Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 564: The Fifty-Second Year of Kaixi (Special thanks to the monthly ticket from the book friend Tianxia Fengjing!)

After discussion, all the generals in the tent agreed with Liang Ying's strategy, and the entire army immediately began to prepare for the expedition.

On November 25, the 51st year of Kaixi, three regiments of the Longxiang Army of the Great Zhou Empire entered the territory of Tianzhu. On the 26th, the war with the "Pala Dynasty" officially began.

The garrisons of the various provincial capitals of the "Polo Dynasty" were originally local lords of India who had only been conquered by the Star Religion a few years ago. They had no loyalty to the "Polo Dynasty" and were filled with hatred.

After the reputation of the Great Zhou army spread in the first few battles, most of the states along the way to Delhi surrendered, and fierce fighting only took place in the city of Somer, which was heavily guarded by the Star Sect.

Liang Yingchuan issued an order to set up hundreds of "Yansu cannons" two miles in front of the city and bombard the top of the city and the city...

On December 26, the 51st year of Kaixi, as New Year's Eve approached, the atmosphere of preparing for the New Year became increasingly intense both in the court and among the people.

Officials from various departments of the imperial court were busy dealing with more urgent government affairs, while less important affairs were left to be handled after the Lantern Festival.

People have already started going to shops everywhere to buy New Year's goods.

After more than fifty years of development during the "Kaixi Heyday", Bianjing's shops now have dozens of areas selling different commodities.

For example, the largest area was the clothing sales area, which was the "Nishangfang" in the inner city of Bianjing. It was more than three miles in radius and had tens of thousands of shops selling all kinds of clothing from the two major clothing manufacturing centers of Jiangnan and Chengdu. The prices ranged from a few hundred coins per piece to over a hundred taels of silver.

The second is the "BMW Square" in the southwest corner of the outer city of Bianjing. It is three miles in radius and on weekdays, tens of thousands of healthy horses from horse-producing areas across the country are sold here.

The third largest market is the "Grain, Oil, Meat and Vegetable Market" located in the middle of the outer city, with thousands of shops selling rice, flour, meat, cooking oil, seasonal vegetables, pickles and dry goods.

The "Yuelin Fragrant Oil" named by Chai Zongxun has also entered the Bian Jing market and became the best-selling rapeseed oil.

After waking up from a nap, Chai Zongxun walked into the Yangxin Palace to deal with memorials, and after more than an hour he had completed the imperial approval.

I didn't have to start writing a book like I did over the past decade, and it was still early for dinner, so I couldn't help feeling a little bored.

Chai Zongxun took a few sips of tea and said:
"Manager Tang, are there any new changes among the people in Bianjing now?"

Tang Qi knew that the emperor was a little bored at the moment, and all the movements among the people had been reported to the emperor on weekdays.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Qi said:
"Your Majesty, in the past few years, there have been two major new changes in our city of Bianjing:
One is that after the Tang Dynasty legends, folk literary style flourished and the trend of chapter novels emerged.

The most famous novel now is called "The Biography of the Holy Son of Heaven", which tells the story of how His Majesty led twenty-eight ministers, mainly heroes of the "Time Palace", to unify China and destroy hundreds of countries. It has more than 300 chapters and more than 2 million words, and it ends with His Majesty's conquest of Kievan Rus.

Another thing is that brothels and gambling houses in various places use various tricks to attract customers.

In the past two years, brothels have been holding an annual "selection of the most beautiful virgin" event, where a virgin with the most beautiful appearance is selected every year and the one with the highest bid is taken into the palace.

The gambling houses launched an annual "Lucky Star" lottery, where one person is picked from customers who spend a certain amount of money a year. The prize varies from prefecture to prefecture. For example, in Bianjing, most of the prizes are 1,000 taels of silver."

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
“It seems that as long as there is a fair and relaxed policy environment, it is not difficult to improve the economy!
These private businessmen naturally come up with a variety of clever ideas to continuously expand the market.

On the one hand, the government is based on officialdom and privileges are rampant. Any official can strangle merchants and treat the people as if they were human beings. On the other hand, the successive dynasties shouted empty slogans and hoped to collect more taxes from the people. Isn’t this wishful thinking and extremely foolish? "

Tang Qilian claimed yes.

Thinking of the order he had issued to strictly control the number of brothels and casinos, and that no one should be forced to do anything, Chai Zongxun suddenly had the idea to go on a private visit.

"Tang Qi Guan, send someone to visit Bian Jing City to see if there are any brothels that will hold "calling the oiran" in the days before New Year's Eve. I want to go and see the excitement."

Tang Qi smiled and said:

"I will follow your majesty's order and I will arrange it immediately."

After having dinner with Empress Dowager Fu and the second empress and twenty-three concubines that day, Chai Zongxun was watching Concubine Li Nian paint in her bedroom when Tang Qi came to report and whispered in Chai Zongxun's ear:
"Your Majesty, I have sent someone to find out. Tomorrow at 3 p.m., the "Yan Gui Pavilion" in the southwest of the inner city will hold this year's "Choose the Oiran".

Chai Zongxun nodded, not wanting Li Nian to know and to avoid misunderstanding, so he waved his hand and Tang Qi left immediately.

When Li Nian was tired of painting and stopped to rest, Chai Zongxun smiled and said:

"My beloved concubine grew up in Jiangnan. Did you know that there are things called "ordering the Oiran" in local brothels?"

Li Nian blushed instantly and said shyly:
"Your Majesty, please don't tease me.

Before I participated in the selection of concubines, my father asked me to study, learn to play the piano and paint at home. I only went out of the door a few times to burn incense. How could I know about the local brothels? "

Chai Zongxun looked at Li Nian's shy expression, and a thought flashed through his mind:
“If I were to select beauties from among the concubines in the harem, Nian’er would definitely be among the top ten in terms of youth and beauty.

It’s just that her skills in serving me in bed are still too immature. Liuyun is the best in this area, and Ying’er is second.”

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"My beloved concubine, please do not be ashamed. I have issued an edict that no brothel in the private sector may force anyone to become a prostitute or a slave, which is why I am asking this question."

Li Nian thought for a moment and said:

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, when I was young, the people in Jiangnan were already very wealthy, and there were many people engaged in business. They all treated their children like treasures, and I have never heard of a family whose children did not go to school.

The government has always governed by law and enforced the law very strictly, so there shouldn't be any brothels forcing people to become prostitutes or slaves."

After chatting for a while, Li Nian said in a mosquito-like voice:
"Your Majesty, it is late at night. Let me undress you and help you go to bed."

Chai Zongxun nodded with a smile, and Li Nianru began to unbutton his clothes with both hands...

The next day, on the afternoon of December 27th, the 51st year of Kaixi.

After Chai Zongxun finished dealing with the important memorials, he saw that it was already late, so he stood up, changed into the clothes of a common gentry, and left the imperial city through Yongtai Gate, a small gate on the east side of the palace, escorted by He Yao, the chief eunuch in front of the palace, Chen Jixing, the commander of the imperial guards, and a hundred other plain-clothed palace guards.

Along the way, they walked through the bustling crowd of people, and after two quarters of an hour, they arrived near the "Yan Gui Pavilion" in the southeast of the inner city.

The population of Bianliang now exceeds four million. Although the imperial court strictly controls the number of brothels and gambling houses, it is also determined based on the population. Generally, only one brothel is allowed for every 2 people, and the tax rate is more than twice as much.

There are 35 brothels and prostitute houses in the outer city of Bianjing, but only five brothels in the inner city, which are high-end brothels for the dignitaries living in the inner city.

(End of this chapter)