The next day, Jiang Shuyue went to the council hall early in the morning and told the emperor about the matter. The emperor readily agreed.
It's all for the people's benefit, and there's no better way right now. We'll see if a better way comes in the future.
"I've heard that the daughter-in-law from Linzhou visited the Eastern Palace?"
"yes."
“That Miss Song is indeed a fine person. It’s a good thing for you to befriend her.”
Jiang Shuyue laughed: "Yes, she has helped me a lot. She even saved my life before. If it weren't for her, I would probably be gone by now."
She knew from the beginning that she had been tricked by her mother. From the moment she was born, she had been used as a pawn by her own mother. She thought that her mother and younger brother were the best people to her, but it turned out that it was all a lie.
At that time, she went to see Xie Linzhou because she wanted to meet her cousin. She wanted Xie Linzhou to teach her martial arts; she wanted to change her life.
But who would have thought that it would coincide with the famine relief efforts?
Song Ning talked to her a lot, but he didn't actually try to comfort her. He just said some ordinary things to her, but it was these ordinary things that made her have some other thoughts.
She didn't want to have lived in vain, she didn't want to die like this. If she died, wouldn't that just let those who had bullied her be triumphant?
Since we're all experiencing life for the first time, why should we endure it?
As a person, you can't wrong yourself.
So, after returning from the north, she began to make her plans.
"I'll leave this matter to you. If you need more people, come and tell me."
"Thank you, Father Emperor."
With the emperor backing her up, Jiang Shuyue was not afraid of anything.
Of course, even without His Majesty's support, she would not back down.
Opposition within the court continued to grow, but Jiang Shuyue went about her business as usual.
However, those voices gradually diminished after Jiang Shuyue achieved political success.
That autumn, the harvests in the counties, towns, and villages below the capital all increased, and the selection of personnel for the supervisory agencies was also completed. Now, those officials have been dispatched, and the results have been very effective.
Since Jiang Shuyue entered the Eastern Palace, no officials in the court have been able to find any fault with her.
Even if those people were not convinced, they had no choice but to submit to Jiang Shuyue. Even if they didn't admit it, they were all outdone by Jiang Shuyue.
Those who previously clamored that women were useless and lacked talent have finally shut up, though they are still unconvinced in their hearts.
Jiang Shuyue is more useful in the court than the Crown Prince and the Second Prince combined.
They acknowledged Jiang Shuyue's achievements, but not her as a person, and their dissatisfaction grew.
These grievances reached their peak after Jiang Shuyue proposed building an academy so that women could also take the imperial examinations and become officials.
The court was once again in an uproar. It was already shocking and unheard of for a woman to become the crown prince, but now ordinary women were also to be required to study in academies and take the imperial examinations and even become officials just like men.
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
"Your Highness, you are already the Crown Prince. A female Crown Prince has already caused our Jin Dynasty to lose face. This is absolutely unacceptable. It will shake the foundation of the country. How will we govern the country in the future?"
Jiang Shuyue looked at him and asked, "Then tell me, how can allowing women to read, write, take the imperial examinations, and become officials shake the foundation of the nation?"
The person in front of her was Hong Xi, the Grand Secretary. He was old and inflexible. He would reject all of Jiang Shuyue's political views, regardless of whether they were right or wrong. In Song Ning's words, he was just being sarcastic to her.
Although she didn't know what this "skin friend" meant, Song Ning said it wasn't anything good.
Every time he belittled her, Jiang Shuyue really wondered how he got to this position.
How could someone who only knows how to talk the talk and has never done any practical work rise from a minor county magistrate?
Now that His Majesty is still alive, if it weren't for His Majesty's sake, she would have had someone retire and return to their hometown long ago.
"Since ancient times, men have always succeeded to the throne, and men have always been the ones to devise strategies for national affairs. What insights and vision can women have? Women and petty men have always been difficult to deal with. Women are physically weak, timid, and have limited knowledge. If the entire Jin Dynasty is controlled by women, the Jin Dynasty will be doomed sooner or later!"
The man became more and more agitated as he spoke, describing Jiang Shuyue as a tyrannical ruler who brought disaster to the country and people, and concluding that she would not be a good emperor in the future.
Jiang Shuyue smiled and asked again, "Lord Hong, do you know Song Ning of the Rongguo Kungfu Mansion?"
"Of course I know."
Song Ning is now a famous figure. Even Hong Xi has to admire her. How can a weak woman do so much? Now the Song family's business has spread throughout the Jin Dynasty and even has branches in neighboring countries.
"But Song Ning is a one-of-a-kind. Can Your Highness guarantee that all women will be like the Duchess of the State?"
"Why not? Both men and women come from their mothers' wombs. Why can men read and write, while women are confined to the inner quarters?"
We are all born of God and have the same origins, so why are men considered superior to women by nature?
Who decided that women, unable to read and write, must remain at home and obey their husbands after marriage?
"Women and men are both human beings. Why can men go out and make a name for themselves while women can only stay at home to be wives and mothers? In your eyes, women are inferior to men because women are not treated the same as men. If women also went to school, learned to read and write and took the imperial examinations, they would not be any worse than men."
"Lord Hong, you also have a mother, a wife, sisters, and a daughter. Why don't you go back and ask them? Are they living their lives voluntarily now?"
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