Di Ming

Chapter 94 Buying Slaves

The slave market in the Ming Dynasty was different from that in the Yuan Dynasty.

There were many poor Han slave markets in the early Yuan Dynasty, and the Mongol nobles owned tens of thousands of Han slaves.

There were no large, publicly open slave markets in the Ming Dynasty. However, buying slaves was quite convenient; it could be done through brokerage firms.

This brokerage firm was one of the largest in Nanjing, and it had a large pool of slaves at its disposal.

The buying and selling of slaves is a major business of slave brokers these days. Of course, these brokers are actually semi-official commercial organizations, not something that just anyone can open.

Each major brokerage firm had its own slave quarters, which temporarily housed slaves who were put up for sale.

Whether one sells oneself into slavery, is sold by one's master or parents, or is demoted to slavery and sold by the government, a broker is always the intermediary.

The indenture and slave contract were naturally handled by the brokerage firm.

Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei arrived at what was supposedly a temporary residence for slaves at a brokerage firm, but it turned out to be a warehouse located between Bucket Hoop Alley and Carpenter's Camp.

Two of the large warehouses contained young slaves awaiting sale.

The two large warehouses were separated for men and women. In Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei's view, the total area was less than 500 square meters, but more than 400 people lived there!

It was extremely crowded. Even in autumn, the air inside the warehouse was stuffy.

They weren't living in bunk beds, but in three-tiered beds. It was far more extravagant than the student dormitories Zhu Yin remembered.

At least everyone had a bed, their own little "nest." Although climbing up and down the stairs to the top floor was really tiring.

At this time, the servants were doing handicrafts in the "house," but they were pasting lanterns and rolling firecrackers.

Although the brokerage firm temporarily took them in, it would not support them for nothing.

If we can't sell them all in a day, we'll work for that day; we can't just sit around doing nothing.

The brokerage firm will constantly take on jobs, ensuring that the slaves waiting to be sold in the "houses" are not idle.

If you let your pets become lazy, they'll be harder to sell.

Upon seeing the maid in blue robes and a net cap enter, the servants all stood up. Some of those working on the bed even jumped off.

Then they knelt down one after another, bowing in varying degrees of disarray:

"This humble servant greets Lord Ya Tou!"

"You've gotten even fatter in just one day!"

"Master Yatou's face is glowing with good fortune, a sign of great luck!"

That's right. Before they were sold, the brokers were their masters, the lords.

Their fates were all in the hands of Master Ya.

If you offend the master of the house, you might be sold to a bad family, which would be terrible.

If you can please the master of the house, he might recommend you to a good buyer, and then you'll have hope.

These servants, the oldest being only fifteen or sixteen years old, and the youngest not even ten, were as small as bean sprouts, and were extremely pitiful.

The master said, "Children, get up and get to work. Those whose names I call, drop what you're doing and come out."

At this moment, a huge crowd of people knelt and worshipped the broker, making him appear like an emperor receiving the homage of his courtiers.

This scene was extremely jarring to Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei.

However, this is the prevailing reality.

Zhu Yin knew that slaves in the Ming Dynasty had an extremely low status. They not only lacked personal freedom and freedom of marriage, but even their right to life was severely restricted.

Many classic novels about human relationships from the Ming Dynasty depict the tragic plight of servants. After being beaten to death by their masters, the government would send some silver to make the matter seem trivial.

In "Mei Ping Jin", there are forty named maids in Dongmen Qing's household.

The cheapest maidservant could be bought for five taels of silver. A beautiful female slave like Pan Yinlian was worth only thirty taels. But Li Ping'er's fur coat alone was worth sixty taels!

It is evident that slaves in the Ming Dynasty were truly despicable.

The most expensive are those who are literate, can write and do arithmetic. The next most expensive are those who know how to play musical instruments, sing or dance, or have a special skill.

Those from wealthy families, trained according to strict rules, are also more expensive.

Although the Ming Code restricted slavery, the bureaucrats and nobles were the first to amass slaves, so how could it be restricted?

At this moment, the maids waiting to be sold all had their eyes light up when they saw Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei.

They knew this was the buyer!

Na Yazi carried a cloth bag, took out a roll of roster from the bag, carefully flipped through it a few times, and found a name that matched the criteria.

These names all belong to people who are literate and have read some books; their names are all quite elegant.

Children who can read are already one in ten.

Then, Ya Tou loudly read out each name.

There were more than 470 people in total, and the head of the department read out 45 names.

They are all literate.

The others were not only illiterate, but many of them didn't even have proper names.

Forty-five people stepped forward, and their personal information was retrieved.

Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei looked at the personal profiles for a while, asked some questions, and then eliminated twenty-five people, leaving twenty.

These twenty people are all very good; it wouldn't be appropriate to eliminate any of them.

Ning Caiwei looked at the names of the twenty people, but:
"Zhang Yutang, Bai Jing, Li Hanqiu, Li Feixue, An Xiaowen, Zhang Jianzhong, Gu Qing, Fan Yi'an, Mo Wen, Gao Guanguo, Zeng Zhuo."

"Tang Yangyang, Liang Junnuo, Liu Qingsong, Li Shugu, Wang Huazhuo, Xu Qingyuan, Zuo Shiyang, Yang Yanfu, Su Mo."

The original plan was to buy ten people. It wasn't that I thought ten people would be enough, but rather that I didn't dare to spend too much money.

We don't have much money left.

Even if you get two truckloads of jade, you can't cash it out.

Zhu Yin whispered, "Let's buy all twenty of them. We'll figure out how to get the money later."

Ning Caiwei rolled her eyes, but could only nod. Human resource development takes time, so why not spend more money and buy all twenty people to train as trainees?

These people are the core members and key personnel.

"Team leader," Ning Caiwei said, "we'll take all twenty of them. But the price..."

The broker immediately shook his head: "Young lady, we don't haggle in this line of work. These maids are in high demand. They'll be sold out in less than ten days or half a month."

Ning Caiwei smiled and said, "Really? Then why did I hear that Liu, the clerk of this county, got a discount?"

"Uh..." Ya Tou was taken aback, not expecting that this little girl with big feet would actually know about this.

Ning Caiwei pointed to the jade pendant on Zhu Yin's waist, "My young master is the nephew of the Zhuang family. This jade pendant was a gift from the master of the Zhuang family."

Zhu Yin shook his head and said, "It's just buying a servant. It may be expensive, but why mention my uncle? This is a business transaction, not a favor between officials."

Ya Tou stared at the jade pendant at Zhu Yin's waist for a moment, then smiled and said, "Speaking of Master Zhuang, I have had the honor of meeting him, but I have never had the chance to pay my respects to him."

"Well, then it'll be sixty taels each, and twelve hundred taels will be enough to get the slave contract."

It actually saved two hundred taels!
The power of officials is truly immense.

This brokerage firm is located in Jiangning County and is under the supervision of Jiangning County!

How could Ya Tou dare to offend the dignified county magistrate?

Not to mention the county magistrate, even the bailiffs wouldn't dare to offend him easily.

At that moment, Ning Caiwei paid 150 taels of gold to buy the slave contracts of 20 people.

The twenty children who were bought were all both surprised and delighted.

Since they are literate and were chosen, they are naturally very clever. How can you not see that they have found a good master?

The twenty people were filled with excitement and anticipation.

As soon as the slave contract was completed, the twenty men knelt down and kowtowed in a dark mass.

In the Ming Dynasty, slaves were required to kneel and bow to their masters.

This time, Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei did not stop them from kneeling.

Because this is about acknowledging God.

In the beginning, the rules of feudal society must be used to establish the authority of the master.

After all, the two were just children and lacked authority. They could only establish their authority through the rules of the ancients.

The reason why Kangxi and others did not kneel was because they had saved their lives and were worthy of their loyalty.

These people, however, were bought with money.

If we start by imbuing future generations with the idea of ​​equality, how will we manage such a large population?

If you're too easy to talk to, they'll take you for granted and you'll be difficult to deal with later.

It is difficult to first show kindness and then impose authority, but easy to first impose authority and then show kindness.

Just as the two were about to leave, a clear, childlike voice suddenly cried out:

"Brother! Brother! Buy me! My name is Gou Dan!"

"I can't read, but I can raise birds, and I can also..."

Zhu Yin turned around and saw a boy who was less than ten years old.

"Shut up!" Tooth shouted. "What kind of skill is it to raise birds! Who told you to speak? You're asking for a beating!"

The boy's face was covered in tears. "Master, he looks like my brother. I want to go with him..."

"Insolence! You ill-mannered brat!" Ya Tou roared. "Kneel down!"

"Never mind," Zhu Yin quickly said, "I'll buy it, and I'll give you another sixty taels!"

The boy was overjoyed and quickly knelt down to kowtow: "Brother..."

Upon seeing this, the other servants immediately began to shout, calling out for their brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers.

But Zhu Yin had no choice but to harden his heart and ignore it.

Soon, this dog-egg, who didn't even have a proper name, also completed his slave contract.

Gou Dan was very excited, as if Zhu Yin really was like his elder brother.

After leaving the warehouse, Zhu Yin couldn't help but ask, "Goudan, you said you can raise birds, what kind of birds can you raise?"

Dog Egg replied, "Brother, I can raise pigeons and falcons."

Zhu Yin's heart skipped a beat. "Pigeons? What pigeons?"

Dog Egg answered honestly, "Carrier pigeon."

Carrier pigeon? Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei looked at each other in bewilderment.

A child who can raise homing pigeons—is this a real gem?
Although carrier pigeons can only deliver messages one way to a fixed location, cannot return, and are unreliable, and are not necessarily faster than horses over long distances, they have one irreplaceable advantage:

Freedom of flight, without geographical restrictions!
As long as you carry a carrier pigeon, you can travel anywhere, whether on a ship, inside or outside a city under martial law, within or outside the pass, within an encirclement, or across mountains, rivers, lakes, or seas that are difficult for men and horses to traverse…

They all had the opportunity to send the letter back.

This is something that horses can never match.

Many people raised pigeons during the Ming Dynasty. There were even special pigeon houses in the Imperial City of Beijing, where a large number of pigeons were kept and released every day, flying with whistles.

But they're all just toys; there are no carrier pigeons.

The people who raised homing pigeons were the Mongols of the former Yuan Dynasty.

As far as Zhu Yin knew, there were almost no records of carrier pigeons in the Ming Dynasty. Carrier pigeons were a very ancient method of communication used by the Xiongnu people in the north.

Carrier pigeons also existed during the Tang and Song dynasties. The Mongols were particularly skilled at raising carrier pigeons. However, after the establishment of the Ming dynasty, carrier pigeons were rarely used.

Could this child be related to the pigeon breeders of the Yuan Dynasty?
P.S.: That's all for today, too busy. Regarding carrier pigeons, they're not as miraculous as some people think. But they can still be useful in certain situations, like delivering messages from the sea. As for the names of the extras, due to limited spots, we can only use those with high fan value and those who have left comments for now.

(End of this chapter)