I

Tian Xiuying, also known as Concubine Tian Gui of Chongzhen, was finally allowed to walk on the street.

She even arranged for a palace lady to help take care of her daily life, and she can also receive regular money every month.

Zhao Han was rather stingy at first, so Tian Xiuying, a concubine of the former dynasty, naturally couldn't enjoy the glory and wealth. Her clothes are all made of cotton, not to mention silk, and she has to sew it herself.

Not long ago, Tian Xiuying got a spinning wheel and bought cotton to spin cotton yarn for money.

Early in the morning, Tian Xiuying reported to the female official, and then took the court lady Huier out to sell goods. There is no need to hawk along the street, there are special shops to buy, anyway, it is just a little hard money.

"Sell the lamp, sell the lamp!"

A six or seven-year-old child was selling matches along the street.

Although children are forced to study, there are still many dropouts in remote villages. As for the city, the government is very strict, and it is really rare to see children who drop out of school due to poverty.

Are poor children unable to read?

Then your whole family will go to the north, and the government will provide travel expenses. Those who are willing to farm can divide the land, and those who are not willing to farm, the northern cities are also very short of people.

The mandatory enrollment age is now set at eight years old, and after three years of elementary school, it is eleven years old. Those with poor grades can just become apprentices, and they can make a living by learning a craft.

The child in front of him is a preschool child. He came over with a match in his hand and asked, "Madam, do you want to buy a lamp?"

Tian Xiuying saw that he was well-behaved, she couldn't help thinking of her son, she nodded and smiled, "Buy twenty."

The little match boy said: "Fifty match, fifty match a penny."

"Okay, just buy fifty." Tian Xiuying said.

Match margins are very thin, cheaper than fire pockets. Cut pine or fir into small sticks, then infect them with sulfur, and use a fire knife to ignite them.

In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, they were called Fazhu and Fazhu, in the Northern Song Dynasty they were called Yinguangnu and Huocun, and in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties they were called Fazhu and Cuier. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, matches were named Qudeng.

This thing has been sold along the street since the Song Dynasty.

The child counted fifty-one matches, tied them with straw ropes, handed them to Tian Xiuying and said, "Maybe one more, Madam will come and buy it next time."

Tian Xiuying said in a good mood: "Okay, I will look for you next time."

The child smiled and said, "In half a year, I will be studying. If I don't study after the age of eight, I will be punished if the government finds out."

"Then you are afraid that you will be the champion in the exam." Tian Xiuying said.

The child smiled even more happily: "It's not the material for the number one examination. My father said that after graduating from elementary school and knowing how to read and write, I will be an apprentice to carpenter Zhang. Carpenter Zhang is the one who makes lamps (matches) for me." Leftovers, he has a good relationship with my father."

Tian Xiuying lived in the palace for more than ten years, and was under house arrest in Nanjing for another year. Now she especially likes the market scene.

She bid farewell to the match boy, took the court lady to sell cotton yarn, exchanged some copper coins and bought a lump of sugar for her son.

At this moment, passers-by gathered in front of them, pointing there.

Tian Xiuying squeezed over curiously, but saw a few barbarians from the country, riding a pole to the North City, and hired some labor to carry the luggage behind them.

"Hey, these foreign monks have finally left, His Majesty should also demolish that foreign temple."

"I heard it's not over yet, there are still a few left in the foreign temple."

"Walk a few times and count how many, but you can't see the red eyebrows and green eyes."

"You don't know, the South has made a teaching plan again, and many people have died. Your Majesty is furious this time, and all the foreign monks who are disobedient have to go."

"..."

The number of missionaries who are willing to break with the Holy See and stay in China is about 20-30%.

Most of the Jesuits choose to leave, but they can't go to the Philippines, which is dominated by the Dominicans. They can choose to go to India.

Of course, some missionaries also chose to go to Shanxi to join Li Zicheng.

As for the Dominicans and the Franciscans, all the missionaries were expelled from the country and are now packing up and boarding ships in Fujian and Guangdong.

Back in his small courtyard, there are already maids waiting.

That was Liu Rushi's court lady, she greeted and saluted when they met: "My wife invites Madam to sit down for a while."

"Let's go now, sister." Tian Xiuying went back to the house to tease the child, and then picked up the bamboo flute to visit Liu Rushi.

This Tian Guifei knows how to ride and shoot, is also proficient in rhythm, and also knows calligraphy and painting, so she can chat well with Liu Rushi.

According to legend, Emperor Chongzhen's old clothes were mended by Concubine Tian Gui herself. They also make ornaments, replacing the pearls on the crown of Chongzhen pearls with raven bluestones and inlaying them, which is more elegant than the old ones.

She also transformed the lamps and lanterns of the harem, the gardens of the Forbidden City, and the clothes of court ladies.

"Good luck, ma'am!" Tian Xiuying bowed and saluted.

Liu Rushi waved and said with a smile, "Come on, come on, I'll compose a song, and I invite my sister to appreciate Fuzheng."

Liu Rushi gave birth last winter and gave birth to a daughter. She has a cold relationship with Fei Rulan and Fei Rumei, but there is no conflict, it's just that they lack a common language.

The most important thing is that the Fei sisters dislike her origin.

Everyone likes Pan Qimei, she is obsessed with cooking, and especially likes making pastries and sweets. Even Tian Xiuying's courtyard often receives pastries, and the children especially like her.

Liu Rushi was tuning the piano, Tian Xiuying said casually, "I went out to the streets today and saw some monks from the Western Domain leaving. I heard that His Majesty forbids them to preach. There are also many foreign monks in the Imperial Academy, right?"

Liu Rushi said: "There are none in the Imperial Academy, but there are many in the Qintian Academy."

"Why don't you go back to the Imperial Academy to work?" Tian Xiuying asked.

Liu Rushi said: "The child is too young to leave. We have to avoid suspicion, right? The Hanlin Academy is full of men."

Tian Xiuying smiled and said: "I am really lucky to be able to marry His Majesty as your concubine. There are few rules in Nanjing, but there are many in Beijing."

"What are the rules in the Beijing Imperial Palace?" Liu Rushi asked curiously.

Tian Xiuying said: "When the queen meets the emperor, she should call herself my concubine. When the concubine meets the emperor, she should call herself his daughter. In Nanjing, when the concubine meets the emperor, she can call herself me. Isn't it much happier?"

Liu Rushi was greatly surprised: "Calling yourself a daughter is a bad custom among the people of buying and selling maids. It has spread to the Beijing Palace. Do concubines have to call themselves this way?"

Tian Xiuying hesitated to speak: "Forget it, the deceased is the most important, so I can't say more. Alas, all the grievances and grudges are over."

Tian Xiuying couldn't say more, and Liu Rushi couldn't ask more.

Empress Zhou deliberately suppressed the concubines from calling themselves daughters, treating Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan as maids.

Chongzhen's harem didn't stay quiet either.

After the renovation of the Forbidden City in Nanjing is completed and Zhao Han moves in, his harem will probably not be as harmonious as it is now.

Of course, Zhao Han is currently busy dealing with religious issues and will not think about the harem yet.

"Since you have severed ties with the Holy See, you should also change your charter," Zhao Han said. "I heard that there are Protestants in the West, as well as Eastern Orthodoxy. Your Excellency also found a Nestorian stele in China. How about calling it Nestorian from now on? Bar."

Ai Julius did not expect that the Chinese emperor would push further, so he had to defend: "Your Majesty, this time you just violated the Pope's order. The Chinese Jesuits have not broken with the Holy See. With the Pope's open-mindedness, there may be room for maneuver."

Zhao Han did not force him: "Then just wait."

Pope Urban VIII was indeed liberal, but he was also extremely controlling. Moreover, this guy's nepotism and large-scale construction projects have put the Holy See's finances in extreme embarrassment. In China, he can be called a "faint king".

He was a mortal enemy of Richelieu, the powerful French minister, but they had formed a firm alliance for decades and was planning to label the Jansenists as heretics. Would such a tough-minded guy who puts his interests first allow Chinese missionaries to be disobedient?

Zhao Han could imagine the Pope's reaction. In a year or two, he would definitely appoint new missionaries to come to China to take over the management positions.

At that time, people like Ai Julius will have to pinch their noses and completely surrender to Zhao Han. Even changing the Jesuit (Chinese Diocese) to Nestorianism, directly drawing a clear line with the Holy See, is nothing more than another kind of Protestantism.

The interpretation of the Bible must also be changed, it must conform to the theory of Datong, and it must be integrated with Confucian classics.

Since Ai Julius still has fantasies, let him fantasize first, which will only be a matter of two or three years.

After waving the missionaries to leave, Zhao Han continued to review the memorial.

A memorial from the Ministry of Rites made Zhao Han frown.

However, Luling, Jishui, and Anfu counties reported that education expenditures were too high. These three counties were Zhao Han's initial territory. Due to the improvement of life, there has long been a baby boom.

The baby born after Zhao Han's uprising has reached elementary school age. With a large number of children enrolling in school, the three counties' education expenditures have soared and are almost unsustainable. They request that some tuition fees be appropriately charged and the free lunch system be abolished.

Free lunches were originally used to attract children to school.

The cabinet’s response was to cancel free lunches and charge textbook fees to primary school students. Students can also buy used books by themselves, or share a book with several students.

The initial three counties have been emigrating, otherwise the education expenditure problem would have already broken out.

But ten or twenty years later, as the population in the north increases and the population in the south increases, free education will definitely not be able to continue. Although it is possible to immigrate overseas, it is difficult to start a business overseas. It is certain that only young men and women will immigrate, and it is impossible to immigrate children as well.

Although Zhao Han was quite reluctant, he still picked up the ink pen and slowly wrote the word "may" behind the cabinet's approval.

After thinking about it, I added a few words: canceling school meals and collecting book fees should be done step by step. This year we will travel to three counties and next year we will travel to Jiangxi. Within three years, this policy was implemented south of the Yangtze River and gradually implemented north of the Yangtze River. In the newly occupied land, the people were poor and within five years, they all used the old method.

Zhao Han stood up and walked back and forth, then sat down and added some pen and ink: Do not force book fees to avoid being taken advantage of by corrupt officials and booksellers.

Books are very valuable. Families that cannot afford the cost of books can share one book with several children. Alternatively, it would be cheaper to hire literate people from the village to copy books than to print them, since there is not much content in primary school textbooks anyway.

It's even worse in mountainous areas, where many schools are ruined temples. A teacher teaches all subjects in one step. Some schools have incomplete books, and some schools still use old textbooks. Students' writing is completely dependent on their parents. After primary school, they can only read and write, and have never practiced calligraphy seriously. Children in mountainous areas still have no way out.

Unable to transcend the times, this is all Zhao Han can do.