Tian Xiuying, also known as Tian Guifei of Chongzhen, was finally allowed to walk on the street.
They even arranged a palace maid for her to help take care of her daily life, and she also received regular money every month.
Zhao Han was stingy at first, so naturally a concubine like Tian Xiuying, a former imperial concubine, could not enjoy the glory and wealth. Her clothes were all made of cotton, not to mention silk, and she had to sew them by herself.
Not long ago, Tian Xiuying got a spinning wheel and bought cotton to spin cotton yarn in exchange for money.
Early that morning, Tian Xiuying reported to the female official, and then took the palace maid Hui'er out to sell goods. There was no need to sell goods on the street, there were special shops to buy them, anyway, it was just to make some hard money.
"Sell and get the lamp, sell and get the lamp!"
A child of six or seven years old was selling matches along the street.
Although it is compulsory for children to study, there are still many dropouts in remote villages. As for cities, government control is very strict, and it is really rare to see children dropping out of school due to poverty.
Are children too poor to study?
Then your whole family can go to the north. The government will provide travel expenses. Those who are willing to farm can be divided into fields. Those who are unwilling to farm are also in short supply in northern cities.
The compulsory schooling age is now set at eight years old, and after three years of primary school, the age is eleven. Those who take advantage of the opportunity can be apprentices, and they can find a living by learning a trade.
The child in front of him was a preschooler. He came over with a match and asked, "Do you want to buy a lamp, madam?"
Seeing that he was well-behaved and smart, Tian Xiuying couldn't help but think of her son, nodded and said with a smile: "Buy twenty."
The little match boy said: "Fifty matches, fifty matches a penny."
"Okay, just buy fifty." Tian Xiuying said.
The profits of matches are very thin, and they are cheaper than fire sticks. Cut pine or fir into small sticks, then soak them with sulfur, and use a fire knife to ignite them.
In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was called Fazhu, Fazhu, in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was called Yingguangnu, Huocun, and in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties, it was called Fazhu, Cuier. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, matches were named Chudeng.
This thing started to be sold on the streets in the Song Dynasty.
The child counted fifty-one matches, tied them with straw rope, handed them to Tian Xiuying and said, "More than one match, Madam will come back to buy it next time."
Tian Xiuying said in a happy mood: "Okay, I'll see you next time."
The child smiled and said: "In half a year, I will study. If I don't study after eight years old, I will be punished if the government finds out."
"Then you are afraid that you will take the top prize in the future." Tian Xiuying said.
The child smiled even more happily: "You are not the material to get the first prize in the exam. My father said that when you graduate from elementary school and know how to read and arithmetic, you will become an apprentice to Carpenter Zhang. Carpenter Zhang is the one who makes furniture for me to pick up lamps (matches)."
As a side note, he has a really good relationship with my father."
Tian Xiuying lived in the palace for more than ten years and was under house arrest in Nanjing for one year. Now she particularly likes the atmosphere in the city.
She said goodbye to the match seller and took the palace maid to sell cotton yarn. In exchange for some copper coins, she bought a piece of candy for her son.
At this moment, passers-by gathered in front of us, pointing and pointing.
Tian Xiuying squeezed past curiously, only to see several foreign barbarians heading to Beicheng on a sliding pole, and some laborers were hired behind to carry it and salute.
"Hey, these foreign monks are finally gone. Your Majesty should demolish that foreign temple as well."
"I heard that they haven't gone all the way, and there are still a few left in the foreign temple."
"As long as you walk around, you won't be able to see the red eyebrows and green eyes."
"You don't know, the south has launched a teaching plan again, and many people have died. Your Majesty, Long Yan, is so angry this time that all the disobedient foreign monks have to leave."
"..."
The number of missionaries who are willing to break with the Holy See and continue to stay in China is about 20 to 30%.
Most of the Jesuits chose to leave, but they could not go to the Philippines, which was dominated by the Dominicans. They could choose to go to India.
Of course, some missionaries chose to go to Shanxi to join Li Zicheng.
As for the Dominicans, Franciscans, and missionaries, they have all been expelled and are now packing up and boarding ships in Fujian and Guangdong.
When he returned to his small courtyard, there was already a palace maid waiting for him.
That was Liu Rushi's palace maid. She greeted her as soon as they met: "My wife, please come over and sit for a while."
"Let's go now, sister, wait a minute." Tian Xiuying went back to the house to amuse the children, then picked up the bamboo flute to visit Liu Rushi.
This Concubine Tian was good at riding and shooting, and was proficient in music. She was also good at calligraphy and painting, and she got along quite well with Liu Rushi.
It is said that Emperor Chongzhen's old clothes were mended by Concubine Tian herself. She also made jewelry and replaced the pearls on Chongzhen's beaded crown with azurite and inlaid them, making them more elegant than the old ones.
She also renovated the lamps in the harem, the gardens of the Forbidden City, and the clothes of the palace maids.
"Happy empress!" Tian Xiuying bowed and saluted.
Liu Rushi waved and said with a smile: "Come on, come on, I'll compose a song and ask my sister to taste it and correct it."
Liu Rushi gave birth to a daughter last winter. She had a cold relationship with Fei Rulan and Fei Rumei, but there was no conflict, they just lacked a common language.
The most important thing is that the Fei sisters dislike her origin.
Pan Qimei is liked by everyone. She is obsessed with cooking and especially likes to make pastries and sweets. Even Tian Xiuying's courtyard often receives pastries, and the children especially like her.
Liu Rushi was tuning the piano, and Tian Xiuying said casually: "I went out to the streets today and saw a few monks from the Western Fan leaving. I heard that Your Majesty has not allowed them to preach. There are also many foreign monks in the Hanlin Academy, right?"
Liu Rushi said: "There are none in Hanlin Academy, but there are many in Qintian Academy."
"Why don't you go back to the Hanlin Academy to work?" Tian Xiuying asked.
Liu Rushi said: "The child is too young to leave. We have to avoid suspicion, right? The Hanlin Academy is full of men."
Tian Xiuying smiled and said: "I am really lucky to be able to marry His Majesty as your concubine. There are few rules in Nanjing, but there are many in Beijing."
"What are the rules in the Beijing Imperial Palace?" Liu Rushi asked curiously.
Tian Xiuying said: "When the queen meets the emperor, she should call herself my concubine. When the concubine meets the emperor, she should call herself his daughter. In Nanjing, when the concubine meets the emperor, she can call herself me. Isn't it much happier?"
Liu Rushi was greatly surprised: "Calling yourself a daughter is a bad custom among the people of buying and selling maidservants, but it has spread to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Concubines also have to call themselves this way?"
Tian Xiuying was about to say something but stopped: "Forget it, the deceased is the most important, so I can't say more. Alas, all the grievances and grievances are over."
Tian Xiuying couldn't say more, and Liu Rushi couldn't ask more.
Empress Zhou deliberately suppressed the concubines from calling themselves daughters, treating Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan as maids.
Chongzhen's harem didn't stay quiet either.
After the renovation of the Forbidden City in Nanjing is completed and Zhao Han moves in, his harem will probably not be as harmonious as it is now.
Of course, Zhao Han is currently busy dealing with religious issues and will not think about the harem yet.
"Since you have severed ties with the Holy See, you should also change your charter," Zhao Han said. "I heard that there are Protestants in the West, and there is also Orthodox Christianity. Your Excellency also found a Nestorian stele in China. How about calling it Nestorian from now on?
Bar."
Ajulius did not expect that the Chinese emperor would go further, so he had to defend himself: "Your Majesty, this time you just violated the Pope's order. The Chinese Jesuits have not broken with the Holy See. With the Pope's open-mindedness, there may be room for maneuver."
Zhao Han did not force him: "Then just wait."
Pope Urban VIII is indeed enlightened, but he also has a strong desire to control. Moreover, this guy is nepotistic and carries out large-scale construction projects, which has put the Holy See's finances in extreme embarrassment. In China, he can be called a "faint emperor".
He is a mortal enemy of Richelieu, the powerful French minister, but has formed a strong alliance for decades, and is planning to label the Jansenists as heretics. Would such a tough guy who puts his interests first allow Chinese missionaries to be disobedient?
Zhao Han could imagine the Pope's reaction. In a year or two, he would definitely appoint new missionaries to come to China to take over the management positions.
At that time, people like Ai Julius will have to pinch their noses and completely surrender to Zhao Han. They may even change the Jesuit (Chinese Diocese) to Nestorianism and directly draw a clear line with the Holy See. It is nothing more than another kind of Protestantism.
The interpretation of the Bible must also be changed, it must conform to the theory of Datong, and it must be integrated with Confucian classics.
Since Ai Julius still has illusions, let him have illusions first, which will only be a matter of two or three years.
After waving the missionaries to leave, Zhao Han continued to review the memorial.
A memorial from the Ministry of Rites made Zhao Han frown.
However, the three counties of Luling, Jishui, and Anfu reported that education expenditures were too high. These three counties were Zhao Han's initial territory. Due to the improvement of life, a baby boom had already occurred.
The babies born after the Zhao Han uprising have reached primary school age. As a large number of children enter school, the education expenditures of the three counties have increased sharply, and they are almost unsustainable. They request that some tuition fees be charged appropriately and that the free lunch system be cancelled.
Free lunches were originally used to attract children to school.
The cabinet's approval was to cancel free lunches and charge book fees to primary school students. Students can also buy used books by themselves, or share a book with several people.
Initially, the three counties have been emigrating, otherwise the education expenditure problem would have already broken out.
But in ten or twenty years, as the population in the north becomes more abundant and the population in the south becomes more and more, free education will definitely not be able to continue. Although it is possible to immigrate overseas, starting a business overseas is difficult, so only young men and women will definitely immigrate.
, it is impossible to immigrate the children as well.
Although Zhao Han was quite reluctant, he still picked up the ink pen and slowly wrote the word "may" behind the cabinet's approval.
After thinking about it, I added a few words: The cancellation of school meals and the collection of book fees should be carried out step by step. This year it will be implemented in three counties and next year it will be implemented in Jiangxi. Within three years, it will be implemented in the south of the Yangtze River, and it will be gradually implemented in the north of the Yangtze River.
.In the newly occupied land, the people were poor and within five years, they all used the old method.
Zhao Han stood up and walked back and forth, then sat down and added some pen and ink: Do not force book fees to avoid being taken advantage of by corrupt officials and booksellers.
Books are very valuable. Families that cannot afford books can share a book with several children. Or, it is cheaper to hire literate people from the village to copy books than to print them. Anyway, there is not much content in primary school textbooks.
It's even worse in mountainous areas. Many schools are ruined temples. One teacher teaches all subjects. Some schools have incomplete books, and some schools still use old textbooks. Students' writing and ink are completely dependent on their parents. After primary school, they can only read.
Calligraphy has never been practiced seriously, and children in mountainous areas still have no way out.
There is no way to surpass the times, this is all Zhao Han can do.
