Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

"You are lucky, you have been pardoned." A green-robed official announced in public in a brick kiln at the foot of Mang Mountain.

The hundreds of captives sitting on the ground were a little dazed.

They had been working for several years, and when they left suddenly, they were a little at a loss.

"Before you leave, each person will receive one coin, one piece of silk, and one piece of woolen cloth. One day later." The green-robed officer obviously didn't want to say more, and left immediately after the announcement.

The faces of the guards also became softer, and they were no longer shouting, cursing and whipping.They brought dried meat, vegetable soup, cheese, corn and rice, and even some wine, and they said, "Open your belly to eat and drink, if you don't have enough, there is more."

After seeing the delicious food, the expressions of the coolies in the brickyard suddenly became vivid.

Under heavy physical labor and strict discipline management, many of them not only suffered physical damage, but also suffered a huge mental blow.In short, numb and not too far from The Walking Dead.

In the hard life, the only thing that excites them may be the occasional extra meal. Generally speaking, when Luoyang city construction needs a large amount of bricks, the brick kilns will be at full capacity, and extra meals will often be added at this time.

There were chewing sounds one after another, soup sucking sounds, and soft sighs of satisfaction.

Some people ate in a hurry, food accumulated in their throats, and they drank two mouthfuls of broth in a hurry.After slowing down, he picked up his rice bowl and gobbled up the dried meat again.

No matter how good a man is, if he enters a brick kiln, he will have his skin peeled off even if he does not die.What's more, the elite among the captives have long been picked out to join the Forbidden Army. Those who enter the brick kiln are all weak soldiers with poor skills-maybe not to mention weak soldiers, but whether it is physical fitness or technical experience, they must be very strong. superior.

In fact, not all of the people here are prisoners. In fact, there are many criminals, some of whom are even former officials.

The hard life has particularly devastated them, but they have family members by their side, and their overall mental condition is not bad.

Dishes were brought out one by one.Sure enough, as I said before, enough is enough!
Everyone ate and drank shaking their heads, gradually began to whisper, and the expressions on their faces became more and more colorful.

"Everyone!" A middle-aged guard said suddenly; "After release, can I make a living?"

The people who were eating and drinking were stunned for a moment, and no one answered for a while.

"Looking at your bears, you know that you have no livelihood." The guard laughed and said, "If you can't survive, you can still work in the brick kiln."

Now everyone is stunned.Haven't they been released yet?
"Don't think too much about it." The guard smiled and said, "For wages, four hundred dollars a month."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the so-called release was just to tease them.

In fact, four hundred dollars a month is not bad.Now that there is nothing wrong with Taiping in Henan, grain and grain from all over the country continue to be imported into the capital, and the price of grain has stabilized at more than 10.832 yuan a bucket ([-] catties).With this little money, you can almost buy eleven or two buckets of grain, more than enough to feed one person, or even two people.

Some people may say that if a martial artist eats three liters of noodles (3.25 catties) a day when he is training or going out for battle, he will be nine buckets a month.This little money is enough to support one person.But don't compare ordinary people with warriors.

This is not an army composed of hungry people. They are professional warriors with a lot of training. They not only need two or three catties of noodle cakes every day, but also pickles to supplement the salt, and vegetable soup with some oily flakes to accompany the cakes. eat.Every once in a while, dried meat, cheese, fruit, and wine are distributed, so that they have the strength to train and fight.

As far as ordinary people are concerned, it is impossible to meet this standard even if they do manual labor, and it is perfectly fine to cut it by half.In today's world, not everyone has enough to eat. There are many people who are so hungry that their stomachs are growling every day, but they still have to work.

Therefore, four hundred dollars a month is really not bad.If it weren't for the fact that there are too many projects and there is a real shortage of people, how could it be possible to offer such a price?
"If you want to stay and work, come to me after eating." The middle-aged guard said: "The imperial court favored Xu Er and others to build a house near the brick kiln. They settled down in Henan and Luoyang counties. They come to the kiln every day. field
When you go to work, you will settle your wages every month. You can receive money or food, but I advise you to wait until you receive the food. "

Everyone bowed their heads and began to eat and drink again.The guard didn't take it seriously, and brought some food, and sat down to eat and drink.

These captives and prisoners who are about to be released will naturally come to them if they want to, and if they don't have the intention, they don't force it.

There are not many places for them to go. They either work in the brick kilns they call "bitter kilns", or work as tenants to cultivate the fields. There is basically no other way.

As far as the Shangguan's heart is concerned, they definitely hope that these skilled workers will stay.The construction of Luoyang and the resettlement of immigrants have a great demand for various building materials and ironware. Correspondingly, there is also a great demand for skilled workers.The production capacity is seriously insufficient just relying on the farmers who come to do odd jobs during the slack season.

In addition, brick kilns are not without technical content at all. If people are familiar with it, the number of bricks produced every month will increase.Shao Sheng has been reforming agriculture for 20 years, and he can already support a group of workers who are completely out of agricultural production, and there is not much pressure.

******
In a farm next door to this brick kiln, Tong Ping Zhangshi and Minister of Criminal Affairs Pei Zhi followed suit and made a surprise inspection.

It is said to be a surprise inspection, but it is difficult for officials of this level to go on inspections unless they do not notify anyone in advance, otherwise it is difficult to achieve real surprise.

Pei Zhi had notified him in advance, so the officials greeted him as soon as he arrived at the gate of the farm.

Pei Zhi greeted the officials with a blank expression, then looked up at the wooden sheds, prison buildings and other facilities, and strode in.Officials and guards followed suit.

This is actually a pilot farm co-operated by Sinong Temple and the Ministry of Justice—if the Ministry of Justice is involved, you can know who is working here.

"Pei Xiang, this way please." The farm supervisor respectfully led the way ahead.

Pei Zhi nodded and entered the prison area.

The prison was cleaned very cleanly, not a stone, a fallen leaf, or a stain could be seen.The prisoners were sitting on the floor, sewing—no, they were rubbing the hemp rope expressionlessly.

"I saw prisoners cleaning ditches outside the city. Why don't these people go out to work?" Pei Zhi asked.

"Pei Xiang." The field supervisor explained: "These are embryonic thieves, and they committed another crime during their sentence, so they were put in prison."

In short, they were deprived of the right to serve their sentences outside prison, instead they were put in prison for reformation through labor, and they were unable to see their families again.

Yes, since the Northern Dynasties, exiled prisoners can take their family members on the road together if the family members are willing.

This is a disguised form of immigration to increase the population in remote areas.

Right now, this farm is actually exploring how to survive in an uninhabited place, getting familiar with its management methods, and laying a solid foundation for formal promotion.

Pei Zhi continued to walk forward unhurriedly.

He walked down the long corridor.There were cells on both sides of the corridor, built of wood, unpainted, and smelled like logs.

The size of the cell is actually not small. Two rows of large beds are next to each other, and the prisoners sleep in two rows, head to head.The bunks are not numbered and there is no baffle in the middle, so in theory it can sleep 40 people, or sleep 140 people.

There are also towels, shoes, wooden bowls and other things on the bunk.Under the bunk are boxes, bundles, pockets, tools, and all kinds of broken things that were picked up.

Clothes, rice cookers, and water bags were hung on the walls of the cell, and needles, threads, brains, and other items for mending clothes were placed on the shelves.

It can be seen that the conditions of the prison are actually very good, after all, it is the most benign place in Luoyang.

After wandering around, Pei Zhi left the cell area, climbed up to a tall tower in the courtyard, and looked at the reclaimed farmland, orchard, and pasture in the distance.

"The fields reclaimed by the prisoners belong to the prisoners. Is it strictly enforced?" Pei Zhi asked.

"It's done." The field supervisor replied immediately.

According to the results of discussions between Sinong Temple and the Ministry of Criminal Justice, in principle, the prisoners were driven to expand their territory in the barren land and transform the natural environment so that it began with survival and farming.

plowed fields,

All belong to the prisoner.The food, meat, fruits and vegetables produced in the fields belong to the prisoners, except for a small part that is handed over to maintain the operation of the prison farm.

As long as the prisoners' performance is not too bad, they can live outside the prison, whether they build a wooden house or an adobe house, no one cares.If family members come with them, they can still live together.

After serving the sentence, they can officially settle down in the locality.The property accumulated while serving the sentence can also be retained, and become a good citizen from then on.And when the population around this prison is large enough, it can be revoked and officially converted into a certain village under the jurisdiction of the county and township.

Looking at its mode of operation, it is obvious that it is prepared for the two directions of northwest and northeast.In ancient times, exile basically meant that prisoners were scattered and placed in a certain village, where they lived with ordinary people.But what if there is no one there at all? Or even if there are people, they are vicious barbarians, what should we do?
Shao Sheng gave the highest instruction to build the Pioneer Prison, where prisoners from all corners of the country will be managed in a centralized manner.If an enemy comes, they will live in the prison, give weapons, and jointly defend against the enemy.If you have nothing to do, you will farm outside the prison. After serving your sentence, you will become an ordinary citizen.

As for whether the prisoners will rebel against this kind of thing.In fact, it doesn't matter, they are all scum, if they rebel, they will be suppressed, and it doesn't hurt at all to kill them.What's more, they have property and hope, do they really want to rebel so much? Pioneer Prison, before it is officially abolished, has no taxation.

"Write a copy of the constitution and submit it to the Ministry of Punishment. The saint is more concerned about this matter,
Next year, prisoners may be sent to Anton Mansion to build a Pioneer Prison. Pei Zhi got off the tower and said, "Write well, this is your chance."

"Thank you, Mr. Pei." The field supervisor said in surprise.

There are hundreds of prisoners sent to Andong Mansion. I heard that there are also exiled prisoners from Jingnan, Hangzhou, Fujian and other towns. The number is quite large, almost enough to build two prisons.

These people come from a variety of sources, but there are hardly any good people.Going to cultivate in that uninhabited place, you may not see anyone after running for a day, and you may get lost and die in the wilderness.It is said that it is execution outside the prison, but in fact it is just leaving a small prison and entering a larger prison.

Let's see what they will do when the Khitans come to kill them.