Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 497 Di Qing (Special thanks to the book friend Bu Aa Cha Cha for his 2 monthly tickets!)

As soon as the people sat on the train, they immediately discovered several major advantages of the rail car:
Compared with riding a horse or driving a carriage by yourself, you don't have to drive it yourself; the speed is two to three times faster than that of ordinary people's carriages; sitting in the spacious carriage, you can drink water, eat, and read books, and there is a "Dongsi" in each carriage, which greatly increases the comfort of the journey.

The good reputation of the rail car soon spread from the people of Bian Jing to the people across the country, and the people were all looking forward to the rail car being put into operation in their hometowns as soon as possible.

On the sixth day of the fifth month of the thirty-seventh year of Kaixi, Chai Zongxun received a report that the eldest princess Chai Wodan had given birth to a son.

Chai Wodan was born in the eleventh year of Kaixi (970). After marrying her husband Di Pu at the age of eighteen, she moved into the Princess's Mansion in Bian Jing. She is twenty-six years old this year.

A few years ago, Chai Wodan was young and fun-loving, and he often traveled with his husband Di Pu in Bian Jing and various prefectures in the interior.

In recent years, perhaps unable to resist the urging of her mother, Concubine Zhou Nuying, or perhaps because of her age and change in mentality, Chai Wodan finally wanted to have a child. She became pregnant in the 36th year of Kaixi last year, and gave birth to a son on the fifth day of May this year.

Chai Zongxun was overjoyed, for this child was after all the grandson of his eldest princess. He immediately set out for the eldest princess's residence in the inner city at noon, along with Concubine Yi, Zhou Nuying.

After traveling for about half an hour, when Chai Zongxun arrived at the new Princess Mansion in the southeast of the new inner city, he saw that the mansion was nearly three times larger than the Princess Mansion before the expansion of Bianliang.

The prince consort Di Pu has led everyone in the mansion, except the eldest princess, to welcome the emperor at the gate of the mansion.

After greeting, Chai Zongxun said with a smile:
"Are Dan'er and his mother all right?"

Dipper smiled and said:

"Thanks to your majesty's great blessing, the eldest princess's delivery went very smoothly, both mother and child are safe, and they are now resting in the main hall in the backyard."

The Great Zhou followed the Tang system. Before a princess got married, she received a salary from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After she got married, her income mainly came from her fief.

As the eldest princess most beloved by Emperor Chai Zongxun, Chai Wodan was granted a fief of 10,000 households by her father when she got married. She is also the only "Princess of 10,000 Households" in the Great Zhou Empire.

Most of the other princesses who had married and left the country under Chai Zongxun had fiefs ranging from 5,000 to 8,000 households. Even the princess who was least favored by Chai Zongxun had a fief of 3,000 households.

Compared with the Tang Dynasty princesses whose fiefs generally did not exceed a thousand households, Chai Zongxun could be said to be much more loving to his daughters.

The princess with the largest fief in the Tang Dynasty was Princess Taiping, who was extremely favored by Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian and had a fief of 12,000 households.

The so-called "fiefdom" refers to the fact that the people on the fiefdom would pay taxes that should have been paid to the court to the princess instead.

Considering the current prosperity of the commodity economy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, even in the underdeveloped fiefdoms, the annual taxes paid by three thousand households amount to more than 20,000 taels of silver.

However, the princess's title and salary are not hereditary, and how her descendants live depends entirely on their talents and circumstances.

Zhou Nuying said:

"Prince consort, quickly take His Majesty and me to visit the eldest princess and her son."

Di Pu hurriedly invited Chai Zongxun and Zhou Nuying into the mansion. After a cup of tea, they arrived at the main hall in the backyard.

In order to preserve the eldest princess' health, the doors and windows of the main hall were all closed, making it airtight. Even a thick cotton curtain was hung in front of the main door.

Chai Zongxun and Zhou Nuying, surrounded by eunuchs, lifted the curtain and walked into the main hall and went into the innermost main wing.

Chai Wodan was lying on a big bed, with a silk scarf on her head to block the wind, and more than a dozen personal maids and palace servants were waiting by the bed.

In a small wooden bed to the right of the big bed, a newborn baby was sleeping quietly with his eyes closed.

Chai Wodan said in a slightly weak but extremely happy voice:

"My father, my mother, have come to visit me. Please forgive me for not being able to pay my respects to you!"

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"I am relieved that Dan'er and his mother are doing well. Dan'er must take a good rest. Your mother and I have come to visit you and your son."

Zhou Nuying sat down beside the big bed, holding her daughter Chai Wodan's hand, and talked in detail about recuperation and caring for the children.

Chai Zongxun walked to the crib and looked at his grandson.

I saw that the little guy had sharp features, a high and straight nose bridge, a broad forehead, and looked quite tiger-like.

After a moment, Chai Zongxun asked:
"Have you chosen a name for my grandson?"

The consort Di Pu, who was following behind Chai Zongxun, said with a smile:

"My Lord, I have already discussed with Your Highness the Princess and decided to name the child Di Qing."

Chai Zongxun said in shock:

"What? My eldest grandson is Di Qing?!"

Chai Wodan and Dipu were both a little surprised and said anxiously:
"If your Majesty thinks that the name Di Qing is inappropriate, please give the child a new name."

Chai Zongxun pondered for a moment and thought of Di Pu, whose courtesy name was Hanchen and who was from Xihe, Fenzhou, and was a descendant of Di Renjie of the Tang Dynasty. All of these matched Di Pu, the father of the famous general Di Qing in his previous life.

But in the previous life, Di Qing was born in 00 AD and had an older brother. Di Qing suffered for his brother and was "arrested and brought to the capital, where his name was banished from the register of prostitutes."

And now, could the eldest grandson, who was born in the 37th year of Kaixi (996 AD), be the Di Qing who was extremely brave and outstanding in military strategy?
Chai Zongxun laughed and said:

"well!

"Di Qing is a great name! This boy has an extraordinary appearance. He must be well trained in the future and will surely become a pillar of our Great Zhou!"

Chai Wodan and Di Pu were both very happy. Seeing that their father loved them so much, they couldn't help but thank him repeatedly.

Chai Zongxun and Zhou Nvying sat in the princess's room for more than an hour, teased Di Qing for a long time, and rewarded him with many rare treasures before returning to the palace.

While riding in the imperial sedan chair, Zhou Nvying said:
"Your Majesty, just now in Dan'er's room, you heard that your eldest grandson's name was Di Qing. Why were you so surprised?"

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"My dear, it's nothing. It's just that I know an old friend with the same name, so I was surprised."

Zhou Nuying was half-believing and half-doubting, and kept pestering Chai Zongxun with questions. Chai Zongxun had no choice but to deal with it by saying that Zhou Nuying was a childhood playmate before she entered the palace.

Zhou Nuying said:

"Your Majesty, I am not urging you. Jun'er, as the third son of the Emperor, has been waiting in the palace of the King of Bian Jing for the large territory that Your Majesty promised. The remnants of the Liao Kingdom, including Yelu Xian, only have a few hundred thousand people. Your Majesty only needs to send two regiments of the Longxiang Army to wipe them out!"

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
“Don’t worry, my beloved concubine. I have already sent Longxiong Guard Governor Wei Feng to lead 10,000 soldiers to establish military outposts along the Weifeng Peninsula. Now that more than a year has passed, they should be almost ready.

Soon, I will send a large army to attack the Mayan continent!"

In mid-June of the 37th year of Kaixi, the imperial examination ended. A total of more than 8,000 Jinshi were admitted in the four categories of civil, military, engineering, and commerce, with an admission rate of about 5%.

At the "Qionglin Banquet" and "Yingyang Banquet" bestowed by the emperor on new Jinshi, Chai Zongxun met an acquaintance - Li Enbo, the son of Duke Yiguo.

Li Enbo studied hard for more than ten years and finally passed the commercial science exam this year.

(End of this chapter)