Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 624 Civil Reform

Unlike Li Shimin and Sun Dali, Empress Changsun's daughters and Yu Xiu'er were all about sightseeing, outings and dancing. Empress Changsun and several noble concubines, who had never been to Jiangnan in their entire lives, were crazy about playing by the lotus pond.

"No wonder Mrs. An Guo you are willing to give up your position as Tai Leling and live a comfortable life in this small county of Jiuyuan. It turns out that the lake and spring scenery here is even better than Chang'an." The girls finally learned the dance of "Moonlight in the Lotus Pond". After dancing several times, Concubine Wei wiped the sweat from her face and said.

"Hehe, Concubine Wei, you don't know that this place is not only a good place, but the saying of good pregnancy is also true. Hongmei, Chuntao and my husband came here before, and they both became pregnant. I have been pregnant since last year. I came here with my husband, and I got pregnant in less than a month. Now, Hongxiu and Xiangdie's stomachs have also started to move, and it's not just our family, it's like this everywhere in Jiuyuan County. According to Dr. Zhenzheng, In the past three months of this year alone, nearly [-] babies have been born in the entire county..."

When Yu Xiuer said this, Concubine Wei, Concubine Yang, Concubine Yan, including Empress Changsun, all began to lose their minds. Seeing her stop talking, the faces of several beautiful women blushed. I'm afraid the task will be very heavy.

"The Sun family is not very prosperous, so it happens to use this place to grow the clan. In the future, it will definitely become one of the top clans in the Tang Dynasty." Empress Changsun knew what Yu Xiuer was thinking, and continued.

"Hehe, the husband of my family! He never cared about the inheritance of the clan. Once he went to those fields, he forgot about his wife, children and family. He didn't see a letter for more than two months. What I think about in my heart is those crops."

"Zhengming is the one who does great things! That's why you laughed when you mentioned him!"

After being teased by Empress Changsun, Yu Xiu'er also reacted, and said with a smile, "That's right, even singing and dancing are great things that can help the stability of the country and the physical and mental health of the people. Naturally, farming is also the case. My husband can do it all the time. There is nothing better than getting fame and fortune from what you like.”

"According to what you mean, he still wants to keep planting here! I don't think it will be long before His Majesty will still use him. A righteous talent can only play its greatest role in the court."

"This, it's not necessarily true. My husband said before that with the princes in the court, there will be no problems in the next ten years. However, if there are no major changes among the people, no matter how strong our Tang Dynasty is, it will be very difficult. Surpassing the Qin and Han Dynasties in an all-round way and reaching a new height, if you can’t reach such a new height, there may still be a change of dynasty, so the husband’s resignation may be of greater significance to the country.”

Hearing this, the daughters of the eldest grandson and empress who knew a little about politics were all in deep thought. This was the first time they heard that reform was not just a matter for the court, but the people also needed reform.

However, these women can't talk about these things, and their parents are short-tempered, which is their main topic. No, the topic will soon inevitably talk about their children's marriage.

"Qing Que has grown a lot here, what does Zheng Ming think of his marriage with the little sister of the Sun family?"

"This, I'm afraid it won't work, not to mention that the law of Jiuyuan County stipulates that young men and women must be [-] years old before they can get married, and the younger sister is still five years old. They themselves are not in love with each other. The husband's The attitude is to disagree."

Yu Xiu'er has always been more obedient to the orders of Empress Changsun. She also believes that marrying the royal family is an honor and the only choice to stabilize the family status. However, Sun Xiangfu has always opposed this matter. If it weren't for Sun Deshou If he wanted to, he would not let his younger brother go to Princess Shang.

Therefore, upon receiving such an answer from her, Empress Changsun immediately looked embarrassed, but she did not give up. He had already learned from the news sent by the secret guards to Chang'an that Sun Xiaomei was a talented girl who surpassed Sun Xiangfu by a lot in arithmetic. She can even stand shoulder to shoulder with Li Chunfeng. In terms of agriculture, she is also a leader among the new generation of agricultural disciples. Naturally, she will not allow such a daughter-in-law to slip away to another house, and said, "It seems that I will return later I want to talk to Zhengming personally with His Majesty."

Naturally, Yu Xiu'er did not dare to tell Empress Changsun that Sun Xiangfu had prepared to resist the decree early in the morning. Anyway, it was not the first time he had done this. The best age for marriage, then it is still too early for their affairs to succeed or not, so why rush for a while!"

Empress Changsun thought so too, but since she talked about the age of marriage, she asked again, "In Jiuyuan County, is it true that the postponement of the age of marriage and childbearing has not affected the population growth? The folks have no government regulations like this. Any complaints?"

Seeing that Empress Changsun did not continue to pay attention to this matter, Yu Xiuer immediately replied with a smile, "It's natural, didn't you say it before, in our Jiuyuan County, more than 4000 babies were born in the first three months alone, which is the largest population of the Tang Dynasty?" The county with the fastest growth rate is actually due to the postponement of marriage and childbearing age, and the significant reduction in the number of dystocia and stillbirths.

In fact, as long as these things are clearly explained to the people and let them know that the government is doing their best, they will naturally understand and support them. The next step is to get rid of the bad habit of "the order of the parents and the words of the matchmaker", so that all young people Both men and women can freely choose their beloved to marry. However, it is still difficult at present, but the common people have gradually begun to understand. "

"'Parents' order and matchmaker's words' is a bad practice? How is this possible?"

This time, not only the Empress Changsun made a sound of surprise, but also Concubine Wei, Concubine Yan, Concubine Yang and other women also exclaimed and covered their mouths. Parents call the shots.

After all, governing the country with filial piety is the tradition of the Han family. The main ideology of Li Tang is still the culture of the Han family. The common ideology among the people is that everything about children belongs to their parents. Parents have the right to help their children to be the masters. You can't blame your parents for their faults. Disobedience to their parents' orders is unfilial.

Sun Xiangfu had previously expressed his disagreement on this matter. Not all parents can be role models for their children. Alcoholics, bad gamblers, lazy people, and sensual ones, there are many in any era. What they care about is not just their children. happiness, and perhaps their own enjoyment.

However, at present, this mainstream thinking is too deep-rooted among the people. Even if Sun Xiangfu's reputation is high now, he dare not touch it lightly. If he pushes it too hastily, it may cause major social problems.

Therefore, he can only subtly influence everyone in Jiuyuan County, a place where the people absolutely believe in him, using some tactful methods.

When they first arrived in Jiuyuan County last fall, there was a young couple in love upstream who were forced to jump into the river because their parents objected and could not get married.

After some investigation, Sun Xiangfu figured out the ins and outs of the matter, and deliberately set this story in a ditty adapted from a similar story in later generations, which was widely sung in Jiuyuan County.

Such a ditty can arouse people's reflections in this era, so Yu Xiu'er plans to sing it to Empress Changsun and the others.

"Whether it is a bad habit or not is not necessarily absolute. It can be judged by the people themselves. The reason why the husband has such an idea is because of some things that happened here last year. He made this into a ditty, which is very popular with everyone. Now In fact, the marriage in Jiuyuan County already pays more attention to the opinions of the married man and woman. At least, we will let them meet one or two times in advance, so that the bride and groom do not know each other before the hijab is lifted. By the way, I will Play and sing the little song my husband composed for you ladies to listen to, and you will know after listening to it."

After finishing speaking, Yu Xiu'er picked up the five-stringed pipa, red plums and spring peaches brought along with the boat, and also carried the tambourine on the boat into the lotus pavilion. Immediately, various musical instruments began to beat and play.

"The tip of the peach leaf is pointed up, and the willow leaf is hiding the sky..."

The little song "Exploring the Clear Water River" from later generations is very popular on the Internet. The story it tells is poignant and heartfelt. I became a cling to the rich and powerful, sent my daughter to the old man as a concubine, changed the lyrics, and still used the original version of the music and charm. This Tang Dynasty version of "Exploring the Jiuyuan River" was established.

This kind of performance form composed and sung with stories is very novel. Empress Changsun and several noble concubines just listened to the beginning, and they were attracted by the story of men and women falling in love and meeting each other in this song. Women, are you obsessed with love stories? Yes, after that, it got out of hand, because despite the beautiful scene of a love and tryst at the beginning, it turned out to be a big tragedy at the end.

When Yu Xiu'er sang about a pair of lovers jumping the Jiuyuan River to die in love, they began to unconsciously touch their tears for this pair of young people who seemed a bit deviant in this era.

When love conflicts with the so-called foolish filial piety, in their hearts, they would choose to favor love without hesitation, and they also began to reflect on how to redefine "filial piety" and listen to their parents for everything. The status quo is definitely wrong.

In Sun Xiangfu's view, this ideology involves more than just filial piety. Only when this kind of ideological restraint is removed, will the creativity of the next generation be stronger.

Take the most common inheritance from father in this era, the father is a carpenter, and almost [-]% of the sons may be asked to learn carpentry from their father since childhood. On the one hand, very talented and interested.

But in the end, he has to obey his parents and become a carpenter, which may make other industries lose a genius who may promote the development of the industry, and this genius, because they obey their parents filially, is reduced to a mediocrity carpenter.

Song Xiaoyu from Yuezhou is a living example. His parents wanted him to farm, but he liked shipbuilding, learned shipbuilding technology, and was very talented. Later, he ran to Weinan, where with the help of Song Tao , and Sun Xiangfu's roll call recommendation, he went to Lantian Vocational and Technical College to study, and now, he is already outstanding among the students of the same period.

If he just obeyed his parents filially and farmed the land honestly at home, then Datang might lose a good shipbuilder and a mediocre farmer in the future.

To get rid of similar problems and shortcomings in the original ideology is the reform of the people. This kind of reform may be more difficult than the reform of the system in the court, but it needs someone to go through it bit by bit. Do it slowly, otherwise, it will at least affect the development of this nation for more than 1000 years.

(End of this chapter)