A knife in love

Chapter 3400

When Li Qiufeng was thinking, he only heard Murong Danyan continue to say: "After I heard the legend about the family of the nine surnames, I was just ignorant and didn't know it clearly. I asked my father later, but he didn't go into details. I just told me that the so-called low status is the punishment imposed by the imperial court on some serious offenders, such as Tartar remnants, traitors, court rebellion, corrupt officials, thieves, etc. At the beginning of the founding of the country, Emperor Taizu advocated severe punishments and laws, and many people who were convicted He was severely punished. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had just established a state, threatened by Tartars outside, harassed by the rest of Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang inside, and the barbarians in the south were also ready to move. It is understandable that Emperor Taizu used harsh punishments to deal with rebellion. In order to deter those rebels and bandits, the His wife and children were classified as lowly, and his descendants could only be beggars, prostitutes, fallen people, happy households and other lowly people. In this way, those who are dissatisfied with the court must have scruples and dare not raise troops to make trouble.

"I remember that when Dad said this, his expression was very unhappy, and he was in a daze for a long time, and then he continued. Afterwards, the world will be peaceful and the people will live and work in peace and contentment. It stands to reason that we should no longer intimidate officials and people with severe punishments. Restoring the status of common people is the only way. It’s just that the emperor Taizu established the rules, and later emperors dare not change them easily, so that the humble people have been passed down from generation to generation. These people are forced by the power of the court and dare not openly rebel, but the grievances in their hearts are getting bigger and bigger. There will be more and more, sooner or later there will be a catastrophe."

When Murong Danyan said this, he paused for a moment, and then continued: "Although Daddy told me about the humble people, he didn't say anything about the people with the nine surnames. Later, when I was wandering in Hangzhou, I heard people Referring to the past of the Nine Family, it is said that after Chen Youliang’s son surrendered, Emperor Taizu hated Chen’s father and son and the soldiers loyal to Chen’s father and son, but in order to appease the people, he did not kill Chen Youliang’s generals immediately. Later The Tartars were expelled from the Central Plains, and the general situation of the world was settled. Emperor Taizu spared his hands and sent people to secretly investigate the words and deeds of the generals under Chen Youliang's account. Among them, nine of Chen Youliang's generals complained about the new dynasty. There are nine generals named Qian, Lin, Li, Yuan, Sun, Ye, and He. After the Emperor Taizu received the secret report, he ordered Jin Yiwei to arrest these nine generals and put them in the sky prison. Although the generals have a lot of dissatisfaction with Daming, but they know that the general situation of the world has been settled, and they have no intention of rebelling at all. Moreover, they know that Emperor Taizu is cruel, and if they are beaten into tricks, they will not only have to be slaughtered by thousands of knives and five horses. , the lives of parents, wives and children will also be lost. Although I grit my teeth and refuse to confess, I am afraid that I will die in the end, but without my own confession, the court cannot openly slaughter my wife and children. Therefore, the nine Although the general was tortured in the sky prison, he would rather die than confess. In the end, all nine people died in the sky prison, and the corpses were not known where they were thrown away.

"Although the nine generals suffered misfortune and died in the sky prison, Jin Yiwei did not get their confessions and confessions. If they were blatantly false, they would not be able to convince the public, so they had to report the matter to Emperor Taizu. Emperor Taizu Although he is cruel and ruthless, as an emperor, he must look like an emperor, and he cannot accuse him of crimes without a confession. It is just that this anger does not come out, and he is unhappy. He is furious in the palace and fidgets. Later, a treacherous villain found out about it. , so he gave him an idea to classify the parents, wives and clan members of the nine generals as lowly, and from now on they can only live on lowly occupations, and cannot farm, do business or be an official, and let their children and grandchildren be punished by others. Swearing at them and being tortured is more irritating than killing them with a single knife.

"Emperor Taizu was overjoyed when he heard the words, and rewarded the treacherous officials who gave him such a bad idea. Then he found officials from the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites, and told everyone that the traitor Chen Youliang was originally a water thief, and most of his soldiers were also water bandits. Family background. Although this group of traitors are defeated, their wives and children are still in the world. As the saying goes, death crimes can be forgiven, but living crimes are inevitable. Thieves with the surnames Chen, Qian, Lin, Li, Yuan, Sun, Ye, and He will plan to rebel. Forgiveness. It’s just that God has the virtue of good life. I rule Wanfang according to the will of the Emperor of Heaven, and I can’t kill people at will. Therefore, I want to list these nine surnames as low-ranking as a sign of punishment. Since the nine surnames will follow Chen Youliang They are disasters for the world, and they are born of water bandits. After their descendants are listed as lowly, they can only live as fish households. After the nine surnames become fish households, they can only eat and live on the boat, and cannot go ashore to settle down. For intermarriage, long gowns and shoes are not allowed. If there is a violation, it is a crime of treason, and the nine clans will be punished.

"Officials from the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rituals were ordered by Emperor Taizu to arrest the parents, wives, children, and clan members of the nine generals, and escort them to Fuchun River in eastern Zhejiang, asking them to hand over their belongings, and then put them on wooden boats. From then on, I made a living by fishing."

When Murong Danyan said this, his expression was rather sad, he paused for a moment, and then he continued: "It is said that Emperor Taizu wrote 24 characters in his hand, which is called 'There is no land on the shore, but the family lives on the boat, and the man is the boat owner. , women are prostitutes, if there is any offense, I will punish the nine clans'. These 24 characters were engraved on the iron plate and stood on the Diaoyutai of Fuchun River as a warning. It stands to reason that the families of the nine generals suffered such abuse, too Emperor Zu should be happy in his heart. It's just that he hates Chen Youliang very much. Even though he forced the family members of his generals into such an embarrassing situation, he still refuses to stop. The treacherous officials in the court are the most able to figure out what to do, knowing that Emperor Taizu It is said that these treacherous ministers told Emperor Taizu that although the clansmen of the nine thieves have been classified as lowly, they can only live by being fish households, and the males of the nine surnames The daughters-in-law who marry are also married to chickens and dogs, and they are all included in the low status. However, daughters of families with nine surnames marry other people and are counted as the daughter-in-law of other families, but they are not included in the low status. Being listed as a lowly family must be dissatisfied, it is easy to cause trouble, and there are many hidden dangers. In order to avoid future troubles, the women who married off from the family of the nine surnames, together with their husbands, must be included in the family of the nine surnames. It can cut the weeds and eradicate the roots, so as to avoid future troubles.

"After listening to the slander of several treacherous officials, Emperor Taizu was overjoyed, and immediately ordered to act according to the ideas of several treacherous officials. Poor those married women with nine surnames, originally thought that they were not implicated and could be under the protection of their husbands. I was lucky enough to survive, but I didn't expect that a sudden catastrophe would strike, and I was caught as a fisherman in eastern Zhejiang. The most unfortunate thing is that the husbands of these women did not do anything bad, but they were implicated in this big case, even though their backgrounds were innocent. The children of the family were also taken away indiscriminately. From then on, they could only live on the boat and were not allowed to set foot on the shore. Many people were sad and depressed because of this. Some committed suicide by diving, and some died of madness. It’s just that living on a boat is inconvenient, and most of them don’t end well in the end.”

(End of this chapter)