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

Chapter 377: Making all kinds of plans is not for yourself, but extending favors will ultimately benefit yourself.

Jinan Kingdom, Yuling
Bai Dian was sitting on the horse, carefully reviewing the bamboo slips in front of him.

"Uncle, the Prime Minister of Jinan has sent someone to deliver military rations." Lieutenant Bai Xing, dressed in military uniform, opened the door of the military tent, walked in and reported respectfully.

Bai Dian is already in his early forties this year, and he is considered to be entering his twilight years. He is considered a moderate elder in front of people like Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, Bao Xin, and Bai Xing.

Today's status is not much different from theirs. This has to be said to be a characteristic of the officialdom of the Han Dynasty.

Since the Han Dynasty relied on recruitment as the main method to recruit scholars, the age of the recruited officials varied. Some were still serving as county magistrates in their forties or fifties, while others in their early twenties entered the imperial palace and became doctors.

As the next head of the Bai family, Bai Dian should not have competed with Bai Xing and Yuan Shao, but Bai Ya's status was too high, and Bai Xing was sent out to suppress thieves, so he had no choice but to take the lead, and thus lost Si. The official position of being a lieutenant was reduced to that of a prefect of a partial county.

Fortunately, with the help of thousands of bandit-suppressing troops under his nephew Bai Xing, plus the three thousand county soldiers from Donglai County, there were enough eight thousand troops to respond to the world's heroes' call for Dong.

In fact, in Bai Dian's heart, he was unwilling to respond. However, the Bai family's reputation in the world was too great. If he did not raise troops at this critical moment, he would probably give others an excuse and lose his title as the head of the family.

However, the Bai family's family background and relatives are mostly in Yin, Henan, especially Yuzhenfang, which contains the Bai family's many years of accumulation.

If he rebels first, he will definitely become the target of Dong Zhuo's revenge. Although the Bai family will gain face, they will lose their dignity. In the ensuing turmoil in the world, they will be unable to continue to participate and have to retreat to the second line.

Therefore, although he took advantage of the fact that his Donglai County was too far away, he tried to slow down his marching speed, so that it took more than ten days to reach Jinan from Donglai County.

Only one-third of the way has been walked, and two-thirds of the distance has to be walked before we can reach the jujube.

When he learned that the Prime Minister of Jinan had sent someone to deliver military rations, Bai Dian ordered without raising his head, "Let Zhong Er go to Jinan on my behalf to express Bai's gratitude to the Prime Minister of Jinan."

Bai Zhong is Bai Dian's son. When Bai Dian fled, in order to prevent Dong Zhuo from taking Bai Zhong as a hostage, Bai Ya asked Bai Zhong to run with Bai Dian and sent the rest of Bai Dian's relatives to the countryside of Yanshi to avoid disaster. .

In order not to be single-handedly taken over, Yuzhenfang purchased a lot of land in Yanshi, and most of the Bai family's women, children, old and young were placed in Yanshi, leaving only the main personnel and entourage in Yuzhenfang.

When the attendants on the side stepped down to transmit the order, Bai Dian asked Bai Xing: "The former prime minister of Jinan Kingdom, I remember it was Cao Cao. Xu Shao once made a comment to him. I remember he was a capable minister who can govern the world in troubled times." He is a traitor, right?"

Bai Xing nodded in agreement.

"You and Cao Cao both served in the Xiyuan Army. What do you think of this man?"

After thinking for a while, Bai Xing replied: "This man is extremely self-disciplined. He has always set an example in the army, attaches great importance to military law, and treats soldiers with courtesy. Unlike Yuan Benchu, who is aloof, so the soldiers under his command are very convinced of him.

I have heard other people say before that Cao Cao, who served as the order of Luoyang earlier, did not hesitate to offend the eunuchs and punished Jian Shuo's clan members with five-color sticks, which was quite the style of a straight minister.

Later he was promoted to the Prime Minister of Jinan. During his tenure, he did not tolerate a trace of dirt in his eyes. Even the eunuch's relatives and comrades would be punished as long as they violated Han law. This made the politics of Jinan clear and the people live and work in peace and contentment. At present, many people in Jinan Kingdom think of Cao Cao's benefits.

Why did my uncle mention this person? "

Bai Dian put down the bamboo slip in his hand and said: "The Kwantung Allied Forces have elected the leader, Yuan Shao, with Cao Cao and Yuan Shutian as deputy leaders."

Bai Xing looked dissatisfied and said: "Since my uncle has announced to the world that he will raise an army to challenge Dong, in terms of life experience, official position, and prestige, which Yuan Shao can compare with my uncle?

How dare they elect the leader of the alliance without waiting for their uncle to meet up? Doesn't this mean they don't take our Bai family into consideration? "

Bai Dian stood up, stretched, looked at Bai Xing and said with a smile: "You, you have been in the army for too long, and your brain is no longer working. Is it useful to our Bai family to be the leader of the alliance?
Could it be that becoming the leader of the alliance, the Bai family, will lead to a higher level? Going up another floor, do you know what that means?

Besides, we are not like the Yuan family in Bohai and the Yuan family in Runan, whose roots are local. Even for Cao Cao, his father has already returned to his hometown in old age, and he has no constraints at all in Luoyang.

And our foundation is right under Dong Zhuo's nose. If he becomes the leader of this alliance, Dong Zhuo's cruel and uncontrollable temper may lead to misfortune for the wife, children, and even uncles in the family.

I don’t need to say more about the pros and cons of this. This is also the reason why other princes did not compete to be the leader of the alliance. If they wanted to compete, wouldn't Han Fu be the best candidate? "

Bai Xing said in shame: "My nephew is short-sighted and almost caused trouble for the family."

Bai Dian continued to teach: "The Bai family is different from the Yuan family. We no longer need to climb up, and there is no need to go to the fire to get chestnuts. We have nothing to ask for, and there will be no disaster. As long as we can preserve ourselves and our family, Luoyang Bai’s mission has been completed.”

"My nephew has learned a lesson."

Seeing that Bai Xing had indeed listened to some of it, Bai Dian said again: "Now that the position of alliance leader has been decided, let's send an order to the entire army to speed up the march. There is no point in delaying anymore.

No matter what, this big man still needs to maintain his relationship. If the Han Dynasty is really usurped by Dong Zhuo, Wang Mang's rebellion will come again, which is different from the late Han Dynasty.

Now there is a big enemy in the north. If there is an obvious split in the Han Dynasty, Zhuxia will be in danger. Therefore, at least on the surface, the whole world still needs the Dahan brand.

If this brand falls, the careerists will no longer hide it, and the barbarians will definitely take this opportunity to invade south. It will be difficult to resist with the military strength and population of Youzhou and Bingzhou alone. And now Dong Zhuo, who wants to knock down this brand, is Bai's enemy. But he hasn't reached the point where he needs to change Bai's one for one.

If you abandon everything just for Dong Zhuo and be taken advantage of by foreigners, you will be living up to the aspirations of your ancestors. This is a stupid policy, and it is actually a sinner in the world. "

"My nephew knows, he will gather the army and set off immediately."

With the continuous running of the messengers, the Donglai Army staying on the field slowly moved towards the front, much faster than before.

In just two days, the Donglai Army left Jinan and entered Jishui. They were going to go south along Jishui, all the way to Dongjun, and then Shangguan Road to Jujube.

The twelfth day of the first lunar month

Dong Zhuo, who was in Luoyang, learned about the Kwantung Allied Forces and was very angry. Under the anger, there was also a little fear.

Li Ru, the trusted lieutenant, analyzed Dong Zhuo: "Since the Kwantung rebels want to attack Luoyang, they must need an excuse. Just under the banner of dealing with the Prime Minister, they obviously cannot convince everyone.

Otherwise, there would be no Liu clan to help, but if they use the banner of Prime Minister to abolish King Hongnong privately and demand the restoration of King Hongnong's throne, these Liu clan will definitely join them in order to compete for the throne.

It is better for us to do nothing but cut off their future banner and leave them alone. "

Dong Zhuo turned his unintelligent mind and hesitated: "You mean poisoning?"

Li Ru nodded with a gloomy look.

Dong Zhuo thought for a while, his reputation was already ruined anyway, so as long as he could maintain his status, what did it matter? He agreed to Li Ru's proposal and handed the matter over to Li Ru.

That night, Liu Bian died in the Hongnong Palace. Li Ru said it was due to illness, but all the officials knew what happened.

This is no longer shocking. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, there has never been such a big fanfare. The blatant killing of the deposed emperor has simply exceeded the bottom line of the Han Dynasty.

However, due to Dong Zhuo's authority and cruelty, these people had no choice but to pretend they didn't know, and their subordinates only stepped up their contacts with the Kwantung Allied Forces.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month

The jujube coalition army with tens of thousands of troops captured Xingyang, and the vanguard troops arrived in Chenggao. The tens of thousands of Yuzhou troops located in Nanyang, under Sun Jian's brave attack, captured Luyang, and further ahead was Liang County in Yin, Henan.

Tens of thousands of Jizhou troops in Hanoi are also constantly looking for opportunities to cross the Yellow River and reach Luoyang.

Although Dong Zhuo dispatched his generals to various places to guard passes and important towns, he still had few troops at his disposal, with only 20,000 to 30,000 troops, unable to defend the enemy from three sides.

As a result, the Kwantung Allied Forces fought and won consecutive battles, and Dong Zhuo's army continued to retreat, and was about to reach Luoyang.

Dong Zhuo became anxious and captured Yuan Kui, Situ Yuan Xu, Imperial Servant Yuan Ji and other members of the Yuan clan who were already Tai Tu in Luoyang. He sent people to tell Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu that if they did not stop their march, he would be killed. I want to use them as a sacrificial flag.

Originally, Dong Zhuo wanted to arrest everyone in the Bai family, but he was dissuaded by his aide Cai Yong, adopted son Lu Bu, and even Li Ru.

Cai Yong said earnestly: "First of all, the Kwantung Allied Forces were not convened by the Bai family. I believe that Bai Dian's army was completely instigated by his subordinates or the rebels in the Kwantung region. Otherwise, how could the position of leader of the alliance be lost to Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Yuan Shu? Three people got it. With Bai's reputation, there was no chance for these three people.

Secondly, if the Bai family in Luoyang were really massacred for no reason, although the Bai family in Luoyang has been separated from the Bai country, they are the rare Bai people in the world. For the sake of their own reputation, the Bai country will definitely do it. If he reacts violently, he may directly raise troops to resist the prime minister.

At that time, when the Bai Kingdom moves, the whole of Hebei will move with it, and even all the people in the world will turn against the Prime Minister.

Coupled with the relationship between the Bai family and the Liu family, the Liu family members will also raise armies. At that time, the Prime Minister will really have no choice. The power of this, please consider it carefully. "

Lu Bu also echoed: "Father, I think what Mr. Cai said is right. Bai's reputation in the world is too great. Although my foster father doesn't care about these false reputations, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

Li Ru also said: "Although the Yuan family and the Bai family are both from aristocratic families, they are still different."

Cai Yong risked his life and spoke out to save the Bai family because his daughter Cai Wenzhao married Bai Yun, the Bai family's son. He was a great scholar who studied "Bai Chuan" and had a close relationship with the Bai family.

Bai Yun is Bai Ya's direct grandson. He currently serves as the Sixth Cao Shangshu Cheng in the imperial court. He is also his disciple and has extremely profound literary skills.

Lu Bu simply had a good impression of the Bai family. He was born in Zhenbei Prefecture. Because of Zhenbei General Baima, and because there was nothing to talk about in Zhenbei Prefecture, he was very interested in the past of the Bai family in Xiuwu Prefecture.

Knowing that the Xiuwu Mansion came from the Bai Kingdom, just like the Luoyang Bai family, they both came from the same ancestor. If the general found out that he had a share in the massacre of the Bai family, then he would really have no shame in going back.

As for Li Ru, it was purely to kill the Bai family's imbalance of income and expenditure.

(End of this chapter)