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

Chapter 1009: Xuanwu deduces the embroidered clothes, and the Lord of Daxia recruits the righteous army

Kaifeng, Dasong Palace

Bai Jian lived deep in the palace, but he paid close attention to the fighting on the front line. Every day he summoned the generals in Beijing to the Xuanwu Hall to discuss the battle situation.

"The army of the King of Yan in the north has now advanced to the city of Taiyuan. The chief general of Jin in Taiyuan is Liu Zhiyuan."

"Although there are not many Jin troops in Taiyuan, Taiyuan is an important town in the north, with strong fortifications and deep moats. If the King of Yan wants to break through, I'm afraid it will take some effort."

"Not only that, Liu Zhiyuan is a famous general of the Jin State and a close confidant of Shi Jingtang. In my opinion, we should take it slow in attacking Taiyuan and not make it the main attack direction of the army."

"Otherwise, Taiyuan is where Shi Jingtang rose to power, and many of Jin's ministers came from Hedong. If Taiyuan can be taken, it will be a heavy blow to Jin, and it will destabilize the Jin army on other fronts."

In the main hall, Bai Jian sat on the throne, leaning against a cushion, listening to his subjects' discussion.

Crown Prince Bai Xi stood in the middle of the hall, facing the palace door, presiding over the military meeting.

The two people just discussed were Luo Minghan, Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council, and Liang Zhongsheng, Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

"Now the occupation of Tongguan has led to a standoff. The northern army is stationed outside Taiyuan City, and the southern army is also blocked by Dasan Pass and cannot go north. All three armies have encountered fierce resistance. Can we open another front?"

At this time, the Privy Councilor Cui Shaojie, who already had a head full of silver hair and a face full of wrinkles, gave Bai Xi a suggestion.

"You mean?"

Cui Shaojie nodded and said, "I heard that the literary scholar under the Crown Prince, Yin E, wrote an article called "An Edict to Punish Shi Jian" which caused a great stir in the State of Jin."

"Although Jin State has blocked our army at the dangerous pass and big city, its internal rebellion is on the rise and cannot be suppressed."

"Can we contact the heroes inside the pass and cooperate with them to break through the pass and enter the city?"

Bai Xi turned his head and looked at Bai Jian. After receiving the signal, he said loudly, "Call the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Quan Bingzhong."

Soon, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Quan Bingzhong, came to the hall in brocade clothes, knelt on one knee and clasped his fists, saying, "Your Majesty, I, Quan Bingzhong, pay my respects to His Majesty, and to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"All commanders."

"The minister is here."

"Now the army is stationed in a strong city and a dangerous pass. Do you have many people in Guanzhong?"

"Reporting to His Royal Highness, I am fortunate to have the trust of His Majesty. Since the Later Tang Dynasty, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been placing personnel in Guanzhong. Now, the entire Guanzhong is under the surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"Very good. Now I ask you, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to immediately contact the righteous army in Guanzhong that is willing to submit to Daxia and disrupt various parts of Jin State. I even want to help the army enter the pass. Do you dare to accept it?"

Quan Bingzhong was so excited when he heard this that he immediately knelt down on both knees and bowed his head, saying: "All of the Embroidered Uniform Guards are the royal hawks and dogs. If Your Highness commands us, we will obey your orders."

Because he needed to gradually hand over the national affairs to Bai Xi so that he could achieve a smooth transfer of power after a hundred years.

As early as three years ago, Bai Jian handed over the management of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to Bai Xi.

Nowadays, Bai Jian usually does not express his opinion unless there is a major event, and just watches how Bai Xi handles state affairs.

Thus, the saying "the crown prince governs the country" came into being among the people, that is, when the emperor is not out, the crown prince governs the country, and all state affairs are in the hands of the crown prince.

This transfer of power was not forced like the one between Emperor Gaozu of Tang and Emperor Taizong of Tang, but an experiment tried by Bai Jian to ensure the stability of the country because he was aware of his advanced age.

Just like the story of the Bai family's early years when the head of the family was old and the young master took power.

"In that case, I will send the Crown Prince's attendant Meng Chang from the Eastern Palace to accompany you and appoint him as the chief and deputy envoys for recruiting and pacifying the Guanzhong rebels, responsible for all matters related to recruiting and pacifying the Guanzhong rebels and serving Daxia."

"I obey your order." Quan Bingzhong had no objection.

Meng Chang was the third son of Meng Zhixiang. After Meng Zhixiang surrendered to Daxia, he was named King of Xing and placed under house arrest in Kaifeng.

However, his sons were not imprisoned. Instead, they were included in the court of Daxia and served as officials in various places.

There are currently four kings of different surnames in Daxia, namely, King of Liao Liu Shouguang, King of Zibo Wang Congyi, King of Jing Zhu Jian, and King of Xing Meng Zhixiang.

Originally, Liu Shouguang and Wang Congyi were both kings with important titles, but in order to make room for Bai Tao and Bai Lang, they were changed by Bai Jian. Although the gold content is a bit lower, they are all kings with one character but different surnames, not two-character county kings.

In Daxia, the current high-ranking titles are divided into six grades and eleven levels.

First class: heir apparent, prince, one-character prince, and duke.

Second class: Duke of the state, Duke of a county, and Duke of a county.

The third rank: County Marquis. The fourth rank: County Earl. The fifth rank: County Son. The sixth rank: County Man.

Among them, there was only one heir to the throne, the Prince of Qin, who was the designated crown prince.

Only members of the royal family can serve as princes.

The title of "Yi Zi Wang" is given to kings of different surnames or clan kings who have made great contributions.

Those who have made great contributions to saving the country can be granted the title of Prince.

Among those who are Duke of China and above, the highest fiefdom is 10,000 households (actually 1,000 households).

The Duke of a county has 5,000 households (actually 500 households), the Duke of a county has 2,000 households, the Marquis of a county has 1,000 households, the Earl of a county has 700 households, the son of a county has 500 households, and the baron of a county has 300 households.

The fief of Daxia was not all food, but was converted into money, grain and cloth, and the actual fief was ten times less than the food fief.

In addition to high-level titles, there are also lower-level titles, but they do not come with fiefs, only food salaries.

High-level titles can also be regarded as "fiefdoms and titles", which have surpassed the rank of the imperial court and are called "super-rank".

Lower-level titles were regarded as "honorary titles" and were still under the rank system of court officials.

The honorary titles include Shangzhuguo (first rank), Zhuguo (second rank), and Xunshi.

Among them, the first class of honors is divided into civil honors and military honors.

Literary honors: Zhengzhishangqing (second rank), Zhengzhiqing, Zizhiyin, Zizhishaoyin, Zanzhiyin, Zanzhishaoyin, Xiuzhishuyin, Xiezhengshuyin (fifth rank).

The corresponding one is the scholars who have passed the literary examination, that is, the provincial examination.

Military honors: Senior Guard General (second rank), Guard General, Senior Light Chariot Commander, Light Chariot Commander, Senior Cavalry Commander, Cavalry Commander, Valiant Cavalry Commander, Flying Cavalry Commander, Cloud Cavalry Commander, Military Cavalry Commander (sixth rank).

The corresponding ones are the warriors who have passed the military examination, that is, the military examination of the Governor's Office.

The 16th year of Xia Chengqian, the 2nd year of Later Jin Tianfu

July
Quan Bingzhong and Meng Chang who sneaked into Guanzhong quickly contacted Li Wei, the rebel leader in Longxi.

Meng Chang used his eloquent speech to successfully persuade Li Wei to surrender to Daxia.

Appointed by the court of Daxia, Li Wei, who was originally just a county constable, became the governor of Weizhou of Daxia (a fourth-rank governor), General Zhongwu (a military official), and Shangqi Duwei (a military honor) because he had 5,000 volunteers under his command.

July 18

Under the connection between Quan Bingzhong and Meng Chang, the leaders of the five volunteer armies in Guanxi surrendered to Daxia. The two suddenly gathered 15,000 volunteers in the heartland of Jin State, and the Xia court named them "the army to suppress the traitors and restore their loyalty."

Quan Bingzhong was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Fuxiao Army, Meng Chang as the military commander, and Li Wei as the commander-in-chief of the left wing.

July 21

With the help of Jingzhou Xiuyiwei, the Fuxiao Army broke through Jingzhou City and obtained supplies from the Jingzhou Arsenal, thus increasing its strength again.

August
The Fuxiao army captured Bingzhou, and Chang'an was shocked.

Shi Jingtang had no choice but to withdraw a part of the Tongguan garrison and ordered Zhang Congbin to lead 10,000 soldiers to suppress the rebellion.

(End of this chapter)