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

Chapter 886: Discussions on politics and the world in the cold winter, Bai Shi discusses the benefits of classics and engineering

December of the first year of Guangde

Snow elves are flying in the sky above Taiyuan, and the whole place is covered in white. People are hiding in their homes to avoid the cold. It seems as if the pause button has been pressed in the areas north of the Yangtze River and the Huai River. This is a rare period of rest and recuperation.

The foreign tribes on the grassland are waiting for the grass to grow next year before they can attack the Tang Dynasty in their hearts again.

The border towns, which had not heard of money, food and rewards from the court for a long time, were fantasizing about whether they could squeeze out more benefits from the court next year to ensure their own interests.

Chang'an, which was once the center of the world, was licking its wounds. The people returning to the city from the mountains did not know whether they could see the sunrise of the second year of Guangde because of the lack of food and clothing for the winter.

"The saints frequently relocated people, and the people suffered. Although the An Lushan Rebellion failed, the people's hearts were scattered, and it was difficult to lead the army."

Under the snowflakes, Bai Tong stretched out a finger and caught a snowflake, which was instantly evaporated into water droplets by his body temperature.

"No, I don't think so. After all, the Saint defeated the An Lushan Rebellion and his prestige is high. Although the Shuofang Town and Tubo have temporarily taken refuge in Shanzhou, he holds the Shen Ce Army in his hands and holds the righteousness of the world. I'm afraid he won't fail for a while."

As the governor of Hedong, Bai Niu knows a lot about the inner workings of the current imperial court.

Although the imperial court suffered repeated defeats, it only lost the support of the people in Hebei and Henan. The people in Shandong, Jianghuai, and even Jiangnan and Bashu still had their hearts set on the Tang Dynasty.

Moreover, the central government has hundreds of thousands of elite imperial guards, so those ambitious people dare not act rashly.

"Oh, what saint's army? In my opinion, it is the eunuchs' army. This time the saint moved to Shanzhou, and Yu Chaoen, the military inspector, was promoted to the military inspector of the whole country because of his merits, and he was in charge of the internal and external imperial guards."

"In the past, there was Li Fuguo and Cheng Yuanzhen, and now there is Yu Chaoen. How can we save the world by relying on eunuchs? In my opinion, it will end sooner or later."

Perhaps because he was so badly cheated by the eunuchs in Henan, Bai Jing has great hostility towards eunuchs.

But in general, the three brothers were not optimistic about the future of the imperial court. Even Bai Niu was only concerned about the hundreds of thousands of imperial guards in the hands of the imperial court.

The subtext is that as long as the imperial court defeats all of its imperial guards, the countdown to the overthrow of the dynasty will begin.

Listening to their sons' pessimistic attitude towards the court, it was their instinct not to hang themselves on a tree as they were the only family in the world whose inheritance had not been cut off for a thousand years.

"In my father's life, he learned to read when he was young, and when he grew up, he followed Duke Zheng to the ocean, where he saw the customs of many countries. Fortunately, with the blessing of our ancestors, we flowed into Oceania and opened up the sea."

Bai Qing's words drifted into the ears of the three brothers. They unconsciously stopped debating and listened carefully to their father's experience.

If we talk about who in the family has the most knowledge and the richest experience, apart from his great-grandfather Bai Long, it is his father Bai Qing, who has seen the splendor of the Tang Dynasty, exotic customs, deserts, seas, grasslands, and tall forests.

He also witnessed how the Tang Dynasty went from prosperity to decline. It can be said that among all the family heads in history, only Bai Qing had an outstanding vision and was not restricted by the secular world.

"The Tang Dynasty, I'm afraid, won't last much longer. As Dalang said, there are eunuchs' power inside and border towns outside. The saints are frequently relocated and the people are displaced. This is the end of the dynasty. Just as Sima Qian said, 'The way of the three kings is like a cycle.'"

"My ancestors of the Bai family read various historical records and concluded that 'the life of a dynasty is limited to two or three hundred years, just like the life of a person, which has an end.'"

The Bai family has a long history, and its family tradition is unrivaled in the world. It has the largest collection of ancient classics in the world, much more than the royal collection. Even the Confucius Mansion cannot compare with it.

With such a large collection of books, Bai's family naturally had many old scholars who spent their entire lives studying classics and came to many famous conclusions.

Such as "On Education", "On the Unity of Family and Country", "On the Destiny of Dynasties", "On Heliocentrism" and so on.

Some of these treatises were hidden in the government treasury and could not be seen by anyone, while others were spread by Bai Shi in order to promote social development and maintain his leadership role in the literati circle.

Among them, "On the Destiny of Dynasties" was strictly forbidden to be read by the Bai family. No one was allowed to read it except the head of the family with permission, and it could only be discussed in private.

Because once this kind of information is leaked and made public, the whole country will be in turmoil and become a tool for ambitious people to rebel. The court will definitely think that the Bai family is spreading rumors to confuse the people, intending to rebel, and promoting the theory of national destruction. "Then according to my father's wishes, should my Bai family start to set up a plan and look for the next wise leader? It's better to prepare early."

Seeing Bai Qing talking about the theory of dynasty and national destiny, Bai Tong and Bai Niu naively believed that their father should continue to push forward the "Crossing the River Plan" and initiate the "Master Selection Program", beginning to search for a wise master in the world and make investments.

In the hope that the next new dynasty would be able to guarantee the Bai family's status.

But Bai Jing felt that his father had his own ideas.

Sure enough, after listening to Bai Niu's words, Bai Qing did not agree immediately, but expressed his own thoughts:

"I have been traveling all over the country for so many years and have seen a lot. I think the family should make some changes. If things change, we will advance. If we don't change, we will retreat."

"Do you think the world today is more mature and beautiful than the world a thousand years ago?"

Seeing that no one spoke, Bai Niu thought for a moment and then replied:

"Naturally, the world today is more beautiful. When I read the ancients, I saw that people in the Xia and Zhou dynasties wore linen clothes and used hoes to grow millet. They had no water conservancy, and those who could read were weak. People did not have much to eat, and they were very lucky because of the goodness of nature."

"Today's people wear silk as their clothes, use iron oxen to plough the fields, have water conservancy projects connecting the north and south, and have schools scattered across the fields. The people have plenty to eat, and they rely little on the weather. Unless there are major disasters or chaos, there is nothing to worry about."

"Why is this?" Bai Qing asked.

Bai Niu thought for a longer time than before, but still said: "I think it is all thanks to the wise ruler of the country."

"Try to speak." Bai Qing encouraged.

"The Xia and Zhou dynasties were mainly based on feudal fiefdoms, and the methods of herding the people were crude, and the harvest from farming and weaving was small, so the country was weak, the people were few, and the army was not strong."

"Nowadays, the counties are the mainstay, the herding techniques are sophisticated, and the harvest from farming and weaving is great. Therefore, the country is strong, the people are strong, and the military is powerful."

"If there is a wise ruler and virtuous ministers, the people of Zhou and the countryside can be appointed to positions of power, and the art of benefiting the people can be promoted, then the country will be rich and the people will be strong."

"The ruler is incompetent and the ministers are greedy. Talented people are not employed and corrupt officials are rampant. This is why the country is weak and the people are weak."

Bai Qing had only one thing to say after hearing this: "Although it is a high-rise building, it has a weak foundation and is useless."

Bai Niu was shocked. He was just a military general. Although he had a family background in education, his knowledge was still not as good as that of scholars. After hearing his father's evaluation, he wanted to hear Bai Qing's opinion to see where he was lacking.

But Bai Qing did not express his opinion right away. Instead, he looked at Bai Tongdao who was standing beside him and said, "You are the director of the Institute of Gewu. Do you have a different opinion?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Bai Tong was silent for a moment and then said, "I think the world is more beautiful now because the objects are more sophisticated."

"Just as you said, the Xia and Zhou dynasties only used plows and hoes, but now we use iron tools and strong oxen. Human power is limited, but materials are endless. With the help of materials, people can produce more."

"It is the same with learning. In the Xia and Zhou dynasties, there were few scholars, officials, and nobles because there was little food. Very little food could feed those who had nothing to do."

"Nowadays, there are many scholars, and officials go to the counties and townships to summon hundreds of thousands of iron armor. This is because the products are abundant, the yield per mu is high, and many people can be fed without doing anything."

"If in the future the yield per mu is 10,000 bushels, and everyone can eat, then everyone can go to school, everyone can become an official, and there will be no more oppression between superiors and subordinates, so the aspirations of our ancestors can be realized."

As he spoke, Bai Tong became more and more excited. He believed that only by improving tools and inventing new things could he save the world and realize his ancestors' ideal of making everyone beautiful.

(End of this chapter)