Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 209 Qin Zongquan

The northern camp outside Yuanju City was the garrison of the Zhongwu Three Prefectures Army and the camp of the Cai Prefecture Army.

Qin Zongquan sat in the main tent, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

Zhang Zhi, a fierce general from Caizhou who was stationed at the main camp, saw that the men in the tent all had wounds on their faces and looked dejected and dispirited. He immediately cursed:
"Look at you bunch of cowards, you've already given up? You lost, but we'll beat you up again next time! We're determined to avenge this defeat. Do you think the Caizhou army would let this go unpunished?"

After Zhang Zhi finished speaking, a burly man next to him, with dark circles under his eyes, said helplessly:

"Old Zhang, you're really talking without thinking. If you could beat us, would we be like this? It's really strange, how come those militiamen are so good at fighting? Oh my!"

The man talked so much that he aggravated the wound on the corner of his mouth and couldn't help but groan.

Over there, a burly, dark-skinned man also had a grim expression:

"Old Yin, that's not how it is. I, Old Yao, also have a pair of iron fists, but no matter how many punches I throw, I can't beat the other side. You don't know, that person's neck keeps swaying left and right. I don't know where he got his strange boxing technique from!"

Zhang Zhi was originally going to mock Yin Tielin after hearing his words, but now that Yao Yanzhang had said the same thing, he realized that the people in Baoyi were not simple.

However, Zhang Zhi couldn't bear to see these people lose their morale, so he casually remarked:
"If fists and feet won't work, let's use knives! We'll kill them!"

But none of the people present responded, because fighting in the army was one thing, but using a knife to attack friendly soldiers was a capital offense!

As one of the three loyal dogs of the Tang Dynasty, the Zhongwu Army was arrogant and domineering towards other vassal states, but when it came to the imperial court, they were nothing but obsequious.

At this moment, Qin Zongquan's eyes were bloodshot. He sat on the stool with his arms crossed, shrinking back without saying a word. But Wang Shu and Lu Tang, who knew him well, knew that this general of Caizhou was extremely angry at this moment!
Hearing the soldiers below praising the Righteous Army so highly, and seeing that they didn't even dare to draw their swords to kill the Righteous Army, his anger flared up even more fiercely.

Just then, Sun Ru, who had been sitting to Qin Zongquan's left, suddenly clasped his hands in a fist salute and said:
"My lord, we should be patient for now. Zhao Huai'an is quite favored by the military supervisor. If we fight with them, we will be the ones who suffer in the end. If I were the lord, I would rather pretend to seek peace first and let those Baoyi Army continue to be arrogant. Later, when we get to the battlefield, we will have ways to make them die without a burial place!"

Upon hearing this, everyone understood what Sun Ru was talking about. He was simply betraying the Righteous Army on the battlefield. No one spoke up, neither supporting nor opposing him.

But one person couldn't stand it and snorted:
“Sun Ru, the Baoyi Army are also loyal subjects of the court. If we fight them, it will only be a matter of military pride. How can we betray them on the battlefield? That would make our Caizhou Army lose all face! I, Fu Daozhao, cannot do such a thing!”

Sun Ru completely ignored Fu Daozhao, that fool, and looked at Qin Zongquan instead. Seeing the slight smile on his lips, he knew that things had succeeded.

Why did Sun Ru immediately try to kill the Baoyi Army? It was because of personal grudges.

Sun Rujia was a wealthy family in Caizhou. He also worked part-time as a river bandit on the Huai River. He often cooperated with the mountain bandits and river bandits in Guangzhou. This money had always been the biggest source of wealth for his family.

However, after Zhao Huai'an arrived in Guangzhou, the whole situation changed. In the Baoyi Army's several ambushes of the Jiang bandits, many members of Sun Ru's clan were killed by the Baoyi Army.

Thus, with both blood feud and the loss of their wealth, how could Sun Ru not hate Zhao Huai'an?
At that moment, he saw Qin Zongquan smiling and thought his plan had succeeded, but unexpectedly, Qin Zongquan tilted his head and glared at Sun Ru:

"You want me to apologize? Are you out of your mind, Sun Ru? How could you say something like that? If you say that again, get out of here!"

Sun Ru's face flushed red and then turned pale, but he dared not retort.

It wasn't just because Qin Zongquan had more troops than him, but also because, within their small territory of Caizhou, the Qin family was the undisputed leader.

The Sun family is considered wealthy, but compared to the Qin family, they are nothing!

After cursing, Qin Zongquan paid no heed, turned to the assembled generals of Caizhou, and roared:
"What's wrong? Do you think our Caizhou soldiers are so easy to bully? Those Baoyi Army can beat you today, and they'll dare to kill you tomorrow. If you don't dare to fight back, then they'll be riding on your crotch. You want to be a cuckold, fine, but I, Qin Zongquan, won't!"

Everyone was embarrassed by the insults, and Qin Zongquan's confidante, Wang Shu, couldn't hold back any longer:

"Brother, just tell us what to do! We brothers will listen to you!"

Everyone nodded in agreement; on this point, they still trusted Qin Zongquan.

Qin Zongquan thought for a moment and said:

"We'll get our revenge with our fists! Tomorrow I'll go to the military supervisor and have a martial arts demonstration in the army! Then we'll line up and fight. I don't believe that every member of the Righteous Army is that strong. We'll beat the crap out of them!"

This prompted everyone to cheer and show off their courage, determined to teach the Righteous Army a lesson.

Although Sun Ru was also shouting, he was extremely anxious. He went over to Qin Zongquan and said just one sentence that made the man's face change color:
"Big Brother, we've already made a blood feud with Zhao Da! I think I saw Second Brother do something terrible, why don't you ask him?"

Qin Zongquan's face immediately darkened. He stared intently at Sun Ru, making the latter feel uneasy, before turning to ask the others:

"Where's my good-for-nothing brother? Go and fetch him. You all step back and go back to practice. We'll use spears then and beat those righteous rebels to a pulp!"

The generals of Caizhou snorted and then retreated. Sun Ru also bowed to Qin Zongquan and left with the others.

A moment later, Qin Zongyan came in.

With just one glance, Qin Zongquan knew that his good-for-nothing younger brother was definitely hiding something from him; he couldn't conceal anything at all. So he angrily rebuked him:
"Did you do something wrong?"

Qin Zongyan had always been afraid of his older brother since childhood. He trembled at being called that, but with all his courage, he replied:
"No, what can I do?"

But what awaited him was a whip.

Qin Zongquan had already unbuckled his belt, opened his robe, and started whipping it, cursing loudly:
"Still not being honest? Still not being honest? I've known you've been lying since you were little, and I can tell you'll never lie to me again!"

At this moment, Qin Zongyan was being whipped so hard he was howling and curled up on the ground. Finally, he couldn't hold on any longer and confessed:

"I killed Zhao Da!"

Qin Zongquan, holding the belt in his hand, froze.

He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then sat back down on the stool and calmly said:
"Tell me everything you did."

No one noticed that Qin Zongquan's hands were trembling.

Qin Zongyan got up from the ground and shouted:
"Who does that Zhao Da think he is, daring to provoke our Caizhou army? I'm avenging you, brother!"

Qin Zongquan waved his hand and shook his head:

"No way! You're so righteous. Don't tell me you're avenging me! I think you've just gone mad!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Zongyan flew into a rage, pointing to his ear:

"I'm going crazy? Huh? Didn't Zhao Da make me lose my ear? What's wrong with me killing him? He deserved to die!"

But Qin Zongquan tilted his head, glanced at Qin Zongyan, and asked in confusion:

"Wasn't it Zhao Chou who crippled your ear? And I already told you, Zhao Chou was saving you! Can't you even tell right from wrong?"

But Qin Zongyan said:

"Isn't it all because of Zhao Da? He deserves to die! And why should I be the one to distinguish right from wrong? When my brother kills, he kills whenever he wants, but when it comes to me, I have to distinguish right from wrong? Isn't that ridiculous?"

At this moment, Qin Zongquan's face was grim. He gripped his belt tightly in his hand, letting the buckle hang to the ground, clearly impatient.
"You say you killed Zhao Da? Do you know what nonsense you're spouting? You think I didn't want to kill him? That bastard had a strong army, with nearly two thousand elite warriors alone, plus various vassal troops and county soldiers, totaling four or five thousand. You were just wasting your half-month in Yuanju? Are you blind to Zhao Da's strength?"

"You really make me despise you. It's one thing to be cowardly, but you still have to show off with your words. You even killed Zhao Da! I also killed Cui Anqian!"

Unexpectedly, Qin Zongyan directly said:
"I had someone find a tiger and lure it to Zhao Da's hunting grounds, specifically to wait for that bastard. Now, he's probably just a pile of shit left! Hahaha!"

Qin Zongquan blinked, pointed to his own head, then to Qin Zongyan, and began to curse:
"Are we born of the same mother? How could I have such a stupid brother like you?" With that, Qin Zongquan rushed over and slapped Qin Zongyan across the face, his fingers pressing against his head as he roared.

"Are you fucking stupid? If you were sending assassins, I might think you had a brain, but using a tiger to kill someone? You fucking... genius!"

Then, Qin Zongquan hugged his younger brother tightly and laughed loudly:
"Great, that's a good idea! Whether it succeeds or not, you won't be suspected!"

Then, Qin Zongquan laughed, and then suddenly kicked Qin Zongyan in the chest, roaring:

"You want to kill me? Huh? You want to kill me? Nobody suspects you, so doesn't that mean they suspect me? I just got into a fight with Zhao Da and his gang, and then Zhao Da got attacked by a tiger. You think nobody could have discovered the things you used to lure the tiger?"

"Once Zhao Da dies, Yang Fuguang will definitely investigate thoroughly. At that time, I'll be your scapegoat!"

As he spoke, Qin Zongquan grabbed Qin Zongyan by the neck, his eyes bloodshot:

"I should strangle you!"

Qin Zongyan was terrified by his brother's crazy and erratic behavior, his laughter and anger. Now, with his neck being choked, he couldn't even breathe properly, and his face was turning increasingly pale.

Just when he thought his brother was really going to kill him, Qin Zongquan let go and then burst into tears:
"If it weren't for my dying wish that I take care of both of you, I would have strangled you to death today!"

As he spoke, Qin Zongquan pulled his younger brother up and asked:
"Who carried out this? What did they use? Can you be absolutely certain they could attack Zhao Da?"

Qin Zongyan clutched his neck, taking a long time to recover. Coughing, he replied:
"I've already killed the people who did the job, and their bodies are buried under my tent. They used pig, cow, and sheep offal, and I killed the people who handled it too! After the tiger ate those offal, there will be no trace of it after a while, and you won't even be able to smell it! No one will be able to find out!"

"It's uncertain whether Zhao Da is dead or alive, but I lured that tiger to the center. Given Zhao Da's personality, even if the tiger doesn't come after him, he'll still go hunting it! That tiger eats people and has become a demon. If Zhao Da were to run into it, he would be crippled if not killed! And all of this is his own doing, so no one can doubt us!"

At this point, Qin Zongquan added:

"It's not us, it's you!"

After speaking, Qin Zongquan thought for a moment and was about to call over a few trusted confidants to discuss it when suddenly a voice came from outside:

"My lord, the military supervisor has summoned you to the city on important business."

Qin Zongquan was secretly delighted and asked:
"What happened? It's already dark, how are we going to get into town?"

The person outside replied:
"Judging from what that eunuch said, it seems that Governor Zhao has been attacked and his fate is unknown! The military supervisor is worried that the Righteous Army outside the city will cause a disturbance, so he has ordered all the generals to enter the city to discuss a plan!"

At this moment, Qin Zongquan was overjoyed. He gave his good-for-nothing younger brother a hard punch, never expecting that he would actually accomplish such a great thing.

If Zhao Da is really dead, wouldn't those elite Baoyi Army soldiers become easy prey for them?

Thinking of this, Qin Zongquan could no longer suppress his laughter, and then he put on a cloak and left the tent.

Before leaving, he said to Qin Zongyan:
"You stay in the camp and wait for my news! If I haven't returned by nightfall, you immediately lead the troops in a mutiny! You know how to mutiny, right?"

Qin Zongyan, who only had one ear left and whose face was now marked with handprints and belt marks, laughed upon hearing this:
"Brother, go in peace! I'll take care of things here!"

Qin Zongquan paused for a moment, nodded, and then lifted the curtain and went out.

Only Qin Zongyan remained in the darkness, chuckling maliciously.

……

Under the cover of night, Qin Zongquan led more than ten Caizhou generals on horseback to the city wall. After delivering the talisman, the Xuanwu Army above used bamboo baskets to pull the talisman up to the top of the city wall.

At this moment, the city was under strict watch: everywhere one could see Xuanwu soldiers, fully armed and in good gear, patrolling in formation at night.

When Qin Zongquan, Wang Shu, Lu Tang, Shi Fan, Zhang Zhi and others went up to the city, they suddenly saw that Zhang Guan, the general of their Zhongwu Army, was also there.

He not only commanded 6,000 Zhongwu soldiers, but also had 1,000 directly subordinate Caizhou soldiers, who were also Qin Zongquan's direct superiors.

At this moment, Zhang Guan nodded when he saw Qin Zongquan and the others, and then Qin Zongquan and the others naturally followed behind him and entered the prefectural office together.

Here, all the famous military generals from Zhongwu and Xuanwu had arrived, and they had obviously already heard what had happened, so when Qin Zongquan entered, everyone looked at him.

Qin Zongquan's heart skipped a beat, but he remained outwardly calm.

At this moment, Yang Fuguang, who was at the head of the table, had bloodshot eyes. Upon seeing Qin Zongquan and the others enter, he immediately asked:
"Did you kill Zhao Da?!"

Qin Zongquan's first thought was that Zhao Huai'an was indeed dead, and his second thought was, "Oh no, this damned eunuch is suspecting me!"

Knowing that the cleanup would be thorough, Qin Zongquan feigned surprise and then shook his head.

"Supervisor, you know me. I, Qin Zongquan, would never do such a thing!"

Zhang Guan, who was also protecting Qin Zongquan, glanced at the generals present and frowned, saying:

"Can anyone tell me what exactly happened? Zhao Da is dead? And what does his death have to do with our Zhongwu Army?"

His words made the generals present understand the situation.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengye said with grief and indignation:

"Prefect Zhao returned to the city overnight, but was ambushed and killed by a group of assassins on the way!"

Qin Zongquan was momentarily stunned upon hearing this.

What? Zhao Da wasn't eaten by a tiger? He was assassinated? That good-for-nothing dared to lie to me? But where did he get the money to hire an assassin?

But at this point, he had no time to think any further, because he knew he was too much of a suspect.

He hurriedly said to Zhang Guan beside him:

"My lord, you know we haven't left the camp since we entered. How could we possibly kill anyone?"

Zhang Guan was aware of this as well, so he was very confident in assuring Yang Fuguang:
"The assassin who tried to kill Zhao Da could not have been from our Zhongwu Army, because I ordered the gates to be closed after we entered the camp, and no one was allowed to leave!"

Yang Fuguang looked at Zhang Guan, then at Qin Zongquan for a while, still uncertain. He sighed and covered his forehead.

"How did things turn out like this?"

Just then, a Shence Army soldier rushed in from the city wall, panting heavily, shouting:

"Supervisor, disaster has struck! The Baoyi Army has poured out of the city and surrounded the Zhongwu Army camp!"

Yang Fuguang was startled, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

Before any further action could be taken, a rooster crowed outside the gate. Yang Fuguang looked up and saw a bright red sun slowly rising from the ground.

It's almost dawn.

(End of this chapter)