Su Yonglin asked Xin Qiji to stay with a slightly tired look.
Xin Qiji felt confident and sat down next to Su Yonglin.
"You seem very tired."
"How can I not be tired? Domestic affairs, foreign affairs, internal affairs, and foreign affairs are all brought upon by myself. There are too many things that I can't stand. I have to deal with them all. I can't blame others, I blame myself. It’s too demanding.”
Su Yonglin smiled, shook his head, and said, "But it must be like this. Otherwise, the problem will be even bigger."
Xin Qiji smiled bitterly and said: "Don't tire yourself too much. There are too many things you have to take care of. I'm afraid you won't be able to take care of them and will tire yourself out instead. There are so many important national affairs. There’s no need to grab it all in one go.”
"I don't care who is in charge? Who else can be in charge besides me? Who else can withstand such great pressure?"
Su Yonglin sighed.
He trusted Xin Qiji, he was a revolutionary who dared to take his own life, so facing Xin Qiji, Su Yonglin said something from his heart.
"You'an, I plan to abolish the concubinage system in the near future."
Xin Qiji was a little surprised.
"This...so you really have such thoughts?"
"Otherwise? What do you think of me?"
Su Yonglin looked at Xin Qiji with interest.
Xin Qiji hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell the truth.
"I think this is your family matter, and it is a decision made after you and the Queen discussed it. Naturally, I will not interfere with it."
"No, no, I really want to abolish the concubinage system."
Su Yonglin shook his head and spoke slowly: "Although we also pay attention to monogamy, rich people and powerful people who have made meritorious deeds can always obtain more women through the concubine system, although there have been etiquette regulations in all dynasties since ancient times. There is an upper limit on concubinage, but this upper limit is a ritual, not a mandatory law. Whether it is enforced or not depends on personal consciousness."
Xin Qiji agreed with this.
"I heard that there was a custom in the Han Dynasty, which emphasized the importance of having eight concubines in order to be awarded a title. However, ordinary officials can only have two concubines, and common people can only have one husband and one wife, and there is no excess."
Su Yonglin smiled.
"But the rules are like this. But in actual implementation, the binding force of this rule is not very strong regarding the number of concubines that a man of status can take, especially the powerful landowners in the private sector. The court cannot even control them in collecting taxes. , still want to control the number of concubines they have?
What is really binding is actually the head wife. Only one person is allowed, even the emperor is no exception. No one can violate this rule. Besides, everyone is trying to scare people, and they really want to take concubines and hide them. Get up, most people can't find it at all.
Why is the status of a head wife so important? It is simply for the sake of ruling order. The child born by the head wife is the eldest son, and the eldest son can inherit the father's main inheritance. The meaning of the head wife is to determine the identity of the eldest son, so as to assist the eldest son in inheriting the father's inheritance. "
"Indeed, this way, the order will not be disrupted, so..."
"So I want to establish the system of monogamy, abolish the system of multiple concubines, and use the coercive power of the court to set this rule and not allow anyone to break it."
Su Yonglin said seriously: "No one wants to live a hard life, and everyone wants to live a good life. This is true for men, and this is true for women. But nowadays, only men are successful, and only a very small number of men. Who wants to live a good life?" There are many women living in this world.
Therefore, as long as many women have seen the world, they would rather be the concubines of rich and powerful families than the wives of common people. Life is simply too hard and they don't have enough to eat, so they don't want to suffer hardships until they grow old.
Although there are various difficulties in being a concubine of a rich and powerful family, you may be sent around as gifts at any time, and you may be beaten to death, but at least you will not go hungry while you are alive. This is very important, and there is no What can be pointed out. "
Xin Qiji briefly recalled what he had seen and heard in his boyhood and youth, and he knew that what Su Yonglin said was true.
Thinking about it again, after becoming a high-ranking official and marrying a wife, I don't know how many people have suggested to me overtly or covertly to take in concubines. Not to mention, some women are really pretty, and as a man, I can't help but be attracted by them.
Just because Xin Qiji admired Su Yonglin, and Su Yonglin only had one wife and never took concubines, Xin Qiji was unwilling to disagree with Su Yonglin on this matter.
But is it because of feelings that those women want to be concubines?
Is it because Xin Qiji is so handsome and talented that they fell in love with Xin Qiji at first sight and want to be his concubines?
If you think about it with your toes, you know it's impossible.
"If the chairman says so, it is true..."
"So, women have become concubines of powerful and wealthy families. What will the large number of remaining men do? They can only compete for the few remaining women, and what will happen? Turbulence, war, vendetta, forever No day of peace.”
Su Yonglin shook his head and said: "So why is there monogamy? Why did all the dynasties at least superficially restrict the concubinage of the rich and powerful? It is nothing more than to maintain stability. In the absence of these systems, the societies of the three ancient generations must have been Turmoil and vendetta all day long, in order to possess more women.
Later, the rulers found that this did not work. They found that if this situation continued, everyone was thinking about women and would not give birth. Life could not go on anymore. In desperation, they could only make such regulations and set some rules. What level can be How many women to have and stuff like that.
If you cannot reach this level, you cannot have more women. Although in actual implementation, you still turn a blind eye, but once it comes to the government, the number of concubines who do not meet the status will inevitably lead to punishment by the government. In this way, the seriousness of this situation will be curbed. "
Xin Qiji took a deep breath and thought about it seriously, feeling that what Su Yonglin said made sense.
"Indeed, I have seen in the past that some officials punished wealthy households who violated the rules by taking concubines. They were also caught in jail and forced to take concubines to their parents' families."
"That's natural. Stability can lead to development, stability can lead to population growth, and stability can lead to a good life for rulers. So if a fixed spouse can bring all these, why not?"
Su Yonglin's words certainly made sense, but Xin Qiji also felt that something was not right.
"But taking concubines does not mean not having children. Taking concubines is also for the purpose of giving birth to children. I have never heard of any man who takes concubines and does not give birth to children with concubines. At least some of them do it because the main wife cannot give birth to a son. , so taking concubines gives birth to sons.”
Xin Qiji wondered: "In terms of population, does the ban on concubinage seem to have little impact?"
"That's what I say, but You An, there is a more important issue that you have not considered."
Su Yonglin took a deep breath and said: "By banning multiple concubines, we can limit the over-expansion of a family. This population will be transformed into more small families of three or four, rather than a family of one or two hundred people." s home."
