funbook-pk Chapter 298 Continuing to Think
Chapter 298 Continuing to Think
"This is truly outrageous! I hereby issue an order to remove Xu Jing from his post as the head of Guanghan Township and imprison him pending sentencing. The Zhang family shall be arrested for disturbing public order, and the ringleader shall be imprisoned pending the collection of evidence for sentencing." Ouyang Qian, who was beside him, responded and went to issue the Emperor's highest decree on this matter.
After Ouyang Qian left, Liu Xie frowned and thought for a moment before asking Xi Zhicai, "What do you think about this matter?"
“I think we should set an age limit, otherwise powerful old men are very likely to follow in Xu Jing’s footsteps,” Xi Zhicai replied.
"Zhao Min, go and inform Guo Jia, Zhuge Jin, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu to come up here so we can discuss this matter," Liu Xie instructed a female guard leader. Zhao Min responded and went out the door to inform the other advisors in the Imperial Advisory Office.
Xi Zhicai asked, bewildered, "Your Majesty, besides involving a village head, are there any other issues in this matter?"
"Hmm, I've thought of something. Let's discuss it when they arrive," Liu Xie nodded in reply, continuing to think.
At 8:20 a.m., the five most important heads of the Imperial Secretariat and Emperor Liu Xie held a meeting in the reception room on the fourth floor. Liu Xie leaned against the sofa and said, "There is a problem in Guanghan. The township head Xu Jing is 62 years old this year. He actually used deception to marry a 16-year-old girl as a concubine, which eventually led to his wife's jealousy and caused a tragedy."
“I have already issued the order: Xu Jing is dismissed, and he will be investigated for the crime of personally killing his wife, Zhang. There is nothing more to say about this matter. I called everyone here mainly to discuss the issue of this marriage.”
The advisors were puzzled, and Xi Zhicai asked, "Does His Majesty intend to reform the marriage system?"
"Hmm. Have you taken a closer look at the male-to-female ratio in our country's population?" Liu Xie asked.
"I've looked into it. Men make up about 44%, and women about 56%, with women far outnumbering men. Excluding men who can't afford to marry, there's nothing wrong with polygamy these days!" Xu Shu replied.
"I understand what Your Majesty means. You want to limit the number of wives and concubines a man can have?" Zhuge Jin asked.
"Yes, the number of casualties in our wars has decreased significantly compared to before. Improved living conditions have inevitably led to a substantial increase in the proportion of men. If there were no restrictions on the number of wives a man could marry, it could result in many bachelors who cannot find wives or concubines, which would affect social security," Liu Xie nodded in response.
At this point, no one spoke. Among those sitting in the living room, Liu Xie had the most wives and concubines, while the others had anywhere from three to five to seven or eight. If the marriage system were reformed according to Liu Xie's ideas, they, as men, would lose a great deal of enjoyment.
Seeing their hesitant expressions, Liu Xie knew the reason and said with a smile, "A marriage that is already a fait accompli cannot be forcibly annulled. You don't need to put on such a sour face."
"Hehe, Your Majesty, we are worried about you! Leaders must lead by example, as you yourself said. Reform must start with you. So how do you suggest we reform?" the ugly Pang Tong said jokingly.
"I said, what's already done doesn't need to be canceled; it just means future emperors will face some restrictions. As for how to change it, you all have ideas. As the saying goes, 'Listen to all sides and you'll be enlightened; listen to only one side and you'll be misled.' Only by pooling our wisdom can we come up with a perfect solution!" Liu Xie shook his head and said.
After more than an hour of discussion, the top decision-makers came up with a rough plan: to ensure the continuation of the country, the emperor could marry one empress and four imperial concubines, and could not increase the number of concubines; ordinary people could marry a maximum of two women, one wife and one concubine.
The age gap between spouses shall not exceed 20 years. Existing marriages and engagements shall be handled in accordance with the original law. After the promulgation of the new marriage law, it will be illegal to break the law, otherwise the person will be arrested and sentenced.
These are just general directions. The rest is for the advisors to go back and carefully consider and supplement the details to form a final, feasible Marriage Law for promulgation and implementation. After this work is completed, the new Marriage Law will likely officially take effect on January 1st of next year, aiming to balance marriage between men and women.
At 9:30, the advisors left with the meeting minutes, and Liu Xie lay on the sofa while two maids massaged him. A dozen minutes later, Ouyang Qian came in and said that Ju Shou requested an audience. After Liu Xie nodded, she let Ju Shou into the living room.
Ju Shou's purpose in coming today is to discuss the construction of the national highway. This project is due to the fact that after the outbreak of the Central Asian war, the Ministry of National Defense faced a surge in logistical pressure, and the allocation of materials across the country was extremely strained, all because of poor road conditions.
Therefore, Ju Shou instructed the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Finance to prepare a project budget for the construction of national highways, intending to expand the national highway network across the country to improve organizational mobility and logistical transportation speed.
This project had been discussed before, but the cost was too high. After several revisions, a different laying sequence was finally proposed.
This way, the construction of the national highway would take longer and the financial burden would be less, which is why Liu Xie approved it and decided to start construction at the same time as the major reform of the national civil administration after the victory in the Central Asian war.
At 10:15, Ju Shou left. According to the secretariat's schedule, Liu Xie was to meet some merchant expedition groups at Sihaitang. So, at Ouyang Qian's suggestion, he left the office building, boarded a luxurious four-wheeled carriage, and headed towards Sihaitang.
Sihai Hall is a large auditorium built outside the Imperial City, where high-ranking officials receive local leaders or foreign guests.
On the carriage, Ouyang Qian briefed Liu Xie on the main details of the merchant expedition group they were to meet, as well as the methods the Imperial Advisory Office had proposed for dealing with these groups, giving Liu Xie some idea of how to handle these explorers.
At 10:30, the carriage stopped at the Sihai Hall outside the Imperial City. Liu Xie got out of the carriage, and a guard took a large felt coat and draped it over him.
Looking at the 8-meter-tall Sihai Hall, Liu Xie stretched and walked inside. The eight soldiers guarding the door saluted, and Liu Xie smiled and nodded, leading Ouyang Qian directly through the gate to meet a merchant group returning from their exploration of the Americas.
Upon entering the Sihai Hall, the temperature in the hall, which was always kept warm by fireplaces, immediately rose. Liu Xie took off his felt coat, which was then taken by a maid who followed him in.
After passing a screen depicting the Great Wall, the bodyguard shouted "The Emperor has arrived!" to inform those inside, lest they be unaware and do anything disrespectful in front of the Emperor.
After passing behind the screen and the artificial hill and pond, they entered the second gate, which was the main hall of the Sihai Hall. Dozens of explorers dressed in various styles lined up neatly five meters away from the entrance. When they saw the emperor enter, they bowed together and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty! May Your Majesty live a long and prosperous life!"