"Please wait, sir. Is His Majesty in the county?"
The eunuch delivering the imperial edict gave a mysterious smile upon hearing this: "My lord, His Majesty's edict has not been sent anywhere else, but has been personally delivered to you. Tell me, where is His Majesty?"
Upon hearing this, the county magistrate immediately understood, but no matter how much he inquired, the eunuch could not give him a definite answer.
After the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree left, the county magistrate immediately intensified the publicity efforts to ensure that no one in the entire county would dare to bind the feet of their daughters.
When ordinary people heard about this, some were able to think clearly and gave up the idea of binding their daughters' feet, but others wanted to hurry up and bind their children's feet. Almost all of these families who wanted to bind their children's feet were reported by their neighbors.
The whistleblower was anonymous, and the money offered by the authorities wasn't much, but it was enough to tempt many people.
So for a day or two, no one in the entire county dared to bind their daughters' feet anymore.
After two days of busy work, the innkeeper's wife of Youqing heard that the government forbade women from binding their feet, so she stopped forcing her daughter to bind her feet. She herself had bound her feet and knew the suffering that came with it.
When Youqing left this small town, the shopkeeper's daughter was no longer suffering from foot binding.
Leaving the town, Youqing still had many feelings in her heart. Kangxi said to Youqing, "I know you feel reluctant, but the world is so big, there are many things that cannot be tolerated. I will do my best to govern this country, but there are also things that are beyond my power."
Emperor Kangxi was deeply moved by this trip, realizing that there were many unsatisfactory aspects to the territory he governed.
"I know, I'm just feeling a bit sentimental."
If it weren't for Youqing's concern about foot binding, it wouldn't have been a big deal in Kangxi's eyes. He was a typical male chauvinist, and the reason he showed such respect to Youqing was because he liked her and because she was worthy of it.
After saying that, Youqing continued, "Men like women's three-inch golden lotuses, so women have the habit of foot binding. In fact, foot binding is against the natural order. If the feet are born this way, then it is right to bind them this way. Foot binding to the point of deformity is like torture, and it is torture used on children."
Kangxi certainly understood this principle.
Men are in charge and make decisions, and the law is more favorable to men, while women are in a weaker position, which has led to the current situation.
Although the sign prohibiting the empress dowager from interfering in politics was originally established by Emperor Shunzhi to prevent the Empress Dowager from meddling in state affairs, and was a restriction on women, it is undeniable that it was a unique affirmation, or even an indication of importance, placed on women.
The path Wu Zetian took to become empress was far more difficult than that of any man to become emperor, yet she succeeded.
There was also the Empress Dowager. Although Youqing had no feelings for the deceased Empress Dowager, it was extremely difficult for her as a woman to support her son and grandson to ascend the throne. Her political skills and strategies were no less than those of any emperor.
Then Youqing continued, "Tell me, when will this situation change?"
Although Youqing's words were veiled, Kangxi clearly understood their meaning.
"what you up to?"
Youqing shook her head: "Don't worry, I don't have that much ability, nor can I shoulder such a heavy responsibility. I will not follow the example of Wu Zetian."
Youqing would never have said such things before, but now she dares to say them.
This was the first time Emperor Kangxi had ever heard such words.
He remained silent for a long time, thinking about many things.
"In the past, although I admired my maternal grandmother's strategic skills, I thought she was only a minority. It wasn't until I thoroughly investigated the harem that I realized that all the concubines in the harem were exceptionally shrewd. However, their vision was too narrow, confined to the palace walls. I disliked their insincerity towards me and their meticulous scheming, but it is undeniable that if they were given the same starting point as men, they would not be inferior to men. When I was not yet twenty, I was able to deal with four regents who were like old foxes, but I was still tricked by the concubines in the harem. Compared with men, apart from the difference in physical strength, they are actually no different from men."
Youqing was somewhat surprised that he would say such a thing. Before Youqing could reply, he continued, "If one day you really want to emulate Wu Zetian, it is not impossible."
Youqing was genuinely shocked. Was this person out of their mind?! An emperor, and someone actually said to his empress, "It's not impossible to emulate Wu Zetian," was this person out of their mind?
Furthermore, she was only about ten years younger than Emperor Kangxi. Kangxi reigned for sixty-one years, ascended the throne at the age of eight, and died at nearly seventy. At that time, she was almost sixty years old, which would be retirement age in modern times. While others were retiring, she was busy with her career. Was she just bored and had nothing better to do?
"Don't say things like that again. You just be the emperor. I don't have such lofty ambitions."
Even if others don't know her worth, doesn't she know herself?
Although she could offer Kangxi some useful advice, she couldn't offer everything. After all, she wasn't a native of ancient times. For one thing, most of the court officials had passed the imperial examinations, and she had never even read the Four Books and Five Classics. If you asked her to read a memorial, she might not be able to fully understand it.
Furthermore, she felt that being an emperor was like taking exams in politics, geography, history, and other subjects every day. There was no room for error; if you made a huge mistake, you would be condemned by the world. Whoever wanted to do such a thankless job could do it, but she wouldn't.
In fact, Kangxi knew that although Youqing had a lot of property and he cared about it, he didn't like to hold power and would let go of it if he could. He wasn't a diligent person either. Kangxi, who had been emperor for many years, knew that being an emperor was a hard job and one couldn't be lazy.
"Although I don't have such lofty ambitions, I always feel that it's a waste of a woman's talents to confine her to the inner quarters."
"Throughout history, there have been many women who possessed both virtue and talent, achieving feats that even men could hardly match. I am aware that women have such abilities. Since ancient times, there have been attempts to bring women into the court, but even if I were to agree, the entire court and all the scholars in the land would not allow it."
This is too difficult. Emperor Kangxi aspired to be an emperor comparable to Emperor Taizong of Tang, but allowing women to enter the court was not something that could be accomplished overnight. Even if he succeeded during his reign, what about the future? The possibility of failing at the last hurdle was too great.
It's too much work for little reward; he'd rather use that time for something else.
You Qing knew he had misunderstood her meaning.
"I am not saying that women should be allowed to enter the court."
"What do you mean? Explain yourself."
"I've thought about it, and the current situation of male superiority and female inferiority is largely due to the fact that men bear the heavy responsibility of supporting the family. Men farm and women weave, and women also make contributions, but most of the time men do more physical labor. This has led to the saying that men are the pillars of the family, and gradually the current situation of men being the main breadwinners and women being secondary. If we can change this situation, or use convenient tools to change the gap between men and women caused by their natural physical strength, we can subtly improve the status of women."
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