Chapter Twenty-Three: The Journey Home

Zhao Huaian noticed that when this hero of the Baoyi Army stated his name, Li Shitai of the Zhongwu Army curled his lips in contempt, clearly looking down upon the man.

Suppressing his doubts, Zhao Huaian spoke respectfully to Song Jian, who was currently resting: "Envoy, the Nanzhao troops will return soon. It would be better for us to retreat into the mountains and avoid the enemy's vanguard."

As soon as Zhao Huaian finished speaking, it drew ridicule from those nearby, especially Li Shitai of the Zhongwu Army, who was the most exaggerated. Seeing Zhao Huaian's embarrassment, the man named Zhao Huaiyi—whose name was similar to his own—hurriedly explained: "Master Zhao, those Nanzhao men won't be coming back. Oh, wait, they might come back, but only their severed heads will be returning."

Puzzled, Zhao Huaian looked toward Xianyu Yue, and suddenly saw dust rising on the dirt road ahead. The Nanzhao cavalry, who had remained in front, were fleeing in a panic.

Before they had gone far, they were intercepted by another group of cavalry that had burst out from the flanks. In particular, the leading Tang cavalry commander, draped in a crimson cloak, thrust his eighteen-foot lance with such force that he routed the Nanzhao cavalry in an instant.

Following this, a Tang army emerged from the eastern mountains. Various flags were unfurled, and the soldiers' spears and pikes were hung with strings of severed heads. Looking at the military banners, some read "Tujiang," some "Baoyi," and others "Zhongwu."

Standing at the head of the troops was the commander in the crimson cloak who had intercepted the Nanzhao cavalry. With the help of several guards, he dismounted and hurried over, accompanied by several other officers.

The man looked at the weak Song Jian and knelt on one knee: "General Yang Shifan, reporting to the Envoy."

Zhao Huaian was standing near Song Jian at the time. Watching the Tang army appear, only one thought crossed his mind: "Damn it, there goes the loot."

As it turned out, he wasn't the only one who realized this; the mountain dwellers had thought of it as well. Watching the increasing number of Tang soldiers, these people fearfully set their baggage on the ground. Clearly, the mountain folk were also people who knew when to yield.

...

The next day, the weather was bright, and the sunlight warmed Zhao Huaian lazily.

He and Lao Liu were currently sitting on an open-topped supply wagon, bumping along the dirt road, feeling drowsy. Following the river valley path of the Luodai River, the force of several hundred men stretched out in a line, moving unhurriedly toward Qiongzhou.

Zhao Huaian and his group were positioned toward the back, following the main body of the army. Except for Zhao Huaian and Lao Liu who sat in the wagon, everyone else followed on foot.

Aqimo and the liberated slaves were responsible for pushing the four supply wagons, which contained all of Zhao Huaian's possessions: armor, furs, gold, silver, and agate.

Yang Mao, Sun Tai, Zhao Hu, Wang Li, Niu Li, and He Wenqin each led a horse as they walked behind. The four short men were also there, along with the twelve youths Zhao Huaian had bought at the market.

Finally came the mountain dwellers. They weren't carrying anything, but they were all filled with anxiety, clearly worried about their future fate.

After the ambush yesterday, the Tang troops had indeed seized all the Nanzhao baggage, leaving nothing for Zhao Huaian.

During the process, when the Tang soldiers saw Aqimo and the others wearing Tibetan-style armor, they had nearly cut them down, mistaking them for Tibetan troops. It was only because Zhao Huaiyi happened to be near Zhao Huaian at the time and intervened that nothing untoward occurred.

Of course, when Zhao Huaiyi saw Zhao Huaian's group, he couldn't help but shake his head; it was truly a motley crew. It was filled with Qiang barbarians, wild tribesmen, slaves, fugitives, and mountain dwellers. However, considering that their leader, Zhao Huaian, was also a straggler, it seemed somewhat reasonable.

Although Zhao Huaiyi looked down on these people, he held Zhao Huaian in relatively high regard—not because Zhao Huaian possessed unparalleled martial prowess, but because he knew this man had caught the eye of Envoy Song. That was why he did Zhao Huaian a favor; besides, the latter was well-spoken and, most importantly, understood how to navigate human relationships.

However, when he saw Zhao Huaian's team, he still offered a word of caution: "Master Zhao, you look like you're trying to build a local militia, but brother, let me remind you: you are still registered in the military rolls, and your prefect, Huang Jingfu, is still alive."

It was this sentence that had been giving Zhao Huaian a headache ever since. He understood what "Zhao the Second" meant. Wasn't he saying that since he himself was under someone else's command, dreaming of building his own private force was just that—a dream?

This "Zhao the Second" was Zhao Huaiyi. He was the second-eldest in his family, and although he was older than Zhao Huaian, he still settled for being called "the second."

Aside from this vexing matter, Xianyu Yue had brought him some good news the previous night.

The first was compensation. Although Zhao Huaian and his men had gained nothing from the battle, they had rescued over a dozen captives, including Song Jian. Song Jian had explicitly told him that once they returned to Chengdu, he would reward this brave warrior handsomely. The others had said the same; these men were of significant status, having been captured by the Nanzhao army and intended to be transported back to their country.

Zhao Huaian didn't know how much this gratitude would amount to, but it shouldn't be a small sum. More importantly, he valued the connections; with this debt of gratitude, his life in the military would be much easier.

It wasn't that Zhao Huaian was being overly cautious, but he had noticed since yesterday that the discrimination within the Tang army was severe. Not to mention the vast divide between social classes, the army itself was divided into various tiers.

Take yesterday's ambush: the ones who truly did the heavy lifting were the Baoyi and Muyi units, while the Tujiang and Zhongwu armies only deployed a few dozen men, yet the latter claimed the primary credit for the victory. The Zhongwu soldiers, in particular, were arrogant; not only did they seize the lion's share of the loot, but they also treated the men of the Baoyi and Muyi units like servants, bossing them around.

At first, Zhao Huaian didn't understand why, until Xianyu Yue explained it to him that night. It turned out that although the Zhongwu army consisted of external troops, they held a special status because their combat effectiveness surpassed all other units. The Baoyi and Muyi, while called "armies," were essentially garrison militia—a motley collection of soldiers who couldn't compare at all.

The Baoyi and Muyi armies were established back when Li Deyu was in charge of the Shu region, recruited at a ratio of one man for every two hundred households. Although they had the pleasant-sounding name of "Sons of the Frontier," they were actually just conscripted laborers whose status was lower than even that of the garrison troops.

Even so, that was over seventy years ago. As the military defenses in the Shu region weakened, many border forts were abandoned, let alone these "Sons of the Frontier." Consequently, these people were now essentially no different from mountain dwellers.

However, four years ago, when the Nanzhao people provoked the border again, the great general Yang Qingfu—the same man who established the Chengdu Tujiang—reorganized these garrison troops. Yet, seventy years had passed, and most of the fortress walls of the former eleven armies were dilapidated, and the remaining men were scattered. Only the Baoyi and Muyi armies still existed.

The mission to rescue Song Jian was ordered directly by the Jiedushi (Military Governor) of Jiannan and coordinated by General Yang Qingfu. However, at the time, the Nanzhao army was already entrenched along the Baishu River area, and deploying a large force was impractical. Therefore, Yang Qingfu ordered his son, Yang Shifan, to take fifty Tujiang soldiers and fifty Zhongwu soldiers to secretly cross the Baishu River and command the Baoyi and Muyi units to launch a joint attack on the Nanzhao supply train. That was how the victory was achieved. By the way, Yang Shifan was the cavalry commander in the crimson cloak who had shown such might earlier.

Hearing this background, Zhao Huaian couldn't help but click his tongue. He had thought the Tang army had come to rescue captured civilians and soldiers, but who would have thought it was all just to save one Song Jian? Was Song Jian's status really that high?

When Zhao Huaian asked this question, Xianyu Yue hesitated a bit but finally revealed the key point. He told Zhao Huaian that Song Jian's uncle was Song Wei, the Jiedushi of Pinglu. This position was secondary, as Pinglu was far away in the east and had nothing to do with Western Sichuan. However, Song Wei was on excellent terms with the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lu Xie. Their Jiedushi, Niu Cong, had originally secured his position as the Jiedushi of Western Sichuan through Lu Xie's connections. In terms of factions, they were from the same school of thought. That was why the Jiedushi had specifically ordered the elite troops to rescue Song Jian.

Although Xianyu Yue had explained it clearly, Zhao Huaian's doubts were not diminished. The logic was simple: if Song Jian's status was so high, how was he captured by the Nanzhao in the first place? It was highly abnormal for a high-ranking officer to be captured when the two sides hadn't even engaged in a major battle yet.

However, Zhao Huaian did not ask about this at the time. Instead, he asked about another matter: he told Xianyu Yue what Zhao Huaiyi had said during the day and asked what he should do next.

Upon hearing that the Lizhou Prefect, Huang Jingfu, was still alive, Xianyu Yue also felt a headache. He told Zhao Huaian the truth: in this situation, he had no choice but to return to the military. The only bit of good news was that the Lizhou Army now existed only in name, having even lost its military banners. If Zhao Huaian returned not only with his men but also with the military banner, he might be able to rebuild the Lizhou Army. Of course, all of this depended on the wishes of the Lizhou Prefect, Huang Jingfu.

After finishing these explanations, Xianyu Yue mentioned one last thing: he would need to serve by Song Jian's side for a while, and if Zhao Huaian needed anything, he should go there to find him. Zhao Huaian was reluctant to part with his "good older brother," but he understood that he shouldn't hinder the man's career advancement. So, he could only feign cheerfulness while feeling bitter inside.

But the next day, Xianyu Yue brought Zhao Huaian a great gift—or rather, it was something ordered by Song Jian. Having seen that Zhao Huaian had a fair amount of baggage, he had Xianyu Yue deliver five supply wagons and allocated some grain and provisions to Zhao Huaian.

When Xianyu Yue left, he quietly told Zhao Huaian that Envoy Song really liked him. Seeing that Zhao Huaian lacked a personal retinue, he had specifically selected a group from the rescued Tang soldiers and said they would arrive shortly.

This was what truly made Zhao Huaian overjoyed. Although he loved gold and silver, he loved retinues and warriors even more; these were the foundations for building his own future.

Thus, Zhao Huaian was sitting happily on a supply wagon, waiting for that group of Tang soldiers to arrive. But instead of his new retinue, he found himself waiting for Sun Chuanxiu of the Baoyi Army, who was approaching awkwardly with twenty-some men.

What was going on here?