The official surnamed Qi considered and said, "A few days ago, the governor mentioned the idea of building a school in addition to the prefectural school... The governor's intention is that everyone can enroll regardless of gender! In this case, why not build a few more schools so that those girls of school age can also go to the school to study and receive education?"
The other officials had different expressions when they heard this. Luo Guanlin immediately frowned and turned to look at Chang Suining's reaction.
Chang Suining smiled.
The official surnamed Qi also smiled and said, "I wonder what the governor thinks of this humble opinion?"
"I think..." Chang Suining's smile turned into a half-smile: "I think Lord Qi should be very good at making children happy."
The official surnamed Qi was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether to stop smiling or not.
"If I were only three or five years old this year, I would definitely applaud and nod happily when hearing this." Chang Suining said, "But I am more than three or five years old, so I know a little bit about the interests involved."
"I know that Lord Qi's words are 'well-intentioned', and he just wants to please me and make me happy——"
The girl looked at the young official with her bright eyes and said, "But with the current situation in Jiangdu, I don't have the extra financial resources to build a school that can accommodate all the girls of school age, and what they need most right now is not a school."
"Studying is a good thing, a long-term good thing, but if you put aside your livelihood to study, how can you support yourself in studying? What is the point of studying?"
Everyone certainly yearns for a life of beauty and books, but for someone who can't even afford to eat, giving her a book and asking her to start from scratch is a naive hypocrisy that is glamorous but harmful to both others and yourself.
"When the gentry first started, they knew to plant good crops and feed their people before studying and hoarding books." Chang Suining said, "You can read books, you can read slowly, but you can't put down your job to read, otherwise it will become a big but empty thing, a flashy thing without substance."
The official surnamed Qi's face turned red and white, and his back was covered with cold sweat. He stood up and bowed, "Your Excellency the Governor, I was just inconsiderate at the moment, and I have no other intentions to deceive you..."
"Master Qi, don't panic. I am just talking about the facts." Chang Suining said with a smile, "And it's understandable that you want to make me happy. I am also easy to please. As long as your suggestions are meaningful and will bring real benefits to Yu Jiang, I will naturally be happy."
As she spoke, she raised her hand and motioned for the official named Qi to sit down.
Other officials had their own calculations.
Luo Guanlin felt relieved. Even though she had shown extraordinary skills in recent days, there were still some officials who were testing her, or trying to curry favor with her because she was a woman, or even worse, trying to mislead her and use her for their own benefit.
But fortunately... she is sober and sensitive, and can distinguish between the real and the fake.
Luo Guanlin looked at the calm and relaxed girl, and the dust on the mirror in his heart was silently brushed away.
Chang Suining took two sips of tea.
Regarding the issue of "the benefit is for women", Chang Suining believed that it would be difficult for her to be led by the nose by these people.
She herself is a woman, and she knows best what women need most at the moment. Even though these officials are used by her, they are still fundamentally the beneficiaries of patriarchy. In a sense, she is still in opposition to them.
Did the official named Qi Jia really have no ulterior motives as he said just now?
Building academies everywhere and letting all women of school age go to school, will this really bring any effective and positive effects? Before they can even stand firm on their own feet, they are suddenly promoted to a higher position than men, consuming countless manpower and material resources just to give them the most generous treatment... This is basically the same as killing them with flattery.
This unconvincing preferential treatment will also make them bear greater responsibilities and even judgment. When they cannot change this and fall from the high platform, the farce will collapse. Then, those people will have enough reasons to make a "conclusion" - see, women are born useless, so they should go home and have children.
At the same time, she who grants them privileges will rightfully be questioned.
The impact of a wrong move that is either too much or too little will nail the prejudice even more firmly, resulting in a loss instead of progress.
Has Qi Jia ever thought about the above consequences? Chang Suining has no intention of delving into it. It doesn't matter to her whether the other party has ulterior motives or not.
She still needs these people to do things at the moment.
She can tell whether a proposal is feasible or not. She cannot cut off the chaotic hearts of people under the interests. She just needs to sit firmly in this position and hold on to her power as a decision maker. Then, everything will be under control.
"Your Excellency the Governor is right. Besides, everyone has different strengths, and not everyone is suitable for studying." Wang Changshi said at the right time: "Regarding the enrollment of the academy established outside the prefectural school, Your Excellency the Governor will issue the regulations later. Students of different ages, regardless of gender, will need to undergo different assessments. It is not easy to be in Jiangdu now, and the best allocation of human and material resources in all places is the best policy."
Chang Suining nodded: "That's right, from now on, everything must follow the four words of optimal allocation."
She said: "Therefore, I can't grant Jiangdu women special privileges and let them put everything aside and go study and paint—"
The official who had just proposed encouraging childbirth was very pleased and said, "Your Excellency the Governor is wise..."
The next moment, the voice continued, "But I don't plan to encourage marriage and childbirth for the time being."
The official, who had just felt relieved, was choked by the words he was about to say: "Your Excellency's intention is..."
Chang Suining looked at him with a smile: "You must all be people who are familiar with history. If so, you should know the circumstances under which the large population growth recorded in history books over the past thousands of years mostly occurred, right?"
While an official was thinking, Chang Suining said, "Although there are many measures taken by the court to encourage marriage, there are only two situations in which the population can grow significantly and sustainably. One is a stable environment with few wars, and the other is when the grain production and the output capacity of various industries have been greatly improved."
"So I think that instead of just urging women to have children desperately with both soft and hard tactics, it would be better to spend more time on these two things first."
Chang Suining said: "If there is enough food and life is stable enough, the population will naturally prosper gradually."
"And in the current situation, if we just push for more childbirth, not to mention the number of women and infants who die in childbirth every year due to insufficient conditions... even if we just force these women at their prime years to spend their energy and time on giving birth and breastfeeding, it would be like tying up the hands that could have been working, and creating so many more mouths that need to be fed out of thin air—"
"Encouraging childbirth is to increase the population, and increasing the population is to promote labor output. However, compared to those infants who will be born a year later, these women are already ready-made labor. Why should we go far away and reverse the cause and effect?"
After Chang Suining said this, he looked at the officials below.
Some officials exchanged glances, while others tried to use a kind tone to tactfully remind them: "Your Excellency may not know that in the assessment of local officials, increasing the number of households is an unavoidable political achievement..."
The girl at the top was unmoved: "I don't seek good political achievements, I just want people who can actually do the work."
A bunch of crying babies and countless women lingering in delivery beds, what use are they other than using them to achieve superficial political achievements?
Moreover, why should the political achievements of local officials depend entirely on the stomachs and lives of these women? Now many people cannot even get enough food and do not have enough medicine. If women give birth one after another under such conditions, the number of maternal and infant deaths will increase greatly.
Jiangdu is hers now, and she doesn't want such political achievements that are of no practical use.
Another official hesitated and said, "Even if they don't get married and have children, there are only so many things women can do. They can only do farming and housework..."
In other words, marriage and childbearing are the greatest value that most women can provide. Isn't this exactly what the governor himself just said, "the best distribution"?
Chang Suining: "Then let them leave the house."
The official was stunned.
Chang Suining smiled and glanced at Qi Jia: "Women can go out to study, and naturally they can also go out to work. Yes, most women are not as strong as men, but if they are strong, they can still do ordinary physical work. For example, many textile and embroidery, tea-making workshops, carving crafts, shops and restaurants, etc., these jobs, whether rough or fine, can be done by both men and women."
Qi Jia glanced at Chang Suining and forced a smile, but the sweat on his back became even more profuse.
Most officials were also moved. The impact of this move was far greater than reading anything else...
An official said: "As far as I know, many trades are very particular and women have never been involved in them. Many workshops and merchants may not be willing to accept them..."
"If they recruit female workers who reach a certain number, they can be exempted from some corresponding taxes." Chang Suining said, "Of course, the exemption will not be too large, and there is a cap, so they will not just recruit female workers for the sake of tax reduction. Businessmen are shrewd and good at calculating, and they will grasp the balance of interests."
Looking at the officials who were hesitant to speak, she said: "You all need to understand one thing. These women are not trying to take away men's livelihoods. You must know that what Jiangdu lacks most right now is manpower. There will be no one who can't find something to do--"
"In this way, making the best use of people and mobilizing manpower to the greatest extent is the best way to allocate resources."
Some officials want to object, but they don't know what reasons to use.
Then the leader said, "Everyone sitting here is someone I truly trust, and everyone is capable and intelligent. You all must know that at this moment, the interests of Jiangdu should be the first priority. The interests of Jiangdu benefit the people of Jiangdu, and also benefit all of you present here."
The implication is that those petty disputes between men and women should not become an obstacle to the greater good.
The people sitting here at the moment seemed to be alone, but in fact, there were far more than one person behind them. Previously, under the encouragement of Chang Suining, most of them recommended their relatives or confidants, such as someone's brother-in-law went to the lucrative Hucao, someone's nephew got a job as a city gate guard, and even someone's hometown village dog was very brave and was pulled to guard the government office...
In short, anyone with some ability was appointed by Chang Suining.
Therefore, Chang Suining’s words “It will benefit you all” are absolutely meaningful.
Soon, someone nodded in agreement with Chang Suining's proposal.
For men and women, the short-term impact is too insignificant after all. Compared with the slight discomfort in their hearts, grasping the immediate benefits is the most practical thing.
Moreover, it seems that the governor has already made a plan, so why should they confront her head-on over such a small matter... No, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.
Even though she seems to be easy to talk to as she sits there drinking tea, she is willing to kill people at any time. In the past few days, she has tried several new cases of theft, rape and murder. Her methods are harsh and she is a ruthless person who believes in using severe punishments to control chaos.
After the first few people nodded, Chang Suining looked at the rest of the people expectantly. How could those officials withstand her gaze that seemed to be expectant but was actually a death stare? They could only nod one after another.
Chang Suining smiled with satisfaction and kindness: "I know that you all know the major issues of right and wrong, and the major disadvantages and benefits."
Then he said, "I don't have any detailed rules for this matter yet. I just mentioned tax cuts for those merchants, but it was just a vague idea. I haven't had time to think about the pros and cons."
As he spoke, he looked at everyone expectantly.
Now that she has nodded, it's time to help her with the work and come up with ideas together.
The officials suppressed their complicated feelings and worked together to discuss various measures to encourage women to work.
Chang Suining carefully identified them and felt at peace.
Rather than giving up their livelihoods to study, she wanted these women to take this opportunity to enter various industries, create tangible benefits with their own hands, realize values that can be recognized by the world, slowly prove themselves, and then slowly gain a place in various industries.
If you want to walk steadily, you can't rely on others to support you, you have to stand up on your own.
Having a skill is the foundation for a person to gain a foothold in the world.
She gives them the opportunity to acquire a skill and the soil in which to display their skills. She will do her best to maintain this soil, block obstacles for them, and give them time to thrive.
This is not an easy task, especially considering the old customs of the world, but now that she controls Jiangdu, she might as well use this power and give it a try starting from Jiangdu.
Studying, being a court lady... these are too lofty and destined to be within the reach of only a few people. Most people will just live their lives as ordinary people. Since she has always believed that in prosperous times one must look down on others, she will change from the bottom and let it slowly take root.
Luo Guanlin, who was listening to all this, did not say a word, but his expression under the mask was always a little depressed.
But Yao Ran was still in charge of the final work of copying the collection of books, so at the moment he could only listen in and draft the rules of the matter.
Luo Guanlin kept writing. As a staunch supporter of patriarchy, he never thought in his life that one day he would be the first person to write these charters that are very likely to improve the status of women.
There is no greater evil fate than this...
Moreover, those people spoke quickly and chaotically, and his hands were sore from writing! (End of this chapter)
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