On the day of the Imperial Lecture, Fu Yueli ascended the throne as the new emperor. Even if there were some who disapproved, after witnessing the tragic scene of the late emperor's suicide, they had no choice but to agree. Furthermore, the Gao siblings from Yunzhou had stationed 5,000 elite troops outside the city that day. Everyone knew their intentions.
At the same time, Cen Jian of Xinzhou was assassinated, and there was a major reshuffle in the palace. Now no one wanted to seek death by being a loyal minister.
After Fu Yueli ascended the throne, he immediately ordered the acquittal of the Lingzhou Lu family, and also released Yan Jiajie, Ren Xianyang, and other previously imprisoned individuals. Furthermore, the kneeling ceremony was abolished within the palace, and from then on, palace servants and ministers no longer had to kneel when meeting their masters.
Not only the Gao siblings came to Beijing, but also Shi Mingyue's family and Huo Qiuwen.
What surprised Shi Mingyue the most was that her good sister Huo Qiuwen actually became a couple with her cousin Gao Siqi. Seeing the two of them being so sweet together, although she was surprised for a moment, she soon felt happy for them.
The situation in the capital stabilized after three months. In the palace, Concubine Cen also passed away quietly one night. Her death was not peaceful. Not long after the palace coup, she was poisoned. The symptoms of the poison were not severe. In the first few days, her hair began to fall out in clumps until she became bald. She could no longer see people. Then she began to lose her appetite. She felt nauseous as soon as she smelled food, but people cannot survive on water alone. Fu Yueli did not deduct her food and clothing from the palace. With the help of her son, she tried to eat something, but slowly, her teeth became weak and she felt unbearable pain when she bit something. Then, all her teeth fell out. She turned into a monster. The functions of all parts of her body were declining, but her consciousness was still so clear, and she clearly felt the pain she was experiencing.
So Fu Baiheng chose to help her get rid of her pain, and Concubine Cen died.
When Fu Yueli heard the news, she didn't feel the joy of revenge she had imagined, but only endless sorrow. How could people harbor such deep hatred that they would resort to any means to hurt others?
It was a sunny day outside the room. Shi Mingyue stopped writing and looked up at Fu Yueli who was sitting in a daze at the table.
"Yueli, stop dwelling on meaningless things in the past and think about the future."
Fu Yueli came to his senses after hearing her consolation and nodded to her: "I understand."
Shi Mingyue felt relieved. She was writing the outline of Zhao State's marriage law, and the specific details still needed to be discussed with court officials.
Of course, in addition to this, not only the marriage law, but also the agricultural law, commercial law, education law, etc. are being drafted.
She is determined to work together with Fu Yueli to make Zhaoguo's future better.
First, we must enrich the country, starting with agriculture and commerce. We must reduce taxes and do our utmost to support agricultural development, such as improving agricultural production techniques to increase yields. At the same time, we must encourage commercial activity throughout the country. Only when the country is prosperous can the people live and work in peace and contentment. Secondly, and most importantly, we must reform education. We must establish public schools throughout the country, minimize tuition costs, and ensure that all children of school age can attend.
Of course, the focus of educational reform is to cultivate well-rounded talents. The content of study has expanded from classics, history, and literature to arithmetic, science, and more. Currently planned is a reform of the imperial examination system, eliminating the one-way competition and allowing for a more open and inclusive recruitment of talent. In the future, all government officials will be required to pass the examination before they can be employed, ensuring fairness, justice, and openness.
This series of plans cannot be completed in just a few years. In their plan, the agricultural and commercial work will take at least seven years. During this period, they will compile textbooks for students, start to build schools in various places, recruit students, and gradually change the imperial examination system from the academy and township hall examinations to state examinations and national examinations. They will no longer arrange jobs after ranking the candidates as in the past, but will announce the vacant positions to the public at the beginning, and candidates can freely apply for their favorite positions. The state examinations and national examinations will be held every two years.
This is a very long road. Fu Yueli and Shi Mingyue are somewhat fortunate that they still have a lot of years to implement and complete their plans.
It was late at night when Shi Mingyue finally put down her writing. Her neck felt a little uncomfortable from having lowered her head for too long.
At this moment, a pair of gentle big hands were placed on her shoulders and neck, gently massaging them.
Shi Mingyue felt a deep sense of peace. She closed her eyes and savored this rare moment. After a while, she finally spoke, "Haven't you been tired for a long time? Stop, I'll give you a massage."
Fu Yueli stopped, but he didn't need her massage. He just said, "It's late, let's rest."
Shi Mingyue opened her eyes, turned around and looked at him, smiling, "Today, the only time we meet is at night."
Fu Yueli touched her face and said, "It's a busy time now, but it will be easier in the future."
"Who knows?" Shi Mingyue didn't expect to rest anytime soon. She said, "He Jun and Qin Zheng have already left for Xinzhou."
"Yes." Fu Yueli said. Although they had defeated Wu Tan before, there was no guarantee that Wu Tan would not make other small moves. After discussing, they decided to let He Jun and Qin Zheng be stationed in Xinzhou in order to better develop Xinzhou's agricultural production and commercial operations.
Xu Ziling is now in Shangjing. In addition to studying medicine, she also occasionally gives guidance on the compilation of textbooks. For her, the goal of immortality has been achieved. The next goal is to see how Zhaoguo will develop under the efforts of Fu Yueli and Shi Mingyue.
"Concubine Cen has been buried. Is Fu Baiheng okay?" Shi Mingyue was a little worried about him.
Fu Yueli said: "Not yet. I arranged him in the Ministry of Justice, my third brother in the Ministry of Rites, and my fourth brother in the Ministry of Personnel. They are all doing a good job." In fact, he didn't know what they were thinking, but as long as they did their work quietly, he would not take any measures against them. After all, they were brothers.
The palace maid brought hot water at this time, and the two of them washed up before lying down on the bed.
The lights went out and the two fell asleep in each other's arms.
Outside the window, the first snow of this winter fell quietly, and everything was covered in silver.
Ten years later, schools across Zhao State expanded from a six-year elementary school system to a four-year middle school system, and then to a four-year university system, for a total of fourteen years. Fourteen years later, the first state and national examinations began, and many students took the exams and became civil servants.
At the same time, Zhao's laws were gradually changing, especially regarding marriage. Monogamy was implemented throughout the country, and men were prohibited from taking concubines, a practice considered bigamy and a criminal offense. Fireworks venues were also gradually banned nationwide, the system of collective responsibility for crimes was abolished, and human trafficking was strictly combated. However, it was only fifty years later that the idea that people were no longer commodities, no longer bound by a contract of sale, was finally accepted by the people of the country.
Seventy years later, the emperor and empress passed away one after another, and the throne was passed to a man of a different surname. At this time, people all over the world finally saw a real change, and Zhao State was completely transformed and getting better and better.
In the fragrant cedar forest outside Shangjing, a young man and woman were walking leisurely in the forest, hand in hand.
The woman was naturally Shi Mingyue, and the man was of course Fu Yueli. However, this was only a temporary moment of leisure for them. Even though the emperor and empress had apparently passed away, they still had to worry about the future of Zhao State.
After all, this is the path they chose.
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