Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 47: Yong Zuo (Thanks to the leader for not fixing the bottle)

On December 12th of the first year of Qianfu, the Tang army was defeated at Baizhu River.

On December 13th, the defeated army plundered Tang'an.

On December 14, the Nanzhao army crossed the Xiejiang River, divided its troops into four groups and plundered Jinyuan, Tang'an, Shuzhou, Xinjin and other places.

The people of the four fields and the defeated troops fled to Chengdu. At that time, the general of western Sichuan, Yang Qingfu, moved his camp to Shuangliu and sent out 200 brave soldiers to gather the defeated soldiers. The soldiers refused to go and wanted to return to Chengdu without permission. Yang Qingfu captured and killed eight people including Liu Mingxiong, the general of Fengxiang, and the troops were in awe.

Zhao Huaian brought Bao Yidu into Shuangliu to resist the Nanzhao army.

Western Sichuan has entered its coldest period.

……

In the cold wind, Zhao Huaian, wrapped in a coat, took Zhao Liu and Lao Mo to look for firewood in Shuangliu City.

There is really no other way. Ever since General Yang moved his troops to Shuangliu to gather the defeated soldiers and strengthen the defense line, the city of Shuangliu has been crowded with people.

The local tyrants in the countryside near Chengdu gathered their troops and flocked to Shuangliu, while some of those with great means and connections in Chengdu went straight to Chengdu with their belongings.

They ran like this four years ago, and ran again four years later. Apart from feeling sad about the difficulties of the country, they did not have much emotion.

After all, the only thing the Nanzhao people could rob was food, and they couldn't take their land and manors away. Once the imperial army arrived, it would be time for them to return home.

By then, the master will still be the master.

In addition to these local tyrants, some defeated soldiers also tried to join their teams and escape back to Chengdu, but after a group of them were killed, there were indeed fewer of them.

But the real situation is not something that outsiders can know.

Apart from these local tyrants, most of the people in Shuangliu City were refugees. These people were the first to evacuate to Shuangliu City. Later, when Yang Qingfu arrived in Shuangliu, he also tried to drive the refugees out of the city, but he held back for fear of causing unrest.

The direct result of the influx of a large number of refugees into Shuangliu was the depletion of firewood in the city. The army of more than 10,000 people needed firewood for heating and cooking, but no woodcutter dared to risk leaving the city to collect firewood in the nearby mountains and forests.

Therefore, firewood in the city became more and more expensive and less and less available day by day, and a large number of people froze to death every day.

At this time, Zhao Huaian took Zhao Liu and Lao Mo to find Xian Yuyue, the general, and asked him to help deliver some firewood to the camp.

Now Zhao Huaian's Baoyidu is camped in the northwest corner of Shuangliu City, adjacent to the group of people who escaped from Dou Pangzi and others.

Everyone huddled together for warmth. Among them, only Zhao Huaian had connections, so everyone gave him some gifts and asked him to go to the inner city to think of a solution.

Alas, times are tough.

At this time, Zhao Huaian, Zhao Liu and Lao Mo were walking on the dirt road. From time to time, they could see frozen corpses on both sides of the street. They had all been stripped clean and thrown on both sides of the sewer.

At this time, Shuangliu was in chaos and no one came to collect these things.

Looking at this doomsday scene, Lao Liu sighed:

"The bodies are all frozen in the ditch, so there won't be any epidemics in the spring."

Zhao Huaian was also in a low mood and hummed:
"There's no time to wait for spring. If we don't open the city and go out to collect firewood, everyone will freeze to death."

Several people sighed again and stopped talking.

But what if I didn't look? The strong smell of blood emanated from both sides, and it couldn't be dispelled even in the cold winter.

The hardships of people's lives are no longer just a pretense in the writings of literati, but a reality.

Shuangliu City is not big. It is only two miles from the northwest corner to the inner city government office area. Soon they saw a big flag, which was the flag of Yang Qingfu, the general of western Sichuan.

As Yang Qingfu's personal guard, the Chengdu generals were arranged in the two wings of the county office compound, while Xianyu Yue was in a courtyard on the east side.

Zhao Huaian was about to go forward when he suddenly saw a lot of people lined up on the road to the south. It was even more lively than a market.

Zhao Liu was a crowd pleaser, so he ran over and squeezed into the crowd.

Zhao Huaian didn't care about Zhao Liu and prepared to go to the county office with Lao Mo.

At this time, the four roads near the county office were filled with deer antlers, and some armored and sharp-armed guards were staring at the passers-by around them, especially the area with the most idle people in the south.

Zhao Huaian went up and found a military officer wearing a red cap, and saluted with his hands crossed:

"My dear comrade, I am Zhao Huaian, the General of the Guards. I would like to ask if Xian Yuyue, the Commander-in-Chief of the Tu Commandery, is in the office."

While Zhao Huaian was speaking, the old Mo next to him had already handed the token and badge to the person opposite him.

The officer in the red cap took a quick glance, then looked at Zhao Huaian. After examining him, his face lightened.
"Unfortunately, General Xianyu has just gone to the shogunate to discuss matters. How about Brother Zhao come back later?"

Zhao Huaian was silent.

It turns out that this kid is difficult to deal with. The person in front of me didn't even introduce himself to me, which shows that he doesn't think highly of me at all.

Zhao Huaian smiled and grabbed the hand of the red-capped military officer. He had already stuffed two golden beans into his palm and said with a smile:
"Comrade, I do have an urgent matter. Could you please go to the government office and ask for help?"

The military officer smiled, nodded, gave some instructions to the officers beside him, and then returned to the yamen.

This guy was quite bad. He didn't even ask or not. Zhao Huaian was afraid that he wouldn't be able to find himself, so he could only stand there stupidly.

As the cold wind blew, Zhao Huaian thought about what he had seen along the way, and a certain thought became stronger and stronger.

Previously, when he had a late-night talk with his elder brother Xianyu Yue, he said that his family background was too poor and he had to follow the right noble person. At this moment, Zhao Huaian had a personal experience.

To get by in the system, you really need a background.

Zhao Huaian stomped his feet on the spot, thinking:

"I don't know how Old Wang's business is going." Old Wang was Wang Duo who followed him on the escape. After entering the city, he was supposed to return to the central army camp, but the governor Niu Cong was not in Shuangliu at all, so Wang Duo could only stay in Shuangliu temporarily.

Then Lao Wang was entrusted by Zhao Huaian to find some vassal warriors who were good at training soldiers based on the military register.

In the previous battle at Baishushui, Bao Yidu was able to kill the general and seize the flag entirely because of his surprise attack, but his actual combat effectiveness was still insufficient. So now that he has time in Shuangliu, he wants to train his troops well.

I don’t want to train it to be like the Yanhai Army, but it shouldn’t be too far behind.

Previously, Zhao Huaian thought that Chen Fahai could be trained, but he was alone after all, so he still had to find some help.

Now that Shuangliu City was in disarray, it was the perfect time to recruit talent. The method for recruiting talent was simple: pay.

A skilled warrior received a salary of 20 strings of cash a year, and an excellent grassroots military officer received about 60 or 70 strings of cash. Zhao Huaian had previously seized 800 strings of cash and was using it to recruit heroic warriors.

Just as Zhao Huaian was thinking, Zhao Liu came running over.

He just finished watching the excitement and came over and said:

"Zhao Da, there's a huge temple across the street. The monks there are very kind-hearted and are distributing porridge at the temple gate."

Zhao Huaian was surprised, but he didn't think much about it. He just exclaimed:
“There are good people among the great monks too.”

As he was speaking, Zhao Huaian saw Wang Duo and four men in sackcloth clothes walking over, talking and laughing. He quickly waved and shouted:

"Old Wang, this way."

Wang Duo looked over when he heard the voice, but didn't expect Zhao Huaian to be there. He quickly said something to the four burly men in hemp clothes beside him, and then all five of them ran over in small steps.

Just as Wang Duo and a few others were preparing to make introductions, a burst of screams suddenly erupted from the crowd queuing on the south side.

Then, Zhao Huaian and others saw a fat monk stumbling out, covering his bleeding throat. He tried to say something, but finally fell to the ground powerlessly.

As soon as the fat monk fell to the ground, a tall man wearing a conical hat squeezed out of the crowd, threw the sharp blade in his hand into the ditch, and strode off the street.

Along the way, no one dared to stop him.

When the crowd's shouts reached the temple, a group of monks rushed out with swords, guns, sticks and clubs in their hands. When they saw the fat monk lying on the ground, their faces changed drastically.

They grabbed an old man who was receiving porridge and cursed him, then after getting the news, they ran in the direction where the man in the straw hat had just disappeared.

Then the remaining two carried the fat monk's body into the temple, shouted to disperse the crowd, and took the cauldron inside.

Seeing that the porridge was no longer being distributed, the refugees started to curse, but in the end they had no choice but to retreat.

……

When Zhao Liu saw this, he also cursed:
"That coward is also a disgrace to our ancestors. He even wants to kill the kind monk who gave out porridge. He is really cruel."

But Wang Duo, who had just arrived, sighed and told another story.

It turned out that the temple opposite them was called Yongzuo Temple, a famous large temple in Shuangliu City. It previously enshrined a royal statue of Hongfa Buddha, so it could be considered a half-royal temple.

Wang Duo told Zhao Huaian that the only temple in the city with firewood and grain was Yongzuo Temple. It had hundreds of hectares of farmland outside the city and more than a thousand farmhands, making it even richer than the temple in Shuangliu County.

Moreover, Yongzuo Temple was not only a large landowner, but also operated pawnshops, mills, oil mills, and even some interest-charging lending businesses.

So this Yongzuo Temple is really rich.

After saying this, Wang Duo lowered his voice and told a piece of news he had heard in the city:
"I heard that, I heard that too. With the refugees entering the city, Yongzuo Temple has taken over a lot of farmland again."

Wang Duo didn't say more, but Lao Liu, who came from Qishan Township, already understood.

The usually lively old Qin man fell silent.

At this time, among the four men in linen clothes brought by Wang Duo, there was one with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He did not wear a futou, but tied it with a yellow forehead band. This man suddenly said:
"That man just now was very fierce, reminiscent of the Han Dynasty. There aren't many people like him these days."

Zhao Huaian was curious and saluted with his hands crossed:

"I wonder who this good man is?"

The man with the yellow headband quickly bent down:
"To reply to General Zhao, my name is Gao Renhou. I was previously a lieutenant commander in the Sichuan-West Army. Upon learning that General Zhao wanted to train his troops, I came to help."

Zhao Huaian suddenly realized that the four men in front of him should be the skilled soldiers that Wang Duo had found according to the military register. He saw that the four of them were wearing coarse linen clothes, and it seemed that they were not doing well in their lives. He hurriedly greeted them:
"Let's go back to my camp and warm up some wine. It's freezing cold."

As he said that, Zhao Huaian pulled the four people back to the camp.

Zhao Liu, who was standing next to him, was puzzled and asked:

"Aren't you waiting here for Mr. Xianyu?"

But unexpectedly, Zhao Huaian said sullenly:

"When can I not see my elder brother? But how can we let Lao Gao and the others suffer in the cold here?"

Having said that, he took Gao Renhou away.

Only Zhao Liu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized and cursed inwardly:
"Okay, okay, I'll just cooperate with you in acting."

Having said that, he left with Lao Mo with a dark face.

As soon as they left, Xianyu Yue came out of the county temple under the leadership of the military officer in the red cap.

Seeing that no one was around, the officer in the red cap was stunned. He was about to explain, but he heard Xian Yuyue shaking his head:
"I don't blame you. It's my second brother who is angry with me, the eldest brother."

(End of this chapter)