huai'an began to reward them handsomely.

First, he directly allocated ten strong male and female oxen, then bestowed upon them satin robes, long gowns, black boots, carved belts, and sixty sets of everyday clothes for all four seasons, including cloth shirts, trousers, bedding, and quilts.

The next day, after the banquet, Zhao Huai'an personally delivered a large number of daily necessities, such as pots, mats, bowls, plates, chopsticks, and buckets, to replenish them in abundance.

Jia Shichen was moved to tears, feeling that Zhao Dalang was indeed a great hero of righteousness and integrity, and that they had come to the right place.

As for the first person to come to him, Huo Shanshanpeng, who was also considered his fellow townsman, Zhao Huai'an gave Jia Shichen a very high political status.

In front of the assembled Baoyi generals and the twenty newly appointed commanders of Guangshan, he raised Jia Shichen's hand, deeply moved:

"Old Jia and his family abandoned the mountain land where they had lived for generations, left their ancestral graves, and crossed mountains and valleys to come and rely on me, Zhao Da. What kind of trust is this? Therefore, I, Zhao Da, will reward his direct descendants. Not only will they all be exempt from paying tribute, but as long as I am here, I will protect the Jia family from three death sentences." After saying this, Zhao Huai'an wrote down the names of the sixty male members of Jia Shichen's households in a register, and then hung it around Jia Shichen's neck.

At that time, all sixty households in the Jia family settlement were moved to tears, deeply grateful.

The group of righteous generals nodded repeatedly, thinking that if the magistrate could even promise the Jia family a lifetime of exemption from death three times, then what need was there to say about their brothers who had followed Zhao Huai'an through thick and thin?

Some of the more ambitious ones were even thinking, "Now that you are the governor of Guang Prefecture, what if you become the military governor of Huainan, or even... then wouldn't this promise bring you wealth and honor for generations to come?"

At this moment, those people were filled with fervor, wishing they could immediately push the governor into Chang'an.

The sixty commanders and deputy commanders, as well as the legal officials, looked at Jia Shichen with envy. But what could they do? They were all defeated and captured. It was already a blessing to maintain their original positions; they dared not hope for such treatment.

Only Yang Yanzong, who was standing at the very front of the crowd, sighed and felt secretly saddened.

All of this should have belonged to the Yang family.

This is truly a cruel twist of fate.

Zhao Huai'an didn't care about the sadness of a few individuals; he wanted to use this as a model. So, after the banquet, the rewards, and the official appointments, Zhao Huai'an began his final move: a marriage alliance.

He not only betrothed the sister of one of the officers of his yamen army to Jia Shichen, but also betrothed Jia Shichen's sister to one of his officers.

In addition, he was promoted to commander of Huoshan, and all sixty households that came to submit were placed in his command. He also allowed one of Jia Shichen's sons to enter his command as a righteous man.

They really went all out.

……

But compared to what happened later, all of this was well worth it.

As Jia Shichen's story spread further, more and more bandit leaders from Huoshan, along with their wives and children, flocked to join him.

Whenever a mountain village came to submit, Zhao Huai'an would personally welcome them, hold a grand banquet, and then reward them with silk, cattle, horses, houses and fields outside the mountains, armor, appoint them as commanders and deputy commanders, and allow his warriors to marry women from these villages.

As for the sons, nephews, and nieces of these people, Zhao Huai'an would select the brave and loyal ones to fill the ranks of his troops, greatly expanding the fighting strength of his troops.

This set of procedures almost became the standard procedure, and within ten months, people from far and near flocked to it.

Only one large settlement, located east of Jushui and south of Guanshui, which governed more than ten small and medium-sized settlements, believed it could resist the Baoyi Army. Not only did it refuse to join them, it also prevented the settlements east of Guanshui from joining them.

Therefore, in October, Zhao Huai'an dispatched Zhang Dai with his troops and two newly trained commanders to lead an expedition.

In that battle alone, Bao Yidu gained hundreds of head of livestock and thousands of people, completely wiping out the most stubborn settlement on the right bank of the Ju River.

Subsequently, eighteen settlements between the two rivers, east of the Ju River and west of the Guan River, successively submitted to the government, acquiring a total of two hundred horses, thirty armored units, and three thousand people.

These tribes live in the lowest part of the Dabie Mountains, with many valleys, abundant water and grass, and a large number of horses.

Some of these horses escaped into the valley during the war, while others were acquired by the ancestors of these tribes and brought back to the valley to be raised. Now they have all become spoils of war for the Baoyi Army.

In this valley, Zhao Huai'an further organized the 6,000 households who had surrendered and been captured into 20 districts, and built fortresses in strategic locations in the valley, modeled after the Guang Prefecture Command Post.

These forts were generally situated on both banks of the Ju River, from where one could directly follow the Ju River to Gushi within Gwangju territory.

The surrender of numerous mountain strongholds further enhanced the quality of the Baoyi Army's military strength.

Whenever a settlement came to submit, Zhao Huai'an would first inspect the mountain strongholds of this tribe, and all those who were brave, fierce, and skilled in archery would be recruited into the eight districts of the government.

This illustrates the difference between surrendering and being conquered. The former can be considered an important supplement to the military force, while the latter can only be incorporated into the local households. Only after a period of observation will they have the opportunity to be noticed by the instructors in the command post and recommended to join the government army.

By adding the powerful and elite Huoshan bandits as heavy infantry, the number of the five infantrymen previously under the yamen's command directly doubled from the original five hundred to one thousand.

……

On the one hand, Zhao Huai'an continued to expand the strength of the yamen army, and on the other hand, he began to organize 300 patrol stations, mainly composed of the 3,000 surrendered single mountain huts.

Each patrol post was staffed with ten captured mountain strongholds, ten local villagers, or former patrolmen. The patrolmen were all wounded and retired soldiers of the Baoyi Army.

These people were either former local militia members or villagers who had followed the army all along. In short, as long as they retired from the old Baoyidu, Zhao Huai'an gave them all the positions of patrol inspectors.

These patrol stations served to replace the previous patrol stations in Guangzhou, setting up water fortresses and wooden fences along the Huai River, Huang River, Guan River, Shi River, and various rural dirt roads for anti-smuggling and rural control.

Since Zhao Huai'an had cracked down on the smugglers of salt and tea in Guangzhou, he needed to fill the gap. Moreover, by setting up these township, road, and river patrol stations in Guangzhou, Zhao Huai'an had essentially extended his reach to the very grassroots level of Guangzhou.

As these inspection stations are gradually established, the power of the Gwangju Shogunate will be unprecedented. At that time, the five counties of Gwangju, with 30,000 households and a population of 200,000, will be completely covered by the Shogunate's vast network.

The system was first hypothesized in September, then gradually implemented in October, and finally fully rolled out in November.

The Gwangju Shogunate spent its money and provisions like water, but a legal and institutional framework began to slowly take shape in the mountains and surrounding areas of Gwangju.

By mid-November, Zhao Huai'an's military notebook had tripled in thickness.

Among them were eight battalions of the yamen's army, five battalions of 1,000 mule-mounted heavy infantrymen, and three battalions of 450 cavalrymen.

Meanwhile, the military strength in the eight outlying areas remained at 2,500, but the auxiliary soldiers and attendants were supplemented with a large number of high-quality mountain huts, forming a tiered supplement to the combat strength.

Below the yamen army were six thousand patrol soldiers. Among these men, only the patrol inspectors received full pay, while the rest received only rice, salt, and tea.

In addition, there are twenty commanders of Guangshan and twenty commanders of Huoshan. Both are connected to Guangshan County and Gushi County of Guangzhou via the Huangshui and Jushui waterways.

Thus, the Gwangju army formed a two-legged structure from top to bottom.

The head of the army consisted of 4,000 soldiers from both the inner and outer yamens, the left foot of the patrol station with 6,000 patrolmen, and the right foot of the sixty command posts of the two mountains, totaling 12,000 men. In other words, the maximum force that the Gwangju Shogunate could muster was 22,000.

However, at present, neither of his left nor right legs has been able to form a fighting force; they are still just on paper.

Even so, Zhao Huai'an's record in suppressing bandits is something to be proud of, and it is in no way inferior to that of his predecessor, Shen Qingzhi.

They entered the mountains in July, quelled the bandits of Guangshan in two months, established administrative structures and built fortresses in two months, and pacified the bandits of Huoshan in one month. From then on, the entire area of ​​300 li east of Shenzhou and west of the Huoshan mountain range, 100 li south of Guangzhou and north of Yinshan Pass, was under the jurisdiction of the Guangzhou government.

In fact, a large number of mountain huts were not included in the household system, such as the Huoshan mountain range, which is also the area where Huoshan County is located. Zhao Huai'an's prestige there was actually greater.

But Zhao Huai'an no longer had time to stay in the mountains. He left Zhang Dai and Chen Fahai, along with Guo Liang and Lin Yanhao from the Huoshan Party, in the mountains to train the forty commanders of the two mountains and to protect the Huangshui and Jushui waterways.

Then, after winter, they continued to expand towards the Huoshan mountain range, with their target being Xinghualing outside Huoshan County.

Yes, Zhao Huai'an planned to fight his way from the mountains all the way to the old house, and bring the ancestral graves under his control.

Another reason for doing this was that he wanted to find the gold mine in the mountains, and if necessary, directly disguise himself as a mountain stronghold to occupy the gold mine.

You, Liu Ye, have occupied my family's gold mine for so long; it's time to return it.

After nearly half a year of exploring the Dabie Mountains, Zhao Huai'an was confident enough to deal with anyone.

After giving Zhang Dai and the others a general plan, Zhao Huai'an led his army back to Ding County.

Six months later, the Baoyi Army had been completely transformed, while the Central Plains in the north were left in ruins.

In that December, Wang Xianzhi indeed led his bandits to attack Yizhou. Song Wei, the military governor of Pinglu, submitted a memorial to the court requesting that 5,000 infantry and cavalry be appointed as a separate envoy to lead the troops in his region to suppress the bandits.

The imperial decree arrived, appointing Song Wei as the commander-in-chief of the campaign against bandits in various regions, and granting him 3,000 imperial guards and 500 armored cavalry, as well as control over the military forces of various garrisons.

This includes Guangzhou, where Zhao Huai'an was located.

Clearly, Song Wei values ​​Zhao Huai'an's abilities because of his nephew Song Jian, or in other words, he is giving Zhao Huai'an an opportunity to continue his career advancement.

After all, the kind of treatment that Zhuzhen sieges and suppresses was only received by Pang Xun four years ago.

Back then, how many generals rose to prominence through their military achievements? If not our own people, who should we give such an opportunity to?
So the day before yesterday, Wang Jingwu, a general under Song Wei, arrived with the military order of the expeditionary commander, ordering Zhao Huai'an, the prefect of Guang Prefecture, to lead his army of a thousand men north to the expeditionary camp to await orders.

After receiving the letter, Zhao Huai'an sighed and secretly made a series of arrangements.

……

He ordered his men to find a dry, well-ventilated valley within the mountains to store war supplies.

Since the attack on the mountain in July, Zhao Huai'an has seized tens of thousands of dan of tea, which were processed, packaged, and then transported to places like Yangzhou and Chengdu via the Huai and Yangtze Rivers.

His trading partners along the Yangtze River also began purchasing large quantities of Guang Prefecture tea, which was then transported from Rong Prefecture and Li Prefecture to Nanzhao and Tubo.

In particular, the place of Lizhou was given special conveniences because his sworn brother Shan Xingzhang became its governor.

The caravan transported large quantities of Guang Prefecture tea directly from here by horse, first delivering it to Tongshan Pass, where Zhao Huai'an made his fortune, which had since been converted into a trading post.

Then, together with wealthy merchants from Chengdu, they entered Tibet and sold tea to various temples.

In today's chaotic plateau, only these lamas, skilled in both scriptures and knives, have the power to purchase large quantities of tea.

These people boil pots of butter tea every day in order to recite scriptures; they cannot live without these things.

Zhao Huai'an's Guangzhou tea was able to enter this market because of its excellent tea quality and its Yue kiln porcelain packaging.

Yes, those lamas also loved Yue ware, something that other wealthy merchants in Chengdu couldn't provide.

In short, since the attack on the mountain began in July, Zhao Huai'an's riverside trade has been booming, and the proceeds from these trades will be used to purchase various purple robes and fine horses, which will then be transported back to Guang Prefecture.

Zhao Huai'an hasn't completely opened up the Dabie Mountains yet. Once he defeats the mountain strongholds in Shuzhou, he will be able to completely open up the land route between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers.

These supplies can be unloaded near Shuzhou and then stored in the Dabie Mountains via passageways.

However, due to the long distance, supplies from Tibet and Nanzhao had not yet arrived, but rice from Liangzhe and Huaidong was being continuously transported to Guangzhou.

Out of concern for the future, Zhao Huai'an not only purchased large quantities of grain from these places through trade, but also bought rice from the surrounding Luzhou, Shuzhou, and Ezhou, and established trade partnerships with some local tycoons.

Furthermore, Zhao Huai'an even used his relationship with Pei Zha to contact wealthy merchants in Annam and purchase large quantities of Annam rice from them, which were already en route.

The large quantities of grain purchased would then be stored in these valley granaries for use in preparation for war and famine.

Having made arrangements for these escape routes, Zhao Huai'an handed over the subsequent raiding operations to Zhang Dai and others, and then led his army north by boat.

Outside the mountains, in the distant north, on the battlefield of the Central Plains in the end times, a bloody battle had already broken out, with blood staining the earth.

Now, Zhao Huai'an will also lead the Baoyi Army into it, truly getting caught up in the bloody tide of this era.

(End of this chapter)