Women in the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to bind their feet, and it seemed that they were really older than Hu Weiyong, the right prime minister in Zhongshu.
Hu Weiyong had been imprisoned for several days. The soldiers from the pro-military Duwei Mansion were still surrounding the Prime Minister's Mansion, but the emperor ignored Hu Weiyong and only arrested a few, such as the imperial censor Chen Ning and Zhong Zhong. On the day of Cheng Tujie, Mao Xiang, the commander of Yulin Zuowei, and a few others were arrested.
The rest of Hu Weiyong's disciples and old officials remained untouched.
Instead, all the officials speculated and filed memorials one after another. Shang Hao, who was demoted from imperial censor to provincial official, reported Hu Weiyong for treason. However, his majesty still pressed the memorial and there was no news from the prince.
Hu Weiyong is still in prison.
On the contrary, regarding the ban on women's foot-binding, the emperor acted vigorously and resolutely!
As soon as the court broke up in the morning, he immediately ordered the Ministry of Education to draw up an edict and announce it to the world.
According to the decree, foot binding was unprecedented in ancient times. It is said that it originated from Ruiniang, the favored concubine of Empress Li, or from Yang Taizhen, the noble concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Both of them were destitute and foolish kings, and I hate them very much.
In the Song Dynasty, the custom of foot-binding became popular, and scholar-bureaucrats had sex with prostitutes, which distorted aesthetics. Therefore, the officials and people of the Song Dynasty were weak, leading to the Jingkang Revolution.
After the imperial edict is issued, if anyone orders his daughter's feet to be bound again, the officials will be exiled for three thousand miles and the people will be punished with thirty sticks. Those who do not change despite repeated admonitions will be severely punished!
It also banned the burial of deceased husbands. Any deceased husband and wife who was forced to die in burial would be punished with murder. If the wife volunteered to die in burial, her home would be raided and her children would be included in the lowly register.
After the imperial edict was issued, all the civil and military officials of Yingtian Mansion looked at him with suspicion.
Officials fled three thousand miles!
It is enough to show that His Majesty attaches great importance to this matter.
Also used a new word:
Aesthetic distortion!
Officials of all sizes in Yingtian Mansion thought about it for a while, and then gradually realized what this word meant.
The three-inch golden lotus feet caused by foot binding are the distorted aesthetics of the Song Dynasty scholar-officials who had sex with prostitutes!
For a moment, all the officials looked excited. Regardless of what they were thinking, they had no choice but to order their daughters and maids to untie their feet.
But didn't throw it away.
Stay and see.
The decree reached the homes of the people in the city, and those who wanted their daughters to have their feet bound so that they could marry into good families started to make a noise. They gathered around the officials who posted the notices to ask questions. The noise in Yingtian Mansion was non-stop, and the noise was far greater than the arrest of Hu Weiyong.
…
"Father!"
Prince Zhu Biao entered the palace and came to Zhu Yuanzhang. He said worriedly: "Foot binding has become a common practice. Now that my father has ordered us to change it, the people may be alienated. And now that Hu Weiyong's gang members have not been eliminated, I am afraid they will make a fuss about this matter."
"Making a fuss? I'm afraid they won't!"
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, "As for the people, I don't believe that the people in the world can bear to see their daughters crying because of foot binding, so how can they be separated from each other? If there are a few cruel fathers, they will be dragged to the Yamen and beaten!"
Zhu Biao thought about it carefully and then bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang with sincerity: "My father is very considerate, but my son and minister are overly concerned."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Go to your mother's place to eat lychees, they are reserved just for you."
From the time when Lao Si came to the throne and the ancestral instructions recorded by heroes were changed to Yun Wen, Zhu Yuanzhang had already guessed what would happen to Biao'er.
Now that he knows it, it will never happen again!
"Thank you very much, Father. I also thank Master Chu!"
Zhu Biao said respectfully.
The title of Master Chu has been spread from the palace to the court. When the officials were discussing the litchi matter, they couldn't help but talk about Master Chu. They all speculated in which immortal mountain Taoist temple the popular man in front of the emperor, Master Chu, practiced.
Only Empress Ma and Zhu Biao knew that this Master Chu was a strange person from the later generations that Zhu Yuanzhang went to when he was sleepwalking in Taixu!
However, this is the back hall of the Huagai Hall. Not far away, there is a sitting room of the Hanlin Academy, and there are eunuchs beside it. Zhu Biao will not tell the identity of Chu Zhen, and will only call him Chu Zhenren.
"Father, there is one more thing about Hu Weiyong..."
"Don't talk about him yet! You continue to investigate."
Zhu Yuanzhang stopped him irritably, and thought of Chu Zhen's words, "It doesn't matter whether the prime minister is abolished or not."
Without this sentence, Hu Weiyong would have died early and all his followers would have been eliminated.
"Go to your mother's house, and I will think about how to deal with him."
Zhu Yuanzhang sat back on a chair, and the eunuch brought him a cup of tea at the right time.
Zhu Yuanzhang took a sip, not only thinking of Chu Zhen, but also of Li Shimin, who was also a guest.
"I have now banned footbinding and burial, which are regarded as bad habits by future generations. Who has greater achievements or him?"
"However, Tang Taizong is still beating Xue Ju now, and he is probably suffering from malaria, causing vomiting and diarrhea!"
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing.
——
Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City.
"Xuanling, go ask the army doctor to prepare more malaria medicine."
"Also, find some reliable people and ask them to copy some pictures for me."
Returning to the Chengqian Hall of Taiji Palace, Li Shimin immediately ordered someone to summon Fang Xuanling, a member of the military record office of the Prince of Qin's Mansion, and handed him one of the three maps printed by Chu Zhen.
"Your Highness, is this...?"
Fang Xuanling, who looked like a middle-aged Confucian scholar, looked through these pictures carefully, and the more he looked at them, the more surprised he became.
He could see that what was drawn in these pictures were all the mountainous landforms around Chang'an. From Chang'an all the way to Longxi, all the places occupied by Xue Ju, the overlord of the Western Qin Dynasty, were drawn!
Moreover, the mountain topography in the picture is so detailed, rivers, plains, and villages are all clearly visible!
that is--
"Your Highness, why are there so many villages in this picture?!"
"And what are these dense threads?"
"The mountain topography is exquisite and detailed, and the colors vary depending on the height of the mountain range. It's breathtaking. But the river outside Chang'an City is so rough, so why?"
Fang Xuanling asked several questions in one breath. While he was sure that the geographical map was exquisite, he also wondered why the direction of the river was wrong.
Li Shimin laughed, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Xuanling, don't ask so many questions. Let me draw it first and correct the rivers on the map. Instead of using place names like these, replace them with names we are familiar with... How many days will it take for the army to set off?" "
"On the third day, food and grass are being prepared."
"Okay, just finish this drawing for me within three days! Remember, keep it secret!"
Li Shimin issued the order.
Although Mr. Chu gave him three copies of the map, he still asked someone to draw another copy and change the place names to make it clear at a glance.
Fang Xuanling knew the great significance of this picture, and was about to leave after receiving the order, when a eunuch from the palace hurriedly walked in outside the door.
"His Royal Highness King Qin, Your Majesty has something urgent to do!"
Fang Xuanling stopped, folded the map, smiled at Li Shimin and said: "Your Highness, please go quickly, leave this matter to me."
"My father is probably going to summon me to discuss sending troops, so I'll go first."
Li Shimin went out, mounted the horse prepared by the servant, entered the inner garden of the palace through Ganlu Gate, and dismounted a hundred meters away from Hongwen Hall.
After entering the palace gate, Li Shimin saw his father sitting alone in the middle of the dark hall, with no generals or civilians discussing the war on either side.
His heart immediately skipped a beat.
Stepping forward quickly, Li Shimin bowed to his father Li Yuan: "Father!"
"King Qin."
Li Yuan's calm voice echoed in the hall, "I ask you, how did you save the King of Chu when they besieged Chang'an City?!"
Li Shimin knelt on the ground, his expression changed sharply, and he did not dare to raise his head for fear that his father would see him.
"Say it." Li Yuan raised his voice, "It was your great achievement to save your fifth brother, why don't you dare to say it?!"
"Father!"
After calming down his expression, Li Shimin straightened up and held up his hands: "My son ordered someone to send a letter to General Wei Yinshishi in the city that day. He was moved by his feelings and made clear the interests. He was afraid of the power of our Tang army, so he didn't dare..."
"Shut up!"
"Not a word of truth!!"
Li Yuan shouted fiercely and shouted: "Prince, Master Yinshi, come out!"
Under Li Shimin's surprised gaze, Prince Li Jiancheng and Yin Shishi, who had become an aide to the Prince's Mansion, walked out from behind the screen.
His brother Li Jiancheng looked at him with strange eyes.
Yinshishi's eyelids were drooped, as if he didn't know, didn't listen, or didn't talk, as if he didn't want to get involved in the disputes of the Li family of the Tang Dynasty.
But how could Li Shimin not know? This bitch...!
He deserves to die!
"This war against Xue Ju in Longxi will be led by the prince!"
Li Yuan ordered.
Li Shimin, who was kneeling on the ground, felt his heart go cold.
