Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 356: One in a Million (Special thanks to the book friend Qianwang Twilight for the 2 monthly tickets!
At the morning court the next day, Chai Zongxun told all the ministers about the people's spontaneous desire to donate to the national treasury.

The ministers gave impassioned speeches and sang praises of the emperor.

The Prime Minister and Minister of War Zhang Qixian came out and said:
“Only with Your Majesty, a sage king like him, can the people spontaneously donate money.

Your Majesty, although the national treasury is now full and does not need donations from the people, the war with the Star Religion country will be protracted and the casualties of soldiers will be heavy.

I think we can expand our army ahead of time to prepare for a protracted war."

Chai Zongxun pondered for a moment and said:
“The Prime Minister’s opinion makes sense.

The Star Cult National Alliance is very powerful, so I have to make preparations in advance. In addition to maintaining daily recruitment, I will recruit 360,000 young people from the people across the country to form the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th Corps of the Longxiang Army.

Now, after more than three years of development in Liao and Central Asia, 90% of the more than 300 provinces have a fiscal surplus. The treasury revenue contributed by the future will increase day by day, and it will not be a problem to expand the strength of four more corps.

In a few years, when Gaoli, Beiming, Dali and other places have been developed for a year, the fiscal revenue and expenditure will be balanced, and the surplus of our Great Zhou treasury will exceed 100 million taels of silver. "

After the imperial edict was issued, the people from all over the Great Zhou knew that their country had gone to war with the various countries of the Star Sect. In order to repay the emperor's grace over the years and the high monthly salary of the Longxiang Army, the people's children were extremely enthusiastic to join the army. In just two months, the 360,000 people were recruited, which would have taken three to four months in the past.

Millions of people from all over the country came to their local government offices to request donations, forcing Chai Zongxun to issue an edict to inform the people of the country: the national treasury is abundant, and the emperor and the court have made detailed preparations for fighting against the Star Sect countries.

Ordering the people not to donate money, to work diligently, take good care of their families, and be friendly and helpful to others is a good way to show loyalty to the emperor and the country.

On the second day of August in the twenty-seventh year of Kaixi, after eight careful and rigorous selections over the past five months by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one thousand stunning beauties were selected from the twenty thousand beauties who went to Bianliang after preliminary selections from all over the country to enter the final stage of "selection of concubines".

After the chief eunuch Tang Qi reported to the emperor Chai Zongxun, Chai Zongxun chose the fifth day of August to select a beautiful girl of his choice as his concubine.

As soon as the si hour arrived that day, Chai Zongxun and Empress Dowager Fu, accompanied by their personal eunuchs and palace maids, entered the Chuxiu Palace.

Thousands of beautiful ladies who had entered the "concubine selection" ceremony saw the emperor and the empress dowager enter the palace, and they all performed the grand ceremony to pay their respects.

Chai Zongxun took a quick look and saw thousands of beautiful girls, all of them beautiful and charming, standing in the hall. They were between seventeen and nineteen years old, in the prime of their youth and extremely gorgeous. He was immediately delighted.

Among these thousand beauties, 2% were Han women, % were women of other ethnic groups within the Great Zhou Empire, and there were more than ten white women.

Chai Zongxun and Empress Dowager Fu sat in chairs, occasionally discussing in low voices their opinions on certain beauties, and sometimes asking questions to the beauties in the palace.

Those who were able to enter the final step of "selecting a concubine" from among the 1.2 million participating beauties were naturally rare beauties in the world, which made it really difficult for Chai Zongxun and Empress Dowager Fu to make a choice.

The two men first selected two extremely beautiful women, one was the seventeen-year-old Guo Ling'er, the second daughter of Guo Shouwen, the envoy of the Southern Courtyard of Xuanhui, and the other was the eighteen-year-old Liu E from the Sichuan folk.

Guo Shouwen was born in the second year of Qingtai in the Later Tang Dynasty.

(935), courtesy name Guohua, was a native of Taiyuan, Bingzhou.

Born into the Guo family of Taiyuan, he followed his father into the army at the age of 14. After his father was killed in battle, he was taken in by Guo Wei, the first emperor of Zhou. After the establishment of the Great Zhou, he served as a guard, Zuo Xiong Dian Zhi, and deputy governor of the Second Xiong in the East.

After Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, he served successively as the magistrate of Haozhou and the envoy of the Southern Court of Xuanhui, in charge of local public security in the prefecture. He participated in the destruction of the Southern Han, Southern Tang, and Northern Han, and worked in the logistics of the army, making considerable contributions.

The second daughter, Guo Ling'er, has been famous since childhood and has a gentle and frugal personality.

After the imperial court began selecting "beautiful girls" last year, Guo Shouwen immediately asked his second daughter to sign up for the selection.

As for Liu E, her ancestral home was Taiyuan, and she moved to Huayang, Yizhou, at the end of the Tang Dynasty.

His father, Liu Tong, passed the imperial examination and joined the Longxiang Army at the age of 21 in the fourth year of Kaixi.

In the eleventh year of Kaixi, Liu Tong, who had been promoted to the rank of Qianhu, died on the battlefield and sacrificed his life for his country in the "Yinxia Battle" when the Emperor Chai Zongxun of the Great Zhou Dynasty personally led an expedition to attack the Dingnan Army.

When his wife, Yan, who was in Shu, heard that her husband had died in the battle, she was heartbroken, and it was very difficult for her as an orphan and a widow.

Fortunately, before February, the Ministry of War had promptly distributed 300 taels of compensation silver to each of the fallen martyrs. The local Wudesi soldiers personally delivered the silver to the Liu family. Yan was greatly encouraged and raised her daughter with great difficulty.

Liu E was born with natural beauty. Her mother sent her to learn skills from a master since she was young. She was literate, good at singing and dancing, and therefore shocked the whole village. When she was fourteen years old, many wealthy families came to her to ask to marry her as a wife or concubine.

However, the mother and daughter were grateful to the emperor, and both wanted to be selected to enter the palace to serve the emperor, and agreed not to marry before the age of 20.

Because of the Liu family's status as a martyrs' family, the Wude Division and the Censors often showed concern for the family's living conditions, and no one dared to threaten or bribe the mother and daughter.

After hearing about the emperor's selection of concubines last year, the mother and daughter were overjoyed. The seventeen-year-old Liu E immediately took part in the selection, won all the way, and was selected for the final "concubine selection" stage.

After spending an hour selecting more than thirty beauties, it was already lunch time, and Chai Zongxun ordered a banquet to entertain all the beauties who had entered the final selection.

Because there were so many people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs set up more than 200 dining tables in Chuxiu Palace and two nearby side halls.

The one thousand beautiful ladies who participated in the "concubine selection" were able to dine with the emperor and the empress dowager. They felt greatly honored and felt that the trip was worthwhile.

After a short nap after lunch, the "concubine selection" continued at 5 p.m. and by the end of 5 p.m., Chai Zongxun and Empress Dowager Fu had finally selected 160 beautiful girls. Except for Guo Ling'er and Liu E, who were taken into the harem as concubines, the rest were selected as nine concubines and maids.

Of the 1 beauties who were not shortlisted, Chai Zongxun gave ten to each of his three younger brothers, and the rest were awarded to civil and military officials in the court, with one to two each. In total, more than 2 people were rewarded.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs selected auspicious days to hold the wedding for the emperor. The celebration lasted for more than a month before the 160 new concubines were finally brought into the harem.

On August 12, the 27th year of Kaixi, when Guo Ling'er was married to him as his concubine, Chai Zongxun lifted her red veil with his hand and saw Guo Ling'er looking at him with a charming smile.

Chai Zongxun held Guo Ling'er's hand and sat down beside the bed to chat.

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"My dear, what is the origin of your maiden name?"

Guo Ling'er was both happy and shy, and said in a voice like the sound of nature:
"Your Majesty, I was born in the tenth year of Kaixi (969), when Your Majesty was preparing to take over the Tang Kingdom. Therefore, my father named me after the word Ling, the capital of the Tang Kingdom, Jinling, hoping that Your Majesty would conquer Jinling in one battle."

(End of this chapter)