Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 529: Lu Zhao Rebel Party (Special thanks to the book friend Seventeen Years Old Bookworm for his two monthly tickets!)

Queen Mother Fu sighed:
"Xun'er has finally returned to Beijing!

"My mother has been worried for the past few years. How could she have agreed to let my son go on an expedition to the Mayan continent for so long?"

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
“Mother, you also said that I am the ‘Purple Star’ who descended to the world’ and that I came here to create the greatest prosperity for China.

So when I left, my mother was naturally relieved.

"This trip of mine was blessed by heaven, went smoothly, and was successful immediately, making China's territory the largest in history and its national strength the most prosperous."

After Chai Zongxun finished speaking, he realized that even though he was already the emperor, he still subconsciously wanted to prove and show off his achievements to his mother.

He didn't want to say these words to his attendants or the ministers, and would occasionally mention them to his concubines and children. However, in front of his mother, he couldn't wait to say them all at once.

Empress Dowager Fu looked closely at Chai Zongxun's face and said with satisfaction:

"Mother, I don't care how much territory my son has conquered, how many new people he has taken in, or how many trade routes he has opened. As long as I see that my son is full of energy and vigor, I will be relieved."

Chai Zongxun then ordered the seven concubines he had taken in during the expedition to Maya to meet Empress Dowager Fu.

Queen Mother Fu was very happy, especially when she heard that Concubine Difa was more than three months pregnant. She smiled even more and rewarded her with many rare treasures. The other six concubines of the Ji family were also given generous rewards.

Chai Zongxun, the two queens, and seventeen concubines chatted with Empress Dowager Fu for a long time, talking about many things about the expedition to Maya. After having dinner together, they took their leave.

At the hour of You, they returned to the Qingshou Hall and sat down. The chief eunuch Tang Qi reported the situation in the country to Chai Zongxun in detail.

Tang Qidao:
“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, following Your Majesty’s order, expanded the Longxiang Army into four corps, and then pretended to agree with the treacherous party Lu Duosun, Zhao Bai and others’ conspiracy to seize the throne. Over the past six months, he has cooperated with the Wude Division and found more than 320,000 of their followers or those who have been very close to them in various prefectures across the country.

In April of this year, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince discussed with slaves and others and found that they had basically figured out the members of the rebel party. The rebel Lu and others were urging His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to seize the throne urgently, so there was no time to delay.

Therefore, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince issued an order, and the Wude Division, Longxiang Guard and local garrisons launched a sudden operation across the country on April 17 to capture the rebels Lu and Zhao.

After more than two months of operations, except for a few thousand rebels who committed suicide out of fear of punishment, all 320,000 rebels were captured and thrown into prison, waiting to be dealt with after Your Majesty returns to the capital."

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:
"Yuer lived up to my expectations!
I will hand over the future of the Great Zhou to him a hundred years later, and he will have no worries!
The expansion project of Bianjing has been completed for nearly a year, but Yu'er did not order the emperor to move into the new palace. This small detail alone shows that Yu'er is benevolent, filial and wise. "

Tang Qidao:
"Your Majesty is wise! The Crown Prince has been acting as regent for more than four years and has been conscientious and has not violated any rules.

For the imperial brothers and sisters who had reached adulthood, Your Majesty followed the old practice and ordered a nationwide selection of princesses and princes-in-law, and rewarded them with the Prince's Palace and the Princess's Palace in Bian Jing.

It's just that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't dare to make the decision on his own, so he has to wait for His Majesty to return to the capital."

Chai Zongxun was very pleased and said:
"I didn't choose the wrong prince!

Yu'er has a kind disposition and noble nature. In the future, he will surely inherit the imperial family tradition that I created and treat all the princes and princesses well."

Chai Zongxun paused and said:

"Manager Tang, how are the families of these rebels dealt with?"

Tang Qidao:
"Your Majesty, the families of these rebels are now under house arrest in the palace. The Wude Division and Longxiang Guards are checking them one by one to see if they are aware of the rebellion."

Chai Zongxun pondered for a moment and said:
"I still have important things to do. The revenge of Kievan Rus for killing and plundering my people must be avenged immediately! There is no need to bother with these rebels' families. Pass on my order:
Except for children three years old and below who were exempted from punishment, all others were sentenced to lifelong exile in the Northern Ocean to build a country to atone for their sins!
As for the rebels from all over the country who were clearly involved in the conspiracy, after verification, they will all be executed in the autumn according to the crime of treason in the Great Zhou Criminal Code! "

Tang Qi was startled and stammered:
“Your Majesty, among these 320,000 rebels, the core members are only about 3,000 people, and the rest are all deceived and just closely associated with them. Many of them are unaware of the rebels’ detailed plans and have never committed any evil deeds before.

All of them should be beheaded, should we…should we…”

Chai Zongxun suddenly recalled the story of the Tsar in his previous life and sighed:

“Are some of the laws too harsh?
Manager Tang, you are wrong to think so.

Those who participated in the rebellious party are all people whose heads are full of official-centered privileged ideas. As long as they get the chance, they will want to destroy my enlightened and fair selection system and restore the privileges of the bureaucracy and the aristocracy. This is a great harm to the country and the nation!

If I do not eradicate them today, if these corrupt and backward people resurrect and seize power in the future, they will be ten times more cruel to those who hold opposing political views and treat the people!"

Tang Qi suddenly realized and said:
"Your Majesty is wise! I am stupid and I am really too soft-hearted.

Tomorrow morning, I will order the Ministry of Heavenly Secrets to spread the order to all parts of the country and handle it accordingly."

Chai Zongxun nodded and said:
"General Manager Tang, order the Ministry of Internal Affairs to begin arranging for the imperial family members to move into the new palace tomorrow.

Otherwise, the new concubines I brought back to the country this time will be too crowded, won't they look down on my Great Zhou?"

After Tang Qi nodded in agreement, he saw that Chai Zongxun was already tired, so he immediately left the hall.

During the next two days of rest, Chai Zongxun successively summoned Crown Prince Chai Jiyu, Commander of the Dragon Guard Zhang Yong, Chief Minister of the Cabinet Li Hang, Chief Minister of the Military Cabinet Huyan Zan, Commander of the Dragon Army Han Hui and others, and gained a more detailed understanding of the situation in the country during the more than four years since he led the expedition to Maya.

On the third day after returning to Beijing, July 30th, Chai Zongxun attended the morning court.

After the emperor and his ministers had a heated discussion about conquering Maya, the Prime Minister Li Hang came out and said:

“Your Majesty, if we want to make the Maya Continent a permanent part of our Great Zhou territory, we must strengthen the trade between the Empire and the Maya Continent, and the best way to do this is to facilitate maritime trade.

I think the court can quickly build some port cities along the sea trade routes to facilitate the supply of civilian merchant ships along the way, which will greatly benefit the development of the route from the mainland to Maya. "

Chai Zongxun said:

"Prime Minister Li has a keen eye, and this proposal is approved.

Instruct the Ministry of Industry to send personnel northward along the route as soon as possible to select a suitable port to build a city, so as to promote the rapid development of the Maya route."

Chai Zongxun took a few sips of tea and continued:
“Now that Angkor has been pacified, the two Longxiang Army regiments that went on the expedition are about to return home.

When the Crown Prince was regent, he decided to expand the 31st to 34th Corps of the Longxiang Army, which was extremely far-sighted.

The Kievan Rus' devils dared to invade my Great Zhou's Beiming land, burning, killing and looting. I swear to slaughter them! Make them pay their blood debt a hundredfold! "

When many generals heard this, they stepped forward and vied with each other to lead the army to attack Kievan Rus, where the common people were slaughtered and looted and humiliated.

(End of this chapter)