Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 29 Sending Cloak
Although he was already wary of Song Jian at this moment, Zhao Huaian still had a smile on his face.

He brought two cunning and arrogant guards with him and walked to Song Jian's camp.

Yes, Lu Zhongyuan is cunning and Zhou Dexing is arrogant.

Although Zhou Dexing's words seemed to be spoken on behalf of Zhao Huaian, it can be seen that this person is extremely bold and does not care about power or status at all. He is definitely a strong man.

This kind of person can kill Zeng Yuanyu today and Zhao Da tomorrow.

So Zhao Huaian was very clear-headed. These two guards were not good people. If he really wanted to capture them, he would have to use some tricks.

While thinking about these things, Zhao Huaian had already left the Boye Army camp, and then saw a huge flat land that could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

It was only when he arrived here that Zhao Huaian discovered that there were camps similar to those of the Boye Army in other directions. They were combined with each other and surrounded the flat ground in the middle like the Eight Diagrams.

At this time, the sun rose, and the sunlight shone on the snow-covered open space, making Zhao Huaian dizzy.

Covering his eyes, Zhao Huaian finally adapted to the situation and began to observe the place.

Twelve horse racing tracks have been cleared in this snowy area, directly connected to the camp street in the outer camp. Zhao Huaian and his companions are now walking on the track heading due south.

In front of them, that is, the central army, rows of long spears formed a halberd gate, and soldiers wearing Ming Guang armor stood with swords in their hands, and a huge flag fluttered in the wind.

Bright, this was Zhao Huaian's first impression of the Tang army. Each piece of Ming Guang armor was like a mirror, reflecting the sun's light and illuminating the world.

Zhao Huaian walked on the huge and empty camp street, and for the first time he was shocked in his heart. Military conflict was indeed the most important thing in the world, and being in it only made him feel his own insignificance.

Someone in the watchtower on the Thorny Gate had already seen Zhao Huaian and the other two, and shouted something downstairs. Then a team of armored soldiers hurriedly rushed out from behind the Thorny Gate.

Then, Zhao Huaian looked up and saw a group of armored soldiers running towards him aggressively.

The man in the lead was not wearing armor, but a fu hat and a crimson robe. He held his sword with one hand and the front of his sword with the other. He was serious and ran over in leather boots.

At this moment, Zhao Huaian thought that a Peking Opera martial artist had appeared, clang clang clang!

This man brought his armored soldiers to stop Zhao Huaian, looked him up and down, and scolded him:
"Take it!"

As he spoke, the two guards behind him rushed up and tried to hold Zhao Huaian down.

Zhao Huaian subconsciously knocked the two men to the ground, and then when the crimson-robed military officer was stunned, he grabbed him in his arms.

It happened so fast that not only did the guards fail to react, but Lu Zhongyuan and Zhou Dexing also failed to react.

The two knew that the situation was bad when they saw it, but they still protected Zhao Huaian and confronted those guards.

At this time, the guards were already furious. One of them drew his sword and cursed:
"How dare you! Entering the central army without permission is already a capital offense, yet you even dare to take hostage and resist arrest. I, Wang Jianfei, will cut open your heart and liver to see how audacious you really are."

But the general named Wang Jian said something but did not move at all, which meant he was just talking nonsense.

Zhao Huaian had figured it out by now and quickly explained:

"I'm looking for Envoy Song. Here is his talisman."

Wang Jian hesitated after hearing this, and subconsciously glanced at the crimson military officer who was being held by Zhao Huaian, with a conflict in his heart.

At this time, the crimson officer saw Wang Jian's hesitation and shouted:
"Catch him, you bastard! You know the consequences."

Being called a thief bastard, Wang Jian was obviously a little angry, but before he could say anything, Zhao Huaian kicked him in the knee.

At this moment, Zhao Huaian locked the officer's neck with his hands, glared at the surrounding guards, and shouted:

"You bastard, you dare to play with me, aren't you afraid of being blamed by Envoy Song?"

He already felt something was wrong. This crimson robe was coming towards him. Had he offended someone?

When Zhao Huaian shouted this, all the guards fell silent.

Especially Wang Jian, who looked at the man in the crimson robe with a fierce look in his eyes. He had already realized that he was being used as a knife, but at this time he still stood up and clasped his fists towards Zhao Huaian and said:

"Let me see the talisman first."

Zhao Huaian nodded, and Lu Zhongyuan hurriedly handed the talisman over. After checking it, he found that it was correct, and then he smiled:

"So it's Zhao Da. I was wondering how he could be so heroic. I heard from Li Si that Envoy Song had met a hero before. I was thinking of meeting him, but I didn't expect to meet him now."

As he spoke, Wang Jian pretended to scold the guards around him:

"Why are you all standing there? It's all a misunderstanding. Why don't you pull Zhang Yamen back?"

The guards hurriedly smiled and prepared to pull the officer in the crimson robe back, but Zhao Huaian pulled him back and looked at them with a frown:
"Is Li Si the Li Shitai?"

Wang Jian was a little embarrassed and didn't dare to care about this matter anymore. While he was hesitating, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Li Shitai coming with a group of people.

Only then did Wang Jian let out a long sigh and stood aside with a group of guards.

Li Shitai came running all the way here. The guards at Jimen reported to him directly that something was wrong and Yan Liulang would actually lead troops to arrest people.

Yan Liulang is the man in the crimson robe.

At this moment, Li Shitai arrived and saw that it was indeed Zhao Huaian, so he ran over. But when he got closer, he found that Yan Liulang was captured by Zhao Huaian like a chicken, and he laughed out loud.

Li Shitai's expression was solemn. He first said to Wang Jian:
"Old Eight, Envoy Song ordered me to come and fetch Mr. Zhao. You can go back now."

Wang Jian nodded, clasped his fists to a few people, and then went back with the guards. As for Yan Liulang, they didn't even look at him.

Zhao Huaian was full of doubts at this time, but looking at Li Shitai's expression, he knew that this was not the time to talk. He glanced at the crimson robe in his hand and knocked him unconscious with a punch.

Afterwards, Zhao Huaian left the man in the snow, and then took Lu Zhongyuan and Zhou Dexing and followed Li Shitai into the camp, with no obstructions along the way.

After Zhao Huaian left, another group of people rushed out of Jimen. They hurriedly carried Yan Liulang on the snow and ran eastward. There was a camp with countless flags with the word "Yan" hanging on them.

……

On the way, Li Shitai hurriedly asked Zhao Huaian why he came. When he learned that he wanted to change the defense zone, he slapped his thigh and said:
"Zhao Da, you've delayed things. You really shouldn't have come straight into the camp. It's just a small matter. When Xianyu Erlang comes to find you, you can just tell him about it."

He glanced up and down at Zhao Huaian again, then saw that the two followers behind him were also empty-handed, and laughed:
"Zhao Da, you're such a coward! You came here empty-handed to ask the envoy for a favor! You deserve it for not being able to make it in the Lizhou Army with your skills."

Zhao Huaian didn't have time to chat with Li Shitai, so he directly urged him to tell him the details of the matter.

Originally, Li Shitai didn't want to say this, but since things had come to this, he just told everything he knew.

He told Zhao Huaian that the man who made things difficult for him was Yan Liulang, a relative of Yan Qingfu, the governor of East Sichuan.

The Yan family and Envoy Song have a deep feud.

Four years ago, when Yan Qingfu, the governor of East Sichuan, came to rescue Chengdu, he was jealous of Song Wei's achievements and directly seized Song Wei's troops, thus forming a great feud between them.

So when Zhao Huaian entered the camp and showed the talisman given by Song Jian, someone quickly ran to Yan Liulang, which led to the scene where Yan Liulang led people to capture him.

Li Shitai told Zhao Huaian that it was fortunate that he had captured Yan Liulang first, otherwise if he had fallen into this man's hands, even if Envoy Song went to rescue him, Zhao Da's life would have been lost long ago.

On the way, Zhao Huaian had a dark face. After listening to Li Shitai, he asked:
"I'm just a nobody. What does Yan Liulang want with me? And our Song Shijun has a grudge against the Yan family, doesn't he?"

Li Shitai was stunned for a moment, then saw Song Jian's tent in front of him. He looked around and finally pulled Zhao Huaian aside and whispered in his ear:

"In early October, the Song envoy led his troops across the river to fight against the Nanzhao troops. Yan Shihui, the commander of the Dongchuan troops, fled with his troops, betraying the envoy on the other side. Think about it for yourself."

After saying this, Li Shitai was still worried and added:
"If you hadn't finished teaching me Tang Shou, I wouldn't dare tell you this."

Zhao Huaian understood everything at this moment.

Damn it, our old Zhao is involved in the military struggle, and he is just a small pawn, how can he be worthy of it.

Although he felt bitter in his heart, Zhao Huaian still looked calm and said:
"What a big deal! By the way, Wang Jian is someone you know."

Li Shitai didn't expect Zhao Daxin to be so careless and ask Wang Jian, but he still said:

"He's also from our Zhongwu Army. He's from Xuzhou. He used to be a butcher and smuggled salt, but he couldn't make it anymore and joined the army. Because he's the eighth child in his family, he's also nicknamed 'Thief Turtle,' but he doesn't like hearing that."

Zhao Huaian didn't expect that Wang Jian had such a rich resume. He patted Li Shitai and said:
"I invited him to come drink with me later, so I have to thank him."

Li Shitai was convinced and was still thinking about these things at this moment, but he had to drink the wine. Only Zhao Da and the others were outside the camp gate and could drink. They were in the main camp and the military law was very strict.

He pushed Zhao Huaian to the big tent and shouted inside:
"Envoy, I've brought Zhao Da here."

Then Song Jian's voice was heard immediately:
"come in."

Li Shitai patted Zhao Huaian and motioned him to go in.

But Zhao Huaian took out a piece of pure fox skin from his robe, glanced at Li Shitai, and then went in respectfully.

Li Shitai behind him was gritting his teeth. Before, he was afraid that Zhao Da would suffer, but now he was worried that he would progress too quickly and would have to sit in the seat of honor when drinking in the future.

This Zhao Da is really damnable. He is playing tricks on Li Shitai.

……

Li Shitai, Lu Zhongyuan and Zhou Dexing had not been outside the tent for long when they saw Zhao Huaian come out again. This time, he was wearing a sable fur cloak, which looked very expensive.

Li Shitai immediately recognized the mink coat as Song Jian's, and immediately felt as jealous as aged vinegar:
"Zhao Da, Envoy Song even gave you this cloak. You really, really..."

As he said that, Li Shitai was about to touch it, but Zhao Huaian knocked his hand away.

Zhao Huaian hummed:

"Don't you even look at who our Zhao Da is?"

But at this moment, Zhao Huaian was also feeling:
"Old Song, Old Song, you're making it very difficult for me. You gave me the car, you gave me the person, and now you're giving me the mink. You're really trying to make me your dog!"

Zhao Huaian, who was full of thoughts, was led out of the camp by Li Shitai.

Outside the camp, Zhao Huaian and Li Shitai waved goodbye, then looked at the camp full of military spirit, shook their heads, and went back.

(End of this chapter)