In a village around Moscow, Tarasov got up early as usual to prepare firewood for the winter. The winter here is long and cold.
As a serf, it is natural to prepare firewood for the winter early, otherwise you will be frozen to death in the cold winter.
I heard that things have changed recently, and my master went to war. It is said that the same Oriental people who fought in the war more than two hundred years ago have not come back yet.
I also heard that the Orientals had a great victory, and that all the nobles and the like were defeated and many, many of them were killed. I don’t know if their masters were also killed.
If so, that is naturally the best.
He hated his master Grishev with all his heart. He was an out-and-out devil and had no aristocratic spirit towards serfs like them.
Not only were they required to hand over most of their grain, but all serfs were also required to build castles for their master on a regular basis. The only beautiful castle within dozens of miles was the castle of their master Grishev.
But this is what Tarasov hates most about him. Tarasov's two daughters were successively misappropriated by Grishev. He even sold them to his nobles in Moscow.
, so far no news.
Although he was full of resentment towards the serf owners, he was helpless because in this land, serfdom was a system stipulated by law.
The nobles are the sky and the land here, and they serfs are just the private property of the nobles.
They had to work for the serf owners three days a week. In addition, they had to bear high taxes on the land they farmed, and more than half of the grain they produced had to be handed over.
Serf owners also often seized their wives and daughters, forcibly taking their families away from them and trading them as property.
Therefore, a large number of serfs escape every year. As long as they escape to ownerless land, they can become free people. However, the Grand Duke of Moscow, especially the former Yin Wan III, often used this method to win over people and gain the support of the nobles.
A large number of free people were given to the nobility and became serfs.
Everything about the serfs was gloomy. They had no land of their own, no production materials of their own, and even no personal freedom of their own.
They are not allowed to leave their own land, are not allowed to wander around, and are not allowed to own their own wealth. They are just like the cattle and horses in the noble family, they are the private property of the nobles, they are just talking cattle and horses.
Everything in this land has nothing to do with them.
Whether the Tatars came to plunder or the nobles changed one after another, these had nothing to do with serfs like them.
Because even if there is a war, serfs like them are often not qualified to participate. War is a matter for the nobles, and the victory or defeat has nothing to do with them. All they need to do is to farm the land and serve the nobles silently like cattle and horses.
Sometimes, many people even petitioned to be captured by the Tatars so that they could be sold as slaves to the Ming Dynasty. I heard that being a slave to the Ming Dynasty would at least provide you with food to eat and not starve you.
Working as serfs here, they worked hard all year long, but in the end they could not get enough to eat. In winter, a large number of serfs froze to death.
The status of serfs was even inferior to that of nobles' cattle and horses, because cattle and horses were extremely valuable assets, and they often had their own horse pens to live in.
In addition, serfs often need to be branded with the label of serf. With this label, if you leave your serf owner's territory at will, you will be killed directly.
It is precisely because of such a cruel serfdom system that the nobles of the Principality of Moscow firmly control all serfs and enjoy the fruits of the serfs' labor, but they do not need to do anything.
"Tap tap~ tap tap~"
Just as Tarasov was hard at work chopping firewood and preparing firewood for the winter.
A group of Ming army cavalry came here on tall horses with several nobles. Their arrival immediately broke the tranquility here and attracted the attention of countless people.
The clothes, appearance and appearance of these Ming people are very different from those of the Slavs. They have dark eyes and black hair. Look at their clothes.
Uniform military uniforms, uniform helmets and armors, as well as uniform muskets, sabers, bows and arrows, this is simply armed to the teeth.
All of them were tall and strong, and the key was that even the horses they rode were very tall. When they came over, serfs like Tarasov could only look up at these Ming people.
Looking at the nobles around them, every one of them was cautious and flattering to please these Ming people. They no longer had the aloof demeanor of the nobles in the past.
But soon, when they saw Tarasov and the serfs, they immediately changed their faces and shouted at Tarasov and the serfs.
"All serfs come here, notify all serfs immediately and call everyone over."
Krolev looked at the serf village in front of him, looking at the dirty ground, dilapidated houses and extremely dirty serfs, with disgust and contempt in his eyes.
After hearing what Krolev said, the serfs immediately gathered around and started to notify each other. Everyone looked at the Ming people in front of them with curiosity, and then looked at the nobleman Krolev with fear.
When the surrounding serfs gathered, there were thousands of them. These people were all serfs of the noble Grishev. Of course, Grishev no longer knew where he died.
His castle had also been cleaned up by the Ming people, and the women and children were rewarded as slaves to the Ming soldiers. All the land was declared by the newly established Black Earth Province of the Ming Dynasty to belong to the Ming Empire and no longer belonged to the nobles here.
"Is everyone here?"
Ma Ting rode on a tall horse and looked at the dark serfs in front of him. These serfs were really poor. They were all extremely dirty, with long hair and beards, and were in rags. Looking at the surrounding villages, they were also in rags.
It's very dilapidated, and it's basically a wooden house.
The roads are muddy. It can be seen that the land here is very fertile and the rainfall is abundant, but this also makes the roads here unbearable to look at, with mud everywhere.
"We are all here, sir!"
Krolev replied in the Ming dialect he had just begun to learn.
"Hmm~"
Ma Ting nodded with satisfaction, then looked at all the serfs in front of him, took out a tin trumpet and shouted: "You are all doing well. From now on, this land belongs to the Ming Empire and is the black soil province of the Ming Empire.
And from now on, you are free and no longer the serfs or slaves of the nobles."
"As long as you are willing to learn the language, characters and customs of our Ming Empire, and change the names and clothes of our Ming people, then you can become the subjects of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty from now on."
"As the people of the Great Tomorrow, you will be able to own your own land. You will cultivate your own land and only need to pay one-tenth of the grain to the Great Tomorrow every year."
"Depending on how well you learn the Ming Dynasty language, characters and customs, your land ownership can gradually increase from 10 acres to 100 acres."
"The better you speak Ming Dynasty, and the more you imitate our Ming Dynasty people's clothes, etc., the more land you can own."
Ma Ting announced Zhu Houzhao's latest order to all the serfs, and then looked at Krolev aside and asked him to translate.
The reason why we want to attack the local nobles while liberating the serfs here.
Of course, it was also to stabilize the Ming Empire's rule here.
The attack on the nobility was naturally to eliminate the culture and many inheritances of these local people, to eliminate these aristocratic elites, and in addition to the Ming army clearing out those who resisted.
The remaining serfs have no concept of this. As long as they have their own land, they will naturally be able to eat well and support the rule of the Ming Empire.
After all, no one wants to be a serf of a nobleman for generations, cultivating the land for the serfs for generations, but they themselves are just the private property of the nobleman like cattle and horses.
The Ming Empire gave them land and freedom, so they should naturally understand that they should support the Ming Empire, otherwise if these nobles were allowed to rule here again, they would become serfs again.
This is the strategy formulated by the Ming Dynasty, to attack the nobles and win over these serfs. Anyway, there is plenty of land now. The people in the Crimean Khanate have basically disappeared, and there is fertile black land.
The long-term war itself has caused a large number of deaths of people here. Coupled with the annual plundering by the Tatars, it can be said that this place is vast and sparsely populated, which is very suitable for the development of mechanized agriculture.
Krolev also translated Ma Ting's words with an iron trumpet. Many serfs listened and were dumbfounded. They looked at each other in disbelief.
It’s hard to believe that you can actually gain freedom and your own land, and from now on all you have to do is hand over one-tenth of the grain to that great emperor?
In disbelief, they all looked at Krolev eagerly, hoping to get confirmation from him.
Under Ma Ting's order, Krolev had to once again promote the policy of the Ming Dynasty's Black Soil Province. All serfs will be free from now on, but the land still belongs to the Ming court.
If they want to obtain land, they must learn from the Ming people. The first thing they have to do is cut off their long hair and shave off their thick and long beards.
After learning that he could gain freedom and land, Tarasov was the first to stand up and express his willingness to shave off his hair and hang up his beard. He even knelt down beside Ma Ting, kissed Ma Ting's boots, and
Expressing the highest respect, when others saw it, they immediately followed suit, then rushed to tell each other, and celebrated grandly.
