Chang Yi listened again, confirmed that he had heard correctly, and looked at the prince of Ogehou, "I am not a member of the imperial examination system, I have to learn with an open mind, it is better for you to find someone else to be your teacher."
The son of the Marquis of Oger, "I am already twenty years old. Now I am learning literature from scratch. I don't know how many years it will take. I have heard about Master Zhou's deeds and I admire him. I think I have a good talent for languages, so I came here to become his disciple."
He was already twenty years old, so there was no chance for him to take the imperial examination. He could not pursue a military career, so he could only think of other ways. Marrying into the Zhou family was impossible, and he did not think he could hide his thoughts from the Zhou family.
Now that the Oge tribe only has a marquisate, it would be easy for the Zhou family to make things difficult for them. He was originally looking forward to having a younger sister, but his mother came back from the palace yesterday and started crying. He couldn't help but face the reality.
Chang Yi looked at the prince with deep eyes. The prince was unwilling to be a prince with a title but wanted to seek power. "I am unable to teach my disciples. Please find someone else."
Prince Oger knew that he would not succeed at once, so he smiled and said, "I am sincere and will let you see my sincerity."
Lord Liu waited for the prince to leave, then walked over slowly and asked, "Why did the prince come to the Ministry of Rites to look for you?"
Chang Yi: "I have a big heart."
Lord Liu nodded, "The eyes can't deceive people, he is indeed very ambitious. If the court hadn't swallowed up the grassland, he would have been a disaster in many years."
Chang Yi agreed, "This guy is ruthless and knows best how his brothers died."
Lord Liu, "Then you should be careful. This guy is a man who will not give up until he achieves his goal."
"Um."
Zhou Shuren did not have many tasks to do in the Ministry of Revenue. During his recuperation, except for important matters that required his attention, the Ministry of Revenue was left to run on its own. In his free time, he thought about the orphans.
Zhang Jinghong came in, and Zhou Shuren came back to his senses. "Put the account book on the table."
Zhang Jinghong put down the account book and said, "Sir, this is the expenditure of the children in East City this month."
Zhou Shuren picked up the account book and asked, "There are more than 150 children?"
Zhang Jinghong nodded, "Yes, this is to send some children back."
Although the imperial court did not publicize it, the people in the capital were very gossipy, and many of those who were well-informed found out where the child was lost.
Zhou Shuren continued to look through the papers. The older children ate coarse grains and fish cakes twice a day, while the younger ones had finely ground corn porridge to drink. Even with the daily food rations, the daily consumption of more than 150 children was not small, not to mention the rations for the mother-in-law and others.
Zhou Shuren closed the account book and said, "Tomorrow some food and old clothes will be delivered to the Ministry of Revenue. You will be responsible for receiving and delivering them. Wait, if there are too many old clothes, please keep some of them. I will use them."
Zhang Jinghong said, "I've made a note of it. Speaking of old clothes, I have a lot of old clothes from my servants in my house, which can also be sent to the Ministry of Revenue."
"Okay, I thank you on behalf of the children."
Zhang Jinghong felt embarrassed. "I don't deserve the children's thanks. I will leave first."
After Zhang Jinghong left, Zhou Shuren opened the account book again, took out a blank memorial, wrote down the expenditure data, and then expressed his suggestions one by one. Finally, he wrote about the benefits to the court. He completed the memorial in one go, checked it carefully to make sure there was nothing missing, and put it away.
After leaving the government office in the afternoon, Zhou Shuren saw his second son and asked, "Why weren't you waiting for me in the carriage?"
"My son didn't wait for a while. Dad, please be careful. The snow is a bit slippery."
Zhou Shuren was helped to the carriage by his son and waited for Changyi to come up. "Did you come to pick me up for something?"
Chang Yi told what happened today, "You are very thoughtful."
Zhou Shuren stroked his beard, "Marquis Oge has an advantage over the other marquises. His daughter is a concubine in the palace. If she behaves honestly, she can live a stable life. The other princes don't have this blessing. They don't cherish it!"
Aruna's pregnancy was fake, and this was a credit. As long as Marquis Oge was honest, the emperor would have some feelings towards the Oge tribe. If he made trouble, the emperor's feelings would be gone in an instant.
Chang Yi was speechless. "You have a sister in the palace, why are you still making trouble? Now you don't stay at home and train the younger generation. The more you make trouble, the more unhappy the emperor will be."
Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said, "Because people are greedy."
The next morning, Zhou Shuren was the first to step forward and handed over the memorial in his hand. He said in a sad voice, "Last year's bilateral war destroyed so many families in our dynasty and left so many children without fathers. In recent days, whenever I think of the compensation money, I think of the sons and daughters who died defending the country. I can't sleep at night."
In fact, all the ministers in the court were a little confused. After hearing these words, they didn’t understand Zhou Shuren’s thoughts.
Zhou Shuren paused and continued, "I was born in the countryside, and I know best how the people live. A family without a pillar of support will have a very hard life. It's OK if the eldest son can take on the responsibility of supporting the family, but I'm worried that the woman is young and the child is young. After marriage, a woman obeys her husband. After the husband dies, she obeys her son. If the child is young, a woman can only obey the elders and remarry. Of course, there are also strong-tempered men who take on the responsibility of supporting the family, but they are very rare."
The emperor had finished reading the memorial and handed it to the prince.
Some of the ministers still didn't understand it clearly, while some had grasped some of Zhou Shuren's ideas.
Zhou Shuren continued, "If the woman remarries, what will happen to the children? Although they can stay with relatives or remarry with their mother, the national grain production decreased last year and the country is short of food. How long can the help from relatives last? How much food can they get if they remarry with their mother? These children are the descendants of heroes who defended their country. They deserve better care and should become useful people for the country like their fathers."
Now everyone understands Zhou Shuren's thoughts. Some people were very moved. Of course, most of them were military generals, and there were fewer civil officials. After all, most of the civil officials were from aristocratic families and did not have a deep understanding. Don't expect the powerful and aristocratic families to have much sympathy!
Mr. Wang attended the morning court today. Zhou Shuren had discussed this with him yesterday. He thought it was a good thing, both for the country and for the people's popularity.
Mr. Wang stepped forward and said, "We cannot let down the souls of the fallen heroes. I second the motion."
Then someone else seconded the proposal, saying that the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of grain and silver, and that they should take the lead and not worry about silver and grain. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor agreed.
The emperor did agree. He thought more about it. The aristocratic families and the powerful occupied the resources, and it was difficult for poor people to study. Although there seemed to be many scholars in the country, there were actually not many. Most of the scholars were occupied by aristocratic families.
Gather children and educate them, brainwash them from an early age to make them more loyal to the royal family, and cultivate talents to compete for resources in the hands of the aristocratic families in the future.
Moreover, these orphans of soldiers also serve as publicity for the imperial court, making it easier to recruit soldiers in the future.
Zhou Shuren understood the emperor's thoughts, so his memorial focused on the benefits of raising these children. In ancient feudal times, people's minds were controlled, so he slowly planted the seeds, which would sooner or later sprout and grow into big trees.
The timing is very good now. He has the right time, right place and right people. If he lacks one of them, there will be many obstacles if he wants to set up an orphanage. Now all aspects are beneficial to the royal family, and with the banner of defending the country, it is much easier.
By the time the aristocratic families reacted, the emperor had already taken all the initiative. The emperor had always wanted to weaken the influence of the aristocratic families, so naturally he would not give in.
Although he cannot see the future, his descendants can.
After the morning court session, Zhou Shuren was kept by the emperor for a detailed discussion. Zhou Shuren said to the emperor: "First, we need to count how many children have become orphans and how many have been abused. The court must have a clear idea to avoid being unprepared and causing chaos."
The prince frowned, "Abused?"
Zhou Shuren looked at the prince with caring eyes, "How many people have a stepfather and their biological mother becomes a stepmother, and similarly, there are many people whose biological father becomes a stepfather after having a stepmother. Abuse often occurs, and some children are exploited by their uncles who have no conscience. Some children do not grow up well. The King of Qin was abused a lot when he was a child."
The prince was modest, "I still know too little about the people. I will visit the village more often in the future."
Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows and had to admit that the prince as the heir was a blessing to the people, "The prince is very kind."
The emperor was also very pleased and asked, "Who do you think is suitable to be in charge of this matter?"
Zhou Shuren was calculating in his mind, "I think no one except Your Majesty can do this. Royal Orphanage? What do you think?"
The emperor's title means he is linked to the royal family. Tsk tsk, even when the noble families realize this in the future, they dare not say anything. They can only swallow their anger and regret not stopping it that day.