Chapter 063 Female student and Li Wenzhong's marriage
Ma Xiuying put forward her own ideas.
The most basic "commandments" that all women must follow, like men, are laws and morals, which are the most basic standards of being a human being.
Then, Chen Biao's eyelids twitched when he heard Ma Xiuying's "admonitions" for noble and commoner women respectively.
In short, women not only had to take care of their husbands and children, support their elders, and raise their aunts and uncles, but they also had to work hard and earn more money, shouldering the financial burden of the family. In times of chaos, women would take up weapons and sticks and defend their country alongside men.
In other words, the perfect woman in Ma Xiuying's mind is not only capable of housework and housework, but also has to provide for the family. They have to do what men cannot do, and they will also find ways to help men with what they can do.
To be fair, the woman Ma Xiuying was talking about was indeed perfect.
But how tiring and unfair this is!
Chen Biao's lips moved, and finally he closed them.
He yawned and said he was tired and wanted to go back to sleep.
Ma Xiuying rubbed Chen Biao's head and said, "Go and have some rest. If Guorui bullies you again, come find your mother."
Chen Biao hugged Ma Xiuying and walked back slowly with his short legs.
As he walked, he wondered what kind of abuse Empress Ma's new "Instructions for Women" would receive in future generations.
But Chen Biao knew it, but he did not let his mother persuade Queen Ma.
History and reality have proven that when a group without interests and dignity wants to fight for interests and dignity, it has to pay a higher price than the vested interests.
The sun doesn't rise with the crowing of a rooster. No matter how loud you shout, action is useless. Those who simply shout, hoping that vested interests will have a change of heart and sacrifice their own interests to benefit others, are either foolish or evil.
How could the poor wrest the power of officialdom from the aristocracy? Did they kneel before the aristocracy and beg them, or stand at their door and protest, hoping that the aristocracy would change on its own?
No, it was generations of poor students who chiseled holes in the wall to borrow light, used fireflies to illuminate the snow, and worked for others while secretly copying and borrowing books. After they gained knowledge, they became the swords in the hands of the emperor, constantly fighting with the aristocrats, and won the "imperial examination" - the only way for poor students to rise.
But is the imperial examination fair to students from poor families?
Unfair.
The aristocracy could live comfortably and focus on studying. They had countless books, were taught by great scholars from birth, and had countless connections when they became officials. They could get official positions through patronage without taking the imperial examination, and the imperial examination was easier for them than for students from poorer families.
To rise in society, the poor can only fight on the battlefield, serve as an official in a local government, accumulate political achievements, starve themselves and their entire family to improve their reputation, and risk being exterminated by the imperial cane...
If a poor family wants to become a general or a prime minister, what they have to pay is many times more than what the nobles have to pay.
Queen Ma may not have had a clear awareness of the need to fight for rights, but she vaguely grasped the essence.
In the feudal era, technology had not developed to the point where women's labor could replace men's, and talking about women's rights was just empty talk.
Counting on the empress and the noblewomen to have a change of heart? Commoner women and noblewomen are completely different. After a noblewoman comes to power, in order to gain the political support of most men, she will probably be even more cruel to commoner women than men.
If women want rights, they must first gain economic status and work much harder than men to gain even a little opportunity to work, just like the poor students who chisel a hole in the wall to use fireflies to reflect the snow, slowly accumulating their own resources.
Labor, and only labor, is the only way for everyone, including women, to fight for their rights and status.
Why didn't women in rural areas of grain-producing areas bind their feet during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when foot binding was most prevalent? Because they had to work in the fields.
In an era when women who didn't marry were considered outcasts, why did local laws protect the rights of women who comb their hair and women who live in households in the east and southeast? Because the cities needed female textile workers.
Empress Ma used extremely harsh conditions to fight for a tiny possibility for women to work outside.
Perhaps most women cannot meet such stringent conditions and remain confined to their homes. However, as long as productivity develops, these women who have already gone out to work will attract more women to go out.
The saying "since ancient times" is common across the world, not just in China. As long as there's a precedent, as long as our ancestors have blazed a trail through the wilderness and thorns, it will be easier for future generations to broaden and extend that path.
Queen Ma will definitely be scolded by future generations, and even by most women of this era.
Chen Biao could not voice any objection. This was the path chosen by Empress Ma herself.
Whether this road is good or bad is like Wu Zetian's inscriptionless stele, leaving it to future generations to judge.
Chen Biao looked up at the sky and scratched his head.
Why did he feel that Madam Xiuying was more like a time traveler than he was?
Anyway, this has nothing to do with the butterfly wings of a time traveler like him. Empress Ma is not his mother, so how could she be influenced by him?
Chen Biao shook his head and walked faster.
Although it has nothing to do with me, it always makes me happy to see the world moving in a good direction.
“Ah…Ah!!!”
Happy...Chen Biao suddenly became unhappy!
He rushed into Chen Gou'er and Chen Mao'er's bedroom, shouting, "Dad! What are you doing again?"
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was rolling his two sons who could not even walk like balls, left his dog son and cat son behind and jumped out of the window and ran away.
Ma Xiuying, who was discussing the new "Instructions for Women" with two old gentlemen, heard the noise, stood up and walked to the window, pushed it open and looked out, her face suddenly became as gloomy as water.
Zhu Sheng and Ji Renshou also heard Zhu Yuanzhang's wild laughter and immediately wanted to say goodbye.
Later, Ji Renshou went to see Liu Ji with a bag of new tea.
Liu Ji brewed some tea and said, "My lord, you are very approachable in the Chen family, right?"
Ji Renshou's mouth twitched slightly: "You said that's approachable?"
Liu Ji laughed out loud: "You didn't see the lord bullying Biao'er?"
Ji Renshou said: "Not only did he bully Biao'er, but he also chased and yelled at him for bullying the youngest son, and then accused Biao'er of being rude."
Liu Ji laughed even louder.
In this era, it is natural for a father to beat his son, but it is considered a heinous crime for a son to yell at his father.
But in the eyes of Ji Renshou and Liu Ji, neither of them had any opinion about the rebellious Chen Biao, and they were very happy about Zhu Yuanzhang being chased and yelled at by his son.
Yingtian People Group is truly a unique flower of this era.
…
Empress Ma's women's college was soon established.
Following Chen Biao's suggestion, she divided the women's college into small, medium and large classes, and taught different content according to different ages.
Women had to learn classics, history, arithmetic and bookkeeping, the new "Instructions for Women", as well as weaving, sewing, farming, and martial arts for self-defense and physical fitness.
When a family is in trouble, women must bravely take up arms to protect their families.
The two female generals under Zhu Yuanzhang naturally served as martial arts masters.
Most women were weak, so instead of choosing their own weapons, they taught women to use muskets and spears.
Chen Biao thought about it and added a business course for the women.
The head of a wealthy family would control the output of the family's shops and farms. In this era, women were not allowed to become officials, so business was a way to pave the way for their future.
After the establishment of the Yingtian Women's School, Zhu Yuanzhang's female relatives were very satisfied. However, the school had a very bad reputation outside of Yingtian, and was often criticized as a hen crowing at dawn.
There were also scholars in Zhu Yuanzhang's territory who protested and made suggestions to him.
Zhu Yuanzhang, however, issued a decree to build official academies and girls' schools in his territory, and ordered the students in the academies and girls' schools to teach literacy and arithmetic to civilian men and women respectively.
In the decree, Zhu Yuanzhang used all the limited ink he had and praised his virtuous wife in an extremely exaggerated tone, saying that Madam Xiuying was not only a heroine of the time, but also a role model for women for all generations.
He even quoted Du Fu's famous saying, "Your body and name will be destroyed, but the rivers and mountains will flow forever."
Chen Biao couldn't help but feel his favor towards Zhu Yuanzhang kept increasing, and then he roared at his father Chen Guorui, "Look at Marshal Zhu! You should also praise my mother more!"
Zhu Yuanzhang really didn't know what expression he should make.
Even though Zhu Yuanzhang was clearly himself, he actually felt a surge of jealousy.
Fortunately, he soon stopped being jealous and started to feel angry.
Because Hongdu really rebelled.
The surrendered generals Kang Tai and Zhu Zong rebelled again. Zhu Wenzheng and Chen Ying were well prepared, but the enemy was much more numerous and powerful, and they only managed to break through.
It is said that the other party gathered people and rushed to Zhang Cundao, the prefect of Hongdu, in an attempt to kidnap Zhang Cundao.
As a result, Zhang Cundao, wearing heavy armor and holding a lance, rode his horse and killed his way through the rebels, taking the head of the rebel leader who came to hold him hostage, and then left covered in blood.
The scattered rebels did not pursue, but reined in their horses and stood still, unable to recover for a long time.
I heard that Zhang Cundao was one of the Four Masters of Eastern Zhejiang, the eldest son of the great Confucian scholar Zhang Yi, and a pure Confucian scholar with profound knowledge and a good reputation.
You call this fierce general a Confucian scholar?!
Hongdu fell, but fortunately Zhu Yuanzhang was well prepared and his subordinates all escaped.
Chang Yuchun was very excited because he had finally fought a great battle and had a taste of being a fierce general.
If their soldiers were not so few, and Zhu Wenzhen took out Zhu Yuanzhang's personal edict and ordered Chang Yuchun to break out and leave, and not to fight, Chang Yuchun would probably rush into the rebels and kill them several times.
After receiving the news of Hongdu's rebellion, Zhu Yuanzhang was not surprised, but he felt a little uncomfortable.
For example, Ding Pulu and Fu Youde were rewarded for their contribution in surrendering the city and were sent to a prisoner-of-war labor reform camp. Only after completing the labor reform were they allowed to lead troops again, and the soldiers they led were not their own. They are now full of energy and loyal to Zhu Yuanzhang.
When Hu Tingrui surrendered, he said that although he wanted to surrender, many of his generals were unwilling to do so. He requested that his army not be disbanded, and Zhu Yuanzhang agreed. He also hinted to Zhu Yuanzhang that his generals would not undergo labor reform, and Zhu Yuanzhang also agreed.
Hu Tingrui did not rebel, but his generals did.
What made Zhu Yuanzhang even more disgusted was that one of the rebellious generals, Kangtai, was Hu Tingrui's nephew.
After Xu Da and Hu Tingrui jointly suppressed the rebellion, Hu Tingrui asked Zhu Yuanzhang to spare his nephew Kangtai's life and sent his daughter to be Zhu Yuanzhang's concubine as a sign of submission.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat alone in the Yingtian Mansion all night.
The next morning, he issued an imperial edict, agreeing to Hu Tingrui's request, appeasing Hu Tingrui, taking Hu Tingrui's daughter into his room, and promising that if he ascended the throne, he would make Hu Tingrui's daughter a noble concubine.
In exchange, the troops under Hu Tingrui that had not been disbanded and reformed were disarmed and sent to the reform camp. Hu Tingrui himself was spared from reform and became Xu Da's deputy general.
The hidden dangers of Hu Tingrui's old subordinates were finally eliminated.
However, Hu Tingrui was still sensible. After Zhu Yuanzhang took his daughter into his bedroom, he wrote a letter to Zhu Yuanzhang, expressing his inner feelings, saying that it was a blessing for his daughter to follow Zhu Yuanzhang and that no promises were needed. He also took the initiative to remove his armor and was willing to join the reform camp, like Ding Puluan and Fu Youde, and then return to command the troops after the reform was completed.
Zhu Yuanzhang's discomfort finally subsided a little.
After Ding Puluan and Fu Youde surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang, Hu Tingrui was the last of Xu Shouhui's former generals under Chen Youliang. Now, Chen Youliang's troops were led by his former subordinates and relatives, and he had almost completely separated from Xu Shouhui's power.
Hu Tingrui's surrender was of great political and strategic significance. From then on, almost all of Chen Youliang's subordinates surrendered at the first sign of his dominance, and Zhu Yuanzhang easily eroded the territory Chen Youliang had inherited from Xu Shouhui without wasting a single soldier.
After Chen Youliang discovered the current situation, he gathered the troops from Xu Shouhui's former subordinates and transferred them to his direct generals, gave up part of the territory, and formed a hedgehog ball in Wuchang.
Chen Youliang's fate was not over yet. Zhu Yuanzhang had no large ships and was relatively weak in naval battles.
Therefore, the war between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang entered a brief truce period.
Zhu Yuanzhang continued to develop the economy in Yingtian, often visiting other territories to inspect and supervise the advancement of the well-field system, and implement new commercial tax policies and education policies.
The blackboard of Yingtian Primary School spread throughout Zhu Yuanzhang's territory as he followed his footsteps.
Just a small, inconspicuous blackboard, it actually greatly improved the teaching efficiency of Zhu Yuanzhang's academy. Afterwards, the blackboard was brought to the north and south of China by merchants, taken aboard ships on long voyages, taken overseas, and spread all over the world.
What people overseas know most about China, apart from the gold everywhere as described by Marco Polo in his travel notes, is that Chinese schools have long used blackboards, allowing one teacher to teach a large number of students.
Then the Chinese must be very knowledgeable and a wise nation.
Even though there is no war, my parents still go on business trips frequently.
Chen Biao felt very melancholy when he looked at his brother dog and brother cat who could already walk.
His father originally said that he would give his brother the dog and the cat a formal name when they turned one year old.
But his father was too busy, and when he finally came back, he said he had no inspiration.
So his fourth and fifth brothers were still called Dog Brother and Cat Brother, and had no formal names.
Chen Biao thought about what his father said, "Definitely next time," and looked at his dog and cat brothers with eyes full of pity.
I wonder when his fourth and fifth brothers will become famous. This father is really a jerk.
What's even more ridiculous is that, except for Chen Biao himself, no one in the entire Chen family, including Ma Xiuying, thought there was anything wrong with giving Chen Gou'er and Chen Mao'er formal names late.
Didn’t his cousin Li Wenzhong call him Li Baoer for more than ten years before he finally got a formal name?
Twins are difficult to raise, but a baby with a nickname is easy to raise, so there is no problem.
Seeing that no one in the family stood on his side, Chen Biao could only touch the little faces of his two younger brothers and sadly tell them that he, the eldest brother, could not help them.
Chen Maoer rubbed Chen Biao's palm, being very well-behaved.
The little dog grabbed Chen Biao's hand and swayed around, and tried to climb up Chen Biao's arm, highlighting what an overly lively dog is.
Chen Biao stopped his little brother from climbing up his arm and pushed his fourth brother backwards, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "When you grow up, I'm afraid you'll give me more headaches than the second and third brothers."
Even after being pushed down, Chen Gou'er didn't get angry or cry. He rolled around on the bed, playing with anything he could grab, full of energy.
Chen Maoer yawned, moved closer to Chen Biao, snuggled up to him and fell asleep.
"Brother! We're back!"
"Shh, keep your voice down, my fifth brother just fell asleep."
"Oh, big brother! We're back!!"
“…”
Chen Maoer was woken up and started sobbing and crying.
Chen the cat whimpered, and Chen the dog, who was happily playing with his feet, also howled.
The bad brothers Chen Chun and Chen Tan, who deliberately woke up their younger brother, clapped and laughed.
Chen Biao pressed his forehead and remained silent for a long time.
Another tiring day with my brother flying, jumping, noisy and noisy.
Chen Biao was exhausted. It was autumn and the weather was cool, so he and his cousin Li Wenzhong went to inspect the craftsmen's workshop on the outskirts of the city to see how cement was being made.
Li Wenzhong responded to the sky this time in order to get married.
Zhu Wenzhen's wife, Song, who was brought to Hongdu, gave birth to a big fat boy, and Li Zhen finally became concerned about her son's marriage.
Li Zhen originally wanted to find a fellow villager in her own village who knew her well.
After Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, Li Zhen became his relative by marriage.
Li Zhen didn't read much, but he watched a lot of operas. In the operas, the arrogant and domineering relatives of the emperor never had a good end.
Therefore, Li Zhen not only kept a low profile herself, but also did not want Li Wenzhong to marry a woman from a very good family, so as to avoid being involved in court disputes in the future.
Therefore, Li Zhen politely declined all the daughters of civil officials and military generals that Zhu Yuanzhang selected for Li Wenzhong. Li Zhen was determined to choose a peasant woman for Li Wenzhong.
Li Wenzhong, a young general who had made many achievements on the battlefield and had already become a famous general, almost cried when he heard about this.
Fortunately, under Ma Xiuying's persuasion, Li Zhen finally agreed to choose a beautiful girl from a farming and scholarly family for Li Wenzhong. The woman was good-looking, had read a few books, and could be considered well-educated.
Although Li Wenzhong envied Zhu Wenzhen for having such a beautiful wife, a beautiful girl from a humble family was much better than a peasant woman, so he accepted her.
However, it is inevitable that brothers of the same age will compare with each other, and he still feels very uncomfortable.
Parents’ orders and matchmaker’s words.
Even his own parents couldn't persuade her, and as a junior, Chen Biao couldn't interfere with Li Zhen's decision.
He could only stay with Li Wenzhong, who was suffering from pre-marital phobia, and take Li Wenzhong to see some strange things every day to divert Li Wenzhong's attention.
Chen Biao originally thought that cement, such a powerful thing, would definitely divert Li Wenzhong's attention from getting married.
But Li Wenzhong's mood was like a deep valley frozen in ice, and no matter how Chen Biao tried to cover it up, it was useless.
Chen Biao was extremely helpless.
He said, "The engagement letters have already been exchanged. What's the point of being so upset? If you were dissatisfied, you should have insisted on not getting married. Can your uncle still tie you up and force you into the bridal chamber?"
Li Wenzhong, now well-read and possessing a scholarly air, pouted and said, "My father has sacrificed so much for me, I cannot be unfilial."
Chen Biao had a terrible headache.
Li Wenzhong couldn't accept the reality, and was unwilling to refute Li Zhen, so he just threw emotional garbage everywhere. If this wasn't his only cousin, Chen Biao really didn't want to pay any attention to Li Wenzhong.
Finally, Chen Biao came up with a bad idea: "How about I deliver a letter to your future cousin's wife so you can develop some feelings before marriage? Who knows, although your future cousin's wife comes from a humble background, she might actually be an interesting person. You can't look down on her just because of her background."
Li Wenzhong thought about it and nodded: "That's true."
In fact, he didn't look down on his future wife's background. It was just that the damn desire to win was at work in his heart, and he didn't want to be too weak against Zhu Wenzhen.
Chen Biao took the initiative to intervene in this matter and was willing to deliver the letter for him. It would be bad for him to continue to be pretentious.
This letter was Li Wenzhong giving himself a way out, allowing himself to accept the matter, abandon the meaningless desire to win and compare, and live a good life with his wife in the future.
Li Wenzhong racked his brains to write a poem, and then selected from his accumulated spoils a golden hair comb with colorful gemstones and a very overseas style that he had found in the warehouse of a fleeing Yuan Dynasty official. He packed it in a beautiful yellow pear wood box and gave it to Chen Biao.
Chen Biao was speechless.
He looked at his cousin's face full of depression and melancholy, and thought that his cousin would be perfunctory to his future cousin's wife. Wasn't his cousin very positive?
My future cousin-in-law Zhang’s ancestral home is also in Haozhou. Her father and brother are both scholars, and they worked as clerks under Guo Zixing at an early age.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang occupied Yingtian, and they also settled in Yingtian.
The old man was now recuperating at home due to his poor health after a rough life in his early years. His brother worked as a clerk under Shao Rong, the Minister of State in Jiangnan Province, a humble position.
Chen Biao visited the Zhang family on the pretext of inviting his future cousin-in-law's unemployed father to work as a teacher at Yingtian Primary School.
Shao Rong happened to be at Zhang's house.
Although the eldest son of the Zhang family was just an insignificant clerk under Shao Rong, the marriage between this clerk and Li Wenzhong, Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son and Chen Guorui's nephew, made it worthy for Shao Rong to visit his home.
After Chen Biao learned that Shao Rong was at Zhang's house, he wanted to visit him for the second time, but since Shao Rong personally invited him, he couldn't leave.
As the Prime Minister, Shao Rong was the second highest-ranking person in Zhu's army, and nominally the second-in-command of Zhu's army, based solely on the official position given to him by Han Song.
Shao Rong himself was also a general who had made many military achievements, and was as famous as Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.
After Zhu Yuanzhang occupied Yingtian, he rarely led the army in person unless it was a major battle, such as a fight with Chen Youliang. Instead, he shifted his focus to internal affairs. When he left Yingtian, he mostly went to inspect the territory.
Zhu Yuanzhang's territories were scattered and not completely connected, so if he did not regularly inspect them, he could easily lose control of them.
When Zhu Yuanzhang did not lead the army in person, Shao Rong, Xu Da, and the former Chang Yuchun were the generals Zhu Yuanzhang often sent to fight on his behalf.
In addition, Chang Yuchun surrendered only when Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the river and occupied Yingtian, and Xu Da followed Zhu Yuanzhang only when he returned to his hometown to recruit soldiers, Shao Rong, who defected to Guo Zixing in the same year as Zhu Yuanzhang, was undoubtedly a veteran in the Red Turban Army led by Zhu Yuanzhang and had even greater reputation.
Zhu Yuanzhang also treated him with great favor and respected him greatly. Shao Rong led the largest number of troops under Zhu Yuanzhang.
However, although Zhu Yuanzhang valued Shao Rong, compared with those who later came to him directly, Zhu Yuanzhang respected Shao Rong but was not close to him. Therefore, Shao Rong did not know Chen Biao's identity.
Shao Rong valued Chen Biao only because he was a young scholar in Yingtian Prefecture and the son of Chen Guorui, the mysterious Zhu Yuanzhang's purse and shadow marshal.
Shao Rong tried several times to get closer to Chen Guorui, but although the Chen family gave him generous gifts and earnest letters of apology, they never accepted his kindness.
Zhu Yuanzhang also protected the Chen family very strictly and did not allow his generals to contact the Chen family privately. Like Shao Rong and Chang Yuchun, they were not familiar with the Chen family.
Chang Yuchun was fine. He knew he had little experience, so he didn't have any extra thoughts.
As a veteran of the Haozhou Red Turban Army, Shao Rong had always been bothered by Zhu Yuanzhang's refusal to allow him to contact the Chen family.
