Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 375 Big and Small Liu Qiu (Special thanks to book friends 1603…9946 for the 2 monthly tickets!)

According to statistics from the Ministry of Revenue at the end of the 28th year of Kaixi, after more than ten years of rapid development, the output value of the garment industry has exceeded that of the printing industry this year, becoming the largest industry in the social economy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, with an annual output value of 120 million taels of silver.

Many large shops and workshops in the garment industry emerged among the people, with Suzhou, Hangzhou, Changsha and Guangzhou as the centers.

In these three major areas, there are more than 20,000 garment workshops and hundreds of well-known brands.

The large-scale garment workshops employ thousands of workers, the medium-sized ones employ hundreds of workers, and the small ones employ more than ten workers.

The number of garment workers in the country has also far exceeded the six million workers in the printing industry, reaching eight million.

Chai Zongxun knew that due to his efforts to promote industry and commerce, the sprouts of capitalism had appeared in the country, which was naturally unfavorable for an autocratic society.

However, in Chai Zongxun's view, enlightened monarchy is exactly what he wants to see. In comparison, unrestrained power is the most harmful to the whole society.

"Exploitation comes from power, not capital. Without the support of power, capital will only please customers and employees, so how dare it do whatever it wants?"

Moreover, the influence of major private businessmen is currently concentrated in the economic field, but there is no influence in the political field.

Chai Zongxun thought:
"Chinese society is a society with full class mobility. As long as you pass the imperial examination, everyone can enter the court.

It will take at least several hundred years to cultivate the business-oriented system. When the enlightened monarchy system no longer promotes social development, a constitutional monarchy can be implemented.

The half-month New Year holiday passed quickly as the people of Da Zhou visited relatives and friends quickly via the "Da Zhou Straight Road".

On January 16, the first morning court session after the holiday, Chai Zongxun announced the marriage system for the emperor's princes and princesses to all the ministers, and issued an edict to begin a nationwide selection of concubines for the emperor's eldest son, Prince of Song Guo Jizhou, who were girls from the common people aged between 16 and 18 years old.

At the same time, the eldest princess Wodan also held a nationwide audition for a prince consort among young talents aged 18 to 20. As long as the family was clean, regardless of wealth or status, anyone could participate.

As for the crown prince, he will select a concubine from all over the country in the 30th year of Kaixi next year.

The ministers in the court, especially the "Prince Party" designated by Second Assistant Li Hang, knew that Emperor Chai Zongxun was only 37 years old this year, in the prime of his life, so they did not think much of the fact that Crown Prince Chai Jiyu got married a year later.

Li Hang knew that after the wedding of Prince Song, he would officially come of age and would soon go to Luoyang to be a vassal. The status of Crown Prince Chai Jiyu was completely consolidated.

Emperor Chai Zongxun arranged for Prince Song to get married first, also with the intention of appeasing Prince Song's faction, including Empress Dowager Fu and Queen Fu.

Therefore, Li Hang and others also expressed their agreement.

After the king and his ministers discussed internal affairs for a while, the Grand Admiral of the Royal Navy, who was in the first row of the military commanders, stepped out and said:

“Your Majesty, when I led the Royal Navy fleet to patrol the southeastern coast of our Great Zhou in recent years, I discovered that the coastal defense position of Daliuqiu and Xiaoliuqiu is very important. The two islands are inhabited by local indigenous barbarians.

Now that the country is peaceful and trade is flourishing, I think it would be better to accept the big and small streams to join your Majesty's territory, which will be of great benefit to both coastal defense and maritime trade."

Since the Battle of Bekara, the Great Zhou has entered into a full-scale war with the world of the Star Cult. Half of the Longxiang Army and ten major corps have gone to Central Asia to fight.

However, for the professional soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty, such a grand war event had no place for the Royal Navy. Therefore, over the past year or so, 1 Royal Navy officers and soldiers have requested the Grand Commander Guan Mao to go to war.

Some generals proposed to the Emperor Chai Zongxun to send the Royal Navy to attack Fuso and first destroy Jing Qiong, the Uighur who occupied the Mori family.

Others proposed attacking the Angkor Dynasty and opening up the sea trade routes from the Great Zhou to India and the Arabs, and never allowing the barbarian Angkor kingdom to extort money from the maritime merchants of the Great Zhou.

Guan Mao knew that the top priority of the emperor and the court at the moment was to make every effort to ensure victory in the war against the Star Religion.

If he were to submit a memorial requesting the Royal Navy to send troops, whether to attack Fuso or Angkor, it would be against the emperor's will and would leave a bad impression of being stupid and ignorant to the emperor and the entire court.

Guan Mao had been annoyed by the soldiers in the army for several months. Last month, when he was cruising the sea near Fuzhou on a warship to inspect passing merchant ships, he heard detailed information about Big and Small Ryukyu. He immediately thought of the idea of ​​requesting the emperor to go to war to take over the two islands.

Big Ryukyu is the Taiwan Island in Chai Zongxun's previous life, and Small Ryukyu is the Ryukyu Islands.

During the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Chinese people knew of the existence of Taiwan. There are records that Taiwan belonged to Yangzhou among the Nine Provinces, but the records are too old to verify their authenticity.

In 770-721 BC, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Taiwan was called Island Barbarians. However, according to relevant records in the "Linhai Water and Soil Records", Taiwan was once a territory of the Yue State.

Three Kingdoms Period: The first official record: "Records of the Three Kingdoms": Sun Quan sent Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi to search for the elixir of life. They went to Yizhou and captured thousands of people. Taiwan Island was not included in the jurisdiction this time.

Shen Ying, then governor of Danyang in the Wu State, wrote the "Linhai Water and Soil Records" between 264 and 280 AD based on the oral accounts of the returning Wu officers and soldiers and the Taiwanese residents they brought with them.

"Linhai Water and Soil Records" is the earliest document in the world that records Taiwan, but the book has been lost and its main content is recorded in "Taiping Yulan".

During the Sui Dynasty: The "Book of Sui: Biographies of the Eastern Barbarians - Liuqiu" referred to Taiwan Island and the Ryukyu Islands as "Liuqiu Kingdom". In the third year of Daye, Emperor Yang of Sui sent Yuqi Wei Zhu Kuan to Taiwan Island to recruit and pacify the people, but "they could not communicate, and they returned with only one person captured".

Afterwards, Emperor Yang of Sui sent troops to conquer the rebels many times, "burned their palaces, captured thousands of men and women, and returned with military supplies. From then on, the rebels were isolated." He also did not bring Taiwan Island under his jurisdiction.

Since then, the ties between mainland businessmen and Taiwan have become increasingly close, especially in the late Tang Dynasty, when Han people from the mainland began to settle in Penghu in large numbers.

Chai Zongxun said happily:

"Over the years, I have been busy conquering the east and the west, unifying China and expanding the territory, but I forgot about the big and small Liuqiu.

Your suggestion is a good one. There are only a few indigenous barbarians in Liuqiu now. I can easily conquer them by sending troops. This will not only give us a new territory to develop, but also occupy a key coastal defense location!"

Over the past year, the amount of military supplies that Wang Dan, the Minister of Finance, has allocated to Central Asia to supply the ten corps of the Longxiang Army is an astronomical figure. He is always worried that the treasury's accumulated reserves will be used up, so he immediately said:

"Your Majesty, although the areas of Liuqiu are not small, the local natives are scarce. If we, the Great Zhou, want to take them, we must settle there and develop them for decades before we can see the benefits.

I think the most important thing for the court right now is to defeat the coalition forces of the Star Sect, so it is not appropriate to easily create complications."

(End of this chapter)