Chapter 79 Anger
“Zhong Huai said it right. If you study for the sake of etiquette and self-cultivation, it is okay to read more. But if you are an official, reading alone is useless.
< br>Every time the imperial court opened a subject to recruit scholars, countless people participated, and in the end only two or three hundred people were awarded the gold medal. Which of these people is not a scholar who is well-read in poetry and books?
However, some of these people are qualified? Some people can become good officials, and some become mediocre officials.
Is it because they have not read enough? " said Zhao Xing.
"I seem to understand." Qi Heng said thoughtfully.
"Don't worry, you are still young now, and you have plenty of time to think slowly. Don't just think about reading. When you are tired, you can take a rest. When you have nothing to do, you can go out for a walk. Write down what you see and hear. Combine what you have learned and verify it one by one," Zhao Xing said.
The reason why he said this to Qi Heng was because the views that Qi Heng usually raised were a bit too idealistic.
But this is normal. Qi Heng was born noble and did not understand the sufferings of the people.
"Yes, I understand." Qi Heng said.
In the afternoon, the polo match ended, and Zhao Xing rode in a carriage, escorted by the Forbidden Army.
The carriages of each family followed, forming a long queue.
After years of development, Bianjing has formed market towns several miles outside the city.
The level of prosperity is not much worse than that in the city.
As we approached the market town, the carriage suddenly stopped.
"What's going on?" Zhao Xing asked as he opened the curtain.
"Back to Your Highness, this servant doesn't know that Commander Cao has already sent people to check out the front." Liu Sanshi said.
Zhao Xing nodded when he heard this and lowered the car curtain.
After a while, Liu Sanshi reported: "Your Highness, someone is drowning a baby in front of you. The mother of the child is unwilling and started making a fuss, attracting many people to watch. Commander Cao has sent people to drive them away."
“What did you say?”
Zhao Xing opened the curtain and said in disbelief: "Since someone is drowning a baby, why don't you care?"
"Your Highness, you can't control this kind of thing." Liu Sanshi said.
"What do you mean you can't control it? A baby is no longer a human life? Is there any way to drown a baby in broad daylight?" Zhao Xing shouted.
"Your Highness, Chamberlain Liu is right, this kind of thing is so common that the government can't handle it," Gu Tingye said.
"Fart, what do you mean the government is not in control. Liu Sanshi passed the order to the orphan, and the child must be saved." Zhao Xing shouted.
It would be fine if he didn't know, but if he didn't care about this happening before his eyes, his conscience would be uneasy.
“Yes!” Liu Sanshi responded and jogged to deliver the order.
Zhao Xing got off the carriage and said: "Go and have a look with me."
"Your Highness, there are too many people there and it is not safe. You should wait for the news on the carriage. ." Gu Tingye advised.
"Zhong Huai, I hear what you mean, it seems that you are used to this kind of thing?" Zhao Xing asked.
"I went to Yangzhou before and saw it several times on the road. I heard that it is common in many places, but it is rare here in Bianjing." Gu Tingye said.
"Then why haven't you mentioned it to Gu?"
Zhao Xing's breath froze when he heard Gu Tingye's words.
Gu Tingye went to Yangzhou and saw them several times on the road, which shows how many babies are drowned every year.
When he thought of this, Zhao Xing felt so uncomfortable that he could hardly breathe.
Zhao Xing took a deep breath and walked forward.
Soon, Zhao Xing came to the front. At this time, the people had been driven far away by the forbidden army and separated.
There were only a middle-aged man in agarwood-colored brocade robes and a woman of seventeen or eighteen years old.
The middle-aged man was nodding and talking to Cao Mian, while the woman was sitting on the ground, holding a baby with a happy face.
There is still a pile of firewood piled on the roadside, and there is an extinguished torch on the ground.
Seeing this, Zhao Xing became even more angry. He wanted to drown the baby, or burn him alive.
Zhao Xing stepped forward, glared at the middle-aged man and said, "Looking at you, it's not like you can't raise a child. Tiger poison doesn't even eat its children. Why do you treat your own child like this?"
Although the middle-aged man didn't know Zhao Xing's identity, he could still recognize the soldiers around him wearing Forbidden Army armor.
Seeing how respectful these forbidden troops were to Zhao Xing, the middle-aged man also knew that Zhao Xing’s identity was not simple, and he was speechless after hearing this.
"You are so impudent. Didn't you hear what His Highness the Prince asked you?" Cao Mian scolded.
"Pfft."
When the middle-aged man heard that Zhao Xing was the prince, his legs went limp and he collapsed on the ground, crying: "Your Highness, it is the daughter of the grassroots that the grassroots want to burn, and it is not against the law."
"Asshole! The "Song Xingtong" stipulates that if children are unfilial, parents are not guilty of killing their children. Your child is still in infancy, is it possible that he can still be unfilial to you? You must not understand the laws of the Song Dynasty No?" Zhao Xing shouted.
Each dynasty had different standards of punishment for parents killing their children, and some dynasties even had no punishment at all.
According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, unless the children are unfilial, parents who beat their children to death will be exiled.
This kind of rule is difficult to judge in practical application. After all, in ancient times when filial piety was supreme, talking back to parents could be regarded as unfilial.
But this child is still in her infancy, so it is impossible to label her as unfilial even if she wants to. "What's going on? If you still dare to deceive me, your crime will be increased." Zhao Xing said coldly.
"Your Highness, the common people are forced to do this because they are the only one in the family, but the wives and concubines in the family have given birth to several daughters in succession. The common people have to find an expert to figure it out. , saying that only by burning the last daughter to death can a brother be born next time. There are three ways to be unfilial, and the common people are doing this to fulfill their filial piety.
"Bastard!" Zhao Xing kicked him out angrily and said angrily: "Do you still want to praise you?"
"Come here, take him down and send him to the Kaifeng government office. He will be severely punished according to the law!" Zhao Xing said coldly.
"Your Highness, please spare your life," the middle-aged man cried.
"Your Highness, please have mercy."
When the woman holding the child saw that Zhao Xing had ordered the arrest, she quickly kowtowed to Zhao Xing to plead for mercy.
"He wants to burn your daughter to death, and you still want to plead for him?" Zhao Xing said in disbelief: "Do you know that if Gu Ruo lets him go like this, he might attack your daughter again."
After hearing this, the woman kept kowtowing and begged Zhao Xing to show mercy.
Zhao Xing was so angry that he didn’t want to care about it. However, thinking that this was a human life after all, he couldn’t bear it and said: "The state has national laws, and the family has family rules. Everything is in accordance with the law, take it away!"
After Zhao Xing finished speaking, he turned around and left regardless of the man and woman's pleas.
......
"Madam, there was a member of the army ahead who wanted to burn the baby girl to death. When His Highness found out, he was furious and ordered people to stop him and even had him arrested."
Zhao Xing's chariot in front stopped, and the carriages of the officials and family members behind also stopped.
After waiting for a long time, when there was no movement, many people sent their servants to inquire about the news.
The servants of the British government told the news in detail.
After hearing this, the British princess sighed: "What a crime, how could you be so cruel."
"The mother of that child is also confused. His Highness wants to preside over her. It's fair, she actually begged His Highness to show mercy," Zhang Guifen said.
"Oh, it's not her fault. That woman is a concubine at first glance. The man was kidnapped because of her. When he goes back, the eldest lady in the family will definitely blame her. Her situation will only become more difficult. ." said the British princess.
After hearing this, Zhang Guifen was silent for a while and said: "I really hope that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can take this matter seriously and prevent this from happening again."
"In some places, it is believed that a girl is born at the first birth. If you don't drown, you will have a daughter, and you will have to have a son later. Therefore, if you get a boy soon after marriage, you will have to drown if you have a girl. There are too many things like this. How can you deal with it?" The British princess shook her head. road.
“Don’t the local governments care?” Zhang Guifen said in shock.
She was born into a noble family and has been living in Bianjing.
No matter whether it was for the sake of future or face, the officials in Bianjing would not do such a thing as drowning and abandoning a baby girl.
So although she heard it occasionally, she thought it was an exception, but according to her mother, this kind of thing is very common.
“How can the government manage things if the people don’t punish them?” The British princess shook her head.
"Perhaps Your Highness has a solution?" Zhang Guifen murmured.
Through today's contact, Zhang Guifen knew that Zhao Xing was different from what she originally thought.
Judging from the fact that Zhao Xing went to deal with it himself angrily after learning about this matter, Zhao Xing was also very disgusted with this kind of thing.
She felt that Zhao Xing might be able to think of a way to solve this situation.
......
Zhao Xing was holding his breath for the rest of the journey.
Judging from the reactions of Gu Tingye and the onlookers, it was obvious that they were accustomed to this kind of thing.
Drowning babies has become a common thing for everyone, and Zhao Xing is horrified by his part-time job.
Back in the East Palace, Zhao Xing left Gu Tingye and Qi Heng behind and came to the front hall.
"Zhonghuai, Yuanruo, sit down."
Zhao Xing waved his hand, came to the main seat and sat down, and said: "Zhonghuai, you said you saw it on the way to Yangzhou before I've been here several times, but you haven't asked why so many people are addicted to their children."
"Back to Your Highness, I also asked people to ask. This phenomenon happens among the people from time to time, and it is not the case in the Song Dynasty. This phenomenon has been formed since the Warring States Period, and it is also recorded in "Han Feizi" that when parents give birth to a son, they congratulate each other and kill them when they give birth to a daughter.
"It's simply ridiculous. There is no one in the world who was not born of a woman. If this were the case, wouldn't there be only men left in the world in the future? This is simply a waste of human life!" Zhao Xing became angrier as he listened.
In his last life, he had heard that some people in the countryside drowned or abandoned their daughters after giving birth to daughters. He did not expect that this behavior was left over from ancient times.
"Your Highness, in the past we only drowned daughters, but now many people even drown their sons." Gu Tingye said.
"Why?" Zhao Xing frowned.
He can still understand the doting on girls, and favoring sons over daughters. After all, the output of food was not high in ancient times, and the daughter was raised by another family.
Some, like the middle-aged man I met today, are caused by superstition.
But drowning his son left him a little confused.
Thanks to Dawn Dawn for the tip.
Thank you all brothers for your monthly recommendation and support.
(End of this chapter)