Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 215 The city is broken
On the eighth day of the second month of the third year of Qianfu, in the eastern part of Yuncheng, late at night.

The sky was dark and the air was crisp with the chill of spring.

He Gui and Guo Shaobin, soldiers from Yunzhou, huddled together, their spears in hand, standing out from the other guards on the city wall.

He Gui and Guo Shaobin had previously followed Xue Chong, the military governor of Tianping Army, on a campaign against the Caozhou rebels. After a major defeat, they were scattered in the countryside and almost ended up being eaten alive.

They were later rescued by Zhao Huai'an's elite cavalry, and in the subsequent battle to defend Yuanju City, they performed better than other refugees, which led to their superiors discovering that they were originally from the Taiping Army's elite troops.

After that, they were selected from the people to join the auxiliary troops of the Righteous Army, specifically to carry iron armor for the armored soldiers of the Righteous Army's yamen.

Later, after annihilating Cao Shixiong, these former remnants of the Taiping Army and the Yicheng Army captured by the Cao Army were absorbed into the Baoyi Army's Yanei Infantry.

Just when He Gui and Guo Shaobin thought they could join the Baoyi Army smoothly, an unexpected event occurred.

People from the Taiping Army came to find the two of them and asked if they were willing to return to Yunzhou and rejoin the Taiping Army.

He Gui and Guo Shaobin were dumbfounded.

To be honest, they really wanted to join the Righteous Army because the Righteous Army offered really good benefits.

In short, as long as you work for Zhao Da for seven or eight years, he will protect you for life. This is extremely attractive to military men like He Gui and Guo Shaobin.

Not to mention that both of their lives were saved by the Righteous Army.

So the two of them were hesitant and didn't say a word at first. Then the officer of the Taiping Army guessed what they meant and told them that as long as they successfully infiltrated the Taiping Army, they would have three more years of military service in the Taiping Army.

What does three years of military service mean? It means he is the oldest veteran since the founding of the Baoyi Army.

Moreover, after completing the mission, you can rejoin the team and become a squad leader in Beiwei.

He Gui and Guo Shaobin had been with the Baoyi Army for quite some time and knew that Beiwei was the personal guard of the Taiping Army, and that the guard under their command was equivalent to the personal guard of the inner court.

The two men were originally just ordinary soldiers in the Taiping Army, but now they could become guards in the Taiping Army and serve as junior officers in the Imperial Guard, with three years of military service remaining. It seemed quite tempting.

The two exchanged a glance and decided to take on the job.

What was the purpose of the officer in charge of the Righteous Army sending the two of them to infiltrate the Taiping Army? The officer didn't say, but he gave them a code. When someone used this code to activate them, that person would bring their mission.

Thus, filled with confusion and exhaustion, He Gui and Guo Shaobin set off once again to return to Yunzhou City.

It was pitiful that instead of receiving a visit from the Grand Military Governor Xue Chong, they were all sent to Yuncheng to serve as county soldiers, just like the defeated soldiers.

In other words, He Gui and Guo Shaobin suddenly fell from the middle class to the bottom of the military.

This situation is related to the tense situation within Yunzhou City.

In the first month of the year, three thousand soldiers from Yunzhou who were supposed to go on an expedition mutinied. Although the shogunate and the rebels eventually reached a consensus to let bygones be bygones, the matter was eventually dropped.

However, if a unit chooses to mutini rather than go to war, that unit's reputation is effectively ruined.

They not only failed to gain respect within their own domain, but even the people in the city would gossip about them.

Therefore, after returning to Yunzhou City, these rebels chose to occupy the southwest corner city and become independent, separating themselves from the shogunate.

The Taiping Army's shogunate was helpless in this regard, as there were less than nine thousand soldiers left in Yunzhou at this time.

Now that three thousand are rebels, and the remaining six thousand are unwilling to risk their lives for Xue Chong, who has no prestige, Xue Chong has no choice but to let things take their course.

Xue Chong acquiesced, but the rebels intensified their efforts to weaken the government's power. As a result, when the defeated soldiers from the outer perimeter returned to Yunzhou, they were all sent to local counties as county sergeants.

He Gui and Guo Shaobin suffered this undeserved misfortune.

What's even more pitiful is that after He Gui and Guo Shaobin arrived in Yuncheng, they were ostracized by the local county officials, and many even mocked them to their faces.
"Hey, aren't these two from the feudal lords? Can celestial beings descend to earth?"

There was nothing that could be done; that was the situation with the regional military governors.

Given limited resources, each regional military governorship prioritized military operations, but this army consisted only of elite guards.

The military officers of the regional military governors controlled more than 80% of the region's resources, while the remaining county soldiers were practically a group of beggars.

In this situation, if two soldiers suddenly appear in the ranks, wouldn't they vent their past grievances?
And so, He Gui and Guo Shaobin were in deep trouble.

Since the cold snap began in early spring, no one has been willing to stand guard on the city wall, but He Gui and Guo Shaobin have been assigned to guard it for four consecutive days.

They already lacked winter clothes, and after four days of night winds, even the strongest man couldn't withstand it.

At this moment, Guo Shaobin, with a runny nose and a dizzy head, leaned against He Gui, feeling as if he was about to die.

He Gui wasn't in much better shape either; she was also dizzy, had a sore throat, and her calves were stiff and numb. So she nudged Guo Shaobin and said in a muffled voice:
"Old Zhu, wake up! Let's go inside and warm up by the fire. I don't believe in ghosts. Who dares to stop us? We've crawled through piles of corpses several times, are we afraid of these trash?"

Guo Shaobin, being honest, even asked a question while still dazed:
"Then we won't keep watch?"

Upon hearing this, He Gui became angry and cursed:

"Screw the night watch! If they piss us off, we'll just chop that little sergeant up and then go back to the Baoyi Army! Damn it, we don't need that Beiwei sergeant anymore!"

Guo Shaobin nodded, then stood up, picked up a sword, and walked towards the city gate.

Seeing Guo Shaobin leave like that, He Gui quickly picked up a shield from behind the battlements, tucked his sword into his waistband, and chased after him with a spear tucked under his arm.

Guo Shaobin had already reached the city gate tower. The air inside smelled strongly of alcohol. He pushed open the door and went inside. There were about a dozen county soldiers sleeping soundly, their snores deafening.

Guo Shaobin couldn't even see these people. He staggered and leaned against a pillar, then collapsed to the ground, shivering.

The charcoal in the brazier next to him emitted heat, dispelling the chill from Guo Shaobin's body.

As he continued to shiver, especially with the last shiver, the cold air was drawn directly out of his body. At that moment, he felt a sense of comfort from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He Gui rushed over, and because he was holding a spear, he crashed directly into the lintel.

With a loud crash, a light sleeper in the building was startled awake. He vaguely saw a man outside holding a lance, staring at him.

As he slowly regained consciousness, the county magistrate saw that it was He Gui, and, enraged, shouted:

"I told you to guard the stacks, who let you in?"

He Gui, who had been so stubborn, was suddenly interrupted by the county sergeant inside and instinctively said:
"It's cold outside, come in and warm yourself by the fire."

The conversation woke up the two county soldiers again. One of them, who was grumpy when he woke up, got up cursing and prepared to beat up He Gui.

Just then, a sound came from somewhere:
"What's wrong? Don't you treat us brothers like human beings?!"

The county sergeant was stunned for a moment before he noticed that there was another person sitting behind the pillar, who was none other than the other survivor, Guo Shaobin.

And this bastard is leaning against a pillar, drinking the rest of their wine. What kind of jerk is he?
So the magistrate began to curse:

"You dead bastard, you expect us to treat you like human beings? We're already being merciful by giving you a bite to eat, you deserters. You want to be treated like human beings? Go be a pig!" With that, the man got down, followed by three waking county soldiers, ready to beat Guo Shaobin.

Guo Shaobin's cheeks flushed. He put the wine on the ground, then picked up another wine jug and was about to throw it when he felt there was still wine in it, so he put it down again. Then he found a completely empty jug and smashed it directly into the county sergeant's face.

A scream ignited the killing intent within the city walls.

Guo Shaobin drew the horizontal sword he was holding and slashed it diagonally across the face of the screaming county soldier in front of him.

This cut severed half of the other person's face, exposing the entire facial bone and jawbone to Guo Shaobin's view.

After Guo Shaobin made a diagonal slash, he stepped forward half a step, and with both hands holding the horizontal sword, he slashed upwards again, directly cutting open the stomach of the county soldier on the left, and the offal flowed directly onto the ground.

The smell of blood instantly dispelled the last vestiges of sleepiness from the county soldiers. The remaining ten roared as they scrambled up from their mats, frantically searching for weapons on the shelf.

But Guo Shaobin didn't give them a chance at all. He slashed and cut down the remaining two county soldiers who were trying to escape, and then rushed into the group of ten men.

But someone was even faster than him! Suddenly, a loud shout rang out, and the young He Gui charged in, wielding a ten-foot-long spear. Before he was even in the middle, the spear had already struck someone's face.

Then He Gui wielded his spear like a flying dragon, thrusting repeatedly in his hand. Every inch longer made it stronger, let alone those unarmed county soldiers.
Four people were stabbed to death on the mat by He Gui on the spot.

The remaining six county soldiers broke down completely, crying and kneeling on the ground, kowtowing to Guo Shaobin and He Gui.

He Gui looked at Guo Shaobin, listening to his decision.

That night, Lao Guo was incredibly generous!

Guo Shaobin threw away the dagger he had cut open, then drew his own dagger from He Gui's waist, and walked over with a blank expression.

The six men were still frantically kowtowing when Guo Shaobin beheaded the first three men one by one, then kicked one of them over and slit his throat with his knife.

Of the last two remaining, he glanced at He Gui and told him to come.

He Gui took a breath, and the strong smell of blood, excrement, and urine, along with the murky air inside the gatehouse, filled his lungs all at once.

He coughed violently, barely able to straighten his back.

The two remaining county soldiers knew they had no way out; one tried to grab Guo Shaobin around the waist, and the other tried to snatch the sword from Guo Shaobin's hand.

With a flash of cold light, the county sergeant who tried to seize the knife had his entire hand severed by Guo Shaobin. As for the one who tried to grab Guo Shaobin's waist, he was kicked back to his original spot.

After swiftly eliminating the remaining two, the city tower was now filled with limbs and fragments, resembling a scene from hell.

Seeing that He Gui was still coughing, Guo Shaobin bent down, picked up a pot of wine, and handed it to him:

"Have a drink to help you relax."

He Gui took it and took a big gulp, which actually masked the taste.

Then he looked up and saw Lao Guo lying in a pool of blood, drinking from another pot of wine, completely at ease.

He Gui vowed that he would never forget this scene for the rest of his life.

This old soldier who survived alongside him from piles of dead and ranks of rookies, is actually so ruthless?

Then he saw Guo Shaobin dip his finger in the blood on the ground and write a message on the white wall of the building, then look at the scene with great satisfaction.

Seeing this, He Gui took another swig, gritted her teeth, dipped her finger in the blood on the ground, and went forward to add a sentence to the end of the sentence on the white wall.

Guo Shaobin burst into laughter, then sat down at the table with He Gui, and, fueled by the blood and gore, downed the wine in the pot.

At this moment, He Gui finally asked:

"Old Guo, we have to run fast now that we've done this. If the smell of blood spreads to other places and people find out, we're doomed."

Guo Shaobin nodded, then stood up, took a thick robe from the rack, and said to He Gui:
“Xiao He, I still have family in Yunzhou. I need to bring them out. You should go back to Baoyi Army first.”

He Gui shook his head:

"I'll go with you to pick them up, and then we'll go back together."

But after saying this, He Gui hesitated for a moment:

"But after we've done such a thing, do you think the Righteous Army will spare us?"

Guo Shaobin shrugged, seemingly unconcerned:
"It doesn't matter. If you keep us brothers, we'll fight alongside the Righteous Army. If you don't keep us? This world is so big, surely there's a place for us brothers to stay?"

He Gui nodded, tidied himself up, and then followed Guo Shaobin down the city wall.

Then, under the cover of night, they headed northeast towards Yunzhou City.

What the two of them couldn't see was that, to the south of Yuncheng, on the vast, misty Juye Marsh, a fleet of ships composed of countless small boats was slowly approaching the southern city of Yuncheng.

The county soldiers on this side of the city wall, like those on the east side, had all gone inside to sleep.

After countless shadowy figures climbed the city walls with the help of ropes, and after a brief battle, Yuncheng, the second largest city in Yunzhou, fell completely into the hands of the rebel army.

Among the crowd, Junior Colonel Pang Shigu searched around and asked five or six people before finally finding Ge Congzhou.

At this moment, Ge Congzhou was standing in the gate tower on the east side of the city, admiring the words on the white wall.

When Pang Shigu entered, it was already daylight. Seeing the corpses scattered on the ground, he assumed that Ge Congzhou had killed them, so it wasn't surprising. Then he looked up and saw the white wall in front of him.

Under the golden morning sun, a line of blood-written words appeared on the white wall:
"The murderers are Guo Shaobin and He Gui from Yunzhou."

Upon seeing this, Pang Shigu asked:

"Is this from our military?"

But Ge Congzhou shook his head:
"No, they must be some kind of chivalrous heroes from somewhere. They killed all these corpses."

"Alas, how many heroes there are in this world! If my humble army could gather all the heroes under heaven to serve us, what would we have to worry about in achieving our great cause!"

Thinking of this, he felt saddened again by the loss of his sworn brother Zhang Guiba, who had been trapped on the battlefield.

"Second brother, don't worry, I will take care of your two younger brothers."

Subsequently, Ge Congzhou ordered his men to scrape off the wall and gave them further instructions:

"This is just a short stop. After we take down the rich man, we'll head straight for Yunzhou!"

The soldiers were in high spirits, shouting "Hah!"

It was three days later when Zhao Da learned that the rebel army had broken through from Dayeze and captured Yuncheng.

(End of this chapter)