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

Chapter 573 The Theory of Merit and Virtue Revises the Ancestral System, Public Morality and Qi Yang Short Food

Everyone in the conference hall turned their attention to Bai Qian.

This man is their clansman, their family head, and even their emperor.

They know that the reason why the Bai family has been able to endure for thousands of years and become a royal family is all due to the guidance of successive generations of Bai family heads.

Since ascending to the top of the world and possessing royal status, the Bai family has been different from before.

As recorders of history, the Bai family members know best how to proceed from now on. The fate of the royal family is often not so good.

Not to mention the Bai family, a noble with a history of thousands of years, there is no shortage of ambitious people to do unimaginable things as long as they have the opportunity.

If Xia Guo was not around, how the Bai family would exist would be a question they had to think about.

But obviously, this critical moment has not yet reached, because now the Xia Kingdom can still continue, and the Bai family can still continue to move forward under the identity of the Xia Kingdom royal family.

"Everyone, since ancient times, those who have no merit have not received generous rewards, and those who have no virtue have not been in high positions.

The reason why we, the Bai family, are able to reach the throne is that we are walking around the world as princes, all in the Xia Kingdom. It all depends on the people.

Nowadays, there are white constitutions and white books, thinking that they are selfish and trying to seize higher rights and status, which is caused by greed.

It is because one has the blood of the ancestors but does not have the virtues of the ancestors, and the virtues are not matched.

In addition, the disciples were scattered all over the world, less influenced by the family and more influenced by the bad secular customs, so that Bai Wenxian appeared, who caused rebellion and rebelled against the family. The white book is mainly responsible for treason and rebellion.

Therefore, I plan to revise the system of inheritance of titles for the Bai family during the Yuan Dynasty. "

As soon as this statement came out, the whole hall was shocked and started talking.

It's not that they are greedy for Gao Jue, but it's inevitable that they won't think about it subconsciously when they suddenly bring up such a matter of concern for their own interests.

Fortunately, Bai Ming was calm enough, stood up and said:
"Master, if I am greedy for power, I am really unhappy about it."

"Uncle Five, please speak."

“It’s not that I disagree with the amendment of the law of ennobling relatives, but do we still need to consider how to suppress local rebellions without me and other disciples?

After all, we are connected by blood, so we are better than outsiders guarding us. The chaos of kings with different surnames in the early Han Dynasty is a lesson learned from the past. "

All the scholars nodded in agreement with Bai Ming's suggestion. Don't overturn a whole boat of people just because of Bai Wenxian and Bai Ce.

Moreover, without the support of the Bai family, the emperor's status alone could not subdue the powerful local families, the military nobles in the court, and the scholars and ministers.

This is the way to bring disaster.

Bai Qian motioned to Bai Ming to sit down first, and then said loudly:
"Yes, what Fifth Uncle said is a good policy, so what I said is to modify it, not to abolish it."

Seeing that everyone's mood had eased and they were willing to continue listening, Bai Qian continued:

"As I said before, those with no merit will not be generously rewarded, and those without virtue will not be in high positions, so I am going to modify the rule that all princes will be crowned kings.

I am going to modify it to say that among the Bai family, those without high merits cannot be crowned kings, and those without high virtues cannot be promoted to dukes.

The descendants of the Bai family must stay in Qiyang and enter the family school and Bai Zong before they reach the crown. They are not allowed to follow their clan members who leave the town until they reach the crown.

This is all to prevent the tribesmen from being disassociated from the family because they are too far away from the family.

Because of their lack of ability, the tribesmen acted unintentionally to harm the country.

I believe that with my thousands of years of Bai family background, starting from the bottom, I can't compare to those common people and small clans who have no foundation.

Is our current situation more difficult than when our ancestors started their business? "

If it were another family, everyone present might think that the family head was leaving their heirs in Qiyang as a hostage.

However, the Bai family has developed for thousands of years, and the trust between the clan members is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

And because of the existence of the divine seal, the blood relationship between the Bai family members usually does not exceed three generations, so they are very close to each other.

Bai Ming, who is devoted to the interests of his family, initially agreed to Bai Qian's suggestion, but there was still one last question:
"Master, if that's the case, what does the knighthood given to us all count? Are those who have no merit reduced to the title and taken back?"

Bai Qian saw everyone looking at him and said with a smile:

"Of course not. The previous title was a gift from Emperor Yuan to the people. How can I take it back? My regulations will not blame the past, but will start from now on.

Moreover, in the future, the rights of clan members without titles will be the same as before the establishment of the Great Xia Dynasty. If capable, the court will give priority to recruiting scholars from the family.

If he is incompetent, his family can support him throughout his life, but his life will not be more exciting than that of his motivated clan members. "

"Okay, now that the master of the house has said this, we will no longer have to worry about anything. After all, princes and princes are just external possessions.

We, the Bai family, only look at the civil and martial arts within us, and do not judge our superiority based on things external to us. This is the saying of our ancestors.

I, Bai Ming, agreed to this matter. "

As a son of the Bai family, he doesn't care about official position or title at all, he only cares about having a platform to display his talents.

Because in their eyes, as soon as they were born and had the identity of Bai Shizi, they were already more precious than anything in the world.

In their hearts, Bai's feathers are more valuable than their lives.

"Father agrees, and so do I."

Following Bai Ming was Bai He.

"agreed, agreed."···

There were voices of approval. This time, Bai Wen was appointed as the recorder to record the number of hands raised.

He was writing down the number of people who agreed one by one.

A few quarters of an hour later, Bai Wen handed the recorded number of consenters to Bai Qian:

"Grandpa, the statistics have been calculated. One hundred and seventy-two people agreed, none disagreed, and one abstained. This abstainer?"

Bai Wen clearly saw that the person who abstained was a man named Bai who did not have the divine seal, and he wanted to check it out.

"It's okay, let everyone check it. If it's correct, file it in the warehouse."

Bai Qian, who has achieved his goal, doesn't care at all how many people abstain or disagree. He only cares about whether the plan is passed or not.

Now that the opinions within the clan have been resolved, the rest are side issues.

On May 20th, Emperor Bai Qian issued an edict announcing the formal revision of the "Nobility System for Imperial Disciples" promulgated during the Yuan Dynasty.

The stipulation of awarding titles based on distance and proximity was abolished, and titles were awarded based on talent instead, and all the Bai family members were treated equally.

From now on, talented and virtuous people, even if they are not descendants of the Bai family, can still be crowned kings and dukes. Those who have no talent or virtue will not receive the slightest reward even though they are descendants of the Bai family.

Subsequently, one hundred and seventy-two Bai princes, headed by King Bai Ming of Yan, came forward to support the restructuring of the imperial court.

He was also willing to set an example and asked the court to abolish the titles of several of his sons who had no meritorious service, and only retained the titles of those who had made meritorious service.

In the first month of the fifth year of Jingping, the princes and heirs returned to Qiyang one after another and began to uniformly enter the Bai family school to receive family education.

After attaining the crown, you can directly enroll in the Baizong. After receiving three years of aristocratic education from the Baizong, you can choose to accept the call from the imperial court according to your own wishes and be awarded officials based on your talent and learning.

You can also choose to go home directly and wait to inherit the title of your father.

But I think this kind of person will become the most unpopular person in the aristocratic circle.

In March, because a large number of princes and nobles returned to Qiyang from their fiefdoms or places of employment, Qiyang's population soared rapidly.

Food reserves are declining rapidly.

In the palace, Bai Qian was listening to the complaints of Duzhi Shangshu and Da Sinong. On the side were Zhongshu Ling Cui Hao, Shangshu Ling Bai Fu, and Prime Minister Yuan An.

"Your Majesty, in five months, Qiyang will be short of food. At that time, food prices will rise uncontrollably, and Qiyang will definitely fall into panic."

There are nearly 200,000 people in Qiyang, and the floating population is nearly 180,000. Together with the nearby army, officials and other administrative personnel, there are nearly 200,000 people, and the total is nearly 580,000.

It is difficult to provide land and water transportation from Jizhou to Qiyang alone.

"Aren't there a large number of nobles' children returning to Beijing recently?

I decided to issue an edict to issue a special call based on last year's six-town call to increase the intensity and rewards of this call.

In addition, according to the imperial edict, I plan to use Yecheng as the accompanying capital and rename it as Yejing. I will order the prince to take charge and move some of the princes there to reduce the pressure on Qiyang.

What do you think? "

Yuan An, Bai Fu and others made calculations and came to the result after a while:

"Your Majesty, if this is the case, Qiyang's population will be close to 450,000, and it may be able to survive for another five or six years.

However, after five or six years, the population of the capital will rise again. After all, it is not a foolproof strategy. You cannot have your Majesty personally issue an edict to forcibly relocate the people every time.

Once or twice is okay, but if it happens many times, it will definitely lose the dignity of the court.

Moreover, the six towns are relatively remote in the desert, and the population they can carry is limited. In another ten years, they will be close to saturation. By then, the court will be helpless.

Do you want to be promoted to a companion capital? "

After hearing Cui Hao's prediction, Bai Qian knew that all this would eventually come true, but what else could he do?

"Then, in my opinion, is there any way?"

Bai Fu and Yuan An looked at Cui Hao sympathetically. It's okay now, it's just a matter of anger.

"Your Majesty, I don't have a countermeasure, but there is one person who may have a countermeasure."

"Oh? Who?"

"Li Bing, captain of the Dushui School. This is what Li Bing said to solve the food crisis in Qiyang."

He waved his hand and asked Deng Xuan on the side to take over the policy document submitted by Li Bing. Taking advantage of this time, he asked:
"Who is this Li Bing? What are the countermeasures?"

Listening to Cui Hao's explanation and the methods in Li Bingce's book, Bai Qian understood everything.

Li Bing, a descendant of a branch of the Li family in Taiyuan, was poor since he was a child. Fortunately, he had a court school. He had read poetry and books for several years and could recognize calligraphy, but he had little wisdom.

Once again, he met the Mohist who traveled around the world, worshiped him as his teacher, and was able to learn the art of Mohism. After the Mohist left, Li Bing was recruited as an official not long after he donated a sharp weapon.

Later, he served as the captain of the Dushui School, specializing in the maintenance of the Yellow River dams.

During Li Bing's tenure as the captain of the Dushui School, the north bank of the Yellow River never burst its banks. On the contrary, the south bank burst its banks every year, flooding prefectures and counties.

Later, when the Xia Kingdom acquired Qingzhou, he worked hard for several years to save the Yellow River waterway in Qingzhou, and finally cured the flood.

However, he has always believed that the flood of the Yellow River is worse than being blocked. To completely solve the problem of the Yellow River, the only way is to divert water from other rivers during the flood season.

He happened to learn that there was a crisis in Qiyang due to shortage of food, so he thought of expanding the lake area of ​​​​Huangchi and digging a river channel between Qishui and Qinghe water, passing through Huangchi.

At that time, the water from the Yellow River can be diverted into the Yellow River, and the water will flow through the Qinghe River like a sea, reducing the pressure on the lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Moreover, by connecting the Qishui and Qinghe rivers, water transportation here can also be excavated, adding another water transportation besides the Yellow River water transportation.

It can provide food transportation for at least 200,000 people in Qiyang every year.

However, this method has disadvantages. To expand the Yellow Pond and dig river channels, millions of people must be mobilized, and billions of dollars will be spent for a year.

This means that this year, Xia State cannot use troops.

"I mobilized troops for the sake of the people of the world, the people of Great Xia. If it is for the welfare of the people of Great Xia, so what if I don't move for five years?
I have carved this Cao River. "

(End of this chapter)