Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 45: Dexian (Thanks to the support of leader Kafka)
When Zhao Liu led his men to clean up the battlefield, Wang Duo also stood up with the help of several auxiliary soldiers.

After seeing Zhao Huaian, he ignored the pain in his body and hurried to Zhao Da's side, whispering:
"Lord Zhao, please do not open the baggage cart."

Zhao Huaian reacted immediately and called Aqi Mo over:
"Lao Mo, these five cars are now assigned to you. You must take good care of them and not allow anyone to approach."

Achimo nodded and quickly called over the people from Tongshan.

These people were previously slaves of the Tibetans. Although they also did some manual labor under Zhao Huaian's command, they already looked like human beings.

Living a decent life will make people full of energy and spirit. This time, under Aqi Mo's instructions, he worked diligently and responsibly, and really regarded "Baoyi" as his home.

They harnessed a cart, exchanged the original animals for well-rested ones from their own family, and quickly packed up the five donkey carts.

On the other side, Zhao Huaian also followed Wang Duo back to the overturned car. Old Wang took a look at the loyal servant who died tragically, sighed, and then pushed the body into the ravine.

Zhao Huaian wanted Lao Mo to prepare a straw mat, but Wang Duo shook his head:
"Everyone is dead, so let's leave the straw mat for the living."

Zhao Huaian glanced at Wang Duo. Although he disagreed, he still asked Lao Mo to put away the straw mat.

He saw that everyone had cleaned up the battlefield, but those four five-inch guys still wanted to chop off everyone's heads one by one, so he cursed:
"Be quick and throw away everything you can't take with you. If the Nanzhao soldiers catch up with you, you won't even have time to cry."

After hearing what Zhao Da said, those people gave up reluctantly.

On the other side of the forest, Fatty Dou's family generals also arrived with the remaining convoy. After the two sides met up, they continued to flee towards the north.

……

Lao Mo drove the donkey cart skillfully, while Niu Li beside him beat the small drum at his waist from time to time, causing some bandits hiding in the grass to look at each other in surprise.

They knew early on that the Tang army had suffered a defeat at Baizhu River, so they called their friends and rushed to the main road, ready to make a fortune.

But they did not dare to provoke this organized team in front of them. If they did not know that the Tang army was defeated, they would have thought that the team in front of them was returning victoriously.

How can you beat the drum while running for your life?

But these people didn't know that this was exactly what Hu Baoyi Zhao Da intended to do.

At this moment, he and Wang Duo were sitting cross-legged on the donkey cart. Although the ride was very bumpy, it did not affect their lively conversation at all.

Along the way, Zhao Huaian obtained more information from Wang Duo.

Wang Duo was a warehouse clerk under the Central Army Headquarters. He stayed in the camp before the war, so he didn't know why the war was lost so suddenly. But before escaping from the camp, he took the risk and ran to the watchtower to have a panoramic view of the battlefield situation.

He told Zhao Huaian that as the defense line collapsed, the East Sichuan Army went straight east, and then the West Sichuan Army, the Tujiang General, and the Zhongwu Army of the Central Army protected the Jiedushi's banner and retreated to the north, which was Zhao Huaian's route.

The remaining Yokono Army, Ganhua Army, Fengxiang Army, and Yicheng Army were deployed to the battlefield early, which was equivalent to retreating from the battlefield, and they had almost no organization.

But even though these people were defeated, they still ran north.

In other words, 60% of the nearly 20,000 troops in the Qiongzhou camp retreated northward to Chengdu.

So when Wang Duo observed the main force of the Nanzhao army on the opposite bank from the watchtower, he found that they had not moved out, but had sent a small number of cavalry to directly attack the central army's camp.

It is obvious that when the main force of the Tang army was defeated but not overthrown, the Nanzhao army valued the wealth in the camp more.

It was precisely because of this discovery that Wang Duo immediately led their Cangcao Si to prepare to flee.

While fleeing, everyone scattered, and only he escaped with a cart of military records from the military sergeant and five carts of military pay from their warehouse sergeant.

Yes, the five donkey carts of supplies that he asked Zhao Huaian not to open were nothing but the five carts of copper coins that were to be rewarded to the army.

At first, Zhao Huaian was very excited, but after listening carefully to what Wang Duo said, he realized that these five carts of copper coins were only about 900 strings of cash.

It was a lot of money, but not a huge amount. It was just the annual salary of less than fifty people, which could be exchanged for ten two-story houses in Chengdu.

Wang Duo told Zhao Huaian that the military registers he had snatched from the military sergeant were more important, because they contained detailed information about the officers and soldiers of each army. If they fell into the hands of the Nanzhao army, the consequences would be disastrous.

Zhao Huaian understood as soon as he heard this. This was the personnel file. If anyone in the future opened the box and found the information of the team, he would be sentenced to life imprisonment.

At this moment, Zhao Huaian felt a little admiration for Wang Duo. This man did not forget to take these things with him even when he was escaping, and these things were not part of his job. After all, he was just a person in charge of money and grain.

This is a big picture view.

But looking at the five carts of copper coins following behind, Zhao Huaian couldn't help but sigh. It was also Shi Nai'an who lied, telling the story of the clever capture of the birthday gift, saying that the 100,000-string birthday gift was pushed by Yang Zhi's cart and transported all the way to Daming.

My goodness, eight hundred strings of cash now is enough to support five donkey carts, so how much would ten thousand strings of cash be worth?

Thinking of this, Zhao Huaian truly understood the inconvenience of shopping in ancient times. If he bought a house, wouldn't he have to use a car to carry the money?
However, although the money was not as much as imagined, what Wang Duo said was at least good news.

That is, the Nanzhao army only had scattered warriors pursuing, and the main force did not move. In other words, this escape was not as dangerous as imagined.

Knowing this, Zhao Huaian asked Niu Li to beat the small drum all the way, both to intimidate the nearby bandits' sheds and to attract the scattered troops in the surrounding area.

Zhao Huaian’s method was indeed effective.

Along the way, he gradually absorbed more than a dozen stragglers, most of whom were from other local militias, and a small number were from the Yokono Army and the Yanhai Army.

These two armies were close to the Tutuan army and fled together. In this way, the troops retreated northward to Anren in the north.

This place was discussed between Xianyu Yue and him. If the battle in Qiongzhou was unfavorable, they would retreat to Anren and defend it.

……

But when Zhao Huaian told Wang Duo the destination, this local tax official became quite worried.

He told Zhao Huaian that there was only one passage from Yazhou and Qiongzhou to Chengdu, which was the passage they were fleeing on now. Moreover, because there were mountains on both sides, this section of the road was like a valley with an open trumpet.

The further northeast you go, the louder the horn becomes, until you enter the vast Chengdu Plain.

Therefore, the defense of western Sichuan against Nanzhao for decades was actually carried out along this Laba Channel. The most important of these were the Baizhu Water Defense Line and the Xiejiang Water Defense Line.

There is no need to mention the Baizhu River. The Tang army was defeated and scattered, so it was reasonable to retreat to the Xiejiang River defense line further northeast to resist step by step.

But Wang Duo told Zhao Huaian worriedly that according to his observation, the water in Xiejiang River could not be defended.

It turns out that unlike the Baizhu River, the channel blocked by the Xiejiang River is longer and wider, so that Anren alone cannot hold the defense line.

Xinjin, located in the southwest, jointly guards the river defense with Anren. Together with Anren, they form the southwest gate of Chengdu.

But four years ago, when the Nanzhao army invaded Chengdu, they broke through from Xinjin. This place had been looted and destroyed by the Nanzhao army four years ago, and the current governor Niu Cong only took office this year and had no time to repair it.

In other words, there is a huge loophole in the Xiejiang water defense line at Xinjin. Once Anren is really defended, the enemy army can directly cut off Anren's retreat once it breaks through Xinjin.

Moreover, Wang Duo told Zhao Huaian that even if they really wanted to defend Anren to the death, it would be meaningless because the Nanzhao army could still break through from Xinjin and attack Chengdu.

If you can't stop their tactical goals, what's the point of defending Anren?

Zhao Huaian was silent.

He was really at a loss. Just like what Wang Duo said just now, Zhao Da had no idea at all.

Although the sixth brother in his team was smart and capable, he was illiterate and could not read a single word, let alone his disciples.

So he really needs someone knowledgeable to help him.

And Wang Duo in front of us is the best candidate.

But now was not the time to discuss this. He thought about it and sincerely asked Wang Duo:

"Lord Wang, in your opinion, where should we run to?"

Wang Duo also had some understanding of Zhao Huaian's style. He knew that when he had something to do, he would call "Jun" and when he had nothing to do, he would call "Lao So-and-so".

But Wang Duo was not disgusted by it. Instead, he admired this childlike open-mindedness.

Listening to Zhao Huaian's sincere request for advice, Wang Duo did not dare to be arrogant at all. He knelt on the donkey cart and bowed deeply to Zhao Huaian:
"Lord Zhao, you saved my life. This favor is as heavy as a mountain. I will obey your orders."

When Zhao Huaian heard this, he understood that Wang Duo was determined to join him, and he was so happy that he didn't know where to put his hands.

He wanted to help Wang Duo, but stopped and also intervened to salute Wang Duo:

"Wang Jun, please help me in the future."

After saying that, he and Wang Duo bowed to each other, and then Zhao Da hugged Wang Duo in his arms. If he hadn't been rational, he would have wanted to kiss him.

It is a great joy to have a young and knowledgeable person join the team.

Zhao Huaian was not shy with Wang Duo and immediately asked for advice.

Wang Duo did not play tricks and directly suggested that Zhao Huaian collect all the defeated soldiers along the way and then head straight to Chengdu.

He told Zhao Huaian that although Jiedushi Niu Cong had not lost his main force in this battle, it was impossible for him to resist the Nanzhao army alone, so reinforcements from the court would arrive immediately.

Once the reinforcements arrived in Chengdu, according to past practice, the position of Jiedushi would be concurrently held by the marching commander.

In other words, once the reinforcements arrived in Chengdu, Jiedushi Niu Cong's position would come to an end, and it would be very dangerous for Zhao Huaian to keep his troops outside at that time.

Because his certificate of Baoyi Du was issued by Niu Cong with his signature, and he was directly under the jurisdiction of the Jiedushi, once Niu Cong fell, Zhao Huaian would easily become the target of purge by the new Jiedushi.

Therefore, Zhao Huaian had to go to Chengdu and use his relationship with the local wealthy Xianyu family to contact the new governor.

Zhao Huaian understood as soon as he heard this. It was the same positioning thing again.

But it turns out that returning to Chengdu was not to resist the Nanzhao army, but for intrigue.

People are already at the door, and we are still learning how to stand in line. With this, what hope is there for the Tang Dynasty?
However, Zhao Huaian was just complaining in his heart. He was not a fool and he understood that to do things, one must first be a good person.

With a sigh, Zhao Huaian could only accept the reality.

But at this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of armor colliding behind him. He turned around and saw a remnant of the army appear in front of him.

(End of this chapter)