Late Tang Dynasty: Descendants of the Imperial Clan

Chapter 77 The Strength of Huang Chao, the Mastermind (4,000 words)

Huang Ye refused to get up, kneeling on the ground, looking up with his head full of tears, gazing longingly at Zhao Zhang.

Seeing him like this, Zhao Zhang felt a mix of emotions.

Huang Chao had shown him great kindness and recognition.

When he was down on his luck in the countryside, it was Huang Chao who pulled him out of the mire and entrusted him with important responsibilities.

Zhao Zhang was able to realize his ambitions entirely thanks to Huang Chao's support.

Now that Huang Chao is dead, only Huang Ye and a few of his nephews and nieces remain in the Huang family.

Thinking of this, Zhao Zhang gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "General Huang, please get up. I will do my best."

Upon hearing this, Huang Ye felt as if he had heard heavenly music. He kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead bleeding profusely, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, Mr. Zhao! Thank you, Mr. Zhao!"

Zhao Zhang waved his hand, signaling him to quiet down, then closed his eyes and began to ponder.

What can he do?

He himself was a prisoner, his life and death in the hands of others.

The only way to save Huang Ye is to persuade the person in charge.

The one who remained in Fengxiang was Li Cenji.

These past few days, although he has been isolated from the outside world in prison, he has managed to glean some information from the guards' snippets of conversation.

Although Cheng Zongchu and Qiu Gongyu were virtuous teachers, the one who truly made the decisions was that young man.

He killed Huang Chao, he recaptured Chang'an, and he ordered the imprisonment of all the civil and military officials of the puppet Qi regime.

If we can persuade him, there might still be a glimmer of hope.

As for how to persuade him—

Zhao Zhang opened his eyes, his gaze slowly sweeping across the cell, a plan already formed in his mind.

As night deepened, the crying in the cell gradually subsided, replaced by intermittent snoring and occasional groans.

Zhao Zhang did not sleep.

He sat cross-legged on the straw mat, closed his eyes, and drew circles on the ground with his fingers, repeatedly rehearsing what he was going to say later.

Just as the third watch of the night approached, footsteps finally came from the end of the passageway.

"Tap tap tap, tap tap tap."

That was the sound of leather boots stepping on the stone ground, steady and powerful, coming from afar.

In the flickering torchlight, four fully armored Tang soldiers appeared at the end of the passageway, carrying lanterns and keys at their waists, patrolling the prison cells one by one.

Zhao Zhang opened his eyes, stood up, and walked to the iron fence.

Unlike other prisoners who clung to the bars and wailed, or cowered in a corner trembling, he stood with his hands behind his back, his face calm and his gaze focused, as if he were taking a leisurely stroll in his own backyard.

When the four soldiers reached Zhao Zhang's cell, they stopped as usual and peered inside.

Seeing this person standing in front of the railing, neither crying nor making a fuss, was somewhat unexpected.

"What are you looking at? Go back to sleep!"

A man who looked like a leader shouted at them and then started to walk forward.

Zhao Zhang remained calm and cupped his hands, saying, "Sir, please wait."

The sergeant stopped, turned around, looked him up and down, and frowned, asking, "What do you want?"

Zhao Zhang said, "I have an important matter to attend to and need to meet with Li, the military commander of Fengxiang. Please convey my request, sir."

The squad leader scoffed, "Who do you think you are? You think you can just see Li Liuhou whenever you want? Stay put!"

After saying that, he turned to leave.

Zhao Zhang was not in a hurry. He simply raised his voice and said slowly, "Sir, the matter I am about to discuss concerns Li Liuhou's future. If you refuse to inform him and things go wrong in the future, and Li Liuhou blames you, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the consequences."

The squad leader paused, turned around, and his expression changed slightly.

He stared at Zhao Zhang for a long time, and seeing that the man looked calm and composed, not like he was just talking nonsense, he began to hesitate.

Seeing that he was interested, Zhao Zhang added, "Sir, you only need to pass on a message. Whether Li Liuhou sees you or not is his business. If he does see you, Li Liuhou will surely reward you, and you will certainly receive a share. If he doesn't see you, given Li Liuhou's good reputation, he probably won't do anything to you. It's just a wasted trip, what loss could you possibly suffer?"

The squad leader thought about it and felt that what he said made sense.

Li Liuhou had a good reputation. Although he was strict in disciplining his troops, he constantly rewarded them and never beat or scolded them.

He was just a low-level squad leader, and running errands wouldn't take much effort. If he could really get a reward, why wouldn't he do it?

"You wait."

He left those words behind, then turned to a young soldier and said, "You stay here and watch; I'll go report."

The young soldier responded and stood at the door of Zhao Zhang's prison cell, carrying a lantern.

"Please wait a moment, sir!"

The squad leader, who had already turned to leave, stopped when he heard Zhao Zhang call out to him. He turned back, frowned, and asked, "What is it now?"

Zhao Zhang cupped his hands and said, "Sir, it is already late, and Commander Li must have already retired for the night. It would be impolite to disturb him so abruptly. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to inform him after dawn?"

The squad leader was taken aback. He had been so overwhelmed by the reward that he had forgotten it was already past midnight.

"Fine."

The sergeant nodded. "Then we'll talk about it at dawn. You stay put and don't try anything funny."

Zhao Zhang smiled slightly, cupped his hands, and said, "Don't worry, sir. I'm unarmed and imprisoned here. What tricks could I possibly pull?"

The squad leader snorted and led the soldiers to continue their patrol.

Zhao Zhang sat back down on the straw mat and closed his eyes to rest.

In the opposite cell, Zhu Wen raised his head, glanced at him, hesitated, and ultimately said nothing before lowering his head again.

Huang Ye leaned against the railing, gazing longingly at Zhao Zhang, his lips trembling, but he dared not utter a sound, lest he alert the guards.

Silent all night.

The next morning, as dawn broke, the morning light shone through the small window into the corridor, illuminating the dimly lit cell in a half-light, half-dark manner.

The squad leader changed shifts and, with two subordinates, went straight out of the Dali Temple prison and headed towards Li Cenji's residence.

The headquarters was located at the former site of the Jinwuwei camp in the city.

When the sergeant arrived at the gate, he was stopped by the guards from Fengxiang. He quickly identified himself and said that there were prisoners who wanted to see Li Liuhou and had important matters to report.

The guard looked him up and down and said, "You wait here."

He turned around and went inside to announce the news.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the soldier came out and said, "Come in, you will remain in the central army."

The sergeant quickly straightened his armor and followed the soldier into the camp.

The tent door was open, and Li Cenji was sitting behind his desk with a thick stack of documents in front of him. He was holding a pen and marking up a list.

He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating that he had been overworked and had not had a proper rest these past few days.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up, glanced at the squad leader, and said calmly, "What is it?"

The squad leader immediately knelt on one knee, clasped his hands, and said, "Reporting to the Regent, last night when I was on night patrol at the Dali Temple prison, Zhao Zhang, the Attendant-in-Ordinary of the pseudo-Qi state, said that he had an important matter to discuss with the Regent. I dared not act on my own initiative, so I have come to report this."

Li Cenji raised an eyebrow slightly: "Zhao Zhang? He wants to see me?"

"Yes."

The sergeant lowered his head. "He said it was a matter of great importance, concerning the future of the lieutenant," he said. The subordinate, seeing that he didn't seem to be speaking carelessly, came to report.

Li Cenji pondered for a moment.

He was familiar with the name Zhao Zhang.

Huang Chao was the chief strategist under the puppet Qi regime and was said to be very resourceful. Huang Chao listened to him and followed his advice without question.

According to the captured officers, he was the one who advocated Shang Rang's western expedition before the Battle of Longweipo; he was also the one who suggested the ambush of Wang Chongrong and Zhuge Shuang at Lishan.

This person's talent should not be underestimated.

Now that he's taking the initiative to see me, it does seem rather meaningful.

"Get up."

Li Cenji put down his pen and said to the soldier beside him, "Go, take a few men and go with this sergeant to the Dali Temple prison to bring Zhao Zhang here. Be careful, don't let anything go wrong."

The soldier responded and turned to leave.

Li Cenji called the sergeant over again, took a string of coins from the table, threw it to him, and said, "You've done a good job making this trip. This is a reward for you."

The sergeant caught the money, overjoyed, and quickly kowtowed, saying, "Thank you so much for keeping me here! Thank you so much for keeping me here!"

Having said that, he held the money and happily left.

Li Cenji shook his head, picked up his pen again, and continued dealing with the endless military affairs.

About half an hour later, footsteps were heard outside the tent.

"Leave the messenger behind; the person has been brought."

Li Cenji didn't even look up, and said, "Come in."

The tent flap was lifted, and two guards escorted a man in.

The man was only middle-aged (in my original setting he was old, but it doesn't feel quite right; there are some parts I haven't changed yet, could you remind me?), with a thin face, high cheekbones, and a pair of triangular eyes with a restrained glint. Although he was wearing prison clothes and his hands and feet were shackled, he looked calm and showed no fear whatsoever.

He entered the tent, his gaze swept around the room, and finally landed on Li Cenji, where he bowed.

"The sinner Zhao Zhang greets Li Liuhou."

Li Cenji raised his head, glanced at him, and said calmly, "You are quite composed. Imprisoned in Dali Temple, your life hanging in the balance, yet you remain so calm. You truly deserve to be Huang Chao's strategist."

Zhao Zhang smiled slightly and said, "The sinner has simply come to terms with it. Life and death are predestined, wealth and honor are determined by fate. What is meant to come cannot be avoided, and what is not meant to come cannot be obtained even if you beg for it. Why act like a child, only to become a laughingstock?"

Li Cenji nodded, said nothing more, and simply waved to the two guards, signaling them to leave.

He then said to Zhao Zhang, "You sit here for a moment, and I will speak with you after I have finished dealing with these military affairs."

Zhao Zhang didn't mind, cupped his hands in greeting, and sat down on a chair to the side.

Li Cenji then ignored him and continued reviewing documents.

The military affairs on the table were piled up like a mountain: there were reports of casualties, the amount of grain and fodder to be verified, the pension book for the fallen soldiers, the identification and disposal of prisoners, the public notices in various wards of Chang'an, and several letters from Zheng Tian from Wugong.

He had to review, approve, and stamp every single matter.

Although Li Cenji is no longer the clueless young man who knew nothing about military affairs, and has learned a lot from following Zheng Tian these days, he is still inexperienced and it takes him a lot of effort to handle things.

Zhao Zhang sat to the side, initially resting with his eyes closed, but later opened them and looked around with great interest.

The military tent was small and simply furnished, with a table, a few chairs, a bookshelf, and a map hanging on the wall, marking the troop deployments of the various towns in Guanzhong.

He then turned his gaze to the stack of documents on Li Cenji's desk and looked at them for a while.

"Li Liuhou".

Zhao Zhang suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but clear and distinct.

Li Cenji looked up at him and asked, "What is it?"

Zhao Zhang said, "I see that the military affairs on the Regent's desk are piling up like a mountain. I'm afraid the Regent cannot handle them all by himself. If the Regent trusts me, I am willing to share the burden."

Li Cenji put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Zhao Zhang with a scrutinizing gaze: "You? You're trying to relieve my burden? Aren't you afraid I'll suspect you've tampered with the documents?"

Zhao Zhang laughed and said, "The criminal is now a prisoner, his life and death in the hands of the governor. Even if he were to tamper with things, so what? Besides, if the criminal really wanted to harm the governor, he wouldn't use such a clumsy method. The governor only needs to review it after the criminal has finished, and if there are any omissions or mistakes, he can correct them. The criminal is just bored and looking for something to do."

Li Cenji stared at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

"Very well. I'd like to see just how capable you are."

He stood up, offered his seat to Zhao Zhang, sat down beside him, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip.

Zhao Zhang didn't stand on ceremony. He dragged his shackles to the desk and sat down. Instead of starting to write, he quickly flipped through the stack of documents on the desk and sorted them into categories.

The casualty lists were put in one pile, the grain and fodder counts in another, the pension registers in one pile, the public notices for reassuring the people in another, and Zheng's letters were placed in a separate place. Only then did he pick up his pen and begin to review them.

At first, Li Cenji was just looking at it casually, but after a while, his expression gradually became serious.

Zhao Zhang handled military affairs with astonishing speed.

What alarmed Li Cenji even more was Zhao Zhang's reply and advice.

Those suggestions were well-organized, to the point, and far superior to his own replies.

Not only was there not a single mistake, but it also revealed his experience and shrewdness in every aspect.

There were some things he hadn't even considered, but Zhao Zhang had already thought of them for him.

In less than half an hour, Zhao Zhang had completely cleared away the pile of military affairs on the table that would have been enough for Li Cenji to handle for a whole day.

Each document was annotated clearly in tiny, neat characters, with meticulous handwriting.

Zhao Zhang put down his pen, stretched his wrists, stood up, offered his seat back to Li Cenji, and cupped his hands, saying, "I have overstepped my bounds. Please review this later."

Li Cenji didn't look through it, but just sighed, "Mr. Zhao is quite capable."

At the same time, there was a hint of seriousness in his eyes.

He changed his address to "Mr.", which is a respectful form of address.

Zhao Zhang cupped his hands and said, "This sinner did this on a whim when he had nothing else to do. I am too kind to praise him."

Li Cenji shook his head but didn't say anything more.

He could also see that Zhao Zhang's talent far surpassed that of Sun and Wang, who were by Zheng Tian's side.

So Li Cenji stood up, walked to the main seat and sat down, gesturing for Zhao Zhang to sit down as well.

Zhao Zhang thanked him for the seat and sat down in the guest seat.

The shackles dragged on the ground, making a rattling sound, but he didn't care at all. He simply placed his hands on his knees and straightened his back.

Li Cenji picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at Zhao Zhang. He slowly said, "Sir, you wish to see me, saying you have important matters to discuss. Now that you are here, you may speak."

Zhao Zhang remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Let the sinner ask the question first, and leave the rest for later."

Li Cenji said, "Please speak, sir."

Zhao Zhang raised his eyes, looked at Li Cenji, and said, word by word, "Now that the world is about to be at peace, the Emperor will soon return to Chang'an. Has the Regent considered how he should proceed in the future?"

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