Chapter 471 The School
Preparations for the girls' school were in full swing; however, just as Huo Lin had predicted, the court was not peaceful.
Some conservative officials, unable to contain themselves, began to submit memorials to dissuade him.
A few days later at the court meeting, several old ministers with white hair and conservative ideas jointly submitted a memorial, with strong words.
"Your Majesty, we believe that establishing girls' schools violates ancestral rites and laws, and is probably not a good thing."
An old imperial censor stepped forward, trembling, heartbroken.
"The virtue of a woman's lack of talent is to expect her to be virtuous. Now, they are being forced to show their faces in public and learn farming, arithmetic, and even medicine. This is a sign of a hen crowing at dawn. If this continues, the social order will be disrupted, and the country will cease to exist."
"I second that!" another minister followed. "Furthermore, the schools are a mixed bag, with both good and bad students, which tarnishes the reputation of women. I urge Your Majesty to reconsider and withdraw your order."
For a time, there was much discussion in the imperial court, with conservative voices gaining the upper hand.
On the dragon throne, Huo Lin's face was ashen, his fingertips tapping the armrests absently as he listened to the impassioned speeches below, a cold sneer running through his mind.
Ugh, it's that same old cliché again. I'm sick of hearing it.
Is a woman's virtue in her lack of talent? I think some people are afraid that once women gain knowledge, they will no longer be content to be confined to the small world of the inner quarters.
"A hen crowing at dawn?" His empress is intelligent and reasonable, and has done so many practical things for him. Why hasn't the world descended into chaos? On the contrary, she is much better than some ministers who only know how to talk!
After the senior ministers had finished speaking, Huo Lin slowly raised his eyes and glanced at the crowd below.
"My beloved ministers, I am aware of your concern for the country and its people, but I would like to ask you a few questions."
He spoke, his voice not loud, but it instantly drowned out all the subtle noises.
"Last year, when the epidemic raged in Jiangnan, who provided the medicine and isolation methods? This year, the promotion of new agricultural tools and the improvement of crops have made the initial results of the military-agricultural settlements in the north effective and the border gradually stabilized. Whose credit is that?"
With each question he asked, his voice rose a notch, his gaze fixed intently on the senior officials who had spoken most vehemently earlier.
"Aren't these tangible achievements that benefit the country and its people? Aren't they inferior to the empty talk about virtue that you all have?"
Huo Lin's voice echoed in the empty golden hall, carrying an undeniable power.
"The Empress, with the world at heart, proposed establishing girls' schools to teach practical skills so that women could also understand things and master skills. How could a benevolent policy that enlightens the people and strengthens the country and enriches the people shake the foundation of the nation and corrupt the social order?"
He snorted coldly, his tone sarcastic: "Or is it that in the eyes of you ministers, women are only fit to be confined to the inner quarters, ignorant and naive, and that is the proper way?"
Huo Lin leaned forward slightly, his words piercing to the bone, "Then I would like to ask, have the wives and daughters of all of you been to school? Have they ever learned to manage a household? If what you say is true, then aren't you all immoral people?"
"This...this..." The old ministers, who had just been quoting classics and speaking eloquently, were now red-faced and speechless.
I wanted to refute them, but the other party presented irrefutable achievements.
When they tried to defend themselves, the emperor steered the conversation back to their own situation.
To acknowledge the Empress's merits would be to slap oneself in the face; to insist on one's own opinion would be tantamount to admitting the immorality of one's own female relatives, which is even more absurd.
For a moment, the hall was completely silent, with only the heavy breathing of a few old ministers remaining.
Seeing that the time was right, Huo Lin leaned back on the dragon throne, his tone no longer as indifferent as usual.
"My mind is made up on this matter. There is no need for further discussion. Court is adjourned!"
The turmoil was temporarily quelled by Huo Lin's strong leadership.
The decree was carried out as before, and preparations for the girls' school continued.
However, reality dealt a blow to the enthusiastic organizers.
The notice had been posted for several days, but very few people came to sign up, and most of them were poor women who hoped to learn a skill so they could make a living in the future.
Mingzhu looked at the sparse names on the registration list and her face fell.
"Your Highness, why aren't they coming? I've been trying to persuade them until their lips are sore, but those young ladies either say they want to learn etiquette, or they want to embroider their dowry, or their families don't agree. Very few of them are able to come."
Although Jiang Huan was somewhat disappointed, she was prepared for it.
She patted Mingzhu's hand and comforted her, "It's alright. Everything is difficult at the beginning. Let's teach this first batch well and make a difference. Then we won't have to worry about not having enough students."
He Ling was quite optimistic: "Ordinary women are better, they're practical and willing to learn, so let's start by teaching them the most practical things!"
Thus, the first term of the girls' school officially began in this somewhat quiet atmosphere.
There were only about twenty students, ranging in age from twelve or thirteen to seventeen or eighteen. They wore simple clothes and had curiosity and a little expectation for the future in their eyes.
The agronomy class that He Ling was in charge of was the highlight. Instead of just reading from the textbook, she took the group of girls directly to the experimental fields of Huangzhuang.
"Look everyone, this is a newly cultivated wheat variety. The stalks are thicker and stronger, and it's less likely to lodging..."
He Ling rolled up her sleeves and personally went down to the ground to demonstrate, explaining things in a simple and easy-to-understand way.
The girls were a little reserved at first, but under He Ling's enthusiastic influence, they gradually opened up, squatted on the edge of the field, listened attentively, and even asked questions boldly.
Mingzhu was in charge of teaching simple arithmetic and accounting. She wanted to put on the airs of a teacher, but her lively nature prevented her from doing so.
“For example, if you go to the market to buy cloth, and the shopkeeper says it costs twenty coins per foot, but you want to buy five feet, how much should you pay?” Mingzhu wrote down the numbers on a makeshift wooden board.
A girl below whispered as she calculated, then answered uncertainly, "One...one hundred coins?"
"That's right!" Mingzhu clapped her hands happily, then her face fell as she began to recount her experience, "But you have to be careful, some shopkeepers are very shrewd. Once I went to buy silk flowers, we clearly agreed on eight coins a flower, but I bought three, and he immediately asked for twenty-eight coins. Luckily, I'm quick-witted..."
The girls below were initially surprised to hear that the princess had almost been tricked, but then they couldn't help but cover their mouths and chuckle. The tense and restrained atmosphere in the classroom dissipated considerably.
What the girls looked forward to most was that the Empress would occasionally come to the school to sit for a while.
Jiang Huan doesn't formally teach classes. Sometimes she just sits quietly in the back and listens to the lessons. Other times she walks among the students, looks at their handwriting, and asks about their studies with a gentle tone and a kind smile.
She would even roll up her sleeves and identify herbs with He Ling in the experimental field, or pick up an abacus and discuss with Mingzhu how to keep clearer accounts.
Despite her noble status, she was down-to-earth and possessed a captivating charm that inspired both awe and admiration in these mostly ordinary girls.
Whenever they heard that the Empress might be coming today, the girls would secretly tidy themselves up neatly, and their classroom discipline would be exceptionally good.
Will Her Majesty come today?
"I just saw the imperial carriage coming this way!"
The small school was filled with anticipation because of Jiang Huan's arrival.
They may not fully understand the great principles of women's self-reliance, but the existence of the Empress herself is like a lamp, making them vaguely feel that this path is worth taking.
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