Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 237 Territorial Protection
Huang Chao's words immediately shut down any pretext Huang Haishan might use to launch an attack.

Although the Guangzhou navy is strong, Li Tiao's main force lacks elite land troops. If they do not receive reinforcements, it is only a matter of time before the city falls.

Huang Haishan cupped his hands and said, "If the righteous army can capture Guangzhou and kill Li Tiao, we will follow the lead of the Salt Commander."

This is actually a pointless statement.

If the rebel army captures Guangzhou and kills Li Tiao, and the powerful families of Lingnan do not pledge allegiance to Huang Chao, what right do they have to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty?
In any case, Huang Haishan has at least made his position clear.

Huang Chao revealed a satisfied expression and then said, "Do you all know why the old traitor Li Tiao makes such a heavy use of the Hu people?"

"He's just doing this for his own selfish gain!" one of the family heads said indignantly, clenching his fist.

The powerful clans of Gaoliang often possessed a dual identity as both Han Chinese and Man Liao.

Li Tiao's preferential policies towards Hu merchants, however, harmed their interests.

The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is in turmoil, all for gain. On this issue, they support Cao Jun in eliminating Li Tiao.

However, they still had doubts about the bandit army's ability to attack strongholds, and hoped to obtain greater autonomy from Huang Chao.

"Why is it that employing Chinese talents is less profitable than employing foreign merchants?"

Upon hearing Huang Chao's words, the heads of the various clans exchanged bewildered glances.

The Tang Dynasty was a vast and resource-rich land. Were the Tang people really less capable of doing business than those Arab foreigners?
Seeing them whispering and discussing amongst themselves, yet unable to offer a convincing answer, Huang Chao slowly said, "Let me give you the answer. The Central Plains have three major exports to the Western Kingdom: tea, silk, and porcelain. The Central Plains also have three major imports: spices, jewelry, and medicinal herbs."

"Tea, silk, and porcelain are not famous products of Lingnan, and local merchants cannot supply them in large quantities. Li Tiao naturally does not need to rely on the locals. Appointing trusted confidants to make unified purchases north of the Five Ridges will be more effective in diverting profits from a single source."

Huang Chao came from a salt merchant family, and his business acumen far surpassed that of these family heads. He pointed out the crux of the matter in a single sentence.

Feng Cheng, the head of the Feng family, interjected, "Spices, jewelry, and medicinal herbs are all famous products of the Arab world. As long as we win over the Arab merchants, we can efficiently acquire these three types of goods."

Once the rebel army breaches the city, they will certainly deal with those barbarian merchants; that's a foregone conclusion. However, plundering the barbarian merchants is only a temporary gain, and it won't benefit the heads of the various households. If Huang Chao wants the heads of the various households to submit, he needs to come up with a plan for everyone to get rich together.

The head of the Tan family looked troubled: "Silk, tea, and porcelain are easy to produce, but difficult to make them exquisite. Our Lingnan artisans lack sufficient experience; how can we produce top-quality goods in such a short time?"

Huang Chao blinked, a sly glint in his eyes: "You guys are too honest! Can a mega-port like Guangzhou be rebuilt in the north in a short time? If we reduce the flow of goods from Lingbei, will foreign merchants stop buying them?"

This is a fairly simple principle.

The demand for Tang Dynasty silk, tea, and porcelain from Western countries such as Arabia was relatively stable because they did not produce these items.

Even after Huang Chao entered Guangzhou and dealt with the foreign merchants who relied on Li Tiao to act arrogantly, as long as the demand for Tang goods from Western dignitaries did not disappear, a new wave of foreign merchants would travel thousands of miles to bring Tang goods back to their homelands.

Li Tiao encouraged his subordinates to purchase high-quality goods from north of the Five Ridges because this would fetch higher prices. Meanwhile, the Guangzhou Maritime Trade Office also collected a considerable commission.

Even if the quality of the goods declines, Western countries will still have to buy them, only at a lower price. However, the profits from exports will largely benefit the local population.

The head of the Cen family slapped his thigh, a look of sudden realization on his face: "General Huang's words have truly awakened me from my dream! Our Lingnan porcelain production is also quite large-scale. We have also privately sought to trade with foreign merchants, but the quality is simply not comparable to famous kilns like Jun and Xing. But if we cut off the porcelain supply from the north, wouldn't the foreign ships only be able to buy our local goods?"

Huang Chao's idea, in later generations, would be called local protectionism. At that time, this concept was quite advanced; it was something these local tyrants from Lingnan could never have come up with.

No merchant is without cunning. Huang Chao, who came from a merchant background, was not only more ruthless with his sword than those arrogant and domineering foreign merchants, but also more cunning.

Seeing the joy on the faces of the clan leaders, Huang Chao sighed, "There is still a difficult problem at hand."

With such a huge windfall right in front of him, even Huang Haishan, who had previously been so aggressive, was itching to get his hands on it: "Salt Commander, if you have any difficulties, just tell me."

"If we cut off most of the goods coming from the north, how easy will it be to fill the gap locally? Do you all know how dangerous the roads are to Guangzhou, and how many people in your territories are skilled in this way?"

These words revealed the true intentions behind the attack.

Looking at the hesitant clan leaders, Huang Chao smiled and said, "From this perspective, isn't education of the utmost importance?"

Relying on his powerful navy, Li Tiao had always dealt swiftly with the local tyrants of Lingnan who bypassed Guangzhou to conduct business on their own.

Although Huang Chao promised to provide great benefits to the powerful clans through local protection, he would never open that door.

Transporting goods requires wide and unobstructed roads, but if the roads are unobstructed, it will also be easier to attack the territories of powerful clans.

And to cultivate more technical talents who can produce silk, tea and porcelain—not to mention, the technical knowledge involved is all written in Chinese books.

It was quite troublesome to have the invited Han Chinese teachers learn the local language and then teach it to the local people. Some of the terminology could also lead to inaccuracies in the translation.

For centuries, Western countries have struggled to learn the silk, tea, and porcelain production techniques of the Tang Dynasty, with language barriers being a key factor. It's important to understand that these techniques involved a complex and intricate system, unlike papermaking, which could be easily learned by simply grabbing a few craftsmen.

Only by allowing some of the people to learn Chinese language and characters can the powerful clans gain greater benefits from this game of wealth.

They will gradually lose the capital to establish their own independent regimes, generation after generation, and eventually become no different from the Han people from top to bottom.

Although Huang Chao was well-read, he was a businessman at heart and would never utter such a pedantic saying as "a gentleman does not speak of profit."

If you want others to join you, you must offer sufficiently attractive benefits.

Huang Chao was fully aware of the final choices made by the various clan leaders.

A Western king in later times famously said, "After me, the flood will come."

For the heads of the families, what matters many generations from now cannot compare to the immediate windfall profits?

Huang Chao did not hope to completely eliminate the independence of the powerful clans of Gaoliang in his generation.

But just like the construction of the Xianxia Road into Fujian, this strategy can not only bind the major clans to the bandit army in the present, but also benefit future generations.

Once the door to acculturation is opened, it is difficult to close it again. The endless stream of wealth will allow generations of powerful clan leaders to continue drinking poison to quench their thirst.

When their subjects become indistinguishable from the Han people registered as commoners, that will be the time when these powerful clans decline.

(End of this chapter)