dognovel Chapter 547 As long as they're not coming for us, that's fine.
Chapter 547 As long as they're not coming for us, that's fine.
Emperor Zhu quickly lost interest in scolding Wang Guangyang.
After all, the situation in the other provincial administration commissions wasn't much better than that in Shandong.
The situation of illegal coal mines in Shanxi Province was even more serious than that in Shandong Province.
Such bizarre practices as forcing people to sign indentures to become slaves and putting sacks over beggars' heads were things that even Emperor Zhu could not have imagined, let alone seen.
"Damn it."
"Damn it!"
"This is infuriating!"
Emperor Zhu slammed the secret report on the table in a huff, and ordered Erhu, panting heavily, "Go, bring that bastard and Wang Guangyang here."
Seeing Emperor Zhu's face as black as a honeycomb, Yang Shaofeng and Wang Guangyang, who had been summoned by Emperor Zhu, were both taken aback.
Yang Shaofeng was a little better off. After all, he had provoked Old Deng many times and had seen Old Deng's sullen face many times. He couldn't say he was indifferent to it, but he had gotten used to it.
However, Wang Guangyang, the Shandong Provincial Governor, had rarely seen the Zhu Emperor in such a state.
Even when he was fighting Chen Youliang to the death, it was never like this.
So, how did the person in charge get so angry?
Wang Guangyang glanced at Yang Shaofeng discreetly and tentatively asked, "To take the lead?"
Emperor Zhu snorted coldly and handed the secret report from Shandong to Wang Guangyang: "Take a look first, and then you tell me, as the Shandong Provincial Governor, how you plan to give the people of Shandong an explanation!"
Wang Guangyang nervously accepted the secret report, but after only one glance, he knelt down with a thud and cried out to Emperor Zhu, "Your Majesty, I am guilty!"
Yang Shaofeng was somewhat bewildered.
Wang Guangyang even knelt down to beg for forgiveness?
What exactly did this thing do?
Is it because he's greedy for money?
Good heavens! I never thought even someone as handsome and stern as Wang Guangyang would learn to be greedy for money!
Just as Yang Shaofeng was secretly pondering and complaining, Emperor Zhu scolded him with exasperation, "Guilty! Guilty! All you know is guilt!"
Are we asking you to confess now?
"If confessing is useful, then let's have the emperor confess first, shall we?"
Wang Guangyang was so scolded that he dared not move. Emperor Zhu glanced at Yang Shaofeng and snorted coldly, "And you! You're the one who caused all this trouble. You have to take responsibility and find a way to solve it for us."
No.
What do you mean I caused this?
Judging from your angry expression, Lao Wang is clearly responsible.
Then the problem is coming.
Whether Old Wang is responsible or whether this trouble was caused by me, then it must be concentrated in the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission.
So, it was Zhou Liangyu and his group who escalated the incident of snatching people?
Or are the barbarians in the market going to cause trouble?
The problem is, this doesn't make sense.
The matter of Zhou Liangyu and his group snatching people is over. You, Lao Deng, have characterized it as children's mischief. The four of them were fined three months' salary, but were later rewarded with a large sum of money and grain for their meritorious service in discovering the coal and iron mines.
Needless to say, what kind of commotion could a few barbarians cause at the border market?
Yang Shaofeng became increasingly confused and simply took the secret report from Wang Guangyang.
hiss~
What the hell!
This is truly my fault!
However, the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty were really something else, none of them cared about their nine generations of relatives!
Seeing Yang Shaofeng's expression change repeatedly, Emperor Zhu coldly snorted and said, "Finished reading? Tell me, how should this matter be resolved?"
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Emperor Zhu and cautiously probed, "If I were to abolish things like indentures, those who were originally sold into slavery would have to be forcibly released and their contracts changed to employment. What do you think, Father-in-law?"
Emperor Zhu snorted coldly and said, "And then what? Simply abolishing the contract of slavery is probably not enough to solve these problems."
Yang Shaofeng immediately felt more confident.
The Ming Dynasty had the concept of contract slaves.
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's system of indentured servitude provided excellent protection for the master's family, while the protection for the servants, though not nonexistent, was far less effective than that for the master's family.
Especially before the complete version of the Ming Code was fully revised, the current Ming Code was basically based on the laws of the Tang and Song dynasties, and the part concerning slaves was easy to exploit.
For example, those who signed indentures were essentially the private property of their masters. They had no household registration or land to be distributed. If they dared to run away, they would be treated as runaway slaves if caught.
If the system of indentured slavery could be completely abolished, it would mean that the Ming Dynasty could immediately free up hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.
Here's a crucial point: If you inexplicably find yourself transported to the Ming Dynasty, be extremely careful. If you're captured as a runaway slave, you'll most likely be whipped, imprisoned, and then sold to another gentry as a servant.
While pondering haphazardly, Yang Shaofeng said, "Next, we will implement the employment contract system."
"Just like the original indenture, the contract also had to be registered with the government."
"It is necessary to specify the time limit for the work, the content of the work, and the salary."
"Anyway, apart from the employment relationship, the gentry and the employed workers are no different."
"At least officially, they are equal citizens."
Emperor Zhu hummed in agreement, intending to accept it outright, but then suddenly remembered something Empress Ma had said before.
"Haven't you noticed yet? Every time your good son-in-law gives you some advice, he'll dig a pit for you afterwards, and you just jump in happily."
If the idea of abolishing slavery and replacing it with employment was suggested by this scoundrel, then where is the pit he dug?
But as he continued along this line of thought, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but gasp in shock.
If we follow what this scoundrel said, and completely abolish the slave system, and combine that with the fact that the original military and artisan households were all changed to civilian households, then that means that everyone in the entire Ming Dynasty would be a civilian household.
If everyone is a commoner, what about the original lowly status?
The status of "lowly status" naturally ceased to exist.
When the status of lowly status ceases to exist, what kind of impact will it have on professions like brothels, as well as professions such as carriages, boats, shops, foot traffickers, and dentists?
Putting aside other things, let's just talk about those people in the city who are specifically responsible for night watch and collecting manure. How should they be accounted for?
Seeing that Emperor Zhu was deep in thought but refused to give a definite answer, Yang Shaofeng added, "My ideas are still rather rudimentary. Why don't we let the Duke of Han and the Earl of Chengyi study them carefully?"
Emperor Zhu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Right.
This bastard was indeed after Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen.
But it doesn’t matter.
As long as they're not targeting us, that's fine.
Emperor Zhu said without hesitation, "Then write a memorial and send it to the capital by fast horse before we return."
After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu directly gestured for Wang Guangyang to get lost, leaving a bewildered Yang Shaofeng behind, and asked, "Tell me, what would happen if we moved the capital to Beiping?"