amaotonovel Chapter 331: The Ministry of Rites Promotes Reading for Women
Chapter 331: The Ministry of Rites Promotes Reading for Women
Ji Benchang is in favor today and has become bolder.
He reached out and patted Lu Botang on the shoulder, "General Lu, if the cotton cloth business really falls into their hands, the people and soldiers will suffer..."
Want to buy cheap cotton cloth? Sure, you can get it with your connections.
"Fuck him! Liu Hongzhi, you beast!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Botang jumped up, stepped forward and kicked Liu Hong, then rushed to Yi Qun and asked him:
"Commander Yi, where's your sword? I'm going to kill this beast with one blow! For the sake of money, he doesn't even care about the people of the world!"
Yi Qun also looked angry, but he was more rational and just shook his head at Lu Bo Tang.
No sword?
Lu Botang gritted his teeth. Without a sword, he still had his fists!
"boom--"
"what--"
Liu Hongzhi cried out in pain, covered his eyes and rolled on the ground.
"Ah - Lu Botang, how dare you! We are still in the Golden Palace, how can you ignore the law and attack and hurt others! Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I am innocent. The relationship between me and the Yue family is very shallow. We have never visited each other during festivals. It is Ji Benchang! Ji Benchang has wronged me. I hope Your Majesty will understand!"
Ji Benchang and everyone in the hall felt a sudden pain in their eyes. My goodness, Lu Botang's punch even made a sound of wind!
As expected, he is called Lu Manzi!
But even so, Liu Hongzhi was able to speak a long paragraph to defend himself?
It seems that he is really scared of death.
Ji Benchang stepped forward and grabbed Lu Botang who was about to attack, and said with a smile:
"If you said that you have only a superficial relationship with the Yue family, I would believe you. But in order to get rid of the Liu family, you even ignored your wife's uncle's family. It's really funny. You are really afraid of being exposed, so you hide everything."
After he finished speaking, he lifted his robe and knelt on the ground. His previous smile changed and he said solemnly:
"Your Majesty! I—I beg Your Majesty to conduct a thorough investigation of the Liu family, the Yue family, the Yue family's relatives, and all the imperial merchants, and restore justice to the people of the world!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Hongzhi was so angry that he knelt down and crawled.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! What I have said is all for the sake of our Great Zhou. Heaven and earth can bear witness to my heart, Your Majesty!"
Before the emperor opened his mouth, Lu Botang turned around and threatened:
"If you dare to speak again, I will beat you! His Majesty will make the final decision on this matter. If you, Liu Hongzhi, are upright, you will not be afraid of your shadow being distorted or the ghost yelling and screaming!"
As soon as he opened his mouth, Liu Hongzhi felt as if half of his eye was going to go blind from the pain.
It is not right to ask for mercy now, and it is not right not to ask for mercy.
It's all Ji Benchang's fault, it's all Yue Zhenchuan's fault, it's all...
He hates it!
With Ji Benchang speaking first, the emperor finally had a reason to regulate the imperial merchants.
Some people, in the past it was not that they did not move, but that a single move would affect the whole body.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of imperial merchants in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Under such fierce competition, how can those imperial merchant families gain a foothold if they don't have some background?
Today, he just happened to take action against the Liu family! It can also be regarded as killing a chicken to scare the monkey, and to remind some officials with dirty hands and feet.
"The ancients said: Every emperor has his own ministers, every emperor has his own merchants. But our Great Zhou has lasted for hundreds of years, and a group of merchants are deeply rooted, and so are the imperial merchants. But the imperial merchants are closely related to the lives of the people of our Great Zhou, and this is something that must not go wrong. Fortunately, all of you care about the people and are suffering from their suffering."
The emperor first spoke a few polite words, then glanced around the hall and said in a deep voice:
"As the Son of Heaven, I do not want my people to suffer. In this case, I will follow Mr. Ji's advice and let the Dali Temple take charge and thoroughly investigate all the imperial merchants!"
Sima Huai, the Minister of the Dali Temple, stepped out and said loudly, "Your Majesty—I obey your order!"
His eyes slid across the hall, and he thought that this time his Dali Temple had taken on a hot potato that it couldn't get rid of, and he was afraid that he would offend many officials.
However, His Majesty did not kill them all - announcing this matter in the court gave those officials related to the imperial merchants a chance to reform.
It’s not that Your Majesty is soft-hearted, but if you hold a grand ceremony now, the court will inevitably be in turmoil.
Your Majesty is not completely sure yet and can only give it a try.
However, Liu Hongzhi, who was listed as an "exhibit", was in a miserable situation.
The emperor said, "Liu Hongzhi has ulterior motives. Before the Dali Temple investigates the whole matter, the whole family will be confined to their homes and guarded by the Yulin Army. Anyone who refuses to obey...will be beheaded in public!"
Liu Hongzhi only felt a chill rising from his toes, passing through his limbs and bones, to the top of his head.
His legs went limp and he didn't even have the strength to kneel.
It's over, it's over.
As long as this matter goes through the Dali Temple, his Liu family...
He fell to the ground, looking at the "gold bricks" on the ground with a confused look on his face.
How did he end up in such a situation? What was he thinking at first?
The idea was to get the textile machine first, and then as for the rest, we could just do it step by step.
But how come your conversation with mys truly in the palace revealed everything he was thinking?
Is it Ji Benchang? Is it Yue Zhenchuan? Is it Yi Qun? Or Lu Botang? Or...
wrong.
Liu Hongzhi suddenly burst into laughter, ignoring the looks of others.
No, all of them are wrong.
At this point, the person behind the scenes is not even the one sitting up there, because that person had said to him from the beginning: "We'll talk about it tomorrow."
That gives him a chance, hahahaha.
He was the one who was stupid. He couldn't stand seeing others doing better than him and only thought about himself.
No one harmed him.
No one ever harmed him.
All along, it was his own greed that harmed him...
Why didn't I figure it out at the beginning? Why did I finally figure it out at the end?
Maybe it's greed, just like the "gold bricks" paved on the throne room. In the eyes of outsiders, they are gold bricks, but in fact, they are just ordinary plastic bricks with a little gold powder! Hahahaha.
When all the officials heard him laughing loudly, their hair stood on end.
Liu Hongzhi...is crazy?
Yi Qun pursed his lips and stepped forward to hold Liu Hongzhi up, "Your Majesty, I will take Lord Liu back to the palace."
The emperor waved his hands at him, unable to tell what he felt.
He had wanted to regulate the imperial merchants for a long time, but when the day finally came, he still found it difficult to accept the corrupt atmosphere in the court.
The smoke made his head feel dizzy and swollen.
Eunuch Hong looked at him with pity, and took small steps forward with the teacup in hand.
"Your Majesty, you must have worked hard today. Have some tea to relax yourself."
The emperor felt depressed. He drank tea with one hand and took out Shen Zheng's letter with the other to check.
Perhaps...right now only this letter can soothe his heart.
The officials didn't know what he meant and could only stand there without moving.
A moment later——
The emperor said in confusion: "Tong'an County School should open."
Most of the depression in his heart was swept away, and he said to the officials:
"Tong'an County School not only teaches, but also educates people."
The person from the Ministry of Rites asked curiously, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask, what is the method of educating people in Tongan County?"
The emperor read the letter and said, "Educate scholars, educate craftsmen, educate men, educate women, educate ordinary people, and educate children. Tongan County... has opened a children's enlightenment class. All children of appropriate age in the county, regardless of gender, are forced to go to Tongan County to study enlightenment."
All the officials took a deep breath.
Enlighten children? Force enlightenment for all, regardless of gender?
This is something that neither the academy in Beijing nor the Imperial College has ever implemented! No wonder your majesty's complexion has improved visibly.
The emperor chuckled, "The laws of a country should be followed by the upper class and the lower class, but in our Great Zhou, it has become the lower class following the upper class. What do you think, my ministers, do we do this?"
Minister of Rites Guo Bizheng wiped his sweat and slowly stepped out.
"Your Majesty, Lord Shen of Tong'an County has a far-sighted vision. If our Great Zhou wants to be rich and powerful, it is the general trend for women to study and children to be enlightened. This is my dereliction of duty. Your Majesty, please punish me!"
The emperor tapped his fingers lightly, "I just punished someone, and I don't want to punish him again today."
No punishment?
That means he has to come up with a solution.
Guo Bizheng thought for a moment, "Your Majesty, I will issue an official document after leaving the court today, ordering all government schools and academies to start opening enlightenment classes, following the example of Tongan County, to enlighten children!"
The emperor nodded and compared the contents of the letter and said:
"The enlightenment classes in Tongan County do more than just teach reading and writing. Mr. Shen said that even if children go to academies, their childhood cannot be deprived. Therefore, the enlightenment classes teach a variety of things. We will talk about the details after the court session. However... did Mr. Guo forget something?"
Guo Bizheng grabbed his thigh fiercely, knowing that he could not escape, and said with tears in his eyes:
"Your Majesty! I will also issue an order to promote the education of women. All official schools and academies in our Great Zhou must not refuse to accept female students. If such a situation occurs, your Majesty will punish them severely and restore fairness to all female students in the world!"
The emperor nodded with satisfaction and ordered:
"The world has a deep prejudice against women studying, and Guo Qingguang's order is not enough."
"I am stupid, please explain clearly, Your Majesty!"
"After the court session today, your Ministry of Rites will set up a supervision office and send people to inspect the official schools and academies throughout the country from time to time. If there are any violations... just close them down. If you can't see the situation clearly and don't want women to study, then don't let them study at all."
Guo Bizheng was sweating profusely after hearing this. Even if he gave in today, it might not be the case that all scholars in the world would give in as well...
Another difficult task.
Before he could even sigh, the emperor said:
"Open another reporting channel. If there is any injustice, women will be encouraged to submit reports. This will definitely prevent any exclusion from happening. You call me a true dragon, but I was raised by my mother. I want to see if there is anyone in this world who came out of nowhere?!"