Tibet.

Chapter 1297: Initial Discussion on Abolition of Slavery
In late November, a moderate snowfall covered the city of Chang'an with a layer of crystal white snow. The auspicious sign of snow brought some anticipation to the upcoming New Year and the ascension of the new emperor.

These days, people on the streets of Chang'an were talking about Kunlun slaves, and many Chang'an citizens even made a special trip to the outside of the city to see the Indian prisoners of war lined up and sent from Longyou.

There were also many Indians in Chang'an, at least several thousand of them, who basically made a living by juggling and practicing medicine. There were also tens of thousands of blacks who were sold as slaves. These black slaves were called Kunlun slaves.

Although these Kunlun slaves were all black, their races and origins were different. Thirty percent of the Kunlun slaves were selected by the Sogdians from African prisoners of war and sold to the Tang Dynasty. They were tall and strong, and most of them worked as gatekeepers or carriage drivers for wealthy families.

The other 70% were bought from India by Gandhara merchants who then sold them to Chang'an as slaves. These Gandhara merchants are today's Pakistanis, and Gandhara is Islamabad.

Because these Gandhara merchants called themselves Kunlun merchants, the Indian black slaves they sold were called Kunlun slaves. They usually worked in the estates of wealthy families.

Although they all came from India, Indian jugglers and Indian monks were basically from the third caste kennels, while Kunlun slaves were almost all from the fourth caste Shudras, or even untouchables, or Indian untouchables. Therefore, the Indians in Chang'an looked down on their compatriots even more.

Of course, India is not a country, but dozens of small countries, and the Indians have no concept of compatriots.

During these two days, the court was also discussing the Kunlun slaves. Li Ye was inspired by this group of prisoners of war that they could recruit laborers from India to develop overseas territories.

In the meeting hall, Li Ye smiled and said to the senior officials: "I plan to use the Japanese and Silla people to develop Liaodong. The climate and soil there are similar to those in their country. They can adapt, but they can't adapt to the tropics.

I originally wanted to use laborers from Southeast Asia for the Luzon Islands, but I had concerns. First, I was worried that their respective countries would resist. More importantly, I was worried that they would occupy our land. Once we had built it, these Southeast Asians would flock here, or refuse to leave. We worked so hard, but ended up making wedding clothes for them. How could this be possible? "

Zhang Li smiled and said, "Your Highness, why aren't you worried that the Indians will come in droves?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "First, Tianzhu is too far away from Luzon Island. Only our ships can reach it by cutting through the waves, and their small boats cannot go there.

Secondly, when we recruit workers, we must look for those who have wives and children at home. They only want to make money to go home and buy land and build houses, and they will not think about staying in Luzon.

The third reason is that the Indians have a strong sense of servility, are easy to manage, and are more adaptable. If you send them back, they will go back obediently. "

Wei Jiansu asked, "Your Highness, when will these 70,000 prisoners of war be released home?"

Li Ye hesitated and said, "I read the Longyou investigation report on 70,000 prisoners of war and found it a bit difficult to deal with. These prisoners of war are from several small countries in the north of Tianzhu. They were captured by the Tubo invasion. They don't know where their hometown is, or even the name of their country. They have basically never traveled far. If we send them back to Tianzhu, they can't find their hometown either. They are still stranded in a foreign land and become slaves again."

"What does Your Highness plan to do?" Pei Zunqing asked.

"So I'm thinking of waiting five years and giving them a choice. If they want to go back to India, I'll send them back. If they don't want to go back to India, I'll turn them into laborers and find some Nanyang or Indian women to settle them down. If they behave well, I'll give them Tang household registration. They can live in Luzon and become overseas civilians of the Tang Dynasty. I think our overseas states also need some low-level people, and some rough labor needs people to do it."

Wei Jiansu said with emotion: "Now I understand why Your Highness attaches so much importance to population."

This is not just Wei Jiansu's personal feeling, it has actually become the consensus of the Political Affairs Hall.

That is why the household tax reform was implemented so quickly. People discovered that household tax has another benefit: it can encourage people to have children. If a couple has two or more children, the whole family can be exempt from household tax.

Singles or those who have only one child have to pay household tax, which is also conducive to promoting widows to remarry. When they reach a certain age, it is stipulated that after the age of 50, they are directly exempt from household tax.

The household tax reform, like the Qing Dynasty's "taxation on land", will promote population growth, but there is a prerequisite, that is, grain production must keep up. Many high-yield crops must appear, and corn and sweet potatoes are two crucial varieties.

Corn has a great influence on the high yield of dry fields in the north, while sweet potatoes are of extraordinary significance to mountainous areas. The south is mountainous and grain cannot be grown in the mountains, so sweet potatoes are planted. One acre of land can produce several thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes, which are delicious and filling.

It can be said that the population explosion in the early Qing Dynasty was closely related to high-yield agricultural crops, and of course social stability was also very important.

Therefore, Li Ye was eager to develop the shipbuilding industry and steam engines, and was preparing to send people to America to find high-yield crops.

Even if the head tax was relaxed and grain production increased, many social policies would still need to be coordinated. Political stability was the most important thing. The Anshi Rebellion alone reduced the population of the Tang Dynasty by 20%.

Political stability is not a big problem. Now that the world is peaceful, some bandits and robbers can be eliminated with force.

Then there is the abolition of slavery, which can at least increase the population of the Tang Dynasty by 10%.

It is necessary to enter the civilian society of the Song Dynasty in advance. The biggest problem in abolishing slavery is the obstruction of vested interests, mainly the powerful and aristocratic families. Fortunately, neither the military nor the civil service class are vested interests now. This matter cannot be delayed and must be implemented as soon as possible to prevent military generals and high-ranking court officials from quickly evolving into vested interests.

The second issue that Li Ye wants to discuss with everyone today is abolition of slavery.

Li Ye took out the prepared information from his document bag. The nine members of the Political Affairs Hall immediately understood and took out the same information from their bags.

This is the "Suggestion on Abolition of Slavery" drafted by Li Ye himself. It is a Class A top-secret document and was sent to senior officials in the Political Affairs Hall a few days ago.

The senior officials knew this very well, and they estimated that this was the main topic of the meeting that the Regent convened in the Council of State today.

"I'm sure you all know that abolition is imperative. The reason is clear to everyone. Hebei needs a large number of self-cultivating farmers. Otherwise, who knows when the barren land will be able to recover. In addition, slaves are the source of domestic soldiers. If this source is not eliminated, who knows when the next unrest will occur?
More importantly, we need population. We have many slaves who want to migrate overseas but are not qualified. Isn't this a pity?

So after the tax reform, I would like to discuss the issue of abolition with you. Of course, I will not have a one-size-fits-all approach and announce the abolition of slavery today and free all slaves tomorrow. This is not acceptable.

So we need to find a reasonable and orderly plan, which is neither hasty nor procrastinated. What I have shown you is the plan I proposed. If you have read it, you can freely express your own ideas. "

Li Ye glanced at Wei Jiansu. He was the right prime minister, so he should take the lead.

Wei Jiansu laughed, "Then I'll just say a few words to start some discussion!"

He cleared his throat and said slowly: "Your Highness's proposal to abolish slavery is divided into three steps. The first step is to prohibit the emergence of new slaves, which must be implemented immediately. The second step is to abolish underage slaves after one year. The third step is to abolish all slaves after three years and convert them into civilians.

First of all, my personal attitude is very clear. I firmly support the abolition of slavery, including the Wei family. Before March next year, all slaves will be freed. But I am not only the head of the Wei family, I am also the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. My responsibility is not only to the family, but also to the world. "

"Prime Minister Wei said it well!" Li Ye highly praised Wei Jiansu's clear attitude.

Wei Jiansu bowed slightly and continued, "My suggestion is to combine the first and second steps, abolish all slaves under the age of eighteen, stop the human trafficking in all parts of the Tang Dynasty, and prohibit the emergence of new slaves. Then, abolish all slaves after one year!"

(End of this chapter)