Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 569: Tianzhu Enters the Territory (Special thanks to the book friend who doesn't want 4 monthly tickets!)

On the second day of February in the fifty-second year of Kaixi, when Chai Zongxun was reviewing memorials in the Yangxin Palace in the afternoon, Shangshu Zuo Pushe Xiang Minzhong and his eldest son Xiang Chuanfan asked for a meeting.

Chai Zongxun had an idea and immediately summoned the two men to see the emperor.

After greeting, Xiang Minzhong said:

"Your Majesty, your son Chuan Fan does not recognize your Majesty's face. He even dared to offend your Majesty in the "Yan Gui Pavilion" that day. I have brought him here to apologize!"

Xiang Chuanfan knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"My two beloved ones, please get up!
It is said that ignorance is no crime.

That day at the "Yan Gui Pavilion", I observed the people's sentiments and found that there is no bullying in our Great Zhou society. Xiang Chuanfan also abides by the rules and there is nothing wrong with it! "

Xiang Minzhong and his son were overjoyed and quickly thanked him and stood up.

After a while, Chai Zongxun said:
"Xiang Chuanfan, as the eldest son of the Shangshu family, you must have been very successful in business.

I want to know, do the common people of our Great Zhou who have no identity or background often encounter difficulties with officials when doing business?

I want to hear the unvarnished truth."

Xiang Chuanfan thought for a moment and said:

“Reporting to Your Majesty, I am biased and prejudiced. Since the implementation of the “Local Talents Bureau” in our Great Zhou, the previous situation where local officials had absolute control over everything and the emperor was far away has changed rapidly.

As long as officials committed illegal acts that were harmful to the people, local elders would write memorials to the court and His Majesty, and the channels for the military virtue offices and censors in various places were extremely smooth.

The imperial court always investigated thoroughly the issues raised in memorials from local celebrities, and severely punished officials who violated the law.

Therefore, private businessmen can say that the business environment is excellent. As long as they pay taxes according to the law, they can operate their business with peace of mind without any other interference.

In the 30th year of Kaixi, Your Majesty implemented the "term system" and "retirement system" for officials. From then on, officials of the Great Zhou could no longer serve as officials for life or inherit the position. This also made many officials lose their support. When they were officials on weekdays, they had to consider their retirement plans. They no longer dared to bully the people, for fear of losing power after retirement and being held accountable by businessmen and the people.

Therefore, local officials did not dare to arbitrarily embarrass merchants and common people, and acted in accordance with the law. "

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:

"Unrestrained power is bound to do evil!
I abolished the lifelong and hereditary system for officials so that they would be afraid and no longer act recklessly. "

Chai Zongxun paused and said:

"Xiang Chuanfan, as the son of the Shangshu family, don't you have any preferential treatment when doing business?"

Xiang Chuan Fan said with embarrassment:

“The commercial laws of the Great Zhou Criminal Code established by Your Majesty are extremely detailed and strictly enforced. I really did not receive any preferential treatment when doing business.

If there is any advantage, it is that I know earlier than other businessmen which industries the imperial court has invested heavily in, and I can often seize the first opportunity in business."

Chai Zongxun said:

"That's reasonable. The differences between people and the efforts of our ancestors are also objective and have a great influence on the differences between people."

After chatting for a few more words, Xiang Minzhong and his son took their leave.

As autumn passed and winter came, the 58th year of Kaixi (1017) arrived, with peace and prosperity in the country and all industries flourishing. On July 6, the Longxiang Army that had conquered India sent back a report: the entire territory of India had been completely pacified in early March.

After the three corps of the Longxiang Army entered northern India at the end of the 51st year of Kaixi, they conquered Delhi, the capital of the "Pala Dynasty" built by the Xingxing believers after more than two years of fighting.

King Cusa led an army of 300,000 to defend the city for four months, but it fell after that. He then led the remaining 80,000 soldiers to flee the battlefield southwards.

It took the commander of the Great Zhou army, Liang Ying, half a year to conquer the eastern states of the "Polo Dynasty" and in August of the 54th year of Kaixi, the "Polo Dynasty" was destroyed.

At the beginning of the 55th year of Kaixi, after the arrival of more than a thousand officials and four corps of Longxiang garrisons sent by the court to establish rule in Northern India, Liang Ying, who had rested for several months, immediately led three corps south to attack Southern India.

At this time, South India was divided into dozens of small countries, the two largest of which were Chola and Pandya.

Because there were too many small countries and the conquest was time-consuming, Liang Ying and other Longxiang troops spent more than three years to wipe out all the small countries in southern India and bring the entire India under the rule of the Great Zhou Empire.

For several years, the exiled king of the Pala Dynasty, Kusa, fled among the small countries in South India. Finally, in June of the 57th year of Kaixi, his 80,000-strong army was ambushed by the Zhou army in the "Battle of the Deccan Plateau", and his entire army was wiped out.

Kusa died in despair on the battlefield.

In the war to capture India, Chai Zongxun specially ordered Han Jiyu to join the 30th Corps. Due to his meritorious service in this war, he was promoted to army commander in the 53rd year of Kaixi.

The entire territory of India covers an area of ​​three million square kilometers. It borders the Angkor region of the Great Zhou to the east, Tibet to the northeast, the Central and West Asian regions of the Great Zhou to the north, and the sea to the south.

The population is 21 million, and there are more than 100 ethnic groups, such as:
The largest ethnic group is the Stanis, accounting for about one-third of the total population, followed by the Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, etc.

Among them, the Negritos were the earliest inhabitants of India and are currently the most sparsely populated ethnic group in India.

They belonged to the Negrito type of the Nilotic race, originally from Africa, and were characterized by dark complexion, fine, curly hair, short stature, flat nose, and thick lips.

The people of India mainly believe in Brahmanism (Hinduism) and Buddhism, among which Brahmans account for about 7% of the total population.

After the Great Zhou Empire incorporated India into its territory, its territorial area exceeded 4 million square kilometers and its population exceeded million.

Chai Zongxun was overjoyed after reading the memorial, and immediately ordered the other two Longxiang garrison corps stationed in Delhi to move south to take over Southern India and wait for the court to send officials to establish a provincial government.

He ordered Liang Ying and other three armies that had been conquering India for seven years to return to Beijing after resting.

The next day, on the morning of July 7, the 58th year of Kaixi, the emperor and his ministers discussed the strategy for ruling India.

The chief minister Ding Wei came out and said:

"Your Majesty, according to historical records from the Tang Dynasty, India has implemented the "caste system" since the Qin and Han Dynasties in China. The population of India is divided into four strict classes according to the Rig Veda, namely Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.

After the Aryans ruled India, they greatly strengthened this system.

In the Rig Veda, the origin of the caste system is attributed to the gods. There is a record of the gods dividing the great god Purusha. The different parts of Purusha's body, namely the mouth, arms, legs and feet, gave rise to four distinct classes: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.

Your Majesty's decision on India's "caste system" will determine the stability of our Great Zhou's rule over India.

Your Majesty will make the final decision."

According to Chai Zongxun's previous policy measures, they were all aimed at abolishing the rule that people are born unequal, such as cracking down on the power of the aristocratic families in the Zhou Dynasty, which has been eliminated so far.

Another example is the abolition of the "serfdom system" in Liugufan and Tubo, which released the productivity of the people.

(End of this chapter)