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

Chapter 934: Guandong is temporarily at peace, and the plan for rebellion is resumed, and the diplomatic plan for friendship is renewed

April, Year 1 of the Dragon Era
When the Xuanwu Army captured Xuzhou and four other states, the entire Guandong region seemed to have pressed the pause button, and the war disappeared in the air for a while.

The reason was that the Zhongwu and Xuanwu armies had just ended the battles of Caizhou and Xuzhou respectively, and were each in the process of digesting the results of the battles and could not expand in a short period of time.

The court also appointed Wei Zhaodu as the acting minister of works and the governor of the Eastern Capital. The Zhongwu Army was moved from Luoyang to Liang County, Ruzhou, as its seat of government.

The relocation of government offices and troops was mixed up with everything else, so Zhu Quanzhong naturally couldn't spare the time.

The Tianping and Taining armies, where the brothers Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin were located, had only been in existence for two years, with the shortest being Taining, less than half a year. They were not yet able to confront the old feudal lords, and their energy was focused on suppressing internal rebellions and disobedience.

In the easternmost part, in the old vassal town close to the sea - Zibo, Qingpinglu Town, the old Jiedushi Wang Jingwu has just passed away, and his son Wang Shifan has succeeded him. There are undercurrents within the town regarding the Jiedushi position.

Therefore, a strange balance is maintained between the towns in Kanto.

As for Yang Xingmi of Yangzhou, the morale of Sun Ru's troops who invaded Huainan plummeted because of Qin Zongquan's defeat.

He took the opportunity to defeat the enemy and capture all of their troops, thus recovering most of his strength and taking over the Huainan area. He was then appointed as the Jiedushi of Huainan by the imperial court.

July, Year 1 of the Dragon Era
The Liu family, a prominent family in Xuzhou, was dissatisfied with the Xuanwu Military Government's large-scale deployment of soldiers to set up garrisons in the local area. They colluded with local tyrants and bandits in various counties and started a rebellion, intending to expel the soldiers from the garrison and regain their voice.

"The Bai family is a great clan in the world, an ancient family with a long history. However, they have gone against the grain and betrayed their clan. First, they started to promote some stupid Neo-Confucianism and joined the masses."

"Now they have come up with a fortress system and are occupying good farmland. This is to uproot our clan's roots. Can we just sit there and let them slaughter us?"

Liu Yuanwen, who was born into the Pengcheng Liu family, was originally a third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of War in the imperial court. Now he was idle at home and was well-known in his hometown for his virtue. He was the first to be appointed as the leader to connect the various powerful families.

When the representatives of the various clans or the sons of the powerful heard Liu Yuanwen's words, they all shouted, "No, no."

Seeing that the army was motivated, Liu Yuanwen added:

"I have received a reply from Lord Cui of the imperial court. If we can retake Xuzhou and hold out for three months, the imperial court can take it back and re-establish the Wuning Army."

"And we are not fighting alone. Lord Zhu of the Zhongwu Army will also help us secretly. When the Wuning Army is restored, Lord Zhu can even send troops directly."

"With the support of the court officials at home and the help of loyal ministers outside, there is no need to worry about not accomplishing great things. Gentlemen, let's work hard together!"

Knowing that this uprising had attracted the attention of important officials in the court and had the support of powerful vassal states, some powerful families and wealthy people who had been hesitant decided to join in.

So within a few months, Liu Yuanwen had contacted dozens of large families and hundreds of powerful families throughout the three states of Xu, Su and Si, and even Haizhou.

While Liu Yuanwen was running around to make contacts, in the Xuanwu Military Office in Bianzhou, an old man who looked like a wealthy businessman, fat and plump, was sitting respectfully in his seat. Bai Yi, who was sitting above him, had a gloomy face and was obviously in a bad mood.

"Mr. Mi has taken the trouble to come all the way here to provide me with such crucial information. I am deeply grateful. Not only will the Xuanwu Army remember Mi's kindness, but the Bai Clan will also reaffirm their friendship with Mi."

The old man of the Mi clan replied with a smile: "With your words, I am satisfied. In the past, the Bai and Mi clans gathered together under the command of our great ancestor and revived the Han Dynasty. Now that our two clans have joined forces again, there is no reason why we cannot succeed."

Bai Yi's face looked much better and he said, "Mr. Mi is right. They are just some scoundrels. They are not worthy of being pillars and they can't bring down the sky."

"In that case, I will take my leave now."

"please."

After personally escorting the old man from the Mi family out of the mansion, Bai Yi strode back to the hall and said, "Call the military and political officials, the deputy envoy, the garrison general, and the officials of the duke's mansion to come and discuss matters."

"Yes." The chief clerk Bai Congxin, who had been following behind him, did not dare to be negligent and turned around to convey the order.

Returning to his seat, Bai Yi couldn't help feeling a headache. He rubbed his head while thinking about a solution.

He is now forty-five years old, in the prime of his life. Three years ago, the head of the Bai family, Duke Bai Mian, passed away at the age of eighty-five.

Young Master and Chief Court Officer Bai Rui succeeded to the throne. As usual, Bai Yi should immediately return to Songxi to serve as Chief Court Officer, preside over clan affairs during Bai Rui's mourning period, and take over part of the family power.

He handed over Xuanwu Army to his 22-year-old son Bai Jian, and made him the governor of Xuanwu Army, inheriting the title of Duke of Song and presiding over government affairs.

However, the situation in the world was turbulent at that time, especially in Guandong, which was at a critical period of suppressing Huang Chao and was also the period when Qin Zongquan was at his most arrogant.

As Zhu Quanzhong was rising and it was the best time for the Xuanwu Army to seize Huazhou, Bai Yi decisively wrote a letter to the head of the family, "It is necessary to temporarily stay in Bianzhou."

Bai Rui, who had not yet set out for Baiyuan, took into account the reality and agreed to let Bai Yi continue to stay in Xuanwu Army to maintain the political continuity of Xuanwu Army to prevent interference from other powerful vassal states.

The position of chief director fell to Bai Yi's cousin, Bai Bao. Bai Rui appointed Bai Bao as the acting chief director (acting chief director).

When the head of the family, Bai Rui, was away from the family and the young master, Bai Yiyuan, was stationed in Bianzhou, he presided over the clan affairs under the supervision of the clan elders' council.

As for his son Bai Jian, who was originally going to inherit Xuanwu Town, in order to train him, he would be able to take over the seal more quickly when Bai Yi returned to the family.

After discussing with Bai Yi, Bai Rui decided to appoint him as the Left Commander-in-Chief of Zhaoyi Army and Governor of Zezhou to train him.

The Jiedushi of Zhaoyi Army was Li Keyong, the Jiedushi of Hedong, and Li Kexiu, the younger brother of Li Kerang, the commander of the cavalry of Xuanwu Army.

After a while, all the civil and military officials from the prefectures under the jurisdiction of Xuanwu Town, as well as the military and political departments, gathered in the meeting hall, filling the entire hall.

Bai Yi sat high in the main seat, with the chief secretary Bai Congxin sitting behind him, the military commander Bai Banghan on his right, the political commander Tian Weiyi on his left, and the rest of the civil and military officials sat in order, with civil officials on the left and military officials on the right.

"This is what happened. Do you have any plan to deal with it?"

Bai Yi learned from the old man of the Mi family that the powerful families in the surrounding areas of Xuzhou and other places, led by Liu Yuanwen of Pengcheng, were conspiring to rebel.

Moreover, people from the imperial court and powerful vassal states were involved, and the complexity and urgency of the situation had to be told to everyone in the hall as appropriate.

"I'm afraid this matter will require further consideration." Political Secretary Tian Weiyi frowned.

"Whatever the secretary is worried about, he can talk about it."

"My Lord, if it was just Liu Yuanwen, it would be fine. He would just send troops to suppress the rebellion. The tricky part is that important officials in the court and powerful local vassal states are involved."

"It's easy to deal with the interference of the court. The prestige of the court has greatly decreased. As long as Xuzhou and other places are still in our hands, the court will have no choice but to accept it."

"But the loyal and martial Zhu Quanzhong is not easy to deal with. Although he just ended the battle of Caizhou, he is said to be highly regarded by the aristocratic families. Chen, Xun, Guo and other people in Liang County have sent their own children to enter his military mansion."

"Besides, the imperial court has always regarded our Xuanwu Town as a threat, and they wish to wipe it out, so they have always been lenient to Zhu Quanzhong, hoping that he can stop us in Guandong."

"Therefore, it is not surprising that the two parties joined forces this time."

"Therefore, I think you can make alliances with friendly towns to jointly resist the pressure from the court and create a favorable external environment to buy more time to quell the rebellion."

Bai Yi nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Tian Weiyi's words: "Yes, I intend to contact Li Keyong of Hedong and Wang Chongrong of Hezhong."

"As far as I know, Hedong has long intended to send troops to Yunzhou Helianduo, but they are concerned about the court, so they dare not mobilize the army easily."

"Our two towns are working together. Should we save Helian Duo or Liu Yuanwen? Should we take Yunzhou or Xuzhou? With such a dilemma, the court will definitely be indecisive. In addition, there are constant party struggles in the court. In the next few months, we don't have to worry about the court."

"Who can go on a diplomatic mission to Hedong for me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, an official stepped out and said, "I am Bai Zizheng, the literary officer of the Duke's Mansion, and I would like to go."

"can."

(End of this chapter)