The ancients governed the country really amazingly! Due to the influence of the concept of preference for sons over women, the death of female babies at that time was serious, resulting in an imbalance in the ratio of men and women, resulting in a high number of "bachelors". The imperial court realized that this would not only affect the national economy and people's livelihood, but also cause social unrest, so it tried every means to solve this thorny problem. Can you imagine all of them's bad ideas? For example, forced marriage, conscription, widow remarriage, etc., it is really ridiculous to read! But ask yourself, if you live in ancient times, the singles can't be happy?
Hey, boys, if it weren't for the hard work of our ancestors, you wouldn't be where you are now!
You should have heard of the words "a group of wives and concubines" and "three wives and four concubines", right? That was the unique scenery of the dignitaries back then. But don't look at the excitement, in fact, there are many more singles in the homes of the people at the bottom than now.
At that time, our patriarchal thinking was deep-rooted, and the family was looked down upon when they gave birth to a girl, and some were even strangled to death by their biological parents just after birth. You think, it's so difficult for girls to stay, so naturally the ratio of men and women is out of balance. This can annoy the imperial court, how can there be offspring without a new population? How to act as a labor force and troops? That's worth it!
So the court did everything they could, and there were many clever plans:
Hi single lads, blessed! As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the Legalists stipulated the marriageable age, and women must marry at the age of 15, and must marry before the age of 20. Yue Wang Goujian even ordered that if you don't get married, you will fine your parents! In the Han Dynasty, they simply forced unmarried women to pay heavy taxes, and don't think about not marrying if they don't pay money. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, it was even more powerful, and it was stipulated that if the 17 women did not marry, they would be arranged by the government for blind dates. The Qing Dynasty even set up a special official media to let disaster victims and captive women marry singles. How's that, I'm going to be awesome, right?
There are policies above, and there are countermeasures below. Where do our poor bachelors have the money to marry a daughter-in-law? It's okay, the imperial court also allocated special funds for you to get married! The Song Dynasty had the most developed economy at that time, and the number of bachelors was also the smallest, so you can see what was going on by looking at it. Of course, the imperial court has limited money, so it has to rely on the rich to pay.
Don't think that the court is so merciful, phew! The wealthy were also severely disciplined, and the number of concubines they took was limited. Cai Yong put forward the proposal of one wife and one concubine, and one wife and two concubines. Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was even more ruthless, stipulating that the prince could only marry a maximum of 10, and the prince and the prince were not allowed to exceed 4. As for you rich businessmen, don't even think about it!
If we poor bastards can't afford to marry a daughter-in-law, don't be discouraged, the court is still looking for a captive woman to let you just right. Remember after Tang Taizong pacified the Eastern Turks? And they gave the female captives to the singles. Later, Goguryeo was destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of captives were also moved to the Central Plains, and many girls were separated from them. You see, I Datang gives you many opportunities!
If you can't do it, you can borrow a wife or rent a wife. At that time, there was this custom in Gansu, and singles could borrow their daughters-in-law for a few years to go home, and then return them when they gave birth to children. However, you have to sign an agreement to stipulate the term and conditions of the lease, so as not to delay other people's lives. I think it makes sense.
Having said that, in ancient times, widows were actually allowed and encouraged to remarry. You see that Zhuo Wenjun was widowed at the age of 17, and later married Sima Xiangru. During the Tang Dynasty, all widows and widows over the age of 15 could remarry. But in the afterlife, this thing will not work at all, it is simply a sin!
The last trick is the best, instead of teaching the women that they can't change their virgin bodies, it's better to open the green curtain and give the singles more opportunities. Every year on March 3, the imperial court will hold a blind date for you in the streets and alleys. You see, now that we have a female companion, we are blessed!
Don't know what's wrong, if it weren't for our ancestors desperately trying to think of this set of methods, where would you bachelors come from? The country and the country are undecided, this is all for our incense to last forever! From now on, you will devote yourself to adding children to the imperial court, and future generations will follow one after another, and the great cause of enriching the country and strengthening the army is just around the corner!
Those tricky solutions seem a bit ridiculous, but they do work, otherwise where would you and me come from today? Man is the soul of all things, and it is common sense for people to have children, and the wisdom of the ancients is worth remembering and inheriting!