Film and Television Variety Show: The Jade Girl's Love Affair

Empress Zhang's two younger brothers seized countless fields from the common people, abducted numerous women, killed many people, and even raped palace maids, yet the emperor remained indifferent and turned a blind eye.

It's a tragedy for an emperor to be brainwashed into believing he's kind and benevolent; incompetence is the greatest mistake. A cold-blooded political animal like the Han Dynasty emperors would have been better off eliminating powerful clans and imperial relatives.

Chapter 10 Yuan Shen and Song Mo 10

When Song Mo returned home, he saw his parents and younger brother Song Han enjoying a happy family time together.

When he appeared, apart from his mother Jiang Huisun and his younger brother Han, who showed excitement and joy, Song Yichun's face immediately fell.

Previously, his delay in transporting grain was reported to the emperor by Jiang Meisun, which resulted in Song Yichun being demoted this time.

He immediately began to mock Song Mo and questioned who Song Mo's son was.

Although his mother cooked a meal for him and the family was reunited, Song Mo was not happy that day.

So, in the evening, Song Mo arrived at the restaurant where Tang Yu was staying.

"Has your business expanded nationwide?"

The restaurant where Tang Yu stayed was opened by someone she had asked in the capital, which made Song Mo curious about the scale of Tang Yu's business.

"The Jiangnan region is full of local bullies; I can't get involved."

This restaurant in the capital city is basically not profitable. Every year, I have to pay protection money several times. I opened the restaurant in the capital city mainly to gather information.

The affairs of the imperial court sound mysterious, but you can actually find out by spending a little money.

In short, this capital city is no different from a makeshift operation.

With a little money, one can find out which concubine the emperor slept with, what dishes he ate, and which officials he met.

If you find someone's waist token in the palace, you can sneak into the palace and eat in the imperial kitchen; the order is extremely lax.

The court's discipline was extremely lax; if someone died in the capital, a large number of corpses could be easily transported out and disposed of by paying bribes.

In other words, if someone kills a bunch of people in the capital, as long as no one reports it to the authorities, no one will care if they transport a bunch of corpses out of the city.

Tang Yu looked down on the security situation in the capital.

She can come and go in the capital with just a little money. She could probably transport a bunch of weapons in and out of the city gates with ease. But the security situation in Sichuan is not as good as hers.

As someone who had lived in a military camp for many years, Song Mo was somewhat shocked.

After all, military camps are strictly enforced, and entry and exit checks are extremely rigorous.

"Has the capital city become so loosely controlled?"

"People die randomly in the palace without any investigation, and dukes and marquises often beat their servants to death. No one in the government can afford to offend them, so the mass graves in the capital are very prosperous. Every day, people send money to dump corpses there. It's practically a paradise for outlaws."

According to the Ming Dynasty law, murderers had to go through six procedures before execution: local preliminary trial, prefectural review, provincial retrial, Ministry of Justice review, Dali Temple detailed review, and finally the emperor's decision.

The process is very rigorous, with checks at every level.

Of course, the powerful and wealthy will secretly cause trouble. If someone gets killed, they will spend money to suppress the matter, using coercion and bribery, in short, they will not let the matter escalate.

Nobody wants to be caught in a compromising situation by their political enemies.

However, the powerful and wealthy in the capital are now killing their servants at will, which means the city's security is doomed.

If Tang Yu recruits a few hundred people, he can easily storm the palace.

But there's no need for that; this isn't the Qing Dynasty.

"Emperor Taizu ordered the establishment of public cemeteries to bury unclaimed corpses."

Later, there were cemeteries specifically for burying unclaimed corpses; have they now become mass graves?

Upon hearing Song Mo's words, Tang Yu smiled.

Actually, she only learned about the city's security situation after arriving in Beijing today, and then discovered that it was terrible.

“The cemetery and the sanctuary are, after all, government institutions. If one or two servants are poisoned and beaten to death, everyone can pretend they didn’t see it.”

But today a Marquis's family beats a servant to death, tomorrow a Duke's mansion beats a concubine to death, and the day after tomorrow some minister's family poisons a servant.

What if news of the Yizhong and Louzeyuan leaks out and is eventually discovered and impeached by political enemies?

So they dumped the bodies in mass graves. Anyway, you could just bribe someone at the city gate and get the body out there; nobody would know what happened.

Song Mo could tell that Tang Yu's tone was full of sarcasm.

What kind of world does Ayu want to build?

Tang Yu was surprised that Song Mo would ask that question, and she sighed.

"Yantang, do you know why the relationship between men and women was so open in the pre-Qin period, and why many countries even held spring festivals to allow young men and women to gather for secret meetings and encourage them to have children in private?"

Song Mo was obsessed with military strategy books all his life, but he knew nothing about civil administration in historical records.

"Because Confucianism was not prevalent at that time?"

Tang Yu smiled, took Song Mo's hand, and then led Song Mo to the door and window and opened the window.

"Look at the people on the street, isn't it crowded?"

Song Mo nodded, and Tang Yu then spoke gently.

"During the pre-Qin period, the population was sparse. For each country, an increase in population meant an increase in the labor force, an increase in the number of people paying taxes, and an increase in the number of people serving in the military. Therefore, an increase in population was a good thing for the whole country, so the relationship between men and women naturally had to be more open."

At that time, if women in the rear encountered war, they also had to go up the city walls to defend against foreign enemies, and they also had to perform military service and corvée labor.

Every woman in a small family has to weave cloth, and half of a family's income comes from women's weaving to pay their annual taxes.

Although there were slight changes during the Qin and Han dynasties, the overall atmosphere remained largely the same as before.

Therefore, if someone advocated foot binding for women back then, preventing them from working in the fields efficiently and from performing military service or corvée labor, the emperor and his ministers would think that person was insane.

At that time, the strength of a nation was positively correlated with its population; the larger the population, the stronger the nation and the more important things it could accomplish.

Song Mo roughly understood what Tang Yu meant.

"You mean there's too much population now?"

"There are too many people and too little arable land. Men from outside are already fighting tooth and nail to take a job from a peddler or laborer. Even the weavers have been replaced by strong men. What can women do?"

Although influenced by the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism, it ultimately boils down to a problem of productivity.

The population exploded, but land consolidation led to ordinary farmers losing their land and becoming tenants, struggling to make ends meet and suffering from hunger and cold year-round.

In this rural area, even a group of men can't find a job, and they're fighting tooth and nail for tenant farmer status. How can women compete for a job?

When competition reaches its extreme, women lose their economic say in the family, and their status naturally becomes extremely low.

As for Confucianism, it varies from period to period. When the Confucianists of the Han Dynasty were powerful, they directly shouted that the Liu family was no good and should abdicate!

Great Confucian scholars of different periods held the power to interpret the classics. The original text was not important; they would insert their own interpretations, subtle meanings, or even fabricate stories.

The debate over the Old Text and New Text versions of Confucian classics was already quite serious during the Han Dynasty. Everyone had a different understanding of the Confucian classics, and the argument lasted for hundreds of years.

"Good idea, don't worry about what I said. Once you regain your memory, you'll understand what I meant."

You were already debating scriptures on behalf of your teacher at the age of eighteen; you understand better than I why you all desperately cling to the right to interpret the scriptures.

To put it simply, after later generations of merchants explained a bunch of activity rules, they would end with a statement that they had the final say that they had the right to interpret all the activity rules.

So players can only watch helplessly, because the people who have the power to set the rules are the truly powerful ones.

Song Mo closed the window, then carried the person beside him back to the soft couch and sat down.

"Will regaining your memories hurt you? Ayu, I know you have special abilities, but I still don't want you to take risks."

Tang Yu chuckled softly.

"Don't worry, I won't get hurt. I won't do anything stupid."

Song Mo hesitated for a moment, then turned around and went out to give Lu Ming and Lu Zheng a task.

He told the two men to go back and tell his mother that he would be staying at Uncle Gu Yu's place in Yunyang that night.

After finishing this task, Song Mo closed the door tightly, then returned to the bed and hugged the person in front of him.

"Ayu, I don't know why, but I suddenly feel a little timid and fearful."

Tang Yu reached out and gently embraced the person in front of her, then gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Good vision, don't be afraid, leave everything to me. You will fall asleep, and I will stay with you. It won't hurt."

After Tang Yu finished speaking gently, Song Mo smiled slightly.

He slowly lay down on the bed and obediently closed his eyes. Tang Yu gently placed her hand on Song Mo's forehead.

Soon after, Song Mo's consciousness was gradually drawn into a vortex of memories, while Tang Yu lay on her side waiting.

As night deepened and all was quiet, only the flickering candlelight cast shadows on the walls.

Around midnight, Tang Yu inadvertently noticed tears sliding down Song Mo's cheeks.

The glistening teardrops shimmered under the moonlight, like shattered stars.

Tang Yu's heart clenched instantly. Why was this happening?

At that moment, Song Mo suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with pain and shock.

"Shanjian, what's wrong?"

As soon as Tang Yu finished speaking, Song Mo turned around without thinking and hugged Tang Yu tightly with all his might.

The embrace was urgent and passionate, filled with unease and fear.

Tang Yu gently hugged him back, still completely puzzled.

"Good insight, regaining your memories shouldn't make you feel fearful and uneasy. What exactly did you see?"

It took Yuan Shen a while to break free from Song Mo's memories of his previous life.

He gently stepped back a little, looking at the person in his arms with tender eyes.

How wonderful! His lover has finally come to his side. It turns out he had such an amazing experience.

It's okay, there's still time.

She slightly raised her hand, her slender, well-defined fingertips gently touching her brow, then slowly sliding down her eyelids, causing Tang Yu's eyelashes to tremble slightly.

Yuan Shen suddenly smiled, then leaned forward and lightly touched Tang Yu's forehead with the tip of his nose, his breath warm and alluring.