Entrepreneurship in the Late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 59: Mastery (Seeking follow-up reading)

When Hu Honglue came over, Zhao Huaian pointed at the noisy black man and asked:

"Is this guy on your team?"

Hu Honglue took a look from a distance and quickly apologized:
"Commander, that man is called Han Qiong. He is from Bazhong. He used to be a bandit in the mountains, but later came to us in western Sichuan. He is a ruthless and brave man, and he is a good fighter."

Zhao Huaian pondered for a moment and asked:

"How good is your fighting ability?"

Hu Honglue saw that the quarrel was getting more and more intense, and wanted to cover it up, so he explained:
"This black fellow has a nickname, Han Yaozi. I personally witnessed his previous night raid. He killed three people and broke through the formation first. I don't know if he killed more than ten people, but it's definitely not a feat that can be determined by a leader."

After Hu Honglue finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Huaian carefully. Seeing that he couldn't see Zhao Huaian's expression, he added:
"But this guy is unruly, so it would be good to suppress him."

Zhao Huaian hummed:

"Such a hero, why suppress him?"

After saying that, Zhao Huaian personally walked down the camp. Everyone made way for him, but more curious people followed behind Zhao Huaian, wanting to see the excitement.

They also wanted to see how each of them would solve this problem.

There is not a single soldier in the army who does not hate these clerks. They risk their lives and blood on the front line, but in their hands, it's just a simple matter of doing it, and they deduct this and that. It's really hateful.

Of course, whether they really risked their lives and blood in the front is another matter.

Anyway, clerks deserve to be killed!

……

When Zhao Huaian approached, Han Qiong was being stopped by his accomplices, so he stopped beating people, but continued to curse at the clerk.

The clerk's face turned red when he was surrounded by this group of warriors, but he still stood firm with his neck stiff.

When Han Qiong saw Zhao Huaian coming, he started to curse:

"Brothers are fighting for their lives in the front. Who do you think you are? How can you claim credit for our achievements? I said that we reported thirteen people today, but I am reporting thirty or three hundred today. I will record all of them. If you dare to say no, I will beat the shit out of you."

Zhao Huaian grinned and walked between the two of them with an expressionless face.

He looked around, looked at the accomplices of Han Qiong, and asked softly:

"Who among you can provide evidence for Han Qiong?"

Zhao Huaian's reputation for evil was still spread throughout the army. In the previous wave of double-stream recruitment, the troublemakers had already been dealt with by Zhao Huaian, so few of them dared to stand up to him.

But Han Qiong happened to be a later arrival, and was proud of his bravery. He was unwilling to accept the position of a private, so he caused this trouble.

So how many of their accomplices dare to testify for him at this moment?
Han Qiong got anxious when he saw this and turned around and yelled:
"What do you mean? You weren't there when Nai Gong was killing the enemy? Huh? Do you mean I'll kill them in the front and you'll pick up the heads in the back?"

Han Qiong became more and more excited as he cursed. He never imagined that the feelings between these brothers were so fragile?

But Zhao Huaian got what he meant. Did Han Qiong really kill more than a dozen Nanzhao soldiers?
He looked at those who lowered their heads, then turned to ask the clerk:

"Xiao Xue, how do you record rewards for this kind of situation in the army?"

This little Xue, whose full name is Xue Hang, is the son of a private school teacher in Shuangliu. He was the only one who survived the robbery by the fleeing soldiers. He had been begging in a shack in the south of Shuangliu City. Later, Zhao Huaian was recruiting soldiers in the city. Because this man could read and write, he was assigned to work as a clerk under Wang Duo.

Xue Hang, realizing that he was about to ask, quickly replied:

"When the number of enemies killed and the number of heads taken don't match, we usually ask for testimony from fellow soldiers, and then give our own account of the battle. If there are other weapons captured, that's also acceptable."

Actually, Xue Hang was not inflexible. He was a man who was supposed to record merits, so why would he offend these ruffians? So if you had one or two more people, as long as his comrades helped to corroborate, he would record it.

But Han Qiong reported thirteen right away. Among the dozens of people he had recorded, no one had so many. If he reported it, his boss Wang Duo would definitely come to question him.

He knew his boss very well, and the phrase "strong-willed but sharp, with extraordinary wisdom and strategy" was the most appropriate description of him.

No tricks in the military regarding commendations, money and food could escape his eyes.

Therefore, Xue Hang would never dare to remember the reward of beheading the thirteenth level.

After hearing this, Zhao Huaian turned around and asked the people in the team again:

"Han Qiong said he killed thirteen people. Who among you disagrees?"

After hearing the two different questions, these people figured out what Jiang Jun meant, so they lowered their heads again and no one uttered a word of rebuttal.

In fact, there is no need to refute, because they also know that even if Han Qiong did not kill thirteen, he must have killed seven or eight. After all, they were all in the same group. How could he not know the situation of his comrades on the battlefield?
Han Qiong looked at the performance of his comrades, snorted, and said nothing more.

He was not stupid and knew that everyone was trying to protect him, so he didn't want to cause trouble.

Sure enough, when Zhao Huaian saw that no one came forward to prove that Han Qiong was faking military merit, he said to Xue Hang:
"Xiao Xue, now that their accomplices have come forward to testify, his captain just told me about this man. He's a good man. This military achievement will be recorded as level 13."

Since the big boss said so, how could Xue Hang not understand what was being said?

Then he clasped his hands, bowed, and sang in greeting.

Just as Han Qiong's mouth curled up, feeling proud of himself, he suddenly heard Zhao Huaian say to him:
"Xiao Han, did you just beat up Xue Hang?"

Han Qiong quickly shook his head and explained:

"No, I just pushed him lightly, no, I touched him." Zhao Huaian sneered and asked:
"Oh? Do you want me to ask someone else? See if anyone can corroborate your case?"

Han Qiong had just seen how Zhao Huaian was acting so unpredictably, so he didn't dare to explain any more and could only lower his head.

Zhao Huaian saw that although Han Qiong lowered his head, his eyebrows and eyes still had that defiant look, and said with a smile:
"Okay, you started it. I was going to give you ten lashes, but I heard from your captain that you're quite a fighter!"

Han Qiong stopped pretending to be humble at this time, and raised his head and said proudly:

"You are too kind, my compliments. I dare not speak of my bravery, but I can kill people. I was enlisted in the army that day because of my bravery."

Zhao Huaian smiled and asked everyone to step back to make a circle for him and Han Qiong.

Then he took off his cloak and handed it to Xue Hang beside him, asking him to help hold it.

The latter was flattered and stepped aside, holding Zhao Huaian's crimson fur cloak in both hands.

Zhao Huaian stretched out his finger and pointed at Han Qiong:
"Xiao Han, I won't bully you. If you can hit me with one punch, not only will I be spared the whipping, but I'll also give you ten strings of cash. But if you can't do it, not only will you have to take the whipping, but you won't be able to avoid this beating either. Do you dare to come?"

Han Qiong, a native of Bazhong, showed his bandit nature and was captured in front of so many people. Not to mention that Zhao Huaian was just a general, even if the emperor was in front of him, he would be beaten first.

So, Han Qiong jumped up without saying a word and threw a left straight punch at Zhao Huaian.

This person has indeed practiced. It is difficult for a normal person to throw a straight punch subconsciously because it requires a lot of training to learn.

On the contrary, more people subconsciously throw punches that seem to be very powerful, but unfortunately, when they use them, they are full of flaws.

But that was it. When Han Qiong kept punching, Zhao Huaian dove down, slightly avoiding the center line with his head, and then swung his right fist, hitting Han Qiong's chin at the same time as he punched.

But to Zhao Huaian's surprise, Han Qiong was still able to stand after being hit by his powerful punch.

This chin is so hard, no, it’s Han Qiong’s bones that are so hard!

It's a man!

But after being hit by Zhao Huaian's punch, Han Qiong was briefly unconscious and was staggering all over.

Seeing this situation, Zhao Huaian showed no mercy and rushed forward with another left hook, knocking Han Qiong unconscious.

Seeing Zhao Huaian's fierce look, everyone around him took a deep breath. Then they saw Zhao Huaian take the cloak from Xue Hang, put it on again, and said to everyone:

"When Han Qiong wakes up, give him ten lashes and then have him report to Beiwei."

Looking at the people who were still in a daze, Zhao Huaian coughed:
"What are you all standing there for? Keep giving out rewards!"

Then, Zhao Huaian left and returned to the military platform.

At this moment, he was sitting on a mat, like a shepherd looking around at the flock of sheep. In Zhao Huaian's eyes, this was how these late Tang warriors should be trained.

As I said, since the army believes in fists, then Zhao Da will be the biggest fist.

The effect was very significant. No one dared to shout such arrogant words as "You are my father" or "I will beat the shit out of you" anymore.

The grand prize-giving ceremony continued in this way.

……

After all the rewards from all parties were reported, Wang Duo hurried up with sweat visibly on his forehead.

Seeing that there was no one around, Wang Duo hurriedly said to Zhao Huaian:
"My lord, all the rewards have been reported. Now we owe you 1,500 strings of cash!"

Zhao Huaian, who had been quite confident, nearly jumped up from his stool after hearing this. He only managed to hold back because everyone below could see him.

He pulled Wang Duo back and frowned softly:

"Have these 1,000 strings of cash been distributed? Are there still 1,500 strings of cash owed?"

But Wang Duo added:
"My Lord, it's not the 1,000 strings of cash. It's the 2,000 strings of cash we owed from the previous business with the Shen Ce Army. Adding the two together, we still owe 1,500 strings of cash."

Only then did Zhao Huaian gasp.

Then Wang Duo settled the matter with Zhao Huaian. In fact, the reward for the head was not a big deal, because in the two battles, the ones who really killed the enemy were only the warriors in the front, and most of them actually had no results.

But the bad thing was that Zhao Huaian also gave all the officers and soldiers a reward for going to war, which was two pieces of silk and one string of coins for each person. Converted into money, each person got two strings of coins.

There were eight hundred officers and soldiers present, and thirty-four of them were killed in this battle, but the remaining soldiers had a total of nearly one thousand six hundred strings of cash.

So, although Zhao Huaian's money seemed like a lot, it was all gone with just this one investment.

At this moment, Zhao Huaian was so distressed that he wanted to slap himself in the face, but looking at the happy faces of the officials below, he could only pretend to be generous. He also "taught" Wang Duo:

"Old Wang, you're just shortsighted. This is called losing all your money and making it back, but I'm winning people's hearts."

Wang Duo repeatedly said yes, yes, yes, but asked Zhao Da a pointed question:

"My Lord, how do we pay for the remaining reward money?"

Zhao Da said nothing, just kept fiddling with his beard.

(End of this chapter)