There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 73 Bad Habits
It is really frustrating that a great general who fought against the Qing Dynasty and restored the Han Dynasty could not even have complete autonomy over his own marriage.

The matter was settled at the meeting, and Nie Yu didn't need to worry too much about the follow-up.

It’s not that he doesn’t care and can be a hands-off boss when it comes to major life events, but he still has a living father.

This involves filial piety. There are three types of unfilial behavior, and the worst is to have no descendants.

"No descendants" does not mean having no offspring, but it means that children do not inform their parents when they get married. In other words, there are three types of unfilial behavior, and having no descendants is the worst.

Therefore, this matter must be handled by his biological father, and all he has to do is to reveal his preferences appropriately.

It's just like the emperor's selection of concubines, and it's not much different.

Nie Jieren, the middle-aged father, was full of energy, shaking off the fatigue of managing the Civil Affairs Office for the past few months. His son's willingness to finally marry and start a family was a great relief to him. He could finally give his respect to the Nie family's ancestors, ensuring that the family line would not be cut off in his lifetime.

Although cousin Nie Lin is called a cousin, he is ultimately just a distant relative who has come to seek refuge. At most, he shares the same surname. Even if he could continue the incense and sacrifices, Nie Jieren would be crazy to let his cousin come and continue the incense.

Nie Jieren was busy choosing for his son, but the preferences revealed by Nie Yu made him a little unsure of what to say.

Not wanting to bind feet, can this be called a preference?
In today's world, even if they have rebelled, in the territory under their rule, except for the poor people who have to work hard, all the wealthy families have bound feet.

It is impossible to verify when exactly foot binding began, but it did become popular during the Qing Dynasty. The reason was also very ridiculous: men surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, but women were not allowed to.

After the Manchus entered the Central Plains, they initially banned footbinding for women, believing it was detrimental to agricultural production. However, the ban was abandoned in the seventh year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Popular resistance was so strong that it even reached the level of the nation-state, with some believing that women who bound their feet were refusing to submit to the Qing, while men who shaved their heads and wore pigtails were submitting to the Qing.

By the end of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, the situation had become essentially irreversible. Even many of the Manchu rulers of the Eight Banners had bound feet. The only people who could still not bind their feet were the middle and lower class landlords and the daughters of poor people.

Farmers are not stupid. Foot binding means losing labor force. Unless the family has money and property, who would bind their feet?

Nie Yu did not plan to ban it for the time being, because he was still busy dealing with the Qing army, but the relevant resolution had already been issued within the General's Mansion along with the preferences that had been conveyed to his father and others.

"General, if we ban women from foot binding now, it may cause resistance from officials and the public." Feng Xiuyong said with some worry.

Nie Yu asked seriously, "Why are officials and citizens in conflict?"

"This is naturally because foot binding is prohibited..."

Feng Xiuyong couldn’t say what was wrong, but it couldn’t be against etiquette!
There was no law or etiquette that required women to bind their feet. Even the Qing Dynasty, which they were rebelling against, had issued several decrees prohibiting women from binding their feet, but the decrees were always abandoned due to resistance from the people.

Nie Yu continued, "Foot binding is inhumane. How can a woman's small feet be so attractive that so many people would flock to admire them and even harm their health by doing so?"

A secretary objected, but it wasn't really a rebuttal, more of a reminder: "General, officials and civilians bind their feet. This is a sign of surrender for men, but not for women!"

Nie Yu sneered again after hearing this. He knew it well: "Men surrender, women don't. We are not the pseudo-Qing Dynasty. What kind of non-surrender are we talking about? Since we don't surrender, shouldn't we abolish foot binding?"

"Furthermore, the first principle of filial piety states that one's body and hair are inherited from one's parents. It's fine if women don't know this, but don't all the scholars in the world know this either?"

Wow, it has suddenly risen to the level of filial piety. How can they continue?

"General, I have nothing to say." Feng Xiuyong was unable to persuade him any more.

Besides, whether it is unfilial or persuading others to be unfilial, no one can bear the stigma. And it is not just a stigma. One of the ten unforgivable crimes is unfilial piety.

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Since there was nothing to say, they decided to just keep quiet. "Haha."

Nie Yu suddenly smiled and said, "This general is not acting on a whim. Banning foot binding for women is also a great thing that benefits both the country and the people. Moreover, there is no need to rush this matter for the time being. I am just giving you a heads-up so that we can go back and draft a specific set of rules. As for the reasons, let's start with the Book of Filial Piety!"

"Our bodies and hair are given by our parents; how can we easily damage them? Anyone who binds their feet should be condemned as unfilial. Anyone who encourages others to bind their feet is encouraging them to be unfilial."

Nie Yu's rude words completely blocked the channels for persuasion from the Secretariat. Since they couldn't persuade, then they shouldn't try to persuade and avoid wasting time.

Although the practice of foot binding was very popular during the Kangxi and Qianlong periods and was inexplicably involved in distorted national sentiments, what was said before is true. The practice of foot binding was uncontrollable, but it was only limited to the upper class.

Most of the real lower-class people were actually unwilling to bind their feet due to the real pressure of survival. It was only in the late Qing Dynasty that the situation suddenly worsened and quickly spread to the lower classes.

This is also why Nie Yu is not in a hurry to change it now. After all, these foot bindings are mainly concentrated in the upper-class gentry. Even his father, the richest man in the township, does not have the family tradition of foot binding for his children.

Let it go for now, and wait until he kills the Qing army that attacks in spring and summer, and then come back to clean up these dregs and cancers in his territory.

There is no need to think that this thing is beyond the times, because in the Jiangnan area at that time, there was a literary giant who was still alive and quite famous in the Qing Dynasty poetry world. He advocated that women should not bind their feet, and that foot binding is of no use!

Well, that literary giant and poetry master is also a male bronze, just like the Huguang Governor Bi Yuan who was escorted to Beijing not long ago. He is even more extravagant and can be said to have slept with countless men.

Later, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also took targeted measures to ban women's foot binding.

If we don't talk about others, the officials in the Secretariat, including Feng Xiuyong, basically belong to the neutral faction who neither support nor explicitly oppose foot binding for women. The reason they made such an admonition was out of their duty as ministers, fearing that if they acted too hastily, it would cause resistance from officials and the people.

There's no need to rush now. As long as you keep a little reserve, there shouldn't be any big problems.

Feng Xiuyong quickly passed over the topic and said solemnly, "General, regarding the ban on women's foot binding, we can discuss it later, but the recovery of Huarong County is the most urgent task!"

Speaking of Huarong County, Nie Yu also had a headache. He had just been persuaded by his officials to get married and start a family to stabilize the hearts of his subordinates, officials and people.

The next day, two military reports were sent from the south:
One rumor said that Bai Nan had led his troops to capture Jianli County and captured the county magistrate alive, and that the Han army had completely taken control of the entire Jingzhou Prefecture.

The other group was led by He Shunan, who headed south. After capturing Gong'an County and rushing to support Shishou County, they took the opportunity to cross the Huarong Ancient Road and head south, capturing Huarong County in one fell swoop.

The territory controlled by the Han army suddenly extended from Hubei to Hunan, which was inconsistent with the Han army's original intention of sending troops, and even exceeded the strategic direction agreed upon by the Han army during the New Year's overtime.

Because this was a direct attack on Hunan, and it seemed that there was no decent resistance from the Qing troops.

This is not surprising. Although Hunan has gathered heavy troops from two provinces, most of these troops are concentrated in a small area of ​​Yongsui, Qianzhou and Fenghuang City, focusing on suppressing and suppressing the seeds of rebellion in Hunan. The remaining troops are mostly in Changde and Chenzhou.

Who would place troops in a small county like Huarong County?

Feng Xiuyong said, "The recovery of Huarong County was unexpected, but the most serious problem here is that Commander He, as a frontline general, led his troops south without asking for permission and even captured Huarong County."

Capturing Huarong County was considered an achievement, but he led his troops south without asking for permission and started a war across provinces.

This constitutes unauthorized mobilization of troops, and the problem could be major or minor.

(End of this chapter)