Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 575 Kaixi Garden (Special thanks to book friend 2022…0972 for the monthly ticket!)

Fu Zhenzhen sighed:
"Your Majesty ordered Grand Tutor Kou to build these statues, which are truly ingenious. I wish I could stay with Your Majesty forever!

However, seeing that the statues of me and others will always accompany the statue of Your Majesty, this is also enough to comfort me in my life."

The fifth Chaolu said:
"Your Majesty is the most holy ruler in the history of China! The spirit of the prosperous Zhou Dynasty created by Your Majesty will be passed down through the ages and revered by future generations.

Our Great Zhou Dynasty will surely prosper for thousands of generations under the rule of your Majesty’s descendants and emperors.”

Chai Zongxun nodded and said:

“The two queens said it very well!
Our Chinese nation is originally the most hardworking and intelligent nation in the world, but the ruling classes of all dynasties were too selfish and short-sighted, only caring about personal and family gains and ignoring the people's livelihood.

Now I have established an excellent social system, releasing the productivity and creativity of the people. As long as future generations of emperors abide by my "Holy Zhou Ancestor's Instructions", my Great Zhou will be able to remain strong and prosperous forever!"

Chai Zongxun and the imperial family toured the beautiful scenery of the imperial mausoleum for more than an hour. They sat in the pavilions and felt the birdsong and the fragrance of flowers, and they felt extremely comfortable.

Many concubines were delighted to see that their statues looked lifelike and they talked about it endlessly.

Before returning to the palace, Chai Zongxun said to Kou Zhun, who was accompanying him:
"Lord Kou is a man of great talent. The imperial mausoleum, statues and landscapes he built are very much to the liking of me and my concubines.

Since there is already such a magnificent scene, then we should build a courtyard wall around our imperial mausoleum, name it "Kaixi Garden", and send an army of imperial guards to be stationed here to guard it.

I confer upon you the title of Duke, and grant you a fief of ten thousand households."

Kou Zhun was overjoyed. Because of his many years of achievements as an official, he was granted the title of marquis by Emperor Chai Zongxun when he retired from the position of Prime Minister.

The imperial mausoleum statue project, which took ten years of hard work to complete, finally received the emperor's approval and was granted the title of Duke earlier than the current Prime Minister Ding Wei. This time he surpassed Ding Wei.

After Kou Zhun expressed his gratitude, he sent craftsmen to start building a wall around the imperial mausoleum the next day, making sure it was elegant and beautiful.

The "Kaixi Garden" of the Emperor Shizu of Zhou became a royal garden for more than 800 years and a holy place for emperors of later generations to pay homage to Shizu.

It was not until the reign of Emperor Xianzong of Zhou (1822-1865) that the Great Zhou Empire complied with public opinion and implemented a "constitutional monarchy" and the "Kaixi Garden" was opened to the public. It became the most historically, culturally and artistically valuable scenic spot in the Great Zhou Empire and became famous throughout the world.

In July of the 60th year of Kaixi, Chai Ji'ou, the 85th son of the emperor born to Concubine Anna, reached adulthood and got married. Chai Zongxun conferred him the title of "King Ou" and established him as a vassal in West Asia. He also granted 30,000 imperial troops as the royal guard to escort Chai Ji'ou there.

Chai Jiou was born in the 40th year of Kaixi and had an older sister.

He is tall, strong, handsome, and possesses many advantages of both Chinese and Europeans.

At the farewell banquet on July 20th, Chai Zongxun and Concubine Anna attended together.

After several rounds of drinking, Chai Zongxun said:

"Ou'er, our country's territory in West Asia is vast, and the place I grant you as a vassal is adjacent to Eastern Rome and Bulgaria, and has an important strategic position.

There are many ethnic groups and religious beliefs in the area. When Ou'er arrives there, he must remember not to disturb the people and implement the policy of "freedom of religious belief" so that social stability can be maintained. "

Chai Jiou said:

"I understand, son.

As long as the local ethnic groups have "freedom of religious belief", do not infringe on each other, and live in equality, and the court vigorously develops industry and commerce, and the people's lives are getting better and better, in time, all ethnic groups will be assimilated into our Chinese civilization. "Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:

"It seems that Ou Er has already understood the key to governing the West Asia region.

I named you "King of Europe" and ordered you to guard the West Asia because I saw that you are half Roman and you will be kind to the Europeans and other minorities living in the West Asia of my Great Zhou."

After Chai Jiou agreed, he smiled and said:
"Don't worry, father. When I go to West Asia to be a vassal, I will treat all ethnic groups on the land equally and ensure the stability of our Great Zhou's rule."

Three days later, "King Ou" Chai Jiou led more than a hundred concubines, hundreds of officials, and hundreds of rare treasures awarded by his father, and set off for Tehran in West Asia to take up the throne as king under the escort of 30,000 imperial guards designated as the royal guard.

The Dazhou railway, which is more than 3 miles long and runs from Dazhou to West Asia, was completed and put into operation the year before last. It is much faster and more comfortable than driving a car.

However, due to the large number of his entourage, Chai Ziou still rode in the royal carriage and took the straight road to West Asia with the army.

After traveling northwest for more than half a month, we entered the Hexi Corridor.

Local cities, such as Liangzhou and Zhangye, have dense populations and a large number of business travelers. They have become major commercial cities on the "Silk Road", mainly operating hotels, restaurants, logistics, etc.

The population has increased more than three times since it was first incorporated into the Great Zhou Empire, reaching more than eight million.

After passing the Hexi Corridor, we entered the Gaochang area.

After two or three decades of development, Gaochang has developed into a region where fruit and vegetable planting and trade are its main industries.

Due to the large temperature difference between day and night, the taste of watermelons, melons, grapes and other fruits is the best in Dazhou. With the opening of Dazhou straight roads and tracks in the past decade, the ability to transport fruits to the mainland for sale has greatly increased, and many merchants have come here to run fruit businesses.

Small-scale businesses make considerable profits by purchasing fruits and vegetables from local farmers' fields and transporting them back to the mainland for sale, while large-scale businesses buy land in Gaochang and hire workers to grow fruits and vegetables for them, which makes much higher profits.

With the prosperity of the fruit and vegetable business, local people are able to have enough food and clothing, and more than half of them are above a well-off level. People of all ethnic groups marry freely and there is a trend of integrating into the Han nationality.

Chai Jiou and others tasted the local fruits of Gaochang along the way and arrived in Tehran at the end of October in the 60th year of Kaixi.

Tehran is the largest city in Western Asia and was once the capital of the Caliphate.

After being ruled by the Great Zhou Dynasty, it has been vigorously developed by Han immigrants and has now become the political, economic and cultural center of West Asia. It is also the base camp of the Longxiang Army stationed in West Asia.

There are more than 1.2 million people in the city, of which 800,000 are Han people, accounting for about two-thirds of the total population.

Yang Yanzhao, commander-in-chief of the Fourth Corps of the Longxiang Army, has led dozens of generals and an army of 50,000, and lined up five miles outside the east gate of Tehran to welcome the arrival of "King Europe" Chai Ziou.

Qianhu Di Qing was also among them.

In Central and West Asia, there were a total of 15 princes who were enfeoffed by Emperor Chai Zongxun. In addition to an annual salary of 60,000 taels and 200,000 acres of fiefdom, each of them had his own fiefdom.

The prince's salary is paid from taxes on the fiefdom, so the economic development of the states in the fiefdom is also related to the prince's salary.

The princes had no administrative and military power over the states, which were all managed by the provincial governors, prefects, and prefects appointed by the imperial court. The princes only had some autonomy over culture and customs.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, they marched into the city of Tehran together. The former palace of the Black Caliphate in the center of the city is now the "Prince of Europe's Palace".

(End of this chapter)