I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 907 The Light of Humanity
"Liberate the slaves?"

After hearing Su Yao's words, Xun Yu was slightly stunned, wondering why the general suddenly came up with this idea.

Su Yao stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes swept over the ministers in the hall, and said slowly:
"During the reign of Emperor Guangwu, three imperial edicts were issued in succession to free slaves and strictly prohibit the human trafficking. However, times have changed. Nowadays, it is common for powerful families to own slaves, often in the thousands. This is especially true for the Jianghuai clans. How can we not eliminate this evil in troubled times?"

Any mature ruler knows that he must suppress the powerful.

"What the general said is very true."

Guo Jia agreed:
"It may seem like a family affair for powerful people to own slaves, but in fact, it affects the entire body. First, slaves are not registered in the household registration, and powerful people conceal and keep them privately, which eats away at the imperial court's tax revenue and military resources; second, a large number of people become slaves and are isolated from the production system, leaving fields barren and workshops in decline. How can people's livelihood continue? Third."

Guo Jia smiled slyly:
"Liberating slaves is also a good reason for us to strike at the local aristocratic families and powerful people."

"Oh? It seems that Fengxiao had already made a plan with the general?" Xun Yu smiled silently.

"Yes."

Su Yao nodded:

"This time when I came to Huainan, I found that there are many powerful people who own slaves here, far more than the noble families in the Central Plains."

The main reason for all this was naturally the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the secondary reason was Yuan Shu’s connivance.

Although the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out mainly in the Central Plains and the northern regions, Yangzhou in the south was also affected, and tens of thousands of believers revolted there.

After these people were pacified, according to the laws of the Han Dynasty, they all became slaves of the government as prisoners of war.

Originally, it would take some time for the wealthy and powerful families to control these slaves and transfer their ownership through legal and illegal means.

However, the arrival of Yuan Shu accelerated everything. In order to win over the local powerful families to jointly resist Su Yao, Yuan Shu opened the door wide for them and condoned the evil deeds of the powerful families.

For a time, chaos reigned in Huainan. The powerful families, under the pretext of "having made contributions to the suppression of the rebellion", arbitrarily divided up the prisoners of war and slaves that originally belonged to the government. Some even took advantage of the war to rob refugees and forcibly buy people.

In Jiujiang, Danyang and other counties under the jurisdiction of the Yangzhou Provincial Governorate, teams of slave laborers tied up with iron chains could be seen everywhere, working day and night in the farms and mines of the powerful.

The last bit of strength of the strong laborers was squeezed out, the old, weak, women and children were discarded like grass, and the tragic scene of starving people everywhere was common in the Jianghuai area.

After taking Shouchun, Su Yao, who learned of this situation, naturally did not sit idly by.

Su Yao looked stern. He reached out and pulled out a yellowed bamboo scroll from the desk and threw it in front of everyone:
"Please look, everyone. This is the household registration book of the three counties in Huainan - Shouchun, Zhongli, and Dangtu. Since Yuan Shu took over, the number of registered residents has dropped by 30%, but the number of slaves in the farms of the wealthy has increased by more than 50,000!"

When the bamboo slips were unfolded, dense annotations came into view. The record circled in red ink was particularly eye-catching: "A certain noble family kept 1,500 slaves and privately cast 300 sets of weapons."

"The general is very insightful!"

Jia Xu shook his folding fan and nodded:

"These slave households are not only the source of private soldiers for the powerful, but also a breeding ground for their assassins. What's worse, they sell slaves to Jiangdong in exchange for warships and weapons, which is the source of chaos."

"It is particularly necessary to rectify the chaos this time, but I am afraid that there will be a lot of resistance when implementing it."

Xun Yu frowned slightly:
"The Huainan tyrants have deep roots and are intertwined. If their fundamental interests are suddenly touched, I'm afraid it will provoke a big backlash."

"Besides, not all slaves were forcibly conscripted."

Xun Yu twirled his beard, his expression solemn:
"Some slaves have been servants for generations and have received favors from their masters. They may not be willing to leave because they are grateful for the favors or because they have nowhere else to go. If they are forcibly liberated, it may be counterproductive."

Su Yao, who had been influenced by materialism since childhood, was naturally very clear about this.

Everything should be done in moderation, and all systems must adapt to the needs of their social productivity.

In today's society, it is impossible to create a utopia where everyone is equal, whether in terms of productivity or the cultural and quality levels of the masses.

However, this does not mean that we should turn a blind eye to the chaos of powerful people owning slaves.

Slaves can exist in a small range, but they must be placed under the control of the imperial court. At the same time, they must be given the opportunity to regain their freedom, guarantee their basic treatment and dignity, and cut off the absolute domination of their masters over them.

So, seeing Su Yao's eye signal, Guo Jia immediately said:
"Mr. Xun is right. Therefore, this time we are liberating the slaves and servants. We are not simply releasing them. Instead, we are taking this opportunity to establish a long-term and effective management method. I call this method the contract slave system." "Contract slave system?"

Guo Jia nodded slightly, his eyes gleaming with confidence, and slowly unfolded the bamboo slips in his hand, which were densely written with words: "The so-called contract slave system is to redefine the master-servant relationship with the law. From now on, anyone who keeps slaves must sign a contract with the slaves in triplicate, one copy to be kept by the master, one to be given to the slave, and one to be filed with the government."

He looked up at everyone and saw that they were puzzled, so he continued to explain:

"The contract must clearly state the slave's term of service, the content of the work, the pay he or she deserves, and the terms that the master cannot arbitrarily beat or abuse the slave. After the service period is over, the slave can regain his or her freedom, and the master cannot stop him or her."

"If the master violates the contract, the slave can take the contract to the government to appeal. Once the facts are verified, the master will be severely punished."

"This way, the basic rights of slaves are protected, and those slaves who are truly willing to serve their masters can continue to work in a relatively fair environment."

This system of contract slavery was actually Su Yao's copy of the Song Dynasty's homework.

It has to be said that although the Song Dynasty had poor military skills and was very incompetent, as a later regime that had experienced the turmoil of the late Tang Dynasty and witnessed the harm done by powerful aristocratic families and warlords, it did explore many experiences worth learning in terms of economic and social systems.

Even in the slave system, its enlightenment and advancement could be said to be far ahead of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, which later went in the opposite direction, and it can be said to fully demonstrate its humanistic brilliance.

Before, Su Yao handed these ideas to Guo Jia, and the two of them worked together to improve and refine them before presenting them, which immediately caught the eyes of Xun Yu, Jia Xu and others.

Xun Yu stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "This system is indeed ingenious, but how can we ensure that the powerful people abide by the contract? The Huainan family is deeply rooted. What if they pretend to obey but secretly still enslave people in private?"

Su Yao laughed: "In that case, all the regulatory agencies we designed before can start working!"

Three days later, at the parade ground in the east of the city.

On the high platform, Su Yao stood with his hands behind his back, overlooking the dark crowd below.

Next to Su Yao, Jia Xu was reading out the details of the new policy:
".Anyone who hides his farmland and surrenders himself within a certain period of time can be exempted from the death penalty and only needs to pay the taxes."

". All families who previously kept slaves and servants and signed contracts to sell their bodies will have their contracts annulled from now on. If there is a real need for labor, both parties should go to the government office in advance to sign a new contract. Those who violate the contract will be punished as human trafficking."

".All families who privately store weapons and armor must hand them over to the government within a certain period of time. Anyone who dares to hide them will be punished for treason once they are found out!"

Every time a sentence was read out, there was a suppressed exclamation from the audience.

The representatives of the noble families looked pale and whispered to each other, but no one dared to object openly.

Each of Su Yao's policies struck a chord with them, but they were not to be implemented immediately. He gave them a unified deadline - August 15th.

So before this day arrived, undercurrents were surging in various parts of Huainan.

In the teahouses and taverns in Shouchun City, the powerful and wealthy families whispered and plotted countermeasures.

It has to be said that facing Su Yao's mighty blade, although many people looked indignant, they did not dare to do so. They could only drown their sorrows in alcohol, send people to learn about the new policy, and consider how to cooperate.

But some people are unwilling to accept this and propose to write a joint petition to change the status quo.

Some people were very stubborn and said with gritted teeth that they would spend all their wealth to recruit soldiers and horses, and some people secretly sent people to contact the forces in Jiangdong and Jingzhou in an attempt to use external forces to exert pressure.

But no matter what, on the surface these people all put on an attitude of submissiveness, dismissed the old and weak slaves in the manor, hid the strong laborers in villas in the mountains, in an attempt to get away with it.

At the same time, Su Yao was not idle either.

He ordered Guo Jia and Xun Yu to take the lead and set up new policy offices in various counties with some officials sent from the capital. He also selected capable officials to train day and night to learn the details of the new policy and the law enforcement procedures.

At the same time, Su Yao asked Guan Yu, Dian Wei and others to lead the army and frequently mobilize them in Huainan in the name of "autumn hunting exercises". This was to deter the powerful people with ulterior motives and to prepare for possible changes at any time.

What's more, he posted notices among the people and set up a "report box", promising that anyone who reported something true would be heavily rewarded. He also specially formed a patrol team composed of veteran soldiers and literate vagrants under his command, who went deep into the countryside to secretly investigate the movements of the powerful.

Soon, when Yuan Shao came to Shouchun to meet Su Yao with generous gifts and a small team of personal soldiers, a bold fish was hooked.

(End of this chapter)