Slaves were sold like livestock, and the dark side of human nature was fully released in the slave market.
Emperor Hongzhi looked at it for a while, then shook his head slightly and left.
Slave trading was quite common in the Ming Dynasty in the past. Rich families liked to buy some little girls to use as maids, or used these little girls as dowries for rich ladies, and some were bought home as maids.
House maid and the like.
As for men, they are often used as servants. Being a slave or a maid is not a joke, but a real slave, like an animal in the master's house. Even if he is beaten to death by the master, the government
I won't care either.
Later, under the strong support of Liu Jin, the Ming Dynasty announced the abolition of slaves, slaves and the like. Of course, this only targeted the people of the Ming Dynasty. No one was allowed to enslave the people of the Ming Dynasty. All agreements and contracts such as the sale of slaves were invalidated.
Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, more and more wealthy families began to purchase foreign slaves to serve as maids and use them as maids. As for male slaves, male slaves were not allowed to appear in the Ming Dynasty.
Slaves are very common overseas, especially in the Nanyang provinces. Millions of slaves are sold here every year, causing the number of slaves here to increase year after year, and now it has exceeded tens of millions.
These slaves became an indispensable labor force in the large plantation economies of several Southeast Asian provinces.
Although Emperor Hongzhi could not stand the shameless slave trade, he did not want to say anything about banning the slave trade or liberating these slaves.
The economy of Nanyang relies on these slaves to provide labor force. Moreover, the reason why the Ming people of Nanyang can live a prosperous life now is not based on the exploitation and oppression of slaves.
"Liu Jin, after these slaves are bought and sold, will they still be free one day?"
Emperor Hongzhi asked Liu Jin as he walked.
"Of course~"
"According to the Slavery Act promulgated by our Ming Empire, slaves can also be freed."
"The first situation is when slaves work until they are 60 years old. According to our tradition of respecting the old and loving the young, the slave owner must return freedom to the 60-year-old slave, and also give a certain amount of money and food so that the slave can survive after gaining freedom.
Go down."
"The second situation is that after the slave dies, the slave owner must burn the slave's slave contract to show that he is free again and leads to the Elysium as a free body."
"The third situation is when the slave owner feels that the slave has worked hard for him or has made great achievements. After the slave owner reports it to the government for review, he can also grant the slave freedom."
"The fourth situation is that after the female slave gives birth to children for the slave owner, as long as she gives birth to 4 children, according to our mother-child tradition, she can also gain freedom. Of course, under normal circumstances, as long as she gives birth to children, the slave owner will usually
Give the status and treatment of a concubine."
When Liu Jin heard this, he quickly explained it to Emperor Hongzhi in detail.
This slave bill was drafted by Liu Jin. Naturally, Liu Jin knew the various provisions in it best. Although Emperor Hongzhi reviewed the slave bill, he must not have read it carefully, or he had already forgotten it.
Both are clean.
"Well, that's how it should be."
Emperor Hongzhi nodded with satisfaction after hearing this.
After all, the Ming Empire was a state of etiquette and a civilized country. Although it also had a slavery system, it ultimately had to behave differently from other regions.
Slaves should also be given some hope and encouragement. This not only reflects that Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette and civilization, but also can actually greatly reduce the conflicts between slaves and slave owners.
The two were chatting and wandering around Crescent City very casually, and unknowingly they came to the Yamen of Crescent City.
In the huge open space at the entrance of the government office, the flagpole stands high, and the Ming Dynasty dragon flag on it is constantly fluttering.
Under the dragon flag, a large number of people gathered together to take a closer look at these.
Surprisingly, they are all slaves, because the appearance of these people is not oriental at first glance. They are all blond and blue-eyed, with high noses and deep eyes. There are many men and women.
Many women came with their children in their arms, while the male slaves put on clean clothes and shoes one by one.
"What are you doing?"
Liu Jin pulled over a passerby and asked curiously.
"What else can I do? Of course it's a free day once a month."
a passer-by asked, not surprised.
"Freedom Day?"
Liu Jin was even more confused.
"It is the day to give freedom to slaves. On this day, the officials of Crescent City will declare to slaves who are eligible for restoration of freedom that they are free, and at the same time grant them the status of Ming people."
The passerby explained patiently.
"Oh, that's it~"
Liu Jin understood immediately. He had just mentioned this matter to Emperor Hongzhi. Unexpectedly, it was such a coincidence that he happened to meet the Freedom Day once a month.
Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin naturally decided to stay and take a good look at the process of this freedom day.
Here at the venue, slave owners are dressed appropriately, with rows of slaves standing behind them. Not all slaves have been freed, some have been brought here to have a look, so that these slaves can see and see how others have been freed. , this gives them hope and lets them work hard so that they can be free as soon as possible.
Tang Quan, an official from Crescent City, was wearing a fourth-grade official uniform and holding a list in his hand.
"Slave Chen Baqi~"
As Tang Quan shouted out, a 60-year-old slave stood up excitedly.
It can be seen that this slave is relatively old, but his body is quite good, strong and tall, and he is a Slavic man.
He used to be a serf, but was later robbed by the Tatars and sold as a slave to the Ming Dynasty. After being tossed around, he came to Nanyang and became a slave. Because he was already in his forties and had worked for more than ten years. Just turned 60 years old.
According to the Ming Slave Act, he can now be freed and become a free Ming citizen.
The original name has been forgotten. His master was Mr. Chen, so he was named Chen Baqi in the order of slaves, which means the eighty-seventh slave.
"Dear Sir!"
Chen Baqi knelt on the ground and lowered his head.
"Slave Chen Sheng has reached the year of Jiazi. According to the Slave Act of the Ming Empire, and respecting the tradition of respecting the old and caring for the young, I now declare that slave Chen Baqi, starting from today, you will officially regain your freedom and become my Our people will be loyal to the Emperor of Heaven from now on!"
Tang Quan looked at the slave in front of him, and then loudly announced that Chen Baqi was free from now on.
"Thank you, sir~Thank you, sir!"
After hearing this, Chen Baqi immediately kowtowed excitedly. He was so excited and happy that he was finally free.
Although he is already 60 years old, he is free after all. He has been a slave all his life. He was a serf before and then a slave. Unexpectedly, he can still be free at the age of 60.
"Hmm~"
Tang Quan nodded with satisfaction and said: "Remember, from now on you are a citizen of Ming Dynasty, and your allegiance is to the emperor of Ming Dynasty."
"I remember, I remember~"
Chen Baqi nodded repeatedly.
"Master Chen~"
Tang Quan immediately nodded to Mr. Chen.
Mr. Chen understood immediately and immediately took out Chen Baqi's slave contract and showed it to everyone: "This is Chen Baqi's slave contract. Now I will officially burn it."
After saying that, he threw the slave contract into the brazier aside. As the fire burned, the slave contract was completely burned.
Then Mr. Chen took out another ten silver dollars and a land contract and said: "This is ten silver dollars and a land contract of 2 acres of land. Now I will give these ten silver dollars and 2 acres of land to Chen Baqi.
Thank you for his hard work for our Chen family over the years."
Master Chen showed everyone ten silver coins and the land contract, and besides showing them, he also handed these two things into Chen Baqi's hands.
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"
Chen Baqi quickly knelt down and kowtowed again. He had been a slave all his life. He never thought that one day he would get 10 taels of silver and own his own land. He was so happy and excited.
"Well, if you have any difficulties in the future, you can always come to me."
Mr. Chen smiled and nodded.
For 60-year-old slaves, the people of Ming Dynasty still have to be particular.
Respecting the old and caring for the young is a fine traditional virtue. When you are 60 years old and have worked for you all your life, you should treat your cattle and horses kindly, let alone your slaves.
Being kind to these people is not only a tradition, but can also win you a good reputation. This is also very important. Sometimes reputation is more important than anything else, and everything is precious.
The Ming Dynasty has always paid attention to the word filial piety and respecting the elderly. This is also a part of filial piety. Even if they are slaves, they still have to respect them and give them what they deserve.
If you don't give it, if your reputation becomes bad, it will be difficult to get along in the future. It is estimated that no one will be too willing to marry your daughter to your daughter-in-law.
Especially for those who are scholars and those with status and status, they value reputation even more, and they will definitely not marry into a family with a bad reputation.
If a person's reputation is very good, even if his family background is average, he can still be appreciated by many people. It has always been a tradition to value justice over wealth.
In the past, many rich men were happy to marry their daughters to poor scholars. Not only did they value the potential of the scholars, but more importantly, the characters and reputations of these scholars were often extremely good.
Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin watched silently. One slave after another was named and then freed. Most of them were female slaves. Those who gave birth to children were freed and became concubines in the family.
And so on, there are also a few people who made great contributions to their masters, so their masters specially gave them freedom.
