Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 176 Kaifeng

That night, following orders from the Zhongwu Jiedushi's headquarters, Chen Yaoshi, a renowned expert in treating typhoid fever in Chenzhou City, led two apprentices down the city wall and, under the guidance of two Xuzhou soldiers, headed straight for the Huainan army camp on the river embankment.

There, Li Shitai was delirious with illness, waiting for this renowned healer from Chenzhou to save his life.

……

The river embankment camp was heavily fortified with watchtowers, and a curfew was imposed throughout the camp.

Zhao Huai'an added another blanket to Li Shitai on the soft couch, listening to the old man's delirious ramblings.

"Old Zhao, come on, let's continue drinking."

"You're no good! How could you eat half and leave the other half? Are you cheating?"

……

"I didn't! I haven't disgraced our Loyal Army! So what if I die? I'll die right here!"

"Kill, kill, kill, kill all of you bastards, and restore justice to Zhongwu."

"Father, your son is useless. I can't stay in the Zhongwu Army anymore, sob sob sob."

……

At first, Zhao Huai'an was still laughing, but he couldn't laugh anymore. He looked at Li Shitai, who was in pain, contorted, struggling, and then relieved, and sighed.

Every sunny and cheerful young man has his unspeakable secrets.

Zhao Huai'an replaced Li Shitai's towel with a cooling one, touched his forehead, and breathed a sigh of relief; the temperature had finally gone down.

Just after entering the camp that evening, Li Shitai, who had been chatting and laughing just moments before, collapsed, startling Zhao Huai'an, Zhao Liu, and the others. It was only when Dou Pangzi touched him that they discovered Li Shitai's body was already burning hot.

It was only then that Zhao Huai'an realized that Lao Li had caught a cold.

This illness, which in my previous life was nothing more than a dose of medicine, can be fatal in this life.

So Zhao Huai'an quickly sent someone to Zhongwu Army to fetch a doctor for a cold, while he himself used physical methods to lower his temperature.

Sure enough, the temperature has dropped, but a doctor still needs to come and treat me.

So Zhao Huai'an stepped out from behind the screen and saw Pang Cong, Zhao Liu, and the others sitting there. He then asked:

"Has the healer arrived?"

Zhao Liu shook his head:

"Not yet, they said they'd go to the city to invite them."

Zhao Huai'an sighed, looked at Pang Cong, Han Jian, Wang Jian and the others, and couldn't help but ask:
"Old Pang, apart from Brother Xing who is from Chenzhou, you are all from Xuzhou. And Qin Zongyan, who has a grudge against Old Li, is from Caizhou. What grudge do you people from Xuzhou and Caizhou have?"

Xingge is Wang Jian's nickname.

Upon hearing this, Pang Cong, looking as if it were a family scandal, sighed and replied:

"Old Zhao, we're all on the same side. To be honest, what you found is true. Chenzhou is doing better, but the relationship between Xuzhou and Caizhou is indeed tense."

Then Pang Cong explained to Zhao Huai'an in detail the internal divisions within the Zhongwu Army.

The Zhongwu Army originally consisted of only Chen and Xu prefectures, while Shen, Guang, and Cai prefectures were the original base of the Huaixi Garrison.

The feud between the two sides can be traced back almost a century.

At that time, during the reign of Emperor Dezong, Li Xilie, the military governor of Huaixi, launched attacks in all directions, expanding his power to 16 prefectures including Cai, An, Guang, Xu, Sui, Tang, Shen, Bian, Hua, Zheng, Deng, and Yin.

It was around that time that Xuzhou fell into the hands of the Huaixi Army. At that time, the Huaixi Army considered themselves conquerors, and after occupying Xuzhou, they began to live a life of bullying and oppressing the people of Caizhou.

At that time, when the soldiers of Xuzhou saw the soldiers of Caizhou on the road, they not only had to make way for them, but also had to bow and show respect to their superiors.

Moreover, after arriving in Xuzhou, the Cai people began to seize large amounts of military farmland and absorbed a large number of Uyghurs and Turks who already existed in Xuzhou into their army. They then turned around and oppressed the local Xuzhou people.

Thus, many of the Xuzhou soldiers, lacking income from military farms to support their troops and unable to withstand the overwhelming force of the Huaixi army, had no choice but to lay down their weapons, roll up their sleeves, and start working like farmers to avoid starving to death.

But fortunes change, and soon Li Xilie died suddenly. The Huaixi Army's forces retreated back to Caizhou, and Xuzhou and Chenzhou were then under the command of the Zhongwu Army.

Later, during the Yuanhe era, the imperial court decided to completely pacify Huaixi Town, and the Zhongwu Army of Xuzhou became the vanguard at that time.

Finally, Huaixi Town was completely divided, and the Zhongwu Army took over Caizhou, the most elite part of Huaixi Town. For the next sixty years, Caizhou was incorporated into the Zhongwu Army and became a member of the Zhongwu Army.

For the first thirty years, Xuzhou retaliated against Caizhou with double the force, repaying them in kind. As a result, the enmity between Xu and Cai deepened and spread beyond the soldiers to the common people.

Because Xu and Cai are connected, most of the waters originating from the Funiu Mountains pass through Xuzhou before reaching Caizhou.

At that time, some powerful families in Xuzhou built manors, constructed water mills, and even enclosed waterways to create ponds.

A pond is actually a small reservoir that can be used directly to regulate drought conditions.

The two prefectures of Xu and Cai were not evenly distributed. They planted rice in the good and paddy fields, while millet was planted in the dry and barren fields, and wheat was planted in the rest.

Because rice has the highest yield among the three crops, it is often grown on most farms, but growing rice requires a lot of water.

At that time, the local tyrants of Xuzhou, relying on their status as conquerors, wantonly cut off water flow and built dikes and ponds, causing many large estates in downstream Caizhou and other places to go bankrupt. The two sides fought countless times just to compete for water resources.

But basically, it was Caizhou who suffered losses.

At that time, the successive governors of Zhongwu Army all took it upon themselves to suppress the people of Caizhou, and their own hometown was also that of the governor of Xuzhou.

However, the situation changed during the reign of Emperor Wuzong. At that time, the famous Liu Zhen Rebellion of Zhaoyi Army broke out. The military governor of Zhongwu Army at that time was Wang Zai, who came from Shence Army. He urgently needed to make merits on the front line, so he made extensive use of the Yellow Head Army from Caizhou.

It was during the suppression of Liu Zhen's rebellion that Cai's soldiers gained great fame, and many military governors later recruited soldiers from Cai Prefecture as their personal guards.

After that, the situation between Caizhou and Xuzhou changed dramatically, from a situation of the lower state being on the opposite side to one of equal footing, and occasionally even the lower state being able to suppress the higher state.

Six years ago, the wars of Pang Xun and Nanzhao broke out one after another. Most of the Xuzhou soldiers went to Xichuan to fight, while the Caizhou army followed the then Jiedushi Du Shenquan to participate in the suppression of Pang Xun.

As we all know, the outcome of the war was that the Battle of Chengdu in Xichuan was merely a recovery of territory, but the battle of Pang Xun was a great achievement for the various vassal states that participated in the battle. Later, when rewards were distributed, most of the Xuzhou military officers who participated in the Battle of Chengdu did not get promoted, while the Caizhou military officers began to rise rapidly and filled the military governor's office.

Zhang Guan, the second-in-command of the Zhongwu Army, was originally from the Caizhou Army, and Zhang Zimian, the third-in-command, was also originally from the Caizhou Army.

So when Li Shitai, Pang Cong, and other loyal and martial young men from Xuzhou returned after four years of guarding the border in Xichuan, they discovered that the upper echelons of the shogunate were almost all from Caizhou.

Once the people of Caizhou came to power, they simply issued orders and not only dug up many of the ponds and reservoirs that originally belonged to Xuzhou, but also occupied a large amount of farmland in Xuzhou to support the soldiers of Caizhou.

At that time, Zhou Ji, one of the ten generals and the top man among the Xuzhou youths, advised everyone to be patient for the time being, because the imperial court would soon summon the Zhongwu Army to suppress the bandits.

Since the Caizhou army rose to power during the Pang Xun Rebellion, why don't the Xuzhou people reclaim their position in the campaign to quell the bandits?

Zhou Ji was highly respected among the young men of Xuzhou, and Lu Yanhong, a fierce general in the army at the time, also supported him.

As for Li Shitai and others who had just returned, after four years apart, their prestige and the feelings they had for those who remained in the fiefdom were not as good as those of the others. So even if they did not agree, they could only give up.

Pang Cong also told Zhao Huai'an that when Li Shitai finished the meeting with Zhou Ji, he criticized Zhou Ji on the way, saying that Zhou Ji had no brains at all.

They've already taken up positions in the upper echelons of the shogunate, and you still want to earn military merit under their command and then jump over their heads? That's an underestimation of how stupid the people of Caizhou are.

In his opinion, either they should confront those Caizhou soldiers, or they should bring in a strong ally from outside, so that they could be on equal footing.

It is clear that the foreign aid that Li Shitai was referring to was not Zhao Huai'an, but his former boss Song Jian and his uncle Song Wei.

Since Song Wei had already become the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Military Commission, as long as he was assigned to the military commission, he could bypass the Zhongwu Army headquarters and have his merits recorded directly by Commander-in-Chief Song Wei. This was the only reliable way.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huai'an couldn't help but look at Li Shitai behind the screen. He hadn't expected this big boy to have such a brain. Indeed, those who are close to Zhao Huai'an are all quite intelligent.

Zhao Huai'an knew what happened next. As the twelfth lunar month approached, the weather grew colder and colder, but the winter clothes that the shogunate had given to Li Shitai's troops were still not fully distributed.

You can't say they didn't distribute them. Even if they distributed a few pieces a day, it's possible that by the end of December, their 500 soldiers still wouldn't have enough winter clothes.

Fortunately, when Li Shitai returned from Xichuan, Zhao Huai'an gave them a batch of winter clothes, which were seized by Zhao Huai'an when he attacked Qiongzhou.

It was precisely because of the lack of winter clothing that Li Shitai's troops were assigned to stand guard, and Li Shitai then used his own money to buy a cartload of liquor for his men to keep warm. This led to the disaster.

As soon as Pang Cong finished speaking, Wang Jian, who was drinking in silence, slammed his hand on the table and cursed at Pang Cong:
“Old Pang, you and Old Li are from the same hometown, yet you always speak half-truths and keep things to yourself. I don’t know what’s the use of you always trying to be two-faced! Who is Zhao Da? Who is Old Li? They are our brothers who have gone through thick and thin together in Xichuan. If we don’t stick together, what will happen to us later? Will we all end up like Old Li, murdered and hung on the flagpole? Then, Zhao Da won’t be there to save us.”

Pang Cong blushed deeply after being reprimanded. Seeing Zhao Huai'an's anger and confusion, he sighed.

“Zhao Da, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but it’s no use. It’s just that Old Li is too stubborn and has offended people. Somehow, the things he said to Zhou Ji that day got to other people’s ears, and then Old Li got into trouble. Actually, those Xuzhou soldiers who rammed the governor’s carriage weren’t Old Li’s men at all, but from another unit. They stole Old Li’s wine, got drunk, and then angered the governor.”

"At that time, Lao Li's brothers knew that their men were about to be hung on the flagpole and were about to go to rescue them. Then Zhou Ji led his troops to block the camp. In the end, none of them were able to get out. It was just a few of us who managed to escape."

Zhao Huai'an understood, nodded, and said to Wang Jian:
"Brother Xing, don't blame Lao Pang. He knows that pursuing Zhou Ji under these circumstances will only make things more difficult for you. There are only five hundred Xuzhou soldiers who crossed the border. If you return to your fiefdom and don't stick with the Xuzhou army, you don't know what kind of trouble those Cai soldiers will cause you!"

Wang Jian was still indignant and shouted:
"Damn it, I might as well take off these clothes and quit! I used to be a thief, so what if I go back to being an outlaw? Why should I put up with this kind of bullying here?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huai'an immediately began to curse:
"Old Wang, how many drinks have you had to dare say such things to my face? Join the rebels? You're slapping me, Zhao Da, in the face! I am the envoy to quell the rebellion, and you want to join the rebels? Do you think you've got a screw loose, or do you think my Righteous Army can't hold onto someone as important as you? Damn it, none of them are any peace of mind!"

Wang Jian was sobered up by Zhao Huai'an's scolding and hurriedly explained:
"Old Zhao, I've had too much to drink, I'm just talking nonsense. Don't worry, even if I die poor or starve, I'd rather not become a thief. When the time comes, we'll just bring the brothers to join you, Old Zhao. You're not going to shortchange us with a meal, are you?"

Zhao Huai'an then let them go, and then said to Pang Cong and the other loyal generals:
"You don't need to rush. Just stay in the army. The headquarters will transfer you to their posts later. When you arrive in Bianzhou with your respective units, won't we brothers be in charge? Who is Lord Song? He's our old leader's uncle! When the Caizhou troops also go to the front lines, won't they be at our mercy?"

Pang and the others were relieved after hearing Zhao Huai'an's assurance.

Why are these people still afraid to go back? Isn't it because they feel it's dangerous? How can their relationship with Song Jian compare to that with Zhao Da's? Do they even know about Zhao Da's connections...? Zhao Da's concubines were all gifts from his old leader.

Everyone else sends female concubines to their old leaders, but Zhao Da is the one being sent one by his old leader. What kind of relationship is that?

They still remember the night before the decisive battle, when Song Jian paced back and forth in his tent, clutching a peace charm. In the end, he sent Li Shitai to Zhao's camp that very night to tell him not to go down the mountain to fight.

Although Zhao Da stubbornly went down the mountain and won the battle, Pang Cong and the others knew that in Song Jian's heart, Zhao Da was the hero he loved.

Now that Zhao Da had made his promise, everyone was overjoyed.

Don't blame them for being realistic; one wrong step and they could lose their heads. If you were in their shoes, you would be realistic too.

……

On the 29th day of the 12th month of the second year of Qianfu, there was only one day left until New Year's Day.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an's fleet finally arrived at the end of Pipa Valley, which is also the largest city in the Central Plains, Kaifeng.

By this time, a full month and eight days had passed since Zhao Huai'an left Guangzhou.

It took twenty days to travel from Guangzhou to Yingzhou, two days to stay in Yingzhou, and then another eight days to travel from Yingzhou to Xiangcheng. By then it was December 21, and there were only nine days left until Lunar New Year's Eve.

Zhao Huai'an's original plan was to spend New Year's Eve and the Spring Festival of the third year of Qianfu in Xiangcheng.

However, because of Li Shitai, Zhao Huai'an was unwilling to stay in Xiangcheng any longer. So, after Li Shitai recovered a little, he took him and his companions and set off by boat towards the final destination, Kaifeng.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an stood on the deck, looking at the magnificent city of Kaifeng before him, and was completely shocked.

It's not fair to say Zhao Huai'an was ignorant. Although he had seen countless more magnificent landscapes and wonders in his previous life, he had never seen such a huge medieval city.

When he was in Xichuan, he didn't have time to go to Chengdu, so he never saw what Chengdu was like, but he guessed it was similar to Kaifeng.

As they descended from Pipa Valley, they were surrounded by an endless plain, and then a magnificent city rose abruptly from the plain, nestled between two rivers—what a visually stunning sight!

When Zhao Huai'an and his group arrived at Pipa Valley, Zhao Huai'an began to take a closer look at Kaifeng.

They are now in the southwest corner of the city, with the city walls on both sides built directly on both banks of the Pipa Canal, which thus runs directly through the southwest of the city.

After entering the city, the Pipagou River serves as a moat, splitting into two sections on the east and west sides to encircle Kaifeng.

In the southwest corner, there is a huge pontoon bridge, which has now been lowered.

On the opposite bank, a large number of people were driving flocks of sheep across the bridge. However, they could not enter the city directly after crossing the pontoon bridge because there was a sheep and horse wall behind it.

The sheep and horse enclosure was very low, basically just high enough to accommodate cattle and horses, and there were no walls, only gaps for them to pass each other.

Those who drove the sheep lined up behind the wall, where they had to pay their taxes before they could enter the city.

Behind the sheep and horse wall was a huge city.

From Zhao Huai'an's perspective, it was seven or eight li long on one side, and its total circumference was probably twenty or thirty li long. It was truly a large city.

Above the southwest gate on the west side, there is a stone-built tower, five zhang high, complete with corner towers, bastions, and battlements. Behind almost every parapet stands a warrior holding a spear, scanning the people coming and going below the city.

Then, turning our attention to the northeast, we find the Bian River, the main thoroughfare for grain transport.

Like the Pipa Valley, the Bian River flows through Kaifeng. However, the difference is that the Bian River is truly bustling. Even though today is the last day before the Lunar New Year, countless large ships are still arriving in Kaifeng fully loaded with goods.

The Bian River was the main waterway for grain transport, while the Huaiying Road they were traveling on was a supplementary route. Both routes eventually converged in Kaifeng.

Zhao Huai'an dared not even imagine how much wealth this great city held, or how important it was to the world.

It is no exaggeration to say that Kaifeng, right before our eyes, is the lifeblood of the Tang Dynasty!
No wonder the Song Dynasty insisted on making this place its capital later on. If he hadn't known that Kaifeng was not a good place, he might have been tempted to use it as the base of his dynasty.

It is no wonder that Zhu Wen, who had been unremarkable until then, began his path to dominating the Central Plains after becoming the master of this city.

While Zhao Huai'an was deep in thought, Li Shitai, wrapped in a cloak, also came out of the cabin.

Zhao Liu, who was standing behind Zhao Huai'an, saw this and even said something strange:
"Old Li, you don't know what's good for you now. You're not fully recovered, why are you going up on the deck in the wind! If you develop a chronic condition, it could be for life!"

As Zhao Liu was saying this, he tried to pull Li Shitai back, but Zhao Huai'an stopped him because he could tell that Li Shitai had been holding back for too long and couldn't hold back any longer.

So he said to Fatty Bean:

"Fatty, move to the side and shield Old Li from the river wind!"

Fatty Dou made a face and muttered:

"I need it, but I can't stand the river breeze!"

Then he was scolded by Zhao Huai'an:
"If you don't go, do you expect me to go? You're the fattest one here. If you don't block it, we'll have to have two people block it!"

Helpless, Fatty Dou could only wrap himself in his cloak and shield Li Shitai to his chest.

Li Shitai was quite robust, but with Dou Pangzi covering him up, he looked rather petite and delicate. Dou Pangzi had gotten even fatter.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an pointed to Kaifeng in front of him and said to Li Shitai:
"Old Li, don't you think it would be a huge windfall if this city fell into the hands of us brothers!"

Li Shitai looked somewhat weathered, but now he shook his head:
“Zhao Da, a few days ago, I was chatting with that Doctor Chen and asked him why he didn’t go to Chang’an, where there are the most high-ranking officials and nobles. Wouldn’t wealth and status be easy to come by there?”

Zhao Huai'an knew that Li Shitai was implying something, so he asked:

"Oh, Old Li, then why doesn't Doctor Chen go?"

Li Shitai laughed and said:
“This great doctor once told us, ‘Liangyuan may be beautiful, but it’s not my hometown.’ In Chenzhou, he was a first-rate doctor. Everyone in the city, from the governor to the local gentry, treated him as an honored guest. And since he was from Chenzhou, his neighbors and relatives helped him with everything. He just needed to see patients every day.”

"But if he goes to Chang'an, not to mention how many people have his skills, no matter how strong you are, there will always be someone stronger. Who can be the best in the world? And if he really becomes the best in the world, it will probably be a disaster in a place like Chang'an."

"This great physician Chen also told us something. A few years ago, there was a great physician in Chenzhou who was as famous as him. He was a pharmacist and knew exactly what medicine he was looking for. Then, this man was invited by a high-ranking official of the court to go to Chang'an, and we never heard of him again."

Zhao Huai'an understood and sighed:

"died?"

Li Shitai shrugged and said:
"It may have been kept in the yard by a wealthy family, but from then on it would be a caged bird, never to fly into the sky again."

Zhao Huai'an laughed heartily and was about to punch Li Shitai, but then he remembered that Li Shitai had just recovered, so he could only think about Kaifeng City ahead.

On the deck, pointing to the magnificent city of Kaifeng ahead, he said with pride:

"Alright, let's go and see what Kaifeng is like, and see if it's a blessed land or a prison!"

　The next chapter will be posted later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)