Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 184 The Balance
That night, after reading it, Yang Fuguang was so moved that he left without staying for the banquet.

His adopted son and his advisors were in a dilemma. After all, the military supervisor had eaten the braised pork, while they had only smelled it.

But Yang Fuguang had already left, so what could they do by staying? Therefore, they could only look back every few steps as they prepared to return with the military supervisor.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived in Yingkou, the fat man named Doulu Feng was already waiting there, followed by dozens of people, each carrying a food box.

Inside was a serving of drinks, a serving of braised pork, and a serving of rice, and there was even something heavy at the bottom of the box.

Each time one of these advisors, generals, or adopted sons came out, the fat man would smile and hand them a food box.

Everyone carried sturdy food boxes, beaming with joy, praising Governor Zhao for his thoughtfulness.

Fatty Dou saw all these people off before turning away and returning to the camp with a smirk.

Honestly, why does Dalang always make me do these welcoming and seeing-off things? Just because I'm fat? Or because it's festive?

Even so, you absolutely cannot lose weight; at most, you can skip a piece of braised pork today.

……

When Zhao Huai'an finished and saw that none of the supervisors were there, he was quite surprised. It was Old Mo who came over and said to him:

“Brother, when Supervisor Yang left, he was very happy. He left you a message, saying that you should work hard and that one day you will be honored with your name in the Lingyan Hall. He also told you to rest for a few days, saying that the war in the Central Plains needs us.”

Zhao Huai'an nodded, and then someone from the Rear Camp's Finance Department came over.

Since most of his businesses had already started operating, he left his chief secretary in Gwangju to oversee the tea and grain business on his behalf.

So Wang Duo isn't here right now, but it's good that he isn't, because he only found out yesterday when he was chatting with his thirteenth uncle that the current military governor of Xuanwu is also named Wang Duo. It would be so awkward if they ran into each other.

At this time, Dong Guangdi arrived from the Ministry of Finance.

This old Dong's son is nothing like his father. He is very down-to-earth and doesn't talk much. He just buries himself in his work.

This made Zhao Huai'an very gratified, feeling that Old Dong's huge family business had a successor.

Of course, Zhao Huai'an was even happier, because if nothing unexpected happened, Old Dong's daughter would become his concubine, so Dong Guangdi in front of him would be his future brother-in-law.

Having a capable but not troublesome brother-in-law is a good thing for both Zhao Huai'an and Lao Dong.

Dong Guangdi was a little younger than Zhao Huai'an, only sixteen years old, which was the time for him to learn things, so he had been studying at the Ministry of Revenue.

He came over carrying a stack of booklets, his face slightly flushed, and respectfully said to Zhao Huai'an:

"My lord, Du Duzhi has ordered me to come and report on the New Year's gifts sent by Supervisor Yang."

Zhao Huai'an sat under the shed, while the officers and soldiers of the Baoyi Army outside began to eat and drink. He said to Dong Guangdi:
"Why talk about this on New Year's Eve? Come on, find a seat."

As soon as these words were spoken, the adopted sons sitting to Zhao Huai'an all got up and offered to give him their seats.

Zhao Wenzhong's adopted sons have been through so much, how could they not be perceptive? Everyone knows that this eldest son of the Dong family must be our adoptive father's brother-in-law, so isn't he their uncle? Therefore, they all try to curry favor with him.

Dong Guangdi was very well-behaved. He bowed to Zhao Wenzhong and the others, and then found a henchman to squat over with Zhao Huai'an. When Lao Mo saw this, he brought over a small table.

Although it was New Year's Eve, the Ministry of Finance was still busy, including calculating the expenses of the recent journey and dealing with the extravagant grain that needed to be requested from the shogunate.

So the people from the Ministry of Finance only held a small banquet on their own side and did not come here.

This is the Baoyi Army. Those on the front lines risk their lives on the battlefield, while those in the rear also work tirelessly overtime, never complaining.

Zhao Huai'an had originally sent someone to invite Dong Guangdi, but Dong Guangdi was very much a team player and was unwilling to leave his colleagues who were working overtime to attend the banquet.

But Dong Guangdi is sensible, and their leader Du Zongqi can't be naive either. So, he sent Dong Guangdi to the magistrate's place to report on his work at this time. Isn't the meaning clear enough?
But Dong Guangdi really didn't understand, and at this moment he was still sitting next to him with a stack of account books, ready to continue his report.

Zhao Huai'an was amused by Dong Guangdi's frankness and let him continue his report.

"Fifty hundred-times-forged horizontal swords, twenty Persian iron swords, one hundred strong bows, three thousand armor-piercing arrows. Twenty sets of bright armor, forty sets of chainmail, thirty warhorses, two hundred tanned cowhide shields, one hundred sets of leather armor, one hundred pieces of Shu embroidery, one thousand bolts of cotton cloth... and finally, five thousand catties of cured meat."

After reciting these numbers, Dong Guangdi hesitated for a moment, his ears turning red, and said:
"Yang Jianjun also sent four curtained carriages, saying he wanted to send them to the lord as a carriage."

Zhao Huai'an was stunned for a moment, completely bewildered:

"I have a donkey cart that I can take with me when I fight in western Sichuan. That's enough."

Dong Guangdi's face turned even redder, and he stammered:

"There are four beauties inside the car!"

Only then did Zhao Huai'an realize what was happening. After stroking his beard and taking a moment to process it, he naturally gave the order:

"Well, the carriage that Yang Gong sent will be brought to my tent later. I'll check it out. A carriage that isn't in good condition can't be put on the train."

Dong Guangdi lowered his head, sighed, and then crossed his hands in understanding.

So Zhao Huai'an raised his voice even louder, inviting his brothers to drink, while dance masters like Dang Shousu and Kang Yanjun danced boldly amidst the applause of the crowd.

……

In the third year of Qianfu, on the eighth day of the first month in spring.

The Baoyi Army, which was supposed to remain in Bianshui to rest, suddenly received a new military order from Commander Song Wei, ordering the troops of the two prefectures of Huainan to advance to the Baigou area within the territory of Caozhou to drive out the bandits in the countryside and maintain the safety of the Baigou waterway.

Baigou is the Zhanqu Canal north of Bianzhou that Uncle Thirteen mentioned earlier. It is a waterway connecting Kaifeng to Juyeze, running through Cao and Yan provinces.

During the Han Dynasty, this area was an important waterway, with cargo ships from the Guandong region traveling along it for thousands of miles. However, as the Tang Dynasty became increasingly reliant on the southeast, this waterway lost its former prosperity.

In addition to bringing orders, Song Wei also brought Zhao Huai'an a gift: a heavily armored cavalry regiment of thirty men, led by Wang Jingwu, the Pinglu Army's general who had previously delivered the orders.

He told Zhao Huai'an that the bandit army had a large number of mules and horses, and that Zhao Huai'an must be careful. Previously, Xue Chong, the military governor of Tianping, had suffered a great defeat because he was not prepared for the bandits' cavalry.

Therefore, this time he requested 500 armored cavalry from the imperial court, specifically to counter the enemy's mobile cavalry, and now he has also specially allocated 30 armored cavalry to Zhao Huai'an.

Zhao Huai'an gladly accepted the order, and after discussing it with Yang Fuguang, he led the troops from the two prefectures of Huainan by boat along the Baigou River towards the Tianping Army.

After Zhao Huai'an left, the Zheng and Hua armies, which had previously been gathered in Kaifeng, began to advance towards Puzhou.

In Song Wei's military strategy, the Yicheng Army and part of the Xuanwu Army will sweep away the remaining bandits in Puzhou, while Zhao Huai'an and the Zhongwu Army that arrives later will sweep away the remaining bandits in Caozhou. Xue Chong, the military governor of the Tianping Army, will also lead his troops from Yunzhou to cooperate with the two armies in the sweep.

In short, Song Wei's goal was to launch a swift and decisive attack on the bandits' rear when the main force of the bandits moved to the vicinity of Yizhou.

Let the people of Cao and Pu prefectures who dared to defect to the traitors know what the consequences of betraying the imperial court are!
……

Zhao Huai'an led 1,500 men from the Baoyi Army headquarters, 300 armored cavalry, 300 elite cavalry, 3,000 armed men and their followers, along with 500 soldiers from Shouzhou, 1,000 county soldiers, and 2,000 followers, marching in a grand procession towards the Caozhou battlefield.

At this time, after two years of tug-of-war between bandits and the Taiping Army, the countryside of Caozhou had completely lost its order. Coupled with locust plagues and floods, a large number of refugees were wandering the countryside in armed groups.

Even though these people did not defect to the enemy, they were still potential enemies of Zhao Huai'an.

However, after Zhao Huai'an led his army into Caozhou, he did not head directly towards Yuanju, the first stop ahead. Instead, when they entered the Caozhou section of Baigou, they disembarked and set up camp at the widest point of the river.

Yes, Zhao Huai'an did not intend to recklessly plunge into Caozhou, especially since Yuanju was Huang Chao's hometown. He would never easily launch an attack without understanding the situation in Caozhou.

Zhao Huai'an did not believe that he could accomplish anything in Caozhou with his elite troops, because his enemy was not the bandits on the surface, but the entire collapsed social order.

With such a small number of people, they wouldn't even make a dent.

This time when Zhao Huai'an left Bianzhou, he specifically asked Yang Fuguang for help to bring over his thirteenth uncle from the shogunate. Pei Di had been in Bianzhou for many years and held a key position, so he had a deep understanding of the various vassal states in the Central Plains.

Zhao Huai'an had learned about the Taiping Army from Pei Di, which led to his caution.

Previously, Zhao Huai'an hadn't taken Caozhou seriously. After all, it was just a province, no matter how big the problem was. Back in the Xichuan War, his Baoyi Army had recovered Ya and Qiong provinces on its own, and it was nothing special.

However, in Pei Di's description, the situation of the Taiping Army is quite different.

In the ranking of the Tang Dynasty's regional military governorships, Tianping Army, Huainan Town, and Xichuan Town were all ranked in the first tier, and were the places where the prime ministers were sent out to return to.

However, the situation of the Taiping Army was very strange, because it was too small compared to the two states behind it.

Leaving aside the fact that Xichuan has eleven prefectures, Huainan alone has eight prefectures, not to mention the economic and strategic significance of these two prefectures. So what was the situation with the Taiping Army?

Although the Taiping Army had historically taken control of the eastern prefectures of Qi and Di, these territories were quickly abolished. In reality, the area under its long-term jurisdiction was only the three prefectures of Yun, Cao, and Pu.

The fact that these three prefectures could be considered the first tier of regional military governors shows that these three prefectures were not simple.

In the Tang Dynasty, counties were classified into upper, middle, and lower levels based on their status, while special counties were marked with the categories of auxiliary, powerful, prominent, and important.

For example, Fu refers to the counties within the capital region, Xiong is an important economic center, Wang is a county with a prominent historical position and special political significance, and Jin is a strategically important military location where the whole country would be on edge in case of trouble.

And what about the three prefectures of Yun, Pu, and Cao under the Taiping Army?
The prefecture capital, Yunzhou, had ten counties, 80,000 households, and a population of 500,000. Among them, there were three prominent counties, four important counties, and three superior counties.

And what about Puyang, located on the banks of the Yellow River? It has five counties, 60,000 households, and 400,000 people, including one major county and four minor counties.

But both of these states are only comparable to Caozhou.

Caozhou has six counties, with 100,000 households and 700,000 people. Five of the six counties are considered important counties, and the remaining county is also a superior county.

In other words, although the Taiping Army only had three prefectures, its population was as high as 1.6 million, and each of them was an important county. For example, Caozhou was a military stronghold. If it were lost, the Central Plains and even the whole country would be in a state of tension.

The reason for this is that the three prefectures where the Taiping Army was located were all large plains with many rivers and streams, and had been prosperous places since ancient times. Cao Cao obtained them and thus gained control of the Central Plains.

Now, this prosperous agricultural society is facing widespread famine, and the whole society is in chaos. How can Zhao Huai'an dare to go deep into it?

Therefore, he stationed his troops along the Baigou River within Caozhou territory, ready to respond to any emergencies.

Originally, Zhao Huai'an wanted to find some locals in Caozhou to understand the situation. After they set up camp and raised their flags, a group of refugees who claimed to be the magistrate of Yuanju County rushed over.

The one who intercepted them was the cavalry general Wang Huan. Because he held the seal of the county magistrate of Yuanju County, he was brought in. As for the others, they were put under guard.

At that time, Zhao Huai'an was discussing the overall strategy after entering Caozhou with a group of advisors.

Xue Hang believed that they should wait here for the arrival of the Zhongwu Army before advancing.

He Weidao, however, believed that although most of Caozhou had fallen into the hands of bandits, there must still be a large number of rural strongholds loyal to the imperial court still holding out. The Baoyi Army could contact these people, obtain local intelligence, and also replenish a local militia.

In contrast to the conservative views of Xue and He, Yuan Xi's opinion was much bolder. He believed that the main force of the bandits had already left Caozhou, and only a small number of bandits remained in the territory, most of whom were refugees. Therefore, the main focus of the Caozhou campaign should be on pacifying the rebellion, with military action as a secondary measure.

To stabilize the people's hearts, the first priority is to recapture Caozhou City. Only by restoring this place to the hands of the imperial court and then pacifying the local people can peace be restored.

After the three of them finished speaking, Zhao Huai'an stroked his chin and remained silent. It wasn't that what they said was bad, but rather that none of their suggestions were entirely true.

Because Xue, He, and Yuan were not locals of Caozhou, they knew less about this earth-shattering chaos than they did.

At least Zhao Huai'an knew that Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao's team were among the most prominent rebel groups in history, so how could he take them lightly?
The advice obtained from the vague and unclear information was of little use to Zhao Huai'an, even if it turned out to be correct.

Just then, Wang Huan reported that a man suspected to be the magistrate of Yuanju County had been caught outside and was being held outside the tent.

Zhao Huai'an was puzzled. If it's true, it's true; if it's not, it's not. Why is there a "suspected" one? Can the military bring in people with uncertain identities?
Wang Huan was a veteran general in the Zhongwu Army; he wouldn't be unaware of such basic rules.

So Zhao Huai'an had Wang Huan bring people in, wanting to see what the suspicions were.

As soon as the wronged county magistrate entered, Zhao Huai'an knew why he was called "suspected." It was because the man was so filthy that he hadn't bathed in a long time. Even though it was the first month of winter, he could still smell a pungent odor from a distance.

But this person seemed oblivious to the smell, and immediately knelt on the ground and wept upon entering.

"This humble official, Cao Hui, the magistrate of Yuanju County, greets the general. We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the imperial army. The imperial court has not abandoned the people of Caozhou!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huai'an inwardly scoffed, "Why aren't they abandoning them? If they don't abandon them, what will come is not a large army to suppress them, but ship after ship of grain to provide disaster relief."

Do you know that the imperial court sent us, the soldiers from Huainan, to take you away?
Before Zhao Huai'an could speak, the man handed a copper seal the size of a button to Wang Huan beside him, asking him to give it to Zhao Huai'an for inspection.

After Zhao Huai'an took it, he stroked it for a moment, then turned it over and saw the five characters "Yuanju County Magistrate" on the inscription.

Yes, this seal is indeed the official seal of the magistrate of Yuanju County, but that's about it.

He still had doubts about the man's identity. After all, Caozhou had been in ruins for almost half a year. Even if the county magistrate had managed to escape from the city, how could he have survived in the chaotic and cruel countryside?

However, Zhao Huai'an did not mention this point. After having someone bring him a cup of tea, he asked:
"Tell me about the current situation in Caozhou."

Cao Hui curiously sipped his golden tea, and after hearing Zhao Huai'an's question, he first asked:

"General, could you please provide me with a stool and some food? I am ashamed to say that I have not eaten for a long time."

Zhao Huai'an nodded and told Lao Mo to prepare.

The camp was setting up stoves, so there was no hot food. Old Mo brought over some dry rations and some dried meat strips that Yang Fuguang had given him, and distributed them to Cao Hui.

After Cao thanked him, he asked another question:
"Could I also share some with my colleagues and fellow villagers?"

Zhao Huai'an didn't care about these things. After instructing Lao Mo to handle it, he asked:
"Tell me everything you know while you eat."

So Cao Hui chewed on some dried meat while recounting the dramatic changes that had taken place in Caozhou over the past six months.

He told Zhao Huai'an that since May of last year, Wang Xianzhi, who had been roaming around Juye Marsh, suddenly moved westward along the river and launched an attack on Caozhou. With almost no resistance, Caozhou fell.

At almost the same time, Huang Chao, a powerful figure in their county, led a group of his clansmen in a surprise attack on the county town.

Because Huang Chao's brother, Huang Cun, was the county magistrate at the time, they stormed into the city with almost no resistance.

The county magistrate didn't believe it at the time, but Cao Hui was quick-witted and sensed something was wrong, so he climbed over the wall and ran away.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an, who had been listening, suddenly asked:
"Oh, you feel something's off about the Huang family. What's wrong with them?"

Upon hearing Zhao Huai'an's question, Cao Hui quickly replied:

"The Huang family has been wealthy and powerful in our county for generations. Their sons are skilled in both literature and martial arts, and are all heroes in our county. Moreover, they love to associate with heroes, are kind to their hometown, and often help the people. Therefore, our county magistrate thinks this family is a good family and specially promoted his elder brother Huang Cun to the position of county magistrate. He even recommended Huang Chao to go to the capital to take the imperial examination."

“But I know that heroes and wanted criminals from other counties often come and go from the Huang family manor outside the city. What kind of good person could this be? Moreover, Huang Chao has become increasingly strange since he failed the imperial examinations several times. He often talks to himself, saying things like, ‘When autumn comes on the eighth day of the ninth month, my flowers will bloom and all other flowers will wither.’ That’s when I knew something was wrong with the Huang family.”

Zhao Huai'an nodded, and when Cao Hui relaxed, he suddenly asked:
"You should know that Huang Chao was involved in smuggling salt, right?"

Cao Hui nodded subconsciously, then his face paled in shock, he trembled, and cried out in pleading:

"I dare not lie to the general, but our county does know that the Huang family has been salt smugglers for generations."

Cao dismissed his involvement with a single sentence, but Zhao Huai'an found it strange:

"Since your county knows that the Huang family is a notorious bandit, why don't you arrest them and even push Huang Chao to Chang'an for the imperial examination? Tell me, what is the meaning of this? This prefecture just doesn't understand."

Cao Hui looked like he had something difficult to say, but at this point, what else could he do but talk about it?
So he could only stammeringly talk about the hidden problems of Caozhou, and even the entire Taiping Army.

(End of this chapter)