novelburst-info
Chapter 191: Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire! (2 / 2)
Chapter 191: Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire! (2 / 2)
Two days later.
Having already impeached someone once before, Xu Yanmiao confidently stepped forward for his second attempt. “Your Majesty! I impeach Prince Fu for harboring malicious intentions, endangering the state, disregarding the welfare of the people, and jeopardizing the Da Xia dynasty by plunging it into chaos!”
The court officials collectively winced, their teeth aching at the audacity of the statement.
Although exaggeration in impeachment memorials was nothing new—everyone was used to slapping labels and throwing accusations, regardless of their basis or truth—when it came from Xu Yanmiao, they all felt a strange and subtle emotion.
Who is it? Who corrupted the innocent Xu Lang?!
—That was the prevailing sentiment.
The old emperor asked sincerely, “He only had the dancers in his residence bind their feet. How does that lead to plunging the Da Xia dynasty into chaos?”
It wasn’t that he wanted to shield his son—he was genuinely curious. How could these two things possibly be connected? Did Xu Yanmiao discover through some divine artifact that Prince Fu had done something else?
Xu Yanmiao wasn’t surprised in the slightest that the old emperor knew about the foot-binding incident.
[Of course, he could find out! If he went to visit me and discovered the vomiting was caused by the golden lotus cup, then traced it to Prince Fu and then to foot-binding, isn’t that perfectly normal?]“Does Your Majesty know the harms of foot-binding for women?” Xu Yanmiao asked.
Without waiting for the emperor to respond, Xu Yanmiao answered his own question.
“Foot-binding affects a woman’s ability to give birth!”
“What?”
The old emperor’s tone grew noticeably serious.
“Your Majesty, think about it. A woman who binds her feet has difficulty moving, so she lacks strength in her body. How could she muster the energy needed during childbirth? This makes it much more likely for her to suffer complications or even face a difficult labor…”
Of course, this wasn’t entirely accurate.
Foot-binding deforms the foot, shifting the body’s balance to the heel. This inadvertently strengthens the hips and waist, which can actually enhance pelvic structure and potentially improve childbearing capacity. If foot-binding truly reduced fertility, the authorities would have cracked down harder on it long ago—they didn’t care about women’s suffering but were deeply concerned about declining population numbers.
However, commoners needed to walk frequently, while noble ladies didn’t need to touch the ground when traveling. The lack of activity often weakened their health, which could negatively affect their fertility. The daughters of the officials present all fell under the category of “noble ladies.”
[Still, it’s better to focus on just one argument.]
[Otherwise, someone might suggest, “Then just have noble ladies walk more! Let them walk two steps on the ground. Isn’t walking on the edge of a knife no big deal?” After all, it’s not like they’d personally have to do it…]
The officials: “…”
No, we’re not that inhumane.
Xu Yanmiao’s tone grew earnest. “Your Majesty, one thing often leads to another. The world is never short of people with peculiar preferences. If the practice of foot-binding spreads from Prince Fu’s residence to the aristocracy, and small feet are labeled ‘golden lotuses’—praised as pure and beautiful—won’t it become a trend to value bound feet when marrying wives and concubines? And then, among the commoners, won’t everyone follow suit and bind their daughters’ feet? Over time, won’t difficult labors and deaths in childbirth skyrocket?”
— To make the elites care, you have to show them how something could harm their other interests.
Sure enough, from the emperor down to the officials, everyone began taking this seriously.
Xu Yanmiao’s argument made… a lot of sense!
If a person avoids walking because of foot pain, or walks so slowly and lazily that they lack physical strength, isn’t it natural that they wouldn’t have the energy needed during childbirth?
Seeing their reactions, Xu Yanmiao pressed forward with a second point:
“Your Majesty, if women bind their feet, half of the labor force in the world will be crippled.”
The old emperor was visibly shaken.
Even before Xu Yanmiao began explaining, the emperor immediately realized what he had overlooked before.
— How many people in the world could endure the pain of festering feet and continue working?
Xu Yanmiao said, “Noble ladies might be fine since they rarely engage in labor, but if peasant women in the countryside bind their feet, how can they work in the fields? Even if they kneel to farm, how can the land they tend compare to what they could manage when healthy?”
“And female merchants—how can they travel for trade if their feet are bound? The loss in commercial tax revenue would be enormous.”
“And then there are the weavers. If their feet are in pain, how can they work quickly at the loom?”
“Not to mention…”
Xu Yanmiao listed the cascading impacts one by one, causing the emperor’s face to grow increasingly grim.
Halving the labor force was something no wise ruler could ever tolerate.
Then came the third point: “Moreover… does Your Majesty know how foot-binding is actually done?”
The bodily changes and reproductive effects caused by foot-binding were intended to make women better suited as childbearing tools. After foot-binding, the feet became deformed, shifting the body’s weight to the heels. This led to the development of the hips and waist, which in turn affected the pelvis, enhancing reproductive capabilities.
— From “A Brief Analysis of Bound Feet in Ancient Chinese Literature”