I

  Chapter 674 671 [The power of the emperor's order]

  Hangzhou, Jiaxing Prefecture, Jiashan County.

  The county magistrate Chen Yaohui convened a meeting of officials. The people attending the meeting included the county magistrate, the history of the classics, the chiefs of various departments (county bureau level), and officials of the judicial system.

  Chen Yaohui took the official document issued by the court and said: "Your Majesty promulgated the "Prohibition of Foot-Binding Order". I have had dozens of copies copied. Take it and have a look."

  After the official document was issued, the head of the business department would ask: "The "Prohibition of Footbinding Order" clearly states that only footbinding that hurts the muscles and bones is prohibited. But how can we tell whether there is damage? Do women have to take off their shoes to see?"

  County Cheng Zhu Honggang smiled and said: "The fourth line on the third page of the official document, bow shoes are also banned! The court has already written it clearly."

   "I see, Zhu Cheng is really careful." All the officials immediately flattered him.

  The imperial decree that Zhao Han asked Li Xiangjun to draw up was only a draft, and it had to be handed over to the cabinet and imperial imperial chamber for polishing. The cabinet will supplement the details, and even convene officials to discuss, and then hand it over to Zhao Han for review.

  When the "Foot Binding Prohibition Order" was implemented, there were two key words: one was filial piety, and the other was bow shoes.

  "Filial piety" is the theoretical and moral basis for prohibiting foot-binding and harming the body, while "bow shoes" is the core of the specific implementation of prohibiting foot-binding.

  Not only women's feet are bound, but men's feet are also bound, but they are wrapped in foot wraps. Regardless of men and women, an important reason for foot binding is to look better, because the uppers of ancient shoes are soft, and it is easy to look thick and flat when worn out.

  The imperial court could only ban foot-binding methods that damage the body, and it is impossible to ban normal foot-binding methods.

  How to tell the difference?

   It depends on what kind of shoes you are wearing. Most women with bound feet wear bow shoes. As for the way of foot binding that damages the body, you will wear the kind of pointed and small bow shoes, which can be recognized at a glance.

Chen Yaohui, the magistrate of the county, said: "Most of the people with deformed feet are gentry and wealthy businessmen in the county. You can't just let their daughters not get married, otherwise they will definitely cause trouble. It is said in the official document that you just need to let go of the feet and let the damaged toes slow down." Slow recovery is also a way to compensate for filial piety. After the little feet recover, the unfilial daughters are the filial daughters. Therefore, the key is to let the feet go!"

   At this time, it was not the situation in the late Qing Dynasty, when the countryside was full of little feet. The "Prohibition of Foot-Binding Order" is aimed at the daughters of gentry and wealthy businessmen. If there is no reason for "damaging filial piety" and severe punishment, these gentry and wealthy businessmen will have a way to fool them.

  However, the specific implementation must pay attention to the method. It will be smoother to change the prohibition of foot binding into the prohibition of bowed shoes.

  Foot binding is for the sake of face, and women are not allowed to wear bow shoes, so why do you still have feet bound? At most, you can keep it at home and watch it yourself. Do you think men like to look at red, swollen and pus-feeding feet?

Chen Yaohui said: "Women's foot binding begins at the youngest four or five years old. These girls have not yet gone to school. Lao Zhu, me, and the heads of various departments went to visit the gentry's home in person. The rest was arranged by Yang Dianshi. Schools in the entire county are visited, and all girls must take off their shoes for inspection. Remember, all the doctors in the county are called together, and they have to be treated after the feet are released.”

   "Obey!" The officials stood up in unison.

   It has to be said that although there are many corruption cases in various places, as long as the emperor issues a decree, the local officials will complete it quickly, and the administrative efficiency of the government is surprisingly high.

   This comes from the authority of the founding emperor!

  The next day, Chen Yaohui, the county magistrate, took a doctor and two county government officials to visit Sun Dongqing, the richest man in the county.

   And there is no doubt that, as the richest man in the county, Sun Dongqing already knew the intention of coming to the county, and an official sent someone to report overnight last night.

  Of course, it is necessary to pretend, Sun Dongqing bowed and said: "The county lord came to the humble house, and the grassroots were terrified!"

   "Mr. Sun is humble." Chen Yaohui followed suit.

  While talking nonsense, he led the magistrate into the inner hall.

  After sitting down, Chen Yaohui said directly: "Your Majesty has a decree that foot binding is forbidden to hurt the body. Mr. Sun, please call all the female family members. Regardless of age, all women come."

   Not long after, all the women of the Sun family were present, even Sun Dongqing's old mother was brought along.

  Chen Yaohui took a glance, but no one was wearing bow shoes. He was sure that the news had been leaked, and he was slightly annoyed. He said with a smile on his face, "All slippers!"

  Sun Dongqing's face suddenly changed, and he said hurriedly: "How can a woman's feet be seen by outsiders at will?"

  The old lady of the Sun family even beat the ground with a cane, and angrily said: "Chen Zhixian, you are also a parent official, are you here to humiliate the old man today?"

  Chen Yaohui sneered: "If you don't take off your shoes, then the official will leave. You can handle the crime of resisting the order and not obeying the order."

  The entire Sun family fell silent.

  The emperor's life is ruthless. The Sun family is a prominent family in Jiashan. Not only was a large amount of land confiscated, but they were also forcibly separated, and two-thirds of the clan emigrated to the north.

   Revolt?

   Someone resisted when the land was divided, and he was the richest man in Jiashan. As for the result of the resistance, the richest man in Jiashan changed his surname and became the Sun family who cooperated with the distribution of land.

  The old lady of the Sun family immediately put on a smiling face, and said to her daughter-in-law, granddaughter-in-law, and granddaughters: "Since it is the emperor's order, you should obey it. You all take off your shoes. Take off your old body, and the emperor's order must not be disobeyed."

  The old lady took off her shoes first, and her feet were also bound, but they did not become deformed.

  One of her daughters-in-law was trembling there.

  Chen Yaohui walked over to take a look, and saw that except for the big toe, the other four toes were all unrecognizable, which made people feel sick for a while. This kind of small foot has a sickly and weak beauty when walking, but after taking off the shoes, there is no beauty at all.

   "What does her husband do?" Chen Yaohui asked.

  Sun Dongqing said: "This is Cao Min's second brother's wife, and Cao Min's second brother is in business."

  Chen Yaohui said to the accompanying officials: "Go back and find out if there is a franchise license under her husband's name. If so, take it back immediately!"

  Sun Dongqing was startled, this is for real, fortunately the franchise license is in his name.

  The girls of the younger generation were also checked, and it turned out that all the girls under the age of ten had those deformed feet.

  It seems that foot-binding in Jiashan County existed a decade or two ago, but the number was very rare. In recent years, it has intensified, and the junior girls of the richest family are all this kind of entanglement.

After a careful examination, the doctor sighed and said, "The oldest lady's foot bone has been completely deformed. From then on, she might be able to walk better if she put her foot on, but it is impossible to restore it to its original state. The rest of the ladies still have to recover." There is no possibility of foot binding in the future.”

  Chen Yaohui called the girl over and asked, "How old are you?"

  The girl replied: "Ten years old."

  Chen Yaohui asked Sun Dongqing again: "Is this your daughter?"

  Sun Dongqing said in a flattering tone: "That's right, I ask the county lord to be tolerant, and the grass-roots will let her daughter go immediately."

  Chen Yaohui asked, "Why didn't you study at the age of ten?"

  Sun Dongqing replied: "It's the same when studying at home. It's not good for my youngest daughter to show her face in public."

"You didn't force your daughter to go to an ordinary elementary school. You are the richest man in the county, why don't you send your daughter to a girls' school?" Chen Yaohui scolded, "Ignoring the emperor's order is an unforgivable crime. Your Sun's family has no salt business license. Already!"

  Sun Dongqing was stunned for a moment, and then cried out: "The county lord, please spare me, please show me your hand, the grassroots tomorrow...no, I will send my daughter to study today!"

  Three years of compulsory primary school education, to be honest, the control is already very loose, and the government often turns a blind eye to those who really don't send their children to school.

  But since he was arrested today, Chen Yaohui will definitely show his authority.

  The officials of the Datong New Dynasty, more than 60% of them now belong to Ye Luzi, and they are not from the imperial examinations. With the forced distribution of land and the relocation of families, the deep-rooted local order has long been broken, and a county magistrate can kill the gentry.

  Local officials at all levels also like to do this. As long as the procedure is legal, the greater the influence of the suppressed family, the higher the official's reputation for being unselfish.

  The richest man in a county was reprimanded to the point of crying by the county magistrate for refusing to send his daughter to study, and he was also revoked the right to operate a salt shop. This should be placed in Daming, for fear of being laughed to death.

   And the imperial decree supplemented by the cabinet is very interesting, only punishing foot-binding women and husbands, but not severely punishing their parents. But this thing can be matched. Girls whose feet are bound to hurt their bodies cannot read. Parents who do not send their daughters to school will be punished again.

What? You said the school doesn't accept it? I don't care, I just know that you don't send your daughter to school. Must be severely punished!

Chen Yaohui continued to reprimand: "Regardless of men and women, you must complete three years of primary school. This is an inviolable imperial order. Today is just canceling your right to operate the salt shop. If you commit the crime again, you will also be taxed on other businesses." !"

  Sun Dongqing was still crying, but when she heard this, she nodded in a hurry: "I will never do it again, I will never do it again!"

   On the streets of the county town, the patrolmen have a new job.

  Their eyes were all on the woman's feet, and when they saw the bow shoes, they rushed up immediately. If the hem of the skirt covers the feet, let him lift up the skirt by himself.

   "Stop the car!"

  Two patrolmen stopped several sedan chairs.

  The porter hurriedly got off the sedan chair, and an attendant stepped forward and said, "Master Jun, these are all the female relatives of the noble family in the city. They are invited to offer incense at Qingliang Temple outside the city."

  A patrolman scolded: "All the sedan chairs are inspected. Your Majesty has ordered that you must not bind your feet and hurt your body, and you must not wear bow shoes! Violating the emperor's order, you know what will happen!"

  The girls of your family, who were originally impatient, did not dare to have any dissatisfaction when they heard the word "Emperor's Order", and obediently left the sedan chair and stood there.

  Five female family members, four wear bow shoes, only one is normal shoes.

  The patrolman pointed to the four wearing bow shoes: "Take off your shoes, remove your socks, and check your feet!"

  The female relatives felt insulted, and they didn't speak or move, just stood there with a cold face.

  The patrolman said: "Take them to the prison and let their husbands come and take off their shoes for inspection. If they are found to violate the order, the husband who is an official will lose his official position, and the business license will be cancelled. Heavy taxes will be imposed on those who do not have a license!"

  The female relatives were terrified, but because of their face, they did not want to take off their shoes in the street.

  The commander walked over, quietly handed out the silver dollar, and said in a low voice: "You two military lords, hold your hands high, and please accept a little bit."

The two patrolmen swallowed their saliva, hesitated for a few seconds, took the silver dollar calmly, and warned: "You go home immediately, and don't go out of the city to offer incense. This time is really the emperor's order. The county magistrate is watching closely. After returning home, If you have bound feet, let them go quickly. Also, you are not allowed to wear bow shoes from now on, if you wear them, it will bring bad luck to your family."

  A female family member wearing bow shoes said angrily: "Why don't you let them wear them? The emperor rules the world, and women also care about foot binding? I just bound my feet and didn't hurt my body!"

  This woman is really bound by ordinary feet, even by the northern style of footbinding. Apart from her slender feet, she can't see anything unusual.

   There are also many types of bow shoes, most of which are not harmful to the body, and even men's shoes are bow shoes.

  But the imperial court wanted to make a one-size-fits-all approach. Bow shoes, when Zhao Han was alive, no one would dare to wear them. As for the round-faced pointy shoes for deformed feet, and other deformed styles, this era has not yet been invented.

  The patrolman heard that the woman dared to refute, immediately threw the silver dollar back, and said sharply: "I can't tell you clearly, let's go to the prison!"

  The commander hurriedly stuffed the silver dollar and said flatteringly, "Master, don't be angry, we'll go home right away."

  Corruption and bribery by officials and police is impossible to ban. The larger the territory, the more complicated the situation.

   Fortunately, the group targeted by the "Prohibition of Footbinding Order" is not such grown-up women, but poor girls who are developing.

  At this moment, all the schools in the county were in a commotion.

  Especially girls' schools are key targets of investigation. The girls who study here come from families that are either rich or expensive, and they are the main group who have their feet bound.

  Dian Shi Yang Zhen asked the female teachers to check the female students' feet, and soon found that more than ten toes were deformed. He summoned all the students in the school, and said on the spot: "Your Majesty said, "The Book of Filial Piety" says that the body is hairy and skinned, and the parents dare not damage it. This is the beginning of filial piety. Binding your feet and hurting your body is unfilial. It is also unfilial if the body is broken. But anyone who binds feet is an unfilial daughter, and she will not be able to get married if she marries in the future..."

   There were already girls, who were so frightened that they cried loudly.

Yang Zhen also said: "It's still too late to let it go. As long as you let it go and don't hurt your body, you are filial. The head and teacher of the girls' school, please remember. From now on, you will be checked regularly every month. That girl If you dare to bind your feet, report to the government immediately! If there is any concealment, the girls' school will be closed!"

  Under normal circumstances, it is the policy of the central government, and the grassroots officials make a one-size-fits-all policy.

  The ban this time is very special. It is a one-size-fits-all central policy, but grassroots officials try to ease it. The reason is that the targets are all noble women, and if they get stuck, unnecessary troubles will arise, and the local officials must leave room for it.

  So in girls' schools, if foot binding is found, there will be no punishment for the time being, and it will be over if the foot is released.

   People who refuse to change after repeated admonitions are a minority after all, so don't blame the government for forcing them.

  (end of this chapter)