***
There wasn't even a maid in the side hall to serve tea or water. If you wanted to drink, you had to do it yourself, including Qin Mu himself.
After three rounds of drinking, Liu Meng could not help but ask again: "King Qin, what is your will? You should tell me first. I am not enjoying the wine."
Qin Mu put down his cup and said calmly, "I rarely invite you old people to drink. Do you know why?"
Liu Meng and Han Gang looked at each other, and Liu Meng answered, "Because we drank blood with the King of Qin."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "It is said that brothers fight together to fight tigers, and fathers and sons fight together in battle. I have no blood brothers, so I have always regarded you old brothers who have been through life and death with me as my last resort. As the ruler of a country, I have to govern the entire country. I don't usually want to highlight our relationship, and I don't want you to become the target of public criticism. I hope you can understand."
After hearing this, Liu Meng and Han Gang stood up at the same time and bowed down loudly: "We are terrified. If the King of Qin gives us an order, we will go through fire and water and die without hesitation."
"Get up, the situation is not as serious as you think. It's just that this house needs to be swept from time to time to keep it clean." Qin Mu raised his wine glass and gestured to him from a distance. After drinking a glass himself, he continued, "Cleaning the house may seem easy, but if you don't make some preparations, you will be easily blinded by the dust."
"Please ask the King of Qin to issue an order. We will go and help the King of Qin clean up immediately."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "It's not as serious as you think. You don't need to do anything. You just need to strengthen the guard of the Beijing camp, loose on the outside and tight on the inside. If there is an order, we can go out at any time."
"Please rest assured, King Qin. As soon as the King Qin's order arrives, the 100,000 strong troops of the Beijing camp will be able to immediately go into battle."
"Well, that's enough. Come, let's continue drinking."
Liu Meng and Han Gang were itching to know what had happened to make Qin Mu react like this.
However, Qin Mu had always strictly separated military and political affairs. Civil officials were rarely allowed to interfere in military affairs, and military generals were strictly prohibited from interfering in political affairs. Although the two were curious, they did not dare to ask.
Qin Mu continued, "In order to avoid suspicion, you should strengthen your guard in the name of preparing for hunting. This king sent envoys to various countries a year ago. After the envoys arrive, this king will hold a grand hunting event. At that time, you must show the military might of my Great Qin so that the four barbarians will submit. The specific rules of the hunting have not been finalized by this king. After the rules are finalized, you can prepare according to the rules."
"Yes, King Qin."
The three of them drank for a round before the banquet ended.
***
The next day's court meeting had a strange atmosphere at the beginning. Apart from Huang Zhenlin, a doctor from the Ministry of Works, who came out to report on the progress of the palace construction, the few other people who came out to report were all about trivial matters.
The atmosphere in the hall was somewhat depressing, as if no one wanted to talk. Qin Mu glanced at the Prime Minister Sima An, who had his eyes half closed, like an old monk in meditation.
Looking at Zhuge Min again, he also had his eyelids drooping, but the tips of his eyebrows would occasionally twitch slightly.
Qin Mu was about to ask Han Zanzhou to call off the court. Imperial clerk Ma Weizhong stood up and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, men are superior to women, and there is a distinction between inside and outside. Women have three obediences, but no special rules. So before marriage, obey your father; after marriage, obey your husband; after the husband's death, obey your son. There are also four virtues to be observed: women's virtue, women's speech, women's appearance, and women's work, none of which can be missing."
Qin Mu secretly said, "Here it comes," and said calmly, "It seems that Censor Ma has something else to say."
"That's right, King Qin. During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, the world was plagued by famine and war, demons were rampant, rituals and music collapsed, and the relationship between the monarch and his subjects was gone. The Jian slaves also poisoned the world, destroyed our clothes and hats, and even spread the smell of stench all over the land. Now that my king has raised the banner of justice and restored our clothes and hats, it is time to re-establish rituals and music, and re-establish the principles and ethics, so that the people of the world can live in peace, have enough food and clothing, and no one can suffer from poverty. The four barbarians will come together, and the country will be at peace."
After Ma Weizhong made an impassioned speech, he changed the subject and went straight to the point: "However, there is now a beautiful lady in the palace, Gu, who has lost the virtues of a woman. She has shown her face in public and held a painting and embroidery exhibition in the market, attracting the attention of the public, causing a heated discussion and constant slander, which has greatly damaged the reputation of the royal family and damaged the dignity of the Great Qin State. I, your humble servant, request the King of Qin to immediately issue an edict to reprimand her and prohibit such things."
As soon as Ma Weizhong finished speaking, a buzzing sound suddenly came from the hall, and the ministers whispered to each other.
Everyone knows that if Concubine Gu had not supported or approved by the King of Qin behind the scenes, such a thing would never have been possible.
Ma Weizhong's words were apparently directed at a beauty of lower status in the harem, but in reality he was blaming the King of Qin for his mistakes. Combined with the vague undercurrents in the court and the public these days, a feeling of impending storm suddenly enveloped everyone's heart.
Following Ma Weizhong, Shen Qingyang, the Minister of Rites, also stood up and said in a loud voice: "Your Highness, looking at the world, women who are literate and can understand the great principles are virtuous, but rare; others like to read operas and novels, stir up evil thoughts, and even play tricks and do shameless things. It is better for them to be illiterate and keep to a simple and contented life."
Shen Qingyang's words can be summed up in one meaning: a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent.
This concept has long been deeply rooted. The traditional concept of talent and virtue is its soil. "Virtue is more important than talent" is a Confucian belief, regardless of gender. In addition, it has always been advocated that men should be based on "virtue" and would rather give up "talent" and have "virtue", so it is said that "a man with virtue is talented."
As for women, people have never valued their talents, but instead valued their "virtue". However, they were deeply afraid that "talent would hinder virtue", so there were sayings like "a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent", which were generally recognized by the whole society.
After Shen Qingyang finished speaking, nearly half of the ministers immediately came out to agree with him. The momentum was huge and the crowd was in an uproar.
Those who did not agree remained silent. This attitude was equivalent to tacitly agreeing with what Ma Weizhong and Shen Qingyang said.
Qin Mu actually knew very well why he encountered so many oppositions.
Confucianism advocates the idea that men are superior to women. Imagine if women are more talented than men and play a greater role than men, then how can these men feel at ease enjoying having three wives and four concubines, and how can they still hold their heads high and shout orders? Where is the so-called moral code
People share the same thoughts and ideas, which is why so many people stood up to oppose this time. Of course, if it was just because of Gu Hanyan's painting and embroidery exhibition, it would definitely not attract so many people's condemnation. Obviously, Qin Mu's series of plans to release women's productivity were leaked.
When the ministers in the palace saw that Qin Mu didn't say anything, they took turns to spit at him, trying their best to nip Qin Mu's plan in the bud.
In fact, Qin Mu did not intend to promote the idea of gender equality. In his opinion, men and women could never be truly equal. Either men would oppress women, or women would ride on men's heads and shit on them.
When it comes to power, you can never say, "I have the same amount as you, OK, I am satisfied, let's leave it at that." No, no matter if you are a man or a woman, once you get a little power, you will want more... more and more... ... Power is endless!
All Qin Muxiang has to do is to bring out the most basic role of women to solve the problem of insufficient productivity caused by the serious imbalance between men and women in the Qin Dynasty.
But he knew that he would never be able to explain it clearly to the ministers in the palace.
He didn't want to listen to the buzzing noise in the hall. He gently spread out his black royal robe and said calmly, "I will carefully consider the advice of the ministers. If there is nothing else to report, let's stop here today."
"Dismiss the court!" Han Zanzhou shouted in tacit cooperation.
Qin Mu immediately stood up and retreated to the back hall. The ministers looked at each other and choked up at the sight of Qin Mu's back.
Sima An glanced at Zhuge Min meaningfully, then turned and left the hall.
Zhuge Min's expression gradually became solemn, and then he left the hall quietly.
Li Yuan, Gu Junen, Yang Tinglin, Yang Shen, Shao Hua, Yu Dayou, Song Xiance, Bai Tie, Song Yingxing, Du Yinli, Liu Boquan, He Liang, Gu Yanwu and others, with different expressions, left one after another.
After Qin Mu returned to the imperial study, he immediately issued two decrees:
The first one was to summon Qin Liangyu, Marquis of Loyalty, to the capital.
The second was to summon Lu Zhenfei, the Grand Secretary of the Dongge, back to the capital.
Immediately afterwards, Yan Gaofei, the deputy commander of Yebushou, was summoned. After a cup of tea, Yan Gaofei hurriedly left the imperial study.
Next, Qin Mu summoned Liu Boquan, the Minister of Revenue, Xu Yingjie, the Left Vice Minister, Song Yingxing, the Minister of Works, and Yang Shen, the Minister of the Supreme Court...
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ps: It's a storm again, and there's going to be a power outage, so I'm uploading it in a hurry. Please vote for me to support me. It's not easy! A thunderstorm hit the window... (To be continued...)
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