Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 367: Don't blame people for minor offenses (Special thanks to book friend Saint Lucifer for his 2 monthly tickets!)

When the imperial family went on tour, martial law was naturally imposed on the "Great Zhou Straight Road" along the way.

The day before the arrival of the imperial family, local government officials had sent personnel to clear the local sections of the Da Zhou Straight Road. Only after the imperial carriage had passed could the people pass.

As Chai Zongxun and his companions were walking along the road, they saw people waiting not far from the roadside. When they saw the emperor coming, they all bowed respectfully with great fear and trepidation.

When passing Cangzhou, a group of people in ethnic costumes who were waiting on the roadside on the right front of the road all stood upright and stared at the imperial carriage, which caught Chai Zongxun's attention.

Chai Zongxun called Zhang Yong, the commander of the Dragon Guard, who was accompanying him on this trip, and stretched his hand out of the car window, pointing to the foreign people about a mile ahead on the right side of the road, and said:
"Lord Zhang, what ethnic group do those people belong to?"

As one of the three commanders responsible for escorting the imperial family on this outing, Zhang Yong had already noticed this group of foreign people who were not polite and behaved differently. He immediately bowed and said:
“Reporting to Your Majesty, judging from the attire of these minorities, they should be the Heichuan people of Dali.

I have seen their luggage, and they are probably from a business trip abroad."

The land and climate of Cangzhou are suitable for the cultivation of Chinese medicinal materials. Under Chai Zongxun's national policy of "focusing on industry and commerce", in the past decade, Cangzhou has developed into the largest distribution and trading center for Chinese medicinal materials in Da Zhou.

Dali is located in a remote area with high mountains and long rivers, and produces many Chinese medicinal materials. Therefore, after more than two years of economic development since Dali was incorporated into the territory, many Dali businesses have also sent caravans to Cangzhou to trade.

Zhang Yong glanced at the black-clad people who were getting closer and closer, and said:
"Your Majesty, these Heichuang people did not know how to greet the emperor with great ceremony when they saw him coming. This is extremely disrespectful! Let me lead my subordinates to capture them!"

It was for this reason that Chai Zongxun drew his attention to the Heichuan minorities. But then he thought: If he summoned these minorities and charged them with the crime of disrespect, if even one of them spoke rudely, they would all be slaughtered.

When pacifying Dali, Cao Guangshi's troops from the 11th Corps of the Longxiang Army fought for more than half a year and annihilated more than 500,000 of the 2 million people from the 36 stubborn Heichuan tribes. It was inevitable that the Heichuan people harbored hatred for the Great Zhou Empire.

Chai Zongxun pondered for a while and said:
"Zhang Aiqing, that's not necessary!

There is no provision in my Great Zhou laws that requires the common people to perform grand ceremonies to welcome the emperor from afar.

As soon as these black people came under the rule of the king, I did not treat them too harshly. "

Zhang chanted:

"Your Majesty is benevolent and wise."

Chai Zongxun left the carriage window and sat back in the spacious carriage, drinking tea and chatting with Fu Zhenzhen and Diwu Chaolu.

The fifth Chaolu said:
"Your Majesty, along the way, the people of our Great Zhou have all respectfully welcomed your presence.

These Heichuan people have now become citizens of our Great Zhou. If they are disrespectful, why doesn't Your Majesty punish them?"

Chai Zongxun sighed:
"Chaolu, during the conquest of Dali two years ago, the Longxiang Army killed many people from the Heichuan tribe. Although it was because they did not know the power of heaven and stubbornly resisted and brought disaster upon themselves, the Heichuan tribes suffered heavy casualties after all.

It's just a small matter of etiquette, why should I kill the black people again?
As long as my benevolent policies are implemented in Dali for another ten or twenty years, the lives of local people of all ethnic groups will improve, and the new generation of black people will surely forget the trauma brought by the war and become loyal citizens of my Great Zhou. "

Queen Fu Zhenzhen and Queen Diwu Chaolu both nodded in agreement.

Fu Zhenzhen said:

"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!
"A gentleman does not punish others for minor mistakes."

In the past, Duke Mu of Qin released a barbarian who stole his horse. Later, the barbarian rescued him with all his might, and thus won the Battle of Hanyuan.

Your Majesty, if you do not punish the people of Heichuan for being disrespectful, you will surely win the hearts of their people."

On the way, we stopped at Weizhou and Yunzhou to rest. In order to avoid disturbing the people by the excessive preparations of the local government and to understand the real situation of the people, Chai Zongxun chose temporary places for his stay. As he traveled through the two states, he saw wheat fields everywhere in the suburbs, and the wheat fields were growing well under the numerous water conservancy facilities.

The city was densely populated, with many shops and merchants. The people were all dressed appropriately, with about half of them wearing silk and satin.

When the imperial carriage stopped at Weizhou on August 2, because it was the place where the "Guo Qi corruption case" had occurred, Chai Zongxun specially randomly summoned hundreds of local villagers from the streets and hosted a banquet in the temporary governor's mansion.

The people who attended the banquet were quite nervous at first, but after a few rounds of drinks, they felt that the emperor was calm and kind, and they felt at ease.

After Chai Zongxun invited him to drink a cup, he said:

“My fellow villagers, since the Guo Qi corruption case in the tenth year of Kaixi, I have not received any memorials from Weizhou that reflect the corruption of officials.

Is this really the case?

Today, I have come to Weizhou in person. If you have any unspeakable secrets, you can speak them out in couplets now. No one will dare to retaliate against you!"

The gentry and common people thought for a moment and said:

"Your Majesty, since Your Majesty cleaned up Guo Qi and his gang of corrupt officials, our officials in Weizhou have been abiding by the law and no longer engaged in corruption or fraud.

Nowadays, village elders are elected every five years, and there is no family that monopolizes the position of village elders. "

Chai Zongxun listened to the people's talk for a while, and seeing that no one had raised any issues, he immediately said:
"If there is indeed no problem of official corruption, then that's great. No matter where in my Great Zhou, as long as there are corrupt officials, I will punish them severely!"

Chai Zongxun paused and continued:
"How are the villagers' lives now? How many people are there in your family?"

Chai Zongxun knew that asking people about their income or the amount of land they owned was not as good as asking how many people were in their families, as it would give a better idea of ​​their living standards.

Because income also depends on local prices, farmland, and how much grain can actually remain in the hands of the people.

Hundreds of gentry and village elders answered the emperor's questions one by one. The largest family had twelve people, four elderly people, two adults, and six children.

The smallest family has five people, two adults and three children.

The average family has eight people, consisting of two elderly people, two adults, and four children.

Chai Zongxun was quite satisfied after hearing this, because the medical level in that era was limited, and a family that could raise four children usually had six or seven children.

The average size of a common family is eight people, which proves that the labor of a couple is enough to support eight people, especially if the working hours are within ten hours a day and there are no night shifts.

It is much better than some countries that only shout slogans and where the middle-aged people have a hard time even supporting themselves, such as the serfdom of the Xingxing Sect and Tubo.

Chai Zongxun nodded and said with a smile:

"Fellow villagers, are your wages guaranteed? Have your employers paid you more than the minimum monthly salary of two taels set by me?"

The people all said:

“Your Majesty, every prefecture and county has a station of the Wude Division and the Longxiang Guard. As long as there are employers who disobey Your Majesty’s decree and dare to extort wages, we, the common people, can report to the military commanders of the Wude Division and the Longxiang Guard. At worst, we can report to the local wise men and someone will take care of it.

Therefore, no owner dares not to obey His Majesty's order."

(End of this chapter)