A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 1003: Jibei urgently reports Kaifeng's movement, the sea carriage attacks the northern barbarians
The 14th year of Xia Chengqian, the 3rd year of Qingtai in the Later Tang Dynasty

December 16
"Report, urgent news from Hebei Road, the Khitans are marching south, besieging Jibei Prefecture, and wreaking havoc throughout Hebei Road. The King of Ji is requesting reinforcements from the imperial court."

In the Greenhouse Hall of the Song Palace in Kaifeng Prefecture, Bai Jian and Crown Prince Bai Xi were roasting by the fire while discussing the problems that had arisen since the road system was established.

Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. Such a large-scale reform of the local official system cannot be implemented for more than ten years.

Bai Jian is 73 years old this year. He knows that he will not be able to fully see the final results of the road system.

In order to ensure the sustainability of this reform, he had already let the prince take the lead and be responsible for the implementation of the road system in various places, and handed it over to him step by step.

Originally, Bai Xi was asking for advice on something he didn't understand, but when he heard Ji Bei's call for help, he stood up in a hurry and actually overturned the brazier.

"Hurry, hurry, pick up the burning coals."

The old eunuch, the Chamberlain Li Da, who had been standing by, anxiously called the palace maids and servants to come into the hall to clean up.

But Bai Jian and his son had no time to care about anything else. They gathered together and read the memorial sent by Bai Tao.

"Father, Shi Jingtang deserves to die. He actually let the Khitans enter the country and assisted foreign tribes in conquering the Central Plains. In the past thousands of years, China has rarely seen such a shameless person."

Bai Xi learned that his second brother Bai Tao and thousands of people were trapped in Jibei Prefecture. The Jibei defense line was attacked by a large number of Khitans and they were unable to go south to rescue. The situation was critical and his eyes were red.

"Father, please send troops quickly. If you delay any longer, my second brother will be in danger."

The Bai family is different from other clans in that they value family ties the most.

Moreover, the Bai family's position as heir has been unquestionable since ancient times. As soon as the eldest son is born, the position of heir is determined.

Even if he is a fool, the eldest son must inherit, and no one else has a share.

And it's not just the eldest son, eldest grandson, and eldest great-grandson.

The order of succession is determined as soon as they are born.

There is no competition for the throne, and the eldest son is usually the eldest brother among the same generation and has always cared for his brothers of the same age.

Even many brothers whose parents were away for work and were not in the clan were raised in the Eastern Palace and regarded the prince as their eldest brother.

The same is true for the brothers Bai Xi and Bai Tao.

At that time, Bai Jian went to Zhaoyi to work as an official, leaving his mother Li and several brothers alone.

Bai Xi naturally took on the responsibilities of the eldest brother, and completely took over important matters such as arranging careers and academies for his brothers.

Bai Jian hid his slightly trembling hands in his wide sleeves, closed his eyes, and tried his best to calm himself down. Then he opened his eyes and said with a hint of indifference:
"Calm down, you are the prince. Not only your brother, but also the heir to the throne of the country. You are responsible for tens of millions of people."

Bai Xi clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. It took him three times longer than Bai Jian to calm down.

"Come here, summon the Privy Councilor, the Three Officials, the Four Governors of the Governor's Office, the Generals of the Marshal's Office and above the rank of General of the Cavalry, and the Ministers of the Council of State, to the Greenhouse Hall to discuss matters."

"Here."

Time passed slowly, and the important officials of Daxia who were called out were in different places.

Some were training in the suburbs, some were serving as directors in provinces and ministries, and some were resting at home.

But after receiving the imperial edict, they immediately changed into official uniforms, and either rode horses, took carriages, or walked, and finally arrived at the palace within the specified time.

In the cold winter, this group of important officials of Daxia above the third rank all wiped their sweaty brows, panted with exhaustion, and saluted the emperor and the crown prince who were sitting in their seats, one tall and one short, with expressionless faces.

"Your Majesty, your Highness, and your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Everyone, please sit down. Li Da, wipe the sweat off your face so you don't catch a cold."

"Yes."

After another round of fiddling, this group of elderly ministers finally recovered their breath.

"This is an urgent report from Jibei."

Because the news was urgently delivered to the palace from Jibei, even the Governor's Office and the Ministry of War, which were responsible for reporting border battles, did not have time to know the news.

He received the battle report amid the confusion of Grand Commander Bai Shijin, Minister of War Su Xiaohui and others.

Everyone who saw this had a changed expression and fell into worry. "Your Majesty, the military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed. No matter what, we must send troops first, otherwise I am afraid that Jibei will not be able to wait for the imperial court's reinforcements."

"The current military strength in Jibei is too small."

Li Cunqian, commander-in-chief of the cavalry, suggested with a frown.

Bai Jian acted as if the person being surrounded was not his own son, and asked, "According to the urgent report from Jingdong North Road, Khitan cavalry were spotted north of the Yellow River yesterday."

"It can be seen that at this time, the Khitans had already poured in from Weizhou, and the vast land of Hebei had been trampled under iron hooves."

"How many troops should we send? If we send too few, we will only be giving military merit to the Khitans. If we send too many, what about the time? What about the logistics?"

"You know, the Khitan cavalry comes and goes like the wind. They have already entered the pass. If the army rashly goes north, they will definitely harass the food supply route. What can we do?"

Bai Jian's words stumped everyone.

Because of the importance of Jibei, Daxia placed 90% of its cavalry on the Jibei defense line, leaving only 5,000 cavalry in Kaifeng.

How can we completely protect the food supply route for the army heading north by spreading the grain across the vast land of Hebei?
At this time, everyone was at a loss.

At this time, Privy Councilor Cui Shaojie saw the naval commander Bai Lang, his eyes lit up and his original frown relaxed.

Because Shu was pacified, Daxia seized many warships originally from Shu, so the Yangtze River Navy's predicament of lack of ships was greatly alleviated.

So Bai Lang handed over the full power of the Yangtze River Navy to his younger brother, King Bai Hai of Chu, and returned to Kaifeng to command the Yangtze River Navy and the Bohai Sea Navy.

"Your Majesty, it would be better to change the land route to the sea route."

Bai Jian's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said anxiously, "Tell me in detail."

"Your Majesty, our Great Xia navy has always been free to act in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. Even the navies of Wu and Yue dare not go north easily."

"Why don't we go north along the coastline, and as for food and supplies, we can send them by sea."

"I don't believe that the Khitan's war horses can still gallop across the sea."

Bai Jian put his hands together and laughed: "Good, good."

Bai Xi, who had been playing in the background, was also overjoyed after hearing this.

"Father, I am willing to fight. I will definitely rescue my second brother." Bai Lang also took the opportunity to ask for a fight.

Bai Jian stroked his beard and said comfortedly: "It is said that brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons fight together in battle. Now your second brother is in danger, and among all the brothers in Beijing, there are only you and the prince."

"The Crown Prince needs to coordinate the reform of the road system, and only you can do it."

Then he said seriously: "Prince Lu Bailang, listen to my orders."

"The minister is here."

"I appoint you as the first deputy marshal of the Northern Expedition to the Barbarians. I will allocate 30,000 troops and a part of the Dengzhou naval division to you. You are to march north immediately to relieve the siege of Jibei."

"My minister obeys."

After a pause, Bai Jian gave orders again.

"Li Cunqian, the commander of the cavalry."

"The minister is here."

"I order you to be the second deputy marshal of the Northern Expedition against the Hu Lu, allocate 50,000 troops, and control all the troops in the prefectures and counties along the Hebei Road. Slowly march north to provide support, join Ji Wang Tao and Lu Wang Lang, and drive the Khitans out of the country for me."

"My minister obeys."

"Minister of War Su Xiaohui, Deputy Privy Councilor Yu Guangli."

"Wei Chen is here."

"I order Su Xiaohui to be the governor of Hebei Province, and Yu Guangli to be the general logistics officer of the Northern Expedition. I order you two to accompany the army to appease the soldiers and civilians in Hebei Province, and supervise the transportation of food and grass for the Northern Expedition Army. You should also provide disaster relief and do not make the people of Hebei Province suffer more."

"I accept your order."

(End of this chapter)