Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 56 Wentong

That night, Baoyi was singing and laughing in the village. Zhao Huaian personally gave swords to some outstanding warriors and divided these warriors into a separate team called "Bashan".

These warriors bowed down one after another, admiring General Yu's heroism.

Although many brave warriors emerged in this battle, especially Wang Jin, who was an unparalleled martial artist, the person that the officers and soldiers admired the most was Zhao Huaian.

There is no other reason. As a general, you should lead by example. That is your greatest charm.

Among these people, some were from previous units, but more were recruited in Shuangliu, so Zhao Huaian didn’t know many of them.

But Zhao Huaian was very outgoing and asked everyone's name enthusiastically, and made all kinds of jokes with these soldiers.

These warriors shouted and cheered for their general.

But they were naive and didn't know that although Zhao Huaian was strengthening the warriors, he was more focused on breaking up and drawing out the elite troops in the capital.

Today, Zhao Huaian has the Beiwei, Xianzhen, and Tuqi troops directly under his command, as well as the newly built "Bashan" unit which was built by recruiting meritorious warriors.

There are a total of 800 officers and soldiers, and Zhao Huaian himself controls 200 of them, all of whom are the core of the military force. It can be said that it is this method of drawing warriors from various teams that greatly enhances his control over the team.

This was actually learned from Chai Rong in later generations. This old guy drew elite troops from various vassal states to form the imperial guards, which improved the centralization of power.

Now Zhao Huaian is just standing on the shoulders of future generations and trying out his own skills.

Because it was still wartime, Zhao Huaian did not put out any wine. He was also an old alcoholic and knew what these soldiers wanted, but it was really not possible now.

Even though you have achieved some small results, it is far from the time to slack off. War is always changing. The winner today may lose everything tomorrow.

Isn't that the case with Zhao Huaian himself? From the beginning with just one knife to the present eight hundred moves, isn't it all thanks to his several night raids that he made a fortune?
In the past, he could attack others at night, but tomorrow some young people will be unethical and attack him, an old senior.

So even though Zhao Huaian wanted to drink with everyone again, he still restrained himself. However, fearing that these soldiers might do something wrong, Zhao Huaian publicly promised that after returning to Chengdu after the war, he would take all of them to a tavern for good food and drinks.

As a result, everyone in Baoyi City applauded and praised:

"We will all be true and righteous."

Yes, providing wine and food and getting along well with them, that is true heroism.

The "getting along with everyone" here is really in the literal sense, because any martial artist who has a skill in his hands tends to be arrogant, not to mention the current environment, where everything is inferior except martial arts.

So when Zhao Huaian was recruiting these defeated soldiers and brave men in Shuangliu, he directly planted a flag in front of everyone, with a box of copper coins next to it.

As for why it wasn't silver ingots, it was because copper coins seemed more plentiful.

Zhao Huaian told them that whoever could defeat him with his bare hands would not only be rewarded as a team leader, but also receive the box of copper coins next to him.

But unfortunately, Zhao Huaian beat ten of them in succession, shocking the whole audience, and they all fell to the ground and behaved obediently.

In the past, Zhao Huaian would never be so rude, but would slowly win over these people with his personal charm.

But unfortunately, although the time in the Tang Dynasty was not long, it profoundly changed Zhao Huaian's behavior pattern.

He understood that these soldiers believed this!

Wine, meat, money, women, and future, none of them can be missing. If you are missing one of them, your head might be chopped off in the middle of the night.

Let me tell you something that others don't know, but since these defeated soldiers were organized into Baoyi City, he has let several of his disciples and adopted sons take turns sleeping in the tent.

Zhao Da even exchanged mats with Lao Liu and let Lao Liu sleep on his couch.

Yes, when Zhao Huaian gets angry, he is really a piece of shit.

But only in this way can he sleep peacefully.

Why are these defeated soldiers so arrogant? Isn't it because they think they have the upper hand and are justified?

Okay, since these people only recognize this, Zhao Huaian will play with this.

Not only in terms of fists and feet, Zhao Da wants to be the most powerful, but also in terms of logic, he wants to be the biggest.

These complicated thoughts just flashed through his mind. Seeing Lao Liu go to the toilet again, Zhao Huaian laughed loudly:
"Brothers, go back to Chengdu and find two sets of kidneys for your Sixth Master. A man should be strong!"

The soldiers laughed and shouted around the campfire:

"Sixth Master, be tough!"

The air was filled with the smell of joy, only our sixth brother had a gloomy face and cursed "coward"!
So the soldiers laughed even more happily.

……

The next day, the Baoyi soldiers in Jinma Village finally saw the Tang army coming from Shuangliu.

However, unlike what Zhao Huaian thought when he saw the Tang army winning, these Tang troops leaving the city looked a bit dusty and disgraced.

Just when everyone was surprised and puzzled, a group of Tang soldiers suddenly changed their route and headed straight for Jinma Village.

Then, a man named Song Wentong, who claimed to be a general of the Shen Ce Army, asked to see Zhao Huaian.

Zhao Huaian was puzzled. He didn't know anyone in the Shen Ce Army. When he was drinking with Li Shitai and the others, he heard them talk about these Shen Ce Army. These people were not the ones who came to aid Chengdu four years ago, but the guards who escorted the military supervisor Zhou Congyu into Chengdu.

That was also the first time Zhao Huaian knew that those eunuchs actually had military power when they arrived in the local area. No wonder there were three giants.

But Li Shitai commented:
"Bullshit emperor's personal army, which big battle in recent years wasn't fought by us, the vassal states in the Central Plains? Those Chang'an lords have long been rotten, only those military towns in the northwest still have elite soldiers." Zhao Huaian had never seen the Shen Ce Army, so he could only listen to what Li Shitai said, but no matter what, it was an indisputable fact that they had a background.

So Zhao Huaian called Chen Fahai over. This old man was from the Shen Ce Army.

But when Zhao Huaian asked Chen Fahai if he had ever heard of a person named Song Wentong, Chen Fahai just shook his head. He told Zhao Da that everyone in the Shen Ce Army was a general from generation to generation, and he really had never heard of a person named Song Wentong.

Hearing this, Zhao Huaian became alert. Could it be that the guy surnamed Song was so bold as to pretend to be a member of the Shen Ce Army and come to him to ask for money?

Thinking of the many people in later generations who pretended to be secretaries of big leaders and cheated people, Zhao Huaian became suspicious.

He had Song Wentong brought in, preparing to give this ancestor of the Tang Dynasty a good "entertainment".

……

Here, Zhao Huaian was instructing Zhao Liu and the others to listen for him to smash the cup as a signal, and then rush in and tie up the man surnamed Song.

Over there, Niu Li ran over and said that Song Wentong came in alone on the hanging basket.

Zhao Huaian was waiting for him in the big tent. After a while, Niu Li led a strong man with a red headband in. At the first sight, Zhao Huaian was shocked. The boy in front of him was as handsome as him, Zhao Da, and full of heroic spirit.

They entered the tent, but our Zhao Da was still sitting on the mat, with no intention of getting up.

Song Wentong was not in a hurry, nor did he feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he bowed solemnly to Zhao Huaian:
"Meet General Zhao."

Then, without waiting for Zhao Huaian to speak, this person began to establish a relationship:

"I've long heard from Li Shitai and the others that Hu Baoyi and Zhao Da are majestic and heroic, but seeing him today doesn't seem like that."

When Zhao Huaian heard this person talking about Li Shitai, he raised his eyebrows and thought to himself:
"This scammer is quite skilled. He knows Lao Li?"

Who is Zhao Huaian? He is a seasoned man of worldly wisdom, but after hearing Song Wentong's tactical rhetoric, he curled his lips and snorted:

"Oh, how? Did you disappoint Song Jun?"

But Song Wentong shook his head repeatedly, gave a thumbs up and praised:
"That's wrong. Li Shitai only said that General Zhao has six points of color and courage. Seeing is believing."

Zhao Huaian squeaked his lips stiffly, and gained some understanding of Song Wentong in front of him.

This guy is handsome and good at giving emotional value. If he weren't a liar, he would definitely have a bright future.

Just when Zhao Huaian didn't want to waste any more time with this man and was about to throw the cup, he saw Song Wentong actually took out his own talisman from his arms and handed it to him.

Zhao Huaian took it subconsciously and found that the talisman actually said "Song Wentong, the general of Zuo Shen Ce's army."

This time Zhao Huaian stood up and hurriedly pulled Song Wentong to sit on the other side of the bed, saying sincerely:

"Old Song, what brings you to my army?"

Seeing Zhao Huaian being so rude at first and then respectful later, Song Wentong was obviously not used to it. He was stunned for a moment before speaking directly:

"General Zhao, I would like to ask General Zhao for a favor. I wonder if you have any extra Nanzhao heads? Could you give me some?"

Zhao Huaian was still smiling, but his smile was a little dry, and the hand that was holding the other person's arm retracted.

He pretended to be embarrassed:
"Hey, Old Song, I do have quite a few heads, but I need to submit them for merit. My brothers have followed me through thick and thin, just waiting for me to commend them for their achievements."

But Zhao Huaian retracted his hand, and Song Wentong on the opposite side grabbed it and pleaded with him:

"General Zhao, Li Shitai often praises you for your willingness to help others and your willingness to help your brothers. Good brother, this time I'm asking you to help me, so please help me just this once."

As he spoke, Song Wentong's eyes turned red and he began to talk about the sufferings of their Shen Ce Army.

It turned out that during the siege of Shuangliu, the military supervisor Zhou Congyu was actually a brave man. He said that he would lead the hundred or so Shen Ce troops into Shuangliu and go to the front line in person.

In the end, Zhou Congyu was persuaded by them for a long time, but it posed a difficult problem to Song Wentong and his Shence Army. That is, he himself could not go, but as the emperor's personal army, the Shence Army would be able to boost morale as long as they could enter Shuangliu.

So, Song Wentong and the others were dumbfounded.

In this way, the Shen Ce Army was sent to Shuangliu to wait for an opportunity to enter the city.

But Song Wentong and his men didn't dare to go in. They had been hiding in the nearby countryside for the past few days. They had been thinking of finding an excuse to withdraw, but they didn't expect that the Nanzhao army had actually withdrawn.

As a result, these people became active and wanted to get some heads of Nanzhao people to report their achievements.

They heard from some villagers nearby that the Tang army in Jinma Village was about to kill the Nanzhao army and then come over to take advantage of the situation.

When Song Wentong arrived, he found that the army in Jinma Village was actually "Baoyi Du". Then he remembered that Li Shitai, who had been drinking with them before, said that the commander of this army would be named Zhao Da, and he was an honest man.

Therefore, Song Wentong and the others asked for permission and volunteered to come in and "beg for money" from Zhao Huaian.

Song Wentong was talking, and Zhao Huaian on the other side sounded more and more strange, and he smacked his lips.

No, Brother Song, this is the first time we meet, and you are telling me this kind of thing. Is that appropriate?

Also, Brother Song, who gave you the illusion that you can get something for free from us, Zhao Da?

Wow, Song Wentong looks good, but unfortunately he is a fool.

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(End of this chapter)