Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 412 Hexi Corridor (Special thanks to book friends Brother Fu Yuan/Liang Liang for the monthly ticket!)

After tasting it, all the attendants praised the oil for its fragrance and mellow taste.

Chai Zongxun also found that Liugufan's rapeseed oil was indeed delicious, fragrant and not greasy, and could be said to be the best among rapeseed oils, which made him very pleased.

Chai Zongxun thought of the ten-year-old thirty-seventh prince Chai Jiyuan and felt it necessary to promote the commercial prosperity of Liugufan.

After pondering for a moment, Chai Zongxun suddenly thought of an anecdote from the time of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, so he named the Liugufan rapeseed oil "Yuelin Fragrant Oil" and wrote the title in his own handwriting.

According to legend, when Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was still the crown prince, he favored a concubine named Luan'er.

Around the spring equinox every year, Luan'er would cut white silk into petals, sew them into the shape of pear blossoms, and place them together with Yue Linxiang, so that the flowers would be filled with rich fragrance.

When Emperor Xuanzong took her out for a secret parade, she would hide the pear blossoms in her sleeves. When they passed by a small bridge or a long embankment, or passed by a street or alley, she would let a few petals fall from her sleeves, leaving their fragrance on the road.

From then on, this kind of "Yuelinxiang" was introduced to the people.

The people of Liangzhou were overjoyed when the emperor bestowed a name on their local specialty rapeseed oil, and private businesses united to celebrate with lion dances.

With the name bestowed by Emperor Chai Zongxun, Liugufan rapeseed oil gained a unique golden signboard in the world and quickly opened up the market across the country.

In the following five years, rapeseed oil from Liugufan was sold in more than a thousand states in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Under the strict supervision of the law, rapeseed oil merchants in various states of Liugufan operated with integrity and continuously improved product quality. Finally, they established a reputation among the people of the country that "rapeseed oil produced in Liugufan is the best."

On August 3, the 31st year of Kaixi, after staying in Liangzhou for several days, Chai Zongxun set out with the imperial family and continued his tour in the Hexi Corridor.

Hundreds of thousands of officials and civilians from Liangzhou respectfully escorted him out of the city for thirty miles before returning.

Liangzhou was also known as "Wuwei". Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Jiuquan County and Wuwei County in 121 BC, Zhangye County in 111 BC, and Dunhuang County in 88 BC.

These are the famous four Hexi counties, together with Yangguan and Yumenguan west of Dunhuang, which are known in history as "four counties and two passes."

Going west along the Hexi Corridor from Liangzhou, there are four states, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang. Nearly half of the people here are Uighurs from Shazhou, and the other half are Han people who have moved from inland states to the Hexi Corridor in the past 20 years to work and do business.

The Han people who remained from the Han and Tang dynasties account for only about 10% of the local population.

Chai Zongxun and other members of the imperial family were riding in a horse-drawn carriage on the national highway. Outside the carriage windows was a desolate Gobi Desert scene. In between were some small oases with villages and towns with curling smoke from chimneys, which had become their stopovers on the "Silk Road".

When passing near Yongchang County in Zhangye Prefecture, Chai Zongxun saw the majestic Qilian Mountains to the south. Although the mountains to the north were slightly lower, they were majestic.

After ordering the imperial guards to ask the people along the way, they learned that the mountain range to the north was called "Longshou Mountain".

After traveling on the national highway for more than ten days, Chai Zongxun took the opportunity to summon the eighty-two princes who were over ten years old and taught them the health-preserving exercises passed down by the ancient master Chen Tuan.

The other princes didn't understand why, they just followed their father's orders and learned it as quickly as possible. However, the married Crown Prince Chai Jiyu felt like he had found a treasure, and he often asked his father about the key points of cultivation, and learned it most carefully.

The imperial carriage arrived in Zhangye Prefecture on August 15th.

Zhangye is located in the middle of the Hexi Corridor. The Zhangye Basin is formed by "two mountains and one river". The Heihe River, China's second largest inland river, flows through the city. Zhangye has a long history. It was the land of Rong and Qiang during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. It was inhabited by Wusun and Yuezhi during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

After Chai Zongxun recovered the Hexi Corridor, which had been lost for more than a hundred years from the Central Plains Dynasty in the 16th year of Kaixi (975), the Silk Road was revived. Thanks to the prosperous trade between the Great Zhou Dynasty and Central Asian countries such as Gaochang and Khotan, the cities in the Hexi Corridor also prospered. The population of Zhangye Prefecture has grown from just over 300,000 when it was first recovered to more than 700,000 today.

The local specialty of Zhangye is "roasted yellow sheep", which is served with seasonings such as cumin and wild onions, and accompanied by wine from Gaochang. Chai Zongxun and other members of the imperial family enjoyed it to their heart's content.

After staying in Zhangye for five days to inspect the people's conditions, he set off for Jiuquan Prefecture.

After six days of traveling on the national highway, we arrived in Jiuquan on August 25, the 31st year of Kaixi.

Jiuquan is located between the Altun Mountains, Qilian Mountains and Mazong Mountains (Beishan) at the western end of the Hexi Corridor. It is mainly composed of mountains, river valleys, plains and basins, with high terrain in the south and low terrain in the north.

In the pre-Qin period, this place was called the Western Rong Land, the Western Qiang Land, the Right Land of the Xiongnu, and the Western, Western, and Hexi Three Dangerous Lands. During the Han Dynasty, Jiuquan County was established within the territory.

Jiuquan got its name from the legend that Emperor Wu of Han sent Huo Qubing to march into Hexi, where he defeated the Huns and drove the remaining Huns out of Yumen Pass.

When Emperor Wu of Han heard the victory report, he was very pleased and gave a jar of fine wine as a reward to all the meritorious soldiers. At that time, there was little wine and many people, so Huo Qubing poured the wine into the spring water for everyone to drink together. So this place was called "Jiuquan".

After staying in Jiuquan for five days, Chai Zongxun and the imperial family visited the local scenic spots and then set off for Dunhuang Prefecture further west.

Before leaving, the local people of Jiuquan presented a large number of fruits and vegetables, which were very sweet and delicious.

Chai Zongxun and others sat in the carriage, eating fruits and vegetables offered by the people along the way. After five days of travel, they arrived in Dunhuang Prefecture.

Dunhuang is Shazhou, where the "Guiyi Army" was located in the past, and further west is the territory of Gaochang Kingdom.

The word "Dunhuang" was first seen in "Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of Dayuan", in which Zhang Qian wrote in his report to Emperor Wu of Han that "the Yuezhi originally lived between Dunhuang and Qilian."

According to Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty in "Book of Han·Geography", "Dun means big; Huang means prosperous", which means grand and glorious.

Before the Spring and Autumn Period, it was the residence of Charong. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was called Guazhou. In the sixth year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (111 BC), Dunhuang County was established.

After Dunhuang was returned to Zhou in the 16th year of Kaixi, its population has grown from more than 300,000 to more than 700,000 today. People now run many inns, freight services, restaurants, theaters, etc., and 70% of them are well-off.

At noon on September 6, the 31st year of Kaixi, Dunhuang Governor Cao Yanlu and Longxiang Army Garrison Commander Yang Yanzhao led hundreds of civil and military officials and hundreds of thousands of civilians and went 30 miles out of the city to welcome the emperor.

Cao Yanlu is the second son of Cao Yuanzhong, the last governor of the Guiyi Army, and is 43 years old this year. Yang Yanzhao is the eldest son of Yang Ye, the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Corps of the Longxiang Army, and is 32 years old this year.

After the greeting, the group walked into the city of Dunhuang. Chai Zongxun and the imperial family moved into the former "Guiyi Army Jiedushi Mansion" as their temporary residence.

After Empress Dowager Fu, Empress Fu, the Fifth Empress, other concubines, princes and princesses went into the backyard to rest, Chai Zongxun summoned all the ministers to the main hall in the front yard to discuss.

Cao Yanlu said excitedly:

"I congratulate your majesty! Your majesty has come to inspect Dunhuang. It just so happens that Gaochang has recently been hit by civil strife. This is a heaven-sent opportunity for your majesty to take over Gaochang!"

(End of this chapter)