Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 954: Chapter 64: Preparations Before the Duanyang Festival

In the capital, Zhao Yao was not paying attention to the events unfolding; he was currently preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival. Before the trade conference began, they first had to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

When Zhao Yao sent invitations to the foreign guests for the trade conference, he first invited them to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival at Swamp Prefecture, allowing them to experience the festive atmosphere of Great Zhou.

The most lively event of the Dragon Boat Festival is, of course, the dragon boat race. Zhao Yao planned to hold the first dragon boat race in Swamp Prefecture, inviting both the common people and soldiers to participate. The team that wins first place could receive generous rewards. The first prize: one string of coins, one pig, one cow, and one stone of grain. The second prize: one dan of rice, one sheep, three chickens, and three ducks. The third prize: one stone of grain and one sheep.

These prizes are very practical. Zhao Yao organized the dragon boat race to make the people happy. If the rewards were too much gold and silver jewelry, it would change the nature of the race.

When the people saw the announcement of the dragon boat race with generous prizes, they eagerly signed up. In fact, a long time ago, the people of Lingnan also held dragon boat races. During the wartime of the previous dynasty, the people had no food to eat, no mind, and no strength to hold dragon boat races. Even after the Great Zhou was established, the people of Lingnan were still struggling for food and did not hold dragon boat races.

Now that Prince Han wanted to hold a dragon boat race, the people were naturally willing to participate. Most importantly, Prince Han mentioned that this year, there would be foreigners watching the dragon boat race, so they had to perform well and show their strength to the foreigners.

Although the people of Swamp Prefecture had not held a dragon boat race in decades, it did not mean they did not row dragon boats during the Dragon Boat Festival. Many villages had dragon boats, and they had a long history with them.

The people formed dragon boat teams by villages and went to the government to sign up for the competition.

The guards of the Han Prince Mansion could also form two dragon boat teams to participate in the race.

Zhao Yao also had the Southern Garrison form four elite dragon boat teams for the competition.

During the preliminaries, every dragon boat team could participate, but only ten teams would make it to the finals on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival to compete for the top three positions.

These days, Swamp Prefecture was lively and festive because this year’s Dragon Boat Festival was different from previous ones. Everyone very much looked forward to celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival.

Apart from the dragon boat race, the Dragon Boat Festival included other fun activities such as playing polo, football, shooting powder balls, and eating zongzi.

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, although there would be no polo and football competitions, there would be performances of these two activities. When the trade conference was held, Zhao Yao would invite the foreigners to participate in polo or football games, hosting a friendly match then.

These days, Zhao Yao was running around, inspecting the progress of various places.

The pier was mostly completed, but Zhao Yao was still not very satisfied. Later on, he planned to expand it further. The restaurant by the pier was also fully constructed, with elegant and luxurious decorations inside and out.

Besides the four corner restaurants in the east, south, west, and north, there were other guesthouses by the pier. These guesthouses were not as luxurious as the four major restaurants, but they were more upscale than ordinary guesthouses. They were intended for entertaining the attendants and servants who came with the guests.

By the pier, there were also tea houses, theaters, and shops, although most were still vacant, as no merchants had leased them yet. After the trade conference ended, these shops would be completely occupied.

The main street of Swamp Prefecture’s city was built very wide. Initially, Zhao Yao intended to construct a four-lane road, but thinking of the future influx of people and carriages, he decided to widen it to six lanes.

In the middle of the main street was a green belt planted with flowers and plants unique to Swamp Prefecture, looking very beautiful. The main street was split in half by the green belt, with each half able to accommodate three carriages side by side, preventing traffic congestion.

The shops on both sides of the main street were built to a uniform specification, appearing very orderly and attractive. There were also spaces along both sides of the street reserved for vendors to set up stalls. No fees were required for setting up stalls; whoever came early would get a spot.

Currently, the shops on both sides of the main street were empty. The people of Swamp Prefecture were too poor to start businesses in these shops. These shops were prepared for out-of-town merchants to come to Swamp Prefecture to do business.

On the east side of the main street, in the most central shop building, there were six floors—the tallest building. This shop was used by Zhao Yao to open a supermarket, which was now decorated and gradually being stocked.

The supermarket was named "Swamp Prefecture First Supermarket." Zhao Yao could only come up with such a simple and straightforward name. The first floor of the supermarket exclusively sold food-related items, such as grains, salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, monosodium glutamate, meat, and vegetables.

The second floor sold the "living" related items, like various furniture.

The third floor sold "clothing" related items, such as various fabrics, ready-made clothes, and shoes.

The fourth floor sold "mobility" related items and everyday essentials.

The fifth floor sold cosmetic items, such as rouge and lip balm.

The sixth floor sold jewelry.

Opposite the supermarket was a five-story building that was a restaurant. Although there were many restaurants by the pier, there also had to be one in the city. The restaurant was named "Mountain Delicacies Seafood Restaurant," indicating that it gathered mountain delicacies and seafood from around the world.

A little further ahead was another five-story building, which was a bookstore. The bookstore was already filled with books and stationery, as well as various calligraphy supplies and paintings.

Continuing on, one would come across an embroidery workshop selling embroidery from Lingnan, as well as embroideries from across inland China and countries in the Western Regions and Annan.

Currently, the shops that were open were run by Zhao Yao and the Liang family. However, some shops had already been reserved. The reservations were made by Prince Chu and Prince Wei. Soon, their people would arrive at Swamp Prefecture to open businesses.

Behind the main street, there was a Fusheng Hall, a place for taking in orphans and the elderly without family. Opposite Fusheng Hall was the Swamp Prefecture Library, freely open to all. However, people could only read books inside the library and could not take them out. As for borrowing books, Zhao Yao thought it over and decided against it, fearing that books loaned out would not be returned, or might even be sold.

Not far from the main street, there was a vacant plot to be used for constructing a free school. The free school was not far from the free library, convenient for students to visit the library for reading.

Zhao Yao carefully strolled along the main street, and if he found anything amiss, he would order the Ministry of Industry to rectify it immediately.

After his tour of the main street, he turned to his visit to the Imperial Guard Camp to watch their training. From last year until now, after months of training, the Imperial Guards were completely transformed. Although they had not yet been to the battlefield, they had become a sharp blade.

Zhao Yao also watched the rehearsal of the Imperial Guards’ parade ceremony. The rehearsal went excellently, and as Prince Han, he was very satisfied. However, he reminded the soldiers not to be complacent and to continue rigorous training so they could showcase the prowess of Great Zhou’s soldiers at the trade conference.

After watching the parade rehearsal, Zhao Yao played some football with the soldiers. He had planned to stay at the camp that evening, sitting around the campfire with the soldiers to drink and eat together. Unexpectedly, the Minister of Rites had urgent business with him, so he had to return to the Han Prince Mansion first.

The Minister of Rites informed Zhao Yao that on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the emperor would bestow outfits, fans, sashes, and hundred ropes to the officials.

"Your Highness, I think it would be a grand honor for the officials if you too could bestow outfits and fans on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival," the Minister suggested.

"Very well, I will arrange for someone to prepare immediately." Zhao Yao planned to reward the outstanding officials with outfits, fans, and sashes... As for the other officials, he would award them a month’s salary, recognizing that they had been busy since last year, even if their contributions were not marked by merit, they were indeed marked by hard work.

"Your Highness, I have another suggestion."

"Please, sir, go ahead."

"Since this is your first Dragon Boat Festival in Swamp Prefecture, I suggest you reward the people with zongzi," proposed the Minister of Rites, "you could wrap a copper coin inside some of the zongzi for luck."

"Isn’t this an activity usually done with dumplings at New Year?"

"Your Highness, you forgot, the people of Swamp Prefecture do not eat dumplings at New Year," said the Minister of Rites, "wrapping a copper coin in a zongzi would surely delight whoever finds it."

"Alright, let’s do it that way."

The Minister of Rites suggested several other activities that could be held during the Dragon Boat Festival, all of which Zhao Yao agreed to. After that, the Minister of Rites invited Zhao Yao to watch the rehearsal of programs for the trade conference the next day.