Chapter 1962 Drinking
Just as he was thinking, Bai Cheng said, "Human energy is limited, and so is a parent's. If you have too many children, there will inevitably be some omissions and deficiencies in their education. So three or two is best. The children will have siblings who can support each other, their relationships won't fade, and they'll also have the most resources from a young age."
Resources are limited, not to mention a family, even a clan has limited resources, whether it's connections or money. If there are few children, each person can get a lot, but if there are many children, they will get less.
The emperor naturally knew this. He was the ruler of a country, and the fiefs he gave to his children were different, some were thin and some were thick.
The emperor stared at Bai Cheng thoughtfully. As he was pondering, he saw three little heads quietly poking out from behind the screen.
emperor:……
He pressed his hand, motioning Bai Cheng to sit down, and then asked, "Does anyone have any other opinions?"
Of course not. Isn't that the only view on the coming and going of offspring? Everyone had their say, and the emperor asked, "What do you think of the relationship between monarch and minister and husband and wife?"
Everyone's heart immediately tightened. Those who knew focused on the words "husband and wife", while those who didn't know focused on the words "ruler and subject".
So the former briefly mentioned the relationship between the ruler and his subjects, and then went on to discuss husband and wife; the latter briefly mentioned husband and wife, and then extended the discussion to the ruler and his subjects.
In their view, just as there is subordination between the ruler and his subjects, there naturally is also subordination between husband and wife.
The ethics of the world are that the minister obeys the king and the wife obeys the husband, but in the case of a princess and her husband, the princess is the king and the husband is the minister. The king and the minister come first, then the husband and wife. Naturally, the princess is superior and the husband is inferior.
This is actually the case. No matter what the actual situation of the princesses who got married was, on the surface the princesses were superior and the princes-in-law were inferior.
Of course, students who don’t understand the reason for coming here will not think about these things, let alone hint at them. They are more concerned about the relationship between the monarch and his subjects.
Bai Cheng separated the two.
Although he knew from books since childhood that there were differences between men and women, and later learned about the subordination of husband and wife, the environment he grew up in made it difficult for him to have such a clear feeling.
Not to mention that he always had the strong Zhou Man by his side, even without Zhou Man, such things rarely happened between his parents.
They would occasionally argue, but his father would just slam the door and walk out, and his mother would cry and go to his grandmother to make a decision...
It seems like it is always his father who apologizes to his mother.
When you think about it this way, how can there be a wife obeying her husband?
It's clear that the man is in charge of the outside affairs and the woman is in charge of the inside affairs.
If you meet someone like Manbao, it’s not certain who will be in charge of the outside affairs and who will be in charge of the inside affairs. Isn’t Bai Shan always worried about Manbao’s food, clothing, housing and transportation now?
Thinking of this, Bai Cheng couldn't control the expression on his face and secretly curled his eyes.
The emperor, sitting at the head of the table, could see everyone's expressions. Seeing this, he called out his name and asked, "Bai Cheng, do you think otherwise?"
Bai Cheng suddenly felt like he was being called by the teacher. He stood up and couldn't help but glance secretly at the screen. He met three pairs of eyes, and he immediately retracted his gaze.
The emperor saw this and said with dignity, "Speak!"
Bai Cheng scratched his fingers, realizing he couldn't come up with a clever answer. He could only speak the truth, "I believe that there is a hierarchy between rulers and subjects, but not between husband and wife."
The emperor raised his eyebrows slightly, "Oh?" He asked curiously, "There's no hierarchy between husband and wife? But etiquette has long stated that the husband is superior and the wife is inferior. So, do you think the etiquette of the saints is unacceptable?"
This was a bit harsh, but Bai Cheng said, "But the sages also said that husband and wife are one. Doesn't the Book of Rites also say that marriage is a union of two families. The wife respects the husband, but the husband cannot humiliate his wife."
The emperor looked at Bai Cheng steadily and asked, "How do you think a husband can avoid humiliating his wife?"
Bai Cheng wanted to scratch his head, but he didn't dare under the Emperor's gaze, so he tugged at his sleeve to relieve the tension, "If you are considerate and caring for your wife, you will naturally not humiliate her, right?"
The emperor couldn't help laughing when he heard him speak so childishly, and simply asked him, "Do your parents quarrel?"
Bai Jilang nodded, "Occasionally quarrel."
The students standing by were so upset. How could they bring up their parents' private affairs?
The emperor continued, "What did your father usually do when he quarreled with your mother?"
"Go sleep in the study?" Bai Erlang said a little uncertainly. The main reason was that even if his parents had a quarrel, they would not tell him specifically. Several times, it was not until Bai Shan noticed something was wrong and asked him about it that he knew his parents had a quarrel.
emperor:……
He didn't ask too many questions in front of his two daughters behind the screen. At this moment, he felt that it was really inconvenient for Mingda and the others to be here, and there were many things they couldn't talk about.
So he winked at Gu Zhong, who then quietly retreated. He walked around a corner and caught the three people behind the screen. He whispered softly, "Princess, His Majesty still wants to test the young masters. Princesses, please go to the back hall and sit down and rest first."
While speaking, he winked at Zhou Man, and Manbao had no choice but to hold Mingda's hand.
Mingda didn't expect Manbao to be in trouble, so he nodded to Guzhong and took Changyu and Manbao to the back hall to wait.
The three of them retreated quietly, and except for a few people, no one noticed they were there.
After they left, the emperor started talking to the eighteen students again and asked someone to bring him some wine.
That's right, the emperor also planned to force them to drink. Relying on his status as emperor, he found excuses to make them drink three big cups in a row.
The emperor wished them a bright future, so they naturally had to reciprocate, and so they went back and forth, and six glasses of wine were drunk.
Influenced by Zhou Man and Bai Shan, Bai Erlang also dislikes drinking. He also cannot understand what is so good about such bitter and spicy wine?
At present, he only thinks that fruit wine is delicious, and flower wine is just average.
So he couldn't control his expression every time he drank a glass of wine. After six glasses of wine, his whole face was flushed and he looked a little dazed.
Bai Shan and the others thought of many ways to deal with the situation, but they didn't expect the emperor to force him to drink, so they didn't have any hangover medicine or anything like that.
After drinking, Bai Erlang sat in his seat in a daze, not moving.
The emperor sat upstairs and looked at everyone's expressions. It is said that the quality of one's drinking reflects his character. Today I will see how their drinking habits are.
The emperor continued to find excuses to enjoy the wine with a smile.
The emperor loved wine, so naturally he also liked a son-in-law who was a good drinker. Seeing Bai Cheng, whom he had previously liked, looking drunk and dazed, he couldn't help but feel a little disgusted.
Gu Zhong watched in silence for a long time. As he poured more wine for the emperor, he quietly advised, "Your Majesty, Xiao Yuanzheng said you shouldn't drink too much. Your old injury will relapse."
The emperor said, "I have important matters to attend to."
Gu Zhong continued, "This is the main hall. If Lord Wei knew you were drinking in the main hall..."
The emperor's hand froze, and he put down his wine glass and said awkwardly, "This is just a test. Okay, I've had enough."
Gu Zhong smiled and agreed, then asked quietly, "Would you like to change clothes before going to the back hall? The Empress seems to be here too."
The emperor became even more restless. Although the empress did not stop him from drinking, she did not like him to drink too much. Every time he smelled of alcohol, she would complain about it for a long time.
The main thing is that the smell of alcohol is not good for her health and seems to trigger her respiratory disease.
Thinking of this, the emperor felt more favorable towards Bai Cheng, whose eyes and face were red.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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