golden scales

In China, slave and slave are two concepts.The so-called slaves in later generations only refer to "slaves" at this time. On the contrary, slaves still have a certain flavor of "organization of public institutions".

It has never been eradicated from historical records to Zhu Cihuang's time.It can only be said that since the Song Dynasty, Confucianism has achieved unprecedented development, and the status of the people-oriented populism has risen, resulting in the protection of slaves.

It's just that this process was quickly interrupted by the Mongols who believed in slavery.And because the Mongols laid down a vast territory rarely seen in the history of the world, they even brought all kinds of slaves to China.In the noble family of Yuan Dadu, if there were no black servants to work, sticks to run around, Korean female slaves to sleep, and Southern female singers to play...then this family would be ridiculed by the entire elite.

Although Guochao took over Mengyuan, although it aimed to restore the Song system, it is undeniable that the 97 years of Mengyuan are like ink dots on white silk, which can only be washed away by time, and may not be able to be washed thoroughly.This means that at the beginning of the country, many systems still had a strong Mongolian atmosphere, such as slavery.

As a nationalist, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang abandoned the "provinces" and replaced them with the Three Divisions, which also greatly restricted the issue of slavery.

First of all, in terms of qualifications for holding slaves, common people were not allowed to hold slaves.This is because slaves have the same rights as "mortals" in many legal aspects, so the dividing line between common people and slaves is not very big.

Secondly, there are also regulations on the number of servants and maidservants who are eligible to keep slaves.Duke and Marquis families should have no more than 20 people, first-rank officials no more than 12, second-rank officials no more than ten, and third-rank officials no more than eight.

Under the high-pressure iron fist of Emperor Taizu, a large number of slaves were liberated and became free citizens, which provided a human base for the recuperation at the beginning of the country.Emperor Taizu Gao's expectation for the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" is "a law that is not easy for all ages". In order to avoid the resurgence of slavery, there are also clauses in the Law of the Ming Dynasty that "prohibit the sale of slaves and maidservants" and "prohibit forcing good men into slavery" .

Taking Huang Shiren and Yang Bailao as examples, Huang Shiren committed the three crimes of "common people keeping slaves", "mortgage slaves", and "forced good men into slavery".If Yang Bailao brought a lawsuit to the government, Huang Shiren might be punished with a punishment ranging from "one hundred rods" to "three thousand miles", and Xi'er would still have to be released back to her family.

Zhu Cilang knew that the current situation was the result of 200 years of severe illness and the result of the abolishment of laws and regulations, and it could not be changed overnight.And as far as he knew, there were two kinds of slaves and slaves.

Especially slave labor is very common in the south of the Yangtze River.The family of Xu Jie, Xu Ge, who has both good and bad reputations, kept thousands of female slaves, spun them for them, and then sold them.The abolition of slavery across the board will not only fail to solve the problem of resettlement of the abolished slaves, but may also destroy some existing emerging industries.

Although no one mentioned it publicly, Zhu Cihong was able to obtain huge quantities of cheap cotton cloth from Jiangnan, which itself has become an economic dependence.

"I recruited soldiers from the south, but once enlisted in the army, all those who have slave status will get out of slavery as a good thing. The original intention is to fear that slavery will happen. However, it is still unavoidable." Zhu Cihong has always been self-centered, and firmly believes that his actions are all That's right, it was obviously a heavy blow to him to have the foresight but no countermeasures on the issue of slavery.

Lu Suyao stepped forward to persuade: "Your Highness's intentions are naturally good, but the locality is too much. Those big households who hold slaves are unwilling to release them, and the government even uses the inspection department and police to prevent slaves from escaping and joining the army. Although Your Highness Opened the opening, but the following blocked the opening, it is really hateful!"

Some people think that joining the army is better than being a slave, but Lu Suyao would not talk about it, otherwise she would not be good at chatting.She is just a secretary, but not a messenger, and she only seeks truth in her answers, not comprehensiveness.

Zhu Cihong was also so angry that his teeth itch.The moment he realized that he had negative emotions, he immediately took a deep breath, firmly controlled his emotions, and said: "Let the Ministry of Criminal Affairs issue an official letter to inform all police departments, bureaus, and offices across the country that all police forces must not escape for the sake of hunting. From the date of receiving the letter, anyone who uses any pretext to arrest fugitive slaves and hand them over to their old masters, once verified, it will be considered a cheap crime to force a good man; Command and envoy the relevant officials in the same capital to thoroughly investigate the tampering with the inspection department in all prefectures and counties!"

The inspection department is equivalent to the military police force of later generations, it is the military force left behind, mainly to suppress riots and exterminate bandits.Although this team cannot be compared with the six main battle forces, and many of them are even eliminated auxiliary soldiers, it is a big problem in the national system to be mobilized by grassroots officials without authorization.

I am afraid that the inspections of the various inspection departments still have the habitual thinking of Wu Biwen, and they dare not move when they see the county government's papers.Most of the county lieutenants are not deeply aware of the connotation of transferring their establishment to the capital command and envoy division, and still think that they are the second official of the magistrate, and only the magistrate's orders are to be obeyed.

This kind of situation will only happen in the south where the influence of the Eastern Palace cannot shine, how can an official in the north do such a stupid thing!

"Finally, let the cabinet discuss and draft an imperial decree. The general meaning is that no matter good or bad, they are all my subjects. The Holy Son of Heaven does not want to see his subjects kill each other. Anyone who is willing to leave the country but the master refuses to give it up Those who have signed a contract can leave their original status and be regarded as good citizens, and refrain from inflicting violence on the old master, otherwise they will be punished according to the law of Ou Fan."

In the Da Ming law, slaves and servants Ou beat their masters to be higher than Oufan. Zhu Cihong took a misdemeanor, which is also in line with the previous "regarded as a good citizen".

This oracle seems to have [-] boards on each side, but in fact it is biased towards exiled slaves.

As for the master's family, they must be very unhappy to see this oracle.But they themselves have violated the law, or they are not allowed to keep slaves, but they keep slaves, or they keep more slaves. Not going up against the wind.

……

"The lowly slaves are rebelling, and the country doesn't want to destroy it, so it tolerates and indulges! Where is this sincerity?"

In front of Qian Qianyi's Jiangyun Tower, several country gentry visited this celebrity together, hoping that he would come forward to stop this perverse event.

Qian Qianyi was dressed in civilian clothes, but he was bored for no reason when he looked at them.

Although he did not agree with this practice of disturbing the centuries-old customs, the oracle was an oracle, and as a subject, he could not disobey it.At the beginning, it was possible that the emperor was held hostage by the emperor, but now that the emperor has gone south, the emperor still issued such decrees in Beijing, and there is no reason to question the authenticity.

Because of this reason, after Qian Qianyi learned of the oracle, he changed the contract with the servants and maids at home according to the "hired labor" system that is popular in the south of the Yangtze River.All dead contracts, whether long or short, have been changed to living contracts.In order to avoid trouble, the words "slaves" on the body deeds were also changed to "hired workers", and the words "once you taste your worth, you are allowed to go yourself".

After reforming, Qian Qianyi felt that nothing had changed, and the family still did things step by step, so there was no more worry.

"In general, there is no such thing as master and servant." Qian Qianyi replied flatly.

The impassioned people immediately stopped their flags and drums, suppressed their anger, and said angrily: "Those unreasonable slaves didn't even pay back their net worth. They have been eating and using me for many years, and now they have to leave their citizenship. Is it reasonable?"

Qian Qianyi shook his head, looked up at him, and said, "The law of the country is like this, so what can you do?"

"I heard that the crown prince has arrived in Nanjing. I'm going to meet the prince and explain the truth!" Someone shouted.

Qian Qianyi sneered: The prince is quite similar to Taizu. I haven't seen him speak the truth. Are you looking for your own death?

"My foot is seriously ill and I can't travel far, so I have to wait for the good news from you all here." After Qian Qianyi finished speaking, he picked up the teacup, and the servants around him shouted to see off the guests.

These squires were bored, so they had to leave.

After these people left, Liu Rushi just came out of the house and said, "Why didn't Master persuade these people?"

"What are you persuading? These people are already blinded by profit and wisdom, can you persuade them?" Qian Qianyi sighed again, and said: "Nowadays, the world is set, but the color of the Ming Dynasty is about to change."

Liu Rushi was still utterly devoted to Qian Qianyi, but when he heard this, he thought to himself: It would be a good thing if the people could live in peace.All the slaves handed down from generation to generation have been liberated, but I don't know when the bitch from Jiaofang will be able to see the sun behind the clouds...

"However, I think the crown prince can still listen to people's persuasion. It may not mean that there is no cure." Qian Qianyi said.

"My lord's remarks...is it because the Crown Prince has accepted the "Book of Remonstrance and Loyalty"?" Liu Rushi asked.

Qian Qianyi looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, stroked his beard and chin: "I knew that he had recovered the capital, and he was determined to do spiritual and martial arts. Now it seems that he has received good advice and finally did not do such unfaithful and unfilial things." Come, it can be seen that there is still a conscience in my heart."

Liu Rushi nodded: "After all, the crown prince is only 17 years old, and he was mistaken by Xiaoxiao for a while, so it may not mean that his conscience has really been wiped out."

Qian Qianyi nodded and said: "Let's look again, if it's really just being misunderstood by a traitor, the old man will inevitably go out of the mountain to help the country."

Liu Rushi's heart was agitated immediately, and when he looked at Qian Qianyi again, he saw the heroic spirit under the old man's skin, and secretly admired him: he really is a strange man in the world!man!

"Recently, the "Shilin Daily" might as well echo the "Bulletin". After all, some people have gone too far." Qian Qianyi said with a trace of disdain on his face: "I heard: Zhang's family in Xixi steamed dumplings because the servants If the glutinous rice could not be steamed, the head of the family counted the number of dumplings and beat his hands, the scene was really unbearable."

There is a folk custom in the south of the Yangtze River. Whenever there is a festive season, white rice and glutinous rice should be ground into powder, and steamed in a steamer to make glutinous rice balls, which are called dumplings.There are about fifty or sixty pieces in one basket, and three or four baskets are steamed each time, or six or seven baskets are different.There are as few as one hundred and fifty pieces, and as many as four hundred or so. In terms of this number, no flesh and blood can hold it.

Liu Rushi recalled that when he was a child, he was often beaten and scolded, and with the same heart, he also said angrily: "This kind of people have read the sage books in vain, and they don't have any compassion!"

"If you do too much unrighteousness, you will kill yourself." Qian Qianyi held his hands up and raised his chest: "I'm entering the bibliography now. By the way, the imperial court appointed Zhang Zongzi to take charge of the big library. My family can't lag behind in such a grand event of articles. For others. Go and choose some rare books and send them to him.”

Liu Rushi blessed her body and left as promised. (To be continued.)