Villager of Daming

Chapter 1215 Slave Exchange Attempt

Zhu Fugui followed Tu Yajie around the tribe. The normal population of the entire tribal alliance was over 3,000, and with slaves, the total number exceeded 7,000.

Not all Jurchens owned slaves, and the treatment of slaves varied.

But one thing is the same: there are no old people among the slaves. For people in a slave society, old slaves cannot work and keeping them around is a waste of food.

Slaves who did less work were usually sold or driven out and left to fend for themselves.

Zhu Fugui already knew about this situation, but he still felt sad because the education he received in the village was different.

Xiaqiu Village has always been kind to others, including in its relations with other villages. Even when everyone is having a hard time, there has never been a problem with etiquette.

Not to mention how vicious they are to others and how they treat them like animals.

"Captain Tuyajie, your situation is called slavery. Slaves are your private property. You can kill them whenever you want.

But the Ming Dynasty will not allow this. At that time, your slaves will need to be exchanged for livestock by the Ming Dynasty.

From now on, you can use large animals to farm and pull carts, and the slaves will be handed over to the Ming court."

Zhu Fugui knew the policy of the Ming Dynasty and naively requested that all slaves be replaced with livestock.

Those slaves...

"You...what do we in the Ming Dynasty need slaves for?"

Tu Yajie didn't think there was anything wrong with raising slaves. The more powerful the tribe, the more slaves it had.

Some slaves were spoils of war, while others were obtained through exchange.

The slaves worked and were then fed the worst food, while the people ate the good food themselves. This was how it had been for generations.

"Release them, treat them as ordinary people, and remove their slave status.

Not only your slaves, but also the household registration of the future Ming Dynasty, craftsmen, soldiers, women and men in brothels, and boat people...

Everyone no longer has fixed things to do, but can do whatever they want.

If you think you can make more money doing something, then you can give up your original job and change to another one, including trading."

Zhu Fugui told Tu Yajie about what he had already started trying, and it was secretly piloted in Yingtian Prefecture and Ningguo Prefecture, but Taiping Prefecture did not participate.

The so-called trial run means that when the people do things, no one is reviewing them, and the people are not clear about it at the beginning.

In fact, ordinary people have always been secretly doing things outside of their household registration, including issuing fake travel permits. Everyone wants to pursue a better life.

The yamen is now short-staffed. The officials have just experienced the war and there are loopholes. The yamen runners will take advantage of them.

In the past few years, people were required to pay taxes when they carried the produce from their own fields to the county town to sell.

Later, someone mentioned this to Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang remembered that when he was a child, his family also had to sell things, which was not easy. How could they live if they had to pay taxes? So he waived the tax.

Farmers were exempted from taxes, and some small businessmen also dressed up as farmers. It was impossible for them to carry their household registration with them. What if they lost it?
Only those who travel far away need a pass. The soldiers guarding the city gates and the runners managing the markets all know this. If the merchants give them some benefits, they will turn a blind eye.

The same goes for craftsmen, including blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers and other tradesmen. They also have to pay taxes.

The key is that they pay more taxes than the farming people. The farming people must grow hemp and mulberry trees, and grow mulberry trees for raising silkworms. Those who do not grow hemp or raise silkworms have to pay more cloth and raw silk.

Ningguo Prefecture and Yingtian Prefecture did not cancel anything on the surface, but only made changes in actual operations.

All the county towns had no gatekeepers, so people could come and go as they pleased, even small merchants. Big merchants, however, had too much cargo to carry, so they had to move a little bit a day, or else they could move a lot of people, each carrying a little bit at a time.

Then go and ask the shop owners where they get their goods from. They must keep an account and report when they purchase the goods. If they can't tell the truth, they will have to bear the tax.

In the past, craftsmen were taxed per person. God knows how much work they did in a day. Some craftsmen had good skills and charged high fees, so it was impossible to collect data.

Nowadays, craftsmen don’t charge money and no one comes to their houses to ask for it, and they would never take the initiative to go to the government office to pay it in the past.

The people farmed! No matter what they farmed, the village head was usually responsible.

Including Zhu Yichang from Xiaqiao Village, he did not force any household in the village to do anything. When someone was sick or encountered other situations, the whole village would come together to help.

People from the county would send people to the village every year to check on the situation and see how much was planted.

Now people in the two prefectures don’t care about it, especially those who don’t want to plant mulberry trees because raising silkworms is troublesome.

The biggest trouble is not keeping the mature silkworms to raise the silkworm babies, but waiting for the silkworm babies to grow up and require a lot of space to feed them.

If left outside, it will have natural enemies. Fortunately, there are no dwarf mulberry trees now, otherwise it would be even more difficult to deal with.

People prefer to grow cotton and ramie, both of which can be used to make clothes. Only people with good embroidery skills are willing to raise silkworms because they can make more money.

The key point is that they can't make as much money doing any other job except this one.

The people of the two prefectures gradually discovered the situation. Why was it so lax? No one was in charge?

Without being reminded, they start looking for other ways to make money.

Farmers also went to county towns and other places to sell snacks, which is normally not allowed.

In the snack area of ​​Xiaqiu Village, there are a large number of families with land. They normally farm the land, but since they have little land of their own, some of them try to sell some food.

Others went to work in the factory in Xiaqiu Village. They are full-year employees and no longer farm.

Although the factory sometimes gives them leave so that they can go home to farm and harvest, they are reluctant to go back!
There will be no salary when you go back. It's piecework, there is no guaranteed salary or full attendance. If you are willing to come, then come. If you don't want to, we won't force you.

When working, there are work clothes, as well as other necessities such as dining, bathing, etc.

Zhu Fugui told Tu Yajie about the two prefectures and told him that the Ming Dynasty would become like those two prefectures in the future.

Tu Yajie was stunned when he heard this. He found it unbelievable.

"Wouldn't that be chaotic? You said that His Majesty specifically asked people from other places to come to Yingtian Prefecture to work, built houses for them, and rented them very little.

Every year people are sent to send them back and then brought back. Are they considered farmers or craftsmen?

If everyone does that, who will farm? If something is missing, it won’t work! ”

It is not easy for Tu Yajie to think of this aspect.

“Use money to make adjustments. If there is less silk, raise the price of silk, and people will be willing to raise silkworms.

There is less food...this is impossible. As long as people have land, they will plant it. They must first ensure food for their families.

One is free market adjustment, and the other is administrative adjustment through data collection.”

Zhu Fugui gave an example and then found that Tu Yajie looked confused.

(End of this chapter)