Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 38 Preparation (Thanks to the Alliance Leader for the Rings of Growth)
When Zhao Huaian was beaming with joy, Wang Duo came over with a book and said:

"General Zhao, here is another tax book. We need to inspect and verify it, and we also need to sign it."

Zhao Huaian agreed repeatedly, picked up the iron seal that had just been issued along with the certificate, and stamped it on the previous baggage list. Then he picked up the money and grain list and took a closer look.

The above records the money and food expenses of Baoyi City for one month, including 100 pieces of cloth, various kinds of rice such as millet, barley, wheat, buckwheat, soybeans, red beans, peas, hemp, and sorghum, totaling 60 dan.

Of course, the calculation here is based on rice. In fact, the amount of these miscellaneous grains is more than 60 dan.

While Zhao Huaian was watching, Wang Duo was explaining beside him.

He started by talking about the conversion of various types of rice, the monthly food consumption of each soldier, and the money, food and salaries.

But Zhao Huaian was not good at mental arithmetic. He just estimated the supplies and told Wang Duo the amount of food each person would need, which stunned Wang Duo.

He didn't expect that this rough and uncouth guy in front of him had such an amazing level of mental arithmetic, and he actually felt a bit of a good impression of him.

But what surprised him even more was Zhao Huaian's next words. Zhao Huaian thought for a moment and said:
"Compared to the treatment of our own army, each Tang soldier receives twelve bolts of silk per year and one dan of millet per month, which adds up to twelve dan per year. At the market price of fifty wen per dou of millet, these twelve dan are six strings of cash. At the high price of one hundred wen, this adds up to twelve strings of cash. Add to that the eight hundred wen per bolt of silk, and twelve bolts of cloth add up to nearly ten strings of cash. In other words, it takes twenty strings of cash to support the troops for a year."

Wang Duo remained silent, not knowing what Zhao Huaian meant by asking this.

Then I heard Zhao Huaian say the key point:
"How many soldiers do we have in western Sichuan? They must have spent a lot of money and food this year."

Wang Duo glanced at Zhao Huaian. Although he couldn't figure out what he meant, he still explained:
"According to the military register, we have 50,000 soldiers in western Sichuan. So, if we base our military expenditure on 20 strings of cash per year, that would cost us one million strings of cash per year. And the taxes in western Sichuan are 1.8 million strings of cash per year. Of course, whether we actually have 50,000 soldiers or not is beyond my control."

Zhao Huaian looked at Wang Duo. This minor military official in front of him did have something special.

He only probed him a little, and this man was able to accurately tell the amount of money and grain in western Sichuan, which showed that he was very skilled in his business.

Zhao Huaian was also thinking about this.

From the situations of these hundred people, he could roughly understand the financial situation of the Tang Dynasty.

Although the situation in other vassal states is unclear, the military expenditure in one place accounts for two-thirds of the total income, which can no longer be described as warmongering.

Then each Jiedushi also has to maintain his own soldiers, and these people are all given generous gifts and rewards every year. If this continues, how much money will the local vassal states have left?
And this is just the supply for this vassal state. If we add the exit fees for the foreign vassal soldiers that Ren Conghai just mentioned, these people are all directly funded by the Chang'an court, which is another huge amount of money.

The current Tang Dynasty basically spends all its money to support these vassal soldiers. Once an accident occurs and the finances collapse, the Tang Dynasty will be doomed immediately.

This is data, and a country’s current and future are all contained in it.

Apart from people in later generations like Zhao Huaian, perhaps the only people who can see the danger from these data are front-line financial staff like Wang Duo.

Wang Duo is a talented person. Zhao Huaian couldn't help but chat with him more. Wang Duo didn't seem to be on guard against Zhao Huaian. As long as Zhao Da asked, he would answer.

For example, the imperial court's annual tax revenue was 30 million strings of cash, of which more than 2.5 million strings were provided to the vassal states, and the remaining more than 9.5 million strings were provided to the capital.

The 250,000-odd strings of cash provided to the foreign vassals were used to support 800,000 soldiers. But how many households were there in the world? Hardly more than 350,000, meaning three households supported one soldier.

Wang Duo was just describing the situation, but he didn't mention the consequences of this situation. However, Zhao Huaian understood what he meant, which was that the Tang Dynasty had long been unable to make ends meet and was truly in danger.

Thinking of this, Zhao Huaian suddenly asked Wang Duo:

"Have you ever heard of Huang Chao, Lord?"

Wang Duo thought about it seriously and shook his head.

I don’t know why, but ever since Zhao Huaian and Wang Duo checked their accounts, they seemed to have a tacit understanding. Perhaps it’s because they are the rare sober people in this chaotic era.

However, Zhao Huaian thought about it and felt that it was not right. Anyone with a little knowledge should know the current situation of the Tang Dynasty.

Before this, his good elder brother Xianyu Yue had lamented with him about the flood and drought disasters in the Central Plains and was worried about the world, while Wang Duo, a small financial official, saw the crisis of the Tang Dynasty from the account figures. Each of them came to the same conclusion in their respective positions.

The Tang Dynasty is in danger!

However, for such an outcome, sober people either don’t care or are happy to see it happen.

Most of them are silent like Wang Duo. They see the building is about to collapse, but they still keep their heads down and go with the flow.

It seems that there is not a single loyal minister who is truly willing to save the country.

However, even if the Tang Dynasty was really in danger, it would still be a long process, and it was Huang Chao who really led the Tang Dynasty to destruction.

But Zhao Huaian had been in Qiongzhou for so many days and knew many people, including well-informed people like Fatty Dou, but no one said they knew him.

Could it be that Huang Chao hadn't been born yet? If so, the Tang Dynasty might have survived for a while.

Of course, it could also be that Shu was isolated from information. Perhaps someone like Song Shijun might know about Huang Chao. If even they didn't know, Zhao Huaian needed to carefully plan for the future. With or without Huang Chao, the development path was completely different, and this was something Zhao Huaian couldn't help but pay attention to.

Zhao Huaian silently put the search for information about Huang Chao at the back of his priority list, and then invited Wang Duo and Ren Conghai to have a drink.

……

Ren Conghai was already drunk, and now he sat down next to Zhao Huaian in a daze. The dishes were simple, but they chatted very well.

Especially Zhao Huaian and Wang Duo, they talked a lot about mathematical techniques. Wang Duo even asked Zhao Huaian a difficult question, which was how to measure the area of ​​an irregular piece of land. This was the biggest headache for them, the clerks who measured the land.

Zhao Huaian was having a great time chatting, and waved his hand:
"What's so difficult about this?"

After that, he dipped his hand in the wine and taught Wang Duo how to use calculus to calculate the area of ​​irregular shapes.

This move amazed Wang Duo. He had also thought about dividing the land into pieces and then calculating the total, but he had never thought that there was a tool algorithm that could directly calculate the sum after division.

At this moment, in Wang Duo's heart, Zhao Huaian was as tall as a three-story earthen building.

Zhao Da is really tall!
On the other side, Zhao Huaian did not neglect Ren Conghai. He kept asking Ren Conghai about some situations in the navy, such as which brave generals were there in western Sichuan, and how strong were the foreign soldiers.

Ren Conghai suddenly came to his senses in response to Zhao Huaian's questions. He pointed at Zhao Huaian and said jokingly:
"Zhao Da, Zhao Da, are you trying to spy on the troops, or are you trying to spy on a judge? What's your intention?"

Zhao Huaian was also drunk, hugging Ren Conghai and looking at him sideways:

"Old Ren, we are a family and we should keep our distance. We are about to go to war. I don't know the combat capabilities and personalities of the various armies. What if I get betrayed on the battlefield?"

Ren Conghai stopped talking. He glanced at Wang Duo opposite him and saw that he was already sleeping on the mat. Then he asked in a low voice:
"Zhao Da, you really have the favor of Envoy Song. I only found out about the battle today, but I never thought you already knew."

Seeing that Zhao Haian really had a powerful background, Ren Conghai no longer concealed anything and began to tell him everything he knew about the various armies.

Especially when talking about the East Sichuan Army, Ren Conghai pointedly reminded:
"If you encounter them on the battlefield, be careful."

Zhao Huaian smiled but said nothing.

After drinking for a while, Ren Conghai suddenly stood up and clasped his fists towards Zhao Huaian:
"Zhao Da, thank you for your hospitality, but I, Lao Ren, have some official business to attend to today, so let's stop here for today."

Zhao Huaian was surprised and thought, what else could you do besides giving me a certificate and coming to my place for a drink?

But since the other party said so, Zhao Huaian still got up and sent Ren Conghai out of the tent, and then came back to call everyone to discuss things.

Seeing that Wang Duo was drunk, he asked Lao Mo to take him to the back of the tent to rest, and then he moved to another tent and called everyone to discuss matters.

Soon, all the disciples and leaders gathered in the tent, and more than a dozen people filled the tent.

When everyone gathered, Zhao Huaian told them three things.

One is about logistics supply. Now a large amount of supplies have been delivered to the camp, and these things must be distributed to everyone as soon as possible, especially the bows and crossbows. We must familiarize ourselves with them and form combat effectiveness.

Then comes the reorganization. Now that we have the military name "Bao Yi Du", the corresponding flags and positions must be established.

Except for himself, the original eight captains were directly appointed as cooks, and then given different titles.

The eight groups were divided into left and right, with the left being one, two, three, and four, and the right being one, two, three, and four. The left wing received flags of black, red, blue, and white, depicting bears. The right wing also received these four colors, with a flag depicting wolves.

Zhao Huaian's own group had a yellowish-brown flag with a tiger image on it.

Once the flags are separated, the affiliations of each group become clear at a glance.

The last thing Zhao Huaian talked about was training.

Before this, Zhao Hai'an had asked Lu Zhongyuan and other guards to train everyone in martial arts and weapons, but they had never learned how to fight with flags and drums.

Now that the organization has been determined and the drums, gongs and flags are ready, it is time for training.

There are still two days left before the battle, and time is very tight. Fortunately, there are not many of them, and a large number of them are veterans, so it is not difficult to learn the drums and gongs clearly.

The leaders were all very confident at the moment. They had just established their military rank and received promotions. Everyone felt that there was hope in the future, so they were all eager to work hard.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the military tent, followed by loud crying, and then countless people shouting. The scene was very chaotic.

Everyone was stunned. What happened next?

(End of this chapter)