Emperor Ming Dynasty

"When will anyone who resists the oracle be merciful?"

"Whoever follows the oracle, what is the crime?"

These two sentences immediately determined the nature of the incident, and Shaoxing and Xiaoshan had no choice but to follow.

However, the inspectors and governors of Zhejiang were reprimanded, "treating the people harshly, sheltering the evil gentry, and never understanding the emperor's love for the people!"

Who can bear this pot?
Therefore, Qin Heng and others who smashed their homes and destroyed their contracts were exonerated because they obeyed the holy decree.

As the source of the disaster, the Tian family not only demanded compensation for their injuries, but also had to be forced to take part in the imperial examination without being an official for three generations.

For a family, if two generations do not have a single fame, it is considered to be withered, and for three generations, everyone will be wiped out.

The bulletin even took this incident as an example, and published the article "Later People Will No Longer Sorrow", describing the harshness of the evil gentry, and even because of a sentence: The evil gentry is fiercer than a tiger, and then went to Dong Qichang's funeral, which caused a fire all over the world.

This kind of editorial article is plain and straightforward, well-founded, quoted from the classics, and it is confusing to hear it suddenly.

There are a lot of ordinary tenants in the south of the Yangtze River who can read and write. As soon as this article was published, it was simple and easy to understand, and it added an explanation of the double reduction policy, which caused a lot of waves in a short time.

For the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, there is a lingering fear and fear.

It turned out that this incident reminded them of the slave change that lasted for 30 years since the end of Wanli.

As early as before the Ming Dynasty, there was a group of people whose status was lower than that of ordinary people. Before the Tang Dynasty, it was called Zanghuo, in the Yuan Dynasty, it was called Qukou, and in the Ming Dynasty, it was called untouchables.

Most of these people come from prisoners of war, civilians, and family members of criminals who were plundered during the war. Their descendants have been slaves for generations and belonged to their masters.

Scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen can participate in the imperial examination, but this kind of untouchables cannot, and can only engage in lowly professions such as prostitution for generations.

The "Law of the Ming Dynasty" clearly stipulates that the slave system is recognized and protected, but it is not allowed to buy and sell loved ones as slaves, and only officials and nobles are restricted from keeping slaves. Ordinary people who own slaves will be fined and confiscated as slaves.

It is a pity that later, especially during the Jiajing period, the law of the Ming Dynasty was almost reduced to waste paper.

Therefore, after the middle and late Ming Dynasty, to put it an exaggeration, the Ming Dynasty at that time was the largest black slave buying country in Asia.

The black slaves here refer to the short blacks in Southeast Asia.

Due to Portugal's colonization in Southeast Asia and commercial trade with the Ming Empire, a large number of short blacks from the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia were captured by the Portuguese and eventually sold to the Ming Dynasty as commodities.

The big gentry bought black slaves mainly to guard their homes. Of course, many generals also liked to buy a large number of black slaves as servants to deter the enemy.

For example, Peng Xingu, the Ming general in the Korean War, recorded in Korean history books that there were black slave soldiers in his army, who dived into the water to dig boats.

In the late Jiajing period, a large number of self-cultivating peasants in the Jiangnan area went bankrupt and were forced to sell themselves into slavery, so that the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River had thousands of servants and became extravagant.

Coupled with the abolishment of the imperial court's laws and regulations, many talented scholars ignored the laws and were exempted from taxes indefinitely. Therefore, the trend of donation became popular, and everyone would rather be a slave than become a citizen and suffer exploitation.

So much so that there are several servants in the mere scholar's family.

In other words, it is a feudal society, and slaves have no human rights.

The law of the Tang Dynasty stipulated: "Slaves, servants and sluts, the law is more than livestock."

Song Law, if you kill without guilt, you will be punished for one year.

Ming law, killing slaves for no reason, seventy battles, only one and a half years.

Qing law is equal to Ming law.

The servants were simply allowed to be killed.

Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. In Yongxin, Jiangxi and other places, slaves tied up their masters to "fuck and sochi", questioned "how can I call me a slave?" And flat!" slogan.

The famous family of Xu Xiake also suffered unprecedented disasters. Xu Xiake's eldest son Xu Qi and more than [-] people were killed by slaves. His wife Miao escaped with two sons Xu Jianji and Xu Jianshu.

The well-known Dong Qichang, who had amassed many years of property, was also burnt out due to the slave change, and was exiled on the sandbar.

The Lai family in the Dream of Red Mansions is actually a true portrayal of subverting the master's family by pushing their noses at the servants in the south of the Yangtze River.

After all, when a man is an official outside, the people in charge are women and children. Isn't it easy for slaves to bully their masters?
During the Shunzhi and Kangxi years in the early Qing Dynasty, the war had just subsided, and the slave revolution intensified. In order to quell public grievances, Yongzheng had to exempt most of the untouchables.

If he doesn't do this, the Jiangnan area, which is a tax-heavy area, will definitely not be stable.

Therefore, the first thing Zhu Yixi did when he ascended the throne was to exempt the untouchables and change their household registrations to military, craftsman, official, and prostitutes, regardless of their high or low status.

In other words, servants are among them.

Those who sold themselves into slavery could also take part in the imperial examination and have their own surname and property.

This greatly quelled public grievances.

But this did not fundamentally solve the problem of slavery in the Jiangnan area.

The imperial court gave the slaves household registration, but did not let them get rid of their status as slaves.

And if the court directly exempts all the servants, it will offend nearly [-]% of the rich people in the whole world.

After all, anyone who has a little money will buy a servant to serve him, and those who are hired are not at ease.

What's more, these freed slaves are like the black slaves after the Civil War. Most of them have no jobs, money, or skills.

On the contrary, the imperial court is not a human being inside or outside.

"I regard all people as one. Although slaves are lowly, they are still people. How can we not save them?"

The emperor was quite angry.

He admitted that the cabinet's explanation made sense, but he still felt a little uncomfortable.

As a time traveler, although it is impossible for everyone to be equal, Zhu Yixi wants the entire Daming to be equal to everyone below me.

In a sense, isn't everyone equal?
Hey, why is this the same as slavery in the Qing Dynasty?
As long as all subjects are slaves, there will be no slaves in the world.

No, I don't want slaves, I just want the world to be civilians.

"Your Majesty, all slaves are either coveting small profits and making sacrifices, or they are poor and dying and become slaves. There will never be a slave who lives a happy life and is willing to be a slave."

Lu Daqi's temper was as straightforward as ever: "Since they are willing to be slaves, why does the court interfere?"

These words made the emperor speechless. It is impossible to blurt out that everyone is equal, right?

"If His Majesty is merciful, you can redeem it." Zhang Shenyan said softly.

"It can be redeemed and bought, why let the court say it again?" Zhu Yixi was speechless.

"Your Majesty, the Household Department doesn't have much money." Seeing that the emperor's eyes were wrong, Zhao Shu hurriedly said, "The budget for the beginning of the year has already been set, so we can't make any further adjustments."

"Besides, there are tens of millions of servants in the world, and the household department doesn't have that much money."

"In my humble opinion, you only need to obey the laws of the Ming Dynasty." Yan Chongxin bowed down: "Those who are not officials, nobles, and slaves will be fined and confiscated as slaves."

Zhu Yixi rolled his eyes directly.

If you do it like this, it won't work at all.

Almost all wealthy people would object.

The famous fake time traveler Wang Mang made his son pay for his life because he killed a servant, his reputation of being impartial and selfless shook the world.

But you let him promote it to the world?

He can't support it for ten years at all, and he can finish the calf in one year.

"Why?"

The emperor sighed.

As long as the gap between the rich and the poor persists, there will be slaves in this world.

It's like land annexation, which can't be stopped.

As for turning all private land into public land, this is like changing all commercial housing in the 21st century into public housing. Whoever has some assets is willing to fight for others?
Co-authoring and working hard for most of his life, working for the court?

Like this, Zhu Yixi shuddered, it was too scary.

Seeing the emperor's appearance like this, Yan Chongxin felt that he was discouraged, and he couldn't bear it, he said: "Although slavery can't be stopped, it can hinder one or two things."

"Oh?"

Now, everyone's eyes are gathered.

Yan Chongxin puffed up his chest, with a bit of pride in his heart, he raised his head and said, "I am willing to be a slave, but slaves are also private households, killing, beating, bullying, etc. without reason, should also be like private households."

"The murderer will die, and the beating will be injured—" Lu Daqi couldn't help but startled.

"That's right." Yan Chongxin immediately became happy when he saw the smile on the emperor's face.

The whole person has a lot of energy.

Winning the emperor's favor was what he mainly did during this time.

Who made the secondary assistant Zhang Shenyan get older?
Although Zhang Shenyan is old and strong, but he can't stand the ravages of age, now he is seventy-six.

Although the emperor was extremely reluctant to give up, it was only a few months since he became an official.

As soon as Zhang Shenyan leaves, he has a great possibility to take over.

But at the same time, Lu Daqi on the side may also climb up.

However, because of checks and balances, the emperor is more likely to promote one of the eight ministries, and surpass him to become the second assistant, which makes him eager to perform.

"The law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the crime of killing a slave without reason is only one and a half years, and the rod is seventy, and often the master will find a reason to put some gold and silver into the yamen, and then he will be exempted from punishment."

Yan Chongxin said loudly: "As long as the murderer is put to death, I don't think many people will be willing to keep slaves anymore."

The law of the Ming Dynasty is very strict on homicide cases. If a person is killed, he will be executed by beheading;

Moreover, in the Ming Dynasty, "swearing at others" was also banned, and it was called the crime of "swearing".

The crime of "swearing and scolding" belongs to the "Criminal Law", with eight articles. The lighter ones will be punished with money, cane, and the more serious ones will be sentenced to hanging.

And one of the privileges of scholars is that they are exempt from "swearing" and can spray people casually.

To the extreme, a scholar can scold you, but you cannot scold a scholar.

Therefore, compared with the law of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial staff of the Ming Dynasty was a misdemeanor, and the emperor was benevolent enough.

In the Qin and Han Dynasties, scolding the emperor was "death" and "abandoning the market". In the Tang Dynasty, scolding the emperor was called denouncing Chengyu, which is a heinous crime and a great crime.

If you treat slaves as citizens, according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, if you buy a slave, you will not be able to beat or scold him, and if you are not careful, you will become a defendant.

It would be bad luck to meet a serious official.

The slaves are not allowed to beat and scold, and they are not allowed to kill. Didn't they buy an ancestor?
Zhao Shu, Zhang Shenyan, and Lu Daqi cursed in their hearts, but nothing showed on their faces.

Zhu Yixi was in high spirits, and when he heard the scolding, he clapped his hands and applauded: "Very good, great, great."

As he spoke, he sighed: "If the officials of the world obey the laws of the Ming Dynasty, how can there be such a thing as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong?"

"Your Majesty is wise——" Yan Chongxin cupped his hands and said, "Since Jiajing, the imperial court's laws and regulations have been abolished, servants have fresh clothes and angry horses, merchants are covered in robes, and the Ming Dynasty treats them as nothing."

"So that the world is declining, people's hearts are not ancient, morality is degraded, and people forget righteousness for profit, and the people don't respect those with high morals, but worship those who are wealthy."

"Ok, ok, ok—"

Seeing that Yan Chongxin was working hard, Zhu Yixi quickly stopped him.

Some parts of the Daming law are good, and some are out of date. He doesn't want to restore it to the Hongwu period.

It's not realistic or possible.

However, it is time for the Daming law to change.

Times have changed, so it won't stay the same.

If the country is completely governed by law, every rich person in the world will be imprisoned.

After all, I heard that in Jiangnan, some people even wear yellow and purple clothes, which shows how far the law has been abolished.

"Your Majesty, I think the law alone is not enough."

Lu Daqi was dissatisfied, and he also bit the bullet and said: "Slave holders should pay more money. Only in this way can we truly eliminate slave holding and make people daunted."

"Okay, let's do it like this! Two things together."

Zhu Yixi looked appreciative: "The cabinet drafted an imperial edict and announced it to the world at a certain date."

Yan Chongxin glanced at Lu Daqi, feeling disdainful in his heart, so why are you still fighting with me?late.

Seeing the emperor's smiling face, Yan Chong felt relieved.

In the next few days, Yan Chongxin went his own way, changed his daily routine of agreeing with Zhao Shu, and made criticisms and rebuttals from time to time, which could be said to have swept away the peace of the cabinet.

Now, even the most careless people can understand that the cabinet is about to change.

Some politically sensitive people have long understood that Yan Chongxin won the position of second assistant.

Therefore, those who have connections and contacts began to bet one after another.

Some people go to Hell's Mansion, some to Wang's Mansion.

His palace is Wang Yingxiong, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Wang Yingxiong took refuge with the then emperor in Sichuan and sent a large amount of money, food, soldiers and horses, which can be described as a great achievement.

At that time, in name, the official position of civil servants was the first.

Now from the Ministry of Officials to the Minister of the Household, his age has gradually reached 65 years old.

Clearly, many people have high hopes for it.

After all, in terms of qualifications, he is on par with Yan Chongxin, and even in a certain sense, he is superior to him.

In this regard, Zhao Shu watched in silence, sitting and watching the performance of the two.

On this day, Yan Chongxin came to visit Zhu Mou, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry.

In the cabinet, among the eight ministries, Zhu Mou has the most seniority, and he is also from the clan. Before that, he had been subservient to each ministries, just because of his age.

When the emperor came to the throne, he was only 35 years old, and now, he is only 42 years old.

So the cabinet is not yet his turn.

And this is also the reason why Yan Chongxin came to ask for help.

"You and I have always been close." Yan Chongxin looked at Zhu Mou who was fishing, and couldn't help saying: "The relationship is not shallow."

"My dear brother, do you think I can go up there?"

"You?" Zhu Mou shook his head and sighed, "It's too urgent."