Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 81 Anger
"Zhong Huai is right. If you study for the purpose of learning etiquette and cultivating your character, it is fine to read more books. But if you want to be an official, it is useless to rely on reading alone.

Every time the imperial court held an imperial examination to recruit scholars, countless people participated, but only two or three hundred people were finally able to pass the imperial examination. Among these people, who was not well-read?
However, some of these people became good officials, some became corrupt officials, and some were mediocre and incompetent officials.

Is it because they don't read enough books?" Zhao Xing said.

"I think I understand." Qi Heng said thoughtfully.

"Don't worry. You are still young and have plenty of time to think about it slowly. Don't just focus on studying. You can take a break when you are tired. You can go out for a walk when you have nothing to do. Combine what you see and hear with what you have learned, and verify them one by one." Zhao Xing said.

The reason why he said this to Qi Heng was because the views Qi Heng usually put forward were a bit too idealistic.

But this is normal. Qi Heng was born into a noble family and does not understand the sufferings of the people.

"Yes, I understand." Qi Heng said.

At 3 p.m., the polo game ended and Zhao Xing left first in a carriage under the escort of the imperial guards.

The carriages of each family followed behind, forming a long dragon.

After years of development, Bianjing had formed a number of market towns within a few miles outside the city.

Its prosperity is not much less than that of the city.

When they were almost reaching the market town, the carriage suddenly stopped.

"What's going on?" Zhao Xing asked as he lifted the car curtain.

"Your Highness, I don't know either. Commander Cao has already sent people to check ahead." Liu Sanshi said.

Zhao Xing nodded and lowered the curtain when he heard this.

After a while, Liu Sanshi reported: "Your Highness, someone drowned a baby up ahead. The mother didn't want to be with her and started making a scene, attracting many people to watch. Commander Cao has sent people to drive them away."

"What did you say?"

Zhao Xing lifted the curtain of the carriage and said in disbelief, "If someone drowned a baby, why didn't they do anything about it?"

"Your Highness, there is no way to deal with this kind of thing." Liu Sanshi said.

"What do you mean there's no way to do anything about it? A baby's life isn't a human life? Is there still any law for drowning a baby in broad daylight?" Zhao Xing shouted.

"Your Highness, what Eunuch Liu said is right. This kind of thing is too common and it is difficult for the government to deal with it." Gu Tingye said.

"Bullshit! What do you mean the government has no control over this? Liu Sanshi has passed on the order that the child must be rescued." Zhao Xing shouted.

It would be fine if he didn't know, but this happened right in front of him, and he would feel guilty if he didn't do anything.

"Yes!" Liu Sanshi responded and trotted off to convey the order.

Zhao Xing got off the carriage and said, "Come with me to have a look."

"Your Highness, there are too many people over there, it's not safe. You'd better wait for news in the carriage." Gu Tingye advised.

"Zhong Huai, from what you said, it seems that you are used to this kind of thing?" Zhao Xing asked.

"I saw it several times on the road when I went to Yangzhou before. I heard that it is very common in many places, but it is rare in Bianjing." Gu Tingye said.

"Then why didn't you tell me about it?"

When Zhao Xing heard Gu Tingye's words, his breathing stopped.

Gu Tingye saw this several times on the road when he went to Yangzhou, which shows how many babies are drowned every year.

When he thought of this, Zhao Xing felt so uncomfortable that he could hardly breathe.

Zhao Xing took a deep breath and walked forward.

Soon, Zhao Xing arrived at the front. At this time, the people had been driven away and separated by the imperial guards.

There was only a middle-aged man in a sandalwood-colored brocade robe and a woman of about seventeen or eighteen years old in the field.

The middle-aged man was nodding and bowing while talking to Cao Mian, while the woman was sitting on the ground, holding a baby with a happy look on her face.

There was a pile of firewood on the side of the road and an extinguished torch on the ground.

Seeing this, Zhao Xing became even angrier. This was not drowning the baby, this was burning him alive.

Zhao Xing walked up to the middle-aged man, glared at him and said, "From your looks, it's not like you can't afford to raise a child. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. Why do you treat your own child like this?"

Although the middle-aged man did not know Zhao Xing's identity, he could still recognize the soldiers around him because they were wearing imperial guards armor.

Seeing how respectful these imperial guards were to Zhao Xing, the middle-aged man knew that Zhao Xing's identity was not simple, and he was speechless when he heard it.

"How dare you! Didn't you hear the Crown Prince asking you a question?" Cao Mian scolded.

"Pfft."

When the middle-aged man heard that Zhao Xing was the crown prince, his legs went limp and he collapsed to the ground, crying, "Your Highness, the one I want to burn is my daughter, and it's not against the law."

"Asshole! The Song Dynasty Criminal Code stipulates that if children are unfilial, parents are not guilty of killing them. You are still a baby, how can you say that he is unfilial to you? Do you think I don't understand the laws of the Song Dynasty?" Zhao Xing shouted.

The punishment standards for parents killing their children were different in different dynasties, and some dynasties did not even have any punishment for this.

According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, parents who beat their children to death would be exiled unless the children were unfilial.

This kind of regulation is difficult to judge in practical application. After all, in ancient times when filial piety was paramount, talking back to parents could be considered unfilial.

But the child was still in her infancy, so it was impossible to accuse her of being unfilial. "What's going on? If you still dare to deceive me, your crime will be even greater," Zhao Xing said coldly.

"Your Highness, I have no choice but to do this. I am the only child in my family, but my wives and concubines have given birth to several daughters. I asked an expert to calculate it, and he said that only if I burn the last daughter to death can I give birth to a son next time. There are three unfilial acts, and the worst of them is to have no descendants. I am doing this to show my filial piety." said the middle-aged man.

"Asshole!" Zhao Xing kicked him out angrily and said angrily, "Do you think I should praise you again?"

"Come here, arrest him and send him to Kaifeng government office to be severely punished according to the law!" Zhao Xing said coldly.

"Your Highness, please spare my life." The middle-aged man cried.

"Your Highness, please have mercy."

When the woman holding the child saw Zhao Xing ordering the arrest of people, she kowtowed to Zhao Xing and begged for mercy.

"He wants to burn your daughter to death, and you still want to plead for him?" Zhao Xing said in disbelief: "Do you know that if I let him go like this, he might even attack your daughter again?"

Upon hearing this, the woman continued to kowtow, begging Zhao Xing to show mercy.

Zhao Xing was so angry that he didn't want to care about it anymore. However, thinking that this was a life after all, he couldn't bear it and said, "The country has its own laws, and the family has its own rules. Everything should be done according to the law. Take him away!"

After saying this, Zhao Xing turned around and left, ignoring the man and woman's pleas.

……

"Madam, there was a man ahead who wanted to burn a baby girl to death. When His Highness found out, he was furious and ordered people to stop him and arrest him."

Zhao Xing's carriage in front stopped, and the carriages of officials and their families behind also stopped.

After waiting for a long time and seeing that there was no movement in front, many people sent their servants to inquire for news.

The servant of the Duke of England's mansion recounted in detail the news he had heard.

After hearing this, the Duke of England sighed and said, "What a sin! How could anyone be so cruel as to do this?"

"The child's mother is also confused. Your Highness wants to seek justice for her, but she actually begs Your Highness to show mercy." Zhang Guifen said.

"Well, it's not her fault. That woman is obviously a concubine. Her man was captured because of her. When she returns, the lady at home will definitely put all the blame on her. Her situation will only become more difficult." said the Duchess of England.

Zhang Guifen was silent for a while and said, "I really hope that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can take this matter seriously and prevent this kind of thing from happening again."

"In some places, it is believed that if a girl is born as a first child, if she does not drown, then she will have consecutive daughters and will have a son later. Therefore, if a boy is born as soon as possible after the marriage, then she must be abandoned and drowned if a girl is born. There are too many cases like this. How can we control them?" The Duchess of England shook her head.

"Don't the local authorities care?" Zhang Guifen said in shock.

She was of noble birth and had always lived in Bian Jing.

Officials in Bian Jing would never do such a thing as drowning or abandoning a baby girl, whether for the sake of their future or their reputation.

Therefore, although she had heard some of them occasionally, she thought they were isolated cases, but now from what her mother said, this kind of thing is very common.

"If the people don't report and the officials don't investigate, how can the government manage it?" The Duchess of England shook her head.

"Perhaps Your Highness has a solution?" Zhang Guifen murmured.

Through today's contact, Zhang Guifen realized that Zhao Xing was not what she originally thought.

And from the fact that Zhao Xing angrily went to deal with it personally after learning about this, it can be seen that Zhao Xing was also very disgusted with this kind of thing.

She felt that Zhao Xing might be able to think of a way to resolve this situation.

……

Zhao Xing felt very angry during the rest of the journey.

Judging from the reactions of Gu Tingye and the onlookers, they were obviously used to this kind of thing.

Drowning babies had become a common occurrence in the eyes of everyone, which made Zhao Xing shudder.

After returning to the Eastern Palace, Zhao Xing left Gu Tingye and Qi Heng behind and went to the front hall.

"Zhong Huai, Yuan Ruo, please sit down."

Zhao Xing waved his hand, came to the main seat and sat down, saying: "Zhong Huai, you said you saw it several times on the way to Yangzhou, but you never asked why so many people drowned their children?"

"Your Highness, I have asked someone to inquire about this. This phenomenon occurs frequently among the people, and it is not unique to the Song Dynasty. This phenomenon has been formed since the Warring States Period. It is also recorded in "Han Feizi" that parents will congratulate their children if they give birth to a boy, but kill the child if they give birth to a girl." Gu Tingye said.

"This is ridiculous. Everyone in this world is born of a woman. If this is the case, then there will only be men left in the world in the future. This is simply taking human life lightly!" Zhao Xing became angrier as he listened.

In his previous life, he had heard that some people in the countryside would drown or abandon their daughters after giving birth. He never expected that this behavior was a relic from ancient times.

"Your Highness, in the past only girls were drowned, but now many people even drown their sons." Gu Tingye said.

"Why?" Zhao Xing frowned.

He could more or less understand the practice of drowning a daughter, as it was a policy of favoring boys over girls. After all, grain production was not high in ancient times, and when a daughter grew up, she would belong to another family.

Some, like the middle-aged man I met today, are caused by superstition.

But he couldn't understand why his son was drowned.

Thanks for the reward from Fuxiao Chenxi.

Thank you brothers for your support of monthly tickets and recommendation tickets.

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(End of this chapter)