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

Chapter 874: Qingbo's Declaration of Divine Power, the Envoy's Experience of the Western Expedition

Henan Road, Pinglu Army, Qingzhou, Yidu City, Qingbo Pavilion
Although most people consider the area east of Mount Tai as Shandong, in fact the Shandong region belongs to the jurisdiction of Henan Province. However, most people consider the Luoyang and Bianzhou areas as Henan.

On the fourth floor of Qingbo Pavilion, there is a large conference hall. Bai Jingwen sits at the main seat at the table, and the rest of the people sit on both sides of the table.

"First, I have been ordered by the emperor to accept the post of ambassador to Henan to push the rebels back north of the Yellow River."

"They even said they would help the imperial court to wipe them out. But the people of Henan and Hebei have suffered from wars for a long time. It's time to end it."

"Secondly, I am here on the orders of the head of the family, carrying the clan's order, to inspect all parties in Shandong and monitor whether the organizations and clan members at all levels have violated the family's family rules. Those who violate the rules will be severely punished."

"Third, it's my personal matter. You all know that I'm in Guanzhong to provide disaster relief, so I mainly use the family's businesses, and other Guanzhong merchants participate to form the Guanzhong United Business Company, which is responsible for purchasing disaster relief grain."

"I think this is very good. It will greatly stabilize the local political situation and is what I call a united front."

"By using interests to tie other families and businesses to the Bai family's chariot and maintain peace and stability in the area, this will be the future of the family and the people when troubled times come."

"What do you think?"

Bai Shaopeng and other local officials immediately stood up, bowed and said, "We will follow the young master's lead."

Bai Jing was very satisfied with the respect of the local people. He stood up, looked around at the people present, and said:

"I will not interfere with some specific local matters. You can run it as you want. It's just right for me to see how you are doing."

After that, the remaining guard Bai Shaopeng, the leader of the Eastern Sect Bai Mingen, and the chairman of the meeting Bai Zhengxing said in unison: "We will follow the young master's order."

Nodding, Bai Jing pressed his hand, and everyone sat down again. After a little thought, Bai Jing said to Bai Shaopeng: "Shaopeng, this family's external affairs are usually handled by you, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, in two days, go to the Pinglu Military Headquarters and personally invite Pinglu Jiedushi Tian Shengong, and tell him that I invite him to Qingbo Pavilion for a chat."

"Yes."

Although Qingbo Pavilion is an attic, the second courtyard behind it, which covers several acres and two or three streets, also belongs to Qingbo Pavilion and is used as a guest room. Bai Jing is temporarily staying here.

After finishing all the chores in the city, he will move into Renyi Hall, which is the manor outside the city belonging to Bai Mingen's family.

He will stay there for one or two years, presiding over the affairs of the entire Shandong Province, and even some affairs in Jiangnan and overseas.

April of the first year of Shangyuan
As the leader of Qingzhou, the commander of the Pinglu Army, the warlord who had the final say in northern Shandong, Tian Shengong, the governor of the Pinglu Army, followed a servant with a little respect and entered the backyard of Qingbo Pavilion.

Tian Shengong was originally a subordinate of Dong Qin, a general of the Pinglu Army. He followed Dong Qin to fight in Henan and Hebei, captured Cang, De, Xiang and other states, resisted the rebels, and became famous. Later, when An Lushan attacked Henan, Tian Shengong was ordered to guard Chenliu.

When the rebels attacked, they were outnumbered and no one was able to defeat them. In addition, Dong Qin had surrendered first and there was no reinforcement, so they had to pretend to surrender to Shi Siming.

Later, Shi Siming was ordered to govern Hebei and Hedong, and Tian Shengong followed Dong Qin to attack Shandong.

At that time, the Bai family's Shandong Council resolved to nominate a capable general to guard the Shandong border.

Because the local Pinglu Army had not seen war for many years and its armaments were in disrepair, the powerful families from all over the country, under the alliance of the Bai family, contributed money, manpower and personnel, and petitioned the court, successfully obtaining the position of Qingzhou Tuanlianshi, so that they could form another army, the Qingzhou Tuanlian Army.

Finally, after discussion, all parties nominated Kong Changshun, deputy envoy of Pinglu Army, to concurrently serve as the commander of militia and formed a militia of 10,000 men.

Afterwards, Dong Qin and other rebels attacked eastwards, and the militia army went out to resist. At the critical moment, Tian Shengong raised an army in the enemy camp and persuaded his superior Dong Qin to disrupt the rebel camp together and kill the remaining rebel generals. The rebels in the eastern expedition were thus defeated.

Kong Changshun was promoted to the governor of Pinglu for his merits, and he recommended Tian Shengong to the court as the military commander of Pinglu Army and the inspector of the training army, replacing Kong Changshun to lead the training army. Dong Qin, due to Tian Shengong's persuasion and his knowledge of the times, repented and reformed himself. He personally led people to trick the gate of Puzhou open, allowing the Tang army to recapture Puzhou and Caozhou. He was awarded the governor of Puzhou by the court for his merits.

Afterwards, the two capitals were recovered, and Kong Changshun was appointed as the Minister of the Imperial Household for his meritorious service, and was remotely appointed as the Jiedushi of Pinglu, and went to Chang'an to take up his post.

Tian Shengong was appointed as the deputy envoy of Pinglu Army and concurrently the training envoy of militia, replacing Kong Changshun. A year later, Tian Shengong's ability to command the army and his loyalty to Shandong were praised by people from all walks of life in Shandong, and he was elected as the Jiedushi of Pinglu Army.

The post of Tuanlianshi was concurrently held by Bai Shouchun, the former military commander of Pinglu Army.

Over the years, with the help of various families in Shandong, Tian Shengong rebuilt the Pinglu Army and, together with the Tuanlian Army, provided protection for northern Shandong with two armies.

The 20,000 Pinglu troops and the 10,000 militia troops were more than enough to defend Shandong.

As for the Yanhai Army in the south, because it is far away from the northern battlefield, its military strength is relatively small, with only nearly 10,000 people, which is better than nothing.

The experiences of the past few years have made Tian Shengong clearly realize that in Shandong, the families that cannot be offended the most are the Bai and Kong families, and the Kong family often depends on the Bai family for its existence.

So in the end, we cannot offend the Bai family.

He actually obtained the position of Jiedushi by joining the Bai family. With the support of the Bai family, he would be invincible. Without the support of the Bai family, he could not even send troops.

Therefore, when he learned that the young master of the Bai family had arrived in Qingzhou, he immediately came to meet him and show his attitude.

Not to mention that this young master came here with a mission, he was the Henan Recruiting and Comforting Ambassador, what a big title, and he was his direct superior.

This once again made him witness the power of the Bai family, a power that could reach the sky.

The meeting with Bai Jing did not last long. In just half an hour, Tian Shengong left Qingbo Pavilion through the side door.

The younger brother who had been waiting outside the door, Tian Shenyu, the military commander of the Pinglu Army, came forward and asked, "How is it?"

Shaking his head, Tian Shengong chuckled and said, "Go back and prepare. We will send troops to cooperate with the court to attack the rebels in Bianzhou."

"Is the regiment training army moving?"

"But for our Pinglu Army, this is a good opportunity. We, the Tian family, must achieve great success by leading the troops alone."

After hearing this, Tian Shenyu's eyes lit up.

Tian Shengong has not done nothing over the years. He directly controls 5,000 of the 20,000 Pinglu troops. His younger brother Tian Shenyu is the military commander, so he has some power of his own.

April 21st, the first year of Shangyuan

Under Bai Jing's arrangement, the prefectures and counties of Qingzhou began to prepare food and wages for the Pinglu Army.

On May 1, 20,000 Pinglu troops left Puyang and attacked Caozhou directly.

The rebel Caozhou defender Liu Congjian led his troops to resist. Pinglu vanguard general Tian Shenyu took the lead and led 5,000 Yadu people to attack the north gate and finally entered Caozhou city.

Liu Congjian led the remaining troops to escape from the west gate, intending to flee to Bianzhou, but was stopped by Tian Shengong and five thousand men. In the end, he escaped to Bianzhou alone.

In June, the Pinglu Army arrived at Bianzhou City. The Bianzhou defender Nan Dexin led his troops to defend the city. The two sides fought many times, but neither side could defeat the other, so they had to set up camp and confront each other.

In fact, both sides were waiting for the outcome of the battle in Luoyang.

(End of this chapter)