The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 956: stir up trouble
Chapter 956: Making Trouble
Bai Qingyan saw that Xiao Rongyan was frowning and didn’t want to let go, so he pushed Xiao Rongyan’s chest and said, “General Lu must have something important to tell you when he returns!”
Xiao Rongyan then let go of Bai Qingyan with an unhappy look on his face. Seeing Bai Qingyan straightening his clothes and walking towards the couch, he also walked to the seat, lifted the hem of his gown and knelt down.
Soon, Wei Zhong pushed open the palace door and invited General Lu, Sikong Shen Jingzhong, Situ Dong Qingping and Xie Yuchang to come in and pay their respects to Bai Qingyan.
Bai Qingyan glanced at Xiao Rongyan, who was nodding and bowing to the masters, and asked, “The Imperial Master has returned and is here with Sikong, Situ, and General Xie. Is there something important?”
“Your Majesty!” General Lu bowed to Bai Qingyan, “I have received news that the students of the Imperial College are planning to gather together to cause trouble. They are preparing to beat the drums and kneel outside the palace to protest. Please withdraw… the decree that allows women to take the imperial examinations and serve as officials.”
“Are you all here for this matter?” Bai Qingyan asked.
Shen Jingzhong nodded: “Exactly!”
“The students of the Imperial Academy are of great importance…” Dong Qingping bowed to Bai Qingyan, “When General Lu received the news, I and Lord Shen happened to be there, so we specially invited General Xie to come with us to ask Your Majesty… Should we let General Xie lead the imperial guards to control the students of the Imperial Academy first, so as to avoid a big chaos on the day of Your Majesty’s enthronement.”
On the first day of the emperor’s accession to the throne, envoys from various countries were present. If the drum for reporting was sounded… it would be embarrassing.
When Bai Qingyan issued the imperial edict, he knew that the students would be dissatisfied, but he did not expect… that the students of the Imperial College would start to riot so soon.
Bai Qingyan didn’t believe that there was no one behind this.
“Then, please ask the Imperial Preceptor, the Minister of Works, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and General Xie to go to the Imperial College and tell the students there that I will personally go there tomorrow. No matter what opinions or ideas the students have, they can tell me in person! The students in the Imperial College are the pillars of the imperial court in the future. The court attaches great importance to them. Bai Qingyan will definitely treat them as state-level talents. Let them be patient.” After Bai Qingyan finished speaking, he instructed General Lu, “The Imperial Preceptor, the Minister of Works, and the Minister of Civil Affairs must comfort the students.”
“Yes!” General Lu nodded in response.
Bai Qingyan will be visiting the Imperial College in person tomorrow. I think the students of the Imperial College will not come to ring the drum to report today.
Dong Qingping was originally going to discuss the affairs of Dengzhou with Bai Qing, but when he saw Xiao Rongyan here, he bowed and left with General Lu and others.
Seeing the palace door closed again, Xiao Rongyan put down the teacup in his hand and said to Bai Qing: “A Bao… aren’t you a little hasty in issuing an edict to allow women to take the imperial examinations and serve as officials? I know you hope that women can be treated fairly, but for hundreds of years… men are superior to women, this idea has been deeply rooted in the bones of the world, even women… are the same! It can’t be changed in a short time!”
“And Abao is the empress of the Great Zhou. She should consider the overall situation and implement the new policies that are most important first! If you don’t consider the overall situation, how can you consider the whole country?”
Worrying about Xiao Rongyan was really worrying, even though he knew how powerful Bai Qingyan was, and how tenacious Bai Qingyan was…
But because of her love, even if I just saw her holding a candle, I was afraid that the wax would burn her hands.
“If the new dynasty is established and the laws are not changed now to allow women to go to school and take the imperial examinations and become officials, it will be more difficult to implement it gradually in the future.” Bai Qingyan knew what Xiao Rongyan was worried about. “It is precisely because the Great Zhou is a new dynasty that I dare to do this! It’s just like reducing the power of the vassal kings… If I were the heir to the throne instead of founding a new dynasty, it would never be so smooth.”
“If you want to accomplish something, you need the right time, right place, and right people. Time is running out… If you miss this opportunity, you will miss it forever!” Bai Qingyan just followed her heart and wanted to build the Great Zhou into what she had imagined. “History is always moving forward and will never stop just because the Great Zhou is not ready. No matter how difficult this thing is, it must be done because I know… this is right!”
Xiao Rongyan has always been aggressive in doing things, but this time he couldn’t agree with Bai Qingyan’s opinion.
The governing philosophy of Yan State was not exactly the same as the governing method of Zhou State.
The State of Yan sought to quickly increase its national strength and unify the world.
While Bai Qingyan is unifying the world, he wants to try something that his predecessors have not succeeded in doing, or something that their predecessors have never done before, in order to break the solidified perception of male superiority and female inferiority in this world.
Although it is too reckless, if we do not act now that the new dynasty has just been established, and then act once the political situation stabilizes in the future… I am afraid it will not be as convenient as it is now with the excuse of the new dynasty’s new rules.
“Abao, this will be difficult… more difficult than your conquest of Shu and Liang!” Xiao Rongyan thought of his mother’s failure in advocating that women could take the imperial examinations and serve as officials in the court. “Equality… is correct as you said, but if it is implemented… it will affect the interests of most men in the world.”
“When my mother, Queen Ji, abolished slavery, the majority of the people benefited. So… even if there were setbacks and hardships, it would eventually succeed.” Xiao Rongyan said slowly, “Women are seen as appendages by most men in the world. If one day, an appendage can suddenly serve in the same court with you, how many men can accept that?”
“Let’s not talk about whether men can accept it…” He looked at Bai Qingyan and analyzed truthfully, “If we break the traditional idea that men work outside and women work inside, then how can we balance the inside and outside of the family? For a family, men carry on the family line, and women will eventually marry and become wives of the family. It will take a very long time to change this kind of thinking. After all, not every family can look down on women like the Bai family, and let women study under famous teachers like men?”
“A family can send a girl to school…spend money to support her to take the imperial examinations, and to become an official in the court. Then they must recruit a son-in-law to bring honor to the family. If a girl becomes an official, the husband and wife will divide the work…they will be responsible for the outside affairs and the man for the inside affairs, the status of women will be improved, and the status of men will be reduced,” Xiao Rongyan shook his head. “Abao, not all men have this tolerance. In fact, there are not many men in the world who have this tolerance.”
“You are right. It is correct to emphasize gender equality…” Xiao Rongyan said solemnly, “I understand this point more deeply than you do, because I know that my mother is more suitable to be the emperor than my father. However, it is because of the prejudice against women in this world that when various new policies are implemented, if men do it… it will be a great achievement for all generations, but if my mother does it, it will be a sin at the time.”
Until now, Xiao Rongyan still remembers the scene after his mother died… everyone applauded and shouted that his mother, Queen Ji, was a witch, and that she deserved to be killed for crowing at dawn. This included the people who benefited from his mother’s new policies, just because… his mother was a woman.
First update! There will be more updates soon… I’m just a bit busy lately and don’t have time to save up manuscripts!