Chapter 211 Legal Age for Marriage
The great man under the sky, "..."
What? What did you just say? How old are you? What's illegal about it?
Emperor Jingxuan pointed at the sky curtain and turned to Cao Qing and said, "How old did they say you have to be? Twenty or older to get married? So late?"
The legal age for marriage in the Great Qi Dynasty was sixteen for men and fourteen for women.
Emperor Jingxuan himself got married at the age of sixteen.
Although some people will wait until the man has his coming-of-age ceremony and the woman has her coming-of-age ceremony before getting married, it won't be too far beyond that.
But look at later generations. Renhe Zheyan actually planned to get married when he was 30 years old, which was already the age for grandparents. It was too much.
"They got married so late, and there are still 1.4 billion people???" Are you sure you are not lying to him?
Chao Chao was also confused, "Mom, why do you have such a rule?"
"In the beginning, it was to control population growth."
The people of the Great Qi Dynasty, "..."
Listen to what you are saying???
Emperor Jingxuan and his ministers nearly vomited blood. Every dynasty has been eager for an explosion in population growth and have come up with various forms of rewards for this purpose. Yet you actually say that it is to control population growth.
What’s the matter? A population of 1.4 billion is amazing.
It’s really amazing, seven times more than theirs, I’m jealous just thinking about it.
Emperor Jingxuan felt a little headache. Today might not be a good day to listen to Miss Jian.
Jian Yunsang was still patiently explaining to Chao Chao, "Secondly, it is to extend the time young people receive education and promote personal development. Thirdly, it is to promote eugenics and reduce various health problems caused by early marriage."
Emperor Jingxuan paused, gritting his teeth. What does that mean? What does it mean to reduce the health problems caused by early marriage?
He quickly pricked up his ears and heard Jian Yunsang say, "Generally speaking, the best childbearing age for women is between 24 and 35 years old, and the best childbearing age for men is between 25 and 40 years old. Too early or too late is not suitable."
The people of Daqi under the sky were in an uproar.
Are you kidding? Having a baby at the age of 24 or 25?
Doesn't that mean they have to wait seven or eight years before they can have children? Maybe they have already been divorced by their husband's family and are suspected of being unable to have children.
Even Emperor Jingxuan frowned, "How can the population grow if children are born so late?"
Some people are buried in the ground when they reach the age of forty.
Chao Chao felt that what her mother said was a little different from her own perception. But she always believed in her mother, and what her mother said was right.
"But why is the best time to have children after your twenties? Many girls in Shangliu Village gave birth to children very early."
Jian Yunsang held her in his arms, sighed slightly and said, "That's because no matter whether it's a man or a woman, their bodies haven't developed well yet, so how can they have children? Just like girls under the age of 18, even their pelvises haven't fully developed yet, so giving birth can easily lead to dystocia and heavy bleeding."
"And data shows that the mortality rate for women under 20 is twice that of women aged 25 to 29."
so much?
The people of the Daqi Dynasty turned pale, especially the young girls who had just gotten married. When they heard Jian Yunsang's words, their legs and feet became weak.
Is it really that risky to have a baby too early?
However, if they don't give birth for a few years after getting married, they will be criticized.
Some people don't care whether these women will have difficult labor or be in danger of their lives. They just want to continue the family line and have more children.
They are just tools for reproduction.
Fortunately, Jian Yunsang continued, "In fact, it is not only risky for the mother, but also bad for the fetus. If the male and female development is incomplete, the child will lack nutrition in the mother's body, which will affect their brain and bone development. In short, they may be short or not smart enough."
"Also, if the mother is too young, the probability of the baby being underweight is also high."
After these words were spoken, the Daqi men who had originally not taken it seriously fell silent.
They are more concerned about the health and intelligence of their offspring.
If this is the case, then you really shouldn't have children too early, but...
Emperor Jingxuan had a headache. At this moment, the Grand Tutor and several Shangshu had already come to the imperial study. They couldn't help but frown when they heard this.
The Grand Tutor hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, Miss Jian would not speak without a purpose. What she said must be true. I saw many people coming and going at the Tang family's banquet today. Whether they were men or women, they were generally taller than the people of Daqi. Not only them, but also the people in Jinwen Village last time. Your Majesty, have you noticed that the young people are a head taller than the old people?"
Obviously, people in later generations may have married early, but by Miss Jane's generation, it should be considered late marriage and good childbearing.
Emperor Jingxuan tapped the armrests of the table and chair with his fingers, looking thoughtful.
After a long while, he asked in a low voice, "What suggestions does the Master have?"
The Grand Tutor bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think that the population of Daqi is relatively stable now. It is not like the wartime period when we need to replenish the population. Perhaps, the marriage age can be pushed back by two years."
Someone around him objected, "That being said, Daqi only has 200 million people. In the future, when there are 1.4 billion people, we will be able to control population growth. We are not at that point yet."
Grand Tutor, "I think that before we find high-yield crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, Daqi's food reserves are only enough to feed 200 million people. There is no need to rush to increase the population now."
Even if the population grows, it still makes no difference if the people don't have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear.
Emperor Jingxuan always listened to what the Taifu said, and the facts proved that what was said on the sky curtain was true.
He nodded. "Taifu's words make sense, but Daqi cannot be compared with later generations after all. Postponing it to twenty or twenty-two is still too far away. Didn't Miss Jian say that if the pelvis is not fully developed under the age of eighteen, then the marriage age for girls should be postponed to seventeen and for boys to nineteen."
The Taifu's mouth twitched. Your Majesty, do you want to arrange the time so close?
Oh, a girl gets married at 17 and gives birth at 18, right? You don't give her any room.
But Emperor Jingxuan thought this arrangement was a good one. In later generations, women got married at the age of 20, but wasn't the best age for childbearing 24? If you can, change the marriage age to 23.
Emperor Jingxuan was very satisfied with this arrangement, but after all, this matter was of great importance and there were too few officials present, so it had to be discussed at the morning court tomorrow.
So he asked the Ministry of Rites to draft a set of regulations first, and it would be best if this matter could be implemented tomorrow.
After several ministers agreed, Emperor Jingxuan continued to look at the sky.
Just then I heard Chao Chao's joyful voice, "Mom, my energy level has increased."
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