I want to ruin the country

Chapter 479 Freedom of Marriage

Yining Road,

"If you don't believe me, think about it, the Chinese nation has been passed down for thousands of years. What has changed since then?

It was still a slash-and-burn agricultural society with no machinery or electricity.

Look up, both of you. If I were not here, would you have lights above your heads, tricycles that could pull people, or telephones and telegraphs that could transmit messages thousands of miles away?

Are these things that the teachings of Confucius and Mencius can achieve?

My Lords, can you possibly refute what I have said?"

Now the Forbidden City is equipped with electric lights, and it is brightly lit everywhere. There is no need to put large candles as thick as arms everywhere and endure the smoke and fire.

Besides, Yining said that these things have already happened and are visible to the naked eye, and it is impossible to refute them even if you want to!

Although they were unwilling to deny the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, they could not lie with their eyes open and could only nod in agreement.

Yining said again,

“So, Confucian culture has, to a certain extent, stifled people’s thinking and hindered social progress.

For example, our failure in the Opium War, Lord Lin, was it because our people were afraid of death, or was it because we did something wrong and God wanted to punish us?

No, it was the Westerners who were more advanced than us. They defeated us with their powerful ships and guns!

If we talk to them about benevolence and righteousness, will they listen? If we keep our word to them, they are robbers, will they pay attention to us?

If you want to avoid being bullied, you have to create weapons that are more advanced than theirs.

But apart from those dogmatic teachings, is there any article in Confucian culture that talks about making machines or guns?

If you think about it, there is really no article in the Four Books and Five Classics, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean that talks about these things!

Yining continued,

“If we really want to say that social development requires technology, and if we want to use technology to create things, we still have to use Mohism.

Dong Zhongshu's idea of abolishing all schools of thought and promoting Confucianism alone delayed China's development for two thousand years.

The whole world is developing now. Some tiny Western countries rely on advanced technology to come here to burn, kill and loot. Do we still have to stay in the teachings of Confucius and Mencius?

Do we have to wait until they kill us all before we wake up?"

In fact, Lin Zexu was not a pedantic person. He was the first person in China to call on the Chinese people to open their eyes and see the world.

He agreed very much with what Yining said, but he had never thought that the reason why we have stagnated in these years is because we have been bound by Confucius and Mencius!

"Your Majesty is right. I used to think about calling on everyone to learn from foreigners and change our backward and vulnerable situation, but I never thought about why our great China has become like this!"

Yining Road,

"The world is developing and society is progressing. We cannot allow Confucianism and Mencius's teachings that are not adapted to new situations and new concepts to hinder our development."

Lin Zexu and Du Shoutian finally understood why the emperor had been trying to overthrow the Kong family for several months, but still didn't mention anything about it!

There was no mention of conferring a new Holy Teacher. It seems that it was not forgotten, but done on purpose!

Yining didn't care what they thought and said,

"First of all, the teachings of Confucius and Mencius have made certain contributions to the inheritance of Chinese culture, and we cannot simply dismiss them.

For example, the filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, righteousness, integrity, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness we just talked about, these codes of conduct are never wrong at any time!

But then again, are these all contributions of Confucianism?

I think this is the public order and good customs that have gradually formed over thousands of years of Chinese people's goodness!

It's just that they summarized it and said it out.

Lin Zexu and Du Shoutian sighed in their hearts, saying that with just one word, even the last bit of credit was gone.

However, the emperor has been criticizing Confucianism for so long. What exactly does he want to do? Is it just to revive Mohist learning?

Lin Zexu asked,

"Your Majesty, do you have anything else to say about the teachings of Confucius and Mencius?"

Yining Road,

"Of course there is. Let's talk about how Confucianism is extremely wrong in its treatment of men and women!"

Du Shoutian asked,

"how do I say this?"

Yining Road,

"Let's talk about marriage, for example. Confucius and Mencius' teachings emphasize that marriages should be arranged by the will of parents and the words of the matchmaker. Isn't that absurd?"

Du Shoutian hurriedly said,

“Is this wrong?”

Yining Road,

"Of course, that's totally wrong. For example, I haven't even seen Master Du's feet, and I don't know what size shoes you wear, but I just bought a pair of shoes for you to wear. What do you think?"

Du Shoutian Road,

"Well, if the size is right, then of course there's no problem.

If I were older, I would just wrap my feet with a few layers of cloth and make do with it?

But if it's too small, there's nothing I can do. I can't cut open a new pair of shoes and wear them!"

Yining Road,

"It's small, so why not just wear it?"

Du Shoutian Road,

"Your Majesty, the size of the robe is acceptable. Others just said it was inappropriate, but the shoes are not. I cannot tolerate any injustice!"

Yining smiled and said,

"That makes sense, your feet shouldn't be wronged.

Only your feet know whether the shoes fit you or not. If the shoes don’t fit, you can throw them away and buy a new pair, but can you do the same for people?

Today's marriage is like buying an old cow from afar. To put it bluntly, it's like I just bought a pair of shoes and gave them to Master Du. No matter whether they fit or not, you have to wear them!

And you have to wear them for the rest of your life! Could it be that a person's lifelong happiness is not worth more than a pair of shoes?

What would happen if a woman married an unsuitable man? What would happen if a man married an unsuitable woman and spent his life with her?

Will they be happy? What if they are not happy?

Du Shoutian Road,

"You can divorce your wife!"

Lin Zexu also said,

"The woman can also divorce!"

Yining Road,

"Although there are such regulations, how many divorces actually take place in reality? Most marriages are controlled by men.

Besides, is it easy for a woman to move from one family to another?

Even if we get divorced, if it's still like buying an old cow from afar, what should I do if I marry into three or four families and none of them are suitable?"

Du Shoutian Road,

"What does the Emperor mean?"

"I think we should still implement freedom of marriage and allow men and women to meet freely. If one party disagrees, no one can force them!

Moreover, after marriage, both men and women can file for divorce, and no one can stop them!"

Lin Zexu said,

"That doesn't necessarily guarantee that everything will be suitable, right?"

Yining Road,

"Master Lin is right, but this is much better than getting married without knowing each other!"

Lin Zexu and Du Shoutian felt that what the emperor said was indeed reasonable.

"How does the Emperor intend to implement this?"

Yining Road,

"Of course we want freedom of marriage. Regardless of gender, as long as they don't want to, no one can force or interfere!"