Chapter 136: Do your job
Two days later, the eldest prince Xie Cong returned to Shangjing.
But after two months away, everything in Shangjing had changed. Now, he had to call his second brother "Your Majesty"!
Xie Cong had mixed feelings when he saw the new emperor in the imperial study, but Xie Yuan returned the Shenshuying Tiger Talisman to him without saying a word.
Xie Cong looked puzzled, "Your Majesty, do you know how many troops my Divine Camp has?"
Xie Yuan nodded.
"Then your majesty, do you dare to return the tiger talisman to me?" Xie Cong asked.
Xie Yuan smiled, "Brother, we are from the same mother, just like when I asked you to borrow the military token, I never doubted that you would not lend it to me."
Hearing the word "big brother", Xie Cong took a deep breath, smiled faintly, bowed and left.
The Queen Mother now moved to Shou'an Palace. Xie Cong went to pay his respects to his mother.
Empress Dowager Hua was also very happy to see her eldest son return safely. While saying "my son, you have worked hard", she asked someone to go to the small kitchen to make some snacks that the prince liked.
Xie Cong was somewhat moved. But he was unwilling to accept it. He had something in his mind that he wanted to know. After the palace servants left, Xie Cong lowered his eyes and suddenly said, "Mother, according to reason, the eldest son should be the heir, so why did you choose the second brother?"
When Empress Dowager Hua heard this, her heart skipped a beat. She observed him carefully and said, "My son, being an emperor does not necessarily mean freedom, but being a prince is equally honorable. Don't be confused!"
Xie Cong smiled bitterly, "I know I am stupid and cannot bear this responsibility. But my mother said that she didn't even tell me. Am I really so unworthy of your trust?"
Having just experienced the turmoil of the brothers fighting for the throne, Empress Dowager Hua was in a dilemma. "You are both my favorites... but Xie Yuan is more suitable to be the emperor than you... If you really have any ideas, and the brothers quarrel one day, I will be the first one to die of grief."
After saying this, I don’t know what I remembered, and my eyes became slightly wet.
Xie Cong originally just wanted to get an explanation, but now seeing Empress Dowager Hua acting like this, he began to feel somewhat guilty.
The resentment and unwillingness that had been pent up in his heart eventually dissipated into wisps and slowly flowed out from his limbs and bones.
"Don't worry, mother. If Xie Yuan doesn't return the tiger talisman to me this time, I might still resent him. But he still treats me as a brother. I promise you that I will never touch that position in my lifetime."
Empress Dowager Hua nodded, patted his arm and said, "Good sons, you are all my good sons!"
A crisis was resolved silently.
When Xie Yuan received the report from the spies in the Empress Dowager's palace, he smiled slightly, "This elder brother of his really has him in his heart..."
…………
On the tenth day of March, the new emperor got married and appointed Princess Fengxi Fengling as the queen. The two countries formed a marriage alliance to celebrate the grand event.
At the same time, Empress Dowager Hua was promoted to Empress Dowager Xiaohe, Xie Cong to Prince Duan, Xie Ning to Prince Rui, and Xie Zheng was the surviving child of the imperial concubine's faction. The emperor could not bear to blame him, so he also made him Prince Xian and assigned someone to look after him.
At the same time, the Queen Mother and the new Emperor fulfilled their promise to Jiang Yuyan and conferred the title of First-Rank Lady Protector of the Nation on Jiang Yuyan.
After the wedding, the emperor and empress were in love and in harmony. Empress Feng brought some state governance strategies from Fengxi State, citing the theory of "civilization and equality" and advocating the establishment of girls' schools in Dayue. Women with knowledge could also participate in the imperial examinations and serve as officials in the court.
When this national policy was announced, many old officials expressed strong opposition. Xie Yuan firmly appointed Princess Lan Meng as the first official female official in Dayue, the Chief Censor, on the grounds that she had made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion, replacing her predecessor, the eunuch Li Ruyun, who was implicated in the rebellion.
Princess Lanmeng was also Princess Deyi of Fengxi. The ministers privately disagreed, but since His Majesty did not care about her status as a princess of two countries, how could they dare to make a comment?
In the same month, Queen Feng Xi sent a bag of goods to Jiang Yuyan. When she opened it, it was full of potatoes and sweet potatoes!
Jiang Yuyan was so happy that she went to the palace at night and talked to the Emperor and the Empress about potatoes and sweet potatoes all night long.
In the end, Feng Ling gently reminded her to take care of her body. Jiang Yuyan then realized that she had disturbed the time of the emperor and empress.
After that, Jiang Yuyan invited a capable person to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes. A few months later, the yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes harvested from the experimental field was amazing, which shocked the court. The emperor immediately ordered people to save the seeds and popularize the farming in the military areas, especially in the military areas.
Jiang Yuyan solved the food problem of many poor people and the problem of military rations. Later, everyone in Dayue was convinced by her. The opposition to women not being able to serve as officials also decreased.
In April, the first women's college in Shangjing, Xiyun College, was established, with the empress herself as the principal. Prefectures in Dayue also responded by opening women's colleges.
Emperor Jiawen asked Jiang Yuyan to take up a position. Jiang Yuyan thought about it and took a course in mental arithmetic. Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Who knew that Jiang Yuyan's course would become popular in Dayue. Even if they were not girls from the academy, noble girls would come to the academy to learn skills before getting married, so that they could better manage the household in the future...
In June, Jiang Yuyan conducted a survey on the current situation in Dayue where there are more men than women, and put forward the famous "population" theory.
According to the survey, nowadays, an average of one woman in Dayue is paired with about seven men. However, because women are becoming more and more noble, their willingness to have children has decreased, and their reproductive rights such as serving their husbands are not guaranteed. As a result, the average number of children in a family is only 4.5. If this continues, the population of Dayue will definitely decrease year by year.
However, as a modern woman, Jiang Yuyan was unwilling to deprive women of their reproductive freedom, so she had to make a series of suggestions to Emperor Jiawen in terms of reducing production risks, increasing infant survival rates, and encouraging fertility policies.
From then on, women who gave birth during the first trimester could receive money, and each state capital was equipped with a special gynecologist and related pregnancy and childbirth manuals to promote knowledge about eugenics and scientific parenting to women.
In the short term, the court increased its investment by a large amount, but in the long term, the population increased, the labor force also increased, the state tax revenue increased, and the military strength was also strengthened.
These benefits only gradually emerged after a few years, but that’s another story…
…………
In early September, Xie Siqi gave birth to a son prematurely, and the emperor ordered someone to send the child far away to an unknown farmer in the suburbs of Beijing.
After the confinement period, all the staff members in the princess's mansion embarked on the road of exile.
The princess was exiled, and this rare event attracted many people to watch.
Jiang Yuyan sat leisurely with her huge belly in the teahouse she always passed by.
The moment Xie Siqi saw her, she stopped crying unwillingly.
The men standing next to Jiang Yuyan were Xiao Yuanyan and Qin Shangyu!
Her eyes opened wide, as if she understood something, and she was about to rush to the teahouse.
"You're the one who hurt me, right? Your last name isn't Shen, your last name is Jiang, right?!"
"I'm going to report you, I'm going to report you!!"
Xie Siqi seemed to be crazy, and was shouting something that the onlookers could not understand.
Jiang Yuyan curled her lips slightly. This incompetent and furious woman, at this point, she is still afraid of a ball!
The escorting officers were selected by Jiang Yuyan in advance. They were very serious and took her back to the team. Xiao Yuanyan hit the stone with his hand, instantly sealing her Xuedao.
"Shut up!" Xiao Yuanyan turned around and said gently, "Don't scare my two little darlings..."
Jiang Yuyan gave him a glare. This man has become more and more disgusting as a father...
“Let’s go…”
Jiang Yuyan looked back at the group of exiled people and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, she had to say goodbye to the past. From now on, she would be greeted by a bright and glorious future...
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