Chapter 111: The resources of the matriarchal society suddenly shift...
Twenty years passed in a flash. Huizhi grew up safely, married and had a daughter, and became a qualified crown prince.
Unlike Xiang, Huizhi was born and raised in Shu. She is a native of Shu and was raised by the ministers of the court and the people of the capital. No one would doubt her intentions towards Shu.
Therefore, Huizhi's journey was much smoother than her mother's.
By the time she was twenty-five, her eldest daughter was four years old, and her second daughter had just turned one. There was a prime minister and three concubines in the Eastern Palace, but no one cared who the fathers of the two young princes were.
No, some people still care.
In recent years, as exchanges between Shu and the Central Plains became increasingly frequent, the people of both countries gradually became aware of the differences in their political systems.
One thing was different from what Fu Li had expected, that was that the officials and people of Shang did not react much to the fact that a woman was ruling the country in Shu. Instead, when the people of Shu heard that all the kings of Shang were men, they all felt that it was against Tian Gang.
Fu Li was initially surprised by the reaction of the Shang people. But she quickly realized that it was her own fixed mindset brought over from later times that had caused her to confuse the Shang Dynasty with later dynasties.
Although the rulers of the Shang Dynasty were all men, many of the princes and queens of the various tribes that submitted to the Shang Dynasty were women. Furthermore, within the Shang Dynasty's capital, there were also many female nobles serving in the court.
On the contrary, the Shu Kingdom was a matriarchal society from the beginning. Although it transitioned from a tribal system to a feudal system, it never changed the idea of matriarchal supremacy. Compared with the Shang Dynasty, doesn't it seem a bit "pedantic"?
But the people of Shu felt that the Shang Dynasty was against Tiangang. It was not entirely because of their old-fashioned thinking, but because the Shang Dynasty had almost completely transitioned from a matrilineal to a patrilineal system. Because males were naturally aggressive, they had very low tolerance for cubs that were not of their own blood.
If all the adults in the neighbors' or even relatives' families have died out, in a patriarchal society, if you have good neighbors and relatives, the most likely thing is that the remaining cubs will die out as well, so that you can seize the other party's property and let the cubs with your own blood have more resources and greater room for development.
What's more, this kind of slaughter and cannibalism not only occurs between two families, but also between one branch of the same family.
But in a matriarchal society, people in the same family are accustomed to raising cubs together, so even if the cubs' parents die, they don't have to worry about their own situation.
This habit of shared parenting also makes them take care of the children of their neighbors. Unless there is a feud between two families, they will not easily have strong malice towards other people's cubs.
Therefore, it is difficult to say whether the transition from a matriarchal society to a patriarchal society is progress or regression.
After the plank road was built, the first people to pass through it were naturally merchants from the two places, and a lot of news was spread by the merchants through their own experiences.
There was nothing strange about the Shang Dynasty that a woman was the ruler of Shu, but the fact that there were no slaves in Shu was unacceptable to the nobles and common people of the Shang Dynasty.
In their view, without slaves, who would farm and work for them? Who would do the dirty work? Who would take care of them on a daily basis?
But they felt it was not good, and the slaves who heard the news were ready to take action.
No one is born to like being a slave, especially after Fu Li's efforts to ensure that slaves no longer had to be killed at the age of 30.
That was the first time that the slaves realized that their lives could be extended.
Later, it was Fu Li who persuaded slave owners in various places to improve the treatment of slaves.
Although the purpose of the slave owners was to make the slaves create value more willingly, the benefits the slaves received were real.
Why did many slaves immediately believe the news of "no slaves in Shu" and become ready to move when it reached Shang?
This is because they learned that the king of Shu was named Fuli.
More than a hundred years had passed, and the nobles and commoners had long forgotten who had twice given light and warmth to the slaves. But the slaves, through generations, had passed on the story, secretly expressing their gratitude to her.
When they learned that the king of Shu was called Fuli and had ruled Shu for more than a hundred years, they immediately became convinced that this Fuli was the same Fuli.
In areas closer to Shu, more than 30 years ago, slaves took the opportunity to escape and crossed the plank road to Shu.
Fu Li had already thought of this situation when he ordered Ziyun to build the plank road.
It could be said that attracting the population of the Central Plains was one of Fuli's original intentions in building the plank road. However, this was a long-term project and it would be difficult to see significant results in a short period of time, so she kept it secret.
When the first batch of slaves from the Central Plains escaped to Shu, the local officials did not dare to be negligent at all because it involved the diplomatic relations between the two countries. They immediately reported it step by step, and it soon reached Fu Li's desk.
Fu Li's attitude and handling method at that time immediately made the ministers guess her intention.
Fu Li ordered local officials to properly resettle these people, give them the power to reclaim wasteland, and give them the same treatment as the people in Shu.
For men, local officials would arrange wives for them; for women, local officials would also be responsible for establishing households and selecting men from Shu to marry into.
If a small group of people came, they could be left alone. If a large group came, they would be dispersed under the pretext of dividing the land so that they could integrate into Shu more quickly.
For slaves, a piece of land belonging to them had a fatal attraction.
After confirming that they would be given land, not to mention being separated, even if they were originally married, they were very happy to obey the officials' arrangements, divorced on the spot, and the children were taken away by the woman.
Separating a couple is certainly inhumane, but this is not a time for humanitarianism.
There is a wall between patriarchal society and matriarchal society. Although these people are the lowest level of slaves, the patriarchal society has left its mark on them.
In order to maintain the stability of Shu society, breaking up their original family structure was a necessary political measure.
Originally, the Shu army and civilians did not care about these things.
But since Huizhi's second daughter was born, the slaves who had just escaped from the Central Plains and the people who could not survive were all surprised by the unlucky paternity of the two princes.
Especially those commoners who could not survive, when they learned that there was more than one concubine in the Eastern Palace and that the two princes might have different fathers, they naturally thought that they should unite with their respective paternal families to compete for the position of future crown prince.
Although these people were only communicating with those who came with them, there is no wall that is impenetrable.
What's more, the local officials were already wary of newcomers and instructed the nearby people to keep a secret eye on them.
The people who were watching the incident certainly did not dare to neglect such reactionary remarks and reported it immediately.
This was also the first time that Shu officials intuitively realized the difference between patriarchal and matriarchal societies.
This time, there was no need for Fu Li to give any instructions. The Ministry of Rites directly issued an order, asking local officials to disperse all the people and to disperse them so that no two of them would meet again in this life.
When people from the Central Plains fled to Shu, there was only one route, the plank road. Therefore, the officials who received them were all from the same place, and they accumulated experience and passed it down from generation to generation.
After this group of people, whenever there were more people who escaped, local officials would first identify whether they were former slaves or civilians. All civilians, regardless of their number, would be dispersed and resettled.
This is all later, so let’s not talk about it for now.
It is said that Huizhi grew up safely, his talent was as great as his mother's, and he had two heirs. All the officials in the court were relieved to let this crown prince rule the country.
Fu Li followed the old custom and ordered Hui Zhi to perform the La Festival on his behalf.
Because of Xiang's previous experience, everyone, from the king to the officials and the people, was worried. It was not until Huizhi returned safely that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Fu Li was overjoyed, and as soon as the patients returned, he immediately sent a group of medical officers to treat the patient.
The result of the diagnosis and treatment was exactly what everyone had hoped for: the crown prince was in good health. Even though she had only recovered for over a year after giving birth, she had long since recovered under the care of the medical officers.
As a matriarchal society, as productivity increased significantly, all kinds of resources naturally tilted towards women, including medical resources.
The doctors of Shu Kingdom, from the palace physicians to the barefoot doctors in the countryside, were best at treating various diseases of women.
This makes women's bodies stronger, and the damage caused by childbirth can be ignored. Doctors' years of research on postpartum recovery have minimized the risks of childbirth to women.
Fu Li also received news that a famous doctor had invited colleagues to develop a long-term contraceptive drug that would not harm the body.
Because there is no guarantee that the medicine will not harm the body from the beginning, their research direction is to give the medicine to men.
It is said that great progress has been made, and currently two factions have emerged due to differences in research concepts.
One research direction is that fertility can be restored after stopping the medication; the other research direction is that fertility can only be restored after taking the antidote.
Fu Li did not interfere with this research that promoted medical progress. Her top priority now was to get the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy to formulate etiquette, as she was about to abdicate.
There is a reference for the etiquette of abdication. After all, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of this world did abdicate to sages.
After three refusal and three declines, Huizhi finally announced to heaven and earth that he would become the second king of Shu. His principal wife was the Lady of State, or the Queen, and his two wives were both ladies.
Since Fuli had no harem and was too lazy to establish a so-called harem hierarchy, now that Hui was in power, let her worry about it herself.
After the abdication ceremony, Fu Li discovered that the complicated ceremony was actually the easiest, and the things to be dealt with after the ceremony were complicated and trivial.
Ji Meng, Hong Xin, and other demons and dragons all took up official positions in Shu to follow Fu Li. Fu Li was the only one who could provide them with the elixirs and magic weapons they needed to pay their salaries.
Now that Fu Li has abdicated, the new King of Shu is a complete mortal. Of course, it is impossible for him to make the demons and dragons truly submit to him.
The demon tribe, led by Ji Meng, and the dragon tribe, led by Hong Xin and Mo Ang, all came to persuade Fu Li and expressed their desire to go with her.
Knowing she couldn't force it, Fu Li had no choice but to inform Hui Zhi and let her appoint the commanders of the Imperial Guards on her own. As for the Yu Lin Guards, who were composed entirely of water tribes, Hui Zhi had to redeploy and recruit them.
With Fu Li's abdication, the dragon clan and the demon clan will also completely withdraw from the historical stage of Shu Kingdom.
For a while, Huizhi was naturally overwhelmed. He had originally planned to go to Fuli in Qianyuan Mountain first, but because of this incident, he had to stay for a few more months.
After Huizhi has made all the arrangements, Fuli will also have to take the dragons and monsters who followed her to Emei for resettlement.
Because there were too many people and the positions in Emei had long been saturated, Fu Li soon realized that she urgently needed a territory of her own.
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