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

Chapter 898: Bai's Four Dragons Niu Gongshu, the influence of Neo-Confucianism on the Commercial Affairs Department

The fourth year of Zhenyuan
After Bai Gongjing passed away, the young master Bai Xin succeeded to the position of head of the Bai family and inherited the title of Duke of Bai State, with a fief of 3,000 households.

The death of Bai Jing represents the end of the old generation of the Bai family, the "Four Dragons of the Bai Family's Dali Period" represented by Bai Qing and his four sons.

Bai Qing and Bai Jing wrote "Establishing a Political System under a Figurehead Monarch", Bai Tong wrote "A Study of Management", and Bai Niu wrote "Niu Gong's New Book".

Except for the science section which is open to the public, the other two chapters are set by Bai family as "only for core members of the clan to read".

There is no need to say much about "Xujun" and "Neo-Confucianism". The book "New Army" summarizes the new war experiences since the Tang Dynasty, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the recruitment system, and adds useful military strategies before the Tang Dynasty.

It includes but is not limited to organization, arms, training, logistics, armaments, battle formations, temple planning, etc., covering everything.

Among them were new types of weapons based on gunpowder: fire mines, gunpowder arrows, and muskets.

A fire bomb is made by filling a pottery jar with gunpowder, then sprinkling iron sheets and stones into it, inserting a linen strip soaked in oil, sealing it with mud, lighting the linen and throwing it under the city for city defense.

But Bai Niu improved it and used a catapult to throw it into the city. It had three layers and several wisps of explosion and was used to attack the city.

Its lethality is not great, but it can effectively reduce the morale of the enemy.

Gunpowder arrows are made by wrapping gunpowder in linen, tying it to an arrow, lighting the linen bag, and shooting it into the enemy camp to cause long-range arson and attack the enemy's granary.

The fire lance is made of a huge bamboo tube with a socket inside. When it is ignited, a huge flame is emitted, and then the socket makes a thunderous sound that can be heard from a hundred and fifty steps away. Stones can be added inside, and lightly armored enemy soldiers within a hundred steps can be injured.

It is used to increase one's own power. However, in terms of distance and power, the musket is not as effective as the bow and crossbow in actual combat and is rarely used on the battlefield.

In addition, Bai Niu also mentioned a thing called a telescope, which can be used to observe the enemy from a long distance and better detect the enemy's movements, serving as a military weapon.

Looking at the three books of varying thicknesses on the table, Bai Shen knew that the future of the Bai family lay in them. These were the essence of nearly a hundred years of accumulation of two generations.

His and his father's task is to consolidate the foundation of their predecessors and even create concepts that are more suitable for these three new books.

He knew that when the things in these books came true, a new era would arrive, and the ideal passed down by ancestors for thousands of years would finally be realized - the Chinese people would be like dragons for ten thousand years.

"Director." A middle-aged man entered the room and respectfully saluted Bai Shen, who was wearing mourning clothes and standing behind the desk.

Bai Shen stacked the three books together without leaving any trace and placed a copy of "The Analects of Confucius" on top of them.

"Mr. Rong Qing, please take a seat."

He gestured to Bai Rongqing, the owner of the commercial office, to sit on a chair in front of the desk.

The Commercial House is responsible for all of the Bai family's business operations under the main courtyard, including dozens of large chambers of commerce such as the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, the Ocean Chamber of Commerce, the Qilu Chamber of Commerce, the Korea Chamber of Commerce, etc.

Mainly responsible for resolving conflicts between chambers of commerce, guiding the business strategies of each chamber of commerce, and issuing the family's requirements to the chamber of commerce.

He was also the leader of the Bai family who was responsible for establishing the eight major chambers of commerce in the world.

"Young Master, because of the science of Confucianism, the business of Beijing merchants, Jing merchants, Hui merchants and other places has been blocked by major families, and many powerful businesses have withdrawn."

"In order to compete with us, each family has established their own chamber of commerce, with their own family as the main body and their in-laws and vassal families as the auxiliary, such as the Lu's Chamber of Commerce, the Cui's Chamber of Commerce, etc."

"They united together and established the so-called [Great Tang Chamber of Commerce], surpassing the Shu merchants in one fell swoop and ranking on the same level as the Jin merchants led by the family."

"Because of their withdrawal, many companies even terminated their cooperation with the family. As a result, the strength of the Beijing merchants, Jiangsu merchants, and Qi merchants was greatly reduced. The Jing merchants were disbanded, and the Hui merchants fell into a debt crisis. No matter what happens, they will follow the Jing merchants' footsteps."

"The family's business territory has been reduced by three levels for no reason." "My opinion is that it would be better to temporarily stop promoting Neo-Confucianism to the world and just focus on Hedong. What do you think?"

As soon as Bai Rongqing finished speaking and before Bai Xin had time to say anything, someone entered the room. It was Bai Hengzhong, the owner of the Foreign Affairs Room.

"It just so happens that the owner of Hengzhong's house is here too. Tell me about your story first. Maybe it's the same thing."

Bai Hengzhong bowed slightly, then sat opposite Bai Rongqing, drank a sip of tea and said:
"Young Master, the imperial court has granted the Pinglu Army to Li Na, the governor of Zibo and Qinghai. This is an attempt to seize the interests of our Bai family in Shandong. Those big families must be behind this."

"In the past two years, officials from prominent families have been constantly slandering the Bai family in the court, saying that our Bai family is a fraud and that Neo-Confucianism is heresy and should be banned."

"Fortunately, the family's influence in the court was not weak, and they were able to suppress it, so that it did not become a trend. However, the so-called "Classics School" and "Neo-Confucianism School" were formed in the court and the public, and the two schools quarreled fiercely in the court."

Bai Shen nodded slightly, then asked, "It's better to argue a little. Only by arguing can science be known to the world. Literature is not afraid of people arguing, but afraid of people not knowing it."

"By the way, this incident has an impact on the family in other areas besides Shandong, right?"

Bai Hengzhong nodded and sighed:

"In addition to Pinglu, there are also public opinions dissatisfied with the family in Jingxiang, Jiangnan, Jingzhao, and Shu. Officials from the family are no longer able to act as easily as before in these places."

"Many things could not be accomplished because of the obstruction of the local noble families, and even many family officials were dismissed from their posts by the court because of this."

Looking at Bai Hengzhong and then at Bai Rongqing, Bai Shen said with a firm look in his eyes:

"Before the head of the family went to Baiyuan to observe mourning, he specifically told me that the study of the principles of the world is a final decision and a century-old undertaking of the family. It cannot be easily changed because of a little difficulty."

"So from now on I don't want to hear any dissatisfaction with science in the main courtyard. If there is a problem, solve it. It's that simple. If you can't solve it, come to me and I will solve it. Don't drag it into science anymore. Do you understand?"

Bai Hengzhong and Bai Rongqing looked at each other, feeling helpless, but they had no choice but to stand up and bow, saying, "I will follow the orders of the Dean."

Bai Shen was satisfied with the situation and said, "Very good. Although some of the family's business has been damaged due to the feud with the noble families, the world is not inextricable without the noble families."

"Since the noble families are unwilling to accept Bai's products, we can turn to foreign countries. If we can't buy raw materials from the noble families, we can turn to the small tyrants below, or even the countryside. The overseas territories of the Tang Dynasty also have many raw material sites, which are enough."

"In addition, this is a good opportunity to communicate with the small clans and powerful people below. In the past, we mostly interacted with the noble families and achieved our goals through them."

“This time we are going to build our own platform to trade with grassroots people.”

At this point, Bai Shen thought for a moment, stood up, walked around the desk, paced around the room, and then said:

"Let's focus on Shanxi merchants and Liang merchants, let Beijing merchants, Qi merchants, Jiangsu merchants and others cooperate, open chambers of commerce in every state and county, and let the chamber of commerce's peddlers spread across every village."

"As long as we have enough influence on the local area, a noble family, without the support of the lower-level tenants and customers, is nothing."

After a pause, he added: "Don't rush to expand to all places. Take them one by one. The family has the greatest influence in Hedong, Henan, and Hebei. The influence of the aristocratic families in these three places is the weakest because of the Anshi Rebellion."

"Only by attacking the weakest point of a place can this business war be won. Secondly, whether it is a business war or a struggle in the officialdom, you should attack one place at a time and never be greedy for too many."

"Other places should just do their best to maintain the status quo. If things don't work, they can temporarily show weakness and wait for the right time."

After listening to Bai Shen's strategy, Bai Rongqing felt relieved and immediately promised to follow his instructions.

Bai Hengzhong also promised to pay more attention to official changes in Hedong, Hebei and Henan in the future and to protect his own base first.

(End of this chapter)