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

Chapter 903: Don’t fight for a moment, fight for a hundred generations; the evil officials in Hebian are spreading
Due to old age and physical frailty, Bai Shen has been plagued by many illnesses that he never had when he was young.

Even though Bai has a way of maintaining health, humans are not gods after all and cannot resist the five signs of decay.

Even though the Bai family was blessed with natural advantages, they only had a little more foresight than others.

Bai Shen, who understood his situation, did not have many regrets.

Compared to many families and people in this world, the Bai family has gained too much, and he himself has also gained too much.

He waved his hand to stop Bai Xian from moving forward: "It's an old problem. I'm eighty-two years old this year. If you calculate the time, I won't have much time left."

"Xian'er."

"The child is here."

Although Bai Xian is nearly sixty years old and looks like an old man, he is still just a child in front of Bai Shen.

"Hui Er, you are over 30 years old this year, right?"

"Hui Er is thirty-six this year."

"Time flies. Let him prepare to come back. Mian'er is about to reach adulthood. My health won't allow me to live for many more years. An orderly inheritance is more important than anything else."

"Yes."

Seeing Bai Xian's hesitant expression, Bai Shen smiled and said, "You are not a child anymore, what is there to be embarrassed about? Just say whatever you want to say."

"Father, please forgive my rudeness. My family has been studying the system of nominal monarchs for more than 40 years, and promoting Neo-Confucianism for nearly 30 years."

"Plus, my son's experiment in Bianliang was successful. The Weibao system is highly compatible with the virtual monarch and Neo-Confucianism. In my opinion, the possibility of this system is already 60%. Why should we wait any longer?"

"Alas." Seeing Bai Xian's anxious look, Bai Shen comforted him, "Everything is prepared, and without preparation, it will fail. Also, the time is not right, so I dare not act rashly."

"Although the family has made a lot of preparations in advance, whether it is in terms of politics, people's hearts, or the current state of the country, it is not enough to support the realization of our vision at this stage."

“So wait, only wait, and glimpse that tiny opportunity in the waiting, then the great cause can be successful.”

Bai Xian said somewhat indignantly:
"Father, you said we should wait, my grandfather said we should wait, and my great-grandfather also said we should wait. But since my great-grandfather established the system of nominal monarchy, it has been nearly fifty years since then. How long do we have to wait?"

"Do we have to wait another fifty years?"

"Haha." Bai Shen couldn't help but laugh: "You, you're almost sixty, but you're still as impatient as when you were young."

“Those who want to accomplish great things should not rush for success. Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. The same goes for a family. Especially for the head of the Bai family, who can influence the entire country, he must be more careful, careful, and careful.”

"Because the Bai clan is like a giant. The slightest movement can affect millions of clan members. And there are only a few people in this world."

"The family has waited for 1,500 years since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Such a long time has passed. Can't we wait in just 50 or 100 years?"

At this point, he took a deep breath, picked up the teacup to moisten his throat, and continued to teach:
"Besides, if most of the noble families in the world are greedy snakes and rats who don't care about their own scales and hair for a little profit, then our Bai family is like a flying crane."

"The crane is beautiful because it cherishes its feathers, which is more important than its own life."

"It is said that Suzaku has the ability to achieve nirvana. When faced with the worry of death, he scattered his feathers everywhere, because as long as one feather exists, he can achieve nirvana and return. Isn't it the same for the family?"

"Establishing the system of a nominal monarch, intervening in the next dynasty change, and personally getting involved, this was a bit radical in the family's past decisions. Only the decision made by our ancestors to establish Beixia can be compared to it."

"But you also know the result of that decision, so we have to be cautious about some things." Seeing the thoughtful look in Bai Xian's eyes, Bai Shen continued:
"As the military strategists say, before you think about victory you must first think about defeat. The same is true for managing a family."

"With the power of the family, it is easy to overthrow Li Tang, but this will greatly damage the family's reputation and even its political credibility. The Bai family's reputation of thousands of years will be destroyed."

"It would be great if this resolution succeeds, but what if it fails? Do nominal monarchy, Neo-Confucianism, and the fortress system represent the future? None of us can be sure, right?"

"This is a test, a test of the future. If it succeeds, it's fine. If it fails, the family won't suffer too much damage."

"Sima's previous experience, can't it serve as a warning to you?"

The more he listened, the more ashamed Bai Xian felt. You know, there are very few people with the surname Sima in the world today.

Because the Sima family destroyed the political credibility since the Han Dynasty, in the end, the entire Sima clan was massacred by the new dynasties of the North and South, including the Yuwen family and the Liu family, at the end of the Jin Dynasty.

The family that was the most powerful in the world at the end of the Han Dynasty, only slightly inferior to the Bai and Liu families, has now fallen into the hands of a powerful family, barely surviving in the south of the Yangtze River.

Thinking of this, Bai Xian knelt down in front of Bai Shen and kowtowed:

"I am ashamed that I almost put my family in danger because of my ignorance."

Bai Shen sighed and said:

"Get up. It is a great honor to admit your mistakes and improve. You just need to know that as the head of the family, you hold a confidential position and should be extremely cautious. However, you must also be decisive and resolute. You need to weigh the balance yourself."

At this point, Bai Shen couldn't help but think further, and said worriedly:

"My Bai family was able to choose an older ruler to suppress the family, but in ancient and modern dynasties, the rulers tended to be young or even young, which led to the country's radicalization and even the loss of power, with eunuchs, relatives of the emperor, and powerful ministers appearing one after another."

"Is it more important for a country to appoint a virtuous person rather than an elder? Or is the system of abdication more important than the system of inheritance?"

The more Bai Shen thought about it, the more dizzy he felt. Never mind, never mind. He was old now, so he would leave these eternal problems to future generations to think about. His current priority was to ensure the orderly inheritance of the Bai family.

The problems of this country should be left to the head of the family who can rule the country in the future.

"Xian'er."

Bai Xian, who was sitting back in his chair, heard his father calling him and immediately responded, "My son is here."

"At first, our ancestors predicted that the Great Tang Dynasty would not last more than 200 years, but it seems that this court still has some power. Although there have been some turbulence in the past 50 years and the feudal lords have become powerful, the throne is still undoubtedly passed down in the hands of the Li Tang royal family."

"Remember, no matter how chaotic the world is in the future, it is important to defend Hedong and Bianliang."

"If you guard Hedong well, you can control Hebei, Hezhong and Henei."

"If we defend Bianliang, we can hold Henan, Shandong, Jianghuai and other places."

"Since ancient times, many northerners have migrated south, so the land south of the Yangtze River has mostly been attached to the Northern Dynasties, while Bashu is isolated. If the Central Plains is stable, then Bashu will be stable."

"So, as long as Hedong and Bianliang are not lost, no matter how chaotic the world is, we can quickly restore order and rebuild the new dynasty."

Bai Xian took note.

(End of this chapter)