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

Chapter 914: Dongfu jokes about having a Hu son-in-law, Xianju invites Northern scholars to a banquet

Bianzhou, Xuanwu Army Mansion, Bai's East Mansion
Led by servants in the mansion, Li Guochang and Bai Zhusheng passed through layers of guards and finally arrived at the central hall.

"Zhenwu Jiedushi Li Guochang has met Lord Liang."

"Zhenwu Army Commander Bai Zhusheng greets you, young master."

In the hall, Bai Yi sat high on the commander's seat, with two people sitting on each side. On the left was a white-haired old man named Du Xinghua, the commander of the Xuanwu Army, and on the right was a middle-aged general named Quanzhong, the governor of the Xuanwu Army.

The two, one civil and one military, assisted Bai Yi and his son for two generations and were one of the pillars of the Bian Song area.

Among them, Du Xingguo was born in a poor family and served as the principal of Bianliang Academy. He was the leader of the Southern School of Neo-Confucianism. Together with Bai Shaotao, the leader of the Northern School of Jinbai Academy, they were collectively known as "North and South Du Bai".

It represents the power of science students in Xuanwu Town in the Bian Song area and even south of the Yellow River.

Quanzhong was born into the Quan family of Taiyuan. He was a descendant of the Quan family's side branch. His family had fallen into poverty since his grandfather. His father followed the Xuanwu Army south to Bianzhou in his early years and was able to settle in Bianliang, becoming a descendant of the Wei Fort.

First, due to his background and experience, he became the representative of the Weibao system in the Xuanwu Army, representing the interests of the 40,000 soldiers of the Xuanwu Army.

Without mentioning the two of them, under the greetings from Li and Bai, Bai Yi stood up with a friendly look and returned the greetings:

"Don't talk about Lord Liang. Lord Guochang is one of us. He has been given a surname by the emperor and is honored by the country. I have stolen the position of Duke. How dare I accept such a great gift from you, the general who has suppressed the rebellion?"

Oh no! After hearing Bai Yi's words, Bai Zhusheng, who had been lowering his head, was slightly moved. He unconsciously raised his eyes to look at the nobleman who was slightly bowing and crossing his arms behind the case.

There was no intimidating scrutiny, but rather a peaceful expression. He just glanced at me, then quickly lowered his brows again in an act of respect.

The cold edge in the other party's words made him tense up and dare not move at all.

With his intelligence, he naturally knew that this was another test of Li Guochang by the family to see whether Li Guochang, who had the surname Guo, was still the Hu son-in-law who was close to the Bai family before.

If it were anything else, he would definitely clear his throat and give a reminder regardless of the occasion.

But this is the son of the Bai family, a nobleman of his family. As a member of the Bai family, he cannot do it.

I hope that coach Ji can keep his composure and see through the momentum in these warm words.

"You are joking, sir. Although Chi Xin has the surname of the emperor, he is still the son-in-law of the Bai family. Even the gods cannot separate us. How dare he abandon his family and go his own way?"

Li Guochang seemed not to have heard Bai Yi's test. He looked calm and without hesitation, he deepened the angle of his bow and said so.

He could clearly hear Bai Zhusheng's breathing beside him, and he passed the test.

More than 30 years have passed since he went to Songxi to visit the head of the Bai family, Xian. The Bai family has gone through three generations. The passionate Hu man back then now has frost on his head.

But his hand holding the scimitar remained steady, and step by step he transformed the small tribe of Zhuxie with less than 10,000 people into the Shatuo tribe that dominated the north of Dai, with tens of thousands of people and thousands of Shatuo elite cavalry under his command.

He even stepped onto the stage of the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains and became the king of the country, the governor of a town, and the vassal general of a border town.

To be honest, if Li Guochang took advantage of the situation to leave the Bai family and join the arms of the royal family, the Bai family would have no way to deal with it.

After all, on the surface, Bai was still the most loyal minister of the royal family. He contributed manpower and effort to help the court pacify malicious warlords. He was even not attached to power and handed over his base camp Hedong to allow the court to appoint a military governor.

Since Bai gave up the post of Hedong Jiedushi, the Hedong that retreated the Uighurs during the reign of Emperor Wuzong helped the court to quell countless rebellions and righteous armies. "Haha, I was just joking with you. Lord Chixin is a hero in Daibei, and he is much older than me. Although I am a Duke, I inherited the title from my father. How can I compare to Lord Chixin's outstanding achievements?"

"When I was studying in the academy, my uncle Keyong was my jockey coach. Today, I am able to see my old friend and elder. I can't hide my excitement, so I joked with him to show that we are close."

Bai Yi, looking like a naughty child, walked out from behind the desk with a big laugh, walked quickly to Li Guochang, helped him up, and bowed solemnly.

At this time, Du Xingguo, who had remained silent, rebuked Bai Yi and said:
"You are the commander of Xuanwu Town. Tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on you. How can you treat a distinguished guest so lightly? You are wrong."

Bai Yi wiped the non-existent sweat off his face with an embarrassed look, and said to Du Xingguo with a solemn teacher's greeting while smiling:
"The boy has learned a lesson."

Du Xingguo nodded seriously and stopped talking.

"I was appointed to this position only last year. When I came here, my father warned me not to act recklessly and to listen to Mr. Du's advice, otherwise he would not forgive me. So I can't object. Mr. Chixin, please, let's talk later."

As Bai Yi complained quietly in front of Li Guochang, he extended his hand to invite Li Guochang to move to the backyard and chat about family matters.

From beginning to end, except for returning the gift to Bai Zhusheng at the beginning, Bai Yi never spoke a word to him, as if Li Guochang was the Bai family member and Bai Zhusheng was an outsider.

After Bai Yi and Li Guochang left, Bai Zhusheng was stopped by someone: "Are you Bai Zhusheng?"

Bai Zhusheng responded: "Yes, who are you?"

The man smiled and said, "I am Bai Banghan, the judge of Xuanwu Army Mansion, and also the counselor of Bai's East Mansion. I am here at your order to invite you to Xianju Tower for a while."

After hearing what Bai Banghan said, Bai Zhusheng pondered over it, as if the name was very familiar. Looking at his friendly smile, he suddenly realized:
"But he is the grandson of Xiangshan Jushi?"

Bai Banghan still smiled, as if it had nothing to do with him, and replied: "That's right."

Bai Zhusheng immediately said excitedly:

"I heard a few years ago that the most influential person in the family who is good at Neo-Confucianism is Xiangshan Jushi. He inherited most of what Tonggong taught and even founded his own school. He is the founder of Southern Neo-Confucianism. Today, I am honored to meet Jushi's grandson."

"Jun Miaozan, do you know this Xianju Tower?"

"Brother Banghan personally invited me, so why not go? Please."

"I have long heard that you are a master of Northern Neo-Confucianism. Although you served as an official in the State of Chang, you allowed your works to be published frequently, allowing the northern barbarians to hear the Han language. The barbarian style in northern Dai was swept away, and Tang learning flourished."

At Bai Banghan's invitation, the two of them talked as they walked out of the mansion, apparently to attend the banquet at Xianju Tower.

This banquet at Xianju Tower was hosted by Bai Banghan at Bai Yi's request, in order to deepen the loyalty of Bai Zhusheng and other Daibei scholars to the family.

Therefore, most of the people who came to this banquet were scholars in the Bai family who were good at Neo-Confucianism.

First, it would allow students of the Bianliang Academy to have the opportunity to communicate with students of the Northern School of Science, thus strengthening the connection between the two and avoiding infighting among the same students in today's world where Confucian classics are the main focus.

This is also what the Bai family is trying their best to do.

Since the emergence of the Southern School of Neo-Confucianism, the differences between the Northern and Southern schools have become increasingly obvious. This all started with the Xiangshan hermit mentioned by Bai Zhusheng.

(End of this chapter)