Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 46 Chang Yi (Thanks to Alliance Leader Fang Zhongwen)

There were only eight or nine remnant soldiers in that group, four of whom were still dragging a wooden board, and the remaining four were fully armed, holding swords and looking at the mountains and forests on both sides in panic, fearing that a group of despicable thieves would rush out from them.

While these people were fleeing, they were still loyally protecting a man on the wooden board. The man's right arm was broken at the elbow, and his tough face was pale.

As soon as they saw Zhao Huaian's team in front of them, they subconsciously protected the wooden planks in the middle. When one of them saw Han Tong in the team, he finally couldn't control himself and burst into tears:

"Han Da, I'm Sun Silang!"

Han Tong, who was standing in the team with his sword drawn, was stunned for a moment. He looked carefully at the person who was speaking. Although he was covered in blood, he was exactly the same as the Sun Silang he was familiar with. He pushed everyone away and rushed forward.

Qian Tiefo and Wei Jingang also rushed over from behind.

When these people rushed there, they saw that the person on the wooden board was none other than Sun Chuanxiu, the general of the Baoyi Army, and they all started wailing.

When Zhao Huaian heard the noise, he also jumped off the donkey cart, and Sun Tai and Zhao Hu, two armored men, followed him.

When Zhao Huaian arrived, Sun Silang was narrating with Han Tong and the others. When he saw Zhao Huaian coming, Sun Silang knelt on the ground and hugged Zhao Da's legs:

"Lord Zhao, you must take charge of our righteous army."

Zhao Huaian quickly pulled Sun Silang up and was about to check on Sun Chuanxiu's injuries when he suddenly saw Han Tong draw his knife and chop the big tree beside the road with gnashing teeth, cursing as he chopped:

"Master Yan, I will cut you into pieces!"

After taking a look at Sun Chuanxiu's injuries, Zhao Huaian asked Zhao Liu to bring the gourd and fed Sun Chuanxiu a sip of water.

After drinking the water, Sun Chuanxiu regained consciousness. When he saw Zhao Huaian, he was obviously stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said:
"Mr. Zhao, you and I are indeed destined to be together..."

Before he could say anything, Sun Chuanxiu couldn't stop coughing.

At this time, Sun Silang held Sun Chuanxiu and cried, and then cried to Zhao Huaian.

As Sun Silang told the story, Zhao Huaian finally understood what had happened between the Baoyi Army and the Muyi Army.

In fact, when the Nanzhao army appeared upstream of the Baizhu River, Master Yan would flee without a fight, and Zhao Huaian would know the fate of the Baoyi Army and the Muyi Army that had already crossed the river.

But after hearing what Sun Silang said, Zhao Huaian couldn't help but sigh, it was too tragic.

Of the nearly 3,000 brave men from the two armies, except for a small number who broke through, the rest were all stationed on the south bank.

These young men from the Xiongbian Army were poorly equipped, poorly paid, and did the most dangerous work, but they still fought very well and were the only battalion in this battle to reach the other side.

However, this loyal and righteous army did not die under the enemy's swords and guns, but died in internal intrigues.

When Sun Silang finished speaking, he finally roared:
"Lord Zhao, why do you think this happened? Why did we have to cross the river first? Why didn't we have any reinforcements? Why were we defeated without a fight? Don't we, the sons of the Righteous Army, have the fate to be worthless? Woo woo woo."

At this moment, Sun Silang's words were like the cuckoo crying blood, and those who heard them were sad and those who heard them shed tears.

The local militia and defeated soldiers lowered their heads in silence, feeling sympathy for their fellow human beings.

When Sun Silang finished venting his anger, Sun Chuanxiu beside him shook his head and said to Zhao Huaian:
"Mr. Zhao, I knew you were extraordinary the moment I met you. Seeing that your army was filled with slaves and mountain huts, I felt even more that you were different from the other warriors, as if you saw everyone the same. Now that my Baoyi Army has been completely annihilated, only my eight followers remain. I would like to entrust them to you. They are all top-notch men in my army and will not bring shame to our Baoyi Army."

As soon as Sun Chuanxiu finished speaking, everyone, including Sun Silang, started crying. They all said that they were willing to follow Sun Chuanxiu to the end, even if they had to go to the underworld.

But Sun Chuanxiu gasped for breath and cursed everyone:
"What nonsense! You must live and pass on the blood of our Baoyi Army."

Now the eight people didn't dare to say anything and just kept crying.

After scolding the eight people, Sun Chuanxiu looked at Han Tong over there and said with a wry smile:
"Han Da, I'm sorry. I was going to bring your family out of the mountains. I'm going to break my promise this time."

After saying this, Han Tong, a man over seven feet tall, could no longer hold back his tears.

All the people in the team who were sent by the former Baoyi Army covered their faces and cried.

Looking at the blue sky, at Sun Silang and the others, then at Han Tong and the others, Sun Chuanxiu finally looked at Zhao Huaian:
"Lord Zhao, this is all my fault. I still had unrealistic fantasies about the Tang court. I felt that everyone was suffering in the mountains, and I thought that if I could have a chance to return to the court, that would be the dream of several generations of my Baoyi Army. But I didn't expect that down there, it would eat people! It eats people!"

At this point, Sun Chuanxiu, who had been calm all the time, finally couldn't help but burst into tears:
"I'm sorry to my brothers! I shouldn't have let them cross the river. I shouldn't have let them cross the river."

After saying this, Sun Chuanxiu looked at the distant mountains and forests. He seemed to see familiar faces. He smiled and shouted with all his strength:
"My fellow men of the Baoyi Army, here comes Sun Chuanxiu!"

"Come on!"

After singing, Sun Chuanxiu drained all his strength and fell straight into Sun Silang's arms, his eyes empty and unwilling.

As soon as Sun Chuanxiu died, an armored warrior nearby drew his sword and slashed his own throat, but was kicked to the ground by Sun Silang.

Sun Silang carefully placed Sun Chuanxiu on the wooden board, walked over, and slapped the man in the face, then shouted: "Everyone, stay alive. My brother said that everyone must stay alive, so everyone, stay alive. Let's live and avenge him and my Baoyi Army."

As he spoke, Sun Chuanwei drew his knife and cut his face directly, then shouted at the remaining seven people:
"I, Sun Chuanwei, swear by the gods of the nine heavens that if I don't kill Yan Shihui, I will be a pig and a dog for nine generations!"

The remaining seven people scratched their cheeks at the same time and yelled:

"If I don't kill Yan Shihui, I will not be a human being!"

Zhao Huaian was moved. This was the first time he saw his ancestors taking revenge on Xinyi. It was a scene he had never seen in his previous life.

After Sun Chuanwei and the others swore their oath, they knelt down in front of Zhao Huaian and begged him to take them in.

Zhao Huaian was about to agree when Wang Duo next to him suddenly poked Zhao Huaian. Then Wang Duo said in a low voice:

"There are many people here, my lord, please be cautious."

Zhao Huaian immediately understood what Wang Duo meant. He was worried about the defeated soldiers in the team.

Now that Sun Silang and his eight men have publicly named names and demanded revenge, it is bound to reach Yan Shihui's ears. Now that Zhao Huaian has accepted these people, it is obvious that he is against Yan Shihui.

Just now, Wang Duo told Zhao Huaian about his current crisis. The governor who was his backer was about to fall at any minute. It would be irrational to make enemies with the most powerful person in the vassal state at this time.

But the hesitation only lasted for a moment before Zhao Huaian made a decision.

He walked up to Sun Silang, pulled their arms up, and said only one sentence:
"You are the Baoyi Army, and I am Baoyi City. We are a family. You will be the head of this place from now on, and I will make all the decisions."

Sun Silang was moved, especially when he thought of his vague thoughts, he felt even more embarrassed. He folded his hands and bowed, took out a military flag from his pocket, and then solemnly handed it to Zhao Huaian:
"My Lord, this is the flag of our Baoyi Army. I will give it to you."

Zhao Huaian looked at the neatly folded military flag, which was stained with blood, nodded, and then carefully stuffed it into his bag.

Zhao Huaian sighed, looked around at the surrounding green mountains, and sighed:
"Qingshan is honored to bury the loyal bones!"

……

Everyone buried Sun Chuanxiu, especially Sun Silang, who used a knife to cut a piece of wood and buried it as Sun Chuanxiu's arm.

Then the team continued on its journey.

Along the way, Zhao Huaian continued to beat the small drum and moved forward, but whether it was because they were about to reach Anren or for some other reason, he did not collect many defeated soldiers along the way.

On the contrary, Zhao Huaian had a lot of baggage carts, which attracted the attention of a group of defeated soldiers. In the end, Zhao Huaian didn't want to cause trouble, so he used bows and crossbows to intimidate those people, and they gave up.

They fled all the way, and except for the occasional fleeing soldiers and thieves in the forest, Zhao Huaian and his companions did not encounter any more problems, and finally arrived at Xiejiang River.

Like the Baizhu River, most of the water in the Xiejiang River had dried up. Although people could walk easily, carts could not. After finally finding a shallow ford, everyone took great effort to drive the convoy to the other side of the river.

In this way, after a day of travel, everyone finally arrived at Anren City in the evening.

Just when everyone was planning to enter the city to rest for a night, Anren City had already been burning with flames.

Hearing the sounds of fighting all over the city, Zhao Huaian was shocked, thinking that the Nanzhao army had rushed ahead of them, but just as he was about to charge into the city, a cavalry suddenly rushed out from the side of the road.

The one leading the charge was actually Brazilian general Ren Tong.

It turned out that he was waiting for Zhao Huaian here on Xian Yuyue's orders. The reason for doing so was to tell his second brother that the situation had changed, and asked him not to stay on the road and to hurry back to Chengdu.

Ren Tong told Zhao Huaian that Jiedushi Niu Cong was completely frightened in the battle of Baizhu River. He not only did not trust the East Sichuan Army, but even did not trust the West Sichuan soldiers of his own vassal state.

The original plan to resist step by step in Anren, Tang'an, Shuangliu and other places has now been completely abandoned.

The Jiedushi had already fled to Chengdu and ordered the troops to fortify their defenses and clear the land along the way, so this was the scene that Zhao Huaian and the others saw now.

After hearing Ren Tong say that this was a scorched earth and cleared fields, Zhao Huaian was silent for a long time before he said:
"Will this stop the Nanzhao army?"

But Zhao Huaian had no idea that Ren Tong answered him like this:
"Lord Zhao, this isn't some kind of fortified defense, clearing the countryside. Beyond Tang'an, the land is fertile, with countless farms and villages. Even if we burn this place, the Nanzhao army will always be able to get food."

Looking around, seeing a stranger like Wang Duo, Ren Tong lowered his voice and told the truth:

"The Jiedushi's army was defeated and he was unable to control the troops. This means that we are giving them these cities to restore their morale."

At this moment, Zhao Huaian felt cold all over.

He finally saw through the true nature of the Tang Dynasty. He saw that it was full of unjust people who did all kinds of dirty things.

(End of this chapter)