Chapter 115 Women Should Be Self-reliant

The body of County Magistrate Lu fell to the ground with a loud bang. Meng Jian, holding the head, let go and rolled down the slope.

The imperial guards made way for the people, who then fled among the common people, avoiding them like snakes and scorpions.

They saw clearly that it was really the county magistrate!

How could it be... The county magistrate loves the people like his own children, how could he do such a thing as embezzling disaster relief funds?

What's more, assassinating the eldest princess is simply absurd!

At this time, the county magistrate was pushed out.

The eyes of tens of thousands of civilians were focused on him, and the county magistrate felt uneasy.

But this is a chance to redeem himself, otherwise there is no chance of survival.

So the county magistrate took a few deep breaths, strengthened his inner thoughts, took the initiative to take a step forward, and glanced at the huge crowd.

"That's right! I witnessed with my own eyes the county magistrate stabbing Her Royal Highness the Princess with a dagger.

In addition, traces of reeds and clay can be seen at the broken edge of the embankment!"

These words were like a storm.

Many people didn't know whether to believe what the county magistrate said, but some people had already begun to waver.

Qin Zhaoyue held his breath and did not lower his head. He forced himself to control his body and handed the Shangfang sword back to Suimo.

"I didn't kill him, my elder sister did..."

He suppressed the discomfort in his chest and abdomen, looked into the distance, and saw the astonished and panicked expressions of the people in front of him.

The reason for performing this act is to replace resentment with fear and awe of the royal family, so as to achieve a deterrent effect.

By the way, put the blame on him for the chaff and the dam collapse, leaving him with no evidence.

It seems pretty good now.

"The Huilongtan dike collapsed because of the county magistrate's corruption and the use of inferior materials in building the dike. It has nothing to do with the River God.

Why did His Majesty order an end to wild sacrifices? Don’t you know why?

Sacrificing young boys and girls to the river is against the harmony of nature!

If you insist on pushing it to the sacrifice to He Bo, fine, I will make an exception and allow you to do so.

Don't even bother getting a pair of young boys and girls; that's not enough to appease He Bo's wrath.

In Longmen County, every family with a child under six years old, regardless of whether they are officials, nobles, wealthy gentry, or common river workers, regardless of whether they have achieved honors or not, should use them in sacrifices to the River God. Is that okay?!

One sacrifice is nothing, so let's follow this practice for the next three or five years, okay?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people became agitated again.

If the knife doesn't stab you, you won't feel the pain, so you sacrifice others, especially the lowly river workers and farmers.

Does everyone believe in He Bo's theory? Of course not, but since it won't harm your own interests, why not give it a try?

"Quiet!" Meng Jian spoke again, suppressing the commotion.

"The dam collapse affected Longmen County, the land on which you depend for your survival.

There are people here who take care of the fields. You know better than me what the consequences will be if thousands of acres of fertile land are flooded.

I have been entrusted by the Emperor to be in charge of flood control and disaster relief in the three states, so naturally I will not abandon it.

But you have to defend your own home and your own land by yourself."

"They resent the court and criticize Your Majesty, saying that women are unfit to be emperors and that it is against etiquette and law...

I thought that at least women would not support or at least stand up to refute such remarks.”

"Your Majesty, by opening the imperial examinations for women and recruiting women as officials, it's not to give women the power to overwhelm men, but simply to give women a way to live, a way of living where men and women are equal!"

"Women don't have to be limited to embroidery and farming, don't have to wait for marriage as soon as they reach the age of marriage, don't have to be the first to be abandoned in a famine, don't have to be sold as concubines or maids in exchange for the tuition for their brothers' education and the betrothal gifts for their wives...

If a woman is not content with her husband's family and is mistreated by her mother-in-law, she can divorce, remarry, or establish a daughter's household."

"Women can learn to read and write, and take the imperial examinations to become officials.

Is it too difficult to pass the imperial examinations? Your Majesty has established a mathematics exam. One can obtain a doctorate in mathematics, become a ninth-rank official, or seek employment as a chamber of commerce manager.

Even if you don't take the imperial examination, reading can broaden your horizons and help you distinguish right from wrong, so you don't have to be trapped in the backyard for your whole life."

"So when some 'yin and yang are reversed' rhetoric is rampant, at least you should stand up.

What we are protecting is not His Majesty, but your own way of living, the way of living freely walking in the sunshine, the way of living like a man!"

"Your Majesty has given women a way to survive and given you the spirit to forge ahead and resist. This is both a power and a responsibility.

Uncultivated land cannot grow golden ears of wheat, nor can it nourish burning hope.

The sky in Longmen County can be supported by both men and women.

This broken dam can be repaired by men and women alike!"

After the long speech, Qin Zhaoyue let out a breath of foul air.

When we first asked Lieutenant General Hu to recruit laborers, we said that there was no limit on gender. At that time, we were worried that time was too tight, so as long as they could be used, regardless of gender.

But after hearing the warlock's plan, he made these remarks.

Feudal etiquette is not so easy to break. Even though the empress has been in power for fourteen years, there are still many people who continue to follow the ancient laws.

This is also why the Queen Mother values ​​the eldest sister so much.

Qin Zhaoyue didn't think that a speech could awaken women's right to fight for their own rights, nor could it break the huge mountain called "prejudice" in people's hearts.

Suppressing public opinion should be enough, at least to light a flame.

Many women clenched their fists, their chests heaving, and the expressions on their faces changed from uncertainty to determination, but some were dismissive.

Qin Zhaoyue didn't care what they thought. Arguing was always better than being one-sided. After all, it was just a few words and wouldn't waste much time.

This is true for the common people, but it is different for the people around us.

Suimo, Mozu and even Yinzhe all looked at Qin Zhaoyue with different eyes.

The deafening speech and the effect it can bring, how many more surprises can this Sixth Princess bring?

The imperial guards in the field had different expressions.

When the Longmen County Magistrate was first executed, everything was fine. Only the guards around the eldest princess noticed something unusual.

But when Qin Zhaoyue spoke at such length, her tone, intonation, and punctuation habits were completely different from those of the eldest princess.

The one wearing this imperial armor wasn't the eldest princess, but the sixth princess. This...

Qin Zhaoyue ignored them, waved his hand and gave an order, and twelve signal arrows immediately took off into the air.

Everyone was confused, as if nothing had happened.

Two watchtowers had already been erected beside the riverbank, with blazing flames on top like beacon towers.

With its illumination, people gradually saw the huge ship coming with the waves on the water.

The flood was so severe that many ships were stuck at Huilongtan Wharf and are now piled up near the shore.

Thousands of imperial guards worked for an hour, using rolling logs and ropes to tow the largest merchant ship into Yuchuan. After dropping anchor, they continued to carry stones to fill the gap.

This is a giant merchant ship with multiple cabins and masts. It is made mainly of camphor wood and fir wood, and its mortise and tenon structure is reinforced with iron nails.

The hull is twenty zhang long and can carry a maximum load of eight or nine thousand dan.

There are only three people operating such a huge merchant ship.

Mo San was at the helm on the poop deck, while Mo Er controlled the mastsail to adjust the direction.

And Yin Zhe stood at the bow, even the strongest wind and the strongest rain could not shake his veil in the slightest...