Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 88: The Expedition (Seeking first-time subscription support)

The banquet ended, and Zhao Da returned, looking quite exhausted.

It can only be said that this banquet truly opened Zhao's eyes.

On the one hand, the variety of dishes is indeed abundant and diverse. Staple foods include longevity porridge and imperial concubine red soup, while side dishes include stewed calf, soft beef with braised pork belly, shredded sheepskin, eight immortals platter, and many others that I can't even name.

But none of these things opened Zhao Da's eyes. What shocked Zhao Da the most was the last dish.

It is said that this was not originally on Yang Qingfu's menu, but was personally drafted by Gao Pian.

The dish consisted of a male deer being served, and then its flesh was cut in front of all the generals. With each slice, the deer would excrete and urinate, and let out a pitiful scream.

Then those people just took the freshly cut venison and ate it raw.

Gao Pian had each general given a piece of raw venison and a bowl of raw deer blood, and then gestured for the generals to eat and drink in front of him.

You could say that the Tang Dynasty ate a lot of raw meat, but this was the first time that meat had been sliced ​​and butchered in public. It was such a shocking way of eating meat.

Several people from western Sichuan visibly vomited.

But Gao Pian coldly ordered everyone to eat the venison.

At that time, Zhao Huai'an felt lucky because their seats were at the back of the queue, and by the time they were assigned seats in front of them, the deer had already been gutted.

So Zhao Huai'an visibly breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't want to play this obedience test trick.

Indeed, in Zhao Da's view, Gao Pian's disgusting scheme wasn't about getting meat at all, but rather a test of obedience to see which generals dared to disobey him.

While Zhao Da was feeling fortunate, someone ahead of him was expressing regret. That person was Shan Xingzhang, the military instructor of the Sichuan-Western Region.

Zhao Da was seeing this man for the first time, but he was very impressed with him because among the generals who had danced for Gao Pian, he danced the most obsequiously and exaggeratedly.

And now, because he couldn't get raw venison, this man looked like he was going to die, and he was wailing and crying loudly.

Zhao Da could only sigh, this person was truly terrifyingly strong.

It seems the title of "King of Dance of the Tang Dynasty" can only be bestowed upon him.

However, during the banquet, several generals from western Sichuan impressed Zhao Da, preventing him from completely losing hope in the western Sichuan warlords.

One of them was named Ren Kezhi, who was the military commander of the Qiang army in Xishan.

Zhao Da had heard Xian Yuyue introduce this unit before, and knew that they were an elite force even stronger than his old unit, the Lizhou Army. They had previously been stationed in the Minshan area to defend against the Tibetans, and had only recently been ordered by the shogunate to come down the mountain to participate in the counterattack.

So, the military commander Ren Kezhi led his troops to Furen Garrison and also attended the banquet.

This country bumpkin, who had just come out of the mountains, didn't recognize Gao Pian at all. In Ren Kezhi's eyes, what was this old man, who was almost sixty years old, so arrogant about?
At that time, Gao Pian was tasting a jar of Gaochang wine, and jokingly said to Yang Qingfu:
"Why does this wine taste so sorrowful? What sorrow could a girl from Gaochang, who makes wine, possibly have?"

And Ren Kezhi, this burly man, had indeed just come down from the mountain; he dared to directly retort to Gao Pian, saying:

"Whether the girl from Gaochang is sad or not, I do not know. What I do know is that the people of Sichuan are already crying and wailing, and they don't even have time to grieve."

At that time, Zhao Da was also sipping red wine. After hearing what Ren Kezhi said, he was secretly amazed. This brother was really brave.

But for some reason, Gao Pian didn't say anything to that person, and just smiled and let it go.

Besides the incident involving Ren Kezhi, there was another tough guy in western Sichuan, Guo Qi, the commander of the Yellow-Headed Army. His Yellow-Headed Army all wore yellow hats and had always been one of the most elite troops in Sichuan.

When Gao Pian was distributing venison to his generals, he was the only one among them who pushed away his piece and curtly replied to Gao Pian above him:

“Your Excellency, Guo is a Buddhist and cannot eat these things.”

Who would believe that? This person ate just now when we were eating braised beef head.

But strangely enough, Gao Pian didn't say anything and just smiled and moved on.

This stands in stark contrast to the previous practice of killing generals who arrived late.

However, these were the only two tough guys in western Sichuan. It was an incident that happened when the banquet ended that gave Zhao Huai'an a deeper understanding of the true nature of the generals in western Sichuan.

When the banquet ended, Gao Pian boarded his palanquin to return to his camp. Then Shan Xingzhang, along with several other generals from western Sichuan, went up to Gao Pian, bowed, and spoke to him.

Then, as the palanquin set off, these people jogged alongside it until it left Furen Garrison. They bowed deeply to Gao Pian's back, even though Gao Pian could no longer see them.

At that moment, Zhao Huai'an did not see disdain on the faces of the other generals in western Sichuan, but rather eagerness and regret at the prospect of taking their place.

Thus, Zhao Da had no hope left for these people; they were utterly rotten.

However, none of these are the main points. The most important thing at this banquet was what Gao Pian said to everyone present before he left.

At that time, Gao Pian held the hand of Nanzhao Crown Prince Longshun and told all the generals that he would lead his troops to Lizhou to fight the main force of the Nanzhao army there in a final battle. Once victorious, he would lead his troops deep into Nanzhao.

It wasn't about conquering Nanzhao, but about restoring the kingdom for Prince Longshun of Nanzhao!
After this, Nanzhao will once again become the most loyal vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.

At that moment, Zhao Huai'an, like the other generals, was caught off guard by this military operation, and was then deeply impressed by Gao Pian's plan!

Our envoy is truly brilliant!

But only Zhao Huai'an thought of Lizhou, and of the Dadu River, which was littered with the corpses of his comrades.

Four months later, Zhao Da is finally going to lead his brothers back to fight.

Back at the camp, Zhao Da finally slept soundly that night.

...On the eighth day of the second month of the second year of Qianfu, Gao Pian mobilized a large number of troops to defend the frontier.

During this period, as the will of the military governor spread throughout the camps, the troops stationed in various places, both internal and external, successively marched to Furen Garrison.

Zhao Huai'an's own garrison had arrived two days earlier. After learning that they were going to launch a counterattack in the Lizhou area, he led his troops back to Qiongzhou.

Oh, by the way, our Zhao Da got promoted again.

He was promoted from the position of General of Baoyidu to Military Commissioner of the Right Wing of Western Sichuan, concurrently holding the titles of Grand Master of the Palace, Grand Master of the Imperial Academy, and Left Commander of the Army.

Although he was promoted, Zhao Da still led those troops, only the number of troops increased from a thousand to three thousand. Unfortunately, Zhao Da still had to raise the personnel and funds himself.

Hmph, Gao Pian and Yang Shuai are the same, both are incredibly stingy.

Upon returning to the camp in Qiongzhou, Zhao Da first arranged for a dozen or so guards to escort Mao Niang back to Chengdu, where she was settled in the home of his elder brother, Xianyu Yue. Then, he began preparing weapons, fodder, and supplies.

During this process, Dong Gongsu from the rear delivered a large amount of supplies, which greatly relieved Zhao Huai'an's pressure.

Therefore, Zhao Huai'an only needed to order his craftsmen to focus on manufacturing military equipment.

The situation was the same in Baoyi and the inner and outer vassal camps stationed in Qiongzhou. For a time, the prices of firewood, charcoal, and iron in the city soared. All the military leaders were working hard to improve their strength during this window of opportunity in order to prepare for the decisive battle later.

To be fair, although they had various grievances against Gao Pian, no one doubted his military strategy and skill in battle.

This confidence was something that someone like Niu Cong could never have; it was something that Gao Pian earned through thirty years of fighting on the battlefield and the loss of tens of thousands of enemy heads.

As long as they could win battles, the military leaders would receive spoils, and the soldiers below would receive rewards, so Gao Pian's position became increasingly secure.

Because he had made preparations in advance, Zhao Huai'an arrived earlier than other military leaders in Qiongzhou. After setting up camp outside Furen Garrison, he began to let his troops rest.

In the past few days, the massive amounts of mutton and rice have been consumed, and the officials and soldiers of Baoyidu have stored up enough fat and calories to prepare for the upcoming decisive battle.

Meanwhile, nearby battalions also arrived one after another.

After Li Xiang, the Left Commander, and An Zairong, the General of Dingbian Army, were executed for being late, no one dared to disobey Gao Pian's will at this point.

On that day, the people of Fu were stationed outside the city, and all the armies arrived and set up camp in the field.

Among them, Yang Qingfu commanded 2,000 elite troops, 4,000 yamen soldiers, 8,000 soldiers from the various prefectural governors' offices in western Sichuan, 1,000 Huangtou soldiers, 1,000 Xishan Qiang soldiers, and 1,000 Baoyi soldiers.

Then there were the previous outer vassal armies, including Zeng Yuanyu's Boye Army of 3,000 men, Song Jian's Zhongwu Army of 1,000 men, Shannan West Circuit of 2,000 men, Tian Chongyin's Yanhai Army of 1,000 men, and Shi Pu's reformed army of 500 men.

Then came the troops that Gao Pian brought into Shu, including 3,000 Han soldiers from various tribes under his command, 3,000 soldiers from Changwu, 3,000 soldiers from Zhaoyi, 3,000 soldiers from Hedong, and 3,000 soldiers from Fufang.

In the end, no one expected that Yan Shihui from eastern Sichuan would also arrive with 6,000 infantry and cavalry.

For a time, the meadows of Furen Garrison were filled with elite soldiers and brave warriors, their military spirit soaring to the heavens.

……

Two days later, the people of Fuzhou were stationed outside the city, and the sky was clear and cloudless.

Gao Pian, who had been fasting for three days, emerged from his tent, dressed in golden helmet and shining armor, and appeared on the high platform.

At this time, nearly 50,000 Tang soldiers from various tribes and Han regions had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Gao Pian on the high platform, they raised their arms and cheered as previously agreed.

Although it was mostly a formality, the cheers were heartfelt, because just yesterday, Gao Pian had generously rewarded the three armies.

Before the battle even began, each of them pocketed four strings of cash; what a fine military governor!

Gao Pian was a cultured man. He was a descendant of the frontier poet Gao Shi, so he also loved writing poetry. He always wore either scholar's robes or Taoist robes, looking incredibly dashing.

But deep down, he was a warrior, and he understood warriors best.

When he entered Sichuan this time, the Ministry of Revenue issued 100,000 strings of cash for military pay. Gao Pian not only distributed all 100,000 strings of cash to the 50,000 officials and soldiers stationed in Furen Garrison, but he also borrowed another 100,000 strings of cash from wealthy merchants in Chengdu based on his own credit.

With a total of 200,000 strings of cash distributed, who among the soldiers and warriors in western Sichuan still cared whether Gao Pian had killed Li Xiang and An Zairong?

Who are they? I don't know them.

So at this moment, the 50,000-strong army cheered for the military governor on the high platform, their voices shaking the heavens and their spirits soaring to the heavens.

At this moment, Gao Pian spoke on the high platform, but no one below could hear him clearly. However, it didn't matter, as loud-voiced officers and soldiers had already rushed to the front of each army formation to convey Gao Pian's pre-arranged words.

At this moment, in front of the Baoyidu formation, Zhao Da, fully armored and wearing a feathered helmet, stood on his horse, exuding heroic spirit. Behind him were dozens of generals and warriors, forming a magnificent sight.

Hearing the flag-bearing knight shouting at the front;

"You are all brave and valiant warriors, renowned for your courage and prowess that shakes our borders. Now, the southern barbarians have invaded western Sichuan and encroached upon our territory. This is the perfect time to make your name known in history. You can attain high office and wealth for your descendants. Why not strive for it!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Da secretly praised him, then shouted:
"To obtain wealth and honor!"

The officers and soldiers behind him raised their arms and roared:
"To obtain wealth and honor!"

After that, Gao Pian, together with Long Shun, the crown prince of Nanzhao, sacrificed cattle and horses, paid homage to Chiyou, and swore an oath before setting out on the expedition.

Fifty thousand Tang troops marched southwest, heading straight for the two prefectures of Ya and Li.

The final battle has begun.

(End of this chapter)