Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 187: Just empty
Inside Yuanju City, armored infantrymen carrying spears patrolled everywhere. Seven or eight wooden cages hung on the four gate towers, each containing the head of a troublemaker who had been executed.

These people began looting everywhere after the Baoyi Army entered the city, attempting to take advantage of the chaos.

After Zhao Huai'an entered Yuanju City by donkey cart, he found that the situation inside the city was not so bad. Later, he learned that this was a special instruction given by Huang Chao after entering the city, so the city was still largely intact at this time.

It seems Huang Chao also knew that a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow.

Zhao Huai'an was not too happy about the recapture of Yuanju City this time, because he did not actually conquer Yuanju City, but took it over after marching there.

On the sixteenth day of the first month, the army set sail towards Yuanju City. However, when they arrived near the Yuanju waterway, they saw black smoke rising from Yuanju City and people running out of the city everywhere.

Huo Yanwei, who was at the forefront at the time, made a decisive move. He disembarked, rode a mule, and led a hundred armored warriors straight into the city, and then Yuanju City was captured.

It was only later that I learned that just two days earlier, the bandit army of Wang and Huang, which was stationed in Yuanju City, had already abandoned Yuanju and withdrawn. At that time, there was only a group of vagrants who took advantage of the chaos in the city. They thought they could act arrogantly after the Wang and Huang army left, but they were quickly taught a lesson by the Baoyi Army that entered the city.

When news of this situation in Yuanju reached Zhao Huai'an on the ship, he immediately ordered his scouts to travel twenty miles in all directions to investigate the area around Yuanju. He believed this was a trick by the remnants of Huang Chao's forces.

When the scouts returned and reported that they had not found any large band of bandits, Zhao Huai'an was puzzled.

Has the reputation of their Righteous Army really reached this level? Those Wang and Huang factions ran away without even a fight?

Regardless, Zhao Huai'an still ordered the Baoyi Army to enter the city and take charge of maintaining order within Yuanju City.

However, he still set up three camps outside the city, ordering the Shouzhou guards and the yamen infantry to be stationed outside the city. At the same time, he built sixteen connected camps on the north bank of the Baigou River, specifically to receive refugees from the countryside.

After doing all this, Zhao Huai'an personally wrote an urgent letter and sent it to Yang Fuguang in Bianzhou, explaining in detail the battle strategy for this invasion of Caozhou.

In response, Zhao Huai'an summarized it in one sentence: provide disaster relief to reassure the people, appease and pacify the entire region, eliminate the ringleaders, and comfort the remaining people.

In this situation, a large amount of grain would be needed as support, and Bianzhou must provide its full support.

Soon, Yang Fuguang's reply arrived, expressing his support for Zhao Huai'an and mentioning the first batch of supplies sent by the Xuanwu Army.

That's only because of Zhao Huai'an. If it were someone else, let alone asking for extra grain, they would have been considered generous if they could just bring you the millet that comes with the husband's share.

This proves true: to get things done, you must first be a good person! How can you get anything done if you have no one behind you?

With this support from the rear, Zhao Huai'an ordered his chariot battalion to join forces with his elite cavalry to launch attacks in all directions, annihilating bandit groups roaming the wilderness and rescuing and gathering more people from Caozhou.

These wagon camps were like giant ships sailing on the sea, while small cavalry squads were like small boats, continuously delivering supplies and people to the wagon camp's mule and horse teams, and then sending them to the main camp outside Yuanju.

Meanwhile, inside the city, Zhao Huai'an was interrogating a group of bandits, all of whom were leaders of thieves who had been roaming Caozhou for the past two years.

……

Inside the dilapidated county government office, behind a collapsed wall, Zhao Huai'an, wearing a turban, sat in the hall. On both sides were military officers and warriors wearing cloaks, while in the middle knelt a dozen people, some unruly and others with ashen faces.

Zhao Huai'an didn't look at them, but was looking at the complete ledger from the finance department, which summarized the situation of the people and supplies gathered in the past few days.

As he flipped through the pages, he said to Du Zongqi, who was standing there:

"Old Du, you guys need to work a little harder these days, work overtime, but you must find out the situation of these people. Those with skills must be registered separately. Also, those who have served in the army before and those who know how to use knives and guns should all be grouped together. These are unstable populations, and we must be extra vigilant."

When Du Zongqi heard the magistrate say that he would have to work overtime again, he opened his mouth and finally spoke:

"My lord, our Ministry of Revenue has been working non-stop for half a month and we are really short of manpower. Please allow us to recruit people who are good at math and writing from the Ding family in Caozhou to assist with the statistical work."

Zhao Huai'an smacked his lips, knowing that department leaders like Du Zongqi had an instinctive need to expand their department's staff. Under normal circumstances, Zhao Huai'an would not agree, after all, the finance department was a crucial department, how could anyone enter without vetting? But in the current situation, it seemed that not increasing the staff of the finance department was not an option.

So Zhao Huai'an nodded and said to Du Zongqi:
"Old Du, I grant you permission to recruit twenty skilled calligraphers and mathematicians from the literati camp, but you will only receive wages and provisions, and they will not be registered."

To put it bluntly, Zhao Huai'an simply assigned them a batch of temporary workers, without expanding their official staffing.

Du Zongqi nodded, and seeing that Zhao Huai'an had no further instructions, he took the account book and went downstairs.

Watching Lao Du leave, Zhao Huai'an laughed heartily, feeling happy.

It was indeed the right decision to come to Caozhou. In just a few days after entering Yuanju, they had gathered thousands of people from the countryside. Among these people, there were more than two hundred craftsmen of various kinds, and another seven or eight hundred people had received military training and possessed basic military skills.

At this time, outside Caozhou City was a huge Gu breeding farm. What kind of person could survive for half a year in such a cruel environment? What kind of character does he have?
Those that were useless have long since turned into jerky.

However, the same drawback is that these gathered people cannot be called good citizens. Once a person crosses that moral line, it is not easy to become a good person again.

For example, the dozen or so people kneeling in front of Zhao Huai'an now, bound hand and foot, can be considered humanoid. When they were brought back by the cavalry from outside, each of them had raised a bunch of weaklings.

Turning his gaze to the first burly bandit leader in a green robe, Zhao Huai'an said leisurely:

"Which of the Wang and Huang families' generals were stationed in the city before?"

That burly bandit leader was indeed tough; even bound hand and foot, flanked by fierce warriors, he still spat at Zhao Huai'an, displaying his arrogance.

"It's your leg, you bastard! Kill me or torture me, just do it quickly!"

Zhao Huai'an nodded, tossed a command token on the ground, and agreed:
"Indeed, you're in a hurry, so we can't delay you any longer. Drag him out and kill him."

The burly bandit leader was clearly stunned when he saw the command token on the ground. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then two burly men, one on each side, grabbed him and carried him out of the yamen. They then chopped off his head right there in the street and sent it to the four gates to be hung up again.

After this person was dragged away, Zhao Huai'an looked at the next person and, seeing that this person was pale, said:

“The person who just spoke didn’t want to talk, so you can speak now.”

The white-faced thief, bound tightly, kowtowed repeatedly, crying out:

"General, do not kill, do not kill! The man in the city was Huang Chao's elder brother, Huang Cun, who was also the county magistrate of Yuanju before."

Zhao Huai'an nodded; of course he knew this information, so he asked a second question:

"Do you know why Huang Cun withdrew from Yuanju City?"

How could the person in front of you possibly know this? Of course, they wouldn't know if you asked.

Zhao Huai'an waved his hand, and the second person was dragged out by the Beiwei men and beheaded.

At this moment, when it was the third bandit leader's turn, he roared at Zhao Huai'an:
"You scoundrel, if you're going to kill us, then kill us. Why bother toying with us?"

Only when asked this question did Zhao Huai'an's smile vanish. He slammed the wooden beam on the table down on the man's head, cursing:

"Now you realize you've been played? If you were killing the people outside Caozhou City and said you couldn't survive and had to resort to cannibalism, I wouldn't say anything; I'd just consider you animals. But you lot are probably not like that. When you attacked, weren't the carts full of grain? Even so, you still killed for fun?"

"Yes, I know what your mentality is. It's nothing more than suddenly having the power to control the life and death of others. You can't show that you're different from the past, you can't show your cruelty and make people fear you, can you?"

"But today I will show you that those who kill will be killed in return. If you can disregard other people's lives, then we can disregard yours. I will make you understand that when my Righteous Army arrives, your retribution will come."

Having said that, Zhao Huai'an, no longer wanting to waste words with these butchers, roared:
"Drag them all to the camp outside the city and kill them! Let those people see that our Righteous Army will stand up for them!"

With a clanging sound of armor clashing, the group of Beiwei soldiers dragged these people out as if they were chickens.

Several of them were still in a daze. They thought Zhao Huai'an was putting on this show to recruit them as his dogs, since that's how they recruited heroes before. But they never expected that Zhao Huai'an actually wanted to kill them.

One of them shouted at that moment:

"General, I know what Huang Cun left to do? I know he spared my life."

The two thugs who dragged him away hesitated for a moment, glancing at Zhao Huai'an. But Zhao Huai'an didn't even raise his head, and the two understood the magistrate's meaning. So they dragged the man away. The man continued to bark like a dog, which enraged the two thugs. They smashed an iron mace into the man's chin, knocking out his teeth.

In the end, this person was dragged away like a dead dog.

With the hall empty, Zhao Liu, who was sitting to the side, hesitated for a moment before asking:

"Brother, that man just said he knew why Huang Cun abandoned the city. Why didn't we wait for him to finish speaking before killing him?"

Zhao Huai'an shook his head:
"These people are all bandits from outside the city. They are unwilling to join forces with the Huang and Wang families. They are used to lording it over others in their own small groups and are unwilling to take orders from Huang Chao and his men. How could such people understand Huang Cun's thoughts? They are just willing to say anything to survive."

Seeing that Zhao Liu was about to speak, Zhao Huai'an frowned and said:
"Sixth Brother, some people we give a chance to, but others, no matter what they do to make amends, they can't escape death! Why? Because this person crossed our golden line. Is it possible that the person really knew? Of course, it's possible, but what do we do then? If I listened to someone's information and killed them, I, Zhao Da, would be unjust, but if I didn't kill them, I, Zhao Da, would be unworthy of being a human being!"

“I killed these people on the orders of the people they had tortured and killed. None of them showed any divine intervention to forgive this person. How could I, Zhao Da, dare to do so? Some things are done once they are done, and they cannot be redeemed by some act of merit! Zhao Liu, do you understand this principle?”

Zhao Liu looked at the dignified Zhao Huai'an, nodded, and understood what he meant.

Those who deserve to die must die, without mercy! Da Lang became increasingly decisive and ruthless! And increasingly authoritative.

Everyone in the hall heard Zhao Huai'an's words clearly. Those bandit leaders meant nothing to them; what they valued more was the magistrate's words, which meant that crossing his bottom line meant certain death!
Everyone tensed up, not daring to have any thoughts of overstepping their bounds.

……

After everyone had been dragged away, Zhao Huai'an stood up and looked at the screen behind him.

This screen depicts the prefectures of Pu, Cao, Yan, Yun, and Qi, encompassing the entire Central Plains, with each county and key bridge marked in detail.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an stood in front of the screen, deep in thought.

What was Huang Cun's reason for withdrawing from Yuanju? Was it out of fear of his own military might? Is that a possibility? Certainly, but such speculation is worthless.

From another perspective, if I were Huang Cun, what situation would I be in now?

My younger brother Huang Chao, along with the main force and Wang Xianzhi, the leader of the neighboring rebel army, moved to Yizhou. What was their purpose in going there?

One possibility is that the two prefectures of Cao and Pu suffered severe disasters, and the area could no longer supply the rebel army with provisions, so they urgently needed to move to the outer areas to find food.

Why choose Yizhou instead of Bianzhou, which was used to garrison large quantities of grain?
Perhaps because the Xuanwu Army had a strong force and the Zhongwu Army in the south as reinforcements, they were not confident in taking Bianzhou. On the other hand, they could enter Yixian directly from the Nimeng Pass. Once they captured Yixian, they could move south directly into the wider southern region south of the Huai River.

The southern forces have always been weak, with the entire Huainan region having only about 30,000 troops. Even if Wang and Huang's armies fail to capture Yangzhou, they can still support themselves by plundering places like Haizhou.

Therefore, this should be the reason why the Wang and Huang families led their main forces out of here to Yizhou.

But is there another possibility? That is, these two families did not give up Cao and Pu provinces, but instead hoped to draw away the imperial army by moving to the Yi province area?
Zhao Huai'an thought about this possibility carefully and felt it was very likely.

The number of disaster victims in Cao and Pu prefectures was nearly one million. These people mostly resented the imperial court and were struggling and sinking in the cruel end times, making them an excellent source of manpower.

Therefore, if I, Zhao Da, were either of them, I wouldn't abandon this base either. And now, the fact that Huang Cun is able to stay behind in Yuanju further confirms this point.

As Huang Chao's elder brother, this man must have been a veteran in the army. The fact that such an important figure remained in command indicates that neither army had abandoned the two provinces of Cao and Pu.

But now the situation has changed.

That means neither the Wang nor the Huang families expected that the Pinglu Army, located further east, would join the battle so early, and that they would directly mobilize five regional military governors from four directions to encircle and suppress them.

Among them, the Pinglu Army, along with the Yanzhou Navy, directly blocked the Nimon Pass, completely preventing the two sides from entering Huainan from Yizhou.

Meanwhile, the five armies of Yicheng, Xuanwu, Zhongwu, Huainan, and Tianping directly swept through the two provinces of Cao and Pu.

After this blockade and sweep, the Wang and Huang families were unable to make a living outside, nor could they protect the Pu and Cao prefectures.

So, what will they do?

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an couldn't help but pace back and forth, thinking about the current situation.

Yi Cheng attacked Puzhou, Tianping Army was stationed in Yunzhou, and he led the two prefectures of Huainan to Xiayuanju. Xuanwu and Zhongwu armies were also on their way.

The fact that Wang and Huang could create such a huge stir and bury a great dynasty that had lasted for more than two hundred years shows that they were not the kind of people who would sit idly by and wait for their doom. So what would they do?
As he walked, Zhao Huai'an suddenly turned his head to look at the screen, which was the location of Puzhou.

Just as Zhao Huai'an's idea was taking shape, a scout carrying a flag suddenly rushed in from outside; it was none other than Ta Bai, one of Ding Huaiyi's subordinates.

Upon arriving, this man immediately reported to Zhao Huai'an:

"My lord, a military envoy reports that our army, Tabai, has discovered traces of the Cao army in the Chengshi area, and they are launching an attack on Nanhua."

Nanhua? That small town between Puyang and Caozhou?
With the situation in Nanhua on his mind, Zhao Huai'an walked up to Ta Bai, took the military report, which contained complete intelligence sent by Ding Huaiyi from the outer outpost.

It turns out that among the six counties of Caozhou, Nanhua had always been in the hands of the Taiping Army.

Because this place is far from the waterway, neither the Wang nor Huang families have attacked it much during this period.

But now, the remnants of the Huang clan within Caozhou have actually launched an attack on Nanhua.
At that moment, the previously vague idea burst forth from his mind, and Zhao Huai'an exclaimed, "Ouch!"
"Huang Cun is moving to Puyang! Oh no! The Yicheng Army is doomed!"

Therefore, disregarding the astonishment and doubt of his advisors and generals, Zhao Huai'an immediately issued an order:
"Pass on my order: immediately assemble the Dragon, Tiger, and Leopard Armies at the drill ground, prepare six days' rations, and be ready to depart at any time!"

After he finished speaking, Guo Congyun, Liu Zhijun, and Geng Xiaojie stepped forward, clasped their hands in greeting, and accepted the order. They then quickly left the government office.

Then Zhao Huai'an said to Zhang Guinian:
"These bandits are indeed former salt merchants, well-versed in the art of avoiding the enemy's strength and attacking their weakness. The bandit army around Caozhou has likely already marched north into Puzhou, and they will surely launch a surprise attack on the Yicheng army that has entered Puzhou. No matter how many routes we come from, they will all go in one direction! Well, this bandit army commander is not to be underestimated! I wonder who devised this strategy."

At this point, Zhang Guinian and his advisors also understood, and Yuan Xi even said:
"Once the rebel army surrounds the Yicheng army, after annihilating the Yicheng army, they will inevitably turn south to Caozhou and then surround our army again. They want to take advantage of the fact that the Zhongwu army and Xuanwu army are about to enter Caozhou and eliminate the two armies! What audacity!"

Zhao Huai'an laughed heartily, his previous dullness and boredom vanished. He picked up a riding crop from the table and said with a smile:

"Okay, now this is finally getting interesting."

Then, Zhao Huai'an addressed Zhang Guinian, Yuan Xi, and Wang Jin:

"From today onwards, we will cease all outings to gather disaster victims. If any outsiders come to join us, we will set up a separate battalion specifically for their gathering. To prevent spies from infiltrating, we must be extremely vigilant against those who come to join us on their own!"

Wang Jin now understood what the magistrate wanted to do, and proactively clasped his hands in a fist salute:
"My lord, I request permission to lead the cavalry to rescue Nanhua. It would be best if you remained in the city to oversee things, so that the brothers could feel more at ease."

At this moment, Zhao Liu also stood up and said worriedly:

"Brother, why don't you stay with the four beauties and sons that Yang Gong gave you? Our Baoyi Army is now quite large and powerful. If something goes wrong when you go to war, what will happen to us brothers?"

Zhao Huai'an choked, turned to look at the generals present, and saw intense unease on their faces.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an finally realized that he was different from before!

Zhao Huai'an opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't dare to be willful. He could only turn to Wang Jin and say:

"You will lead your cavalry north to support Nanhua. If the city holds, you can easily harass it in the field; if the city falls, you must return immediately and not advance rashly. In addition, during this northward journey, you must make contact with the Yicheng army in Puzhou and share our speculations with them."

Wang Jin accepted the order, took Zhao Huai'an's command arrow, and led several guards outside to the drill ground outside the headquarters.

There, three hundred and eighty elite cavalrymen, including those of the Dragon, Tiger, and Leopard classes, were already waiting with their horses.

As the thunderous sound of galloping hooves echoed past the county government office, Zhao Huai'an sat on a stool, feeling both eager and helpless.

However, none of this could diminish the passion in his heart.

That's more like it! That's the kind of strength you should have!
Right, Huang Chao?
(End of this chapter)