Chapter 171

Arranging the defense of Balasagun was simple, because Zhang Zhao had never intended to get too involved, nor did he have the energy to get involved.

Besides, these men had held out against Satuq's four-month siege. The armored soldiers and elite iron-clad troops under Satuq were far more numerous than the Persians coming from Talas. If they could hold off Satuq, they could most likely hold off the Persian assault as well.

Moreover, Zhang Zhao had concentrated the Khotan palace guards on the east side of the city, let the Basmyl light cavalry into the city, and left behind a large number of horses, while he himself led the main force outside the walls. The meaning was obvious.

If you dare not defend the city with all your heart and strength, then don't expect me to cut the enemy's supply lines or pursue and harry their rear.

If you dare not fight to the death, then I, Grand Commandery Duke Zhang, will dare to take my own troops and run off — and I doubt those Persians would dare pursue.

However, before arranging the tactics, Zhang Zhao still had a small matter to deal with.

Ma Yaozi was standing beside him right now, shamefaced and downcast, with Ma Shacai and Man Xiong standing behind him.

"Yaozi, I never would have guessed you played such wild games, you little bastard. A disgrace!

And you two as well — Ma Yaozi's rotten behavior, instead of talking him out of it, you joined in the mischief?"

Zhang Zhao looked speechlessly at these three brutish fools. The soldiers of this era were not just a little hard to manage — they wanted money, grain, and women too.

And in fact, when they had first arrived at Balasagun, there had already been an incident.

A dozen or so auxiliary soldiers of the Basmyl tribe, their eyes burning with greed at the city's treasures, thought the one and a half strings of cash and three bolts of white silk from Khotan's Anjun Prefecture that Young Lord Zhang had distributed were not enough, so they went extorting the wealthy households of the city on their own.

In the end, the ringleaders lost their heads, and the rest got a beating with army staves.

But Ma Yaozi and the others were not short of money. As the innermost of Zhang Zhao's inner circle, the former Hanshan Capital men now numbered only a little over seventy in total.

Every one of them had two sets of armor and could draw a bow. They were Zhang Zhao's most essential capital, and Zhang Zhao would certainly not let them go short of money.

The three of them now wore the expressions of schoolboys caught misbehaving, and it was all because they could not keep the thing in their trousers under control.

But in truth, by the standards of this era, Zhang Zhao was the one with the problem. In an age where the sword-hand was the only law, elite armored soldiers whose valor surpassed the whole army could lack anything — but never women.

Because if there were no women, they would simply go and seize them.

In the eyes of any ordinary great khan, king, or Military Governor from the Central Plains, making the common folk suffer a little was only right — the rank-and-file soldiers under one's command had to be well looked after.

What was more, this was Anxi. The belt-strings of the foreign dancing girls were generally rather loose, so there should be even less of a problem with a shortage of women.

But perhaps because he was not a native of this place, Zhang Zhao did not care about wealth, yet he truly could not bring himself to let his troops plunder, let alone to routinely allow his soldiers to rape women.

This was perhaps the bottom line that those decades of education in a later age had planted in his heart. He still could not bring himself to treat women as goods, whether they were Han women or foreign dancing girls.

In fact, it was not only women — men were the same. Though I, Grand Commandery Duke Zhang, am ruthless, killing one in ten by lot and wiping out whole families, I have done plenty of that.

But as long as someone did him no harm, did not obstruct him, and had not harmed his people, even if it was a beggar by the roadside, Zhang Zhao would not casually take that person's life.

And over this past year or so, the Hanshan Capital men had come to know Zhang Zhao's temper: no wanton killing, no rape, no plunder.

When they took a city, the usual practice was to send Zhang Zhong into the city to name a figure. As long as the wealthy households and merchants in the city could come up with the money, not a hair on anyone's head would be touched.

It had been so in the Zhongyun Kingdom, and so in Shule and Lower Artush.

As for the soldiers under his command wanting women — those with the looks could rely on what their parents gave them; those who were ugly and clumsy-tongued could only use money.

"Well? Nothing to say now? Weren't you the one last night shouting in someone's house, 'If any dare refuse, I will slaughter your whole family by dawn'?"

This Ma Yaozi — it was true that he feared no death in battle, but it was also true that his courage was great. Let him out even a little, and he dared to stir up trouble.

Originally, with battle imminent, Zhang Zhao had let them out to enjoy themselves a bit, as a way of relieving pressure.

One had to understand that constant restraint would not work either. When it was time to relax, one had to relax. These men were risking their heads in your service; if this was forbidden and that was not allowed, the troops might well become impossible to lead.

But these three had kicked up far too much of a fuss!

What Zhang Zhao did not know was that Ma Yaozi actually felt wronged. He had originally agreed on a price with a foreign dancing girl and was preparing to enjoy himself for the night.

But as luck would have it, the moment he entered the room he saw that this foreign girl had two younger sisters, far more alluring in their curves than the one whose price he had negotiated.

He immediately wanted a threesome. That was not too excessive a demand — they just needed to settle the terms.

But seeing his horse-face, which looked about the same as Bater's, the two young foreign girls were unwilling. Then some remark or other set Ma Yaozi off, and a huge row erupted.

At just that moment, Ma Shacai and Man Xiong, who were also passing by in search of pleasure, happened to come along.

The three of them put their heads together, threw down three bolts of white silk, and declared that whether you were willing or not, the deal was done. At the same time, the three of them gave the foreign girl's husband and younger brother, who had come out to intervene, a sound beating.

"Who told a mere foreign girl to dare make excuses and be so uncooperative, and to say my face was as long as a donkey's? She called me a donkey, so I showed her a donkey!"

Ma Yaozi did not dare talk back to Zhang Zhao, so he could only lower his head and mutter.

"Young Lord Erlang, I can bear witness — that foreign girl really did say that. She even said that if the young gentleman from the other day came, she would accept half a bolt of white silk, but for Yaozi, she would not do it even for a whole bolt!"

Man Xiong immediately chimed in with an additional remark. Although he looked like a bear, like some Li Kui, the man was actually quite shrewd. He knew how to back someone up, and he knew when to call him Commandery Duke and when to call him Young Lord Erlang.

Zhang Zhao looked at Man Xiong in disbelief. What kind of foreign girl had such nerve? To dare mock a killer like Ma Yaozi for having a donkey's face — had she not had enough of living?

Wait...! Who was this "young gentleman from the other day"?

Zhang Zhao turned a questioning look toward Ma Shacai. Ma Shacai hemmed and hawed for a long while, unable to withstand Zhang Zhao's sharp gaze, and could only tell the truth.

"It was Huwei, Hu Dalang. They say he often went to that foreign girl's little courtyard, and even said he would take them back to Khotan."

"Get out! Starting tomorrow, the three of you will go into the mountains. After the battle is over, I'll settle accounts with you!" Zhang Zhao waved his hand, said nothing more, and directly sent the three of them away.

"Young Lord Erlang, I have returned." Just as the three left, Zhang Zhong came in. Zhang Zhao nodded at him, signaling him to speak directly.

"I went to see those foreign girls. The reason they dared to give Ma Yaozi attitude is that they thought they had latched onto someone important!"

Before Ma Yaozi and the other two had been summoned, Zhang Zhao had already sent old Zhang Zhong to investigate.

Because Zhang Zhao instinctively felt something was off about this matter. It was not that Ma Yaozi and the others' behavior was off — these brutish men who held the sword-hand, if not for Zhang Zhao's restraint, were capable of burning, killing, and plundering, let alone actually paying money.

So their behavior was perfectly normal. What Zhang Zhao suspected was this: how did a few foreign girls dare come to Zhang Zhao to lodge a complaint against Ma Yaozi and the others?

And once he investigated, sure enough, there was something!

"Are the men below fighting very fiercely?" This time Zhang Zhao did not ask Zhang Zhong, but asked Fan Quan behind him.

Although Fan Dalang had been sent out by Zhang Zhao to serve as a squad general, he still stayed close to Zhang Zhao in daily life, always finding reasons to linger near him, showing that he was the closest person to Young Lord Zhang Erlang.

"Fighting very fiercely!" Fan Quan nodded.

"Our own cavalry is few. Those three hundred Yue riders — Bai Congxin cannot get a hand in at all. They would rather listen to a squad leader like Hu Dalang than to Bai Congxin, a Cavalry Commandant.

Right now, what old Bai can actually command is just our twenty-odd riders and Commandant Li's armored cavalry."

Zhang Zhao felt somewhat restless, because he now faced a very big problem: his foundation was extremely unstable. The reason for this problem was simple — he did not dare grant his subordinates land, houses, or beautiful women.

Although he now held Poluzhou and was about to gain Balasagun, neither of these places was the foundation Zhang Zhao truly wanted.

His foundation was to return to the Guiyi Army, seize power, and then push east into the Central Plains.

Therefore, he could not reward his soldiers and officers with land and houses in Anxi to let them settle down, because once they settled, how many would still be willing to return east with him — that was truly hard to say.

People are complicated creatures. In his own small force, for example, there was the simple-minded Dunzhu, and Ma Yaozi, who often made a fool of himself but actually possessed considerable petty wisdom.

There was Bai Congxin, who paid lip service to the Great Tang while secretly wondering whether he could restore the Bai family's foundation in Kucha.

And there was this Hu Wei, who had lately been stirring up trouble, still regarding the three hundred Yue cavalry as his family's private soldiers and resenting Zhang Zhao for breaking them up and assigning them to the Youyi Company.

Each of them had a different personality and different demands. Getting them to obey his orders and pull in the same direction was no easy matter.

And Zhang Zhao, constrained by his established plan and having never gotten a proper rest, had not yet had time to mold his men into a cohesive unit. Breaking up and reassigning the Yue cavalry led by the Hu family was something he had only recently begun.

This also served as a warning to Zhang Zhao: as he continued expanding in Anxi and the river valleys, how was he to strike a balance between his subordinates' demands and the return east?

How could he make people willingly follow him in abandoning the territory he had conquered in Anxi and return to Dunhuang?

These were problems that had already been put on the agenda and had to be solved.

Otherwise, by the time he accomplished his established goals in Anxi, he feared he would not be able to pull many people back with him at all.

"Give those Hu women a few bolts of cloth and tell them that if they dare make more noise, they shouldn't think this old man's blades and spears are just for show. Call Hu Guang back, and give Hu Wei an assignment — have him go assist Guo Guangsheng in recruiting some herder slaves."

Zhang Zhao had no good solution for the moment. With a great battle imminent, he could only send Hu Wei away for now, lest he actually ruin things.

After the battle, though, he would still need to find an excuse to drive this fellow out of the Youyi Company.

And not just him — among the Yue cavalry Cao Yuanxin had given him, anyone who shared Hu Guang's way of thinking would also have to be driven out.

Because they reminded Zhang Zhao of a very unpleasant existence: the Silver Spear Effect-Elite Company of Weibo.

That model group of military democracy, which could compel its own Military Governor to bring in outsiders just to utterly eradicate them — wasn't this exactly how they operated?

A batch of lower-ranking officers and common soldiers intermarried, stood together as one, and ultimately formed an extremely powerful military clique that did not ask right or wrong, did not look at truth or falsehood, but only at whether something benefited themselves.

If the Military Governor above could get money, they would hold you up with their hands; if he couldn't get money, they would poke you with the barrels of their spears.

From time to time they would also prop up the Military Governor to stage a rebellion, plundering far and wide in his name.

When the court sent troops, if they could win, they fought hard; if they could win, they made the court pay a great price to buy peace.

If they couldn't win, that was easy too — they simply killed the Military Governor and some garrison commanders, and declared that they had set things right and returned from their errant ways.

Thus they turned from rebels back into government troops and still collected their reward money. When the next Military Governor took office, they would behave for a year or two and then repeat the whole operation again.

This Hu Dalang was clearly operating in exactly this manner — squeezing out Bai Congxin, provoking Ma Yaozi, and perhaps expressing his dissatisfaction with Zhang Zhao.

But to a greater extent, Hu Wei believed there was nothing wrong with acting this way. Or rather, he felt that this was how the rules ought to be: the three hundred Yue cavalry should be led by their Hu family, and Zhang Zhao's assigning them to the Youyi Company was simply wrong.

"Duke, a messenger has arrived with word that Commandant Li has already reached the shore of the Hot Sea. He will arrive tomorrow. This time he has brought another hundred elite cavalry, all crack troops of the Li family of Luzhou!"

Wu Yuan'er announced this cheerfully and came in holding a letter. It turned out Li Ruotai, who had gone to Khotan, was back. Zhang Zhao took the letter and quickly scanned it.

Although Li Ruoliu still did not know whether she was carrying a boy or a girl, this branch of the descendants of Yuchi Sheng, Prince of Wudu Commandery, represented by Li Ruoyu, Prefect of Luzhou, had already decided to stake their bet on Zhang Zhao.

"Quick! Call Zhongweng back!" Zhang Zhao shouted. Since Li Ruotai was coming with another hundred cavalry, the situation was different now.

"Zhongweng, go buy those three Hu women and give them to Hu Wei. Say it is a gift from me!"

Fan Quan behind him was stunned. Wasn't the young lord being a little too indulgent toward Hu Wei? But the next moment he saw a flash of ruthlessness cross Zhang Zhao's face.

"Also, strip all rewards from those among the three hundred Yue cavalry who are close to Hu Wei, and send them rolling back to Khotan!"

Zhang Zhao sneered. Hu Wei had incited these men to make trouble, but in the end, only his rewards were not stripped away — and he gained three Hu women besides.

Given Hu Wei's miserly nature, let them see whether he was willing to compensate the losses of those around him.

At the same time, sending them to Khotan was also a way of seeing how Hu Cile would respond. If Hu Cile was unwilling to punish his son, then after this battle, Zhang Zhao would abandon them.

As for those three Hu women — they had listened to incitement and acted with reckless audacity. They should pay the price for their actions.

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