Fire, fire, fire, fire!

After the court session, the old emperor took a group of important officials to visit Xu Yanmiao.

As soon as the door opened, the old emperor almost cursed.

——Stupid pig! Bastard! Dog-like thing! How could I give birth to such an evil creature!

In front of him, Xiao Baize's fur seemed to have lost its luster. He looked listless and had to force himself to talk to him: "Your Majesty and the superiors, why are you here?"

The old emperor immediately felt that the punishment for Prince Fu was too light.

He lowered his voice, fearing to startle people: "We see that you are usually strong and energetic. Today, you asked for leave for the first time. Some people said that you were frightened and vomited several times, so we came to see how you are. Don't stand at the door, go back to bed and lie down. There will be fewer rules after the court."

Xu Yanmiao felt warm in his heart. After lying back on the bed, one hand stretched out from the quilt, giving the emperor room to show the friendship between the monarch and his subject.

The other party grabbed his hand and patted the back of his hand gently, with a very friendly and gentle attitude: "Have you been wronged? Tell us, and we will take care of it for you - you are my right-hand man, you must not fall down here."

Xu Yanmiao would get angry whenever he thought of those little shoes.

He lived in an era of information explosion. The bound feet that men were not allowed to see in the past could be easily found on the Internet. This made him realize more deeply how inhumane and destructive foot binding was to people's bodies and dignity.

"Your Majesty!" Xu Yanmiao's brain turned rapidly, and he was ready to list several dangers of foot binding that would directly hit the emperor's lungs. These were the kind of dangers that would cause dissatisfaction to the old emperor even if Prince Fu was the old emperor's son.

- Yes, through the gossip system, he had already locked on the culprit.

"I want to impeach..."

However, the old emperor gently patted the back of Xu Yanmiao's hand.

"?"

[Could it be that the old emperor knew that I was going to impeach his son and wanted to stop me? Even though he was lying in bed and feeling weak ,

Xu Yanmiao struggled to sit up.

His face was pale, and the old emperor was worried that he would get sick from the excitement, so he scolded him, "What are you doing!"

Then he said, "If you really want to impeach someone, take care of yourself, write a memorial, and present it at the court tomorrow. If you don't take good care of yourself, how can you argue with others in the court?"

Xu Yanmiao was slightly stunned, and was about to say something when his stomach suddenly "gurgled" and his face turned red.

——From the time he vomited out his stomach to now, he hadn't eaten a single grain of rice, and he was very hungry, but he had no appetite.

The old emperor looked at him and said, "You are like this, and you still want to impeach someone? Is it possible that as soon as you open your mouth, the other party will respond back, and you don't have the energy to fight back, but instead shoot yourself in the foot."

As he said that, he turned his head and looked at a group of officials behind him: "Bring something here."

"Something?" Xu Yanmiao poked his head out: "Your Majesty brought something for me?"

It was a small food box. When he opened it, he saw a bowl of black sesame paste inside.

The old emperor brought out the black sesame paste and touched the bowl wall with his hand: "It's still warm, it's just right for you to eat now. There was originally glutinous rice in it, but you just vomited and your stomach is empty, so I changed it to japonica rice, which can neutralize the five internal organs and nourish the stomach."

After the black sesame paste entered his mouth, a warm feeling gradually spread after the tip of his tongue touched it, flowing down from the throat, and warming the stomach inch by inch along the esophagus.

The empty stomach was instantly soothed, greatly alleviating Xu Yanmiao's physical discomfort.

Xu Yanmiao: "Thank you..."

The old emperor interrupted him: "Okay, what are you thanking me for? We still have so many formalities in private. Have a good rest, I won't bother you here."

*

The emperor and the officials came and went in a hurry, leaving Xu Yanmiao alone looking at the bowl of black sesame paste with a very complicated mood.

But no matter how complicated it was, after eating the sesame paste and recovering a little strength, he had to write a memorial.

Xu Yanmiao suddenly realized that the old emperor just said it smoothly. In fact, he didn't need to go to court tomorrow. Tomorrow was a day off, and the day after tomorrow would be his battlefield.

"It's just right, there is still one day to prepare."

...

Two days later.

Xu Yanmiao had the experience of impeaching someone once, and the second time he stood up familiarly: "Your Majesty! I impeach Prince Fu for having evil intentions, endangering the country, disregarding the people, and ruining the Great Xia country in dire straits."

All the officials suddenly felt a toothache.

Although impeachment is not the first or second time, everyone is trying to put a hat on the enemy and throw dirty water on him, regardless of whether it is exaggerated or not, or whether it is groundless, just throw it first.

However, when it comes to Xu Yanmiao, they all have a subtle feeling...

Who is it! Who has corrupted the simple Xu Lang!

- This feeling.

The old emperor asked sincerely: "He just asked the dancers in the palace to bind their feet, how could it ruin the Great Xia Dynasty?"

It's not that he wants to protect his son, but mainly because he is curious: how can these two things be linked together?

Or did Xu Yanmiao discover that Prince Fu had done other things through the artifact?

Xu Yanmiao was not surprised at all that the old emperor knew about foot binding.

——The other party can come to visit him, and it is normal to find out that the vomiting is due to the Golden Lotus Cup, then to Prince Fu, and then to foot binding!

"Your Majesty, do you know what harm foot binding does to women?"

Before the old emperor could speak, Xu Yanmiao asked himself and answered: "Foot binding affects women's fertility!"

"What?"

The old emperor's tone became obviously solemn.

Xu Yanmo said: "Your Majesty, think about it. Women with bound feet have difficulty in moving. They have no strength in their bodies, and how can they exert their strength during childbirth? In this way, it is easy to have a difficult birth..."

Actually, it is not entirely true.

After foot binding, due to the deformity of the feet, the part that moves the body becomes the heel. Because of this, the waist and hips are trained, which in turn affects the pelvis, allowing women to better pass on offspring.

If foot binding caused a decrease in fertility, the authorities would have increased the intensity of the ban long ago - they don't care whether women suffer, but they care about population reduction.

But ordinary people need to walk around frequently, but young ladies don’t need to touch the ground when they go out. If they don’t move around frequently, they will become sick and weak, and being sick and weak will affect their fertility. The daughters of the officials present all fit the description of “young ladies”.

[But I think it’s better to only mention one.]

[What if someone is weird and thinks, it’s okay, let the young ladies walk on the ground for a few steps? It’s just walking on the edge of a knife, it’s not like they are walking...]

Officials: “...”

No, we are not such beasts.

Xu Yanmiao said in a serious tone: "Your Majesty, if there is one, there will be two. There is never a shortage of people with strange hobbies in the world. If the news of foot binding spreads from Prince Fu's Mansion and becomes popular among dignitaries, and small feet are called 'golden lotus' and considered pure and beautiful, and small feet are considered beautiful when marrying wives and concubines in the future, then...will the people blindly follow suit? Will everyone bind their daughters' feet? Then, the number of difficult births will increase greatly?"

- If you want the vested interests to take it seriously, you have to tell them that this matter has deeply hurt their other interests.

Sure enough, from the emperor to the officials, everyone took it seriously.

What Xu Yanmiao said... makes a lot of sense!

If a person doesn't walk often because of foot pain, or walks slowly and unsteadily, then she naturally has no strength in her body, and she can't use her strength when giving birth. Isn't this a matter of course?

Xu Yanmiao looked at their reactions and began to add fuel to the fire:

"Your Majesty, if women bind their feet, half of the world's labor force will be wasted."

The old emperor was shocked.

Even before Xu Yanmiao started to explain, he immediately realized what he had overlooked before.

- How many people in the world can endure the pain of their feet and continue to work?

Xu Yanmiao: "It's okay for young ladies, as they don't have to work very much. But if ordinary peasant women bind their feet, how can they farm the fields? Even if they kneel in the fields to work, how can the amount of land they cultivate be compared to when their feet are intact?"

"And what about female merchants? How can they do business if they bind their feet? Commercial taxes will be greatly reduced."

"And those weavers, their feet will hurt, and they won't be able to weave quickly..."

"Not to mention..."

Xu Yanmiao listed the impacts one by one, making the old emperor's face grow colder and colder.

A reduction in labor force by half is something that no wise monarch would ever want to see.