Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 561: The Remnants of Ghazni (Special thanks to book friend Zhuo Kan Feng Yun for his 2 monthly tickets!)

In the month after the "Holy Zhou Ancestor's Instructions" were made public to the subjects of the Great Zhou, Chai Zongxun received feedback on public sentiment from the Wude Division and the Longxiang Guard in the Bianjing Imperial Palace.

Seeing that people all over the country were supporting him, Chai Zongxun thought:
"The ancestral precepts I have established are all capable of promoting people's livelihood and the social and economic development of the Great Zhou. Compared with the ancestral precepts of the previous life, when Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a peasant from the bottom of the society, only emphasized agriculture and suppressed industry and commerce, and many of them were not in line with reality, these are much more advanced and reasonable.

Although my policy of enriching and strengthening the people will one day awaken the people to democratic consciousness, at that time, for the sake of the future of the nation and the country, the imperial family of the Great Zhou Dynasty will adapt to the times, implement a "constitutional monarchy", and maintain the glory of the imperial family. This will happen at least several hundred years later.

With my "Holy Zhou Ancestor's Instructions", my Great Zhou Empire will be able to become a powerful, thousand-year-old dynasty."

On June 2, the 51st year of Kaixi, the Longxiang Guard in West Asia sent back an urgent report that the commander Zhang Yong entered the palace in the afternoon to ask for an audience with the emperor.

Chai Zongxun summoned Zhang Yong to Yanfu Hall.

After greeting, Zhang Yong said:
“Your Majesty, the Dragon Guard stationed in West Asia has sent back an urgent report that after the Ghaznavid Dynasty was destroyed by the Dragon Guard of our Great Zhou in the 29th year of Kaixi, the local lord of the two southwestern states, Mahmud, led the remaining 20,000 soldiers and more than 200,000 Xingxingjiao people to flee to the northern Tianzhu area.

Since the fall of the Gupta Empire, India has been divided into many small states and has been in chaos for hundreds of years.

After Mahmud and other Star Sect members established themselves in northern India, because the Star Sect's teachings made women extremely fertile, the population has increased to over 800,000 in the past 20 years.

Mahmud led his army to conquer more than a dozen small neighboring states, but in the 46th year of Kaixi, when he attacked Delhi occupied by the Rajputs, Mahmud was shot and killed.

After his son Cusa succeeded to the throne, he changed his strategy and attacked southwards. In a few years, he conquered seven or eight city-states and greatly increased his strength.

In early January this year, Kusa led an army of 300,000 to attack Rajput Delhi again and conquered it a month later.

Kusanai proclaimed himself king in Delhi and established the "Pala Dynasty". Now he has almost unified the whole northern India. He rules over the Star Religion and more than 8 million Indian people, and is vigorously enforcing the Star Religion.

Only Your Majesty knows it clearly. "

Chai Zongxun pondered for a while.

Since ancient times, India has been almost constantly conquered and ruled by foreign races. The "Kushan Empire" established by the Yuezhi people during the Qin and Han dynasties declined after hundreds of years.

The Indians revived the Gupta Dynasty, which was also the last dynasty established by Indians.

Now, after being divided for hundreds of years, it has begun to be conquered by the Star Religion.

The Green Arabs were far away in Misir (North Africa), and Chai Zongxun did not want to mobilize a large army to conquer them.

However, if the remnants of the Ghaznavid dynasty were allowed to successfully invade India and establish a Star Religion state, it would be extremely disadvantageous to the Great Zhou.

Chai Zongxun said:

"The Longxiong Guards did a great job in intelligence work! Thank you, Mr. Zhang Aiqing and the soldiers for your hard work.

This matter concerns the rule of our Great Zhou in the West Asian territories, and I will make a decision after discussing it with my ministers."

After Zhang Yong left the hall, Chai Zongxun said:

"Manager Tang, how are people's livelihoods in Central and West Asia doing now?"

Tang Qidao:
“Your Majesty, according to the report from the local Wude Division, after more than 20 years of new policies implemented by the Great Zhou government, the people in the prefectures of Central and West Asia can now have adequate food and clothing, and half of them have reached a well-off standard.

The local virtuous bureaus are also well established in all prefectures and counties, and the policies of local officials are all supervised by the people, which can be said to be honest and clean. "

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and asked, "How are the local Xingxing believers doing now?"

Tang Qidao:
“Your Majesty, since the establishment of our Great Zhou rule and Your Majesty’s implementation of the policy of ‘freedom of religious belief’, the power of the Star Cult has been greatly reduced.

First, the Xingxing Sect no longer dares to force people to join the sect, nor does it dare to prevent people from leaving the sect, otherwise they will be arrested by the government of our Great Zhou.

There were many local riots in the first ten years, but after the Longxiang garrison suppressed them and killed hundreds of thousands of rioters over the years, the Xingxing believers became obedient.

Second, with the continuous development of the local economy, the widespread spread of China's three religions of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism as well as Eastern Roman Nestorianism have become the mainstream in Central and West Asia.

Today, the people of the Xingxing Sect under the rule of our Great Zhou have gradually begun to secularize. For example, women no longer wear masks and can work to earn money.

With abundant income and encouragement to have children, the local Han Chinese population has exceeded 15 million, accounting for more than half of the population of Central and West Asia.

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:

"So, the rule in Central and West Asia is now secure. In the future, we must continue to encourage our Han people to have children, so that they account for more than 80% of the local population."

During the morning court session the next day, Chai Zongxun discussed the matter with his ministers.

The Prime Minister Kou Zhun came out and said:
“Your Majesty, the Tianzhu area is now in disarray. If we allow the remnants of the Ghaznavid dynasty to grow stronger there, I’m afraid that sooner or later they will occupy the entire Tianzhu and become a great threat to our Great Zhou.

I think that now that the rule in Central and West Asia is stable, Your Majesty can send a large army from Ghazni to the east to attack and destroy the "Pala Dynasty" in Kusa to eliminate future troubles. "

Many ministers came out to second the motion.

Chai Zongxun said:

"The remnants of the Star Cult must be punished!

Twenty years ago, in order to consolidate our rule, the Great Zhou did not take into account the remnants of the Ghaznavid army who fled to India.

It was unexpected that the Indians were so incompetent. In just twenty years, almost half of India was conquered by Mahmud and Kusa with an army of 100,000.

If we want to destroy the "Pala Dynasty", we might as well conquer the whole of India at the same time!
Tianzhu has long been ruled by foreign races. Isn't it much better for our Great Zhou to rule it than for other foreign races to rule it?"

Zhang Ning, the chief minister of the military cabinet, came out and said:
“Your Majesty, although both India and the Pala Dynasty are vulnerable to my Great Zhou, India is a vast territory, and the population of northern and southern India is about 20 million.

Your Majesty, if you want to conquer India, three corps will be enough. As for establishing a solid government rule, you need to send at least four corps of the Longxiang Army to garrison. "

At present, the Great Zhou has garrisons all over the country. In traditional Han areas, each prefecture has no more than a thousand men. Some prefectures even only have yamen runners and constables to ensure good public security. There are only eight corps in total for the garrisons in a thousand Han prefectures.

There were two corps stationed in Liao, two corps in Fuso, one corps in Goryeo, one corps in Annan, four corps in Maya, two corps in Tubo, one corps in Dali, four corps in Central and West Asia, two corps in Angkor, and three corps in Kievan Rus, totaling thirty corps. While the 4 imperial guards were needed to defend Bianliang, 4 Wudesi and Longxiangwei were responsible for domestic and foreign intelligence, leaving only four corps available for the expedition.

Chai Zongxun said:

“Since we no longer have enough troops after conquering India, I will order you to recruit 360,000 young men from across the country to form the 35th to 38th Dragon Army Corps.

This time, three armies were sent to destroy the Pala Dynasty and conquer India. "

(End of this chapter)