Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 68 Favor
Three days later, it was the twenty-first day of the first lunar month in the second year of Qianfu.

After Zhao Huaian brought Bao Yidu to the front line of Qiongzhou to deliver food and fodder, he was transferred back to Yang Qingfu's side. As for the task of escorting food and fodder, it was handed over to other troops.

The reason for this is that a major war is coming and Baoyi needs to be placed on the front line as the "elite".

Since the Jiedushi Gao Pian personally led 5,000 infantry and cavalry to drive the main force of the Nanzhao army to Yazhou, the progress of the entire war suddenly accelerated.

Originally, Yang Qingfu had been besieging Qionglai without attacking, mainly because he was worried that his achievements would be too great and he was afraid that he would be dealt with by Gao Pian.

Yang Qingfu was not a close descendant of the former Jiedushi Niu Cong. As a general of his own clan, he always believed in getting close to whoever was the Jiedushi and was always willing to cooperate in doing things.

But Yang Qingfu knew that although Gao Pian had a great reputation, he was always arbitrary, self-willed, and cruel in enforcing the law. Therefore, Yang Qingfu did not dare to try to steal the glory in this counterattack, and just stayed behind Gao Pian and became a nobody.

Now that Gao Pian has gained enough fame, he can start to take action and recapture the city of Qiongzhou in front of him, which will be considered as an explanation to the people of western Sichuan.

So, after Zhao Huaian delivered the grain and fodder, he was directly assigned an extremely important job.

Go chop wood.

……

Outside Qionglai City, Zhao Huaian, dressed in coarse clothes and holding an axe in his hand, looked at the distant Qiongzhou City and the Baizhu River further west with emotion.

A month has passed since the battle of Baizhushui. Returning here again, Zhao Huaian felt a little sad that things have changed and people have changed.

At this time, he led a team of more than a thousand people and was a famous small military leader in the army. He was protected by several big bosses above him, and supported by a group of brothers below. He also had local tyrants like Dong Gongsu to support him. It can be said that Zhao Da is no longer the same as before.

But where are those local gang leaders who drank and boasted with him a month ago?
Lao Li and Lao Ding were beheaded for gambling, Lao Qian and Lao Zhang died on the bank of Baizhu River. Later, when he was in Shuangliu, he heard that Lao Sun was stabbed to death in the toilet because he fought with someone for firewood.

In short, it seems that among those former leaders, only Fatty Dou and I are left.

While thinking about this, Zhao Huaian subconsciously looked at the place not far away, where Fatty Dou was wearing shorts, grunting and cutting wood with a few companions.

Oh, this journey is like walking on thin ice.

Shaking his head, Zhao Huaian looked towards the grove.

Before he traveled here, Zhao Huaian always thought that the ancient times must be full of green trees and shady trees, but when he really came here, he realized that the land of the Tang Dynasty was also bare.

Take the area outside Qiongzhou City for example. There are hardly any trees to be seen. Even the small forest where Zhao Huaian is now is more than a day's distance from the settlement to be of this size.

In this era, it seems that everything requires trees. We need wood for eating, heating, and fighting wars. So firewood is no different from money in this era. You can sell it after cutting it down.

When ordinary people see trees, they treat them as money. They cut down almost all the trees that can be cut down.

Therefore, in Qiongzhou City, there are basically no trees within a day's walk from the settlement.

Moreover, a few days ago, before Yang Qingfu led the Sichuan-West Army to besiege Qionglai, a team of knights from the Nanzhao Army rushed out of the city and burned all the nearby trees to prevent the Tang Army from using them as siege weapons.

But this was a tough time for Zhao Huaian. He finally found this forest near the mountain, and then he set up camp there, cut wood, and made charcoal, and then transported it back to the Qiongzhou camp on carts.

Although Zhao Huaian did not go to the front line during this period, he felt that he benefited a lot.

He was involved in the transportation of grain and fodder, and logistical supplies, and gained a better understanding of what was needed to maintain a war, an army, and a camp.

Moreover, after this period of settling down, the generals, veterans, and warriors of Baoyi City have also made progress. Absorbing the experience of several previous major battles, Zhao Huaian can clearly feel that not only himself, but everyone has become much more stable.

The battlefield is definitely the best testing ground for men and also the place where emotions are sublimated.

Although Baoyi at this time could not be said to have such a mysterious thing as military spirit, he had begun to form a small interest group. Whether they were mountain sheds, Lang Gang, defeated soldiers, or villagers, they all understood that as long as they followed Zhao Da, their lives would get better step by step.

Many of them were given more than ten strings of cash, which was more than they could earn in their entire lives. Most of the money was kept in the army's mobile arsenal, and the rest was mailed to the soldiers' homes by the merchants accompanying the army.

Seeing Zhao Liu and his men digging another cellar of charcoal and filling several carts, Zhao Huaian shouted:
"Let's light another fire, then go back and treat our brothers to some mutton!"

So, those who heard it and those who didn’t heard it all shouted loudly and became more motivated.

Everyone in Baoyi City had nothing to say about Zhao Da's willingness to spend money, saying he was truly a good general.

……

Towards evening, Zhao Huaian and Bao Yidu pushed over a hundred carts of charcoal and hurried back.

After greeting the outer sentries, Zhao Huaian's convoy returned to the camp smoothly. After delivering the charcoal, he thought for a moment and asked Zhao Liu to go back to his tent and bring the bundle next to his bed.

Inside the bundle were some gifts prepared by Zhao Huaian. He had been drinking with many Sichuan and Tu generals in the camp these days, and knowing Yang Qingfu's preferences, he had specially collected a batch from the captured items. Although they were not particularly valuable, they were very thoughtful.

The previous report from the Fengxiang Army was obviously much more serious than Zhao Huaian thought. He had been wandering around in the rear these days. Although he had gained some things, they were not as much as he had gained from fighting.

Even though Zhao Huaian has been transferred back to the camp now, according to this trend, there will not be many major battles in the future.

This was secretly told to him by his chief secretary Zhang Guinian. This old guy is also good at using connections. During the days he returned to the camp, he used a lot of Baoyidu's resources and got to know many people in the shogunate.

Wang Duo, who is in charge of Zhao Huaian's finances, has mentioned this matter many times in the past few days. He said that the money and food in the army are all useful, but Zhang Guinian always comes to ask for money, but never mentions where it is used. This kind of atmosphere must not be allowed to continue.

Zhao Huaian supports Zhang Guinian in making friends because he understands better than anyone that a few words spoken by a few key people at a critical moment can determine your fate.

So this money cannot be saved.

But Zhao Huaian also knew that what Wang Duo said was right, so after thinking about it, he asked Zhang Guinian to ask Lao Liu for money later.

When starting a business, it is necessary to clearly separate public and private accounts, so after Zhao Huaian defeated Xianren Shu and made a lot of money, he began to separate the money.

The spoils captured by the army were still divided into three parts: one part was given to the superiors, one part was given to the subordinates, and the last part remained in the army. However, the profits from the business he did with the Shen Ce Army and several big local tyrants in western Sichuan, as well as the investments he made with the money from the military treasury, were all counted in his personal account.

Now the person in charge of Zhao Huaian's private accounts is Zhao Liu, while Lao Mo brings some of the former Tongshan Langs to take care of Zhao Huaian in his daily life.

After that, with the support of Zhao Huaian, Zhang Guinian's networking work went smoothly, and this investment soon paid off.

A clerk of the shogunate told Zhang Guinian a piece of news when he was handling the military letter from his superiors. That is, their Jiedushi Gao Pian had sent a letter to Chang'an, requesting that his own army and the Tianping, Zhaoyi, Yicheng and other armies, a total of 60,000 people, be mobilized to pursue Nanzhao and put an end to it once and for all.

This piece of news cost Zhang Guinian ten strings of cash, but it was well worth it.

He later analyzed to Zhao Huaian that Chang'an would not agree to this battle plan.

Because the ones in charge now are the husbands of the Northern Court, what they worry about most is the emergence of a high-ranking military general in the outer court, who will then cause a Dong Zhuo Rebellion for them.

Therefore, the Jiedushi's memorial would definitely not be approved, and he would be more likely to receive an imperial edict to cease fighting. So he told Zhao Huaian that the war would end soon.

He asked Zhao Huaian to think of some ways to seize an opportunity in the subsequent wars, otherwise it would be difficult for Zhao Huaian to climb up without any military merits.

After hearing the news, Zhao Huaian's first thought was that Zhang Guinian in front of him seemed to have a certain understanding of the operation of power in Chang'an. He was indeed worthy of being a person who had been to Beijing and taken the exam.

After sighing, Zhao Huaian followed suit and decided to start giving gifts to his boss.

Zhao Da had no moral burden when doing this, and he was so smooth and skilled that it made people feel distressed.

……

That night, Zhao Huaian came out of Yang Qingfu's tent with a tired look on his face.

She gave the leader gifts, drank wine, danced for him a few times, accompanied him throughout the whole process, and gave him enough emotional value. Even though he had plenty of physical energy, he was a little tired now.

But the result was good. Yang Qingfu agreed to fight tomorrow, but he would be the third in the siege.

This position cannot be said to be bad. After all, the first siege is not much different from suicide. But the third time you want to attack the city wall, the chance is not great either, so you still have to make things easier for those behind you.

Zhao Huaian didn't ask him who would be the fourth person to attack the city, but he guessed that it was most likely General Yang's son, Yang Shifan.

This Xiao Yang is the crimson-robed cavalry general who led Tujiang and Zhongwu to rescue Song Jian. He is now Tujiang's military commander and the direct superior of his elder brother.

This did not make Zhao Huaian feel too much emotion. After all, whoever sat in that position would let his son make achievements.

However, there is still a chance for a third siege. What if he is too fierce and the Nanzhao army in the city can't hold on and surrenders the city? There is nothing we can do about it, right?

Therefore, Zhao Huaian did not feel bad about being a pioneer at all, but instead returned to the camp happily.

After arriving at the big tent, Zhao Huaian saw Wang Li polishing his armor and praised him.

Wang Li is a talented kid. He can speak Tang language quite well in just over two months, and he has also mastered various martial arts well. He is a good prospect.

So Zhao Huaian wanted him to move around more often in various teams, build up interpersonal relationships, and pave the way for future promotion.

Zhao Huaian called Wang Li and asked him to call the leaders of each team to hold a pre-war mobilization meeting in his tent.

He needs to brainwash his brothers again, no, unify their pre-war thoughts and align the granularity.

(End of this chapter)