Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 60 Business (Seeking follow-up reading)

Zhao Da said nothing, but Wang Duo could not ignore it and continued to ask:

"My Lord, how are we going to pay for the rest of the money? If we owe this money, I'm afraid we'll get into trouble."

Wang Duo was an old soldier, so how could he not know the consequences of owing a reward to these soldiers? At this moment, although he looked calm beside Zhao Huaian, his back was actually sweating.

Zhao Huaian thought about it and realized the seriousness of the matter, so he could only reveal the last of his family's assets:
"It's okay, it's okay. Lao Liu still has some money. You go find him later and explain the seriousness of the matter. Ask him to make up the rest. If there's still money to be owed, wait for the merchants who come up with the army. Then they can sell some of the prisoners in the camp and make up the reward money."

Wang Duo finally felt relieved, bowed, and went to find Zhao Liu to discuss the rest of the money.

Little did he know that his lord's heart was bleeding at this moment.

The money he placed with Lao Liu was all thank-you money from Song Jian, Xian Yu Yue, and some local tyrants in Chengdu who had been rescued. After arriving in Qiongzhou, these people contacted Chengdu and gave a total of about one thousand strings of cash.

Originally, Zhao Huaian intended to use this money to buy up the real estate in Chengdu. He had previously heard from Xian Yuyue that because the Nanzhao troops had reached Shuangliu, Chengdu's housing prices had plummeted.

This gave Zhao Huaian an opportunity, and he planned to buy some houses while the prices were low. But now, his capital was gone, and this investment could not be made.

Oh, what a big loss, what a big loss.

At this moment, Zhao Huaian deeply understood how much it cost to maintain an army.

He just gave out rewards and his family fortune was all gone at once, not to mention the daily maintenance of the army.

Therefore, if there is no stable supply base, it would be harder than climbing to the sky to raise loyal troops.

But this has to be said about Zhao Huaian's careful planning. Why did he pay out of his own pocket to give out rewards? Because at this time, Baoyi was included in the military register, so their rewards had to be reported to Chang'an, and then Chang'an would inspect and verify them before issuing the money.

But Zhao Huaian gave money to these soldiers himself because he understood that no matter which dynasty the soldiers came from, they would listen to whoever rewarded them.

Therefore, Zhao Huaian must pay this money, and it must be a huge amount. Just as he and Wang Duo said, money is not important, what is important is the morale of the army.

With this, you have everything.

Yes, this is how Zhao Huaian comforted himself, but no matter what he said, it couldn't change the pain in his heart.

No, I have to make a big one and double back all my losses.

At this time, Zhao Huaian had previously thought that the big timber deal proposed by Song Wentong was too risky and not worth it, but now he began to consider it.

There is no other way. With such a group of people to support him, he is always thinking about how to make money.

……

After staying in Jinma Village for another two days, some bold merchants finally came over after learning that there were captives in Jinma Village.

This is actually a common practice in the army. Although the army hates these traveling merchants, they cannot do without them.

Although these soldiers appear arrogant on the outside, they are actually wronged.

For example, they spent years on the battlefield away from home, spending little time with their families. Or they received their bounty one day, but before they could spend it, they died in battle the next day. They even had to reluctantly abandon some captured items because they had to march.

And these pain points can all be solved by those traveling merchants.

You miss your family? Okay, ask the military clerk to write a letter home and we'll send it back to you. Aren't you worried about your family dying and your money not being used up? Okay, give me the money and I'll send it back to you. Isn't it inconvenient to carry the captured goods? Okay, come to us. We'll buy them all for you, freeing you from worry.

It was these traveling merchants who grasped these pain points, so even though they lowered the prices, the soldiers still did business with them, and sometimes even very eagerly.

Just like now, Zhao Huaian was eagerly waiting for the arrival of the traveling merchants. There was no other reason, but that he, Zhao Da, still owed his brothers 600 strings of cash.

For these soldiers, you can borrow money from outsiders to reward your brothers. If your brothers are happy, they will support you to be a governor. But if you do the opposite and owe your brothers money, then you should think about the consequences.

Therefore, when the first wave of bold capital approached Jinma Village, Zhao Huaian immediately invited several big merchants to the military tent to entertain them.

……

These big merchants all came from wealthy families in Chengdu, including Xianyu Yue's family.

Only big families like theirs can do this kind of business. After all, only when the family has a reputation will the soldiers dare to entrust them with sending the money back.

If he were a small merchant and ran away, these soldiers would have no place to cry.

But even these big businessmen would do something shady if they could. After all, there are no rules and justice in this world, only fists.

Whoever has the bigger fist will be the boss.

The main business Zhao Huaian discussed with these people was the sale of Nanzhao prisoners.

This time he captured about three or four hundred people, all of whom were young and strong, including seventy or eighty warriors, with very good quality.

But Zhao Huaian only planned to keep the Nanzhao soldiers, who were all good family men from Nanzhao and had good discipline and obedience.

On the contrary, although the seventy or eighty warriors have good combat capabilities, they are very cunning and difficult to train. It would be better to let these Chengdu nobles train them themselves.

These families also liked these Nanzhao warriors, sometimes even using them more effectively than their own people, so they were willing to do this business, but they still had to lower the price. Zhao Huaian originally wanted to give these people separate quotes, but they had already colluded privately and all had the same price.

Zhao Huaian is not unfamiliar with the "art of negotiation", such as first offering an unacceptably high price, and then both parties bargain step by step.

But in private, the merchants from the Xianyu Yue family told him two pieces of military intelligence, which forced Zhao Huaian to give up his plan to negotiate the price.

It turned out that the reason why the Nanzhao army suddenly retreated from Shuangliu this time was indeed because Gao Pian, the envoy, led reinforcements into Shu.

But Zhao Huaian could never have imagined how arrogant and domineering this high-ranking envoy would be.

As soon as the enemy troops arrived in Jianzhou, they sent cavalry to Chengdu and ordered Chengdu to open its four gates.

At that time, the Nanzhao army was surrounding Shuangliu and could break into Chengdu at any time. Gao Pian actually dared to open the four gates of Chengdu. Wasn't he afraid that the Nanzhao army would take the opportunity to attack?

So at that time someone tried to persuade Gao Pian, but he said:
"I defeated 200,000 barbarians in Jiaozhi. When the barbarians heard I was coming, they fled in haste. How dare they attack Chengdu?"

Then, as the spring air was getting warmer, hundreds of thousands of people were trapped in the city, which might lead to an epidemic, so the emperor ordered Chengdu to open the four gates.

Zhao Huaian couldn't understand this behavior at first?

Gao Pian hasn't even been to Chengdu yet, but he's saying there's an epidemic in Chengdu?
But later the merchant from the Xianyu family explained it to him.

It turned out that at the beginning of this year, when Gao Pian was still on the road, the court, after learning that the governor Niu Cong was defeated at Baizhu River, directly issued an edict to his men, asking them to rush to Gao Pian's army and appoint Gao Pian as the governor of western Sichuan.

From then on, Niu Cong officially became a thing of the past, and Chengdu welcomed the new governor Gao Pian.

Now, Zhao Huaian figured out what was going on.

It seems that Gao Pian is giving Chengdu a test of obedience. This is quite a show of power.

Later, the merchants of the Xianyu family said that Chengdu really opened the city according to Gao Pian's instructions, but it scared away the Nanzhao army instead.

The Nanzhao army's spies and intelligence agents in Chengdu hurriedly sent the news that Gao Pian was about to enter Chengdu back to the Nanzhao army camp.

The Nanzhao army actually gave up Shuangliu and withdrew its troops to Baizhu River and even the Yazhou area in the rear.

Hearing this, Zhao Huaian couldn't help but gasp in surprise, thinking:

"Wow, this Gao Pian is quite impressive. Even before he even arrives, his reputation alone can drive back tens of thousands of Nanzhao troops?"

This was the first piece of news brought by the Xianyu family, explaining why the Nanzhao army suddenly withdrew, but what really made Zhao Huaian pay attention was the second one.

The traveling merchant told Zhao Huaian that just yesterday, the envoy Gao's carriage and canopy entered Chengdu, and then announced on the same day that he would launch a counterattack against the Nanzhao army.

The military order has not yet reached Shuangliu, let alone Jinmazhai.

Therefore, the Xianyu family sent a message to Zhao Huaian, asking him to make preparations early and make outstanding achievements in the subsequent pursuit battles, so that he could gain a good impression in front of the new governor.

After hearing this, Zhao Huaian asked back:
"I'm leaving the city to defend the Golden Horse Village. Can't I leave a good reputation in front of that high-ranking envoy?"

This man looked at Zhao Huaian strangely and said something that hurt him:
"Commander of Zhao, Minister Gao has brought troops from Changwu, Fufang, and Hedong. The troops from Ganhua and Zhaoyi are also on their way, following the imperial edict. This time, there are so many soldiers and generals that even the Chengdu generals that our young master is leading are not taken seriously by Minister Gao."

The other person didn't say the rest, but Zhao Huaian still understood that he was being looked down upon.

No, I didn’t see it at all, damn it!
But no matter what others think, preparing for war is the most important thing. If Zhao Da wants to expand his strength, he must seize the opportunity in the subsequent wars.

Time was urgent, so Zhao Huaian naturally had no time to negotiate with those merchants. He directly sold these elite warriors of the Nanzhao Army at the price of sixty strings of cash per person.

This price is definitely a bargain. These Nanzhao warriors' swords and bows are not weak. If they are hired normally, the price per year will be around ten strings of cash. Now, you only need to spend more than three years of hiring fees to buy them back and use them forever.

Of course, whether these people can be tamed depends on the capabilities of those families.

Zhao Huaian cut the Gordian knot and sold the warriors, leaving behind more than 20 men who knew how to use archery and horseback riding. These men were the knights in the Nanzhao army and were the most scarce resources.

So Zhao Huaian kept them by his side and raised them as riding slaves, so that they could lead the people in their own capital to train some knights.

In this way, Zhao Huaian made another deal and successfully recovered 3,600 strings of cash. After paying the 600 strings of cash owed to his subordinates, Zhao Da's military treasury was filled a lot more.

The merchants who did business were also satisfied. Not only did they take over the family letter business of many soldiers of the Baoyi Army, they also wanted to take the initiative to help Zhao Huaian's subordinates transport the money back to Daci Temple for deposit.

But Zhao Huaian refused with a smile.

Are you kidding? If Daci Temple can open a bank, why can’t I, Zhao Da, open one too?

If I, Zhao Da, can seize the money bags of these soldiers, why should I be afraid of not being able to win over their hearts?

Therefore, Zhao Huaian later planned to set up a military pawnshop to store the rewards from the army, and then use it to do some real estate bargain hunting business.

Look, isn’t the money back now? That’s why he said Wang Duo was short-sighted. Look, isn’t it true that all the money he spent is back now?

In this way, Zhao Huaian continued to stay in Jinma Village and prepare weapons because there was no military transfer order. Then on the third day, the military order came.

(End of this chapter)