Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 201 Disciples
On the 21st day of the first month of the third year of Qianfu, Yang Fuguang, the military supervisor of Xuanwu Army, led 10,000 Xuanwu soldiers and 6,000 Zhongwu soldiers, along with tens of thousands more who came by boat and followed the Baigou River to Yuanju City.

The endless fleet of ships stretched for more than ten miles. Amidst the resounding horns of the fleet, Zhao Huai'an, along with his generals and a group of advisors, greeted them at the dock.

The fleet first anchored and moored in the middle of the river, and then more than ten small boats were lowered from the side of the ships and rowed to the dock.

Zhao Huai'an immediately saw his strong sworn brother standing on the bow of the boat. Yang Fuguang's feet were as hard as iron, standing firmly on the bow of the small boat. No wonder he grew up by the sea.

Before the small boat had even come to a complete stop, Yang Fuguang had already leaped onto the dock, taken two steps forward, and grabbed Zhao Huai'an's arms, excitedly saying:

"Zhao Da, I led my troops all the way here, worried that you would suffer losses, but I didn't expect you to have already finished the battle?"

He had seen the situation outside Yuanju City from the deck earlier. Seeing that there were graves everywhere and no trace of the rebel army, he knew that Zhao Huai'an must have defeated the rebel army, but it seemed that the casualties must have been considerable.

Alas, he heard news of the Yicheng Army in Bianzhou.

Who could have imagined that the Grass Army would be so cunning? They actually resorted to military tactics against them. The three thousand Yicheng soldiers were capable fighters, but they were caught completely off guard and routed by the Grass Army's cavalry that stormed into their camp.

Because of this battle, Li Zhong, the military governor of Yicheng Army, was dismissed from his post and sent to Chang'an in a cage.

Because the new military governor had not yet taken office, the Yicheng Army lost the ability to reorganize its fighting force. Thus, the newly formed five-pronged garrison army, which had not yet combined its forces, went to one of them.

Moreover, since the third year of Qianfu, the influence of the herd army has grown even stronger. After being blocked north of Yizhou by the military commander Song Wei, the herd army, unable to move south to the Jianghuai region, began to spread rapidly throughout central and southern Shandong.

The mountain bandits and thieves who had been lurking in the mountainous areas of Tai, Lu, Yi, and Meng, saw the growing strength of the bandit army and flocked to join them like streams flowing into the sea.

Previously, when the bandits marched south into Yan and Yi provinces, there were already tens of thousands of them. Now, there are probably fifty or sixty thousand, or even one hundred thousand.

As expected, all the regional armies had their own agendas.

That same month, Xue Chong, the military governor of Tianping, ordered Zhang Yan, the cavalry commander, to lead 3,000 troops from Yunzhou to attack Caozhou. However, the troops mutinied as soon as they reached Yiqiao and then marched straight back to Yunzhou.

Fortunately, these people were few in number, and the people in the city were united. With the help of Zhang Sitai and Li Chengyou, several generals in Yunzhou, the rebels and Xue Chong broke their sleeves and formed an alliance. The government provided them with food and wine as a gesture of goodwill and did not pursue the matter further.

Although the mutiny was eventually decided, the Taiping Army in Yunzhou was essentially rendered useless.

They didn't even dare to send troops to attack Caozhou, and they even mutinied. The Taiping Army's shogunate tolerated this. How could they have any authority? How could they motivate them to send troops?
With the Yicheng and Tianping vassal states having withdrawn their troops, the only forces capable of fighting at this time were the Zhongwu Army of Xu, Chen, and Cai; the Xuanwu Army of Bian, Song, and Bo; and the Baoyi Army of Guang and Shou.

With such a small force, it would be difficult to wipe out the rebel armies in Cao and Pu provinces. Then he received a letter from Zhao Huai'an requesting reinforcements.

To be honest, Yang Fuguang was really shocked when he received the letter. When he learned from the messenger that 40,000 to 50,000 troops from Cao and Pu prefectures were marching towards Yuanju City, he almost thought that the powerful military figure he had just recognized was about to perish.

At that moment, he hesitated, wondering if it was too late to rescue them.

But when he opened the letter, he saw that Zhao Huai'an hadn't said anything, only written one sentence:
"Brother, please know that I am in trouble. Come quickly!"

At that moment, he saw that Zhao Dazhen treated him like an older brother, without much explanation or apology, only trust in him as an older brother, believing that he would definitely come to save him.

With a sigh, thinking of that clam omelet, Yang Fuguang decided to give Zhao Da one last push.

So Yang Fuguang met with Wang Duo, the military governor of Xuanwu, and made a deal with him, agreeing to promote Wang Duo to be his protégé.

It turns out that in the past two years, the young emperor has grown increasingly disgusted with the upright and unruly Chancellor Cui Yanzhao. Of course, his father, Tian Lingzi, has played a part in this.

Tian Lingzi had a feud with the Cui family, but the person with whom they had a feud was not the prime minister Cui Yanzhao, but the current military governor of Zhongwu Army, Cui Anqian.

It turns out that when the young emperor had just ascended the throne, Tian Lingzi also wanted to elevate his entire family and friends to high positions, so he also wanted to get an official position for his brother Chen Jingxuan, and he also wanted him to have military power.

At that time, the most elite troops in the country were undoubtedly the Zhongwu Army, so Tian Lingzi wanted to get Chen Jingxuan to lead the troops in the Zhongwu Army.

At that time, Tian Lingzi was just starting out, so he didn't dare to ask for any high-ranking official position. He just let Chen Jingxuan be a minor military commander for the time being.

But who would have thought that Cui Anqian, the military governor of Zhongwu Army at the time, would directly reject his request, even replying with:
"The position of Loyal and Martial Envoy is of paramount importance to the nation; how can it be entrusted to a mere pancake vendor?"

This completely offended Tian Lingzi, but he was powerless to do anything about the Zhongwu Army, so he could only vent his anger on Prime Minister Cui Yanzhao, and would often speak ill of Cui Yanzhao next to the young emperor.

However, Tian Lingzi only played a supporting role; Cui Yanzhao's current predicament was entirely his own fault.

The Cui family is truly of such high social standing that each member is arrogant and self-important. They not only consider themselves to be of noble character but are also the kind of people who hold grudges and seek revenge for the slightest offense.

Take Cui Yanzhao for example. Back then, his brother-in-law Wang Ning advised him to take the Mingjing exam, as this would increase his chances of passing.

But Cui Yanzhao regarded this as a great humiliation.

When his brother-in-law Wang Ning met him, he was wearing a casual robe and no official hat or belt. Then he mentioned that he should take the easier Mingjing exam, which he couldn't stand.

But you should know that it was precisely because he was one of their own that his brother-in-law dressed more casually, while the Mingjing examination, although slightly simpler, could still lead to the position of prime minister.

Wang Ning said this because he knew that Cui Shenyou of the Cui family had come up through this path: he passed the imperial examination in the Mingjing category, then passed the Xianliang Fangzheng category, then entered the Hanlin Academy as a scholar, and finally rose step by step to become the prime minister.

But Wang Ning truly didn't know how arrogant and vengeful the Cui family members were.

The example he cited of Cui Shenyou was not good, because that person was the kind who would hold a grudge. In his early years, he had a tense relationship with Xiao Ye, who was also a Hanlin Academician. Later, he rose through the ranks quickly and became the prime minister. Then, he took revenge and directly dismissed Xiao Ye from his position as a Hanlin Academician.

But fortunes change, and soon Xiao Ye also became prime minister. Moreover, because of Cui Shenyou's personality, he had already offended several of his other protégés. Then Xiao Ye recommended Liu Zhuo to enter the Council of State Affairs as prime minister, and together they dealt with this old Cui.

In the end, Lao Cui was sent to Xichuan to become a military governor, and then he would spend his days shouting that there were treacherous people in the court who were framing loyal officials.

This is the Cui family for you. When they're persecuting others, they act all righteous and awe-inspiring, but when they're the ones being persecuted, they just think it's a personal vendetta.

The current military governor of Zhongwu Army, Cui Anqian, is this man's younger brother. He is somewhat cunning, but he also considers himself a man of integrity and has always looked down on people like Tian Lingzi.

The prime minister Cui Yanzhao, who is now being persecuted by the eunuchs, is also a member of their Cui family; he is truly a man of integrity.

Because of what his brother-in-law said, when he later became prime minister, he planned to punish him.

His mother always knew what kind of person her son was, so she arranged for him to stand with the Wang family, which forced him to let go.

But only Wang Ning was released. As for the others, they were all killed by Cui Yanzhao over the years, who was extremely ruthless.

Just like the late emperor's court jester Li Keji, who was killed by this man after telling a joke. So now the young emperor can't stand it anymore and plans to remove this man from the position of prime minister.

However, several powerful eunuchs in the Northern Court each had their own people they wanted to recommend. At this time, the Prime Minister Zheng Tian recommended Wang Duo, the current military governor of Xuanwu, to be the prime minister, and all the families were hesitant.

Yang Fuguang could guess why the higher-ups hesitated. Although he had not been in the court for many years, he had a clear understanding of the situation within the court. In fact, because he was an outsider, he saw things more clearly than those inside the court.

The internal struggles within the Southern Court are extremely fierce. Currently, the five subordinates of the Southern Court are Cui Hang, Cui Yanzhao, Zheng Tian, ​​Lu Xie, and Li Wei.

Cui Hang had virtually no political influence. He became a laughingstock of his time because of his saying, "Master and disciples are in cahoots." He was now just a nodding prime minister.

Then there's Li Wei, a man who has always been independent and a true gentleman, so he has always been pragmatic and honest in the prime minister's office.

As for Cui Yanzhao, he had already left, but the person who vacated the position after he left became the key.

This was because, at this time, among the subordinates of the Southern Court, Zheng Tian and Lu Xie were fighting the fiercest, and there were even faint signs of the struggle between the Niu and Li factions back then.

These two are cousins ​​and grew up together. However, because Zheng Tian was cute and Lu Xie was ugly, Zheng Tian received more care from the elders.

The two became enemies after that, and regarding the Wang and Huang rebellion, they had developed different strategies for suppression and appeasement.

Lu Xie insisted that the bandits like Wang and Huang should be dealt with swiftly and decisively, and that elite troops should be mobilized immediately to eliminate these rising stars. He even suggested that Gao Pian, who had already entered Nanzhao, should be dispatched to lead an army to suppress them.

Zheng Tian disagreed, believing that they should recruit and appease Wang and Huang, these bandit leaders, by giving them official positions to stabilize them. Once the famine in the Central Plains was over, their subordinates would return to their hometowns to farm, and then dealing with these bandit leaders would be a piece of cake.

Of the five subordinates in the Council of State Affairs, one is not involved, one is not participating, one is about to be demoted, and the remaining two are at loggerheads.

Therefore, after Cui Yanzhao left office, Lu Xie and Zheng Tian, ​​whoever brought people into the Council of State first, gained a majority in the Council of State and was able to implement their policies.

It can be said that the choice of someone to succeed Cui Yanzhao at this time directly affected the Tang Dynasty's next major strategy.

Originally, Yang Fuguang was completely on Lu Xie's side. The reason was simple: the Yang family was being suppressed by Tian Lingzi, and their only chance to turn things around was to gain military merit.

Now that you, Zheng Tian, ​​want to appease him, where will the military merits come from?
However, as information came from all sides, Yang Fuguang gradually realized that forcibly suppressing the rebellion was no longer a realistic option.

Besides the setbacks suffered by the Yicheng and Taiping armies during this period and the growth of the Cao army in the Yan and Yi areas, an even more important reason was that he had just received a top-secret intelligence report.

Gao Pian, who led his troops south to Nanzhao at the beginning of last year, suffered a crushing defeat. Of the tens of thousands of elite troops he led, only ten thousand returned. It was a complete and utter defeat, and he lost all the advantages he had gained in one fell swoop.

Gao Pian kept this a secret for three months. It was only after Zhou Congyu from Xichuan obtained the intelligence that he learned of the defeat and reported it to the court.

Therefore, the court officials were already in an uproar. It was at this time that Longshun, the new king of Nanzhao, actually sent people to Chang'an to seek peace and to ask for the hand of a Tang princess, willing to become the son-in-law of the Tang Dynasty and to guard the southern border for the Tang Dynasty forever.

Otherwise, the imperial court would have already sent Gao Pian to prison.

Even so, the plan for Gao Pian to lead troops to quell the rebellion completely failed. In fact, to make up for the lack of troops in the southwestern border region, the court needed to transfer troops from various parts of the Central Plains to form a new army.

In this case, the already disadvantaged forces in the Central Plains battlefield will be further weakened.

Given this overall situation, what's the point of talking about suppression?
Therefore, Yang Fuguang hesitated for only a moment before immediately changing his attitude and deciding to support Wang Duo.

And their vote, the vote of the Yang family, was the crucial one.

Zheng Tian had the backing of a eunuch, namely Ximen Sigong, who was also in charge of transporting grain in Bianzhou. Zheng Tian had been raised by Ximen Sigong since childhood and was practically his son.

Therefore, Ximen Sigong would definitely support Zheng Tian, ​​but Tian Lingzi was an ally of Lu Xie, Zheng Tian's rival. The two had always been in cahoots, so in the Northern Court, Zheng Tian and Lu Xie each had one vote.

Now, with Yang Fuguang's support, the Yang family has begun to vote for Zheng Tian, ​​so Wang Duo can enter the government. After that, Zheng Tian's faction will have a majority in the government, and thus, in the struggle for the position of commander, the Zheng Tian route will temporarily have the upper hand.

At this time, Zhao Huai'an had no idea that Zhao Liu's slap on the head and his indifference would ultimately lead Yang Fuguang to support Wang Duo's entry into the court in exchange for the deployment of more than 10,000 Xuanwu troops.

Then, the entire world situation changed due to this small change, leading to a shift in policy.

And in the future, there will be many more similar incidents. As Zhao Huai'an's position rises higher and higher, his various unconscious actions will influence the course of history in this world.

However, on the other hand, Zhao Da is gradually transforming from a passive participant swept up by the times into an active force driving history.

It was through this political exchange that Yang Fuguang obtained troops from Wang Duo and grain from Ximen Sigong. Finally, he joined forces with the Zhongwu Army, which had just arrived in Bianzhou, and hurriedly led his naval forces to rescue Zhao Huai'an.

At this moment, Yang Fuguang was both happy and worried when he saw Zhao Huai'an. He was happy that Zhao Huai'an was not only unharmed but had also repelled the bandit army, which was a great achievement. However, he was worried that he did not know how much Zhao Huai'an had lost and whether it would affect future cooperation.

After all, the Yang family really needs a powerful local figure right now.

Yang Fuguang didn't show any of these emotions; he was even thinking about how to comfort Zhao Da. Then he saw Zhao Huai'an bow down and say:

"We have fulfilled our mission and lived up to the Emperor's grace. After three days of continuous fighting, our Baoyi Army has finally annihilated the remaining bandits in Puzhou, and the bandits in Caozhou have also retreated to Caozhou."

Yang Fuguang was stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard.

Then Zhao Huai'an waved his hand and took a box from Zhao Liu behind him, then respectfully handed it to Yang Fuguang:

"This is Cao Shixiong, the bandit leader of Puzhou. Please take a look, brother."

Yang Fuguang was stunned for a moment, then opened the box and saw a severed head inside, its face horrified and withered.

Blinking, Yang Fuguang couldn't believe it and asked again:

"You mean you not only defeated the enemy's bandit army, but also killed their bandit leader?"

Zhao Huai'an nodded and added:
"However, the bandit leader of Caozhou has fled and gone to Caozhou."

At this moment, Yang Fuguang didn't care about anything else; he kept patting Zhao Huai'an on the shoulder and laughing loudly.
"Good, good, good, Zhao Da, you're not just a 'righteous comrade,' you're clearly my 'timely rain'! You have no idea how much this military merit you've gained has come at the perfect time! Haha!"

Zhao Da was stunned.

What? We've become a lifesaver again?

(End of this chapter)