Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 483 Encouraging Han people to have children (Special thanks to book friend 2021…3214 for the 2 monthly tickets!)

Chai Zongxun took a few sips of tea and continued:

"I have decided to issue an edict to encourage our Han people to have more children!
For every child born, the court will reward 50 taels of silver as a child support fee. The more children the better!"

Most of the ministers in the palace spoke in agreement.

Minister of War Li Fang hesitated for a moment, then came out and said:

"Your Majesty, our Great Zhou is now extremely vast, with more than 300 ethnic groups.

If the imperial court implements a policy of encouraging Han people to have more children, will it cause dissatisfaction among many other ethnic groups, leading to a "distinction between Chinese and barbarians" and causing discord among the ethnic groups in the country?

The Prime Minister Li Hang came out and said:
“States can be strong or weak, and nations can be divided into primary and secondary.

Emperor Taizong of Tang said:

"The barbarians are also human beings, and their sentiments are no different from those of the Chinese. If a ruler is worried about not being able to extend his virtue and kindness, he should not be suspicious of the different species. If virtue and kindness are widespread, the four barbarians can be made like one family; if suspicion is rampant, even the flesh and blood will inevitably become enemies."

Later, he added: "Since ancient times, people have valued China and despised foreigners, but I love them all equally."

Under Emperor Taizong's policy of being friendly to the ethnic minorities, hundreds of countries came to pay tribute. However, the Tang Dynasty was far less powerful than the Zhou Dynasty, and could only set up "dudufu" and establish a tributary rule for many countries and regions in border areas.

It is far inferior to our Great Zhou Emperor who, relying on the unparalleled national and military strength of the time, has incorporated vast territories into his territory and established direct rule.

Only if Your Majesty treats the people of all newly acquired territories equally, attaches importance to people's livelihood and economic development, and vigorously spreads our Chinese civilization, can we assimilate the various ethnic minorities and make them identify themselves as Chinese!

The Han people are the main ethnic group of our Great Zhou. Your Majesty has applied taxation and economic policies equally to all ethnic groups across the country, and the effect has been very good.

It is also reasonable to encourage Han Chinese to have children now.”

Emperor Taizong of Tang set up protectorates and military governorates for the recovered and expanded territories, and adopted a control strategy to rule.

To keep the tribe intact and follow its local customs.

Under this principle, the highest official of that place and his subordinates are mostly their own people. Since they are completely responsible for their own internal affairs, the administrative division is actually just a name!

Annan was the old territory of the Han Dynasty and was once a county. During the Tang Dynasty, it was changed to Annan Protectorate, which instead gave rise to the seeds of separation.

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"What Li Aiqing said makes sense.

There is a primary and secondary distinction among ethnic groups. As long as I implement economic and judicial policies that treat all ethnic groups equally, the people will have enough food and clothing, and their living standards and social justice will be greatly improved. How can they not be loyal to me and to the country?

As the majority ethnic group, the Han people currently account for only 2 million of the country's 1 million population. I encourage people to have more children, which is appropriate.

Why did the Xingxing Sect grow so rapidly? Its doctrines were extremely overbearing, such as forcing women to give birth to eight children and imposing heavy taxes on non-believers.

My policy of encouraging Han people to have children is already a very gentle and appropriate policy.

Do we have to give special treatment to ethnic minorities, or else we have to worry about the instability of the various ethnic groups in the country? This is what the servile court does to please the ethnic minorities!"

Emperor Chai Zongxun immediately made a decision, and no one in the Chuigong Palace had any objections. As a result, the national policy of using money to encourage Han people to have children was announced to the whole country and implemented immediately.

When the Han people learned of the imperial edict, they were all greatly excited, and their sense of identity as the backbone ethnic group of the Great Zhou and their sense of national mastery and pride greatly increased.

As for the large financial subsidies provided by the imperial court to Han people for having children, considering the current cost of raising a child in the Great Zhou society, at the average level of three taels of silver per year, fifty taels of bonus silver would be enough to properly raise a child until he or she reaches the age of eighteen.

Therefore, once the imperial edict was issued, the Han people across the country were delighted, and in order to repay the emperor's grace, they all tried their best to have more children.

After a busy day, Han Chinese people in various places usually try not to go out for social gatherings and banquets, and return home as soon as possible, and then go to the bedroom with their spouses to "make babies"...

One year after the imperial edict encouraging childbirth was issued, according to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs, there were 1.1 million new Han babies in the country, and the average number of children born in each of the million Han households was .

The "Birth Encouragement Award Silver" specially set up by the Ministry of Households is under the dual supervision of the Wude Division and the Xiangxian Bureau stationed in various states across the country. It is usually distributed to the people before the full-month banquet of their children.

In more remote mountainous areas, the bonus will be distributed to families with children no later than three months after verification is completed.

Because huge financial interests are involved, many officials involved in the national policy of encouraging childbirth have embezzled bonuses during the one year since its implementation. Some officials have even bribed people to fake the births of their children and falsified accounts.

Under regular and strict inspections by the Ministry of Personnel, the Department of Military Virtue, and the Bureau of Local Worthies, all these fraud cases were uncovered one by one and sentenced in accordance with the "Great Zhou Criminal Code."

After the four ruling strategies of the newly acquired Star Religion territories were promoted, the effects were immediate.

First, the burden on local people was greatly reduced, and the commodity economy immediately became active.

Under the national policy of "freedom of religious belief", various religions have sent a large number of believers and missionaries to Central Asia and West Asia, where the Star Religion was once prevalent, to actively spread their religions.

After the Eastern Roman Emperor Basil II and the Pope issued an edict to the whole country, the enthusiasm of Nestorian missionaries from all over the country increased, and the first batch of Nestorian missionaries who set out for the newly acquired Starry Sky Christian territories of the Great Zhou Empire numbered over one million.

When these priests went to the border checkpoint, the process was unexpectedly smooth. They only had to produce a formal priest certificate from the Eastern Roman Empire and report to the Da Zhouzhou Prefecture, and they could pass through the checkpoint on the same day.

After the Roman Nestorian priests arrived in the Central and West Asian regions of the Great Zhou, their devout preaching, coupled with the Great Zhou court's abolition of the Starry Sky Sect's brutal rule that members could not leave the sect, attracted many Starry Sky Sect believers to convert to Nestorianism.

After Chai Zongxun issued an imperial decree abolishing the Xingxing doctrine that forced women to give birth to eight children, many Xingxing believers who had been accustomed to dominating the world for hundreds of years were dissatisfied with the change in religious rules. Some fanatical believers colluded with each other and launched a rebellion.

The Great Zhou government, garrison troops, and Longxiang Guards, which had long been on guard against rebellions by the Starry Sky followers, kept a close watch on rebellions in various places. Once the riot broke out, the army was quickly dispatched to put down the rebellion of the Starry Sky followers at its infancy.

However, nothing is perfect. During the rebellions of the Star Cultists in Central and West Asia, a very small number of Han immigrants who had just immigrated here were affected and died or were injured in the riots.

After celebrating the New Year's Eve in the 35th year of Kaixi, the emperor and his ministers discussed this matter during the morning court session on January 20th.

The Deputy Minister of Military Affairs, Jing Sheng, came out of the class and said:

“Your Majesty, since last year, there have been more than 2,000 rebellions by the Star Sect in Central Asia and East Asia, all of which were suppressed by the local Longxiang garrison of our Great Zhou, killing more than 700,000 Star Sect rebels.

Nowadays, the arrogance of the local Xingxing Christians has been greatly reduced. However, during these turmoil, although the local government and garrison troops have made careful preparations, it is still difficult to avoid that a very small number of our Han immigrants will be affected.

Over the past year, more than 20,000 Han people have been killed or injured in the riots.”

(End of this chapter)