Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1212 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 136

Jiang Xinxin really underestimated Dapangju. Apart from temporarily postponing the issue of granting land to women, the decree to abolish foot binding was once again brought up, and this time it was directly linked to the future of men, because Dapangju ordered that if there was a woman with bound feet in the family, the men in the family would not be able to take the imperial examinations.

Although he had no chance to take the imperial examination, he actually had no chance of a career in officialdom, because for the Han people, the only way to become an official was to pass the imperial examination.

Of course, one can also enter the official career through some other means. Even if the ceiling is obviously much lower than that of those who enter the officialdom through the imperial examination, in the Qing Dynasty, this slight shortage of the ceiling is really nothing. After all, it is rare for people to become generals or ministers. Even those who enter the officialdom through the imperial examination can rarely achieve the achievements of the father and son of the Zhang family in Tongcheng.

So everyone thought that this was something that Big Fat Orange had not noticed. After arguing for a while, everyone accepted this decree, and many families even unbound the feet of girls who had just had their feet bound.

But how could Big Fat Orange leave such a big loophole for himself in his work? After another half a year, seeing that there were too few people who were allowed to be freed, he simply filled the loophole he had deliberately left before. Now, for anyone who still did not obey his order, Big Fat Orange directly announced that they were not allowed to hold office.

The resistance this time is certainly more intense, but it doesn't matter. Big Fat Orange's butcher knife is no less powerful than that of the previous emperor or even Prince Rui Dorgon. It is likely to be even sharper. After all, he is rich, very rich, and he has hinted to the royal family and nobles early on. In this way, a lot of space will definitely be left vacant.

While the men were jumping up and down to challenge Big Fat Orange's nerves and bottom line, the women had already noticed a law that was closely related to them: women could set up households.

So the women in the capital took out their family household registrations and set up one for themselves.

"With household registration, we can buy land, property and shops ourselves!"

The significance of household registration is not just a simple proof of existence, it also represents that women can legally and safely own property.

Before this decree came into being, it was impossible for women to have any property. After all, they did not even have a household registration. Even the property that aristocratic women could legally own was often registered under the name of their father or brother, or was registered with the government in the form of dowry.

But in fact, in the legal sense, the dowry also belongs to the husband or the father and brothers of the woman's family. It is just that noble women have many privileges that common women do not have, which makes the dowry seem to belong to them.

In this world, there are many families who would like to trade women as commodities, but there are also families who love their daughters. Once this decree on household registration came out, there were many families in the capital who directly turned dowries into their daughters' private property, and many noble women directly enjoyed this safer convenience.

Whether it was abolishing foot binding or relaxing the policy of establishing a household for women, both were implemented very smoothly among the Manchus, and almost all those who had something to say were officials and gentry of Han descent.

As the queen, Jiang Xinxin had almost all the ladies outside the imperial court handing in their names to ask for an audience. Some of them had such rigid and materialistic minds that they even insisted in front of Jiang Xinxin that only women with bound feet were real women.

Jiang Xinxin was too lazy to try to persuade him and directly scolded him, "You don't know your father's things!"

"The imperial court gave you the imperial edict to commend the achievements of your husband or children and grandchildren, and to encourage you to continue to work hard for the court and share the emperor's worries."

"Now that you are unable to share the emperor's worries, and have even obstructed the emperor's orders and even behaved in a rebellious manner, there is no need to keep this imperial edict."

"Someone, take off her clothes and throw her out!"

"Send someone to investigate her in-laws and her parents' families. If she has disregarded the ban and continued to bind her feet, report it directly to the emperor and have all her relatives dismissed as a punishment!"

The lady started crying only after seeing the coffin. Her body went limp and she fell to the ground. She had just said a few more words today and she had lost her husband, son, and the official positions of her father and brothers in her natal family. How could she still have a good life if she went back?

When life or interests are under great threat, people can always burst out unlimited potential. The lady crawled on the ground a few steps and wanted to beg for mercy from Jiang Xinxin, but Jianqiu and Huichun were not inexperienced people. They took a step forward and easily controlled the lady two or three steps away from Jiang Xinxin.

Seeing her so pitiful, Jiang Xinxin was of course very sad, but although she could not blame herself entirely for her stupidity, she could only blame the world for not giving her the opportunity to improve herself. However, her previous smug face was really hateful.

"You can't expect everyone in the world to suffer with you after you've been hurt, so that you can feel better."

"You can at least read a few words. Go back and find out when foot binding originated and what kind of life women in the Qin and Han dynasties lived. Then compare it with the current situation. You will know how kind the emperor and I are."

Jiang Xinxin's move was more direct than Dapangju's, and the deterrent effect was more immediate. From then on, no woman publicly or privately expressed her support for foot binding, and no one was willing to unbind their feet.

Women have simply been imprisoned for too long, so when the chains around their necks are loosened, some women will happily run towards a new life, while some women are afraid that this is another trick of playing hard to get, and some have completely lost the courage or even the idea to go out.

Jiang Xinxin realized that she couldn't save the world, and people didn't necessarily need her to save them, so she could only buy up a lot of sweaters, blankets and even various wool products, and send these things along with other specialties to more distant places for sale.

As a result, new foreign looms were soon quietly introduced. Jiang Xinxin opened a weaving factory in Jiangnan through Princess Shushen's maternal family, the Shi clan of the Zhengbai Banner. She also opened many flower plantations in Yunnan, a perfume factory, and a sugar factory in Guangdong and Guangxi through the Zhangjia clan.

Everything these three factories supplied was something that Westerners were madly pursuing. As the imperial court completely lifted the maritime ban, Jiang Xinxin not only made huge wealth, but also supported many women who were willing to go out of the house and earn their own money.

It just so happened that they were allowed to set up female households, so they could legitimately own various properties and pay various taxes together with men. Big Fat Orange simply granted land to the wealthy female businessmen who had made great contributions.

Although this move did not directly and openly allow women to share in the land from a legal perspective, it made it possible for women to legally own land. They could then purchase land on their own and pay taxes in the name of household heads, becoming real people.