Very quickly, five of the issues that Meton had raised regarding marriage had been resolved. Only one was left, which was parental interference in marriage.
Quan Wanji immediately revealed a trace of confidence. Perhaps Mo Jiazi would be able to find loopholes in the other issues, but Quan Wanji was already prepared for the last one. He would definitely give Meton a head-on blow.
"Lord Mo used the example of a peacock flying to the southeast and composed two poems that were sung throughout the streets of Chang 'an. It could be said to be moving the heavens and the earth. However, you don't know that Mother Jiao didn't do anything wrong," Quan Wanji said proudly.
"Didn't do anything wrong?" Meton couldn't help but raise his voice in disbelief.
Currently, the entire city of Chang 'an was lamenting the poignant love between Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi. However, in the eyes of Quan Wanji and the others, Mother Jiao didn't do anything wrong.
"According to the marriage laws of the imperial court, a woman can divorce her seven sins. Lord Mo should be aware of this!" Quan Wanji said coldly as he looked at Meton.
Meton nodded. "This one naturally knows."
"Dali Li Ji, Book of Life": "A woman has seven sins: disobeying her parents, being childless, being lascivious, being jealous, having an evil disease, talking too much, and stealing. Disobeying her parents is an act of defiance. Being childless is an act of peerlessness. Being lascivious is an act of chaos. Being jealous is an act of chaos. Being sick is an act of discord. Being talkative is an act of divorce. Stealing is an act of antipathy. "
These seven sins meant that as long as a woman committed any of the above, the man could divorce his wife. When Meton studied law in the Imperial College, he had naturally memorized this by heart.
Quan Wanji said, "Although Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi died in the name of love, Mother Jiao's reason for divorcing Jiao Zhongqing was that she was childless!"
"When the bride first arrived, my aunt only supported the bed. Today, she was sent away. My aunt grew up like me." From his aunt's growth, it could be seen that Lanzhi had been married to the Jiao Family for many years. Before Liu Lanzhi was sent home, she said goodbye to her husband, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law. However, she did not say goodbye to her children. It could be seen that the real reason Liu Lanzhi was divorced was because she had not had a child for many years.
In the traditional view, Liu Lanzhi had been married for many years without a child, which was one of the seven reasons why Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi's love tragedy happened.
"What explanation does Lord Mo have?" Quan Wanji pressed on.
Meton coldly snorted and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has no doubts about the other seven points, but he has some doubts about having no children."
"Speak your mind!" Li Shimin rolled his eyes slightly. He knew that Meton was at it again, but he was very interested in how Meton would refute him.
Meton cupped his hands towards Quan Wanji and asked seriously, "Sir Quan, may I ask if, among the seven divorces, does divorcing a wife without a son include the woman giving birth to a daughter without a son, or the woman being infertile, or both?"
Quan Wanji nodded and said, "Naturally, it's both! Mencius said, 'There are three ways to be unfilial, but having no descendants is the worst.' Marrying a wife is for the sake of carrying on the family line. If the wife is unable to give birth to a son, causing the husband's family line to be cut off, then the husband can naturally divorce the wife and remarry. "
In a patriarchal family, the purpose of marriage was to 'serve the ancestral temple and carry on the family line'. Marrying a wife was for the sake of bearing offspring. According to the principle of patrilineal inheritance, only sons could be counted as descendants to carry on the family line. Therefore, women had no choice but to bear the 'crime' of being 'childless'. According to the system, men could only marry one wife, so they had to divorce the childless wife and marry a new wife in order to have children.
Cao Zhi wrote in 'The Poem of the Abandoned Wife', "A childless wife is at peace (being divorced) … Having a child means menstruation, having no child is like a shooting star; the sky and the moon begin and end, the shooting star has no essence." It meant that a childless woman was like a shooting star that was short-lived in the husband's family. Only a wife who gave birth to a son could stand firm in the husband's family like the sun and moon. This showed that divorcing a wife because she was childless was very common in the Han Dynasty.
When it came to the Tang Dynasty, the position of 'childless' in the 'seven divorces' was even more important. The laws of the Tang Dynasty placed 'childless' in the first place, and this continued until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Whether it was the imperial palace or the common people, it could be said that mothers relied on their children to rise in status.
Not to mention the Tang Dynasty, even in the seventies and eighties, if the family didn't have a son, they would be considered to have no descendants and would not be able to raise their heads in the village. Why did the guerrillas want to have more children? No, their goal was probably just to have a son.
It wasn't until the twenty-first century that this idea gradually disappeared, but in some backward places, the idea that one must have a son was still difficult to eradicate.
Many ministers nodded their heads. No matter how clever Meton's tongue was, it was futile in front of the 'seven divorces'.
However, Meton didn't back down. Instead, he cupped his fists towards the ministers and said, "This brat has a matter to consult all of you."
Quan WanJi sneered as he looked at Meton. He was in the right, so he was naturally happy to see Meton jump around.
Meton took out a Kai Yuan Tong Bao and nodded towards the crowd, "This is a Kai Yuan Tong Bao."
Meton flicked his finger, and with a buzz, the Kai Yuan Tong Bao flew into the air. After using up all of its power, it floated down. Meton took advantage of the opportunity and placed it on the back of his hand.
"Everyone, can you guess whether this Kai Yuan Tong Bao is on the back or the back?" Meton asked.
Black lines appeared on the heads of all the officials. They all stared at Mo Dun, dumbfounded. A child's play like guessing was actually brought to the Imperial Court by the son of Mo.
"Mo Jiazi, this is an important place in the imperial court. It's not a place for you to mess around," Quan WanJi rebuked angrily.
Li Shimin also stared at Meton unkindly. Meton's usual behavior was fine, but he always did strange things when people weren't paying attention.
Meton laughed and said, "Lord Quan, don't be anxious. What if I compare the front and back sides of this coin to giving birth to a boy or a girl? If the front side represents a boy and the back side represents a girl, would Lord Quan still think it's a joke? "
Quan WanJi was stunned. There were only two sides to a coin, and people were only divided into boys and girls. It was quite appropriate to compare them accordingly.
Many of the ministers' eyes lit up. They could vaguely guess Meton's intentions.
Meton opened his hand, revealing the back side of the coin. He said regretfully, "It looks like it's a girl this time."
"What does that mean?" Cheng Yaojin asked curiously.
"This one wants to know whether the back side is because this boy flicked it with his right hand or because this boy caught it with his left hand," Meton asked.
"Uh!" Cheng Yaojin thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be either."
Meton revealed a cold smile. He looked at the ministers and said, "A lone yin doesn't grow, and a lone yang doesn't give birth. Giving birth is something that both men and women do. Then why does the world blame a girl and not a boy on a woman's stomach?"
The ministers all sucked in a cold breath and looked at Meton in disbelief. Flicking a coin and giving birth were very similar. No one knew the gender of the child until they were born. However, after a boy was born, the whole family cheered. After a girl was born, they pointed at the woman's stomach.
"This is the consensus of the world," Quan WanJi argued.
Meton pressed on, "Official Quan, is there any evidence in this world to prove that the mother is responsible for giving birth to a boy or a girl?"
Quan WanJi's face immediately paled and he staggered back a few steps. Everyone in the court was knowledgeable, so how could he make something out of nothing? He could only bitterly say, "There is no evidence in this world."
Meton continued, "In other words, this is just a common guess. Could it be that the boy guessed that it was a boy or a girl because of this? Could it be that the boy is responsible for giving birth to a boy or a girl? Or could it be that both of them are responsible for it?"
The ministers were stunned and fell into deep thought. It wasn't just a possibility, it was very likely. However, they had never reflected on the fact that it might be the man's responsibility. They had always blamed the woman's stomach for not being able to live up to expectations.
Meton said emotionally, "Who doesn't have a mother? It's already difficult for a mother to carry a child for ten months, yet she has to endure the criticism of the world. How cruel is that?"
All the officials fell silent.
"Since it's not the woman's fault to give birth to a girl, why should the woman be divorced because of the seven sins? I ask Your Majesty to investigate whether this is biased." Meton bowed to Li Shimin.
Although it had been proven in the future that the genes that determined whether a child was a boy or a girl was a boy, there was no such condition at the moment. There was no other way. Meton could only use this method to convince everyone.
Li Shimin looked at Meton with satisfaction. Meton's words were logical and his heart was on the woman's side. If he stood on the side of the father, he would naturally be unhappy. However, as a father, Li Shimin actually felt that his son-in-law was more and more pleasing to the eye.
"Meton's words are reasonable. This method is indeed biased." Li Shimin coughed dryly. At the moment, he wasn't just standing on the side of his daughter. At the same time, he also had a huge harem to appease. Naturally, he had to stand firm.
The ministers were all silent. Otherwise, when they returned home, even the chickens and dogs would be in chaos. Prime Minister Fang Xuanling was even more silent.
"It's naturally good to give birth to a girl. However, if the family continues to give birth to a girl, what will happen to the family line?" Quan Wanji argued.
Meton smiled slightly. With a wave of his hand, the Kaiyuan Tongbao flew into the air once more. With a clap, he clapped his hands together. "This is the wonder of this question. Sir Quan, can you guess again whether it's heads or tails this time?"
Quan Wanji's eyes widened. He looked at Meton with sweat dripping down his forehead. He seemed to have guessed Meton's plan.
Meton said boldly, "The School of Mo has a scientific name called probability. The School of Mo's sages once tossed a coin over ten thousand times. They obtained a very interesting result. The more coins they tossed, the closer the probability of them coming up with heads and tails. At the same time, they calculated the gender of the newborns in a county. The number of boys and girls was almost equal."
"What does that mean?" Cheng Yaojin didn't understand.
Minister of Revenue Dai Zhou sighed. "Every time a coin is tossed, the probability of them coming up with heads and tails is 50/50. It's the same for giving birth to a child."
Cheng Yaojin's eyes widened. "In other words, every time a child is born, there's a 50/50 chance of it being a girl."
"Correct!" Merton said. "Every time a woman gives birth to a girl, there's a 50/50 chance. In terms of probability, the lucky mothers will always give birth to a boy. The unlucky mothers will always give birth to a girl."
"A girl for the rest of her life!" Even Li Shimin couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
Meton nodded. "Of course, this is an extremely special situation. It's almost impossible for it to happen. However, in the School of Mo's sages' experiments, there were cases where they came up with tails twenty times in a row. There were even cases where they came up with tails ten times in a row."
All the ministers nodded. It was common for a family to have eight to ten daughters. There were even cases where even if a family had many wives and concubines, they still couldn't have any descendants.
"Since it's not a woman's fault to give birth to a boy or a girl, it's a matter of probability. Why do women have to bear the criticism of the world and be labeled as the seven sins?" Meton suddenly turned around and said with a sharp gaze.
For a moment, no one dared to look directly at Meton. Everyone knew that the women of the world had to bear too much criticism. In the past, they could peacefully enjoy it, but now, Meton had poked a hole in the window.
Quan Wanji's face was pale. He struggled to say, "Then what if women can't give birth?"
Meton snorted. "Being unable to give birth is a kind of illness. You can find a doctor to treat it. Besides, it's not certain whether it's a male or female problem. If you divorce early, the woman might be able to find another good husband."
Quan Wanji staggered when he heard this. The ministers couldn't help but sigh as they looked at Quan Wanji. This time, Quan Wanji had lost completely.
"Your Majesty, please make the decision." Meton looked at Quan Wanji with contempt and immediately retracted his aura, turning into a well-behaved youth.
Li Shimin pondered for a long time, then stood up from the dragon throne and said, "Does anyone have any objections?"
All the ministers shook their heads. With Quan Wanji's example in front of them, they naturally wouldn't ask for a rebuff.
"Since that's the case, in the future, in the Tang dynasty, if a woman gives birth to a child but has no children, she will not be part of the seven. However, the husband can take concubines and have children. If the wife is over fifty years old and has no children, she will be the head of a concubine." Li Shimin was indeed worthy of being called an emperor. He used the law of balance smoothly. Not only did he protect the women, but he also allowed the family to continue the family line. If a woman is unable to give birth, she will be part of the seven. The husband can take concubines or divorce the wife. "
"Your Majesty is wise!" Quan Wanji sighed in relief.
"As for the daughter of the Han Clan!" Li Shimin's voice was cold. "The Han Clan, Hu Clan, and Matchmaker Zhu will be sent to Chang 'an County for trial. The daughter of the Han Clan will be buried by the imperial court. The marriage certificate will be engraved on the tombstone as a warning to the world."
"Your Majesty is wise. On behalf of the daughter of the Han Clan, this subject thanks Your Majesty for your grace!" Meton said sincerely. This was the magnanimous Li Shimin. If it was another emperor, Meton's actions wouldn't have gone so smoothly.
Li Shimin looked at Meton with a complicated expression. "Meton, we are very gratified that you are asking for this order on behalf of all the men and women in the world. We hope that you can abide by today's decision. If you do not mean what you say, we will not forgive you."
Meton was startled. He felt that Li Shimin was implying something, but now wasn't the time to think. He immediately promised, "Your Majesty, please be at ease. Meton's words today will be watched by the world. If I go against them, I will be condemned by everyone."
Li Shimin's expression relaxed. He nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave.
"Court is dismissed!" Pande shouted.
"We respectfully send Your Majesty off!" The officials bowed.
Soon, the news of Meton beating the Wen Deng Drum in front of everyone to ask for the daughter of the Han Clan was spread. Countless people had been looking forward to it. When they heard that Mo Jiazi had argued with the imperial censor in court, the entire city was in an uproar.
"Mo Jiazi is simply offending public decency." The old and stubborn people scolded, especially the families of the child brides. Many of them were gnashing their teeth at Meton.
"Mo Jiazi is indeed Mo Jiazi!" Countless young people rushed to shout.
However, in the hearts of the younger generation, Meton's actions were simply too gratifying. Meton had done something they had never dared to dream of. In an instant, countless young people worshipped Meton as their idol. Being controlled like a puppet was something that even their parents found difficult to accept. Today, Meton had brought them a glimmer of hope for freedom.
At the same time, Meton's theory that having a boy or a girl didn't depend on the woman was approved by all the mothers in Chang 'an. The women of the world had suffered such criticism too much. They couldn't wash it away even if they jumped into the Yellow River.
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