Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 131, Section 130: The Commandant's Sisters
Sending General Yan's coffin back to his hometown was a major event.

In this era where the dead are treated as if they were alive, funeral arrangements are often more elaborate than any other significant milestone in a person's life. If she were to make a mistake at this time…

Not to brag, but if she had actually become queen, this embarrassing incident would have been recorded in history.

When people live in this world, they sometimes need to save face, right?
Once Qin Shi thought about this matter, he couldn't go anywhere and had no choice but to stay in the Southern Palace. Apart from receiving feedback from craftsmen in various places from time to time and being given tasks and challenges, he spent the rest of his time studying and learning diligently.

Fortunately, although she does not have a proper identity now, she is someone whom King Heng of Qin cherishes.

Because of her high status, the number of etiquette and rituals that she needed to perform personally decreased.

This made her breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Not only her, but Chi Nu Wu Zi and the others also attached great importance to this matter. Although Qin Shi never left his house, they diligently brought back a lot of news about the Yan family, such as—

"Are Yan Ying and Yan Xuan twin sisters?" Qin Shi asked curiously.

“Exactly.” Wu Zi always spoke with more passion than Chi Nu when it came to such matters:
"It is said that when she was born, she looked quite like the General. Ning Ji, who was the mother of the Commandant of Yan County, cried bitterly, which made the General's wife feel sorry for her. She then promised to give her more dowry, so that Ning Ji would not cry her eyes out after giving birth."

But that dowry has never been used.

Because the two sisters were stationed in Baiyue for the king, and the men of Baiyue were passionate, good at singing and dancing, and often respected by women of the tribe, it was heard that the two sisters, the commanders of Yan County, already had many sons.

Wu Zi continued gossiping, "If we send them back to Xianyang to marry now, what will happen to those young men? Unless a husband is generous enough to allow them to be concubines..."

But that is impossible.

According to the gossip gleaned from Wu Zixu's ramblings:
The men of Baiyue are known for their tender and passionate nature, their fleeting romances intense, yet they are decisive in ending relationships without hesitation. On the contrary, they are ruthless and fearless, willing to fight to the death in the mountains and malarial forests.

If the relationship is not over and the woman who willingly serves has another husband, they may resort to cruel methods.

Moreover, putting aside the question of whether such a husband exists, the main issue is that their current king dislikes this type of person.

"The Commandant of Yan Commandery will naturally obey His Majesty."

Qin Shi sighed, "Your Majesty—ah, the High-Sensitivity People also value the spirit of contracts, which is understandable."

Despite the king's elegant and carefree attitude in appreciating her beauty, she had previously heard Zhou Ju mention the stone carvings in Kuaiji from the king's eastern tour. At that time, she knew that in Ji Heng's heart, there was no such thing as marriage, so naturally, she would do whatever she pleased.

Once a marriage contract is in place, any act of adultery by either the man or woman is punishable by death.

If this had happened a decade or two earlier, King Heng of Qin would probably still have been a strict moral guardian, as evidenced by the inscription on the stone tablet in Kuaiji.

[A woman who marries while pregnant is doubly unfaithful and will be executed. Adultery is forbidden; men and women must be pure and sincere. A husband who is a kept man can be killed without punishment. A wife who elopes will have her child deprived of its mother…]

In short, the young emperor was spurred on by the late queen's attempt to have a child of her own, and on his first eastern tour after assuming power, he inscribed this stele.

Having children and then remarrying is a betrayal of a deceased husband and constitutes infidelity.

Promiscuity and debauchery should be prohibited, and both men and women should remain pure and sincere.

If a husband runs off to another's house to commit adultery like a boar, killing him is not a crime.

If the wife leaves the family and remarries, the children will no longer recognize her as their mother...

In short, this king was equally harsh on matters of men and women.

But the first rule was quickly suspended—because Qin was currently facing a severe population shortage, and at the moment they were practically encouraging widows to remarry, have multiple children, so there was no question of "dying twice for being unchaste"...

However, although the king did not explicitly state it in the marriage contract, he still adhered to the beliefs he held in his youth.

of course!
Qin Shi sighed: the marriage law at this time was one husband with multiple concubines. She wasn't going to be saddened by this system; as a beneficiary, there was nothing to be saddened about for the time being.

Just like the relationship between Madam Yan and her concubine Ning Ji—marriage is a union between two families. Ning Ji was originally Madam Yan's dowry concubine. The two came from the same clan and naturally protected the same interests.

In addition, with adult mortality rates and infant mortality rates remaining high, the matriarch and her husband share family power and resources.

If complications arise from frequent childbirth, it is exceptionally painful for both families. Therefore, regardless of who gives birth, the matriarch holds absolute authority and will diligently raise the child.

—Now that the Qin state has adopted a system of collective punishment, if we don't take good care of our children, if their illegitimate children make mistakes, do we think their families can escape unscathed?

Everyone has a brain; no one would risk their life for something like this.

In this day and age, regardless of gender, everyone is a resource.

Of course, this is not absolute. For example, the women in the Qin King's harem were naturally in a competitive relationship.

However, correspondingly, once the queen's power is established...

Unless King Heng of Qin loses his mind and threatens the fate of the kingdom, no one can shake the position of a queen.

What Qin Shi lamented was that, in the history she knew, after the Han Dynasty, with the rise of Confucianism, the status of women gradually declined.

From then on, there was no longer a queen who could rightfully hold military power and share authority with the emperor.

Social attitudes have gradually become less tolerant.

During the Western Han Dynasty, singers, commoners, and widows could all become empresses. Although this was done through the imperial harem, it shows that the path for women to rise in rank was not strictly controlled.

However, starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty, the path for commoner women to advance their social status had already disappeared.

Qin Shi was roused once again—although it was ancient times, it was already a good enough era!
She is very happy!
There's one more thing I'm curious about: "Is Yan Ying a prefectural commandant?"

The Commandant was an official below the Prefect, in charge of garrisoning troops in the region. Now, when Wu Zi spoke of it, her eyes lit up:

"The Commandant of Yan Commandery is not yet thirty years old, and the Baiyue region has not been completely conquered yet, so he is naturally not qualified to be the governor—but the Commandant's salary is the same as the governor's, two thousand shi!"

"Yan Xuan was also a county commandant, but she was not stationed in one place. Therefore, when General Yan escorted the coffin, only one of the sisters returned."

That’s amazing!
King Heng of Qin dared to appoint female generals, and the Yan sisters dared to fight to the death.

At present, the Qin state has thirty-six commanderies. If we consider each commandery as a province, the commandery commander in charge of all military activities within that province...

Qin Shi was immediately filled with anticipation: "I really want to see her and have a good talk with her."

The Red Maiden immediately laughed: "After General Yan is buried, the Commandant of Yan County will have to return to Xianyang City to report to the King. It will take a day's journey by carriage. The King of Qin can invite the Commandant to have a chat."

Going there was no longer an option. Escorting the coffin back to the hometown was a major event, and although she, as the daughter, did not bear the same heavy responsibility as Yan Cong, she still had her own obligations to fulfill.

From the Qin Dynasty onwards, the status of women in feudal dynasties was slowly declining.

Even in the era before the Western Han Dynasty when women held a relatively high status, they were not detached from social production—which shows the importance of work!

The system of wives and concubines, including legitimate and illegitimate ones, was certainly not as gentle as imagined, but it was also not as extreme as depicted in some modern works. The concepts of legitimate and illegitimate wives and concubines are not as extreme as depicted in modern works. Just look at Dream of the Red Chamber to see that the ancients were not fools.

(The reason why some small countries regard these social classes so seriously is because they are poor and cannot afford to support several princesses and princes, so they have to arrange for the rest of the people to be slaves.)
(Europe followed the primogeniture system for reasons such as doctrine, and they were also poor at that time... Think about the environment in fairy tales where there is only one king in a village, how could a village support more than a dozen princesses?)

(The title of "郡尉" is equivalent to the current provincial-level official in charge of the provincial-level administrative division and concurrently the director of the provincial-level administrative department.)