Taiheiki

Chapter 75 Bargaining
"You are right, sir!" Zhao Yannian said with a smile, "According to my subordinates, you have a thousand men under your command. Leave two hundred to guard the home, and the remaining eight hundred will be divided into two groups, one on the left and one on the right. Each group will have a garrison. We will organize them accordingly!"

Wei Cong nodded without saying anything. Zhao Yannian's description of the Han army's typical organization at the time was a temporary general appointed as commander of an army, assisted by a chief secretary and a military officer. Each army was divided into various units, led by a colonel and a military officer. Each unit was divided into troop units, each led by a military officer, each consisting of 500 men. Each troop unit had a garrison commander, each consisting of 50 men. Given Wei Cong's current strength, he would normally have been given the rank of colonel or captain, and his troops would have been organized according to the Han army's "unit" level.

"Then I'll be the captain, you the military commander, and Wang Shou the chief secretary, leading two hundred men to guard the home. Wen Sheng and Liu Jiu will be the left and right marquises, respectively, with Chen Qi and Li He as their deputies!"

"What about the fifth climb?" Zhao Yannian asked.

"He will be the commander-in-chief of my account. I will select fifty veterans as elite soldiers, give them double pay, exempt them from their daily duties, and let him lead them!" Wei Cong said.

"Alright!" Zhao Yannian nodded. "What about the head of each troop?"

"The various military marquises will recommend you, and then I will make the decision!"

"understand!"

----------------

Ying Feng's gaze swept across Wei Cong's face, like a razor, making Wei Cong's hair stand on end. He knew his face was white and smooth, with few scars or even pimples, and it didn't look like he had just had chickenpox. But as long as he refused to admit it, the other party should be unable to do anything to him.

"Meng De, have you recovered from chickenpox?"

"Thank you, doctor, for your care. My illness has been cured!"

"That's good, that's good!" Ying Feng didn't ask any more questions. He extended his right hand and tapped the table beside him, motioning Wei Cong to sit down. "You should have heard about the situation in the south. Cai Buyi led his troops across the river, but was defeated by the bandits. Now the bandits are besieging Baqiu (Yueyang, Hunan). The situation is not good!"

"Baqiu is also under siege?" Wei Cong's face turned a little ugly. Baqiu is Yueyang, which is the confluence of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River. Once it falls into the hands of the rebels, it means that the Han army north of the Yangtze River will not be able to transport reinforcements by water to those strongholds connected to the Dongting Lake water system that are still held by the Han army; what's worse is that since Yunmengze still retained most of its water area during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the rebels can completely use those crude small boats to threaten the vast area from Suizhou in the north to Yichang in the west and the foothills of the Dabie Mountains east of Xiakou in the east, and the offensive and defensive situation will be completely reversed.

"Yes!" Ying Feng sighed. "We should have sent troops to rescue them immediately, but Feng Cheqi's troops have come from far away and are unfamiliar with the local climate. They need to rest for a while before they can go out to fight. But the military situation is extremely urgent, and the envoys from Baqiu are on the same route. Feng Cheqi is really in a difficult situation!"

"Bah! Nothing this guy says is true! I don't believe Feng Gun can't even spare a thousand men!" Wei Cong muttered inwardly. However, he also knew that with Ying Feng's status, he could easily be ordered to depart tomorrow with a single military order. He was simply being polite to him out of consideration for Deng Zhong. The best he could do was to use this courtesy to extract as much benefit as possible from Ying Feng.

"Doctor, do you want me to cross the river and take over from Cai Buyi to rescue Baqiu?"

"It's not me!" Ying Feng shook his head: "It's Feng Cheqi!"

"It doesn't matter. I don't dare ask Feng Gun in person anyway!" Wei Cong thought to himself, but said, "Since it's a military order, I will obey it. However, I have three requests that I would like to make. I hope the doctor will agree to them."

"Three?" Ying Feng laughed. "You have quite a big appetite! Well, tell me about it!"

"First, my soldiers are all newly recruited and have been hastily assembled. I hope to give them another seven days to prepare!"

"Seven days? Okay, I can agree to that!" Ying Feng said with a smile.

Wei Cong let out a long sigh, "The army is short of armor, weapons, and arrows, and the county arsenal has been sealed by Feng Cheqi. Could you please allocate a few hundred sets of armor and bows and crossbows?"

"That's impossible!" This time Ying Feng refused flatly: "I won't hide it from you. The armor, weapons, and arrows in the armory are all for the armies that will gather from all directions. Not a single suit of armor or crossbow can be moved. You don't have to worry too much. Ba Qiu also has an armory. Once you enter Ba Qiu City, you will naturally have armor and weapons."

"But Bachu has been surrounded by bandits! How can we escape without armor and crossbows?" Wei Cong said anxiously.

"Wei Mengde!" Ying Feng laughed. "You're a smart man, so don't play dumb. When you destroyed Zhang Bolu and occupied his Wubao, the treasury was yours. Don't tell me it only contained grain and cloth. Zhang Bolu has been rampant in Jiangbei for over a decade, and his warriors are renowned for their archery prowess. Furthermore, Cai Buyi said you're ingenious and skilled in bows and crossbows, and you've taken over twenty craftsmen from him. Adding to the Zhang family's original craftsmen, they haven't done anything these days? Of course, I won't be checking your farm to see if there's anything contraband, but don't treat me like a fool!"

Wei Cong was momentarily speechless by Ying Feng's barrage of questions. The Eastern Han Dynasty's stance on civilian weapons generally prohibited crossbows, but not bows, and strictly prohibited armor. Of course, for the powerful landowners of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, whose clans commanded thousands of followers and whose estates encompassed entire prefectures and counties, the government's weapons ban was little more than toilet paper. After all, the county officials were all their own children. Without their support, the prefects and county magistrates were powerless. But regardless, a ban was a ban. Someone like Wei Cong, crafting crossbows and armor in Wubao with hundreds of men, and preparing thousands of pieces of Maoyan wood for spear shafts, certainly couldn't afford to make a public argument.

"That's right, doctor!" Wei Cong laughed dryly. "I did make some armor and weapons, but that was also according to the prefect's orders to deal with the bandits in the county. Forget about the armor and crossbows, but at least we need some arrows! There's really no other way. We don't have enough manpower or materials. We don't need more, 50,000 will be enough!"

"Not fifty thousand, thirty thousand at most!"

"30,000 is fine!" Wei Cong knew when to stop, for him, every shot was a profit.

"What's your last request?" Seeing Wei Cong's understanding, Ying Feng smiled a little more. "I understand your difficulties. As long as it's not too unreasonable, I will report it to the general on your behalf!"

"I heard that the general recommended Cai Buyi as the commander of Jianwu. This time, I am sending troops to rescue Baqiu. I would like to ask the general to recommend me as the commander of the rebellion suppression team. After we cross the river, the remaining troops of Cai Buyi will also be under my command!"

"Suppressing Rebellion Captain, command the remaining troops of Cai Buzhi?" Ying Feng thought about it after hearing that, Captain or Commandant, they were all miscellaneous titles anyway, and at most the salary would be increased by two hundred stones. Suppressing Rebellion and Jianwu were just different names, no big deal; as for commanding the remaining troops of Cai Buzhi, Cai Buzhi himself was going to die, and those remaining troops would normally return to their hometowns after his death. It was Wei Cong's ability that he could eat them up.

"I can report this to the general on your behalf. It shouldn't be a big problem!" "Thank you very much, doctor!" Wei Cong bowed to express his gratitude.

"Meng De, there's no need to be so polite! Be careful when crossing the river to fight the enemy this time!" Ying Feng reached out and helped Wei Cong up.

"Thank you for your advice, Doctor!" Wei Cong stood up. "There are many things to do before we go out to fight. I'll take my leave now!"

"Meng De, be careful on your way!" Ying Feng escorted Wei Cong out the second gate and sighed as he watched him retreat. Ying Feng knew Wei Cong was a selfish man, but no matter what, he dared to cross the river with hundreds of newly recruited men to fight the bandits in such a critical situation. He was a man of courage and integrity. Compared to this, his own thoughts were much more sinister.

----------------

"Come here!" Wei Cong had just returned to the thieves' office and called the clerk on duty: "Go to the market and see if you see anyone selling bamboo hats, buy one!"

"Bamboo hat?"

"Yes, a hat made of old bamboo strips, or rattan. The sturdier and more durable the better! Let's go now! Also, find all the craftsmen in the city who sell bamboo hats and baskets and tell them I have business to take care of them!"

"Here!" The official was very efficient. In just a few moments, he returned with more than ten craftsmen and a large number of bamboo hats. Wei Cong sorted through the bamboo hats for a while and picked out the most sturdy and durable round hat. He then asked everyone, "Can you weave this?"

The craftsmen looked at each other in confusion. After a while, someone replied, "This isn't difficult. I can do it!"

"Okay, how much can you do in a day?" Wei Cong asked.

"Seven or eight should be no problem!"

"That's not enough, far from enough!" Wei Cong waved his hand and said, "How about this, a bamboo hat like this sells for fifteen cents on the market, I'll give you twenty, and you can take as many as you want!"

A blush flashed across the craftsmen's sallow faces, and one of them trembled as he asked, "Sir, are you serious? How many do you want?"

"Of course it's true. I can also prepay a deposit of 300 wen per person. You can use this money to buy raw materials and hire help! But the goods must be delivered within six days. I won't want them after six days! And the goods must be good. If they are not good, not only will I not pay you, I will even ask you for it!"

Upon hearing Wei Cong's willingness to pay the deposit, the craftsmen were overjoyed. They quickly collected their money, put their fingerprints on the contract, and then returned to work. Wei Cong fiddled with the bamboo hat. He remembered seeing migrant workers wearing bamboo safety helmets as a child. The difference between them and ordinary bamboo hats was that they had a steel frame inside to prevent them from being smashed. Since his army had few helmets, he wanted to get more of them. He would cover the outside of the hat with multiple layers of glued linen and reinforce it with iron beams and hoops. While it wouldn't compare to an iron or bronze helmet, it was much better than just wrapping a piece of cloth around the head.

Over the next few days, Wei Cong was like a spinning spiral, constantly busy for his small expeditionary force. Although Zhao Yannian and the others were veterans, they had spent their lives leading troops in battle and had never experienced such a task as managing military supplies, so they could only offer little help. However, according to Diwu Deng's private complaints: "Young Master, you're being too cautious. This isn't an army of tens of thousands, only around eight hundred in total. We're going by water, so we can just rob as many as we can. If that doesn't work out, we can eat clams and fish. Why bother preparing everything?" This is a war, not a picnic for a rich young man. If this were the case, ninety-nine percent of the wars in the world would be unwinnable."

Wei Cong certainly didn't know what his men were thinking. He counted on his fingers every day what was still missing and tried to make up for it before departure. Money was spent like water, and in return he got carts full of brand new helmets, vests, spears, blankets and other sundries. The new recruits were surprised to find that Shangguan had even provided them with leggings and shoes. This meticulous style made the soldiers whisper to each other and talk endlessly.

Camp.

"Brother, your family is a shoemaker. Look at these shoes, how much are they worth?" a rookie recruit asked his comrade next to him.

The person being questioned tugged at the hemp shoe's lugs with a knowledgeable air. "They're made of top-quality hemp, and the craftsmanship is excellent. A pair of these shoes would probably cost at least sixty or seventy wen on the market!"

"The military commander is really generous. He even gave us shoes! I didn't have such good shoes when I was a county soldier before!" Someone nearby interrupted while trying on the shoes.

"County soldiers? Bah! Not even dogs!" The leader of the team next to him cursed, "I'm telling you, follow this thief Cao Yuan and do your job well. No, he should be called Xiaowei Langjun now, and you'll have benefits! See me, a few months ago I was a refugee under the city of Xiangyang, with nothing but the clothes on my body and three feet of waist. Even a dog would bark at me. After I followed Langjun, I destroyed Zhang Bolu. Not to mention food, clothing and other expenses, I was also granted one mu of land for a house, thirty-five mu of farmland, fifteen mu of mulberry fields, and women! Forget being a county soldier. Even if I went to Luoyang to guard the emperor's gate, would I get such benefits?"

"And there are fields and houses? Is that true?"

"Thirty-five acres of farmland, fifteen acres of mulberry trees, and one acre of house land—that's a lot. My family of five only has a little more than half of this!"

"My family is a bit stronger, but it's limited! If I could get this much land and property, no, even just half, my family would be much better off!"

"If I had it, the daughter of Mr. Wang, the wealthy family at the entrance of the village, would definitely be willing to marry me!" Someone began to fantasize.

"Nonsense! They own fifty acres of land and one acre of land. They don't have parents-in-law to take care of, and they don't have younger brothers to support. With a family like this, as long as the man doesn't have any missing limbs, which woman wouldn't rush to marry him?"

"That's right, he is simply a living god! By the way, when will we be granted land and houses?" someone asked.

"You guys?" The captain laughed. "That's a nice thought. My land and property were earned with my life. If you want them, you have to fight for them too. Kill the bandits, gain military merit, and then you can have them. You're just daydreaming here. There's no land and property, only shit!"

(End of this chapter)