Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 86 Actor
Seeing so many fierce-looking soldiers staring at him, Zhao Huai'an forced a smile, then stood up from his seat and bowed to Gao Pian above him:

“Reporting to the Prime Minister, none of the brothers in my army have ever eaten beef before. I tried a piece and found it delicious, so I plan to take it back for them to try as well.”

Upon hearing this, the generals of western Sichuan burst into laughter, while the generals on Gao Pian's side were all surprised and then fell silent.

At the head of the table, Yang Qingfu glanced at the generals from western Sichuan who were laughing hysterically, then looked at the serious expressions of Gao Pian's men opposite him, and cursed inwardly:
"A bunch of good-for-nothings, not worth considering."

If he hadn't known these people were utterly useless, he wouldn't have so decisively pledged allegiance to Gao Pian. These people were as cruel as tigers to the people and as cowardly as mice to the enemy. Yang Qingfu wasn't that foolish to expect them to replace him and take the throne.

On the contrary, Zhao Da is a really good person.

Alas, what a pity.

What's a pity?
Sure enough, the next moment, Yang Qingfu's fears came true.

After hearing Zhao Da's words, Gao Pian, who was at the head of the table, was clearly stunned and lost in some kind of memory. He quickly came to his senses, waved to Zhao Da, and gestured for him to come forward.

Zhao Huai'an wiped the oil off his lips with a handkerchief, then stepped forward and walked briskly to Gao Pian.

It was only when they got this close that Zhao Huai'an could clearly see Gao Pian's appearance.

The military governor was sitting cross-legged, his body as straight as a pine tree. Although he was wearing a Taoist robe, his imposing military bearing was still impossible to conceal.

The old martial artist placed his hands on his upper thighs, elbows out, and leaned slightly forward while staring at Zhao Da, a stark contrast to Long Shun who was always smiling beside him.

For some reason, when Zhao Da saw Gao Pian and Long Shun, it was as if he saw a crouching tiger and a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

When Zhao Da saw Gao Pian's eyes meet his, he quickly bowed.

At this moment, Gao Pian spoke, his voice booming like a bell, a stark contrast to his previous soft tone. He smiled at a young warrior present and said:
“Bo Tao, more than twenty years ago, when I was still a Sima under your uncle, a similar scene occurred. At that time, I shot down two eagles with one arrow, and since none of my colleagues had ever eaten roasted eagle meat, I shared it with everyone on the spot. This moment is just like that moment.”

Zhao Huai'an had no emotional intelligence, so he quickly bent down and added:
"The envoy shot down two birds with one arrow and shared the food with his brothers. That was a magnificent and heroic act that would go down in history. But we, Zhao Da, only benefited from the envoy and General Yang's favor and got a few slices of beef to share with our brothers. It's not even comparable; it's like comparing heaven and earth."

After Zhao Da finished speaking, Gao Pian laughed heartily, and then looked at Zhao Huai'an in front of him.

This person was indeed outstanding during this period, especially among the timid Shu generals.

First, he guarded Jinma Village outside Shuangliu, then he broke through Qiongzhou City, and finally, by sheer luck, he captured Longshun, the crown prince of Nanzhao.

Zhao Da had no idea that it was his capture of Long Shun that brought about a huge change in the entire Nanzhao War.

Previously, the imperial court's strategy was to drive the Nanzhao Kingdom out of Xichuan, with the Dadu River serving as the boundary between the two sides.

But deep down, Gao Pian was unwilling.

He was a man who wanted to accomplish everything he set out to do. Whether it was fighting the Tanguts in Changwu, the Tibetans in Qinzhou, or the rebels in Annam, he believed in "eliminating evil completely."

Therefore, Gao Pian submitted a memorial at the beginning, hoping to gather 80,000 troops from various powerful vassal states. With the treasury full and no war in the surrounding areas, he could wipe out the century-old border troubles of Nanzhao in one fell swoop.

When he was in Ping'an South, he had captured several Nanzhao court officials and generals, so he was quite clear about the current state of Nanzhao.

At this time, the power of Nanzhao had long since declined, and its national strength had fallen into the hands of the Duan and Zheng families. Fortunately, the current ruler, You Shilong, was a capable ruler who was able to suppress powerful ministers and launch military campaigns against foreign powers even as a young man.

Unfortunately, the army suffered repeated defeats and wasted national resources.

Gao Pian's spies in Nanzhao also reported that there were 800 large temples and 3,000 small temples in Nanzhao, with monks all over the country. How could Nanzhao, which was so small, withstand such a drain on its national strength?
That's why Gao Pian had the idea of ​​raising an army of 80,000 to wipe out Nanzhao in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, the imperial court rejected Gao Pian's memorial.

Normally, the rejection would have been fine, but the reason given to Gao Pian by his superiors was so infuriating that he couldn't help but say that bandits had emerged in the Central Plains and that troops needed to be gathered to suppress them, so there were no troops available to allocate.

It's hilarious! Five years ago, when the Pang Xun Rebellion was in such a mess, didn't a large number of troops still have to be dispatched to Shu to provide relief? How can those mere bandits be compared to the Pang Xun Rebellion back then?

Despite his anger, Gao Pian knew that without the imperial court's reinforcements, it would be extremely difficult for him and the Sichuan vassal state to conquer Nanzhao.

But now things are much better. He has the card of Prince Longshun of Nanzhao in his hand, which gives him many more options.

Thinking of this, Gao Pian couldn't help but look at Zhao Dashun in a better light; this man could be considered one of his lucky generals.

As for whether this person would become estranged from him because of Huang Jingfu, he believed that Zhao Da was a pragmatic person.

Of course, if he doesn't know, so what? He's just a mere warrior anyway.

Thinking of this, Gao Pian suddenly asked Zhao Huai'an:
"Zhao Da, are you skilled in archery?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huai'an looked rather embarrassed, but still calmly replied:
"I am able to draw a bow with a draw weight of three stones and shoot a target fifty paces away."

Gao Pian was slightly surprised and exclaimed in admiration:

"Good, good, good, brave warrior."

He didn't let Zhao Huai'an test fire on the spot, but instead asked another question:
"Aren't you a native of western Sichuan?"

As soon as he said this, Zhao Huai'an clearly felt that Yang Qingfu, Song Jian, and Xianyu Yue next to him were all looking at him.

He could sense the complex meaning behind Gao Pian's question, and without any hesitation, he replied to Gao Pian:
“Reporting to the Envoy, I am from Shouzhou. I was just a wanderer from the countryside. By chance, I came to Xichuan and was fortunate enough to participate in this war in Nanzhao. Through all sorts of people and events, even if I am dull-witted, I have come to understand a certain principle.”

Although Gao Pian was fifty years old, he was very well-maintained. His carefully trimmed beard was thick and black, but his eyebrows and sideburns were drawn on and blackened.

He stroked his beard, looking quite interested:
"Oh, then tell me your reasoning."

Zhao Huai'an then turned around, facing the nearly one hundred soldiers and officers behind the curtain, and said loudly:

"I used to wonder why the tiny Nanzhao Kingdom dared to repeatedly invade our Great Tang Dynasty. Later, I realized that if our Tang territory, regardless of north or south, young or old, could be united as one to resist foreign aggression, would those Turks, Khitans, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Nanzhao Kingdoms still dare to invade us?"

After Zhao Da finished speaking, most of the military officers looked grim, but a few seemed to agree with him.

But at this moment, Gao Pian, who had just been kind and smiling, turned grim after hearing these words.

He glanced at Yang Qingfu sitting below him and said coldly to Zhao Huai'an: "How dare you speak so arrogantly! How dare you interfere in matters of state? I thought you were clever and was about to promote you, but forget it, go down."

Zhao Huai'an could hear people behind him muttering that he was a fool for wasting this opportunity, but he had no regrets. He bowed to Gao Pian and was about to retreat.

Just then, Long Shun, who had been silent all along, spoke up. He got off the stool, grabbed Zhao Da, and laughed:
“General Zhao, I am grateful for your kindness. Now that I have no money, I will give you this jade bracelet as a token of my appreciation.”

As he spoke, Long Shun took off the jade bracelet from his arm and handed it to Zhao Huai'an.

Zhao Huai'an was still a bit confused. He glanced at Long Shun and thought to himself that this man was quite talented. He had just used Nanzhao as an example, and this man even gave him a bracelet. It was really strange.

However, he didn't think about it anymore. He took the bracelet, nodded to Gao Pian again, and returned to his seat.

Over there, Gao Pian watched as the eight-foot-tall Zhao Da sat back down, snorted, and said nothing more.

He's still a young man.

……

After sitting down, Zhao Huai'an continued drinking, feeling satisfied with his handling of the situation.

The question Gao Pian asked himself was actually unimportant, because as long as he didn't immediately distance himself from Xi Chuan, he wouldn't be satisfied.

But how could Zhao Huai'an make such a severance?

Oh, so when Gao Pian arrives, you declare that you're not from the Xichuan faction. What will your colleagues, subordinates, and superiors think? What about Zhao Da's reputation? Won't Hu Baoyi be seen as a sycophant?

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an certainly couldn't say that; he needed to demonstrate his background in western Sichuan to the generals present.

However, his response to Gao Pian was quite deliberate.

If it weren't Gao Pian sitting here today, Zhao Huai'an's words would be utter nonsense.

Who are you, Zhao Da? And you're pretending to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic? That's how all the regional warlords have been established for over a hundred years; who gives you the right to criticize?
And to be honest, if Gao Pian hadn't been sitting here today, Zhao Huai'an wouldn't have said those words, because he wasn't the kind of person who would spout nonsense.

The idea that there's no distinction between north and south, or between young and old, is pure nonsense. The reality is that there are distinctions between north and south, and between young and old.

You want to send the elderly and children to the battlefield just like you, a strong adult? That's just sending them to their deaths! So the person who first said that must not be a decent person.

But when Gao Pian sat before him, everything changed.

This was something Zhao Huai'an deduced from Gao Pian's official records after requesting them from Xianyu Yue, based on Gao Pian's promotions over the years.

A person's resume actually contains a lot of information; it just depends on whether you are a thoughtful person. Zhao Huai'an is precisely that thoughtful person.

In Gao Pian's resume, Zhao Huai'an continuously profiled Gao Pian, speculating on his personality.

One important event caught Zhao Huai'an's attention: he discovered that more than 20 years ago, when Gao Pian was still the governor of Qin Prefecture, he recovered the two prefectures of He and Long, which led to Qin Prefecture being upgraded to the Tianxiong Army Commandery.

However, the first military governor of Tianxiong Army was not Gao Pian, but a Shence general named Wang Yanshi, which is very unreasonable.

Despite having made great contributions, Gao Pian was directly transferred to Annam to be in charge of suppressing the rebellion. Moreover, during the process, he was repeatedly suppressed by the military supervisor at the time, and even his merits were stripped away.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an quickly realized that Gao Pian must have offended the eunuch faction, and it was very likely the Yang family, who had been entrenched in the Shence system for generations.

Previously, Zhao Huai'an had obtained a lot of information about the imperial court from Dong Gongsu, and knew that the Yang family had recently lost in the power struggle, and the current rising star was the new nobleman Tian Lingzi.

Tian Lingzi was from Shu (Sichuan), and Gao Pian was able to become the military governor of western Sichuan at this time, so the two sides were likely allies.

Later, Zhao Huai'an's conjecture was verified by Xianyu Yue, who found that it was indeed Tian Lingzi who recommended Gao Pian to go to Shu.

Then, today Zhao Huai'an specifically looked for Zhou Congyu, the military supervisor from Xichuan, in the crowd, and sure enough, he found that the man was not present.

Zhou Congyu was a member of the Yang family, which indirectly proves Zhao Huai'an's speculation.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an could easily discern Gao Pian's inner thoughts at this moment.

This firefighter who fought for the Tang Dynasty for thirty years, although now the victor in the factional struggle due to his alliance with Tian Lingzi, has naturally begun to suppress the opposing faction.

But deep down, this person must have abhorred factional infighting and self-serving schemes.

Zhao Daneng could tell that this was a man who wanted to get things done.

Of course, it doesn't matter if Zhao Huai'an misjudged Gao Pian, because he has already won three times so far.

This not only made his old leaders, such as Song Jian and Yang Qingfu, understand that Zhao Da was not the kind of person who forgot his roots, but also labeled himself as a person with a public-spirited heart. Naturally, such heroes with a public-spirited heart would have a good impression of him, Zhao Da.

Of course, the downsides are the same: sophisticated egoists will dislike Zhao Da even more, thinking he's a greenhorn.

However, this is also what Zhao Da wants now.

What truly won was that Zhao Dayong maintained a relatively neutral relationship with Gao Pian through this method.

Because of his relationship with Gao Pian and Yang Qingfu, he couldn't get too close to Gao Pian, but he still used these words to get close to Gao Pian's heart and make him realize his own uniqueness.

Hehe, these thoughts only linger in Zhao Da's mind. If they were to be spoken out, who would still call us old Zhao a country bumpkin?

Forget it, these thoughts don't fit my image as Lord Zhao, so I can't show off in front of others.

Let's drink, let's drink.

My show, Zhao Da's, is over. Let's see what the big shots have to do next. He believes that all this fuss is just for a simple drink.

Sure enough, after drinking and getting quite drunk, Gao Pian finally revealed the most important matter, which shocked and uproared the generals.

(End of this chapter)