Chapter 336 Starving to death is a small matter, but losing one’s chastity is a big matter!
There are times when the ruler and father are kind.

But more often than not, it is thunder.

Facing the questioning of their emperor and father, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang, Hai Rui, and Zhu Heng could not even defend themselves. They knelt down on the embroidered cushion and said in unison: “I am guilty.”

“A man with virtue is talented” and “A woman without talent is virtuous” are actually a couplet.

The meaning of the first couplet is that a man’s noble character is his best talent.

The meaning of the second line is that even if a woman does not have talent and knowledge, she must have noble character.

The upper and lower couplets express the meaning of each other. Regardless of gender, everyone should take virtue as the foundation and should not be self-reliant on their talents. Therefore, “not being self-reliant” is the virtue of humility and selflessness.

Moreover, both the upper and lower couplets are profound and contain allusions.

The Analects of Confucius states: “Only when one is both cultured and refined can one be called a gentleman.”

Confucius emphasized the importance of a man’s culture and character from the perspective of combining talent and virtue.

It was still the Spring and Autumn Period, and had not yet reached the Warring States Period when rituals and music were in decline. As time went on, the ancients increasingly believed that a man’s nature – morality – was the most important.

The virtue of a man is as follows from the Book of Changes: Qian: “Heaven moves vigorously, and a gentleman should constantly strive to strengthen himself.”

It means that he must be virtuous and have the ambition to constantly strive for self-improvement and conquer the world.

Such virtue requires certain talents to support it, that is, to master the means and skills of making a living so that one can have enough ability to face fate.

Regarding women’s talent, Ban Zhao of the Eastern Han Dynasty once said in her “Instructions for Women”, “A woman’s virtue does not necessarily require outstanding talent.” The meaning of this sentence is similar to “A woman’s virtue lies in her lack of talent.”

But as a famous female historian in the Han Dynasty, Ban Zhao was naturally very talented. In her book, she advocated that women should be “good at writing” so as not to “lose face among other families and bring disgrace to the clan.”

One piece of evidence is that Ban Zhao’s daughters were also literate.

It can be seen that what Ban Zhao said about “no need to show talent” does not mean that there is no talent, but “no talent”.

This was probably the earliest sprout of the idea that “a woman’s virtue lies in her lack of talent.”

The reason why this sentence has caused controversy is not only because of the profoundness of the Chinese language itself, but also because there is actually a situation in which women’s talents are restricted.

Starting from the Song Dynasty, with the rise of Neo-Confucianism, restrictions on women’s talents gradually tightened.

Sima Guang once said: “Nowadays, some people teach girls to compose songs and poems and to follow secular music, which is totally inappropriate.” From this sentence, we can see that people in the Song Dynasty still taught girls to sing songs and poems. However, Sima Guang, the prime minister of the court, was not satisfied with this. This also shows that the scholar-official class at that time began to oppose girls’ learning of literature and reason.

However, this was a gradual process. The famous female poets of the Song Dynasty, represented by Li Qingzhao, Zhu Shuzhen, Wu Shuji, Zhang Yu Niang and Tang Wan, were enough to prove that in the Song Dynasty, the idea of ​​restricting women’s talents was not the mainstream public opinion.

But during the following hundred years of Northern Yuan rule, Neo-Confucianism was dominant in the early days of the dynasty, and this thought gradually became the mainstream public opinion.

Therefore, what the ancients called “no talent” was originally a compliment to those talented women who could regard themselves as nothing and did not show off or flaunt their noble virtues.

Since the Song Dynasty, the trend of disparaging women’s education has gradually emerged in society, and today the view that education for women is useless has become the mainstream opinion among the public.

Even though it is just a couplet, its meaning has changed countless times over time. Ordinary people don’t understand this. But don’t the court officials who are well-read in poetry and books, and the cabinet ministers who know astronomy and geography, understand this?

Was it intentional or accidental to present such a memorial to the emperor?

Deliberately causing trouble!
Zhu Houcong looked at the “confessed” cabinet ministers and asked, “It is pointed out in the memorial that some officials are afraid that their daughters of marriageable age will be exposed to the public, and they confine them to their homes, refusing and obstructing national policies. Is this true or false?”

At the beginning of building 100,000 community schools, the imperial court had no intention of building separate schools for boys and girls. After all, once the schools were divided, various national policy expenditures would increase greatly.

In other words, as long as boys and girls are of appropriate age, they will attend the same community school. Some community schools that have been built and put into use may be divided into boys’ and girls’ classes, and some ladies from prominent families may be hired as teachers of the girls’ classes, but that is all they can do.

It is impossible to prohibit contact between students from the same school.

In this way, male and female students had the possibility of contact. In addition, the eight-legged essay was abolished and the six arts were taught instead. The Literature Hall was changed into the Military Academy.

Rite, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics are the six arts. Rite, music, calligraphy and mathematics are all normal, but in archery and charioteering, there are essential differences between men and women.

Male and female students can’t help but be curious about each other and even communicate with each other.

Nowadays, although it is not the trend to “be unchaste if one’s clothes are wet and sleeves are exposed”, it cannot be ruled out that some “old stubborn people” cannot tolerate it.

Zhu Houcong’s eyes fell on Hai Rui. First, Hai Rui already had a daughter of marriageable age, Xiao Nannan, who was also the wife of Prince Fu Zhu Yijun since childhood.

Second, as a person living in two lifetimes, Zhu Houcong vaguely remembered that there were unofficial historical records that Hai Rui strictly adhered to feudal ethics and when he saw his daughter taking cakes from a servant, he starved her to death.

The emperor’s question made the elders silent. Hai Rui, who felt the emperor’s gaze, froze and replied, “I never did that.”

The little girl, whose full name is Haihuan, is currently studying in Beijing Middle School. However, as Beijing is an important city, there are many schools, and naturally there are separate schools for boys and girls.

Obviously, as a senior official and a prince, Hai Huan was studying in a girls’ school. Even if Hai Rui had no intention of showing favoritism, the people below would arrange everything.

Even the cruelest person can’t help but love his own children. It is impossible to say that Hai Rui was completely unaware and had no selfish thoughts in his heart. However, he could not conceal his compassion while pretending to be ignorant.

Of course, Hai Rui did not go against the national policy and prevent his daughter from going to school of school age. The people under him just made some “flexible” decisions.

Zhu Houcong felt relieved. His granddaughter-in-law was studying, so it seemed that there was no problem. He looked away and asked, “Where are the other officials?”

Gao Gong felt the dragon’s gaze and his body trembled. How could he dare to answer? There must be one.

Those who had the means would invite private school teachers to their homes to teach their children, while those who did not have the means would simply ignore it for the sake of “chastity”.

silence.

Is the answer.

“You are so bold to disregard national policy!”

Zhu Houcong was furious, and said in a cold voice: “The new policy clearly states that all officials in the world have the responsibility to promote community education and enlighten the people. I did not expect that there would be someone who would dare to go against the will of the world.

“Pass on my decree that any official who obstructs the school-age girls in their families and clans from going to school will be dismissed from office. If you can’t do your job, then let someone else do his job!”

Being an official but not doing anything.

Then dismiss the official and return the people to the country, replace him with someone else, and let the new official do this person’s job, go to this person’s home and persuade him to send his daughter to school. The officials of the Ming Dynasty court have plenty of ways to deal with such “troublesome people”. He wants to see how difficult it is!
Seeing that the emperor and father were really angry, the ministers did not dare to raise any objection and said in unison: “I obey your order!”

“There’s more!” These ministers all had empty brows. Seeing that the situation was not right, they turned around and wanted to run away. Zhu Houcong stopped them and pointed to the issue of students’ clothing mentioned in the memorial.

Since all the students of the same age in a village or even a county study in the same community school, the rich are arrogant and the poor feel inferior, and comparisons between them are inevitable.

The first is that students from rich families wear light clothes and ride thick horses, while students from poor families wear tattered clothes and carry light walking sticks.

“In the cabinet, I don’t care whether you think of the community school as a literary school or a military academy. The style of study and correction must be correct. The dignity of teachers must be upheld. I don’t want the country’s countless energy and financial resources to only educate a group of ruffians and scoundrels.” Zhu Houcong pointed out the problem of style of study.

The Ministry of Rites was in charge of this matter. Hai Rui responded, “After I return to the cabinet, I will immediately start to rectify the academic atmosphere and school disciplines throughout the country.”

“In addition, we will unify the school uniforms and design appropriate uniforms based on the actual situation of the students. There will be one set for etiquette, music, calligraphy, and mathematics, and another set for archery and charioteering. The same uniforms can be worn in spring and autumn, but not in summer and sports.”

Holy command.

Zhu Heng, the cabinet minister and the Minister of Works, quickly responded, “I will immediately order the craftsmen to make it after I return to the cabinet.”

According to the requirements of the king and father.

The Ministry of Industry needs to design twelve sets of school uniforms, one for each gender, for spring, autumn, summer, and winter, and for civil and military purposes.

“The Ministry of Industry is rushing to make spring uniforms. All expenses will be paid for in the spring of next year and will be given to students free of charge. From now on, students must wear school uniforms while in school, and not other clothes.”

The Holy Order comes again.

Zhu Heng took the order again.

However, Gao Gong, the chief minister of the cabinet who was also in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, twitched uncontrollably at the corners of his mouth.

According to the cabinet’s estimation, during the Ming Dynasty, there were 50 million school-age students in school at the peak. According to the emperor’s request, the Ministry of Works would have to produce more than 600 million sets of school uniforms each year, and all the money would have to be borne by the court. The expenditure would be at least several million taels of silver, and tens of millions of taels was not impossible.

Gao Gong’s miserly nature came back again, and he wanted to advise his emperor and father to pass the tuition fees on to the students. But he thought that his emperor and father would certainly not agree. Moreover, given the greedy and possessive nature of local officials, if they really charged students for tuition fees, this would probably become a reason for local officials and school leaders to extort students.

In short, the imperial court must bear all educational expenses, otherwise, the students’ families will be burdened with a heavy burden, and the national policy of enlightening the people will be greatly affected.

If left unchecked, education will sooner or later fall under the control of the aristocracy, and receiving an education will become the privilege of the aristocracy.

Study style!

School uniform!

After these two things were said, the cabinet ministers wanted to “run away” even more, but Zhu Houcong had not yet finished what he wanted to say, and asked: “Then, who divided the community schools into different levels?”

Hear the words.

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang, Hai Rui and Zhu Heng’s heartbeats all stopped for a moment. The emperor’s eyes were as sharp as torches, and the problem that had just arisen was also noticed by the emperor and father.

As schools were built and put into use, many problems arose. The most acute one was that schools in the same province were not only divided into boys’ and girls’ schools, but also divided into different levels.

Taking Hai Rui’s eldest daughter Hai Huan as an example, the school she attended was known as “the first school for girls in Beijing”, or “the first school for noble ladies in Beijing”.

The scale and construction of the school are regulated and no one dares to make any changes to it. The only difference is that it has a larger courtyard and higher walls than other schools.

The phrase “the noble lady of the compound” that is popular among the people originated from this.

The teachers who taught the noble ladies in the compound were all top teachers of the six arts of etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics, and they were all female teachers.

Zhu Houcong felt tired of the efforts of the noble ladies’ families in the mansions. With the time and skills to search, if they had paid more attention when the people beat the drum to report their crimes, they could have solved more unjust, false and wrong cases!

“I have said that all schools, big or small, must have order. Who gave the tacit approval for the large courtyard and the high walls? Find them out!” Zhu Houcong said, looking indifferently at the Fifth Elder.

Zhu Heng knelt down immediately. The imperial court always adhered to the system of collective responsibility. Even if Zhu Heng had not made any mistakes or was even unaware of the situation, it was obvious that officials from the Ministry of Works had deliberately made different “facilities” when building the school in order to please the dignitaries.

Officials in the two capitals and eighteen provinces were complaining about being tired and suffering everywhere, but even though they were so tired and suffering, they still had time to curry favor with and cling to the powerful.

Good! Very good!

Gao Gong hesitated for a moment, then knelt down as well. The Ministry of Works made a mistake, and the Cabinet, as the core of the court, was also bound to be guilty.

There is no need to say more about Hai Rui. Even if he didn’t know the situation of his daughter’s school, as a vested interest, he should kneel down.

All the cabinet members knelt, and Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang were no exception, and they knelt down silently.

Seeing this, Zhu Houcong’s anger not only did not subside, but became even stronger. He said with a voice that seemed to come out from between his teeth: “You are studying in the same classroom with my people. Are you really so wronged?”

To kill!
This sentence clearly means murder.

Forty years after the reign of Emperor Jiajing, the emperor issued an amnesty order to release all prisoners of war. There was no longer any distinction between the scholar-farmer, artisan, and merchant classes in the world. Officials and common people enjoyed the same happiness. They were all emperor, father, and subjects, with no distinction between high and low.

Today, officials ask their subjects to deliberately elevate their status and differentiate between each other. Do they feel wronged or are they dissatisfied with the Holy Order?
If it is an injustice, who has wronged it, the king or father?
The road was blocked at both ends, and there were dead ends all around. The five ministers dared not answer, and just knelt there in cold sweat. It was the coldest day of the year, and in a short while, the ministers looked as if they had just been fished out of the water.

Gao Gong managed to calm himself down, and said in a hoarse voice, “I dare not.”

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, “Is there anything in this world that you dare not do?”

The elders bowed their heads.

Maybe it was true in the past, but now, there are many things that the elders dare not do, and each of them is related to the emperor and his father.

Zhu Houcong looked at the elders for a long time, his aura changing several times, and finally he calmed down and said, “I am tired, let’s go back.”

The murderous intent did not disappear, but was hidden in the heart. The cabinet did not need to handle what happened next.

Gao Gong stood there in a daze, his lips moving slightly, the words of plea were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say them. He said dejectedly, “I’ll take my leave!”

Today is New Year’s Eve, and it will soon be the first day of the first lunar month. It is not appropriate to kill anyone.

But our current emperor and father, not to mention on the first day of the first lunar month, even at his centenary banquet he had killed people.

“Your Majesty, please leave!”

(End of this chapter)