Crossing the East Palace

Princess Ningyang is the adopted daughter of the Empress Dowager and the aunt of Emperor Tianyuan. When Emperor Tianyuan seized the throne, Princess Ningyang publicly supported Emperor Tianyuan. Princess Ningyang’s son-in-law also died for Emperor Tianyuan. In the battle of the first son, Emperor Tianyuan attached great importance to Princess Ningyang's family and granted many titles to her children.

The eldest son of Princess Ningyang, thanks to the merits of his parents, was able to take the title of the same rank. It is Jiang Zishan, the Marquis of Anyang, who is the Minister of Rites in the imperial court. He has four sons and two daughters, and the four sons have already served as officials in the court. , the eldest daughter has been married, and now only the ten-year-old daughter Jiang Hanyi is left; the second, third and youngest sons of Princess Ningyang are now released to serve as officials.

The Jiang family is a family that has lasted for several dynasties. Tang Luojin didn't realize that it was time to get married, but now seeing Jiang Hanyi and thinking about the Jiang family's family background, Tang Luojin naturally wanted to get the support of the Jiang family.

As for the Jiang family and Princess Ningyang, they naturally hope to remarry with the royal family.It's just that Jiang Hanyi is ten years old, three years older than the crown prince, and the empress dowager never revealed the meaning behind it. Princess Ningyang decided to make the next best thing, and wanted her little granddaughter to marry Goryeo, who had no hope of seizing the heir apparent. The sixth prince born to Concubine Yan brought Jiang Hanyi to the palace frequently.Unexpectedly, Tang Luojin suddenly asked to marry Jiang Hanyi.

Princess Ningyang was overjoyed, and said: "Your Highness, quickly let go of Han Yi's hand. Han Yi belongs to a girl's family, so you can't let others touch your hands casually."

As soon as Tang Luojin heard this, she knew that the matter was hopeful, so she pulled Jiang Hanyi's hand even tighter, raised her head from Princess Ningyang's arms, and said confidently: "My cousin's hand, no one else can touch it. But Well, if my aunt married my cousin to me, I would naturally be able to meet her. If I can marry my cousin, I will love her and pity her, and we will walk hand in hand with her for a hundred years."

Jiang Hanyi kept her head down from the beginning to the end, just a pretty face, but it seemed to be dyed red.

Hand in hand side by side, we have gone through a hundred years.

It's not about treating her as a treasure or an object, but about treating her as an equal person, walking hand in hand side by side for a century of life.

Princess Ningyang didn't expect Tang Luojin, a seven-year-old child, to make such a promise. Surprised, her eyes moved slightly, and she looked sideways in the direction of the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.

In the Empress Dowager's heart, there was nothing wrong with Tang Luojin, and what he said and what he asked for was naturally right.

Besides, the granddaughter of Princess Ningyang and the daughter of Jiang Zishan, Marquis of Anyang, is also a crown princess.

Although she is three years older than the crown prince, three years old is not 30 years old, so why can't she get married?

The Empress Dowager smiled and nodded.

The Queen Mother naturally nodded.The Jiang family is indeed worthy of the prince, and can indeed help the prince.

Princess Ningyang smiled even wider. She held the two children's hands together lovingly, and said, "So, my great-aunt and Han Yi are waiting for the prince's matchmaker in the mansion."

So the marriage is settled.

The Princess Ningyang Mansion, which is the natal family of the princess, and the Jiang family headed by the Anyang Marquis Mansion have become ironclad princelings.

The queen wished she could bite her silver teeth, but she couldn't do anything.

On the next day, she invited Mrs. Yuehou into the palace. After hearing this, Mrs. Yuehou wished she could drag the second sister and scold her!

"You are confused!" Mrs. Yue Hou said, "The Jiang family, a family that has lasted for several generations, can their foundation be touched by ordinary people? They just didn't make a move in the past, but now they are pushed by Ah Jin. Jin's ship, even if it is revealed that Ah Jin is not a legitimate son, I am afraid that he will be able to keep his position as the crown prince!"

The queen was stunned: "But, but didn't the eldest sister say that you can't act rashly for the time being?"

"..." Mrs. Yue Hou was choked for a moment before she said, "The other things are naturally not worth doing rashly. But this matter is so important, why shouldn't you act rashly? Huan'er, Huan'er, think about it carefully, ah Jin and the Jiang family are married, and they are given the position of crown princess, so what the Jiang family expects is that after Ah Jin, a prince with the blood of the Jiang family can ascend the throne. The Jiang family's ambitions are so far, they can really allow it. We acted rashly against Ah Jin? If Ah Jin really disappeared by accident, wouldn't the Jiang family not investigate to the end?"

Mrs. Yuehou's expression was slightly complicated: "If there is no chance to be the crown prince Yue's family, then that's fine. If there is an opportunity, if the crown prince asks for it in person, how can the Jiang family let go of such an opportunity? Princess Ningyang and the Jiang family How could you let go of someone who is not good for the prince? Huan'er, if you stopped it immediately, even if you tore your face, it would be fine. But now..."

The matter has become a foregone conclusion, even she can't think of any good way.

Maybe it's okay to let Tang Luojin continue to be the prince?

Mrs. Yue Hou's eyes moved slightly.

The fact that the prince personally begged the Jiang family girl spread quickly inside and outside the palace.

When the eldest prince heard the news, he could hardly control his anger and came to Concubine Xiang.

Concubine Xiang got the news one step ahead of the eldest prince. Seeing that the eldest prince was furious, she hastily persuaded her for a long time before she sighed: "This marriage is a foregone conclusion. No one said anything earlier, but now the prince speaks first. , and gave the promise. The empress dowager and the empress dowager are happy to see it, and Princess Ningyang is happy to see it. The Jiang family can't wait to marry their girl right now. Even the emperor..." Concubine Xiang is actually the eldest prince I asked the emperor for the marriage, but the emperor could not deny it and did not agree, but when it was Tang Luojin's turn, even though the Jiang family was really powerful, "the emperor agreed."

The eldest prince lifted his clothes, knelt down and said: "This matter cannot be left like this. Xiao Qi is good at everything, if there is another marriage, mother concubine, can we still have hope? The son knows the mother concubine and the queen There has always been a disharmony between the son and Xiao Qi, and the son couldn't control his temper in the past, so he ignored Xiao Qi several times. These grievances, Xiao Qi and the queen will all remember them in their hearts. Now that the father is still here, we Naturally, we can live in peace for the time being, but once...Xiao Qi takes that position, what good life will mother, concubine and son have?"

Seeing that Concubine Xiang was silent, the eldest prince added fuel to the flames, saying: "It is said that King Xian is good, rich and glorious, and he can be leisurely every day, and he can have whatever he wants, but he is not as active as the emperor. Every day is exhausting. However, the mother and concubine, the son does not want to be the idle king, and dies in depression. His life is like being imprisoned, and he has no ambitions. What is the life of the idle king like? Both are the sons of the father, and the son If you want to fight for that seat, even if you lose in the end, at least your son has fought for it once, it's better than doing nothing and only being the idle king."

Concubine Xiang helped the eldest prince up with distress: "Why is my son so worried? It's just a matter of marriage. That Tang Luojin is only seven years old now, and he has to wait seven or eight years to get married. Is it cheap for you to come? My eldest prince, but he has reached the age of marriage. The mother and concubine will definitely choose a few good helpers for you."

The eldest prince was still unwilling: "But, concubine mother, the Li family..."

Concubine Xiang thought of her natal family's refusal to agree to the marriage she requested for the eldest prince, and her brows were worried: "There will always be a way. After all, the Li family is the mother's natal family. Even if the daughter of the Li family does not marry you, she will marry you in the future." I support you. Now, what we have to do is to let the people in the world know that the crown prince is wrong about foot binding. Not only do we want the world to know that the crown prince is wrong, but also the crown prince, Admit personally that he was wrong."

The eldest prince said: "So what if he admits it? He is only seven years old, and if he says 'young and ignorant' in the future, he will be able to fool the matter? At most, it will embarrass him for a while, but now he has the Jiang family by his side." , even if it's really embarrassing for a while, so what's the matter?"

Concubine Xiang smiled and said: "Silly boy. 'Young and ignorant', do you know that these four words are enough to take back all the benefits of the prince in the past? How can Emperor Wu be ignorant when he is reincarnated? He has a photographic memory. A genius, how can he be ignorant? A person who loves the people, how can he be ignorant? Young and ignorant, huh, since Tang Luojin entered the court, he never said that when he was wrong, he was wrong. This prince will always remember the mistakes made by this prince. How can his reputation really be harmless?"

Only then did the eldest prince become happy, and he hurried out of Concubine Xiang's palace again, and went outside the palace.

Concubine Xiang's brows just twitched.

Even before, they were able to slap Tang Luojin so happily on the face, it was because of the blessing that the Ning family offended King An, and the blessing that King An's grandson-in-law Han Junma happened to see the situation in Yizhou. If it wasn't for the support of many footbound people, with the cunning of the Ning family and the crown prince, they would have been beaten to death long ago.

Now that the crown prince has the support of the Jiang family, how will the matter develop... Xiang Guifei feels helpless without the support of the Li family.

The matter of the prince personally begging for the granddaughter of Princess Ningyang, under the operation of someone with a heart, quickly suppressed the "petition by thousands of people" and "the prince made mistakes when he was young and ignorant".

The empress dowager and the empress dowager were too old to be too busy, so they handed over the engagement of the prince and the granddaughter of Princess Ningyang to the empress.

No matter how displeased the Queen was, she had no choice but to take over the job.

As the eldest sister said, although I made a mistake this time, there will always be opportunities in the future.

Of course, the most important thing is that the queen must regain the Sacred Heart and conceive as early as possible—even if Master Zhi Shan said that she can only have a son after she is 35 years old, but if something happens, she may be able to give birth early Where is the son?Perhaps this hexagram is the only hexagram miscalculated by Master Zhishan?

In the 14th year of Tianyuan, Emperor Tianyuan married the crown prince and the young daughter of Anyang Hou Jiang Zishan, who married after the crown prince was 15 years old.

Hand over the matter of engagement to the Ministry of Rites and the Queen.

The crown prince is naturally fine.

Through this marriage, Tang Luojin found the Jiang family to support him, and at the same time used this marriage to suppress the foot-binding issue for the time being, and then sent people to Yizhou to wait for the five foot-binding winds to flourish. five states and counties.

Half a month later, in the early court, Han Junma once again presented a memorial, requesting the Holy Majesty and the Crown Prince, for the sake of the petition of thousands of people in Yizhou, to order the foot-binding to continue, and to order His Royal Highness not to embarrass the weak woman, to admit fault.

The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty knew that Han Junma's focus was on the latter matter.

Let His Royal Highness admit his mistake.

Emperor Tianyuan squinted his eyes.

Since the emperor, it is a disgrace to follow the "edict of sin against oneself". Now the prince is only a prince, and he is only seven years old, so he will be forced to formally admit his mistakes.

It really is someone who can't understand his Xiao Qi.

Although Emperor Tianyuan understood and was annoyed by this matter, as a crown prince, he had to experience many things. Now Xiao Qi is just being embarrassed by the wind of women's feet binding, so it can be seen that those people are just testing.Although Emperor Tianyuan felt sorry for Xiao Qi, he also planned to test whether the prince he chose was really suitable.

"Oh?" Emperor Tianyuan thought about it, and said indifferently, "Then, prince, are you willing to admit your mistake? Do you want to punish yourself?"

Han Junma's eyes lit up.

With a stern face, Tang Luojin stood up slowly, and walked to the open space in the middle of the Zichen Hall with considerable momentum, and said, "I'm not wrong, how can I admit my mistake?"

Han Junma immediately said: "His Royal Highness is young, I am afraid that he has a lot of playfulness and a small memory, and he has long forgotten that half a month ago, it was also this Zichen Palace. I used Yizhou as an example to refute what the prince said last time. Women's footbinding , will trap women in things that are unfilial, unkind, and unfaithful. The minister said that women's footbinding can not only please their husbands, but it is what women should do. Tianzu women generally work to support their families... It can be seen that women's footbinding is more satisfying to their husband's family than not having their feet bound, and their mother's family is proud, so why not do it?

And there are thousands of people petitioning, it can be seen that most of the women themselves are willing to bind their feet.Under such public opinion, even if the prince is wrong, what's the matter?The prince is young, and now he has made a mistake, even if it is a small mistake, it is fine to admit it.But if you know your mistakes but don’t admit them, let alone correct your mistakes, but stick to your own opinions and refuse to listen to the opinions of your ministers... Although I am not talented, I also feel that this is neither what a gentleman did, nor... what the prince should do Do what is right. "

As soon as Han Junma's words came out, although they were too harsh and harsh, there were still four or five people among the officials who stood up and said "the ministers seconded the proposal" and agreed with Han Junma's words.

The old god Tianyuandi sat there, didn't speak, just looked at Tang Luojin with his eyes.

Tang Luojin turned to look at Han Junma, raised her head, with a sullen face, and said indifferently: "What Han Junma said, Gushang has a few questions. How dare Han Junma answer?"

Han Junma looked down at Tang Luojin, who looked like a short winter melon, sneered in his heart, and said: "Your Highness is joking, and I have a clear conscience. Your Highness can ask you all."

"May I ask Han Junma, how many women of the right age are there in Yizhou? How many are footbound? How many children survived to the age of ten?" Tang Luojin said blankly, "Since Han Junma said that he has personally compared the number of children born to women with bound feet and women with natural feet, Thinking about the questions that Lai Gu asked, Han Junma must know. But please Han Junma, please tell me one by one."

Sweat dripped from Han Junma's forehead: "Your Highness was joking, I just passed by one of the villages, and when chatting with the villagers, the people in those villages told me so."

"Oh?" Tang Luojin didn't get to the bottom of it right away, but said, "Then, Junma Han once said that women with bound feet can also work in the fields. Then, if you dare to ask Junma Han, do you know that women with bound feet go to work in the fields every day? How much can a Tianzu woman do? How much can a Tianzu woman do every day? If there is no man in the family, how much money can a Tianzu woman earn to support her family? How much can a woman with bound feet earn?"

Han Junma's voice trembled slightly: "I, I don't know."

"So," Tang Luojin said, "Han Junma thinks that those who make parents suffer and feel sad are the way of filial piety? Parents who make their daughters suffer the pain of broken bones just to please men can be called loving fathers and mothers? Han Junma also thought, how painful is the pain of broken bones for women with bound feet? How many big vats are there for the tears that women with bound feet shed every day?"

Han Junma felt that he could answer this question: "Your Highness, this is wrong. Women are born inferior to men. To please men, it is the right thing to bear the pain of broken bones and bound feet. Your Highness has never been to Yizhou. I don’t know that men in Yizhou are always proud of marrying a girl with small feet. Women with Tianzu can’t marry at all. Parents’ love for their children should be far-reaching. It is also a deep love for a daughter to suffer the pain of broken bones for her future. The daughter's behavior. Your Highness is young and has never been a father, so naturally he doesn't know the reason for this."

Tang Luojin said: "Really? I have heard that Junma Han and the princess have two daughters. One is two years old and the other is ten years old. Will the county horse make them suffer from broken bones and bound feet? "

Hanjun Ma said: "The eldest daughter of the minister is too old to bind her feet. The younger girl is too young to bind her feet."

It means that, at least for now, these two daughters, Han Junma will not let them bind their feet.

Hearing this, Tang Luojin pursed her lips slightly: "Han Junma is a loving father." Before Han Junma thanked Tang Luojin for his praise, Tang Luojin continued, "It's a pity, but he is not a rigorous and meticulous father. Good officer."

After Tang Luojin finished speaking, she turned around and faced Emperor Tianyuan, cupped her hands and said, "Half a month ago, I was confused when I heard Junma Han's remarks, and I felt that Junma Han probably couldn't answer the questions of the ministers in front of me. If they had any doubts, they brought the registrars of the five prefectures and counties where footbinding was prevalent, and the lizhengs of individual villages around Chang'an City. Whether a woman is more suitable to support a family than a woman with natural feet, now several people are already waiting outside the palace, and I am asking my father to call me."

Han Junma's eyes widened.

All the ministers kneeling in the hall never imagined that this little prince would actually take this matter as a "big event" and even called the chiefs and Li Zhengs from all over the world. I have doubts about what Han Junma said before.

Emperor Tianyuan naturally agreed.

A total of five prefectures and counties came here, as well as Lizheng from three villages.

Tang Luojin first called out the head of Yizhou, looked at Han Jun Ma and said, "Han Jun Ma Ke still remembers what Caigu asked Han Jun Ma just now? Why don't Han Jun Ma ask for Gu instead?"

Where does Han Junma remember those?He didn't pay much attention to the young prince at first, so he didn't do some things in a particularly detailed way. He only listened to the general idea around Yizhou, and came to join the prince with confidence.

"Chen, Chen is ignorant, I don't remember."

Tang Luojin said: "It turns out that the Hanjun horse has the same memory as He Gu. It has a lot of playfulness but a small memory? This is what was said before a stick of incense, and the Hanjun horse has never remembered it."

Big play, little memory.This is exactly what Han Jun Ma Fang deliberately belittled Tang Luojin.

Tang Luojin returned it now.

What else can Han Junma say?I had to stand in the distance, not daring to speak.

The chief bookkeeper of Yizhou was doing clerical work. Hearing the prince's question and knowing the prince's people not only went to look for him, but also searched for the documents of population records accumulated over the years. They really couldn't do it, so they had to answer honestly. : "Returning to Your Highness, the footbinding in Yizhou began more than 630 years ago. Among the women who are suitable for childbearing age, there are [-] women with natural feet and [-] small feet. Women, on average, each woman with natural feet has four children; each woman with small feet has five children."

Han Junma's eyes lit up.

Many courtiers also began to whisper.

Tang Luojin said: "You haven't said how many people survived."

At this time, the number of children dying was quite large.

The master took a sneaky look at Han Junma, then lowered his head, and said: "Each Tianzu woman in Yizhou, on average, has three and a half children who survived and grew to ten years old; Girls with small feet...their children have a slightly lower survival rate, and less than three of them can survive and reach the age of ten."

The crowd was in an uproar.

Tang Luojin didn't show any expression on her face, so she asked the director of Yizhou to take a step back, and then asked the rest of the people.

The answers of these people are similar to those of the master of Yizhou. It is true that women with small feet are more likely to conceive and have children, but the number of children they give birth to survive and grow up is far less than that of women with natural feet.

Some people might not believe it before, but Tang Luojin is ruthless. He directly called the chief bookkeepers and Lizheng of the prefecture, county and village, and asked them to tell the exact numbers-human language can deceive people, but numbers are not. Will not lie.

Women with small feet are less likely to have children and grow up than women with natural feet.

What Han Junma said before was directly slapped in the face.

But even so, there are still many people who support footbinding in Chaoshang.

"But even so, His Royal Highness still has to consider the foundation of the country, which lies in the hearts of the people. Foot binding is the aspiration of the people among the people. My royal family in Datang has always loved the people. Even if it is the women whose feet are bound, they don't care about the pain of broken bones and bound feet. , willing to petition thousands of people, it can be seen that they, their fathers, brothers and husbands are all willing to bind their feet. His Royal Highness is only a prince, can he ignore the will of the people?"

"The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least. What the people want, what the people want, are not important to the prince?"