Chapter 286: Abandoned Mother's Social Ideal
As Lu Qiniang spoke, she rummaged through the drawers of the desk and after a while, she pulled out a few sheets of used rice paper.
She said, "This is for practicing calligraphy. I learned to recognize and write characters like a dog crawling, so I just use the back. It's written by me, so only Xiao Yan and I can recognize it."
She dipped her index finger in her saliva and opened a few pages of paper and placed them on the table.
The emperor looked down and realized that he really didn't recognize him.
The main thing is, are you sure they are all words?
He could vaguely recognize a few, but he was powerless to recognize the rest.
Lu Qiniang said, "I can't write many words either, so just give the idea, and you can understand it yourself."
Xiao Yan said that she has her own writing.
But he said that he didn't want to be a cuckold anymore, as that was not good for a man.
Lu Qiniang thought he was too troublesome.
How come he was fine before, but now that we've gotten to know each other better, all his problems have come up?
"I'm telling you something. I just said it casually, so you can just take it as it is." Lu Qiniang said, "I didn't say this to the Emperor, I said it to Master Li. So if what I said is not good, just treat it as a passing wind. Don't take it personally, and don't punish me."
"When did you become so long-winded?" The emperor said with a smile, "Tell me about it soon. I'm looking forward to it."
"Then I'll tell you the truth. You don't know, I started preparing from the day I knew you were the emperor." Lu Qiniang said proudly, "The first thing is a girl. You don't know, many people only want sons, not daughters. Some even drown if they give birth to daughters. Who didn't crawl out of a woman's belly? If we only want sons, then men can give birth to men in the future!"
"Years ago, I went to the countryside to help with farm work during the busy farming season, and I've seen too many of these. I felt bad for them, but I couldn't afford to support them. There are also some boys whose parents have passed away and have no one to raise them. A few days ago, I saw a brother and sister selling fish in the middle of winter. Later, I asked around and found out they were indeed orphans. I took them in and started running errands for my shop, so I could at least provide them with food and protect them from being bullied."
Girls, in particular, are very likely to be cheated and deceived after the age of eleven or twelve, and their lives may be ruined.
"I was talking to Xiao Yan, and he said that many years ago, I can't remember which dynasty, there was this charity bureau. Your Majesty, if they have it, you should have it too! With such great merit, who wouldn't remember you?"
The emperor sighed, wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent. He waved his hand and said, "Go on with your story."
"After talking about the children, there are also the elderly——"
Lu Qiniang mentioned four at once.
In addition to children, there are elderly people with no one to support them, and people who are sick but have no money to treat them - she herself is a living example of this.
Another thing is the dead.
Many poor people die and no one collects their bodies for burial.
At the dock, Lu Qiniang saw many abandoned corpses floating up.
Life is nothing but birth, old age, sickness and death.
There will be no one suffering from hunger and cold, no one dying of hunger and cold, the children will be educated and the elderly will be taken care of. This is Lu Qinniang's simplest social ideal.
She could not see anything else but the sufferings of the world, so she devoutly placed her hopes on the most noble person in the world.
The emperor smiled bitterly.
"Abandoned Mother, do you think I don't want these things? It's me who can't do it."
Because all of those require money to support.
Even though he is the emperor, he cannot create money out of thin air.
"Why do you think I came to you today? It's because I was listening to the cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue settling last year's accounts with me, and I felt so upset."
The emperor has no surplus food!
Lu Qiniang didn't understand, but she understood one thing: the emperor had no money either.
Without money, you can't do anything, and the same goes for the emperor.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Your Majesty, I also had a hard time in the past few years, but when I have no money, I find ways to make money. I think this is true for individuals and for the country as well. Why don't you lead the ministers to think of ways to make money?"
It’s time to reclaim the wasteland and raise pigs.
When everyone gets moving, can we create greater value?
"Also, you see, I made some dry food, but I can't sell it to myself. I have to sell it to outsiders to exchange for silver." Lu Qiniang continued, "Then if we sell things, we can't just sell them to our own people. Can we sell them to the Hu people, the barbarians? Oh, and I heard that there are also people from overseas. Their hair and eye colors are different from ours."
"Who told you that?" the emperor laughed.
"There are many well-traveled people at the docks, and they have a wide range of knowledge. I heard a lot of new things along the way."
The Emperor said, "We do have border exchanges. However, lifting the maritime ban requires cracking down on Japanese pirates, which is not as simple as one might imagine."
"Then let's fight," Lu Qiniang said. "When there's little work at the docks, people always fight to get it. There's no other way. If we don't fight, we won't be able to eat."
People die for money and birds die for food. Isn't this normal?
The emperor said, "But to fight against the Japanese pirates, we need to build ships, which requires a lot of silver..."
Over the years, ministers have proposed lifting the maritime ban, but the emperor is relatively conservative and has many concerns.
"How can you make money without spending money? What needs to be spent cannot be vague."
The emperor laughed and said, "But where will the money come from? Do you know how much silver a warship costs?"
"How many?"
"You have to sell fireworks for ten years, and make as much money every year as you did at the end of the previous year, to build a warship."
Lu Qiniang was shocked, "One hundred thousand taels?"
"Yes, one hundred thousand taels a ship."
"Who will take on this job?" Lu Qiniang said subconsciously.
She wants to pack it too.
My intuition is that there should be a lot of oil and water.
emperor:"……"
"I'm just talking nonsense," Lu Qiniang said quickly, "I just think this is too expensive. Can we save some money? Another point is that I think the silver shouldn't all be paid by the court."
"Tell me about it."
"I'm just talking nonsense, just listen to it." Lu Qiniang moved a little further up the kang. "It's like this. I heard someone say this at the docks before. I don't know if it's true or not, but they said that there were people smuggling in Jiangnan and making a lot of money. Do you think they haven't encountered pirates and Japanese pirates? Of course they have, but they either paid people to fight them or suffered losses. If they didn't encounter them, they made a profit."
"That's how it is. I heard they made unimaginable money. You said, lifting the maritime ban, not everyone can benefit. Whoever benefits should pay more. Since they have money and can continue to make more money in the future, let those merchants in Jiangnan who have overseas business pay the biggest share."
The emperor smiled and said, "Your idea is worth considering. But it's never easy to take money out of people's pockets."
"I'm just saying it casually. Anyway, I think you shouldn't worry about money. If it doesn't work, we can earn money. If that doesn't work, we can arrest the corrupt officials and confiscate their property."
When the emperor heard this, he burst into laughter.
These words are the naive fantasies of ordinary people at the bottom of society.
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