Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 373 Imperial Marriage System (Special thanks to book friend Possa Nianhua for the 2 monthly tickets!)

After Chai Zongxun and Anna chatted for more than two quarters of an hour, they both developed love for each other.

During the conversation, Chai Zongxun learned that Princess Anna was born in the eleventh year of Kaixi and is seventeen years old this year.

Chai Zongxun said:

"I will marry Princess Anna as my consort. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will select an auspicious date and complete the wedding as soon as possible.

Princess Anna, please follow Steward Tang to Baoci Palace to meet your mother first."

Anna said:
"Thank you, Your Majesty! I would like to ask you for a favor."

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:

"My dear, please tell me what you want to say."

Anna said:
"Your Majesty, I have been a Nestorian Christian since I was a child. I go to church every Sunday to worship. I beg Your Majesty to build a church for me in Bianjing City."

After hearing this, Chai Zongxun began to ponder.

Since the implementation of the policy to promote foreign trade, hundreds of thousands of foreign businessmen have come to the Great Zhou, including Nestorian (Christian) missionaries.

Chai Zongxun implemented a policy of "freedom of religious belief", and all religious sects that came to the Great Zhou were allowed to preach freely. However, due to different philosophies, the number of Zhou people who believed in Nestorianism was extremely small. In more than ten years, there were only thousands of people in the country.

If he built a Nestorian Church for Princess Anna in Bian Jing, it could be said that he was showing his subjects the emperor's support for Nestorianism.

Seeing Anna looking at him eagerly with such a pitiful look on her face, Chai Zongxun felt a little soft-hearted and thought:

"Nestorianism is also a religion that encourages people to abandon evil and do good, and it does not force people to believe in religion. Anna is young and beautiful, and she traveled thousands of miles to marry me as my concubine. How can I not give her such a small favor?"

Chai Zongxun said immediately:

"This is the belief my beloved concubine has held since childhood. I have therefore ordered the construction of a church on the south side of the Bianjing Imperial Palace for my beloved concubine to worship."

Anna was overjoyed. Before she left Constantinople, her brother Basil II had instructed her to find an opportunity to help spread Nestorianism in the Great Zhou.

At this moment, they heard that Chai Zongxun agreed to build the Jingjiao Church in Bian Jing. This was an imperial decree issued by the emperor himself, and it had a significant impact on the subjects of the Great Zhou.

This naturally greatly facilitated the spread of Nestorianism among the people of the Great Zhou.

Anna stood up, bowed to Chai Zongxun in a charming manner to express her gratitude, and then followed Tang Qi to the harem.

Half a year later, the Jingdezhen Church in Bian Jing was completed. Foreign missionaries from Rome and West Asia were greatly encouraged. With the endorsement of the Emperor of Zhou, they actively preached to the people of Zhou and gradually opened up the situation.

More than 250 years later, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Zhou, Nestorianism became famous and had more believers after Nestorian missionaries took in and rescued hundreds of thousands of people during the "Angkor Rebellion", and it became the third largest religion in the Zhou Dynasty after Taoism and Buddhism.

The next day, an imperial decree was issued, offering a generous reward to the envoys sent to the Roman Empire:

Kou Zhun was granted a title of marquis and a fief of 5,000 households.

The rest of the envoys were rewarded with 1,000 taels of silver each and promoted three levels.

Hu Lian, the governor of Longxiang Guard, was granted a title of marquis and a fief of 3,000 households. All his subordinates were awarded silver ranging from 100 to 1,000 taels.

After Kou Zhun returned to Beijing, many interesting stories about the Roman Empire and Central Asia quickly spread among the people of the Great Zhou.

The auspicious date chosen by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the royal wedding of Emperor Naroma and Princess Anna was December 26th, the day before New Year's Eve.

Although the Nestorian Church advocates monogamy, from the very beginning, Basil II had intended to have a political marriage with his sister Anna into the Great Zhou Empire. Therefore, although Anna learned at this moment that she was only married to be the concubine of Chai Zongxun, she was very satisfied with the civilization and strength of the Great Zhou Empire and Emperor Chai Zongxun, and did not mention this matter.

On December 20th, Chai Zongxun spent the night at Empress Diwu Zhaolu's Huining Palace. While lying on the bed and hugging Diwu Zhaolu tenderly, Diwu Zhaolu said:
"Your Majesty once said that when Zhou'er and Yu'er turn eighteen, they will be married. I wonder what the specific arrangements are? Can I hear about it?"

Chai Zongxun kneaded it with one hand and smiled:
"Empress, this is easy. I will issue an order to select beautiful girls aged 16 to 18 from all over the country, and marry Zhou'er and Yu'er at the same time."

Chai Jizhou and Chai Jiyu were the eldest and second sons of the emperor. They were both born in the eleventh year of Kaixi, with only a difference of more than three months.

The fifth Zhaolu frowned slightly and said:

“Your Majesty, if Zhou’er and Yu’er were to participate in the selection at the same time, I’m afraid their positions would be unclear.

Zhou'er is the eldest prince, so why not let him go through the selection and get married first? It won't be too late for Yu'er to get married next year."

Chai Zongxun sighed softly, knowing that Diwu Chaolu hoped to highlight Yu'er's status as the crown prince. However, she let Prince Song Chai Jizhou get married first, which also showed respect for Chai Jizhou. Empress Dowager Fu and Queen Fu must be satisfied.

Chai Zongxun said:

"fair enough.

After New Year's Eve, I issued an edict to select beautiful girls from all over the country for Zhou'er to marry.

I will give Yu'er a wedding the year after next."

A few days later, when the New Year atmosphere in the palace and Bianjing was getting stronger and stronger, on December 26, when Chai Zongxun stayed in the Dieqiong Palace of Concubine Yi, Zhou Nuying, Zhou Nuying said beside her pillow:

"Your Majesty, our eldest princess will be eighteen years old after New Year's Eve. You can't just worry about the marriage between the crown prince and the King of Song and forget about our Dan'er's lifelong happiness."

Chai Zongxun reached out and pinched Zhou Nuying's breasts hard, causing her to scream in pain.

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"Dan'er is the apple of my eye and the eldest princess of the empire, how could I not attach importance to her marriage?

My beloved, how do you think we should choose a husband for Daner?"

Zhou Nuying frowned and thought for a moment, then said:
"Your Majesty's princess is a golden branch and jade leaf, so naturally you have to choose a talented young man from a royal family. Only then will he be worthy of Dan'er.

Moreover, if it is a small family, the cost of food and clothing is far from that of my imperial family. Wouldn't that be unfair to Dan'er?"

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
“Although Aifei’s method is to love Dan’er, in the long run, it is not good for the imperial power of our Great Zhou. The princess’ marriage with the sons of the princes and ministers will easily form an overly powerful foreign relative family.

For example, during the reigns of Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, many princesses were married into the Wu family, which resulted in the Wu family becoming noble and powerful, disrupting the country for hundreds of years.

My intention is that the princess's consort should be selected from the general public. As long as he is a talented young man with a clean background, he can be selected.

In order to prevent the influence of the external relatives from becoming too great, the highest official rank of the young families selected in the open selection shall not exceed the third rank. "

When Zhou Nuying heard this, she thought that holding an open audition for a prince consort would make it easier for her daughter to find a husband of her choice, which was a good idea. However, after her daughter got married, she would be easily wronged because of the poor family.

Zhou Nuying hesitated and said:

"Your Majesty, Dan'er will marry into the Prince Consort's family after the wedding. I'm afraid she will be wronged, and we don't know about it."

Chai Zongxun also knew that the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has always been one of the most difficult interpersonal relationships, and he was also afraid that his daughter would not live a happy life after marrying into the prince consort's family.

As for the princesses who had been pampered since childhood, Chai Zongxun also knew that each of them was arrogant. It would be extremely difficult to ask them to be filial to their parents-in-law and serve their husbands like the daughters of ordinary people or even ministers.

After living like this for a long time, it would be hard for the princess and her husband's family not to have conflicts, but people are irrational, and it is not uncommon for them to have big conflicts in history.

(End of this chapter)