Chapter 1963 Female Wei Zhi
The emperor examined everyone's drinking habits, and when he returned to the back hall, it was already half an hour later. Most of the students were carried out, and Manbao and the others could hear some people shouting in the back hall.
The emperor walked in calmly and said, "Two or three students were drunk and making a fuss. I had them sent back."
The queen looked at him with a reproachful look, thinking that he was too much of an outrageous emperor.
The emperor looked at Zhou Man and changed the subject, asking, "Why are you here?"
Manbao was worried that Bai Cheng might drink too much and behave badly, so he replied, "I'm here to see Princess Mingda and Princess Changyu, but it's getting late, so I'll take my leave."
The emperor was about to change the subject. Of course, he couldn't let her go, so he didn't accept her greeting and sat down next to the empress and asked, "Are there any abnormalities in Mingda and Changyu's pulse?"
Manbao could only stand up straight and reply, "Princess Mingda and Princess Changyu's pulses are normal."
By the way, she still had to go to the Imperial Hospital to record the pulse record, and she almost forgot about this matter.
The emperor nodded, but still didn't let her go. Instead, he remembered something, "Bai Cheng is your junior apprentice brother?"
Manbao immediately gave up the idea of leaving and nodded, then looked up at the emperor and said, "Yes, he is my third apprentice brother."
The emperor asked, "He just said that husband and wife are one body. There are distinctions between ruler and subject, but not between husband and wife. What do you think?"
Manbao said without hesitation: "I think he is right."
The emperor raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why is that right? Aren't the etiquette and laws of the world determined by status? The husband is superior and the wife is inferior. This is not only in the etiquette and laws, but also written in the "Instructions for Women", right?"
"Your Majesty, 'Nujie' was written by Ban Zhao for the Han imperial harem to teach them the virtues of life without official status, thus ensuring political stability," Man Bao said. "All women in the world admire and admire Ban Zhao's talent and character. Ban Zhao herself wrote in 'Nujie', 'To teach only boys and not girls is to blind us to their differences! 'Li' is a book taught from the age of eight and studied by the age of fifteen. Why not follow this as a model?'"
She paused and continued, "Hasn't the royal family always hired renowned teachers to teach the princesses? It's clear they don't want the princesses to simply obey their husbands after marriage. Both men and women should have their own opinions and dignity. Then there would be no such thing as superiority or inferiority between husband and wife."
The emperor opened his mouth, then turned to the empress and said, "Why do I feel like I'm seeing a female Wei Zhi?"
Manbao: ...
Mingda and Changyu: ...
The emperor asked, "Have you also read the 'Instructions for Women'?"
"Of course I've read it. I even copied it," Manbao said matter-of-factly, "My teacher taught me."
The emperor asked, "You were not from that time, so how do you know that Ban Zhao's 'Instructions for Women' was written for the Han imperial harem? Isn't it said to be used to educate daughters?"
"She doesn't have a daughter," Manbao said, "that's what my husband said."
She said, "Master, you said that the Han Dynasty's imperial relatives were monopolizing power, and that was when..."
"Okay, okay," the emperor didn't need Zhou Man to teach history. He now knew the disadvantages of asking a teacher like Mr. Zhuang to teach students. What kind of book is that? Everything can be exaggerated. It's just "Instructions for Women", which is a material to teach women virtues, appearance, speech and skills. How come it even talked about state affairs?
He said, "I understand what you mean, but the hierarchy between husband and wife is an eternal principle, just like the hierarchy between ruler and subject..."
Manbao complained in his heart, isn't this hierarchy determined by humans?
According to later research records of the encyclopedia, human society was originally a matriarchal clan, and women were the main people at that time. But did they say anything?
However, she only dared to think about such treasonous words in her heart. After all, if she said this, it would be like having the treasonous idea of overthrowing the hierarchy between the monarch and his subjects.
Although she remained silent, the emperor was no fool. Seeing her lower her head and tap her toes, he knew she disagreed. He then asked, "If you disagree, then I ask you, have you ever considered the consequences of your disrespect for propriety and law, and the consequences of the world's collapse?"
Man Bao sighed and said, "As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, sages lamented that people's hearts had changed and the world order had collapsed. Your Majesty, the world has long since collapsed. The current rules are not all those set by our ancestors. Some people have always added rules to the etiquette to suit their own interests. Some people, lacking power and influence, will distort the words of their ancestors and use the words of the sages to interpret rules that suit their own interests."
"Not only now, but future generations will also do this. By then, the rules they follow will definitely not be the rules we follow now."
Changyu looked confused and said that she understood every word she said, but she didn't understand when they formed a sentence together.
Mingda became thoughtful, while the emperor and the queen looked at Zhou Man in shock. They didn't expect that she would have such a rebellious idea.
But the main thing was that when they thought about it carefully, they found that what she said was actually right.
The Emperor and Empress remained silent for a long time. Mingda could not help but ask her, "What should we do? Should we leave a message and not allow them to change the rules?"
Manbao laughed and said, "Why not change it?"
"The current rules suit us, but they might not have suited them back then. If His Majesty summons us now, does he still require us to kneel and kowtow three times and nine times all the way from the palace gate to the main hall?" Man Bao asked, "Then how much time would be spent on just the communication and audience? Times have changed, and naturally the rules will be different too."
Mingda: “Then…”
Manbao seemed to know what she was going to say and said, "Bai Shan said that people today are concerned with the affairs of the present, and people in the future are concerned with the affairs of the future. If you worry too much, you will not only age and die quickly, but you will also drag your descendants to be buried with you."
emperor:……
The queen coughed lightly, and Manbao reacted immediately and bowed his head, "I am sorry for my rudeness, Your Majesty, please forgive me."
The emperor waved his hand silently, forgetting what he was going to ask.
However, the queen had not forgotten that the emperor had mentioned Bai Cheng specifically. She knew that he mentioned him at this time probably because he was more satisfied with him. She felt complicated for a moment. She felt that the emperor was able to favor Bai Cheng more without her reminder, which was obviously his ability; but she also felt that Bai Cheng was not a good match for Mingda, and she was somewhat unwilling in her heart.
But no matter how unwilling she was, she turned her head to look at her well-behaved daughter and asked Manbao, "Who are the people in your junior brother's family?"
The emperor then remembered that, yes, he wanted to ask about Bai Cheng's situation.
Manbao then elaborated, "There's a grandmother, his parents, a brother, and a sister-in-law at home. Mr. Bai is very famous in our village."
How could the only landlord not be famous?
Manbao repeated all the nice things the villagers had said to flatter Mr. Bai in the past, saying, "Mr. Bai is a well-known philanthropist. The road from our village to the county town used to be difficult to travel, but it was Mr. Bai who paid for its repair."
"Most of the roads and bridges in our area were built with his money," he said. He was a bit stingy and was very tight-lipped about the money he gave, which required the villagers to put in a lot of effort.
"His family never delays paying workers. As long as they hire someone, they will be paid according to their work," Manbao said. "Mrs. Bai is also easy to get along with. She is gentle and kind, and often brings us snacks."
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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