I

Forbidden City, Kunning Palace.

Fei Rulan hesitated when picking up the pen and asked, "Do you really want to write like this?"

"Don't be afraid, there may be criticism at this time, but a hundred years later it will be the consensus of women all over the world." Zhao Han said.

The ban on foot binding is only a temporary administrative measure. What is really long-lasting is a change in ideology. In addition to foot binding, the Ming Dynasty also had the bad habit of chest binding, but it was more subtle and less harmful.

You might say it was due to asceticism, but many of the mainstream underwear for women in the Ming Dynasty had the function of cinching the waist, which could highlight a woman's waist curve. This thing may have something to do with aesthetics. Those pornographic books in the Ming Dynasty often used "small breasts" to praise women's breasts.

Fei Rulan thought hard and sometimes started writing. She followed Zhao Han's request and added another chapter to "Female Commandments".

This work needs to be done by the queen.

Zhao Han revised the "Girls' Commandments" in Jiangxi. Nowadays, regular girls' schools only study the abridged version. At this time, a chapter was added, mainly about breast binding and foot binding, which were bluntly denounced as unfilial habits.

Why not filial?

Damage to the body is one reason, and chest binding can also cause insufficient breast milk. Of course, noble ladies can ask wet nurses to feed their children, but this is evading the responsibility of motherhood - it's just a matter of being unfilial.

Fei Rulan continued to write "Female Commandments" there, and Zhao Han recruited Fu Qingzhu again.

"You are a master of gynecology. You should know the dangers of foot binding and breast binding for women." Zhao Han said.

Master Fu Qing cupped his hands and said, "I am fully aware of this harm."

Zhao Han said: "You compile a "Women's Health Care Record" and write down the precautions for all ages, from girls to old women. Remember, focus on the harmful effects of foot binding and waist binding, and give more examples. The scarier the case, the better! This book will be a required course in girls’ schools so that all girls can read it.”

Students in girls' schools are basically from wealthy families, and they happen to be the main group who wear corsets and waistbands.

For female students studying in ordinary schools, foot binding is not conducive to work and breast binding is not conducive to breastfeeding, but there is no need for the government to correct them. Like Pan Qimei, she is just a child-like giant who came from the mountains and has no idea what a corset is.

Master Fu Qing said seriously: "Your Majesty's move is a great good and a blessing to women in the world."

Zhao Han smiled and said: "I will personally write the preface to this book, so that you will not bear the infamy alone."

"A little infamy is nothing," Fu Qingzhu said calmly.

With the government's crackdown on girls' schools and brothels, and the latest issue of "Datong Monthly" publishing a full-page article on the harmful effects of breast and foot binding, many people are already saying weird things.

In the evening, in a brothel on the Qinhuai River, a group of pleasure seekers were having tea and complaining.

"Small breasts and small feet are both a matter of elegance. Nowadays, the court allows you to relax your breasts and feet, and even this brothel girl is no exception. Just imagine, ten or twenty years later, all the brothels will be filled with heavenly breasts and heavenly breasts." Feet. They are fat and ugly, how can they ruin the scenery?"

"Brother Hongdao, don't say any more. I can't bear to listen. When I think of the big-footed women in the street and the big-breasted women in the courtyard, I want to die. Alas, the world is really going downhill. The world is going downhill. !”

"Everyone, don't panic, haha. Is that what the court said? The investigation is strict, so naturally you don't dare to bind the three-inch golden lotus. But it's not easy to check the breasts. What official would dare to really take off a woman?" Clothes? That’s it, the official came here yesterday, why don’t the girls still tie their breasts today?”

"Your Majesty, you are really... ahem, your Majesty is a saint, there must be some bastard who is making slanderous remarks!"

"I heard that Mao Fan, a Jinshi from Jiashan, asked Your Majesty to ban foot binding. This monster will become a high official in the future and will be a troublemaker to the court!"

"Why don't we go knock on the temple and ask His Majesty to strip him of his honor?"

"King Que? What kind of gate are you knocking? You and I are just scholars from the former dynasty, and the government does not recognize any of our achievements. Even this year's imperial examination only allows scholars from the former dynasty under the age of 30 to participate. Alas, we are commoners, knocking It’s not even our turn.”

"..."

While there are those who criticize, there are naturally those who agree, and there are quite a few of them.

Zhang Erqi, a big troll from Shandong, specifically supported the imperial decree at various cultural meetings.

Zhang Erqi took the "Datong Monthly" and faced many scholars and said: "Your Majesty's imperial writings, this paragraph is extremely well written. Let me read it: I have always praised beauties, but there are no words that are enough. She is known as Concubine Yang in history. Luo socks are called women's round shoes in the Song Dynasty. Han Donglang's poem says: 'six-inch round skin is so radiant', which is clear evidence that feet are not bound. In addition, when people in the past talked about Dongpo's poems, they were like famous women walking out with big steps. This woman What is beautiful or evil does not depend on the size of the feet. Can anyone today be called beautiful if she has thick eyebrows and wide eyes, a big belly and a thick waist, even though the double hooks at the bottom of her skirt are not three inches full?"

This passage was written with Liu Rushi’s help.

Starting from Concubine Yang, when it comes to the beauties of the Tang and Song Dynasties, they are all talented. The beauty and ugliness of a woman does not lie in her big feet. If there is a woman who is tall and round, with a pair of small feet less than three inches, can you say that she is a beauty?

A scholar suddenly interjected: "If a woman has picturesque features and a graceful figure, but has a pair of big feet, isn't that a fly in the ointment?"

Zhang Erqi immediately responded: "Who said there is a fly in the ointment? Isn't Concubine Yang beautiful? Does Concubine Yang have her feet bound? If the foot binding does not hurt the body, the feet will naturally be beautiful. But if you break the bones of your feet for the three-inch golden lotus, it will become red, swollen and pus-filled. I really can’t see how beautiful it is. Going back twenty years, I heard of footbinding that hurt the body occasionally, but it was very rare. In recent years, there have been more and more people. I really don’t know where the evil trend started!"

When the debate between the two sides was at its most intense, suddenly an old man walked over slowly, leaning on a bamboo stick.

Everyone stood up and bowed: "I have seen Mr. Shi Qu."

This old man was Wu Bing, the editor-in-chief of "Datong Monthly", who wrote articles praising the emperor.

Wu Bing said with a smile: "You guys can't come up with a result, so why not write articles? I'll pick a few and publish them in the next issue of Datong Monthly."

Once you say this, the nature actually changes.

Everyone knows that "Datong Monthly" is distributed nationwide. If you can write an article in it, you will immediately become famous all over the world. So in the next writing battle, I'm afraid those who sing praises for Little Feet will all focus on how to become famous.

Zhao Han just wanted to make them quarrel. The more noisy the better. The first is to find something for the local scholars to do, so that they will not panic after being full; the second is to make the ban on foot binding known to the world, so that ordinary people will pay attention to it, and at the same time, supplement it with a high-pressure ban, so that the people will naturally know what to do. how to choose.

Unlike the Manchus, foot binding became more popular the more it was banned. Even together with the preservation of Han customs, if men can't keep their hair, then women have to keep their feet.

What Zhao Han founded was not an alien regime, and it would not have this nonsense effect.

Forbidden City.

Pan Qimei and Tian Xiuying planted sunflowers and tomatoes in the imperial garden.

When the "Datong Monthly" article battle attracted attention, the tomatoes in the Royal Garden were also ripe.

Food from the south was being transported to Liaoning in a hurry, and the Northeast War was about to break out soon. As an emperor, Zhao Han rarely took any time off from his busy schedule.

He went to pick tomatoes himself, and then went straight to the imperial kitchen with great interest.

There was no imperial dining room in the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor's meals were provided by Guanglu Temple. The new dynasty of Datong was established, royal expenses were separated from the court, and the imperial kitchen finally appeared in the Forbidden City.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

When the imperial chef saw the emperor, he was so frightened that he quickly knelt down.

Zhao Han smiled and said: "Get up, no need to kneel, I'm cooking a new dish today, you guys come over and watch how to cook it."

The emperor's behavior had already alarmed the harem, and the concubines came one after another to watch the fun.

Sisters Fei Rulan and Fei Rumei were standing beside them dignifiedly. However, Fei Rumei's eyes were moving around, as if she was curious about the furnishings in the imperial dining room.

Liu Rushi, Tian Xiuying, Lu Tianxiang and other concubines looked at the emperor with a smile and whispered.

Pan Qimei was the most serious. She squeezed in next to the emperor, obviously wanting to learn this dish.

Zhao Han ordered to select a concubine among Zhuang women, but she has not yet been selected. In fact, Zhuang villages all over the country were vying for the concubine spot, and armed conflicts almost broke out. The chief envoy of Guangxi, Shangshu, asked if they could offer two Zhuang concubines at the same time.

Zhao Han asked the imperial chef to wash the tomatoes, scald them with boiling water and tear off the skin, then picked up the kitchen knife and started cutting.

I haven't held a kitchen knife in many years, so I'm not very comfortable with it, but the foundation of my knife skills is still there. I cut more than ten tomatoes, and it seems that the portion of the dish to be fried is quite large.

The skill of beating eggs with one hand has not come back again, and the royal chefs are very kind, which makes me believe the rumor that the emperor's ancestor was a cook.

There are several ways to make tomato scrambled eggs.

Zhao Han first heated the pan with oil, poured in the egg liquid, then added tomatoes, sprinkled with various condiments, and finally thickened the pan.

"So simple?" Pan Qimei was a little disappointed.

In this time and space, the world's first plate of tomato scrambled eggs was quickly served on a large plate by the emperor. It will probably be spread throughout the restaurants and restaurants in Nanjing this year.

Zhao Han felt very accomplished. He picked up a bite with chopsticks and tasted it. He nodded and said, "This is the taste. Don't be stunned. Come over and have a taste. No one in the world has tasted it."

Pan Qimei quickly stepped aside and asked Fei Rulan to taste it first.

Fei Rulan picked up the tomato scrambled eggs, raised her sleeves to cover her mouth, and began to taste them gracefully. It was sweet and sour in the mouth and had a strong umami flavor, which surprised her: "I never expected that tomatoes from overseas, fried together with eggs, would be so delicious."

"Let me have a taste, let me have a taste!" Fei Rumei jumped over.

Fei Rumei's movements were much rougher. Although she still covered her mouth with her sleeves, she was doing so very fast. She also smashed her mouth after eating, which was not really dignified and elegant. She licked her lips and said, "Take another bite. I can't taste it."

After eating until her mouth was full of oil, Fei Rumei gave up her seat.

The concubines all tasted it, and there was a little left on the plate. Zhao Han asked several royal chefs to taste it too: "After you practice, you can spread it to the people. The royal meal is not exclusive to the royal family. This tomato scrambled egg should be eaten by the common people. .”

Needless to say, the tomato planting area will definitely increase significantly in the suburbs of Nanjing next year.

On the one hand, tomato scrambled eggs are delicious, and on the other hand, it comes from the palace. The royal family can always lead various fashions.

In addition to food and clothing, there is also clothing.

Zhao Han has already ordered that women in the palace, whether concubines, female officials, or maids, are not allowed to have their breasts tied in the future. At the same time, the clothing had to be slightly modified, with some additional fabric added to highlight the breasts.

The emperor likes big breasts, and there must be people among the people who follow his example.