Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 433 Daily Records and the Imperial Mausoleum (Special thanks to the book friend 2019…0141 for the 2 monthly tickets!)

On March 16, the 32nd year of Kaixi, early morning court.

The Prime Minister Li Hang came out and said:
"Your Majesty, I have two things to report.

One thing is that your Majesty's daily notes were previously compiled by the Tianji Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Now, after decades, there are more than 30 volumes and more than one million words. It is urgently needed to have a talented writer to start organizing and polishing it.

I recommend Liang Zhouhan to be in charge of the affairs of the Recorder and Li Zongyi to be in charge of the affairs of the Recorder's Office, to compile the duties of the Left and Right Historians. Their records will be called "Daily Notes" and sent to the History Museum every month for use in compiling the national history."

Since Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, his daily words and deeds had been recorded by professional eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department, about one volume a year, with tens of thousands of words.

Chai Zongxun ascended the throne at the age of seven in the sixth year of Xian De, and by this year, the thirty-second year of Kai Xi, he is already over forty years old.

As far as emperors of all dynasties are concerned, their forties and fifties have become a "high-risk age group" because they have been busy with state affairs and have many women. Therefore, Li Hang proposed that historians should start compiling and improving the emperors' daily records.

China can be said to be the country in the world that attaches the most importance to history. As early as the Shang Dynasty, there were reliable histories and professional historians.

From the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, various vassal states began to consciously record history and formed a system to truthfully record the words and deeds of the monarch.

During the Western Han Dynasty, Sima Tan and his son Sima Qian successively served as Grand Historian. Sima Qian wrote the first general history in the form of chronicles in Chinese history, "Records of the Grand Historian", with the ideal of "understanding the changes of ancient and modern times and forming his own opinion".

After the publication of "Records of the Grand Historian", it had a huge impact. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ban Gu, in order to summarize the history of the Western Han Dynasty, imitated the format of "Records of the Grand Historian" and wrote the first chronological history book "Book of Han".

The chronicle-style history writing method is convenient for summarizing the rise and fall of an era, and is particularly suitable for ancient China where political power changed frequently. Official history books of later generations basically imitated this method.

Since the Han Dynasty, it has been a practice to compile history for the previous dynasty.

The daily records are the most important basis for recording the words and deeds of emperors in all dynasties.

Since the Han Dynasty, almost every emperor had a daily record, but very few have been handed down, mainly because they were generally not passed down to outsiders and were only used as one of the basic materials for compiling national history.

The officials in charge of compiling the daily records accompanied the emperor in all his public activities, so the content recorded in the daily records was very extensive.

Including all the words and deeds of the emperor outside of his private life in the palace, the compilation method can be explained as follows:

First of all, there are records about rituals or whereabouts, such as offering sacrifices to heaven, paying respects to the Empress Dowager, etc.

Then write the emperor's edict. Then write the important memorials and memorials from the central government departments.

Then he wrote memorials from local officials. For similar matters, he recorded them in order of importance.

Historians in every dynasty have made it their mission to write truthfully. Famous stories include "Cui Zhu killed his king."

Tai Shi Bo recorded that "Cui Zhu killed his lord", and Cui Zhu was furious and killed him; Tai Shi's two younger brothers, Tai Shi Zhong and Tai Shi Shu, continued to write "Cui Zhu killed his lord", and Cui Zhu killed them too. Tai Shi's remaining brother, Tai Shi Ji, still wrote "Cui Zhu killed his lord". Cui Zhu saw that the historian was not shaken at all, so he had to let him go.

When Nan Shi heard that all the members of Taishi's family had been killed by Cui Zhu, he hurried over with a bamboo slip with "Cui Zhu killed his king" written on it. When he heard that it had been recorded truthfully, he returned home.

The emperor began to order historians to tamper with history books on a large scale starting with Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin.

Chai Zongxun had no reason to refuse to compile his own daily records, so he agreed immediately.

Li Hang said:
“Your Majesty, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty first ascended the throne, he began to select ministers to oversee the construction of the Maoling Mausoleum, which took fifty-three years to complete.

Your Majesty is the sage monarch who expanded the territory of our Great Zhou and established a foundation for eternity. Your achievements are recorded in history!

The emperor's tomb will be revered by future generations, so it must be treated with caution.

I propose that Your Majesty select a minister as the "Mountain Mausoleum Envoy" to preside over the construction of the imperial mausoleum. "Mao Township, where Maoling is located, is geographically very remote. There is a legend as to why Emperor Wu of Han chose to build his imperial mausoleum here.

It is said that when Emperor Wu of Han went out hunting, he once discovered a special animal near Maoxiang. Ancient books clearly recorded that the creature was a "Qilin". At the same time, there was a "longevity fruit tree" behind the "Qilin".

Emperor Wu of Han was immediately overjoyed, thinking that the wonderful sight before him was an "auspicious sign", so he ordered people to enclose the area and build a mausoleum there as his own auspicious place for eternity.

Because Chai Zongxun ascended the throne at a young age, after he killed Zhao Ni and his party and took control of the government, he founded the Longxiang Army, Longxiang Guard and Wude Division, unified China, conquered everywhere, and became famous, making him an extremely powerful emperor throughout history.

Therefore, previous ministers such as Li Tao, Wang Zhu, and even Zhang Qixian did not dare to propose the construction of the imperial mausoleum when Emperor Chai Zongxun was still young, for fear of displeasing him.

But now Chai Zongxun is forty years old, which is considered "old age" for an emperor. As for his duties and responsibilities, the new chief minister Li Hang was not afraid of Chai Zongxun's disgust and still brought it up.

Chai Zongxun thought of the emperors in Chinese history. Those who built their mausoleums early almost all lived long and died of old age.
On the contrary, emperors who were reluctant to build imperial tombs and face the issue of life and death often died early and did not have a good end.

Thinking of this, Chai Zongxun was not angry.

This "Mountain and Mausoleum Envoy" is in charge of the geomancy, site selection, and construction of the emperor's mausoleum. He must be the emperor's confidant, and most of them are the most important ministers of the dynasty or the next prime minister chosen by the emperor.

After Chai Zongxun pondered for a while, he said:

"Throughout the history of the ages, all sages and emperors have had that day when their achievements are unparalleled.

Then let’s start building the imperial mausoleum for me.

Li Shoufu has to assist in the overall affairs of the court and is very busy, so the "mountain and tomb envoy" will be held by Kou Aiqing. "

Kou Zhun was overjoyed when he heard this.

When all the civil and military officials in the court heard what Emperor Chai Zongxun said, they all understood that in the emperor's mind, Kou Zhun was the only choice for the next prime minister.

Many people couldn't help but cast complex glances at Kou Zhun, including envy, admiration, jealousy, and resentment.

Kou Zhun came out of the class to express his gratitude, saying:

"I have received such trust from Your Majesty, so I will gather geomancers from all over the country to find the best land. I am afraid that I will not have enough talents to fulfill the task and fail to meet Your Majesty's wishes."

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"Don't be nervous, my dear Kou.

The Feng Shui treasure land will be selected by you, my dear minister, and the most powerful people in the country.

The tombs of Taizu and Taizong are both in Bian Jing, and my imperial tomb is also located in Bian Jing.

I have only one request:
The terrain is magnificent, and the imperial mausoleum is large enough for me and all my concubines to rest here together a hundred years from now."

After receiving the order, Kou Zhun gathered the twenty most outstanding geomancers in the Great Zhou Dynasty and spent three months searching for a Feng Shui site around the city of Bianliang.

Bianliang has a 4,000-year history of city construction and capital building. The Xia Dynasty, the Wei State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Later Liang Dynasty, the Later Jin Dynasty, the Later Han Dynasty, and the Great Zhou Dynasty successively established their capitals in Bianliang.

It has always been known for its reputation of "the Five-Phoenix Tower with beautiful trees and bright clouds, Yimen has been the emperor's city since ancient times", "I have seen the sea and it seems nothing like water, except for Liangyuan, everything else is a village", and "Bianjing is the most magnificent city in the world".

Three months later, a precious land was found in Laoqiu, northeast of Bianjing City. Two hundred thousand laborers were recruited to start building the imperial mausoleum according to the plan.

(End of this chapter)