mtl008 Chapter 749 We can!
Chapter 749 We can!
"So this is the surprise for me?"
When she learned of the whereabouts of the caravan's horses at Huangshadu, she thought that she could use this to form a new cavalry force. These horses were no less endurance than those of the Northern Yan, and with such a force, they would surely be able to play a better role.
I never expected that my older brother would set aside a portion for her, allowing her to personally build an all-female army.
She did have that idea at the time, which is why she asked Luo Jing to help train the girls, but she was too busy to take care of it.
Now they have paved the way for her.
“This is just the beginning,” Zong Que said. “There have been female generals in history, and it is not uncommon for women to fight on the battlefield. For a country to be strong and stable, its military strength is the key. Similarly, if we want to truly improve the status of women in the Great Zhao and enable them to enter the court openly, relying solely on the civil service examination is not enough.”
From the moment they rescued the girls from Jiangnan who had contracted syphilis, Lu Yangyang and Jiang Zhiyi wanted to do what Wenren Jing and the late Empress had wanted to do back then.
I want to enable those women who are trapped in their homes and in this world to step out of their homes, to survive in this world on their own, and to find their own value. They are clearly no less than those men, so why can they only be supporting characters and appendages, slowly withering away in the inner courtyard?
Wenren Jinghe and the late Empress worked hard for this cause, establishing women's academies so that women could openly go out to study, proposing the establishment of female households, and even hoping that women could participate in the imperial examinations. They constantly fought against the world so that women could leave their homes.
These are things that can never be achieved overnight, but it is precisely because of those beginnings that many changes have gradually taken place over the years.
Lu Yangyang and Jiang Zhiyi both hope that, with the help of their predecessors, they can take another step forward.
But this step is not easy.
The things they are doing now are due to a combination of favorable timing, location, and people. The fact that they were able to establish an academy in Yuzhou and allow those women to go out and work is because of Lord Ling's magnanimity and the special circumstances of Yuzhou. As for Jiang Zhiyi being able to serve as the magistrate of Changyang County, it is because that place is far from the emperor's reach, inconspicuous, and is Lu Yangyang's fiefdom, which is why it did not attract attention.
Without these supporting conditions, their efforts could easily come to naught.
However, if a woman could wield military power and truly enter the court through military merit, it would undoubtedly be a significant step in raising the status of women. While it was extremely difficult for women to enter the court through the imperial examinations, there were precedents throughout history for women to do so through military merit.
Lu Yangyang's eyes grew brighter and brighter. She had long known that Zong Que and her elder brother had always been very supportive of her, but she never expected that they would go to such lengths for this.
Seeing that she had figured out the key points, Zong Que said gently, "Yangyang, I believe you can do what the Master and the Empress Dowager couldn't do more than twenty years ago."
Lu Yangyang nodded vigorously, her voice as firm as her eyes, "We can!"
After Lu Yangyang took over the warhorses, she handed the matter over to Yunying. In the past, they had not been able to show their skills in Changyang County, but now that they had come to the Northwest, it was different. No matter how peaceful it was, it was only relatively so. There were still some small tribes that would harass the people from time to time during the winter, and there were also bandits like the horse caravans who would secretly rob caravans everywhere.
If that women's army is to truly grow into a full-fledged military force, they must actually go to the battlefield. This is the beginning, and also the opportunity.
After making the arrangements, Lu Yangyang went back with Zong Que, but then she remembered something else: "Where did Yan Yue and the others go?"
When Yan Yue and Lu Zhan left, Lu Yangyang thought they would go to the Northwest, since their elder brother was there and there would be more opportunities for training. Now it seems that they didn't go to the Northwest.
“I went to the Northern Frontier,” Zong Que told her about the situation there. “The Northern Yan has always been restless. The marriage alliance was just an excuse and a test. In the past two years, the tests have gone beyond small-scale harassment. Last winter, a Northern Yan army disguised itself as a caravan and massacred a village in the Northern Frontier under the guise of trading. Afterwards, they blamed the caravan for the incident. General Cheng suppressed the matter.”
Lu Yangyang looked at Zong Que in shock. How could such a big thing have gone unnoticed?
"General Cheng, is he His Majesty's man?" Lu Yangyang asked in a low voice.
"General Cheng is naturally His Majesty's man, but he is also the general who guards the Great Zhao."