Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 539 Mid-Autumn Family Dinner (Special thanks to book friend 2023…3057 for three monthly tickets!)
As the beloved prince of Emperor Chai Zongxun, if the Prince of Song were to serve as the second prime minister of the State of Song, it would certainly please the emperor. This would win the emperor's trust for the Zhang family and would be extremely beneficial to the careers of future generations of the family.

Zhang Qixian said:

"Your Majesty, I am living in the capital with nothing to do. I am willing to obey your majesty's order and serve as the second prime minister of Song State, so that I can do something for the people in my remaining years."

Chai Zongxun said happily:

"My dear, you are indeed diligent and capable.

Then when the King of Song returns to his country this time, you can bring your family to Luoyang with you, and when you reach the age of seventy, you can return home to retire."

From then on, a custom was established in the Zhou Dynasty court: if a cabinet minister expired after his ten-year term and was still young enough to retire at the age of seventy, he would often go to the State of Song to serve as prime minister and make use of his remaining energy.

At the evening of the same day, at the time of Shen, Chai Zongxun held a "Mid-Autumn Banquet" in the Huangyi Hall in the front yard of the imperial palace. All members of the imperial family, the Song prince's family, and all the married princesses attended the banquet with their families.

Chai Zongxun is now in his fifties. He has twenty-six princesses who have married and established families, and seventeen who have given birth to children.

After receiving the imperial eunuch's order this morning, the princesses made careful preparations for half a day. In the evening, they dressed up in their best clothes and came to the palace for the banquet with their husbands and children.

At 1 p.m., Chai Zongxun, along with his concubines, underage princes and princesses, entered the palace, and the imperial Mid-Autumn Banquet officially began.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Moonlight Birthday, Moon Eve, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Moon Niang Festival, Moon Festival, Reunion Festival, etc., originated in ancient times, became popular in the Han Dynasty, was finalized in the early Tang Dynasty, and flourished in the Zhou Dynasty. It is known as one of the four major traditional festivals in China along with the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, and Dragon Boat Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the ancient autumn moon worship. The original "Moon Worship Festival" was held on the "Autumnal Equinox" of the 24th solar term in the Ganzhi calendar. Later, it was adjusted to the 15th day of the eighth month of the Xia calendar (Lunar calendar). In some places, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also set on the 16th day of the eighth month of the Xia calendar.

The earliest existing written record of the word "Mid-Autumn" can be found in the Han Dynasty document "Zhou Li". In the Pre-Qin period, there were activities such as "welcoming the cold on Mid-Autumn Night", "offering good furs on Mid-Autumn Festival" and "moon worship on the autumnal equinox".

It was around the Tang Dynasty that it became an officially recognized national festival. The "Book of Tang·Taizong Ji" recorded the "Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th", and the custom of appreciating the moon on Mid-Autumn Festival was very popular in Chang'an. Many famous poems by poets contain verses about the moon, and they are combined with mythological stories such as Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang cutting the cassia tree, the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine, and Yang Guifei turning into the moon goddess, making it full of romance, and the custom of appreciating the moon began to flourish.

Chai Zongxun raised his glass and invited everyone to drink. The atmosphere at the banquet gradually became more lively. The princesses all chatted about family matters with the King of Song's family or their mothers.

With the permission of Chai Zongxun, Guo Meitai, the prince of Song, left the table and went out of the palace to play with more than a dozen of his younger cousins.

The banquet lasted for more than half an hour, and a bright full moon rose in the night sky outside the hall, as clear as blue.

Chai Zongxun sighed:
“People today cannot see the moon of the past, but the moon of today once existed in ancient times.”

Time flies, and I now have so many grandchildren."

Empress Diwu Zhaolu heard Chai Zongxun's sentimental feelings about the passing of time and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty governs the people on behalf of Heaven, works tirelessly for the country, treats the people of the world with kindness and wisdom, and is favored by Heaven, and has many sons and blessings.

"For me and others, seeing that the imperial family of our Great Zhou Dynasty is now flourishing and full of children and grandchildren is the greatest happiness in life."

Princess Chai Wodan said with a smile:

"In ancient times, there was a sage named King Wen of Zhou, who was so blessed that he had hundreds of sons.

My father’s achievements are the greatest in the history of China, and his benevolence and righteousness towards the people are unprecedented.

Our Great Zhou will surely be blessed by heaven and will last for thousands of generations. My father's descendants will surely surpass King Wen!"

Chai Zongxun nodded and smiled:
“That’s very well said, Dan.

King Wen wrote the Book of Changes, which will be remembered for centuries. I also want to write a book that will be passed down through the ages. Chai Zongxun paused and said:

"Is Qing'er interested in studying in the mansion now? Who are the teachers you invited?"

Chai Wodan said:

"My son, following your example, when Qing'er was three years old, I invited famous teachers from the capital to teach Qing'er the four subjects of civil, military, business and commerce to teach him."

Di Qing was born in the 37th year of Kaixi. He is six years old this year. He is strong, lively and clever.

Chai Zongxun immediately ordered someone to bring Di Qing, who was playing outside the palace, to him.

After the meeting, Chai Zongxun held Di Qing in his arms and asked him a few simple questions, to which he answered fluently.

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"Qing'er, when you grow up, do you want to serve as a minister in the imperial court, or do you want to be a military commander and lead an army to fight in all directions?"

Di Qing's face was full of seriousness, and he said:
"Your Majesty, a man's ambition is to conquer the world. When I grow up, I want to be like you, expanding the territory for our Great Zhou and conquering the rebels!"

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"Very good! Qing'er is really ambitious!
If you were asked to lead an army, how would you win every battle?"

Di Qing tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said:

“Your Majesty, I believe that the key to commanding an army is military discipline. Only when orders are obeyed can one command the army as easily as using one’s own arms.

In order to make the army invincible and unstoppable, the general must be brave and skilled in fighting and have outstanding military tactics. "

Chai Zongxun was satisfied. Although Di Qing did not know that a country's national strength and technological level were the foundation for an army's long-term victory, it was rare for him to make such an analysis at such a young age of only 6 years old.

Chai Zongxun thought of the fact that the prince of Song, Guo Meitai, had famous ministers such as Wang Zhuo and Lu Mengzheng as his teachers, but his eldest grandson Di Qing's teachers were weak, so he smiled and said:
“Qing’er really has the qualities of a famous general!

From now on, I allow Qing'er to come to the Imperial Palace School every day to receive instruction from the masters together with the other princes and princesses."

The eldest princess Chai Wodan and her husband Di Pu were overjoyed and expressed their gratitude immediately.

The teachers who taught the princes and princesses in the Imperial Palace School were all the best people in the world.

There are famous officials in the humanities such as Zhang Qixian, Li Hang, Wang Dan, Kou Zhun, etc., famous generals in the military such as Huyan Zan, Zhe Yuxun, Jing Sheng, etc., and engineering and commerce are also taught by the top scorers and second place winners in the imperial examinations in previous years, who are now important officials in the Ministry of Works.

Naturally, their level is much higher than that of the folk celebrities invited by the princess's mansion at a high price.

The "Mid-Autumn Banquet" was held for nearly three hours. Until late at night, Chai Zongxun rewarded the Song King's family and the princesses with many treasures from the imperial palace, and then the banquet ended.

After the Longxiang Army of the Great Zhou Dynasty was divided into two routes and the southern army surrounded Kiev, Vladimir I mobilized 300,000 young and strong men in the city to defend the city together with 300,000 imperial guards.

Faced with the fierce artillery fire of the Zhou army and seeing that the city defense weapons were completely destroyed in a few months, Vladimir I sent troops out of the city several times at night to launch surprise attacks on the Zhou army camp.

However, they were all repelled by the tightly defended Zhou army using tiger squat cannons and "Kai Xi No. 33", resulting in heavy casualties.

Seeing the huge disparity in combat power between the two sides, Vladimir I had no choice but to hold on to Kiev and exhaust the Zhou army's food, fodder and ammunition before withdrawing his own troops. Then his own army could leave the city and take advantage of the situation to turn defeat into victory.

(End of this chapter)