Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 211: Camp
After the sound of bugles outside the Caizhou army camp, two thousand Caizhou soldiers donned their armor and drew their weapons, lining up in formation. However, after a long time, none of their generals appeared.

For a moment, everyone was filled with doubt, but their good military skills led them to spontaneously occupy various parts of the camp walls under the guidance of the junior officers!

At this moment, amidst the resounding bugle calls, the cavalry of the Baoyi Army outside the camp continuously circled the camp, shouting:
"The Qin family colluded with traitors and harmed my Baoyi. Only the ringleaders should be arrested; the rest will be spared!"

Half of these Caizhou soldiers were under the command of Qin Zongquan, and the other half were under the command of the loyal and valiant general Zhang Guan. When they heard the roar outside, they were first confused, and then they all looked towards the large tent in the center of the camp.

Could it be that the magistrate and his men have attacked the People's Righteous Army? How come they didn't know anything about it?
However, this is in line with our magistrate's character. He had a conflict with someone during the day yesterday and went to take revenge on the same day.

But you should have told the brothers in advance. Now we're trapped in the camp, and they outnumber us. What are we going to do?
The Cai generals who remained in the camp were also at a loss for what to do.

At this moment, Liu Jianfeng, Diao Junwu, Xu Dexun, and Yao Yanzhang, each clad in three layers of iron armor, were also on the camp, listening to the shouts outside, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Finally, seeing that letting the other side continue shouting like this would erode morale, Liu Jianfeng said to Diao Junwu, Xu Dexun, and Yao Yanzhang:
"Old Diao, you come with me to the main tent. Old Xu, Old Yao, you two stay here and guard the camp gate. In short, I have only one sentence: anyone who dares to trespass on the main camp of my Caizhou army, then kill them! Understand?"

Liu Jianfeng was the most prestigious of the four, and with the others absent, he took the initiative to lead them.

Here, Liu Jianfeng deployed the troops on the camp, and then led Diao Junwu to the main tent in the center of the camp.

Just as they were about to go in, Guo Fan, the guard outside the tent, stopped them.

Guo Fan was a retainer of the Qin family and was extremely loyal to them. Although he knew the purpose of Liu Jianfeng and his companion's visit, he still stepped forward to stop them and said:

"Let's go back. The magistrate isn't at the camp. Let's go to the camp first and wait for the magistrate to return before we talk about it."

Liu Jianfeng frowned and said:

"Old Guo, of course we know the magistrate isn't here, but didn't he put Qin Erlang in charge of the army when he left? We've come to discuss something with Erlang!"

Guo Fan hesitated for a moment, then told the two to wait there before going inside to report.

Shortly after, he came out again and said to Liu Jianfeng and the other man:
"You should remove your weapons. Erlang's condition is not right. You should also be more careful."

Liu Jianfeng nodded, then took off his broadsword and mace and handed them to Guo Fan. He also had a dagger in his boot, which he was about to hand over when Guo Fan suddenly let them in.

……

As soon as Liu Jianfeng and Diao Junwu entered the main tent, they saw Qin Zongyan wearing an ear-covering hat, biting his nails and muttering to himself.

Ever since Qin Zongyan lost half of his ear, he has loved wearing this kind of ear-covering hat. This kind of hat was very popular in the Northern Dynasties because it was originally the daily hat of the nomadic peoples beyond the Great Wall, specifically for keeping warm and protecting against wind and sand.

However, as northern nomadic peoples entered the Central Plains and continued to assimilate into Han culture, this type of ear-covering hat gradually changed its style, starting to tilt the ear covers upwards. This is the prototype of the turban that Tang people often wear today.

As soon as Qin Zongyan saw Liu Jianfeng enter, he quickly asked:
"What are those militia members shouting outside?"

Liu Jianfeng was about to change his story, but Diao Junwu, who was standing next to him, had no political sensitivity and blurted out the answer:

"Erlang, those Baoyi Army soldiers are shouting, 'The Qin family is a traitor who harmed our Baoyi! Only arrest the ringleaders, the rest will be spared!' Erlang, what's wrong with these Baoyi Army soldiers?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianfeng regretted it. Why did he bring this idiot with him?

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Qin Zongyan erupted in anger, hysterically shouting in front of everyone:
"Bullshit! Me, Qin Er, colluding with thieves? I collude with Zhao Da Ge Zi, but I'm not a thief! This bastard is trying to harm us, trying to harm us."

The same sentence was interpreted completely differently by Liu Jianfeng and Diao Junwu.

Upon hearing this, Diao Junwu joined in the cursing:

"That bastard really wants to harm us! Back in Chenzhou, that bastard dared to publicly kill Erlang. This time, in Yuanju, he actually dares to use such tricks again. Does he really think our Caizhou army is made of clay? Erlang, give the order! Send our two thousand Caizhou soldiers out of the camp and take Zhao Da's head!"

But Qin Zongyan's words were like a thunderbolt to Liu Jianfeng. At that moment, he gleaned the following information:

"This Qin Erlang did not collude with the thieves, but he really did something to harm Governor Zhao, otherwise he would not have subconsciously pointed it out to himself."

His heart was churning with turmoil, but Liu Jianfeng's outward expression remained as indignant as Diao Junwu's, except that he was trying to persuade him:
"Second Brother, let's wait for the magistrate to return before we talk. The military supervisor and Magistrate Zhang are both in the city right now. With such a big commotion here, they will definitely come to mediate. We'd better stay and defend the camp for now!"

Liu Jianfeng's original intention was to let Qin Zongyan calm down, because the current situation was not actually that bad.

They are now in the Zhongwu Army's main camp, which has 6,000 elite soldiers. Although Baoyi outside the city has the advantage of mobility, they cannot break in.

Most importantly, he now deduced from the words of the Baoyi Army that Zhao Da was not rebelling, so as long as Yang Fuguang came out of the city to mediate, everything would be fine.

Moreover, he also had some considerations in his heart.

That is, whether Qin Erlang really did something to harm Zhao Huai'an. Then, in front of Yang Fuguang, he and Zhao Da can go to court.

Do not let his personal grudges lead you to drag Cai Zhou's army into a deadly battle with the Baoyi Army.

Those militia members are really something!

However, Liu Jianfeng's prudent words were misunderstood by Diao Junwu, who, with his neck stiff, asked Liu Jianfeng:
"Old Liu, you're being too cowardly. They're already blocking the doorway, and we're acting like children, going to call for adults and reinforcements? My Caizhou army is invincible. This Baoyi Army is just a bunch of rabble from a local gang. Does he think he can make us back down?"

As he spoke, Diao Junwu patted his chest and assured Qin Zongyan:

"Second Brother, give me two hundred elite cavalry, and I'll take Zhao Da's head for you."

Upon hearing this, Qin Zongyan took it seriously and stood up excitedly, saying:

"Is this true?"

Diao Junwu was stunned by Qin Zongyan's words. No, he was just showing off, and you, Erlang, aren't going to stop him? You actually took it seriously?

So, under Qin Zongyan's expectant gaze, Diao Junwu shrank back slightly, then changed the subject and said to Liu Jianfeng beside him:
"Old Liu, what you said makes sense. We are comrades after all. If we start killing each other like this, wouldn't we be laughed at by those bandits? Let's take Zhao Da to court and let the military supervisor uphold justice for us. When the time comes, Erlang, you just stand there and start cursing. Let's see if Zhao Da still dares to spew nonsense!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianfeng knew something was wrong. He then subconsciously glanced inside the tent and discovered that the dozen or so armored warriors standing there were all Qin family retainers.

So, without making a sound, he moved closer to the edge of the tent.

Sure enough, when he heard that he was going to take Zhao Da to court, Qin Zongyan sat back down on his stool with an unpredictable expression.

He planned to use a tiger to kill Zhao Huai'an. He was confident that he could kill him if he could, or at least scare him out of his wits if he couldn't. He was certain that he would leave no trace and would not arouse any suspicion.

But now, Zhao Huai'an's fate is unknown, yet the Baoyi Army seems determined to have done it.

This shows that they have solid evidence. Under such circumstances, how could he withstand Yang Fuguang's investigation?
But what evidence did these militia members have? He had only told his brother about luring the tiger!
Could it be that he betrayed me? No way, he wouldn't have any reason to. He was even planning to take over Zhao Huai'an's troops after his death.

Wait a minute, if Zhao Huai'an hadn't died at all, and was actually in the city holding a trap with that military supervisor, my brother would definitely have handed himself over to protect himself!

The more Qin Zongyan thought about it, the more likely it seemed. His back was already soaked with sweat. No, he couldn't just sit and wait to die.
Suddenly, he looked up at Diao Junwu and the silent Liu Jianfeng, and said:
"Old Diao, Old Liu, you are both veterans of the Caizhou Army. Should the face of the Caizhou Army be trampled on like this? Besides, what are we afraid of? Even if we have some conflicts with the Xuzhou Army, that is an internal matter. We, the Zhongwu Army, are still one family across the three prefectures. I will now call the other army commanders to the camp for a meeting. Then, we will charge out together and teach that Baoyi Army a lesson!"

"Now that the Righteous Army is leaderless, our army will surely win as long as they go into battle."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianfeng quickly smiled and said:

“Alright, that’s the idea. Let’s call the other camp commanders over first. Although they’ve all gone into the city, those in their camps still have influence.”

Qin Zongyan nodded and was about to send someone to summon the military generals of Chen and Xu prefectures when he suddenly heard Diao Junwu frown, as if he were having a brainstorm, and ask a question:
"Erlang, how do you know the Baoyi Army is leaderless? Zhao Da is dead!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianfeng's smile froze. He stared at Diao Junwu, inwardly cursing:

"Are you out of your mind?! Don't you have any brains at all? You're going to get me killed."

Meanwhile, Qin Zongyan was also stunned. He tried to force a smile to explain, but as he did so, he suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Finally, he grinned maliciously and pointed at himself, saying to Diao Junwu, "Old Diao, it's because I killed that Zhao Da! I commanded a fierce tiger and ate that bastard to death!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianfeng, who was already standing by the tent, did not hesitate to pull out a dagger from his boot, then slashed the tent flap and flipped over.

Diao Junwu was stunned for a long time before turning around to run away, but the next moment, Qin Zongyan kicked him to the ground from behind.

The heavy armor pinned Diao Junwu down, rendering him completely immobile. He glared at Liu Jianfeng, who had already run quite a distance, and wailed:

"Help me, Lao Liu!"

But Liu Jianfeng didn't even turn his head; he crashed into a tent and disappeared without a trace.

At this moment, Qin Zongyan's eyes were bloodshot, and he smashed the table down on Diao Junwu's head.

Then he walked over to the equally terrified Qin family retainers, took an iron mace from one of them's waists, and smiled cruelly:

"What are you waiting for? Go and arrest Liu Jianfeng!"

After saying that, he walked back to Diao Junwu's side, raised the iron mace, and smashed it on the idiot's head!

Once you get down there, use your brain!
……

Outside the Xuzhou camp, Pang Cong led countless Baoyi Army cavalrymen slowly to the outside of the camp.

He knew that this time he had completely cut himself off from the Zhongwu Army.

Although Zhao Huai'an said that this time it was only targeting the Caizhou soldiers and only the Qin family, the Qin Zongquan brothers are still members of the Zhongwu Army!

Although Xu and Cai had deep-seated grudges, they were still one body of the Zhongwu Army. Under such circumstances, not only did they not help Cai's army, they even opened the gates to let Baoyi Army in to kill their own people.

For him to do such a thing is treason in the military and he would be despised by everyone.

Pang Cong took a deep breath, then couldn't help but ask Zhao Huai'an beside him:

“Zhao Da, you know those assassins were sent by the bandits, so why can’t that tiger be one too?”

Zhao Huai'an didn't speak, but Zhao Liu, who was next to him, smiled and patted Pang Cong on the shoulder.
"Old Pang, this isn't like you! You're so smart, right? The only ones who could know where we were hunting are these guys in the army, aren't they? And also, do you think tigers can't harm us? If you think that, you're wrong, and you're thinking of the bad guys!"

“You have no idea how big that tiger is. Our warhorses can't even stand up in front of it. Wouldn't that beast just bite us to death? Even if Da Lang is brave, what about our lives? So, those Qin brothers definitely deserve to die!”

"If they dare to let tigers harm us today, they'll dare to lead troops to ambush and kill us tomorrow. Tell me, shouldn't these scourges be killed?"

Pang understood all of this, but still managed to ask one question:
"But how can you be sure that the people who released the tiger were the Qin brothers?"

Zhao Liu fell silent because Zhao Huai'an spoke up.

He said to Pang Cong:

"Old Pang, at our point, everyone knows who would want to harm us. Do you really think that besides the Qin brothers, anyone else would go to such lengths to harm me?"

Pang remained silent, for he knew in his heart that if anyone truly wanted to harm Zhao Da, it would undoubtedly be the Qin brothers in the army.

Zhao Huai'an continued:
"Old Pang, we're not here to solve a case, what's the point of talking about evidence! That's for giving answers to others, for giving answers to superiors. Right now, I just want to give myself an answer! What kind of evidence do I need? I just want to know where my enemy is!"

Zhao Huai'an's words left Pang Congya speechless. Finally, he patted Pang Congya on the shoulder and said:

"Old Pang, I owe you this time!"

What else could Pang Cong say? He leaped onto his horse, galloped forward, and roared at Han Jian and Wang Jian on the camp wall, whip in hand:
"Open the door! Welcome Zhao Da!"

Han and Wang, who were on the ramparts, hesitated only for a moment before deciding to side with Zhao Huai'an, and thus issued their orders:

"Open the walls and welcome the Baoyi Army in!"

Thus, in front of the thousands of Baoyi Army mule and horse troops, the huge Zhongwu Army camp opened its gates on the northeast side of Xuzhou Army.

Then, Pang Cong charged into the camp at the forefront, and roared at all the Xuzhou soldiers on both sides:

"Each of you return to your tent immediately, and none of you are to leave without orders!"

He ran and shouted all the way.

His prestige in the Xuzhou army helped him carry out his orders. When the position of military commander of the Xuzhou army, Zhou Ji, was vacant, these Xuzhou soldiers subconsciously obeyed Pang Cong's orders.

As a result, the Xuzhou soldiers who were still in the camp entered their tents and cleared the road.

Then, squads of Baoyi Army cavalry, riding tall horses, clad in gleaming armor, and brandishing their spears, galloped in from under the gate.

At the same time, squads of imperial guards, riding sturdy mules, swiftly rushed into the camp, then occupied various sentry posts, firmly controlling the racetrack.

This time, Zhao Huai'an did not go in, but remained outside the camp gate, waiting quietly.

As more and more Bao Yi entered, he could see that the south side of the Zhongwu Army camp was becoming increasingly chaotic.

No one knows how many people were killed. In any case, after Zhao Huai'an had been standing on the donkey cart for a little over a quarter of an hour, Yang Yanqing came galloping over from the racetrack under the gate, carrying Qin Zongyan.

Yang Yanqing slammed Qin Erlang to the ground, and Qin Zongyan, whose legs had been broken by the horse spear, lay sprawled on the ground.

Looking at Zhao Huai'an on the donkey cart, Qin Zongyan showed no fear and chuckled.

Zhao Huai'an tilted his head and looked up to see a cavalry troop galloping from the north gate of Yuanju, with his good elder brother Yang Fuguang at the very front.

Zhao Huai'an tapped his fingers lightly on the railing, looked at Qin Zongyan, and said to Yang Yanqing:

"Drag him around this camp, and stop when the horse gets tired!"

Yang Yanqing nodded, glanced at Qin Zongyan who was so scared he wet himself, and chuckled, "What are you pretending to be, you hero! You could have died with one blow, but now you're wishing you were dead!"

He used a lasso to lasso Qin Zongyan and led him to the back of the saddle, just as he was about to ride off, Zhao Wenzhong ran over and said to Zhao Huai'an:

"Godfather, let me do it!"

Then Zhao Wenzhong grabbed Qin Zongyan, grinned menacingly, leaped onto his warhorse, and galloped away. Behind him, Qin Zongyan let out a series of mournful howls, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

Zhao Huai'an didn't pay much attention to Qin Zongyan. In his eyes, this person was never important. In fact, if it weren't for this attack, he would have almost forgotten the person's name.

He turned his gaze to the southwest.

Meanwhile, Guo Congyun had already led over a hundred riders to intercept Yang Fuguang and his men.

Upon seeing the large cavalry charge coming from the side, the cavalry that had been accelerating since leaving the city panicked and began to slow down.

Seeing Yang Fuguang had already stopped, Zhao Huai'an did not go to meet him.

This time, he will stay where he is.

(End of this chapter)