Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 35: Tutuan
At this moment, seeing Lao Yue smiling like a fox, Zhao Huaian felt even more bitter and self-loathing:
"Why else? Isn't it because we are insignificant? Does Governor Huang look down on us?"

Xian Yuyue smiled and shook his head:
"Second brother, Huang Jingfu defeated his army in one battle, and when he returned to Qiongzhou, he was left with only four guards. Although yours is also a ragtag group, it is at least a hundred men, fully armed and well-equipped. How can you look down on them?"

"Let me tell you, Governor Huang has already been captured by the military supervisor, Mr. Zhou. This time, his life is in danger. So if you want to return to the Lizhou Army, I'm afraid you will have to accompany Governor Huang."

Zhao Huaian was dumbfounded. Are the methods of leadership so shady?
Lao Liu told him that their General Huang was a really good man. Not only was he kind to their fellow villagers, he also did not exploit the local people in Lizhou, otherwise the military salaries would not have been withheld.

Moreover, in terms of battle, Huang Jingfu fought well. He used an army of a thousand men to snipe tens of thousands of Nanzhao troops for more than ten days and even defeated the enemy once. Although his army was defeated in the end, it was because the reinforcements from Xichuan did not arrive.

Zhao Huaian felt that no one could do better than Huang Jingfu, but he was going to be taken down like this?
Lao Liu still loves his own Lao Shuai very much. He has been talking about going back recently. If he knew that Lao Shuai has been arrested now, I'm afraid he would complain again.

Huang Shuai is an old leader of our Zhaoda. When he heard that he was taken down like this, he felt very complicated.

Oh, the army is dangerous.

But who is this military inspector that Lao Yue is talking about?

Zhao Huaian has an advantage, that is, he is very perceptive and can always find the key points of the conversation. The military inspector that Lao Yue just mentioned is someone Zhao Huaian has never heard of, so he asked Lao Yue who this so-called Mr. Zhou is?

When Xianyu Yue was asked this, he was quite hesitant. He asked Zhao Liu, who had been guarding outside the tent, to move five steps away to prevent others from hearing the conversation.

Then he talked to Zhao Huaian about some deeper things that were closer to the center of power, which he rarely talked about on his own initiative.

Xianyu Yue told Zhao Huaian that the power of the entire western Sichuan vassal state was actually divided into three centers, namely the Jiedushi Niu Cong, the military inspector Zhou Congyu, and the eastern Sichuan general Yan Shihui.

Zhao Huaian had heard the name Yan Shihui from Li Shitai and knew that this was the man who betrayed Envoy Song. But now he didn't expect that he was one of the three giants.

While Zhao Huaian was thinking about this, Xian Yuyue continued to talk about the situation of these three people.

The Jiedushi Niu Cong's backer was Lieutenant Tian Lingzi of the Shen Ce Army, an old acquaintance of the new emperor's palace, and considered a rising star among the eunuchs. The military inspector Zhou Congyu was from the Yang family, an old eunuch family.

When Zhou Congyu was a military inspector, his military inspector was the father of the current Privy Councilor Yang Fugong.

Zhao Huaian was stunned when he heard this, and said uncertainly:

"Brother, if I understand correctly, these people are all eunuchs, right? They can also have sons? And then form a eunuch family?"

Xian Yuyue told Zhao Huaian that since the difficult times, the prosperity of the country has all been in the Northern Division, and whoever can get to the relationship with the husbands will be able to soar to the sky.

He knew that Zhao Huaian had a good impression of Li Deyu, so he told him a secret.

When Li Deyu was the governor of Xichuan, he levied an additional 300,000 strings of cash on the local government to bribe Wang Jianyan, the then military supervisor of Xichuan. Later, Wang Jianyan became the Privy Councilor and Li Deyu immediately became the prime minister.

After hearing this, Zhao Huaian couldn't help but click his tongue. He didn't expect that Li Deyu, who had done a lot of practical things, also had such a side to him. It seems that one really has to learn how to be a good person first before doing things.

At this moment, Zhao Huaian had a deeper understanding of the power field of the Tang Dynasty.

Seeing Zhao Huaian deep in thought, Xian Yuyue was very satisfied. He just wanted Zhao Huaian to understand this. He didn't say this before because Zhao Huaian didn't need to know it yet.

But now it is obvious that Envoy Song regards Zhao Da as his own, so he has to explain the pros and cons clearly, otherwise it will harm his second brother.

He continued to tell Zhao Huaian that it was precisely because the Northern Division was powerful but had no children, and had power but no way to inherit it, that they began to accept disciples and adopted sons and form a family.

The Yang family was such a eunuch family. For several generations, they had been the number one in the Northern Division. Originally, this time should have been the same, but Tian Lingzi appeared and took Yang Fugong's position and became a lieutenant in the Shen Ce Army.

Therefore, Tian Lingzi, the new upstart in the Northern Division, had a feud with the old powerful people.

This was reflected in Xichuan, where the Jiedushi Niu Cong and the military supervisor Zhou Congyu were at odds with each other.

Zhao Huaian understood and pointed at himself:

"So we are the Jiedushi's men?"

Xian Yuyue glanced at Zhao Huaian and laughed at himself:
"Your elder brother and I are not the Jiedushi's men. You and I can barely be considered as Song Shijun's men. And because of the relationship between Yan Shihui, Song Shijun and the Jiedushi are barely allies."

Zhao Huaian didn't understand. From what Lao Yue said, Master Yan must be very powerful. Would it take an alliance between Envoy Song and the Jiedushi to compete with him?
He didn't understand and asked:
"The Jiedushi has Eunuch Tian behind him, so why would he be afraid of Master Yan?"

Xian Yuyue suddenly became serious and said to Zhao Huaian very seriously:
"Second brother, it's okay for you to be bold and daring. In fact, it's your strength. But there is one thing you must not do: behave disrespectfully in front of the eunuch husbands. Remember this."

Zhao Huaian curled his lips and said nothing more.

Xian Yuyue saw that Zhao Huaian had "taken it in", so he explained:
"Jiedushi don't actually have much prestige. They've never been able to suppress the wealthy families and generals in their respective fiefdoms. Yan Shihui's father, when he participated in the Battle of Chengdu four years ago, was already the Jiedushi of Western Sichuan. He had many generals under his command, so even when he later moved to Eastern Sichuan, the Yan family still had many disciples in Chengdu and held a high prestige."

"Not to mention, Yan Shihui now has 8,000 soldiers from Eastern Sichuan, the largest number in the main camp. Furthermore, Eastern Sichuan, where his father is from, is adjacent to Western Sichuan. Add to that a bunch of fellow villagers who share his same affiliation, and he's acting recklessly, looking down on everyone else."

Speaking of this, Xian Yuyue glanced at Zhao Huaian and reminded him:
"Of course, because of Envoy Song, you have offended the Yan family. Yan Liulang was humiliated by you and has now fled to Yan Shihui's camp instead of staying in the central army."

Zhao Huaian waved his hands to show that he was not afraid at all. Xianyu Yue liked Zhao Huaian's stubborn attitude and felt that his second brother had a pure heart.

But in fact, he didn't know that Zhao Da really didn't care about the great eunuch Tian Lingzi or the small military leader Yan Shihui. To him, if things didn't work out, he could just run away. It was no big deal.

However, this is what he is thinking about now. He began to be curious about the purpose of Master Yan appearing in western Sichuan. His father is the governor of eastern Sichuan, so why did he come to western Sichuan to seek popularity?
So, Zhao Huaian immediately asked:

"Does Yan have any ideas?"

Xian Yuyue was stunned for a moment. He raised his thumb, praised his second brother, and nodded.

"That's right. The Yan family has great ambitions and wants to get involved in western Sichuan. That's why the Jiedushi and the Military Supervisor formed an alliance."

Zhao Huaian understood this sentence.

In fact, in Zhao Huaian's opinion, Xian Yuyue's words were complicated, but in the eyes of someone like him who had been in the power field, the matter was very simple.

That is, the father and son of the Yan family wanted to be the local emperors of the two Sichuan provinces, and as for the eunuch Niu Cong and Zhou Congyu, although they had conflicts due to their different factions, that was considered a conflict among the people.

But Yan's father and son were planning to take over western Sichuan, which was an enemy-enemy conflict for them, so the two of them cooperated and confronted each other.

As for Envoy Song, who was fond of him, he should be considered a relatively neutral faction, because his foundation was the thousand-man Zhongwu Army left by his uncle Song Wei, and everyone wanted to win him over.

But because of the conflict between his uncle and the Yan family, he was betrayed by Yan Shihui again, so he had no choice but to form an alliance with the Jiedushi.

I see, that's it. Old Yue still looks down on me! The tricks that Old Zhao has encountered are so many that I'll scare you to death if I tell you about them. Humph!

……

Isn’t it said that Zhao Huaian is sharp?

Because this time Xian Yu Yue really underestimated Zhao Huaian, not targeting Zhao Huaian, but all the lower-class kids like him.

Zhao Huaian just showed a little political acumen, but in Xian Yuyue's heart, that was all.

Because in the struggle for power, the mastery of information is the real core.

But people like Zhao Huaian, who came from the lower class, had never been to Chang'an and had no friends in the two divisions. If it weren't for a sworn brother like Xianyu Yue, he would have been completely in the dark about the struggles among the top leaders of these vassal states.

Only wealthy children like Xianyu Yue, who have roots in Xichuan, know about these upper-class interpersonal networks, so they can stand in the right line and follow the right people at critical moments.

In fact, Xianyu Yue did not tell Zhao Huaian why he joined Song Jian's faction.

It was because he received news from home that the power struggle within the Chang'an Beisi had already been decided, and the final winner was his father Tian Lingzi, while Yang Fugong, who came from a veteran family, had been stripped of his position as Privy Councilor and demoted to Lantian to raise horses.

This was reflected in the struggle among the three giants in Chengdu. The military supervisor Zhou Congyu was directly eliminated, and the remaining Niu Cong and Yan Shihui were not good choices for local people like Xianyu Yue.

On the contrary, Song Jian, who has military strength but is neutral, is more suitable. These children of the wealthy families in Chengdu need Song Jian to take the lead.

Xian Yu Yue did treat Zhao Huaian as his own, but these children of wealthy families would never completely open their hearts to anyone at any time, because they had the entire family on their shoulders.

……

After Xian Yu Yue told Zhao Huaian about the entire military situation, he told him that with Zhao Huaian's current strength, once he joined the army, Yan Liulang would have a hundred ways to kill him.

On the contrary, it is in the more independent local groups that Zhao Huaian has more room for development.

Although the Tuantuan had no organization and a low status, they had one special thing, that is, they were an armed force directly under the Jiedushi. In other words, except for the Jiedushi Niu Cong, these Tuantuans did not need to obey orders from anyone else in the army.

Now Zhao Huaian finally understood Xian Yuyue's good intentions, but he still said with some sorrow:
"Alas, if he joins the Tutuan, even if he is not killed by Yan Laoliu, he will be killed by the Nanzhao people. But it is better this way, waiting to die, is it okay for the country to die?"

As he spoke, Zhao Huaian stood up again, looking as if he was ready to die for the Tang Dynasty and his country.

Xian Yuyue was amused, and ignored the outrageousness of this remark, and smiled and told Zhao Huaian:
"Envoy Song spent so much effort, not just to let you fill in the blanks. Don't worry, you will know tomorrow."

After saying that, Xian Yuyue yawned, touched the wooden bed and fell asleep.

Seeing Lao Yue sleeping soundly, Zhao Huaian wanted to kick him awake and tell him to get up and pee.

But when he thought about how his father-in-law was busy running around for his own affairs, he really couldn't bear it and could only leave him alone tossing and turning.

This was Zhao Huaian’s first sleepless night since coming to the Tang Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)