Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 233 Lucky General
On the sixth day of the third month of the third year of the Qianfu era, the military governor of Yanzhou was stationed in Yizhou City.

Some Yanzhou Navy soldiers began to lower the "Yanzhou Navy" flags that were flying on the city walls and replace them with new bugle flags that read "Taining".

This was the military title given to the Yanhai Army by the imperial court in February. After that, the Yanhai Military Governor, a military region that was separated from Ziqing Town, was renamed and bestowed the military title "Taining" by the emperor, which means peace and prosperity for the country.

As is well known, choosing such a name often indicates that reality and expectations are opposite.

Although the Taining Army changed its military name, its actual jurisdiction remained unchanged, still inheriting the four prefectures previously held by the Yanhai Army.

Yanzhou was already devastated, Yizhou was ravaged by war, and the Langya bandits were rising up in Mizhou, leaving it unable to take care of itself. Only Haizhou was barely peaceful, but it was also struggling to breathe because it was supplying the huge amount of food and provisions to the Yizhou camp.

At this moment, 18,000 troops from Zibo, Qingzhou, and Pinglu, 10,000 troops from Yanzhou, Haizhou, and Taining, 4,000 troops from Xuzhou, 3,000 troops from Huaidong, 3,000 troops from the Northwest Shence Army, and 500 elite armored cavalry, totaling nearly 40,000 troops from various vassal states, were gathered inside and outside Yizhou City.

This time, Song Wei, the military governor of Pinglu, went south to support Yizhou, bringing half of his troops with him.

Back then, Ziqing Town had 100,000 victorious soldiers and was the largest town in the east. Later, it was divided into three warlord towns, and each of them inherited a portion of the troops.

Among them, Zibo and Qingzhou, being the original base, inherited the most and were allocated 40,000 troops.

Over the past few decades, although the economy has recovered considerably, the number of households within the domain can only support such a small number of soldiers, so it has remained unchanged for many years.

Therefore, this time Song Wei led 18,000 troops, which is equivalent to taking away all the field troops of Zibo and Qingzhou. The rest were the external troops of various government offices, responsible for stationing in key places within the territory.

In addition, the Yanzhou Navy's 10,000 troops are much fewer than expected.

Like the Taiping Army in the north, they also had a force of about 30,000. However, when the Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao rebellions broke out, about 7,000 to 8,000 troops were stationed in places like Guangnan, Rongguan, and Xichuan.

Later, the Cao army suddenly moved from Yunzhou to Yanzhou, catching the local Yanzhou soldiers off guard. Apart from the annihilation of several thousand men, the rest retreated into Xiaqiu City.

Xiaqiu was the capital of Yanzhou and was originally the garrison of Yanzhou troops, which is why the city was able to be defended. However, other places such as Rencheng, Qufu, and Gongqiu had already been captured by the rebel army.

Meanwhile, the Yanzhou soldiers inside Xiaqiu City dared not leave the city to fight, which made the entire Yanzhou almost become the rear base of the bandit army, allowing them to run rampant.

Thus, the already understaffed Yanhai Taining Army lost another seven or eight thousand men. To make matters worse, bandits rose up in the Langya Mountains near Mizhou, which further tied down a portion of the Taining Army.

Thus, the Taining Army that could finally gather in Yizhou City numbered only around ten thousand. Fortunately, many of them were elite troops, which was enough to barely maintain the dignity of this old-established military region.

The remaining four thousand Xuzhou soldiers and three thousand Huaidong soldiers in the city were all ordered by the imperial court to serve under Song Wei, the commander of the various regional military campaigns to suppress bandits.

Then, at the beginning of this year, three thousand Northwest Shence Army soldiers and five hundred elite armored cavalrymen rushed from Chang'an and entered the city, turning Yizhou into a large military camp.

On this day, a fleet of ships sailed down the Yi River, its flags bearing the words "Military Governor of Taining Army" and "Inspector of the Ministry of War." The owner of this fleet was none other than Qi Kerang, who had just been promoted from the position of General of the Left Jinwu Guard to Military Governor of Taining Army.

The Qi Kerang family originally belonged to the military family of Gaoyang, Yingzhou, under the jurisdiction of Lulong Army in Youzhou. Later, due to the turmoil in their own domain, the entire family joined the neighboring Chengde Army and became a family of quite important military generals.

Among them, the Boye Army was the elite of the Chengde Army, but in the first year of Changqing of Emperor Xianzong, a major internal strife broke out in the Chengde Army.

The reason for this was that the then military governor Wang Chengzong passed away, and his younger brother could not withstand the enormous pressure of being a military governor, so he surrendered to the imperial court, and the position of military governor of Chengde Army became vacant.

At that time, the imperial court had a terrible misfortune: it selected Tian Hongzheng, the military governor of Weibo, as the new military governor. However, this man had a long-standing grudge against Chengde Town. It was he who had attacked Chengde years ago and killed many of the warriors within the territory. So, as soon as they heard that this man had become the new military governor, the territory immediately rebelled.

After Tian Hongzheng took office, Wang Tingcou, the military commissioner at the time, directly instigated a mutiny among the soldiers, killing Tian Hongzheng, his family, and more than 300 officers and soldiers. He then proclaimed himself the acting governor of Chengde and openly rebelled against the Tang Dynasty.

It was during that internal strife that Qi Ke suffered heavy casualties among his family members; his second and fourth uncles both died in that upheaval.

Therefore, when Wang Tingcou openly rebelled, some of the Chengde Army officers and soldiers, including Qi Shi, did not side with the rebels but surrendered to the court and were incorporated into the Tang Dynasty's Shence Army, continuing to use the military name "Boye Army".

From then on, the Boye Army remained in Fengtian, shouldering the heavy responsibility of guarding the capital Chang'an, while also undertaking the task of autumn defense.

Qi Shi also made many meritorious contributions in the Boye Army. By the time Qi Kerang's fourth uncle died, he had risen all the way to the position of Left Wing Army Commander of the Boye Army in Fengtian Town, becoming one of the top three military families in the Boye Army.

In the battles against the Tanguts and Tibetans in the northwest, many members of the Qi family were killed or wounded. For example, Qi Kerang's second elder brother, Qi Kejian, died in the Tangut war.

However, due to the harsh experiences in the northwest frontier, the Qi family generation became skilled in battle, especially Qi Ke, who repeatedly made outstanding military achievements.

Now, this general from Hebei to Chang'an has finally taken the most important step in his life, and in the most important step in his family, at the age of fifty-two: he was appointed as a military governor in a powerful region.

At this moment, on the bow of the ship, Qi Kerang looked ahead at the heavily fortified city of Yizhou with its towering watchtowers, feeling full of pride and confidence.

Although Yizhou City was facing a major battle at this moment, and Yanzhou, the most important city for the Taining Army, was still being ravaged by the bandits, this veteran general, who had fought his way up from the Northwest battlefield, had enough confidence that he could handle the current situation.

Qi Kerang will surely be able to secure his position as the military governor of Taining, making his family another influential military family in Chang'an, on par with families like the Gao family of Bohai.

But all of this is contingent on him first taking back control of the Taining Army from the arrogant Ziqing military governor, Song Wei.

Qi Kerang knew this bandit-suppressing envoy all too well, because he had taken over his position as the Left General of the Golden Guard from this man.

Thinking back on his past interactions with this person, Zikran did not believe that his superior would make things too difficult for him.

Just then, a burly Tangut man from the northwest rushed to the side of the boat. He glanced fearfully at the river outside the boat, then ran to Qi Kerang's side and shouted:
"Father, we saw some cavalry on the north bank, but we can't tell which side they are from."

Zikran frowned and scolded:
"Choufu, I've told you many times, you must remain calm in the face of adversity and not let your panic and emotions show, or it will cost you your life!"

This Dangxiang warrior, named Wang Choufu, was an orphan raised by the Qi family during the war. He was exceptionally brave and skilled in using the horse spear, and was known as the number one spear general of the Boye Army.

When Qi Kerang was transferred to Taining Army this time, he brought him along, along with other generals from Boye such as Lü Quanzhen, Sun Yonghe, and Shu Xu.

These people were the source of Qi Kerang's confidence in controlling the Taining Army in a short period of time.

What makes a military family a military family, besides the inheritance of military knowledge, is most importantly these warrior groups.

No matter who it is, if someone is parachuted into a certain army, they will eventually be sidelined by the forces within that army. However, the sons of military families in the imperial court are the opposite. By relying on these officer groups, they can be assigned to various armies as soon as they arrive, thus gaining control of the army in a short period of time.

What is command power? This core family-trained officer corps is command power.

While Qi Kerang was reprimanding him, Wang Choufu's eyes were vacant. Only after his adoptive father finally finished reading did he speak:
"Godfather, go and take a look. He looks like a member of the Grass Army."

Qi Kerang had never seen the bandits before, but now that he heard that the people on the north bank might be bandits, he became interested and led everyone to the ship's side.

Then he saw countless cavalrymen on the north bank of the river, watching their fleet. Then there was a horn, and about thirty-four riders came out and began firing upwards at the fleet.

One boat, having been close to the north bank, took many arrows and hurriedly rowed towards the center of the river. In the process, it collided with another boat, knocking a sailor clinging to the mast into the water.

Seeing their disheveled state, the rebel soldiers on the shore burst into laughter. Then, amidst another blast of bugles, a large banner bearing the character "Liu" fluttered in the wind, followed by a chorus of shouts from the rebels on the shore:
"These dogs kept by the imperial court tremble at the sight of us! They eat our people's food, so kill them now!"

After the song was finished, the bandits roared:
"Come on, bark for us, woof woof woof!"

Then everyone burst into laughter.

The laughter echoed for miles.

At this moment, Qi Kerang, standing on the ship's railing, heard such humiliation. A faint scar on his cheek twitched slightly. He gave a half-smile and snorted:

"Good tongue, good tongue."

At this moment, his adopted son, Wang Choufu, came up to comfort him:

"Godfather, let them shout. They'll fall into our hands sooner or later. When that happens, we'll see if they can still shout after their tongues are cut out!"

Qi Kerang grinned, took a deep look at the flag with the character "Liu," and then said calmly:
"It's nothing, just remember it. Let's go into the city first."

……

Inside a huge tent in Yizhou City, a tall, rugged-looking elderly martial artist wearing a turban sat cross-legged on a soft couch.

Although the headscarf on his head was large enough, it still couldn't cover his sparse hair, and even though he had applied powder to his face, it couldn't hide the dark circles under his eyes.

This man was none other than Song Wei, the supreme commander of this campaign to suppress bandits and the envoy of the various military campaigns to quell the bandits.

At that moment, a middle-aged scholar was sitting on a stool next to him, reading a military report to Song Wei.

But amidst that magnetic voice reading the news, Song Wei's thoughts couldn't help but drift away.

At the end of last year, on December 15th, Song Wei, who was appointed as the commander of the various regional military commands to suppress bandits, was in charge of all matters related to suppressing rebellions in the Central Plains and could mobilize all regional armies.

Song Wei received the imperial decree in Zizhou. On the third day, he led the well-organized 6,000 Pinglu troops ahead, followed by a second 6,000 troops, and finally a third 6,000 troops.

Because he brought extra horses and mules, Song Wei arrived in Yizhou in just three days. Then he discovered how terrible the job he had taken on was.

Upon arriving at the destination, Song Wei began to gather information on the various rebel leaders and their troops to ascertain the exact number of people and the extent of the rebellion.

And what you don't know until you investigate is truly shocking.

Among the rebel forces that had already entered Yanzhou, besides the two major bandit groups of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao, the following were known by name:

The bandit leader Liu Yanzhang was a trusted lieutenant and had three to four thousand troops; the bandit leader Chai Cun was a fierce general with several thousand bandits; there were also more than ten other bandit leaders, including Qin Yan, Liu Hanhong, Wang Chongyin, Li Chongba, Xu Tangju, Xu Qing, Chang Hong, Cai Wenqiu, Chu Yanwei, Li Hanzhi, and Wang Chongba, with some having more than a thousand troops and others having several hundred.

These people alone number seventy to eighty thousand, currently wreaking havoc within Yanzhou, and their numbers are still expanding. Apart from the Yanzhou capital and a few cities slightly to the west that remain in Tang hands, all the others have been captured.

At that time, the armies of the various vassal states had not yet gathered in Yizhou. The only troops that Song Wei could use, besides the six thousand soldiers he brought with him, were the three thousand Yanhai soldiers in Yizhou city.

In his war report to the court, Song Wei directly described the danger of the situation, because he had discovered that the rebel army was not simply looting and plundering, but was deliberately opening up the Nimon Pass.

Later, when Feixian, northwest of Yizhou, which was also the most important pass on the Nimeng Pass, was captured by the Cao army, Song Wei finally confirmed the Cao army's attack intentions.

These bandits intended to use the Nimon Pass to enter the Huaidong region behind Yizhou from Yanzhou.

Behind Huaidong lies the Grand Canal; if the rebel army were to break into Huaidong, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, he wrote down his strategy for suppressing the rebellion for the imperial court.

Simply put, before the rebel army arrives in the Yizhou area, the plan is to first eliminate any potential bandits or thieves within Yizhou. Then, hold Yizhou city, gather troops from all directions to garrison outside the city, and build a defensive line along the Yi River.

At the same time, he also requested reinforcements from the imperial court, especially elite cavalry, because the rebels had many mules and horses, and only by organizing a capable and mobile force could they have the ability to fight in the field.

Thus, the three thousand Northwest Shence Army soldiers and five hundred armored cavalry arrived in Yizhou under this background, and Zhao Huai'an of Huaixi Guang Prefecture also joined the Central Plains battlefield under this background.

Throughout December, just before Lunar New Year's Eve, Song Wei was constantly eliminating mountain strongholds within his territory, especially in the Yimeng Mountains to the northeast, where he successively suppressed two larger mountain strongholds.

It was thanks to these lives that the morale of the army began to recover. Later, reinforcements from various vassal states arrived at the city of Yizhou in an endless stream and began to build the Yishui defense line.

In this way, Yizhou City was initially defended.

But now, a new difficulty has arisen: his strategy to suppress the bandits seems to be stalled.

At first, Song Wei felt that although the army was numerous, it was actually arrogant and disorganized and would collapse at the first blow. However, he was always cautious in his military operations. Even with this view, he waited for the troops from various provinces to arrive one after another, especially after the second and third detachments of his Pinglu army entered the city before he began to go out of the city to fight.

His strategy at the time was to first launch a full-scale attack on the two rebel commanders, Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao, and then eliminate the rest of their forces in turn.

The specific tactic was to have the Xuzhou army set off from Xuzhou, advance through Sishui and into Yanzhou, and then he would lead the main force through the Nimeng Pass to drive the rebel army into the Taishan Mountains from the west and the front. Finally, he would surround them from all sides and trap them in the mountains.

Meanwhile, while the main force of the rebel army was in Yanzhou, the Zhongwu Army, Xuanwu, Huainan, Yicheng, and Tianping armies jointly suppressed the peasant uprisings in Pu and Cao prefectures, thus cutting off the rebel army's lifeline.

Without the replenishment of refugees, the bandit army trapped in the mountains will be no threat.

Ultimately, it's fine to either concentrate forces and annihilate them, or to divide and disintegrate them.

In order to launch such a two-pronged attack, the primary support needed was food and supplies.

To this end, he specifically contacted the finance department of Huaidong and asked them to raise 200,000 strings of cash to be transported to Yizhou.

However, the Huaidong Revenue Department rejected the request outright, saying that there was no imperial order and that Song Wei should request an appointment from the court. They argued that Song Wei's current official duties were only recruitment and expedition, and he had no authority over the Revenue Department, so they could not comply.

However, after some back and forth between Yizhou and Chang'an, the court finally agreed to Song Wei's request and allowed Huaidong to send 200,000 strings of cash to the Yizhou camp, but did not grant Song Wei any official positions in the Ministry of Revenue or the Grain Bureau.

In other words, Song Wei's 200,000 strings of cash was a one-time expense. If he used it up and wanted more money, he would need to submit a report to the imperial court.

However, after the imperial edict from Chang'an was sent to Yizhou, the entire war situation changed dramatically.

Because all the regional armies were waiting for the departure fee, the Yizhou military camp did nothing during the period from January to February, and all the troops on the defensive line waited for the imperial decree.

While Yizhou was wasting its grain reserves, the main force of the bandit army in Yanzhou finally broke into the Taishan area and joined forces with the mountain strongholds there.

This was not merely an increase in the number of the bandits, but rather an opening of a passage for them to enter Zibo and Qingzhou.

Starting from Mount Tai and heading east, one can travel along the entrance of Changshao in ancient times to reach Zizhou, the capital of the Pinglu vassal state.

And that's terrible.

Because at this moment, the families of the 18,000 Pinglu soldiers in Yizhou City are all in Zizhou City. If the Cao army attacks Zizhou City with a detachment, these Pinglu soldiers will definitely return to their home territory to provide relief.

This is not something that he, as the military governor of Pinglu, can suppress. In the end, he is still an outsourced military governor. He can distribute money and reason with people, so they will listen to him. But when it comes to the lives of their own people, who will care about him as the military governor?
Moreover, not only did he, the military governor, not even care about the imperial court. They couldn't even protect their own people, so why would they let him guard Yizhou?

Therefore, even after receiving 200,000 strings of cash in military pay from Huaidong, Song Wei did not choose to go into battle, but instead continued to reinforce the Yizhou defense line.

At this point, he had effectively lost the initiative in the war.

Sure enough, the first item in the military report delivered today was that the bandits from Cao, Pu, and Yun had crossed Yunzhou City and were heading straight for Qizhou. Once they broke through Qizhou, they could directly enter Zibo and Qingzhou.

It was after hearing this news that Song Wei has been in a daze ever since.

Suddenly, he heard his aide mention someone, paused for a moment, and then quickly called out:
"Stop. You just mentioned Zhao Huai'an?"

The middle-aged staff member was stunned for a moment, then slowly nodded, and then Song Wei snatched the military report from his hand.

After reading it, Song Wei laughed heartily and gave the order directly to the advisor:

"Order the Tianping and Zhongwu armies to pursue the enemy, and the Cao army to enter Qizhou. Order the Baoyi and Xuanwu armies to split up and enter Yanzhou, awaiting further orders."

The staff member quickly wrote a note and handed it to his subordinates.

After shouting these words, Song Wei's gloom dissipated, and he yelled outwards:
"Bring me the food! I want two bowls today!"

Footsteps echoed outside the tent as numerous shogunate staff members began to bustle about.

No wonder Song Wei was happy; it turned out that the military report he had just received was actually written by Zhao Huai'an himself, in rather unremarkable calligraphy, and contained the following passage:

"My lord, our army captured Yuncheng the day before yesterday, completely opening up the Wen River waterway. Boats can now sail freely, and supplies are plentiful. Our soldiers are ready for battle and eager to fight, all saying they are willing to serve you and march straight to Yanzhou. I, too, have been looking forward to seeing you soon and expressing my gratitude for your kindness. I am filled with longing and anticipation as I stand here in the wind."

Haha, Zhao Da is truly a lucky charm for the Song family!
I really need to find a good woman when I get back. Zhao Da is still unmarried, so he would be a perfect match for me.

At that time, the Zhao and Song dynasties will truly be one family!
(End of this chapter)