The influence of storybooks is subtle and gradual.
Ye Jingchen and Liu Wenxuan agreed to write one story per month.
The content is not important, but the main theme must be that the family is united and happy, the parents are loving and open-minded, and the siblings are united and friendly.
Based on Ye Jingchen's personal experience, anything in excess is as bad as anything in moderation. Stories have a kind of magic; reading too much of them can be addictive and cause one to lose their fighting spirit.
Therefore, he only allowed the kids to read one book a month.
As for whether the emperor would develop a liking for reading storybooks because of this, that was none of his business, and he couldn't control the emperor.
He's a grown adult, surely he should have some self-control?
Moreover, a monarch has so many things to deal with every day, he shouldn't have much time to indulge in folk tales.
In addition to stories about filial piety and brotherly love, Ye Jingchen also asked Liu Wenxuan to write two more stories.
The protagonists of the stories are all women. They are depicted as independent and self-reliant from a young age, and their thoughts are not bound by the worldly notion of male superiority and female inferiority. One is good at reading, and the other is good at martial arts. In the end, one disguises herself as a man to take the imperial examination and becomes the top scholar. The other disguises herself as a man to join the army and fight on the battlefield, becoming a female general who makes the northern barbarians tremble with fear.
This requirement shocked Liu Wenxuan even more than the idea of fatherly love, filial piety, brotherly affection, and fraternal harmony!
After all, in this era, women's duties were mostly to support their husbands and raise their children, living secluded in their homes and courtyards, and considering it shameful to show their faces in public.
Liu Wenxuan could easily imagine the sensation such a story would cause if it were written down.
Moreover, if students all over the world knew that he was the one who wrote this book, he would surely be cursed by millions!
"If you write well, I'll give you a thousand pieces of gold per book, and I mean it. Besides, you can use a separate pen name, and I will absolutely not let anyone know that both books were written by you!" Ye Jingchen promised him.
“Gold,” Ye Jingchen added.
It's hard for anyone to resist such a temptation.
If he had a thousand taels of gold, he could hire a famous doctor to treat his mother and afford the most expensive medicines. His mother would no longer have to suffer from illness, and he himself would no longer have to worry about making a living. He could then focus on his studies and prepare for the provincial examination two years later.
"Why does the young master want to write such a book? What benefits will such a book bring you?" This was what Liu Wenxuan didn't understand.
Having read books for so many years, he deeply understands the influence of books on people.
Such a book, once published, will surely cause a sensation.
Because if it were written according to Ye Jingchen's requirements, many of the women who read the book might become restless and want to break free from the shackles of traditional etiquette, and rise above others like men.
Although the young master in front of me is young, he is still a boy. Why would he be making plans for a woman?
“Your mother is also a woman. Over the years, she has exhausted her own energy to support you. I thought you wouldn’t have any prejudice against women, right?” Ye Jingchen asked instead of answering.
"The students weren't prejudiced against women, it's just—"
Once women's minds are awakened, many will no longer be content to stay at home and be good wives and mothers. They will want to go out, see the world, achieve success, and even make a name for themselves in history.
"Young master is still young and may not yet understand the consequences of what you are about to do—"
"You write, I pay—it's just a deal. The reason I proposed this deal is simply because your writing is decent, and we've collaborated a few times, so I know you well. If you don't want to write, I can easily find someone else to do it," Ye Jingchen said directly, not wanting to argue with him.
If he offers a hefty sum, plenty of people will be willing to write it.
However, they may not have Liu Wenxuan's talent, nor be as easy to control as Liu Wenxuan.
"I'll write it." Liu Wenxuan hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't resist the temptation of a thousand pieces of gold and gritted his teeth to agree.
Ye Jingchen took out a silver note worth one thousand taels and handed it to Liu Wenxuan.
"This is the deposit. If you satisfy me with the script you write, I will immediately give you two thousand gold coins."
"My requirements are that the female protagonist in the story must achieve all her accomplishments through her own efforts, and all the plots must be reasonable, be able to withstand scrutiny, and resonate with the reader."
“I know that such a masterpiece needs time to be polished, so I won’t rush you. You still have to take the provincial examination in two years, and I won’t hinder your future. Let’s set the deadline for submitting the book in three years. Three years should be enough time, right?”
“Three years…” Liu Wenxuan murmured, looking at Ye Jingchen with a complicated expression. “With such a long time, aren’t you afraid that I might break the contract?”
With this thousand taels of deposit, he could focus on preparing for the provincial examination. He was very confident in himself; if he passed and achieved a good ranking in the next spring's imperial examination, he could enter the court as an official. At that time—
Ye Jingchen seemed to know what he was thinking and smiled, "Don't overthink it, no one in this world dares to break my promise!"
An eight-year-old child uttering such arrogant words, yet Liu Wenxuan found no sense of incongruity in him.
“A gentleman’s promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold. How could I, a student, easily break my promise?” He composed himself and quickly said.
"Then you should focus on preparing for the provincial examination. If you pass it, we might be able to meet in the imperial court then," Ye Jingchen said with a smile.
The emperor seemed to really like the stories he wrote. If Liu Wenxuan could really make it to the palace examination, he might actually be able to get a good ranking with his writing style, which is similar to his stories.
Ye Jingchen asked Liu Wenxuan to write stories similar to "The Female Imperial Envoy" and "Hua Mulan" simply to set an example.
One or two storybooks might cause a sensation, but their impact would be limited.
But everything in this world is driven by profit. If such stories are popular and sell well, there will be plenty of people willing to write similar stories.
If there are many such stories on the market, and many women read them, it will naturally shake their views.
Let's just consider this as paving the way for what Ye Jingshu will do in the future.
The storybook was just a small episode in the daily life of Wenhua Hall, and time quickly came to the end of the second month.
Ye Jingchen told Ye Jingshu in advance that he wanted to make longevity noodles for the emperor on his birthday. Ye Jingshu thought his idea was good, but she was also worried that something might go wrong.
After all, longevity noodles are not easy to cook. What if the noodles break during cooking? That would be fatal.
"That's why we need to practice more to make sure we're absolutely right! Royal sister, believe in yourself, we can definitely do it! If we can't even cook longevity noodles properly, what else can we do in the future?!"
Despite Ye Jingchen's encouragement, Ye Jingshu felt that something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Since Ye Jingchen insisted on giving his father a 'surprise,' Ye Jingshu had no choice but to cooperate. She practiced especially hard that day, afraid that the 'surprise' would turn into a 'shock' for all of them.
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