Professional Ethics of a Concubine

The Kingdom of Quran.

The empress received the letter from the Emperor of Great Zhao and after reading it, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.

From the last two letters, she could tell that the Emperor of Great Zhao had a different mentality when writing letters, and he finally acted like a normal person.

He no longer nags like a nagging husband, talking a lot of nonsense and never saying anything serious.

The empress was puzzled by this and wrote a letter to her son to ask him about it. Her son replied that his concubine Ye told his father a story which cured his violent and twisted mind.

Of course, Xie Jin also wrote down the little story told by Ye Qingzhi and sent it to his mother.

After reading it, the empress became more interested in her son's concubine Ye and felt that she had great talent.

Therefore, when replying to the letter, the empress emphasized once again that she wanted her son to bring Ye Qingzhi with him when he came to Gulan to celebrate her birthday. She wanted to meet her in person and have a chat with her.

To get back to the point, the first serious letter written by the Emperor of Great Zhao to the Empress was about how Great Zhao had begun to abolish some of the constraints of etiquette on women and improve the status of women, as well as what efforts Great Zhao had made to this end.

The letter from the Emperor of Great Zhao was written very objectively. He no longer boasted but simply stated the facts.

At the same time, there are also many thoughts about himself, about etiquette, about the status of women, about how to maintain the stability of imperial power, etc.

When the empress was reading his letter, she couldn't help but nod frequently. At one point, she even had a thought that she had good vision back then and the man she found was indeed good.

Because she agreed with many of the views and ideas of the Emperor of Great Zhao, and they were also what she thought of when she was governing, which could give her some inspiration.

Faced with such a letter full of useful information, the empress could not just perfunctorily mark it as read.

Therefore, the empress would also talk about her own views and practices, and let him see if they could be used as reference.

Especially when it comes to improving the status of women, she has a common topic because she has been trying to advance this area bit by bit over the years.

For example, he employed some female officials in the palace and promoted two female generals in the army. He encouraged strong women to do physical work and to go out to do business. At the same time, he allocated a large sum of money every year to specifically support women in going to school.

These measures are all aimed at encouraging women to be financially independent, knowledgeable and have a voice. At the same time, she also advocates that women should have their own right to marriage autonomy.

When choosing a husband, a woman can look at him openly. If she is unhappy after marriage, she can take the initiative to file for divorce or remarry.

In fact, these are not difficult to do and there is not much resistance.

Because the Western Regions were different from the Central Plains, where Confucian ethical culture was not widely spread, some of the ethical restrictions on women were not extreme.

The living environment of women here is inherently freer than that of women in the Central Plains, and their status is also higher.

In addition, she was an empress and had power. She could promote some talented and capable women and shut up the civil and military ministers.

Moreover, she would set aside one day every month to receive women, not only noble women but also common women.

She listened to their voices, solved their problems, punished the men who abused them, and in some cases, amended the court's laws to protect women's rights.

If this continues, the leaders will follow suit.

Because of her strength and her existence, more and more women have realized that they are not only limited to giving birth to children and relying on men, but can also be in power themselves.

Never underestimate the power of women. Even in an oppressive environment, as long as they wake up and realize that they can live better than men, they can do many amazing things.

Because women have greater resilience and courage, delicacy and patience, as well as the endurance and resistance to stress after enduring pain.

The empress therefore suggested to the emperor of Great Zhao that if he wanted to support women in their Great Zhao, in addition to what they were doing now, they should also let those in power listen to the voices of women at the bottom of society and give them real support.

The person in power can be the emperor, the crown prince, the crown princess, or the princess.

This kind of measure may not show results immediately, but if it is carried out over a long period of time, it will have significant effects.

After the Emperor received the letter from the Empress, he discussed it with the Crown Prince and decided on this policy which was somewhat similar to petitioning.

As for the capital city, it is very easy to handle. Whether it is the emperor, the prince, the princess Ye Qingzhi, or Concubine Rou, they can all take a day to deal with this matter.

However, outside the capital, Da Zhao has so many counties and prefectures, how can we expand it?

How can we ensure that this benevolent policy will not be distorted by local officials and become another tool for making money and oppressing the people?

In fact, it is impossible to be perfect.

This can only be achieved by selecting virtuous officials, conducting a thorough assessment of officials, and using other systems to check and balance officials, such as supervision and inspection.

Although there are many difficulties, as long as similar measures are introduced, it will always help improve the status of women.

Let's get back to the point. Today, the empress received this letter from the Emperor of Great Zhao again. When she read what he said about the original intention of the superior and the issue of children's education, she was actually deeply touched.

She adhered to the principle of talent giving the position to those with talent, and did not follow the rules of etiquette, nor did she feel that she had stolen the imperial power of the Yuchi family.

When she heard some ministers calling her a thief, accusing her of being autocratic, and accusing her of betraying the trust of the late emperor, she could only sneer.

Without her support when the late emperor was still alive, the Kingdom of Gulan would have been destroyed. How could it have become so powerful now and dominate the Western Regions?

As for the original intention of the superior, her original intention of becoming an empress was actually very simple.

It means making herself strong, no longer being controlled by others, and having the ability to bring her son back to her side openly. At the same time, she should implement her own will, do what she wants to do, and change the things that she cannot stand.

She enjoys pleasure, but not excessively or recklessly.

She also knew that her allies were not the nobles, but the lower-class people and women of no status.

All she thought about was to steadily weaken the power and wealth of the nobles, implement benevolent policies, improve the lives of the lower-class people, prevent them from being exploited too much, and maintain social stability.

At the same time, she also raised the status of women, allowing them to become a force and support her together.

Therefore, the Gulan Kingdom has been growing stronger under her leadership, because she knows who to unite and who to suppress.

Although her original intention was not noble enough, and was not for the people as the Emperor of Great Zhao said, it could still stabilize her regime. The empress felt that this was enough.

As for the issue of girls' education...

Like the Yuchi royal family, they have existed for two hundred years. Before becoming the royal family, they were also aristocrats for a hundred years and were not lower-class people at all.

Therefore, the children of the Yuchi royal family all felt that they were born noble and superior to others.

The lower class people are slaves, like cattle and horses, and they should serve them and live according to their will.

When she entered the palace and became the empress, she suffered a lot and endured a lot of suffering.

What she did was to become a more noble person than them, and she did it. She became the empress and firmly dominated these noble people.

But after becoming the empress, even if she disliked them all, she could not deal with them one by one, nor could she demote them from their noble status to the level of common people.

That would arouse public anger and force them to band together and overthrow her.

Therefore, her method was to select those who were capable and clear-headed, and teach them how to do things, how to maintain their royal power, and not do stupid things that would harm themselves.

For those royal children who have unclear minds and only know pleasure and power, draw a circle for them, trap them within the framework, and let them toss around inside.

As long as you don't cross the line, everything will be fine and you can continue to enjoy yourself. But if you cross the line, you will be severely punished.

She did this as a compromise among multiple parties and there was no better way.

The Yuchi royal family, which has existed for hundreds of years, has become a rotten tree with no chronic illness that can be eradicated or cured.

So she had to squeeze some of the poisonous sores aside to prevent them from contaminating the good areas.

But the Zhao royal family has only been around for fifty years, and is still in the second generation in power, gradually handing over power to the third generation. The fourth generation is still just a child in the growth stage.

At this time, if you can be ruthless and dig out the tumors and sores, it will actually be more beneficial to your health and allow the family tree to grow more healthily and vigorously.

Therefore, the empress's advice to the emperor of Great Zhao was very simple. Since they wanted to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, they might as well do it more drastically. They should demote the second princess directly to a commoner and deprive her of her noble rights.

If you think this is too cruel, you can also give her a chance to regain her status as a princess. It depends on whether she can grasp it.

Only by telling the royal children that they will also lose their noble status and cannot always rely on the blessings of their fathers to live a life of idleness and tyranny, will they feel a sense of crisis.

They know how to seek benefits and avoid harm, making themselves useful people instead of parasites.

Of course, because of the love and protectiveness that parents have for their children, it is generally difficult for them to make such a decision that goes against human nature.

When dealing with children who make mistakes, parents will often easily forgive them, pardon their mistakes, accept them, and give them the best support and protection they can provide.

However, the royal family is not like ordinary people. If they want the royal family to survive longer and produce more talents in the family, this is a trade-off they must make.

The empress picked up the pen and quickly wrote down her suggestions. As for whether the Emperor of Great Zhao would do so or not, she had no control over it.

She is just a bystander.