"That's definitely not right."
As a farmer, Zheng Yong had no idea what he was thinking, but he knew with his toes that if he was right at this time, then his term as chairman of the farmers' association would definitely be over.
Even if he doesn't necessarily want to be the president of the farmers' association.
"Indeed, there are many bad habits in the countryside that harm human dignity and trample on human spirit. If this continues for a long time, how can our Song Dynasty be called a country of etiquette? Therefore, we need moral education and guidance from the court."
Zhao Jun nodded and said, "Today's villagers are ignorant and foolish. I hope that the Farmers' Association will take on the responsibility of educating them in the future, cooperating with the local education bureau and the county government to carry out propaganda and education, and abolish many bad habits, such as eating the whole family and marrying daughters' bones. These are all evil customs and should be despised by everyone."
"yes."
Zheng Yong nodded repeatedly: "I will spread the word more in the village in the future."
Zhao Jun continued, "The Farmers' Association shouldn't just assist the county government, but should become a subordinate institution of the county government, with additional officials and personnel. In the future, if a death occurs locally, we can't wait for the official report to be conducted before an inquest. The Farmers' Association should immediately investigate to determine if the death was unnatural. The government can then conduct further investigations and issue a certificate before a proper burial can be carried out. Otherwise, we must not let the matter go unpunished."
"Yes, yes, yes."
Zheng Yong nodded instinctively at first, but after a moment he suddenly looked up with a look of surprise, then a look of surprise. However, he knew that he should not be too excited at this time, so he forced himself to hold it back.
Because Zhao Jun's words have revealed that in the future the farmers' association may be transformed from a semi-official organization into an official organization.
There are also officials there who eat imperial food.
Then, as the guild leader, wouldn't he be able to start working directly? It would be a great joy.
"Well, okay, you guys go get busy first."
Zhao Jun said.
"yes."
Zheng Yong immediately retreated.
After finishing the conversation with him, Zhao Jun looked at Huang Anwen and said, "County Magistrate Huang."
"I am here."
Huang Anwen hurried over and bowed.
"As a county magistrate, I have the responsibility to educate the people. I must ensure they have enough food and clothing and have land, but I must also eradicate bad habits and customs."
Zhao Jun said, "As for the wild and lewd rituals in the countryside, they must also be destroyed one by one. Those who violate it must be severely punished. Do you understand?"
"yes."
Huang Anwen agreed.
Zhao Jun put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.
Now he has rectified the court, purged most of the corrupt officials, and political order has been briefly cleared. The court's orders are smooth and issued and executed quickly.
This is a good thing.
But at the same time, we don’t have enough control over the grassroots, and for a country, the grassroots is the most important thing, so now is the time to start large-scale governance of the grassroots.
This includes addressing local outdated customs and habits, and various customs of worshipping evil gods and evil spirits.
Because this problem is very serious in the Song Dynasty now, according to Wang Anshi and others, the north is relatively well off, and the south is the hardest hit area.
For example, in Yongzhou, "the custom is fond of lewd sacrifices"; in Shu, "people still worship lewd sacrifices, do not treat illnesses, and rely on witches and sorcerers"; in the north and south routes of Jinghu, "people in Guixia believe in witches and ghosts, and attach importance to lewd sacrifices"; in Yangzhou, "people believe in ghosts and gods, and enjoy lewd sacrifices"; in Wu, "people believe in ghosts and gods, and enjoy lewd sacrifices"; in Hongzhou, "people believe in witches, and when someone is sick, they send their relatives away, and rely on the gods for everything, including food, clothing, and medicine, and many people die"; "in the north and south routes of Hunan, in the intercalary year, children are killed in advance to sacrifice to lewd temples, which is called 'collecting life'." And so on.
These are just historical records. There are countless other bad customs like the one Xianglin Sao encountered, where remarrying is a crime and one has to donate a threshold to atone for the sin.
So Zhao Jun now feels that the burden on his shoulders is very heavy.
Seeing the ignorance of these common people, and realizing that a large number of people have no spiritual support, they can only seek help from gods for various diseases, wealth, natural disasters and other factors, and even kill people to sacrifice to evil gods and evil spirits.
He felt that it was too difficult to clear up the world and guide the whole society's atmosphere in a good direction.
"Now I understand the hardships of great men. It seems that it is time to eliminate the evil spirits. Even if we cannot make the people firmly believe in materialism, we must let them believe in orthodox Buddhism and Taoism, rather than pinning their hopes on these monsters and demons."
Zhao Jun thought to himself.
(End of this chapter)
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