Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 77 Only the Way
Zhao Da's mood wasn't very good on the way to the Tujiang camp, and it got even worse after he arrived at the Tujiang camp in Chengdu.

It turned out that a fence had been erected next to the general's camp, and it was filled with all sorts of Nanzhao prisoners and slaves.

Some of the general's henchmen, brandishing knives and carrying guns, stood menacingly by the fence, occasionally barking and making the prisoners inside tremble in fear before laughing even more heartily.

The prisoners and slaves were kept inside, and the stench was pervasive even without the wind blowing through.

These people were like a herd of livestock kept in a fence. When they saw Zhao Da and his group of armored soldiers coming, they shrank back in fear and trembled.

Zhao Da continued walking when suddenly Niu Li, standing beside him, carefully tugged at his sleeve, saying with a hint of pity:

"Will they all die?"

Zhao Huai'an looked over and knew that Niu Li was reminded of something by this scene. After all, a few months ago, he was just like these people, a two-legged beast in the Tibetan enclosure.

Zhao Da patted Niu Li's head and shook his head:
"Who is immortal? These people are just leaving sooner. In this world, it's not necessarily a bad thing for them to be free from suffering sooner."

Niu Li fell silent and did not speak again.

So Zhao Da led his men into the camp, and the one guarding the camp was none other than Lü Silang, the red-turbaned military officer who had previously accepted bribes from Zhao Da.

Lü Silang naturally recognized Zhao Da and knew that it was Zhao Huai'an who had saved their general, so he abandoned his previous arrogance and rushed over obsequiously.

Just as Zhao Da was about to greet them, a voice suddenly came from inside the fence:
"General, please save me! I am of use and should not die here."

Zhao Da turned his head to look and saw a disheveled man who had just said those words being severely beaten with sticks by the servants beside him.

The man was covered in blood from being hit, but he was still unwilling to give up. His will to survive surged, and he shouted at Zhao Huai'an:
"General, please save me! I will serve you as a servant for nine generations, even in death, and I will be a ghost in your household, serving you by your side."

Zhao Huai'an finally got a good look at the man. Although he was slovenly, he was tall and imposing, unlike an ordinary person.

He glanced at Lü Silang rushing towards him, then at the man who had spoken at this particular moment, and a thought struck him. Suddenly, he asked:
"Are you from Qiongzhou?"

The man clutched his forehead, enduring the pain, and cried out:
"General, I am indeed from Qiongzhou, and I was wrongly arrested."

Zhao Da nodded silently, recognizing the man as intelligent, but before he could ask another question, the servant beside him, revealing a set of broken, yellow teeth, bowed obsequiously and smiled:

"This man is very eloquent. Young master, don't be fooled by him. This man is a bandit from Nanzhao."

Zhao Da stroked his beard and remained silent.

Then, dressed in armor and looking like a wild boar, Sun Tai walked over, grabbed Cangtou by the neck, and cursed:
"You mean my family is all wrong?"

With Sun Tai gripping his neck, the old man's face turned pale. He looked pleadingly at Lü Silang not far away, but seeing that the man wouldn't even look at him, he could only shake his head frantically.

Sun Tai shoved the servant aside, then walked to the fence and patted it hard.
"Anyone who thinks my family members are wrong, please stand up."

At that moment, no one dared to answer; they all shrank back.

And you, servant, just accept whatever the young master says. How dare you question or contradict him? If you want to die, why drag everyone else down with you?

At this moment, Lü Silang approached obsequiously:

“General Zhao, this place is filthy. Come with me into the camp. We will be overjoyed to see you here.”

But Zhao Da merely smiled at Lü Silang, then turned to the slave who had cried for help and asked:

Can you read?

The slave's tears flowed instantly, and he knelt down and kowtowed to Zhao Huai'an:
"General, I am He Weidao, a scholar from Qiongzhou, who has studied the Spring and Autumn Annals. I thank you for saving my life."

This man was quick-witted; before Zhao Da even offered to save him, he had already expressed his gratitude.

But Zhao Huai'an didn't mind. He nodded, then suddenly shouted again into the fence:
"Can anyone still read?"

At this point, both the clever and the not-so-clever began kowtowing to Zhao Da, shouting in unison:

"I know, I know."

Only then did Zhao Da smile at Lü Silang, whose face had darkened.
"Si Lang, look at the mess this has made. My camp is newly established and needs people who can read and write. I didn't expect you to have so many talented people here. Even the prisoners you've captured are a bunch of literate people. Here's what I'll do: I'll take all of them. You tell my brother that Zhao Da has come to ask for a favor."

What could Lü Silang possibly say at this point?
He didn't even need to report it; he knew his family would definitely agree wholeheartedly.

It's a pity about these people. Many of them were indeed literate and were originally intended to be sold to traveling merchants, who had a strong demand for such talent.

Forget it, since everyone's going to agree anyway, why should Lü Silang play the villain?

So he could only force a smile and say:

"The fact that these people can serve under General Zhao is truly a blessing earned through countless lifetimes of good deeds."

And so he watched as Zhao Da and his men led away the dozens of slaves from the fence.

Just as he was about to lead Zhao Da into the camp, he suddenly saw Zhao Huai'an wave his hand and say to him:
"No, my elder brother must not have rested well yet. Let him rest some more. I will come again the next day."

After saying that, Zhao Huai'an left with He Weidao and dozens of other slaves.

Lu Silang was left standing there bewildered. The thought of being scolded by Du Quan again almost made him cry.

No, Zhao Dudu, don't leave again. It's just two pieces of gold I took from you.
As for that? As for that?
……

Two days later, in Qiongzhou City, the East Market was bustling with people, filled with the sounds of hawking and shouting, as well as cries and wails.

The looting on the day the city fell was over, and now was the time to cash in on the wealth.

Because of Yang Qingfu's laissez-faire attitude, Qiongzhou City was devastated. Apart from the wealthy and powerful who had fled Chengdu at the earliest, the people who remained in the city were all plundered by the troops from both the inner and outer vassal states who poured into the city.

Not only were their assets taken, but they themselves were also captured and enslaved. Some people might ask, since the vassal army recaptured Qiongzhou, how did the people of Qiongzhou, who were not Nanzhao people, become prisoners?
You say you're from the Tang Dynasty? If you say so, then you are! Our people say you're from the Nanzhao Kingdom, then you are from the Nanzhao Kingdom!

You're not convinced? Then I think you want to eat Ye Ye's stick.

Thus, in just two days, this important town in western Sichuan was completely destroyed by two rounds of looting by the Nanzhao people and the local military forces.

The people of Qiongzhou are suffering, but our local military officers and soldiers are making a fortune.

It can be said that with this battle of Qiongzhou City, these soldiers from the warlord regions not only swept away the frustration of their previous rout, but also made a huge profit.

So large merchant groups from Chengdu came to investigate and set up a makeshift market in the East Market outside the city to trade the spoils.

They sell goods, mules, horses, and even people; whatever they rob, they pack up and sell here.

Qiongzhou City was a city with a population of over 10,000 households. Although some of them were plundered by the Nanzhao people and sent back to Nanzhao, there were still nearly 20,000 people. Apart from some who managed to escape in time, most of them were captured and enslaved and sold here.

Because so many were sold at once, the price even dropped to as low as five or six hundred coins, enough to buy a perfectly healthy person.

Even so, these soldiers from the vassal states still made a profit, because they also contributed a large amount of spoils from the Nanzhao army. These were supplies that the Nanzhao people had plundered from nearby counties, which they planned to transport to Qiongzhou first, and then transfer to other areas.

Now, because the Tang army's counter-offensive came so suddenly, these supplies were all trapped in the city and ended up in the hands of the Tang army.

As a result, more and more business groups, sensing the opportunity, flocked to Qiongzhou and frantically bought up properties at rock-bottom prices.

What a feast of wealth!

……

Zhao Liu, along with Niu Li, He Wenqin, and several skilled men from the supply battalion, were struggling to navigate through the market.

There are simply too many people.

Because the markets were formed spontaneously by soldiers and merchant groups, there was no planning or management. Everywhere was crowded with people, and everyone was arguing loudly and haggling over prices.

In just a short while, Zhao Liu's head began to throb from the noise. He struggled to push aside a merchant in front of him and finally squeezed his way out of the crowd.

The merchant was about to curse when he was pushed aside, but then he saw a group of burly men standing next to Zhao Liu and quickly shrank back.

Zhao Liu found a stall where several soldiers were selling warhorses. He quickly went over and struck up a conversation:

"Hey bro, this looks familiar, which movie is it from?"

One of the soldiers, a man with a scar on his face, glanced at Zhao Liu, then at the several Baoyidu warriors behind him, and sneered:

"Buy it or don't talk nonsense."

Zhao Liu, being flexible and adaptable, didn't feel offended and actually went to look at those warhorses, but he couldn't figure it out either. He could only say to He Wenqin behind him:

"Xiao He, come and take a look, is this a warhorse?"

He Wenqin had been riding horses since childhood and was very familiar with them. He hurried over and tried to touch them, but was scolded by the soldiers there.
"Look if you want, but don't touch it. If you touch it, you have to buy it."

He Wenqin was enraged. He had also grown up in a mountain hut, and his banditry was no less than that of these thugs. He retorted directly:
"Fine, I'll touch you, okay?"

After saying that, He Wenqin didn't touch the horse, but instead touched the soldier.

Seeing He Wenqin standing there like a little firecracker, Zhao Liu quickly pulled him back, then turned to the soldier and said:
"Brother, we're in the business of honest business. If you want to do business with us, then do it; if not, why offend us? Do you even know which department we belong to?"

Seeing Zhao Liu's posture, the men exchanged glances, their eyes flickered, and then a slightly shorter but muscular man stepped forward and whispered:

"Which series are you referring to, sir?"

Zhao Liu puffed out his belly and proudly replied:

"How about it, Bao Yidu? Will this deal go through?"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the several warlord warriors opposite them changed, and the short, stocky man immediately burst into laughter:

"Very good, very good, you are indeed heroes of Baoyidu. Alright, the warhorses are all yours. You don't need to check them anymore. Four of these six are warhorses, and the remaining two are not good enough. We will sell them to you."

As he spoke, the man ordered his attendants to fetch four warhorses, and said with a smile:

"These four are all top-quality Tibetan warhorses, which we seized from the stables of the Nanzhao army. In a way, we owe you a favor, Bao Yidu, otherwise we wouldn't be able to make our fortune in Qiongzhou. So we won't play games with you. Here's the deal: ten strings of cash per horse."

Zhao Liu knew the value of these four warhorses; if they were sold normally, they would be worth at least twenty strings of cash each. He considered himself lucky to have gotten them.

So, without haggling, he pulled out four money deeds from Daci Temple from his sleeve, counted out fifty strings of cash, handed them to the short, stocky man, and laughed:
“Brother, you’re so generous. I, Zhao Liu, am not stingy either. Here’s fifty strings of cash, and I’ll take your two nag horses too.”

The short, stocky man laughed, gave a thumbs-up, and then accepted the fifty strings of cash. There were exactly five of them in the group, so they split it equally.

This is still the best way to do business. They only stayed in the market for a short time, but they made half a year's worth of money.

As a result, the short, stocky man grew even more fond of Zhao Liu, and added a special remark:
"We can get a few good horses, brother, would you like some?"

But Zhao Liu opened his palm, meaning he would take as many as he wanted.

And so, the two exchanged their warhorses, each happy in their own way. As they parted, Zhao Liu asked the short, stocky man his name. He learned that the man was named Liu Xin and belonged to the Yanzhou Navy. No wonder he respected Bao Yi so much.

So Zhao Liu invited Liu Xin and the others over for drinks, and then planned to go to other places to explore. Finding bargains was indeed addictive.

But just then, a hawking sound suddenly came from the stalls to the south, which sounded like they were selling prisoners. Zhao Liu had nothing better to do, so he told He Wenqin and the others to lead the horses back to camp while he went inside.

(End of this chapter)