Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 193 Cao Shixiong

The day after Zhang Guiba and Pang Shigu were released, Wang and Huang's army arrived.

At this moment, below the North City Tower, Uncle Thirteen Pei Di swallowed hard, only to find that he had no saliva left. Looking at the vast cloud of dust outside the city, he couldn't help but shudder.

On the desolate plain, several plumes of black smoke rose straight to the sky. These were the warnings lit by the Baoyi Army's scouts and bandits, burning their white turbans one after another.

At first, these white-clad cavalrymen continued to gallop around the city, but soon, the army dispatched a large force of cavalry to block and drive away these wandering white-clad cavalrymen.

Although the Ta Bai were better riders, they were no match for the endless cavalry of the Grass Army, so they retreated to the three stockades in the southwest corner of the city.

Thus, from then on, the entire area outside Yuanju City was completely controlled by the rebel army.

At this moment, countless cavalrymen, their horses galloping in a dense, bustling mass, appeared on the northern plain. They wore brightly colored clothes, distinguished only by yellow headbands.

They galloped across the vast plains, causing the earth to tremble. Countless flags were mixed along this long dragon, like a giant wave on the seashore, threatening to smash Yuanju City to pieces.

Soon, the torrent stopped and began to split into two streams to the north, rushing out of the city to the east and west.

They then discovered three camp walls in the southwest corner and a long passageway.

These cavalrymen did not launch an attack, but instead wandered around the four sides of the city before returning to the north of the city by the same route.

Behind these cavalrymen was a vast crowd that filled the entire plain. These people, some carrying flags and others pushing carts, moved slowly forward in groups of three or five, as if they were going to a market.

Amidst this massive crowd, a group of soldiers, their flags and armor more uniform, were raising a large banner that read "General Cao Shixiong, Commander of the Imperial Army, who is in charge of the Heavenly Restoration and Equalization." Beside them was another large flag with the four characters "Peace Under Heaven" written on it.

Not far from this army formation, there was another smaller but more orderly column, also carrying a large flag, but with only the character "yellow" on it, making it impossible to know who the leader of this army was.

These three large banners, amidst billowing smoke and dust, drew ever closer, guiding countless crowds toward Yuanju City.

Behind this massive flow of people were countless carts, and countless ragged people arrived in units of carts in front of the army. Upon reaching a certain place, they stopped and began to set up camp on the spot.

At this moment, Uncle Thirteen, Pei Di, was watching this scene unfold. To put it bluntly, Uncle Thirteen had lived to be almost forty years old, but he had never seen such a large and imposing army marching in.

So, he couldn't help but glance at Zhao Liu beside him, and seeing that he was calm and composed, seemingly unaffected, he humbly asked:
"Zhao Liu, how many of these bandits are here? Aren't you afraid?"

Zhao Liu chuckled, pointed to himself, then to the bandits outside the city, and sneered:
"Thirteenth Uncle, who am I? I'm Zhao Liu! I survived a bloodbath with Zhao Da! Why would I be afraid of those things? What's that saying again? I see them as nothing more than clay chickens and earthen dogs! Yes, that's what the book says."

As he spoke, Zhao Liu couldn't help but boast:

“Thirteenth Uncle, you don’t know, last year in Hanyuan, we didn’t even have city walls. We were just on a few mounds in the valley. We had more than a thousand men guarding them. The area below was just like what we see today. It was all over the mountains and fields, with gongs and drums beating. But what did we do? We not only held our ground, but we also managed to break through and force the enemy to surrender.”

"So, Uncle Thirteen, which of us here do you think is afraid?"

Pei Di suddenly realized, glanced again at the generals below the city wall, and seeing that they were indeed very relaxed, finally sighed:

"If you are truly heroes who have fought your way out of a national war, then this is nothing to you!"

One sentence made Fatty and the others stand up even higher.

However, to be honest, the generals who returned from Xichuan with Zhao Huai'an basically didn't react much. Although the number of rebels was huge, it was still okay.

Seeing Zhao Huai'an gazing out of the city in thought, Pei Di didn't dare disturb him and instead whispered to Zhao Liu:

"Sixth brother, with what you just said, I feel more at ease. But when I see the plains outside the city filled with people, I still feel a little uneasy. How many people do you think have come?!"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Huai'an, who had been pondering, directly answered Uncle Thirteen's question:
“Thirteenth Uncle, most of the cavalry are a motley crew, hastily assembled without any distinction between flags and units, so it is very difficult to estimate their numbers directly. However, based on my battlefield experience, the cavalry that just circled around our city probably numbered more than seven or eight hundred, but probably less than fifteen thousand.”

Pei Di was taken aback and uttered a layman's remark:

"Ha, only seven or eight hundred riders? I thought there would be thousands or tens of thousands."

As soon as he said this, the militiamen below the city wall burst into laughter. Our Uncle Thirteen really doesn't know anything!

Zhao Huai'an laughed too, and said, somewhat annoyed:

"Uncle Thirteen, you're joking. Let alone seven or eight hundred cavalry, even the three or four hundred cavalrymen of my Baoyi Army, once they gallop across the plains, would be like a tidal wave, shaking the earth! Cavalry, after all, is different."

Pei Di didn't know what Zhao Huai'an was sighing about. Seeing that Zhao Huai'an was very relaxed, he was completely relieved and smiled as well:

"Zhao Da, do you already have a plan to defeat the enemy?"

Zhao Huai'an shook his head, but added:
"I wouldn't call it a strategy to defeat the enemy, but I've roughly figured out the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy's army."

He was speaking partly to Pei Di, and partly to the righteous generals present:
“Look at the bandit army outside the city. Actually, there should be four groups. One group is the seven or eight hundred cavalry we just mentioned; another group is the core of Cao and Pu provinces. They should be the former salt smugglers’ sons or the heroes and warriors who joined later; the third group should be the young and strong disaster victims who have been gathered together; and the last group, the wagon camp, should be the old camp of the bandit army. Their families, women, children and the elderly should be there.”

As Zhao Huai'an spoke, he pointed in the air for everyone to see, and the generals listened and nodded.

"So even though the number of the bandit army is spread across the plains, estimated to be thirty to forty thousand, if we exclude the old camp behind them, those hastily assembled rabble of young men, and the old bandit core thieves, the number is at most three to four thousand. These people are no match for our Baoyi Army in a battle, let alone launch an attack on us! So none of them are a concern."

"The only concern is their cavalry. The most elite and courageous warriors of the peasant army must be among them."

Zhao Huai'an didn't just talk about the good news and keep the bad news to himself; he frankly said:
"With the enemy's cavalry having an overwhelming numerical advantage, our army has almost lost the possibility of defeating the enemy in open battle. However, with our fortifications and elite troops, plus the more than 10,000 disaster victims from Caozhou who have benefited from our kindness, the enemy will never be able to take us down."

The people were not afraid to begin with, and now that they heard the magistrate's analysis, they had even more confidence.

When they arrived, they brought 10,000 shi of grain, and later they obtained another 20,000 shi from Bianzhou for disaster relief.

How long can these 30,000 shi of grain last?

Pei Di was very professional about this. He gave Zhao Huai'an a number: fifty-two days. As long as he allocated the resources, the Baoyi Army would have enough food in the city to last for fifty-two days.

Now Zhao Huai'an is very certain that the bandit army outside the city has absolutely no strength to break through Yuanju City, so we can rest assured, because they can hold out for fifty-two days, while the bandit army outside the city could never hold out for fifty-two days.

The advantage is mine.

Pei Di was full of confidence, but he didn't notice Zhao Huai'an's furrowed brows at all.

……

Under the banner proclaiming "Peace Under Heaven" outside the city, a burly, armored warrior sat astride his warhorse, shading his eyes with his hand as he gazed at the city of Yuanju across the way.

On either side of him were dozens of warriors, also clad in armor and mounted on horses, surrounding him as they gazed northwards at Yuanju City.

After watching for a while, the burly man shook his head, then looked at the two groups of people kneeling in front of the horse. He first addressed the three people in front:

"You all drove away the enemy cavalry and achieved some success; you are rewarded!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several burly soldiers lifted the curtain of a carriage and pushed out three ladies, whose attire and demeanor clearly indicated that they were ladies from official families.

Indeed, it wasn't just these three women; there were five or six more carts behind them. Almost all of them were court ladies captured by the rebel army after they conquered Cao and Pu prefectures. Now, their families were all dead, and they themselves were about to be enslaved, their lives in the hands of others.

At this moment, as the three ladies were pushed out, before they could even scream, the three rewarded horsemen rushed over wildly, pinching, kneading, and kissing them, completely disregarding the many people around. Only after a cough was heard did the three stop their audacity. Each carrying one of the ladies on their backs, they laughed and shouted to the burly man on horseback:

"Thank you for the reward, Piao Shuai! We brothers will definitely do everything we can to help you!"

It turned out that this burly and robust man was Cao Shixiong, the leader of this band of outlaws.

As a powerful salt merchant in Puyang, Cao Shixiong, like Wang Xianzhi, also had a core group, although his group was smaller than Wang Xianzhi's.

So when they learned that the military yamen in Puzhou was going to target them, the salt merchants, they banded together around Wang Xianzhi, ready to strike first and slaughter the Puzhou government, this fat sheep.

This marked the beginning of the path of rebellion.

Once the rebellion began, everyone realized that the imperial court was nothing special. How strong did they think the Taiping Army was? In the end, wasn't it easily dealt with?

Not to mention, at this time, Cao, Pu, and Yun were full of refugees. As long as they distributed food, countless people would be willing to risk their lives for them. There was no need to persuade them to rebel.

In this way, the number of the bandits expanded to tens of thousands in a short period of time.

Like Wang Xianzhi, Cao Shixiong's army also began to expand rapidly during this process. In particular, after he captured a military horse farm, he began to build his own cavalry force, and his strength soared to the top of the bandit leaders.

Therefore, after Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao from Caozhou moved south to fight in Yizhou, Cao Shixiong was entrusted with an important task and stayed in Puzhou with three thousand old bandits and five hundred elite cavalry to continue fighting.

Some time ago, the strategist Shang Junzhang returned from Yizhou with his men and began to contact Huang Cun of Caozhou and Bi Shiduo, who was fighting in the Songzhou area, to prepare for the encirclement and suppression that the imperial court was about to launch.

Then, with the strategist's planning, Cao Shixiong's strength reached a new level.

After annihilating three thousand Taiping soldiers, Cao Shixiong not only captured four thousand sets of Tang army armor and weapons, but also captured three hundred warhorses, greatly enhancing the strength of his cavalry.

Then he used the grain from the Tianping Army camp to directly recruit disaster victims outside Puyang City. In three days, he gathered 30,000 people, and more and more people were coming to join him.

It can be said that at this time, Cao Cao's army was powerful and invincible.

Therefore, when Cao Shixiong led his army to Yuanju on the way, he encountered Zhang Guiba and Pang Shigu and learned that the inside agent's plan had failed, but he still went to Yuanju City.

Even though the strategist Shang Junzhang advised him to give up, it was to no avail. In the end, Shang Junzhang, who had no military power, left halfway and no one knew where he went.

Who cares? It's good that they're gone. Who would have thought someone would be riding on their head?

At this moment, Cao Shixiong looked at the three knights who had rendered meritorious service and waved his hand:

"What do you mean 'for me'? For General Wang!"

The three knights just chuckled, clearly understanding what to say.

As expected, Cao Shixiong was very satisfied with the three men's attitude and smiled as he dismissed them.

And so, the three newly meritorious knights carried the three ladies-in-waiting straight to the rear wagon camp.

As soon as the group left, Cao Shixiong's face darkened. Looking at the second group kneeling there, he said in a low voice:
"So this is how you carry out my orders? You can't kill Zhao Huai'an, and you can't even enter Yuanju City? What use are you to me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen or so armored straw soldiers rushed over, grabbed the necks of the kneeling men, and prepared to chop them down.

At this moment, Ge Congzhou, who was riding beside Cao Shixiong, was terrified. He quickly jumped off his horse, grabbed Cao Shixiong's reins, and pleaded:

"Commander, these are all heroes of our army! They must not be killed!"

Cao Shixiong glanced at Ge Congzhou, this chivalrous hero from Puzhou, and tilted his head to ask:
"Can't we kill him?"

Ge Congzhou nodded:
"You mustn't kill him!"

Cao Shixiong glanced at Ge Congzhou, then at Zhang Guiba among the kneeling men, smiled, and nodded, saying:
"Then we won't kill them."

Before Ge Congzhou could even breathe a sigh of relief for his brother, Cao Shixiong cursed at the kneeling Zhang Guiba:

"You bastard! You're a traitor! You dare to accept gifts from the government troops, I think you're tired of living! We won't kill others, but you insist on killing them."

As he spoke, Cao Shixiong pointed at Zhang Guiba and shouted:
"Strip him of his armor and whip him mercilessly until he dies!"

After he finished speaking, the armored soldiers rushed forward, pinned Zhang Guiba to the ground, and stripped him of his armor.

Two of Cao Shixiong's trusted henchmen each took a thin whip and began to whip Zhang Guiba in front of all the generals and junior officers.

Every blow was a bloody tear! Every blow was horrifying, and many of the onlookers couldn't help but look away, but Zhang Guiba didn't utter a single sound.

That's a real tough guy!
Suddenly, Ge Congzhou lunged forward, using his body to shield himself from the whips on both sides, shouting at Cao Shixiong as he took the blows:
"Commander, you mustn't do this! Zhang Guiba is a hero among heroes, a paragon of men, and he deserves to die! This is not his fault! It was that enemy general who was cunning and wanted to sow discord! Commander, you must not do something that will hurt your friends and please your enemies!"

Cao Shixiong's eyebrows shot up, and he said sternly:

"You mean I'm an idiot? I fell for someone's simple trick?"

Ge Congzhou was clearly taken aback, never expecting his words to have such a meaning. Just as he was about to argue, the whips beside him began to fall like rain.

But he didn't dodge; instead, he protected his unconscious sworn brother and endured the pain.

Cao Shixiong was in high spirits when suddenly someone tugged at his robe from behind. He turned around and saw that it was his brother-in-law, who was gesturing for him to look around.

Cao Shixiong glanced at the people on both sides and saw that their eyebrows had tightened, and his face immediately changed color.

Ge Congzhou actually has such great prestige?

So he hesitated for a moment, then shouted:

"That's enough. Remember this beating. If you do it again, it won't just be a whipping."

Despite enduring so many lashes, Ge Congzhou was completely unharmed. He picked up Zhang Guiba and expressed his gratitude to Cao Shixiong:
"Thank you, Commander, for sparing our lives. We brothers will atone for our crimes and bring that traitor Zhao to your aid."

Cao Shixiong was satisfied and nodded, then told Ge Congzhou to take Zhang Guiba away for treatment.

Finally, Ge Congzhou, full of gratitude, rushed back to the rear camp.
Looking at this man, Cao Shixiong realized he was getting anxious.

Ge Congzhou was not an outsider like Zhang Guiba. He knew better than anyone how high his prestige was among the heroes of Puzhou.

We can't touch this person now, but just wait and see, we'll deal with you sooner or later.

Putting aside his thoughts, Cao Shixiong pointed his whip at the distant Yuanju City and loudly gave the order:
"Order the entire army to prepare food. We will attack the city in two hours!"

The generals and soldiers all acknowledged the order and then rode their warhorses back to their respective battle formations to prepare for the upcoming siege.

(End of this chapter)