Chapter 26: Recruiting Hands

One thousand seven hundred jin of coarse salt, eighty bolts of fine cotton cloth, four hundred thirty-one bolts of hemp and ramie cloth, over three hundred shi of wheat, over three hundred shi of millet.

Thirteen ten-tael silver ingots, three hundred fifty strings of cash, over four hundred jin of smoked meat, eighty jin of butter.

Seven suits of Tibetan lamellar armor, three suits of Great Tang regulation infantry armor, fifty long spears, ten bows, and many other assorted items not yet tallied.

This was the entire twenty-year storehouse of Ge Duo. Do not think it small — those three hundred fifty strings of cash alone were an astronomical sum.

At this time, in the two lands of Gua and Sha, one dou of millet cost only twelve cash, and a Tang string was a full thousand-count string, meaning one string was a full one thousand wen.

So one string of cash could buy roughly eighty-four dou of grain. A Tang dou was twelve and a half jin, so eighty-four dou of grain came to one thousand fifty jin of rice.

Three hundred fifty strings of cash could buy three hundred sixty-seven thousand five hundred jin of rice — in later ages, one thousand eight hundred thirty-seven tons. At two jin of rice per adult per day, that was enough to feed an army of one thousand men for more than half a year.

And this was accumulated by Ge Duo purely through exploiting three hundred-odd herding slaves. Even Zhou Bapi would not be enough to describe this dog.

On the open ground outside the stone tower, several hundred people had gathered. Everyone buried their heads and chewed, and not one person spoke.

The meal was simple too: one small piece of meat per person and a large bowl of millet rice with salt and butter added. But for herding slaves who could not even eat their fill of vegetable roots all year round, it was lavish beyond compare.

However, among these herding slaves, the stronger ones all had bruised and swollen faces — these were the ones Zhang Zhao had had beaten just now for breaking the rules, grabbing food, and taking more than their share.

But the group closest to the stone tower was a little different. Although the able-bodied still ate first and the women and children after, order was strict: those who ate first did not take more than their share, and those who ate later could basically still eat their fill.

By now their able-bodied men had finished eating and were drinking butter tea. A broken wooden bowl was passed from hand to hand; whoever received it could ladle a bowl of butter tea from the great cauldron.

"Dunzhu! Stop drinking that butter tea. The Dongdai calls you inside — sweet tea, all you can drink!" Just as a burly herding slave was taking the wooden bowl, Qiong Reduojin came out and shouted.

The surrounding herding slaves burst into exclamations. Sweet tea! Sweet tea with sugar and honey added was an absolute luxury on the Qilian Mountains — ordinary people never got to drink a single cup in their whole lives.

Dunzhu thought for a moment, then still ladled out a full bowl of butter tea from the great cauldron.

"Little sister, my share is for you and Mother!"

The little sister behind Dunzhu did not even think. She snatched the butter tea and gulped it down in a storm, but after only two mouthfuls, the mother beside her grabbed the wooden bowl away and drained it in three or four swallows.

Dunzhu did not find anything wrong with this. Under extreme poverty, such scrambling was the norm on the Qilian Mountains. One more mouthful meant one more sliver of hope of survival — even between mother and child, it was often like this.

Swallowing a big mouthful of saliva, Dunzhu followed Qiong Reduojin into the stone tower. A fire pit was set into the floor of the tower, and in the centermost pit, flames were freely licking a huge copper cauldron. In the past this copper cauldron had been for the exclusive use of Ge Duo Dagan's family; now it belonged to that tall son of Tang, the Dongdai.

"The young lord grants Dunzhu a bowl of sweet tea!" Dunzhu had just walked in and kowtowed once to the son of Tang, the Dongdai, when an old man in a leather robe handed Dunzhu a large bowl of sweet tea.

It was so sweet! Dunzhu took it and in three or four gulps it was nearly gone. He had never in his life drunk anything so delicious. That sugary taste was something he could never even have imagined in his twenty years. One mouthful down, and his whole body tingled with pleasure.

"Dongdai! May this servant go out for a moment?" After thinking it over, Dunzhu nervously made a request.

Zhang Zhao stood up and walked over to this herding slave, who was likely a Tibetan. Why had he invited the herding slaves outside to eat? First, to soothe them a little; second, to pick out some brave men from among them for his own use.

This Dunzhu — when the food was being distributed just now, the place where he was had the best order. Even the children listened to his commands. Compared to other places where clubs and whips were needed to keep order, he was undoubtedly striking.

This was a talent!

"Just call me young lord. Go on." Zhang Zhao nodded, signaling that Dunzhu could go out. He wanted to see what this fellow was going to do.

After kowtowing once more, Dunzhu carried the small half-bowl of sweet tea out. Perhaps because they had finally eaten their fill a little, Dunzhu's little sister did not snatch it back and wolf it down, but savored it slowly. The mother beside her did not come to grab the bowl either, and at last a somewhat tender expression appeared on her face.

A trace of a smile appeared on Zhang Zhao's face as well.

Inside the stone tower, after Dunzhu returned, the atmosphere grew even livelier. Although there were still pools of blood on the ground that had not been fully cleaned up — three hours ago, Ge Duo's entire clan, several dozen people, had been killed right here — it did not in the least affect those present from eating meat and drinking wine.

Large chunks of beef, fat tender lamb ribs, ox head stewed with Sichuan pepper, pepper, and dried dogwood, and beef offal.

The millet wine and barley wine from Ge Duo's storehouse were also brought out. Sweet tea? No one was drinking sweet tea anymore. With wine available, who would still drink tea!

"Gentlemen! After today, I intend to escort Lady Cao Sanniang back to Dunhuang. These two lands of Gua and Sha are not a place for me to stay long.

The Kingdom of Jin is rich and prosperous, and the Son of Heaven is also my maternal uncle. I intend to go and seek refuge there. You are all men of valor — are you willing to follow me and win glory?" Zhang Zhao rose to his feet, holding a bowl of millet wine.

"Young lord, I, Bai Congxin of Kucha, am willing to follow you through fire and water!" Bai Congxin was the first to step forward and declare his stance. At the same time, some thirty men behind him knelt on one knee as well. These men were all Uyghur horse bandits, and it seemed they had already chosen Bai Congxin.

This could not be helped. Although Zhang Zhao had won them over by force in Qi Xiahu's mountain stronghold, compared to Bai Congxin, Zhang Zhao was still an outsider. That they were willing to choose Bai Congxin as their head and pledge themselves to Zhang Zhao was already the best possible outcome.

And this also fit the current tradition. This was the Five Dynasties, when whoever had a spear was a grassroots king. Emperors changed like a revolving lantern, and many Military Governors were killed by the yabing guards and yabing officers below them. It was a true collapse of rites and music.

The model of Zhang Zhao as leader obtaining the allegiance of the men below through Bai Congxin would have been absolutely intolerable in later ages, but in this era, it was precisely the most common model.

"Qiong Reduojin is also willing to follow the young lord to the Kingdom of Jin!" The second to kneel on one knee was Qiong Reduojin, with more than twenty men behind him.

Of these men, twelve or thirteen were members of the horse bandits, and the rest were men Qiong Reduojin had pulled out from his own tribe.

This was in fact the biggest reason Zhang Zhao was willing to spare Qiong Reduojin. If he had thrown Qiong Reduojin away, then all of Ge Duo's horse bandit gang would probably have been pulled over by Bai Congxin, which would have been very disadvantageous for him, Zhang Zhao.

After these two declared their positions, the rest fell silent. Among the Uyghur horse bandits there were still more than twenty men, all looking at a fellow called Huang Yang'er. The remaining twenty-odd Han able-bodied men were looking at Qi Xiahu.

Zhang Zhao was not particularly surprised. This was the real situation he currently faced. He had martial skill and reputation, but the trusted confidants willing to entrust their lives and fortunes to him were still only Zhang Zhong and Yin Yaozi.

"Young lord, Huang Yang'er's kin are all in the upper reaches of the Sweet Spring River, where they have pastured for over a hundred years. I truly cannot bear to abandon them. If one day the young lord has need of me in Gua and Sha, I will never refuse!"

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