Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The grandfather and grandson talked for a while, and Gu Shaofei remembered something and said:

"I heard that the emperor is selecting ladies this time, and he doesn't prohibit widows from participating."

"What is this? Tell me about it."

Gu Yanwu smiled and said:

"It's not a selection of ladies. In Beijing, they are selecting concubines. In Suzhou, the employment association wants to send someone to the palace."

"It's not true that widows are not prohibited from running for election. Widows with children are still not allowed to register."

"Only those who have not given birth to children and voluntarily enter the palace are allowed to participate in the election."

"They are widows who are unemployed, so they can make a living in the palace."

Gu Shaofu nodded in realization and said:
"So this is ah!"

"This childless widow can indeed go to the palace to be a maid."

"But why did the emperor allow widows to apply for the imperial concubine selection? Does he really like women as the rumors say?"

The emperor likes older women. This was reported in the palace two years ago. The emperor selected eight concubines from the palace two years ago, all of whom were old palace maids.

When the news spread outside the palace, it became that the emperor liked women. Combined with the order to allow widows to participate in the election, some people thought of Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Mengde, and criticized it.

Gu Shaofei also felt that this was not a good thing, and said with some worry:

"The emperor likes women, this is not good!"

"What if he takes a fancy to a certain woman and forces his subjects to take her as his wife or concubine?"

"This is really bad, you have to persuade her!"

Gu Yanwu was amused and said to his grandfather:
"What are you thinking about?"

"The current emperor wants to re-establish rituals and music. Is he a person who does not respect rituals and laws?"

"Besides, the emperor doesn't discourage chastity, he just hopes they can have children."

"It would be better to find a job in the palace than to be alone without children."

Gu Shaofu heard this and asked:

"Then widows with children are still encouraged to remain chaste?"

"You are already a Yuanshi, which is equivalent to a Jinshi. The mothers of Jinshi are usually awarded a chastity arch. When will your mother's chastity arch be given?"

Gu Yanwu was an adopted son. His adoptive mother and adoptive father died before they got married.

His adoptive mother, Wang, came to the Gu family as a fiancée to keep her chastity and raised the adopted child, Gu Yanwu.

According to common sense, her unmarried chastity should be commended and an archway could be built to honor her, that is, a chastity arch.

Gu Yanwu frowned when he thought about this, because he knew that the emperor didn't like chastity arches. This year, when the roads in the capital were renovated, countless archways were demolished, and almost none of the chastity archways were rebuilt.

The military newspapers also discussed the chastity arch because of this incident. Some articles believed that women's chastity and chastity were related, and were related to the Jingkang Shame of the Song Dynasty.

Men in the Song Dynasty could not protect women, but they did not want their women to be humiliated, so they forced women to commit suicide in the name of chastity to maintain their innocence.

The chastity of women in Confucianism is the embodiment of this trend of thought and is a waste of knowledge that should be discarded.

The military is a place that admires the strong, so naturally they despise things like being unable to defeat the enemy and being able to restrain women.

Gu Yanwu was so angry when he first saw this statement because his mother was loyal to her husband that he almost jumped up. Because he had a deep relationship with his stepmother, he naturally couldn't bear to see people slandering her loyalty to her husband.

However, the views on chastity and the attitude towards widow remarriage in the Han and Tang dynasties were very different from those after the Song Dynasty. There are only 147 documented cases of chaste women before the Song Dynasty, far less than today.

Especially the reports in the newspapers about some places forcing widows to commit suicide in order to obtain chastity arches gradually changed Gu Yanwu's view on chastity arches.

If his mother were to receive the same chastity arch as those women who were forced to remain chaste, he would rather not have it.

He said to his grandfather:

"Regarding the chastity arch, the emperor is ordering the Ministry of Rites to re-draft the standards. It is said that the authority to identify various archways will be returned to the Ministry of Rites, and will be linked to the ancestral halls of the City God Temple and the Community Temple."

"It is not encouraged to remain chaste without children, and suicide is even less encouraged. It is not allowed to lynch a widow and claim that it is helping her to remain chaste."

"The court will only honor women who refuse to succumb to power and commit suicide or are killed, as well as those who raise meritorious officials. Simply being a widow or committing suicide will not be honored."

"My mother will be able to obtain a chastity arch in the future. I want to wait until the new chastity standards are determined before applying for her."

Gu Shaofu was very concerned about this, because he felt that this was all he could do for his daughter-in-law, so he asked Gu Yanwu:

"If we only honor those who refuse to succumb to power and raise meritorious officials, doesn't that mean that it is useless for a childless widow to remain chaste and she cannot receive a chastity arch?"

"Does your mother's raising of an adopted son count as domestic?"

Gu Yanwu had thought about this matter a long time ago and said:
"It should be counted!"

"The Emperor does not want to see people forcing widows to remain chaste for the sake of chastity arches, so he gives them the right to make their own choices after the chastity arch."

"If a widow wants to remarry, she can do so completely independently according to the new marriage etiquette and does not need the approval of anyone from her natal or marital family."

"But if someone doesn't want to remarry, they can choose to remain a widow. Those without children should be allowed to adopt children and raise them to become successful officials."

"Anyway, the new etiquette does not apply retroactively. According to the old etiquette, my grandson is definitely my mother's son, and he is a meritorious official now, so he will definitely be awarded a chastity arch in the future."

Gu Shaofei finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this answer and said:
"That's good! That's good!"

"Your mother has worked hard all her life and finally raised you to adulthood."

"If she doesn't even have a chastity arch, how can our Gu family be worthy of her?"

"You are a Yuanshi now, and you have a Shijue. You must be filial to your mother and make her feel comfortable in the future."

Gu Yanwu nodded, indicating that he would definitely be filial to his mother.

Gu Shaofu said again:
"You are already eighteen this year, and your mother has arranged a marriage for you. She wants to marry her niece to you."

"What do you think? I heard that the Emperor and Empress advocate the autonomy of marriage."

Gu Yanwu didn't care much about this and said:

"Since they are my mother's family, they must be very nice. I will listen to my mother in everything."

"I will be staying in the new district this year. If it is convenient, we will get married as soon as possible."

After hearing this, Gu Shaofu asked:

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Your mother and I wanted to schedule it for next year!"

"It's too rushed to get married right away."

Gu Yanwu smiled but said nothing until his grandfather asked anxiously, then he revealed:
"There may be a major war in Liaodong next year, so my grandson must also prepare."

"Maybe there will be a chance for him to join the war and make some achievements." Gu Shaofei was a little worried when he heard that there would be a war, because in his opinion, his grandson had just become an adult and had not even started a family.

How could he not be worried when he has to go to the battlefield to fight at such a young age?

Thinking about Gu Yanwu's identity as a civilian officer, Gu Shaofu said:
"It's really hard for you to go to the battlefield at such a young age."

"Can't you talk to the Emperor and transfer it to a civil service position?"

Gu Yanwu shook his head and said to his grandfather:

"What's so good about being a civilian? How can you get promoted as fast as a civilian officer?"

"Qian Jiazheng, Chen Zilong and other Yuanshi are only ninth-rank officials now!"

"Unlike my grandson, he has become a guard soldier now."

"Now is the time to make achievements in the army. Once Liaodong is pacified, there may not be such a good opportunity."

"What's more, if you want to be promoted to a higher rank, you must rely on military merit."

Gu Shaofu nodded, sighed, and said:

"It's because I, your grandfather, am incompetent. I can't provide you with protection, nor can I earn a share of the family business."

"If our Gu family had the same financial resources as the Wang family, you wouldn't have to fight on the battlefield. You could get a title by donating land to the court."

"It's a pity, it's a pity..."

Gu Yanwu's mother's surname was Wang, and she was somewhat related to the Wang family of Taicang, but she was not a descendant of famous people like Wang Xijue or Wang Shizhen, and her father was just a student of the Imperial College.

Although the Gu family had held important positions in the imperial court and local government for several generations, and his great-grandfather Gu Zhangzhi even served as the assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War, they were still far inferior to the Wang family, which had produced a prime minister.

Especially Gu Shaofu's family, he himself was not very successful in the imperial examinations, and his son died early. It was only because of Gu Yanwu's adoption that the family survived, and there were only a few people in the family.

Therefore, when the emperor distributed titles on a large scale in Suzhou this time, it was not the Gu family's turn. Gu Yanwu could only obtain the title by performing meritorious deeds on the battlefield.

Gu Yanwu was only grateful to his grandfather. Hearing this, he smiled and said:

"Grandpa, what are you talking about? Fame and success are just around the corner. Why should we rely on our ancestors' influence?"

"Besides, the highest title that can be obtained through donation is Baron. Only families like the Wang family, whose ancestors have made great contributions, can obtain the title of Viscount."

"My grandson will establish a vassal state in the future. When the time comes, I will enshrine my father and ancestors in the ancestral temple."

Upon hearing this, Gu Shaofu laughed and stroked his beard, obviously very satisfied with Gu Yanwu's statement.

At his age, what he cares most about is what happens after his death. In the past, he was worried that he would leave behind an orphan and a widow, but now that Gu Yanwu has become a Yuanshi at a young age, he is relieved of his biggest worry.

After hearing Gu Yanwu's idea of ​​opening up a vassal state and building an ancestral temple, he even fantasized about entering the ancestral temple after his death and being worshipped by future generations.

This made him sigh:

"The current emperor is really too kind to my family."

"You must be loyal to the emperor and do your best for the court!"

Teach Gu Yanwu not to forget his and his mother's teachings, and to remember loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness.

Gu Yanwu accepted the advice and went to visit his mother to discuss marriage arrangements.
-
After the Wang family learned that Gu Yanwu had returned home, they also sent people over.

Although there were some unpleasantness before due to their different positions, they became familiar with each other due to their in-law relationship.

Many other Suzhou families also sent people to pay a visit. Everyone knew that although Gu Yanwu was young, he was a big shot in front of the current emperor.

Especially this time when he quelled the Suzhou Rebellion, the ability he demonstrated should not be underestimated. Everyone knows that the Gu family has produced a talented person who can obtain a title based on his ability.

Although Gu Yanwu was impatient with these social events, he still patiently dealt with these families and attracted them to engage in industry in the new district, thinking of the matter that Liu Lishun had entrusted to him before he went to Nanjing:
"The emperor inscribed the name 'Industrial City' for the new district. The focus here is on developing industry."

"The latest policy is to make the entire new district an industrial park and implement a five-year tax exemption."

"As long as we produce goods according to the requirements of the inner court, they can be purchased by the inner court merchant bank."

"You can come as long as you like, don't worry about losing money."

As soon as this topic came up, many people became interested.

Under the circumstances where the emperor clearly wanted to limit the amount of land and not allow each family to own too much land, many families were already trying to find ways to deal with it, including but not limited to splitting up the family and obeying the court's call to go overseas.

However, most families will not give up their family businesses in Suzhou, and their family funds need to find a place to go after they can no longer buy land.

The new district established by the emperor has long been within their attention.

However, thinking about the situation in the new district, many people had doubts in their hearts. Wang Shimin said:

"Isn't the new district controlled by those hired workers?"

"If we go over there, will they make things difficult for us?"

Gu Yanwu laughed and said:

"Just don't embarrass them. How could you possibly be embarrassed?"

"The new districts will be proposed to the council. Whether it is agriculture or industry and commerce, the property owners will have a quarter of the seats."

"Most members of the Hired Workers' Association do not have permanent property. Even if they become wealthy in the future, they will at most become permanent property owners. If they become property owners, they will be asked to leave the Hired Workers' Association."

“So they won’t compete with you at all, and they even hope you’ll come over and provide jobs.”

Solving the employment problem of employees is also one of the tasks of officials in the new district.

We can now rely on the engineering camp to absorb those people, but in the future, when these people leave the engineering camp, they will need jobs.

Therefore, Gu Yanwu really hoped that someone would go there and start a business in the new district.

However, these families still had lingering fears when they thought of the violence caused by the hired workers. Shen Tingfang from the Shen family said with some fear:
"Those hired workers are really scary when they cause trouble. Who would dare to hire them?"

"Besides, we have to sign a contract, what about lifetime employment and an eight-hour workday?"

"Who would go there to suffer if they have nothing better to do? They support a bunch of masters."

He shook his head repeatedly, obviously unwilling to go over.

Many gentry also shook their heads and expressed dissatisfaction with the hired workers.

No matter how hard Gu Yanwu tried to persuade them, few people were willing to start businesses in the new district. This made him secretly curse these people for being short-sighted and not knowing that the industry in the new district would definitely develop.

With the support of his grandfather, he took out almost all the cash in the family and opened a textile workshop in the new district.

This workshop was jointly run with Suzhou Weaving Factory, just like the cooperation between Chu Fan and Suzhou Weaving Factory.

Most of the female workers in the employment association were absorbed by weaving workshops, and the textile industry was the first to develop in the new district.

The shipbuilding industry also developed rapidly under the orders of Chu Fan. Jiangnan Shipyard had transferred a group of craftsmen from the north to imitate the warships captured from the Dutch.

The industry of the new district started off with great difficulty, and temporarily established two major industries: textile and shipbuilding. (End of this chapter)