Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 90 The Raid
On the tenth day of the second month of the second year of Qianfu, at the third quarter of the Yin hour.

Ten miles north of Jidongguan, the morning mist lingers, and the air is moist and fresh.

On the dirt road leading to Jidong Pass, Lu Zhongyuan's and Dang Shousu's teams were struggling to move forward on the muddy ground.

They were originally ordered by Zhao Huai'an to lead their troops as the vanguard to raid Jidong Pass, but a sudden downpour last night ruined the night raid.

Lu Zhongyuan and Dang Shousu have just discussed it. No matter when they arrive at Jidong Pass, they will take down a target first.

While Lu Zhongyuan and Dang Shousu were full of confidence, Lu Zhongyuan was inwardly anxious.

Lu Zhongyuan was a native of Dingbian Army, and his former garrison was located between Qiongya, so he was very familiar with the strategic location of Yazhou and knew the importance of Jidong Pass.

It can be said that taking Jidong Pass would directly open the gateway to Yazhou.

But this Chicken Pass is not so easy to obtain.

The area they are currently in is the Mingshan area below Yazhou, which is still relatively flat. However, if they travel another three or four miles to the southwest, they will enter the mountainous region.

Jidong Pass is located among the mountains, with peaks on both sides of the pass reaching heights of thirty or forty zhang (approximately 13-14 meters), accessible only to birds.

Their only chance to take this pass was a surprise attack last night, but who knew such a heavy rain would come. So, in Lu Zhongyuan's mind, even if they reached Jidong Pass, they would just wave their flags and shout to scare the Nanzhao army inside.

Two teams, about a hundred people in total, each carrying their own armor and cloth shoes hanging on both sides, then walking on the muddy dirt road in straw sandals.

On both sides of the dirt road, you can see scattered rice paddies, but unfortunately, because no one takes care of them, they are all trampled into a mess.

At this moment, Lu Zhongyuan and Dang Shousu, like the officers and soldiers below, were marching in straw sandals. It wasn't that straw sandals were more suitable for walking on the muddy road, but rather that they felt sorry for their cloth shoes.

Lu Zhongyuan had made a lot of money in the Dingbian Army before, since the Dingbian Army was known for extorting and embezzling along this trade route. However, Lu Zhongyuan and his troops were defeated by the Nanzhao Army in the Qiongzhou area, and that's when he was captured.

Thus, years of accumulated wealth were squandered in a single move.

Although the governor gave him a lot of reward money after he entered Baoyidu, it was not enough for Lao Lu to spend lavishly. Even the cloth shoes hanging on his backpack made him feel bad walking on the muddy ground.

The advance team of a hundred men from Baoyidu traveled another two or three miles, and by then they could see the outlines of the distant mountains. The mountain mist drifting over from there made everyone feel uneasy.

At this moment, the sky brightened considerably, and the sun was slowly rising from the east, driving away much of the chill.

Looking at the crimson sunrise, Dang Shousu sighed:
"Old Lu, do you think Jidongguan is like a golden rooster crowing at dawn?"

Lu Zhongyuan knew a little about this, and shook his head, saying:

"That makes some sense, but it's said that a deity once lived here."

Dang Shousu pouted and turned to ask Lu Zhongyuan:
"Old Lu, do you think there are immortals in this world? What kind of life do immortals live? How many dishes can they eat in one meal?"

Lu Zhongyuan shrugged:

"How would I know? Everyone says immortals are good, but I still think fame, gold, and beautiful women are better. Old Dang, tell me, which would you choose?"

Dang Shousu did not hesitate:
"Of course I want gold. With money, you can have everything. What's so great about gods?"

Lu Zhongyuan clapped his hands, expressing his strong agreement:
"That makes sense. Let's stop dreaming about living like gods and focus on how to take Jidong Pass. Once we take Jidong Pass, with the magistrate's generosity, what can't we have?"

Dang Shousu chuckled and asked in return:

"There can be Hu women too?"

Lu Zhongyuan spat, ignored the brute, walked to the front of the group, and shouted:

"Cheer up, everyone! We're almost at Jidong Pass. Once we take it, we'll drink and eat meat!"

The officers and soldiers gave a few perfunctory replies, all to give the captain some face.

Lu Zhongyuan didn't care and ordered his flag guards to raise their own team's flag. They would be arriving at Jidong Pass soon, and if they didn't raise their flag, how could his reputation spread?
The flag bearer was a burly man. He took the military flag out of his bundle, tied it to the wooden pole, and raised it.

Meanwhile, Dang Shousu's flag guards also raised their own flags.

And so, the officers and soldiers present saw two military flags raised.

One side was a red flag embroidered with a yellow tiger, which was the flag of Lu Zhongyuan's team; the other side was a blue flag with a yellow border, also embroidered with a yellow tiger, which was the flag of Dang Shousu.

With the flags raised, the morale of both teams noticeably improved, and someone shouted something:
"We eat the magistrate's grain and take the magistrate's money, so we'd better fight hard!"

Everyone agreed.

Upon hearing these words, Lu Zhongyuan and Dang Shousu couldn't help but glance at each other, both noticing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

I never imagined that our lord would be so respected among these soldiers.

As dawn broke and the two groups of men from Bao Yidu were about to enter the mountains, heavy hoofbeats came from ahead.

Lu and Dang were terrified and hurriedly shouted:
"Form a line! Form a line!"

... About seven or eight miles from the vanguard, Bao Yidu's nearly one thousand combat troops advanced, interspersed with a considerable number of porters carrying armor and closely following behind their respective warriors.

Behind the long, winding train was an even larger number of supply wagons, including a large number of craftsmen who would be responsible for building various siege weapons after arriving at Jidong Pass.

Unlike the advance troops who remained silent, the main force of Baoyidu raised all their battle flags, general flags, and command flags. The long, winding line of thousands of people was almost covered by countless flags.

Standing on the donkey cart, Zhao Huai'an watched Bao Yidu striving and working hard, looking full of vitality, and felt invigorated.

This is what a man should do.

On the donkey cart, the secretary Zhang Guinian was deep in thought when he was suddenly jolted and stumbled, bumping into Zhao Huai'an from behind, shattering Zhao's imposing figure.

Zhao Da turned his head, his face contorted in a grimace, and said irritably:

"Old Zhang, you're not young anymore. You need to learn from me and be more mature."

Zhang Guinian nodded hurriedly, worried that Zhao Da's impression of him would worsen, and quickly explained what he had just been thinking about:

"My lord, do you still remember what Sixth Brother mentioned about the Crown Prince of Nanzhao?"

Zhao Huai'an, not understanding, said:

"There's not much to talk about. He's just a cruel and heartless man. There are plenty of people like him."

But Zhang Guinian had a different opinion on this matter. He spread out his palms and analyzed:

"My lord, Zhao Liu said that the Nanzhao crown prince was just sent to Prime Minister Gao when the Nanzhao king replaced him. Do you think this is just a coincidence?"

Zhang Guinian's words struck Zhao Huai'an like a chord, because he suddenly remembered the intelligence that Xianyu Yue had obtained several months ago when he tortured that Tibetan nobleman: there was a traitor from Nanzhao within the Tang army.

Then, Zhao Huai'an suddenly remembered the day he beat Yan Liulang to death. Yan Liulang's reaction was too strange. He insisted on taking the prisoners with him and even wanted to fight Zhao to the death.

Yan Liulang agreed to this matter, which certainly meant he looked down on Zhao Da, but if he didn't have to take those prisoners with him, he wouldn't have needed to get involved at all.

After all, there's a saying: "A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall."

Given the manners of aristocratic scions like Yan Liulang, they would all be Tang tri-color pottery, while Zhao Da, a penniless martial artist, would be ceramic. How could Tang tri-color pottery possibly compete with ceramic?

But Yan Liulang just happened to run into him, which shows that he must know the Longshun mentioned by the captive.

At this moment, Zhao Huai'an's vigilance immediately rose. He was now 100% certain that the Yan family was definitely related to Nanzhao.

The fact that Yan Shihui left Baishushui without a fight further confirmed his identity as an internal traitor.

Zhao Da tapped the carriage with his fingers, wondering whether he should inform Song Jian about this matter.

Given the deep-seated grudge between Lao Song and the Yan family, they certainly wouldn't let this matter go.

This matter needs to be taken seriously. Now that Yan Shihui has joined forces with 6,000 troops from Sichuan and the east, Zhao Da is under a lot of pressure. Fortunately, he has General Yang and Song Jian above him to support him, otherwise Yan Shihui would have already led his troops to fight him.

Sometimes he wondered if Yang Shuai's order for him to rush to Jidongguan was partly intended to let him go out and avoid the limelight.

Thinking of this, Zhao Huai'an hardened his heart. Since he had already become enemies with the Yan family, he would stick to his identity no matter whether the Yan family was an internal traitor or not.

Moreover, he had another trick up his sleeve. Now that Long Shun had sided with them, wouldn't it be irrefutable proof that he was the traitor to Yan Shihui?
But how could we let Long Shun go and accuse Yan Shihui? That old fellow is now living under someone else's roof, and he probably wouldn't dare to provoke Yan Shihui, the military leader.

However, Zhao Da then recalled Long Shun's behavior at the banquet that day. It seemed that this man was trying to win him over. Could he use this as leverage?
Just as Zhao Da continued to ponder, he suddenly heard a muffled sound. He looked ahead with some confusion, which was in the direction of Jidong Pass.

He was about to call Ding Huaiyi of the Tabai team over to ask about the locations of Lu Zhongyuan and Dang Shousu when he suddenly saw Ding Huaiyi and Guo Congyun galloping towards him on horseback.

The two generals were catching horses beside Zhao Huai'an's donkey cart, with Ding Huaiyi reporting first:
"My lord, our vanguard has been attacked. The army and party forces are currently holding their positions and request reinforcements."

But as soon as he finished speaking, Guo Congyun shook his head anxiously:
"My lord, this sound is that of a large cavalry march. We must not attempt to rescue them. If our infantry goes to their aid, we will be doomed if the enemy cavalry charges at us."

Zhao Huai'an was in a daze and was about to speak.

Zhang Guinian, who was standing nearby, suddenly grabbed his hand and shouted:

"My lord, send reinforcements immediately! Our army will surely win!"

After speaking, the man pointed to the muddy dirt road, his meaning left unsaid.

Zhao Huai'an looked left and right, then at the sudden shouts of battle ahead. He abruptly drew his sword and roared at the nearby officers and soldiers who were looking up at him:

"Raise my flag and summon everyone to come here. Go quickly!"

The porters waiting on both sides of the donkey carts greeted the passengers and headed straight for their respective teams, causing even the slightly lazy Bao Yi to suddenly tense up.

When we meet on this narrow path, I am invincible!

(End of this chapter)