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

Chapter 900: Yongzhen Reform Chaos Volume, Han Bai Road Xuanwu Town

On July 28th of the 21st year of Zhenyuan, Ju Wenzhen and others forced Li Song to issue a decree: "Since the long-standing illness has not yet been cured, the military and national affairs will be temporarily entrusted to Crown Prince Chun." He officially abdicated the throne to Crown Prince Li Chun.

At the same time, they appointed like-minded aristocratic officials such as Yuan Zi and Du Huangshang as prime ministers to replace prime ministers such as Gao Ying and Zheng Xunyu who were poor scholars and came from the imperial examination system.

On August 4, the eunuchs supported Li Chun to ascend the throne as emperor, and Li Song abdicated and became the emperor emeritus.

On August 5, Li Song moved to Xingqing Palace and changed the reign title to "Yongzhen".

August 6, the first year of Yongzhen
The court issued an edict demoting Wang Yi to the position of Sima of Kaizhou and Wang Shuwen to the position of Sima of Yuzhou. Soon after, both of them died.

On September 13, Liu Yuxi, the leader of the reformists, was demoted to the governor of Lianzhou, Liu Zongyuan to the governor of Shaozhou, Han Tai to the governor of Fuzhou, and Han Ye to the governor of Chizhou.

On November 7, Wei Zhiyi was demoted to Sima of Yazhou.

On November 13, the court discussed that the demotions of Liu, Liu and others were too light.

On November 14, Liu Yuxi was demoted to Sima of Langzhou, Liu Zongyuan to Sima of Yongzhou, Han Tai to Sima of Qianzhou, and Han Hua to Sima of Raozhou; Cheng Yi was demoted to Sima of Chenzhou, Ling Zhun to Sima of Lianzhou, and Chen Jian to Sima of Taizhou.

The 19th day of the first month of the first year of Yongzhen

News came from Xingqing Palace that Li Song was seriously ill
On the 20th day of the first lunar month, bells rang from the Xingqing Palace, announcing the death of Li Song. Li Chun issued an edict to change the reign title to "Yuanhe".

At this point, the "Yongzhen Reform" with Li Song as the center, Wang Yi and Wang Shu as assistants, and Wei Zhiyi, Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi and other flag bearers as pioneers was declared a failure.

The Tang Dynasty, which had originally been unified by the reformist politics, quickly returned to its original state.

The demoted corrupt officials once again occupied high positions, the eunuchs once again seized military power, the envoys sent to the local areas still made up excuses to make money, the court officials still held their positions but did nothing, and the local military garrisons still acted as they pleased and usurped state power.

March of the first year of Yuanhe
Bianzhou, the location of Xuanwu Town.

Xuanwu was originally the military name of Hedong. It was a small army with 3,000 soldiers and was established by Bai Xin.

Later, he moved with Bai Xin to Bianzhou, set up a separate town, expanded it to 5,000 people, and guarded the important towns in Guandong and the tax hubs of Bianzhou and Songzhou.

Bai Shen was appointed as the Xuanwu Jiedushi, concurrently the Bian Song Suo Duzhi Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner, to garrison Bian Song as a major garrison to guard against Li Na, the Zibo and Qingjieshi.

Later, Bai Shen resigned and appointed his son Bai Xian as the governor of Xuanwu, stationed in Bianzhou.

Relying on the influence of the Bai family in the court and the fact that they are the major shareholder behind Liang Shang, the Xuanwu Army in Bian Song has sufficient military supplies, strong combat effectiveness and high morale.

Especially after Bai Xian took over, he followed Wei Bo's example in Bian Song and distributed land to the soldiers, which made the morale of the 5,000 Xuanwu troops reach its peak, "not listening to the emperor's orders, but obeying Bai's orders."

The current Xuanwu Jiedushi is Bai Xian’s son, Bai Hui, who was twenty-one years old when he took office from Songxi.

At the beginning of this year, the head of the Bai family, Bai Xin, passed away, and the young master Bai Shen succeeded him. Bai Xian, the East Courtyard envoy, had no choice but to put down his work and return home to take up the position of the head of the main courtyard.

The family's important city of Bianzhou in Henan was handed over to his son Bai Hui.

Finally, with the approval of the court, Bai Hui, who was only 21 years old, inherited all the official positions and titles of his father Bai Xian.

He served as the governor of Xuanwu, the acting minister of the Ministry of Works, the prime minister, the governor of Bianzhou, the imperial censor, the governor of Xuanwu, the governor of Bianzhou, the governor of Bianzhou, the governor of Yan ...
In order to allow Bai Hui to better control the situation, Bai Xian invited Han Yu, a wise scholar of Neo-Confucianism, and Bai Juyi, a talented family member, to come to Bianzhou to assist him.

Han Yu is a great general of the current "Ancient Literature Movement" also known as the "Neo-Confucianism Movement" and currently serves as the Chief Clerk of Bianzhou.

The previous Yongzhen Reform was a political movement initiated by the ancient literature school, which was also a science student movement. Its purpose was to apply knowledge to practice and reform the government's malpractices.

They came from different backgrounds, some were from wealthy families, some were from aristocratic families, some were from poor families, and some were from the military.

However, they all believed in the philosophy of Neo-Confucianism and gathered under the banner of the Neo-Confucian school. They gathered together and launched the Yongzhen Reform, but suffered a severe blow from the conservative forces led by the eunuchs and aristocratic families.

The leaders Wang Shuwen, Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan were exiled, countless students of science were purged, and the strongest supporter Li Song was forced to abdicate and even murdered.

Han Yu was one of them.

At first, he was targeted by the Confucian officials in the court because of his status as a science student, and he failed the imperial examinations many times.

He had no choice but to leave Chang'an, return to Heyang County via Tongguan, and soon went to the eastern capital Luoyang.

In the 12th year of Zhenyuan, Bai Xian, the governor of Xuanwu, heard of Han Yu's talent and recommended him to the court. Han Yu was given a trial appointment as a proofreader in the Secretariat and was also appointed as the governor of Xuanwu, thus entering the officialdom.

Because of the existence of the Bai family, Taiyuan and Bianzhou became the base camps for students of Neo-Confucianism. Under the protection of the Hedong Army and the Xuanwu Army, Neo-Confucianism developed rapidly in these two places.

Bianzhou even opened the Bianliang Academy, which, together with the Jinbai Academy, was a holy place for Neo-Confucianism. Wang Shuwen, Liu Yuxi, Liu Zongyuan and other Neo-Confucian masters all worked or studied in these two academies.

In the 15th year of Zhenyuan, Han Yu, with the help of Bai Xian, was able to take the examination for Xielü Lang.

In the 17th year of Zhenyuan, he finally passed the fourth selection by the Ministry of Personnel and was granted an official position. He was appointed as a doctor of four subjects in the Imperial College and entered the Imperial College, the base of science students in the capital.

In the 19th year of Zhenyuan, he was promoted to Supervisory Censor.

In the same year, because he was dissatisfied with the blockade of Guanzhong by Jingzhao Yin Li Shi due to the severe drought, he lied that Guanzhong had a bumper harvest and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

In anger, he submitted a report to the court titled "On the Drought and Famine in the People's Republic of China", but was slandered by treacherous officials such as Li Shi, and at the end of the same year he was demoted to the magistrate of Yangshan, Lianzhou.

In the 21st year of Zhenyuan, the reformists were highly valued by Li Song, and Han Yu was pardoned and appointed as the assistant general of Jiangling Law Department.

Soon he was summoned back to Chang'an, where he was appointed Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel and was in charge of the selection of officials.

During the Yongzhen reign, Li Song abdicated and the reformists were suppressed and purged. Han Yu was among them. However, because of Bai Xian's protection, he was only sent to be the Chief Secretary of Bianzhou and the Deputy Envoy of Xuanwu Jiedushi, and was not exiled to a border state.

Bai Juyi also had a bumpy official career. He lived in the emerging stage of Confucian studies, and the officialdom was full of malicious intent from officials with a Confucian background.

He started taking the imperial examinations in the second year of Zhenyuan, but failed for several years. He passed in the tenth year of Zhenyuan. Like Han Yu, he was unable to pass the selection of the Ministry of Personnel after passing the examination, and was unable to be appointed as an official. He had to take refuge with his brother in Bianzhou.

His brother Bai Youwen was serving as the chief clerk of Yongqiu County, Bianzhou at that time, so he moved his family to Bianzhou.

In the 18th year of Zhenyuan, he finally passed the Shupan Bacui examination held by the Ministry of Personnel, and together with his good friend Yuan Zhen, he was awarded the position of Proofreader in the Secretariat.

Under the persuasion of his good friends, he left his family in the safer Bianzhou and went to Chang'an alone with Yuan Zhen to take up his post.

In April of the same year, he passed the examination for both talent and knowledge and was appointed as the lieutenant of Zhuoying County.

In the 21st year of Zhenyuan, Bai Juyi was appointed as the eighth-rank Zuo Shiyi, while Li Peng, who passed the same imperial examination and became a scholar in the same class, had already been promoted to the fifth-rank Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue because of his Confucian classics background.

Fortunately, the reformists came to power in the same year, and Bai Juyi was promoted to the sixth rank of Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Rites, and served as an examiner for Jinshi, editor of Jixian Academy, and was awarded the title of Hanlin Bachelor.

Just when things were finally looking up, the reformists suddenly lost power and Bai Juyi was originally scheduled to be demoted to the position of magistrate of Ziyang County, Zizhou.

But Bai Xian took action and, seeing that Bai Hui was knowledgeable and was also Bai Hui's illegitimate son, he took pity on him and chose him as Bai Hui's assistant scholar.

So Bai arranged for him to be appointed as Sima of Bianzhou and judge of Xuanwu Army, thus preserving his official position of sixth rank.

(End of this chapter)