Chapter 1371 - 1298: Merits and Achievements
Fu Tinghan noted it down for her, "Actual control over the land?"
Zhao Hanzhang shook her head, "Return to the feudal system and follow the old paths of the Han and Jin? Emperor Shi changed the feudal system to the county system, where all titles only enjoyed tax fiefdoms without real control over the land. I think that was very good."
"Moreover, even in Dai Country, we need to distinguish between actual and nominal feudal grants. Second Son cannot be an exception; he must set an example."
Now it is Dai Country, but in the future, she will also reclaim Xiliang and Shu lands, just waiting for the right time, so there is no action yet.
Zhao Hanzhang said, "Not only Second Son, but even our future children should be like this. No one is allowed real feudal control."
Fu Tinghan nodded, having no objections, "How much should we grant?"
Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and said, "Our population is too small. Although I want to grant more, there aren’t so many people right now, so let’s grant five thousand households."
In the future, the five thousand households from his fief will hand over taxes annually to him.
Fu Tinghan noted it down.
Zhao Hanzhang looked and felt dissatisfied, "No, there’s still a lot of land that hasn’t been reclaimed. He will definitely make further contributions in the future. How can we grant him a princely title now and have nothing to grant later? We can’t just let him become the Crown Prince’s tutor or Grand Tutor, right?"
Fu Tinghan immediately said, "I think there are many people in the court who can be children’s teachers; let’s leave Second Son out of it."
Zhao Hanzhang agreed, "Let’s grant the title of Prince of Qin with five thousand households, and in the future, when he makes contributions and the population grows, we can add more."
Fu Tinghan noted it down.
Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze turned to Ji Yuan, who was ranked second, "Mr. Ji has great merits for the country. He’s worked very hard. Let’s grant him a dukedom. The only one with similar merit is General Beigong."
Fu Tinghan asked, "What about Shi Le?"
Zhao Hanzhang frowned and thought for a moment, "I plan to grant Zu Ti the title of marquis. They both have a lot of room for progress. Shi Le cannot be granted a high title, so let’s make it the same as Zu Ti’s."
Zhao Ming has always stabilized the stronghold of Yu State for her. It is reasonable for him to receive a marquis title for handling the clans and families on her behalf.
Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze fell on Fan Ying and Sun Linghui. She crossed out Sun Linghui’s name, "Her and Zhao Kuan’s achievements are not enough to grant them marquis titles yet. Fan Ying and Chen Si Niang may not be well-known among court officials, but they played significant roles in quickly stabilizing the territories I’ve conquered."
Fan Ying has been by Zhao Hanzhang’s side all along, executing government affairs through her. It can be said that anyone who knows Zhao Hanzhang among the commoners would know Fan Ying.
Before the fall of the Xiongnu Kingdom, the two of them were inseparable.
Chen Si Niang does not need to be mentioned. All the orphaned and elderly they sheltered were settled by her. Although Zhao Cheng oversaw the academies, Chen Si Niang was the one who executed it while Zhao Cheng was busy elsewhere.
It’s difficult for women to pursue education in society. Over the years, Zhao Hanzhang has continuously recruited female officials, largely due to her own reputation and identity, and secondly due to Chen Si Niang’s efforts and publicity.
Zhao Hanzhang placed Chen Si Niang ahead of Fan Ying and said, "If any one of the female doctors should be granted a noble title, it should undoubtedly be her."
Fu Tinghan raised his eyebrows, "I thought you would choose Fan Ying or Wang Yifeng."
Chen Si Niang rarely sees Zhao Hanzhang even once a year; most of their communication is through letters. Her work is almost entirely at the grassroots level, with less than half of the court officials knowing her.
In contrast, court officials are very familiar with Fan Ying, Wang Yifeng, and Wang Huifeng sisters; everyone knows them and holds them in high esteem.
Zhao Hanzhang said, "What she does may not be apparent immediately, but it benefits generations to come. It’s difficult to fully utilize one’s talent like Fan Ying and Wang Yifeng, but it’s even harder to settle down and work for long-term education and women’s and children’s welfare, like she does."
Zhao Hanzhang said, "Do you know why I summoned her back from the local areas? To have her participate in establishing new laws. To ensure the rights of women and children everywhere, she must be involved in law establishment."
Since she was with Zhao Hanzhang that year, Chen Si Niang has been working on related issues, and it’s not limited to that work alone; she does diverse things but with her own ideas.
Zhao Hanzhang got off the bed, went to the small study, brought back a box, opened it to show him, and whispered, "Can you guess what this is?"
Having already seen the letter, Fu Tinghan gave her a glance and guessed honestly, "It’s a letter."
Zhao Hanzhang then took out two letters from the bottom and said, "You would never guess that in her letter, she asked me why women, despite being human too, have a harder time surviving in this world than men. Not to mention special circumstances like war, even in peacetime, women face many hardships. For example, her days with the Song Family would not have been much better even without the war in Xiping County."
"She herself found the reasons and concluded that there are two points: one, women generally have less strength than men, resulting in lower value during agricultural labor; and two, cultural reasons. Therefore, she’s trying to solve this situation." Zhao Hanzhang said, "Increasing women’s labor value is one aspect; more importantly, amending laws and reforming from the legal and cultural perspectives."
"Even without me, she’s already paving the way for women’s future. Aside from women, there are also children. Children are weak, often bullied and sold, and she wants to legislate to reduce and cut off such trading trends."
"The relationship between parents and children is fundamental. Selling sons and daughters is an act that destroys this relation. Why do people do it so rightfully now? We can’t blame these ordinary, impoverished people because it’s what they’ve known since childhood. So, we need to change it from legal and cultural perspectives."
Zhao Hanzhang said, "We often hear phrases like ’a prince is subject to the same punishment as the common people’ when watching plays or TV dramas, but in reality, there’s never been such equality in laws through the ages. Masters killing servants often ended in exile, redeemable by money, with just a few dozen strikes for punishment."
"However, a servant attacking a master results in death penalty. Thus, the law has always been unequal. Even I cannot demand to overthrow and rebuild all laws immediately," Zhao Hanzhang said, "Chen Si Niang shares this ambition. We want to abolish the laws buying and selling slaves, allowing only live contracts to exist."
The legal status and responsibilities represented by death contracts and live contracts for slaves are completely different.
A slave under a death contract is not only enslaved for life, but his offspring for generations are born into slavery.
Do people think slaves live like the secondary young ladies in ’Dream of the Red Chamber’?
In reality, ninety-nine percent of slaves live like cattle and sheep, often not having enough to eat or wear.
Zhao Hu is considered a generous master, but most of his servants, unless they are before him, wear clothes full of patches, cannot save two coins after a hard year, and can only endure if they fall ill.
If pretty and smart children are born, Zhao Hu might even give them away. And those capable like Sanjin and Wuyin might be required to be buried with him when Zhao Hu dies.
From Zhao Hu’s standpoint, this seems justified, but how about from the slave’s perspective?
Working earnestly all life, yet ending up with nothing, not even the freedom to choose life or death.
As the ruler, she cannot only see things from one side. She must ensure the interests of the vast majority.
Her hope is to guarantee that every citizen in her nation has their basic rights protected, and then ensure all living beings live in harmony, achieving unity of heaven, earth, and people.