Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 274 Huang Chao Kills Dai Shou

"I shed blood for the Salt Commander, I rendered meritorious service to the Grass Army! You can't do this! I want to see Commander Chao!" Huo Cun vividly imitated the words of Dai Shou, the governor of Guizhou, before he was killed, to Zhu Wen.

Dai Shou was a veteran general in the rebel army. After the Battle of Guilin, he was left behind to guard the important city of Guilin, but he was summoned to Guangzhou by Huang Chao and executed not long ago.

When Huang Chao executed Dai Shou, he didn't even bother to look at Dai Shou, giving him no chance to plead for mercy.

Zhu Wen and Dai Shou weren't particularly close, but Zhu Wen had a strong impression of Dai Shou's younger brother, Dai Xiaolou. When Zhu Wen was being suppressed by "Heavenly Blade" Song Yang and nearly killed, Dai Xiaolou, along with his senior brother Meng Kai, saved his life. Unfortunately, not long after, Dai Xiaolou was killed by Xue Shuai Qi Kerang with a single sword strike.

The Dai brothers were old followers of Huang Chao when he was still a salt merchant, and were considered his confidants.

The killing of Dai Shou today has indeed sent shivers down the spines of the army.

But the reasons given are perfectly legitimate.

After Zhu Wen seized Fengzhou, Liu Qian, who had declared himself governor, fled into the mountains with only a few dozen close confidants.

The barbarian tribes in the mountains of Lingnan nominally submitted to the rule of the nomadic army, but in reality, they feigned compliance and provided Liu Qian with various conveniences.

There were other stubborn local bullies like Liu Qian who refused to cooperate with the rebel army and insisted on resisting under the banner of loyalty to the Tang Dynasty. They lurked in the mountains and dense forests, launching attacks in all directions and inciting the people to become enemies of the rebel army.

The actual damage caused by these people is limited, but it's like an ant biting someone, which is disheartening.

Huang Chao, a seasoned trader, quickly devised a plan. He sent messengers to inform the barbarian tribes in the mountains that he was willing to lower the price of salt he sold to them, hoping that the tribesmen would bind and capture these fierce and unruly men who resisted the righteous army and hand them over to the rebel army.

The Man Liao people, living in the mountains, also needed to exchange goods with the Han people outside the mountains in order to survive.

Huang Chao used the low price of salt as bait, which quickly persuaded a large number of chieftains. They captured the anti-bandit forces that they had previously protected and handed them over to the rebel army in exchange for a discount on the price of salt.

After these die-hards were escorted to Guangzhou, the ringleader was dismembered and the rest were beheaded as a warning to others.

However, Liu Qian was quite alert. He keenly sensed the chieftain's murderous intent at the dinner table, took the initiative, drew his sword and stabbed the chieftain, and then took advantage of the chaos to escape with his entourage.

These dozens of people fled north and, upon reaching the territory of Guizhou, encountered hundreds of deserters.

It turned out that Xin Dang, the military governor of Lingnan West Circuit, had been seriously injured by Meng Kai and had recently died of illness. The newly elected acting governor lacked the prestige to win over the people, so he surrendered the lands of Yongguan and Rongguan to Huang Chao, and the land of Jiaozhou also surrendered to the rebel army.

Only then did the rebel army truly occupy all five regions of Lingnan.

However, several hundred northern soldiers opposed surrendering to the rebel army, and having been stationed there for a long time, they were homesick and seized a batch of supplies before fleeing north.

They ran right into Liu Qian, and the two joined forces.

After discussing it, both sides discovered that Dai Shou was stationed in Guilin and that the city's defenses were lax.

Liu Qian devised a clever plan: he entered the city under cover of night, set fire to the city with the wind at his back, and looted the treasury.

Caught off guard by the attack of several hundred men, Dai Shou abandoned the city and fled. Liu Qian and his men looted a large amount of gold and jewels from the treasury, burned all the grain, armor, and weapons, and fled north of the Five Ridges.

Only then did Dai Shou realize that the enemy soldiers numbered only a few hundred.

Guilin suffered this calamity, with countless houses burned down and more than three thousand soldiers and civilians killed.

Now that the Grass Army has taken over Lingnan affairs and has transformed from disruptors of order to maintainers, Liu Qian's outburst is bound to damage their reputation.

In ancient times, Zhuge Liang executed Ma Su, and Huang Chao executed such defeated generals—it was only natural.

“Dai Shou was usually a cautious and meticulous person, but I never expected him to be so lax in guarding Guilin.” Zhu Wen sighed, “He’s made such a huge mess, it would be hard to justify not killing him.”

Huo Cun's tone suddenly became somewhat hesitant: "Boss, if I suffer a major defeat, will you still execute me?"

Zhu Wen's mind raced.

He was still a young man and couldn't utter such cold words as "We'll drink from the same golden cup, but we'll show no mercy to each other with a sharp blade" from later generations.

Huo Cun was his confidant, so Zhu Wen naturally wanted to reassure him: "Last time, you abandoned Military Advisor Lan at Mount Tai and returned to fight alone, which nearly led to Military Advisor Lan falling into the hands of that woman Chen Liqing. I only gave you three lashes for that. I don't think you'll make a bigger mistake in the future." Huo Cun immediately declared: "In the past, I was greedy for merit and acted recklessly, almost causing a major error. There will never be anything like that again!"

Zhu Wen nodded. Although Huo Cun was brave, he was also shrewd and would learn from his mistakes. As the saying goes, "Use people like tools, each according to their strengths." In the future, let him play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, and he won't cause any trouble.

Huo Cun added, "Although Commander Huang was furious, many people pleaded for Dai Shou's life. They said that Liu Qian was inherently cunning and difficult to deal with, and Dai Shou had past military achievements, so he should be allowed to atone for his crimes. In any case, Dai Shou had been a veteran who had followed Commander Huang for decades."

Zhu Wen knew that Liu Qian was a formidable opponent. In the final stage of the Battle of Guangzhou, Meng Kai's deputy general Peng Baiwu led more than a thousand elite militia to intercept Liu Qian's breakout attempt. However, Liu Qian broke through the encirclement with only a hundred cavalrymen and killed more than sixty of them.

The rebel army occupied Lingnan for several months, yet Liu Qian still refused to surrender and persisted in fighting the rebels, demonstrating his unwavering resolve. Such a local strongman likely didn't have any loyalty to the Tang Dynasty; he simply had far-reaching ambitions.

Dai Shou had never committed any major offenses in the past, but he was no match for Liu Qian. Coupled with his carelessness, it's not surprising that he was beaten so badly by Liu Qian.

However, the phrase "decades" mentioned by Huo Cun suddenly made Zhu Wen feel a pang of emotion, and he even felt a sense of shared sorrow for the passing of his comrade.

Zhu Wen realized that Dai Shou had been following Huang Chao for so long, perhaps even longer than he himself.

In the past, Huang Chao must have patted him on the shoulder and affectionately called him brother.

Zhu Wen heard that when Huang Chao was young, he killed his "brother" and then wiped out his master Nie Feng's entire family in revenge. Huang Chao was also seriously injured at the time and almost lost his life.

This also happened before Zhu Wen was born.

He could imagine the despair and resentment that welled up in Dai Shou's heart as he recalled the days when the Salt Commander and he were like brothers, drinking together in golden goblets, before the executioner's blade fell, and his final, desperate roar.

Huo Cun added, "Many of the generals felt that Dai Shou's crime did not warrant death, and that if it were Alliance Leader Wang who encountered such a situation, he would certainly spare Dai Shou's life."

Zhu Wen said, "But someone like Alliance Leader Wang is not suited to contend for supremacy."

Huo Cun thought for a moment and nodded: "Boss, you're right."

Everyone knows that Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi were childhood friends who had shared life and death experiences.

But they are actually two different types of people.

As the leader of the Zhenyi Alliance, Wang Xianzhi has always been known for his loyalty and righteousness, and he believes that brotherhood is the highest virtue in the martial arts world.

The Zhenyi Alliance was an ember of the Wagang Army, and its leader, Li Mi, the Prince of Wei, was known for his loyalty. He never put on airs as a lord, treating his generals like true brothers, eating meat heartily, drinking wine from large bowls, and dividing gold and silver by the scale.

Aside from the conflict between Wei King Li Mi and his former Wagang leader Zhai Rang in order to consolidate power, Wei King Li Mi never executed any of his generals, even when they were defeated.

This sense of brotherhood and loyalty once enabled Wagang to grow rapidly. However, when an unexpected defeat led to the wives and children of many generals falling into the hands of Wang Shichong, the lack of a strict master-servant relationship plunged Wagang into a great predicament.

What reason could the King of Wei, a man of great loyalty and righteousness, have to make his brothers disregard the lives of their parents, wives, and children?
When the brothers left in tears and joined the camp of the warlord Wang Shichong, the once illustrious Wagang heroes crumbled.

Alliance Leader Wang Xianzhi, facing a deadly trap set by Marshal Zhen Ranyu during the Battle of Qizhou, also chose to die a martyr so that more young people could survive. Otherwise, with his skills, escaping would not have been difficult.

For Huang Chao, the chivalrous spirit of valuing righteousness over life was merely a phase in his life.

His strict discipline of the army since the uprising has long shown that his style is very different from that of Wang Xianzhi.

Knowing that killing Dai Shou would cause dissent among some soldiers, he still had to kill him.

Those in positions of power must not only inspire respect and love, but also fear.

Because Dai Shou was a long-time comrade, punishing him according to the law after he made a mistake was the only way to establish authority.

Huang Chao was gradually transforming from a leader of a band of outlaws into a powerful and cunning ruler of a regular military group.

Of course, the saying goes, "the victor is king, the loser is villain." If Huang Chao had failed, such acts of execution would have been seen as unjustly killing loyal officials and crippling his own power. History is full of such instances, and it's nothing more than historians reversing cause and effect.

(End of this chapter)