Chapter 280: Starting with Education
Seeing Jiang Tangtang enjoying the fish, He Qiuniang was very satisfied. She had put a lot of thought into the fish in the pond.
In addition to building a roof for the pond, we will also have people go to the mountains to cut tender grass and throw it into the fish pond tomorrow.
It's not easy to find tender grass in this drought.
But thinking about the dwindling water in the pond, He Qiuniang's face was filled with worry again. "How long do you plan to stay this time, Madam?"
Jiang Tangtang said, "I'll probably stay here for a few days."
If she is sure that what she has found is sea rice, she plans to grow seedlings immediately and start preparing a sea rice planting base.
Zhounanzhuang is not far from the wild rice discovery site, so it is convenient to come back and stay there every day.
He Qiuniang was delighted when she heard that Jiang Tangtang would be staying at the manor for a few days. "Then I'll make arrangements and catch a few crucian carp to make soup for you tomorrow morning. I was thinking of sending the fish to you, but I was worried that the fish would die of heat on the long journey. Now that you're back, I don't have to worry about the fish anymore."
Jiang Tangtang asked, "Is it because of the lack of water that the fish in the pond are becoming increasingly difficult to raise?"
He Qiuniang nodded. "The weather is too hot, and the water in the pond is getting less and less. Several fish die every day. It makes me so sad to see them."
Although the fish weren't wasted in the end, as she shared them with everyone, it was still heartbreaking to watch them die after so much effort in raising them.
Jiang Tangtang took another bite of the fish and wondered whether he should get some fish to raise in the space.
Since the drought started this year, she has cleared out several plots of land to grow rice.
As far as she knew, crabs and fish could be raised in rice fields.
Jiang Tangtang pondered this and said, "Then have someone catch more fish tomorrow. Make some fish soup for the guards to share. Also, prepare a few large buckets and pick out the smaller fish for me to take away."
He Qiuniang nodded repeatedly. As a servant, she didn't ask where to take it. Since the mistress said she wanted to take it away, it must have some other use.
Jiang Tangtang asked about other situations in the village.
Especially the rubber forest that He Qiuniang is responsible for managing.
I heard that the rubber trees in the rubber forest were not dead, but because of the drought this year, the rubber was not tapped according to the method Jiang Tangtang instructed. I also heard that the use of the rubber that was tapped before had not been figured out. Jiang Tangtang was a little disappointed, but also felt it was normal.
After all, this was in ancient times, and it was not easy to learn how to process rubber.
After the meal, Jiang Tangtang had a pretty good idea of what was happening at the farm. After He Qiuniang cleared the bowls and chopsticks, Jiang Tangtang planned to go into the space to see the wild rice she had planted, but then she heard Yuan San come in and report, "Madam, Chen and her daughter Lu Zhiyi want to see you."
All members of the second branch of the Lu family were sentenced to labor reform in the mines, but depending on the severity of their crimes, the mines where they were forced to work and the duration of their labor reform were different.
Chen and her daughter Lu Zhiyi were implicated by Lu Yingxun, and their betrayal was to the nearest iron mine, which meant they would be back in the shortest time, only five days. Furthermore, unlike Lu Yingxun and the others, they were not immediately sent to the mine.
Instead, they were allowed to go again the next morning and pack some things from home to take with them.
Is she dissatisfied with her sentence? She wants to plead for mercy.
Jiang Tangtang frowned and asked Yuan San to bring the person in.
As soon as they saw Jiang Tangtang, Chen and Lu Zhiyi bowed to Jiang Tangtang, not daring to act like an elder at all.
She didn't know how to address Jiang Tangtang now. She was afraid that being too close would annoy Jiang Tangtang, but she was also afraid that being too distant would make it difficult to get what she wanted next. In the end, she simply omitted the name.
"I came to you today not to ask you to spare my mother and me from the punishment of going to the mine, but to ask you to allow me to divorce Chen Yingxun."
Jiang Tangtang raised an eyebrow, a little surprised. "If you want to divorce him, you shouldn't come to me. You should talk to him. If he doesn't want to, you can go to the government office to appeal."
"I talked to him about it, but he disagreed. I also went to the county government office, but the person in charge of handling the divorce only advised me to go back..."
Although Jiang Tangtang amended the law, the law stipulates that women can decide their own marriages, and divorced women can establish a female household and live alone with their children.
But for thousands of years, the status of women has been low. Even if Jiang Tangtang went against public opinion and amended the law, which was regarded as treason by many people, it would still be easy to enforce.
Chen told about the obstacles she encountered in getting a divorce. The county magistrate felt that Lu Yingxun had not done anything wrong and that Chen's request for a divorce was simply unreasonable. He did not care about her request at all.
Even her own son felt that she was a disgrace to him, and now the mother and son were like strangers.
Lu Yingxun felt that Chen had embarrassed him by taking her divorce case to the county government office, so he became even more violent towards her.
After listening to Chen's story, Jiang Tangtang suddenly felt that she had taken things for granted. Many things could not be changed by her power and amending a few laws.
If we want to change the current situation, we still need to make countless efforts.
Chen was very courageous for finding her and expressing her demands. I'm afraid there are many people who don't even have the courage like Chen.
"Tomorrow you will go to the mine to serve your sentence. After your sentence is completed, go find the county clerk. I will then check how they usually do things."
Jiang Tangtang rubbed her temples. This was only a temporary solution. It was impossible for her to personally monitor every position like this!
As she thought about it, her eyes unconsciously fell on Lu Zhiyi.
She didn't know if it was because she had experienced life and death, but she felt that Lu Zhiyi seemed to have changed a lot compared to when she first came here.
Seeing Jiang Tangtang staring at him, Lu Zhiyi mustered up the courage to say, "Madam Lu, after we return from our service at the mine, can I come and work for you?"
In the past two years, she has regretted more than once, regretting that she was blind to bully Jiang Tangtang and go against her.
She hated herself for not waking up sooner.
Especially every time she heard people talking about Lu Zhixi, her jealousy and envy reached its peak.
She also wanted to be like Lu Zhixi, to be able to walk freely outside, to make a career, to gain respect from others with her own abilities, instead of having only one path, which was to get married.
But every time she thought of the times when she bullied Jiang Tangtang, she didn't have the courage and didn't dare to go to Jiang Tangtang and tell her what she was thinking.
"What do you think you have that would convince me to hire you?" Seeing that she didn't respond, Jiang Tangtang changed to a more straightforward approach, "What abilities do you have? What can you do for me?"
Lu Zhiyi didn't have any hope at first, but when he saw Jiang Tangtang's look of "You come and convince me, convince me, I will use your eyes", he suddenly saw hope.
She took a deep breath and said seriously, "I can read and write, and I can do needlework. I... I can be a teacher and teach people how to read and write."
She thought of the time when she accompanied her mother to the yamen to appeal for divorce, and the contemptuous look the clerk gave them.
She clenched her palms. "I can still work as a clerk in the government office, specializing in women's divorces. If I were to do that, I would definitely not let the laws you set down become meaningless."
Jiang Tangtang nodded slowly, revealing an appreciative look.
Perhaps the fundamental reason why many of her laws were ineffective was that there were too few women who could read and write in this era, and even among those who could read, most of them read about the Three Obediences and Four Virtues.
If she really wants to change the status of women and some of the outdated customs of this era, she should start with women's education...
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