Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 180 Real or Fake?
Stepping into the profit building again, both my mindset and the treatment were completely different.

Unlike the hundred or so Shence Army soldiers who rushed out with whistles, there was also a large group of warriors standing inside. However, these people were all wearing iron armor, and they were either looking at Zhao Huai'an and the others with ill intentions or with curiosity.

At this moment, Pei Di, who had also followed in, whispered to himself:

"Zhao Da, these are the vassal generals of the Yicheng Army. They are ruthless characters. Be careful."

Zhao Huai'an saw it too, and then strode into the building. The group of Baoyi generals were about to follow him in, but they were stopped by the Yicheng army at the door.

Although Zhao Liu was bruised and battered, he was not intimidated at all and shouted loudly:

"Why can't we go in? Isn't Supervisor Yang having something good to do? Don't we get a share?"

As he spoke, he took the lead and tried to rush inside.

Are you kidding me? If we let Zhao Da go in alone at this time, his life would be in the hands of others.

At this moment, Zhao Liu felt a deep sense of regret, but what he regretted was, damn it, why didn't he bring the Baoyi Army into the city with him?

The other generals also changed color. They all revolved around Zhao Huai'an, and their personal wealth, honor, and disgrace depended entirely on him. What would happen to them if the magistrate were tricked into going in and having his head chopped off?
The magistrate doesn't even have a son yet, so who can keep his brothers together? As for the magistrate's younger brothers? Excuse me, who are they?

At this moment, the generals of the Righteous Army were truly anxious. Regardless of whether they were wearing armor or not, and regardless of how ruthless the opposing Righteous Army was, they rushed in like madmen.

They rushed in from one side and blocked from the other, pushing and shoving each other right at the building entrance.

At this moment, Zhang Chengye, who was walking in front, was also a little unhappy. What was wrong with Zhao Dalang? Didn't he believe him? So he said seriously:

"Zhao Da, what's this?"

Zhao Huai'an's heart was pounding. He thought of Yan Zhang, whom he had turned into a nobody, and how he had treated him in the past. At this moment, his mind was filled with all sorts of things that others had done to him.

As expected, karma works every time.

Seeing that Zhang Chengye was a little unhappy, Zhao Huai'an knew that he had gone to a trap this time, and whether he could stay safe depended on whether he could turn Zhang Chengye into Xiang Bo.

So he waved heartily to Zhao Liu and the others, and said with a smile to everyone:

"What are you all doing? Are you rebelling? Stay outside, all of you. It's nothing, Old Zhang is calling me up, there's good news."

Then, Zhao Huai'an put his arm around Zhang Chengye's arm and started to walk upstairs.

When Zhao Huai'an approached Zhang Chengye, his expression changed, and he instinctively tried to dodge to the side.

The most undignified thing for these castrated eunuchs was their inability to control their urination, so they often smelled of urine. They had to use a lot of sachets to suppress it, but even so, over time, they developed a pungent, odor.

Therefore, this was the area where these eunuchs felt most inferior, and they would never allow outsiders to get close to them on ordinary days.

So when Zhao Huai'an grabbed Zhang Chengye, his face darkened. He felt that Zhao Huai'an had violated his taboo. But when he looked up, he saw that Zhao Huai'an was expressionless and showed no disgust whatsoever. He immediately felt much better.

And so, Zhao Huai'an led Zhang Chengye up to the main hall on the second floor.

Upon entering, he found the main hall empty except for a robust and burly man who was smiling at him.

……

Zhao Huai'an was dumbfounded. You're telling me that this man, who is almost as strong as him, is actually a eunuch? Is that right?

Has the world become so unfamiliar to him?
Just as Zhao Huai'an was in a daze, Zhang Chengye, who had come up with him, nudged Zhao Huai'an and then smiled at the burly man at the head of the table:

"Supervisor, Zhao Da has arrived."

Then he turned to Zhao Huai'an and smiled:
"Haven't you seen our military supervisor yet?"

Zhao Huai'an took a deep breath, quickly bowed to the person before him, and said:

"Zhao Huai'an, the Prefect of Guang Prefecture, met with the Military Supervisor."

Standing in front of Zhao Huai'an at this moment was Yang Fuguang.

If he weren't beardless, he would be even more of a warrior than a martial artist at this moment.

……

Having been in the Tang Dynasty for two years, Zhao Huai'an has gained a deep understanding of many things in this world.

This is partly because as Zhao Huai'an's status rises, his connections with the world's elite increase, and he is surrounded by a constant stream of strategists. But more importantly, it is because Zhao Huai'an has always been diligent in his studies.

The most important lesson he learned from his sworn brother was that in power struggles, whoever possesses the most crucial information will win.

Take He Jin, for example, who was tricked into the palace and killed. If he had had a channel of information within the palace, would he still have been tricked into going in and being killed? Instead, he would have used that opportunity to kill those eunuchs.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an has always paid close attention to collecting this kind of information from the upper echelons.

Because of the connections between Zhang Guinian and powerful officials like the Yu family in the capital, Zhao Huai'an obtained a lot of intelligence about the Northern Army from Zhang.

In Zhao Huai'an's understanding, who represents the imperial court?
The imperial court is merely a fictional concept; behind it are real people, a small group of people who represent the imperial court.

This small group of people actually consisted of the four nobles of the Northern Court and the ministers and vice ministers of the Southern Court.

Just like the Southern Office had officials from three provinces and six ministries, the Northern Office also had a huge organizational system, with its own set of personnel from the central government to local governments, and from military and political affairs to finance.

Specifically, these are the Left and Right Shence Army Lieutenants and the Left and Right Privy Councilors, who are also commonly referred to as the Four Nobles in the outer court.

In terms of the division of responsibilities, the left and right Shence Army lieutenants respectively led the left and right Shence Army, holding the greatest military power in Chang'an. This was the fundamental reason why the eunuchs were able to become political figures at the court level, independent of the emperor.

And what about the Left and Right Privy Councilors? In reality, they were equivalent to the eunuchs in the Southern Court. They were the bridge between the local authorities and the emperor, but the emperor didn't really get involved in affairs, so it was basically a power structure where the eunuch group interfered in local affairs.

For the Privy Council members, who were they directly responsible to?

Those were the military supervisors scattered throughout the forty or fifty large and small vassal states across the land, as well as the dozens of Shence towns within the pass.

It was thanks to the constant stream of memorials submitted by these military supervisors, numbering in the hundreds, that the imperial court, or even the eunuch clique, was able to gain a sufficient understanding of the local areas.

These forty or fifty regional military supervisors were also divided into different ranks, with the supervisors of Xichuan, Huainan, and Hedong ranked first.

These three places have always been known as the places where prime ministers return to their posts. In other words, the military governors of these three towns would return to the court after being dismissed from their posts and would generally serve as prime ministers. And prime ministers would also generally serve as military governors of these three towns after being dismissed from their posts.

Similarly, for the eunuch system, these three towns were also the places where the four nobles returned to their posts. After returning to the capital, the military supervisors of Huainan, Xichuan, and Hedong in successive dynasties all served as the Imperial Guard Lieutenant and Privy Councilor.

Besides these three towns, which stand out from the rest, among the forty or fifty regional military commands, only a few can be called powerful. These are either important military locations, such as Xuanwu, Tianping, and Zhaoyi, or important financial towns like western Zhejiang. The military supervisors in these places generally have very high ranks.

Below them were basically military supervisors appointed by the military commissioners and militia commissioners of Tiande Army, Shouzhou, etc. Their status was not comparable to that of the regional military governors.

As for the military supervisors in Shence Town, which is even further down the line, they are basically all low-ranking eunuchs who have just entered officialdom at the eighth or ninth rank.

In other words, Yang Fuguang, who was sitting in front of Zhao Huai'an at this moment, was basically in the second echelon of the Tang Dynasty's power structure, and was the one who could truly decide Zhao Huai'an's fate.

Now, Zhao Huai'an lay before this powerful eunuch like a fish on a chopping block.

……

In fact, Zhao Huai'an was well aware of the dangers that lay ahead.

But this situation is different from that in Chenzhou. Back then, he had a large army behind him. Even if he really offended Cui Jiedu of the Zhongwu Army, what could a scholar leading an army do to a governor with such power?

But things were different now. He and his group of righteous generals were all in Bianzhou City. If they really angered the eunuchs, they would all be wiped out.

And to make matters worse, those who entered the city with Zhao Huai'an were basically the core members of Baoyidu.

Once they are lost, even if Zhao Huai'an manages to escape the city alone, without his base of support, he will essentially have no strength left to fight.

No matter how unwilling he is, he will have no choice but to slink back to Gwangju and lick his wounds.

Later, something happened that was very similar to Zhao Huai'an's current situation. During the Shangyuan Post Station Incident, Li Keyong was attacked by Zhu Wen at night at the post station where he was staying. All of his hundreds of close followers who came with him to the post station were killed in battle, and only a few people escaped with Li Keyong.

What happened in the end? No matter how angry Li Keyong was, having lost his core officer corps, he had no choice but to return north.

Zhao Huai'an was very clear about this.

He didn't really think he had much influence over the lower ranks of the Baoyi Army. He provided them with protection and rewards, but he was too distant from them. He was just an abstract lord in the eyes of these soldiers.

Whom does Zhao Huai'an truly influence?

It was the group of officers who entered the city with him at this time that influenced a large number of lower-ranking military officers, who in turn influenced ordinary soldiers, thus constructing a power structure that allowed orders to be given from top to bottom.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an simply cannot afford to lose any of these core members.

Do you think Zhao Huai'an regrets fighting with those Shence Army soldiers now?
He has no regrets, because this was his choice.

The only lesson he needs to learn is that he must never again enter the city recklessly because of lustful impulses, and he must never again take most of the core members with him to go on a wild spree.

Is the lesson of Cao Cao far off?

As for why this was Zhao Huai'an's choice?

Because everything has two sides; while something brings you benefits, it will also limit you in other ways.

Take reputation, for example.

From the very beginning of his business, Zhao Huai'an consciously built his reputation. He knew that with his lack of capital, the only way to make a name for himself in the cutthroat world of the late Tang Dynasty was through the concepts of "benevolence and righteousness."

Why did he often tell stories from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in the army?
It's because Zhao Huai'an is also learning from Liu Bei, trying to learn Liu Bei's entrepreneurial secrets.

What was Liu Bei's identity?
Compared to those warlords at the end of the Han Dynasty, he was a true commoner. The claim of being a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan was just a way to deceive the ignorant lower classes. As for the real power elites, what was Liu Bei? He was nothing.

Why is it that every time Liu Bei established a foothold in Hebei, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Ruzhou, Yuzhou, or Jingzhou, he was repeatedly reduced to ruin and forced to flee? Yet, each time, a large number of heroes and patriots remained by his side, many of whom were from powerful and influential families. Were they after his status as a descendant of the Prince of Zhongshan? Or was it precisely because of Liu Bei's unparalleled "benevolence" and "righteousness"?

It was these two words that led Liu Bei down a completely different path from the other heroes of the time.

Some heroes and patriots believed that Cao Cao was a wise ruler, but a large number of heroes who still upheld righteousness and propriety and had the ideal of restoring the past political order believed that only the benevolent and righteous Liu Bei could restore the Han Dynasty, so they swore to follow him to the death and supported half of the world.

However, while this reputation gave Liu Bei great prestige, it also burdened him with the pressures of benevolence and righteousness.

When Cao Cao's 800,000-strong army marched south, and 100,000 civilians wanted to cross the river with him, what choice should Liu Bei make?

To bring or not to bring.
A warrior who started his career in Youyan and fought half his life, how could he not know the mobility of cavalry? Did he not know that leading such a large and complex force would mean certain death if they were caught?
He knew all of this, but he had no choice.

He could certainly have used various excuses to explain himself, and then led his army south alone. But in the end, he abandoned the people who trusted him to Cao Cao.

The only things he could use to contend with Cao Cao were benevolence and righteousness.

Cao Cao was unrighteous, but Liu Bei was righteous, so the righteous followed him.

This is the fundamental reason why Liu Bei was able to rise again no matter how many times he fell.

But once this reputation for "benevolence and righteousness" is ruined, it will not only end Liu Bei's political future, but also everything he has.

Therefore, even though he had foreseen the outcome, Liu Bei still led 100,000 people south in a grand procession.

This is the burden of reputation, something one has no choice but to do.

Why did Liu Bei insist on marching south to attack Sun Wu after Guan Yu's death? It should be noted that when he sent troops to Eastern Wu, one year and seven months had passed since Guan Yu was killed.

Therefore, Liu Bei never raised an army out of anger.

He was also well aware of the necessity of strategic cooperation between Shu Han and Sun Wu, after all, he was the one who first agreed with Zhuge Liang's overall strategy.

In the end, Liu Bei still sent troops, and the reason was still the word "righteousness".

In the power structure of Shu Han, he used righteousness to unite the core followers, just as they shouted during the White Horse Righteous Cavalry period: "Where righteousness lies, we will follow each other to the death."

They are brothers who have gone through thick and thin together to start a business!

Therefore, if Liu Bei's sworn brother Guan Yu were killed by his former ally in such a humiliating manner, and he did not retaliate, then the core of his internal cohesion would be shattered.

At that time, how could an outsider like him possibly stay in Sichuan?

Therefore, no matter how much Zhuge Liang tried to persuade him, Liu Bei still insisted on fighting this battle.

This is the dilemma of advantage that those in power must face.

In other words, what once gave you a competitive advantage will inevitably become a hindrance to your future development.

How could Zhao Huai'an, who later became a manager, not understand this principle?

Now he is like Liu Bei when he started his business, he has nothing but his fists and a heart full of righteousness.

Therefore, he cannot be weak in his fists, nor can he abandon his principles of righteousness.

Moreover, because the political persona he chooses matches his true nature exceptionally well, sometimes he only needs to be himself to achieve remarkable results.

In just two years, the whole world knew his name, "Hu Baoyi" Zhao Da.

However, he faced the same dilemma as Liu Bei: often, the reputation of "righteousness" restricted his flexible choices.

Just like in Chenzhou, when his brother Li Shitai was hanging there, he had to stand up for his brother, and he couldn't even do so in a way that compromised the Zhongwu Army's stance.

Because this would damage another aspect of his political image: his iron fists.

Whether dealing with internal or external affairs, Zhao Huai'an has always projected a strongman image. He strikes hard against powerful figures within the country and also against his rival, Nanzhao, in the national war.

Adding to this his feat of daring to charge into the Nanzhao army of tens of thousands with only three hundred elite cavalry, his image as a strongman was further solidified.

The warriors of the Baoyi Army came from all over the country and each had their own masters. Why were they able to gather under Zhao Huai'an's banner and become an increasingly powerful core?
There is only one reason: Zhao Huai'an is a strongman! And martial artists are born to follow strongmen; it's ingrained in their very bones.

Zhao Huai'an could be gentle with Mao Niang, but he couldn't show the slightest weakness outside, because that would threaten his power.

Zhao Huai'an also knew that this was not a healthy power relationship. In order to maintain and continue his power, he had to complete the transformation from strongman politics to institutional politics.

But this is a luxury for this era, and too far away for Zhao Huai'an. He only has one thing to consider now, which is how to maintain the proper balance in portraying a strongman.

Just like in Chenzhou, he did indeed take a tough stance in dealing with Li Shitai's problem, but he used superb interpersonal skills to focus the struggle on the Qin family faction, rather than the entire Zhongwu Army.

This is Zhao Huai'an's sense of propriety.

Even so, he still became a mortal enemy of Qin Zongquan and others, who originally had no conflict with him. Given his prestige among the Caizhou soldiers, this effectively made him their mortal enemy.

Furthermore, this also ruined another of Zhao Huai'an's plans, which was to propose marriage to the daughter of Cui Anqian, the military governor of Zhongwu Army, or a woman from their clan.

This is purely political maneuvering.

For Zhao Huai'an, the powerful Zhongwu Army, located north of Guangzhou, should have been his northern shield, able to prevent the chaos in the Central Plains.

Only in this way can Zhao Huai'an develop his career in Huainan and Eyue with peace of mind.

By this time, he had already captured most of the Dabie Mountains, and with continued conquest, he could completely encompass the entire Dabie Mountains.

At that time, with the Dabie Mountains as the core, he can deploy his forces to the surrounding six prefectures of Shen, Huang, Qi, Shu, Lu, and Shou, directly cutting off the Yangtze and Huai River waterways.

At that time, he could have continued westward into Ezhou and Yuezhou, crossed the Yangtze River southward into Jiangxi, or entered Xuanzhou and Shezhou from Shuzhou, thereby controlling the financial and tax-rich areas of Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

With the elite troops of Huaixi, the wealth and provisions of Liangzhe, and control of the most important waterway in the world, the Yangtze River, if Zhao Da wanted to squander his family fortune, it would take three generations.

Yes, that's how substantial the family fortune is.

To accomplish such a strategic plan, he needed the Chungmuk Army as an ally.

Therefore, after arriving in Chenzhou, he actually intended to meet with Cui Anqian to test the possibility of forming an alliance.

Throughout history, the most reliable alliances have been either sworn brotherhood or marriage alliances.

Finding a powerful father figure was out of the question for Zhao Huai'an, so the only option left was a marriage alliance.

However, because of Li Shitai, all of this was no longer realistic. Although he hadn't fallen too far with Cui Anqian because of his old boss Song Jian, it was still unrealistic to talk about a marriage alliance under those circumstances.

Actually, it was also because of the Chenzhou incident that Zhao Huai'an gradually realized the drawbacks of his current development.

That is, as he increasingly connects with "righteousness" and takes a hard line against external forces, no matter how much he talks about the means of struggle, it won't be long before his strategic room for maneuver shrinks.

However, it should be noted that at this time, Zhao Huai'an was only a minor prefectural governor. Even if he had a strong army, there were always many people who were stronger and more powerful than Zhao Huai'an.

What would Zhao Huai'an do then? Risk his life and bleed to death? He could, but in the end he would only bleed to death.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an knew that he needed to find a backer, a powerful protector who could truly shield him.

This giant umbrella was so terrifying that neither Gao Pian, Cui Anqian, nor Liu Ye dared to make any rash moves against him.

Who was that? Zhao Huai'an didn't know.

But as he chatted with his thirteenth uncle about the Yang family and the Zhongwu Army, he gradually realized that the Yang family was indeed a good umbrella.

So when he heard Zhao Liu and his group fighting with someone upstairs, Zhao Huai'an knew his chance had come.

They were drinking right across from the Profit Building. Who else could possibly fight Zhao Da and his group besides the Shence Army and the Yicheng Army over there?
So the moment Zhao Huai'an slammed his fist on the table, he decided to seize the opportunity to get close to Yang Fuguang, the truly powerful figure.

Even if it's a way of getting close to him that offends him.

This was undoubtedly a high-stakes gamble, risking his own life and the future of the rebel army, but this was the responsibility he, as the ruler of Gwangju, had to bear, and it was also his right.

All of this was something Zhao Huai'an had figured out in a short time.

To reiterate, Zhao Huai'an, who came from the future, possesses a top-level awareness far surpassing everyone in this era. He has a clear development plan, rather than drifting along in this turbulent world.

So, if you consider Zhao Da a simpleton, then you are a simpleton; but if you see Zhao Huai'an as a pathological ambitious man, then you are underestimating Zhao Huai'an's ambition and ideals.

But if you consider him a highly skilled performing artist, he will tell you that no amount of acting can compare to his genuine personality.

……

At that moment, when Zhao Huai'an stood in front of Yang Fuguang, everyone thought that this was just a trouble caused by an accidental fight.

But no one knew that just by standing in front of this imposing and fierce eunuch, Zhao Huai'an had already staked everything.

Now, he knows he's won half the bet.

As for his other half, that depends on whether this military supervisor has good judgment and whether Zhao Huai'an truly has the luck to make it to the end.

Teacher Yang, you're absolutely right. Those who make it to the end always rely on luck!

　One more chapter will be released later.

　　P.S., please don't think this is filler; only this chapter truly establishes Zhao Huai'an's transformation into a political animal.

　　From the Chenzhou conflict to the Bianzhou conflict, I conceived two distinct plotlines, all for this moment to highlight the character's breakthrough and complete the overall development strategy. If I were to be shameless, this chapter could be considered a stroke of genius, a true example of subtle foreshadowing.

　　Let me say it again, it's really not nonsense. I'm so scared of being criticized, I'm crying.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)