"Xianggong Wu is going to release you as a good man, why aren't you happy?"
Prince Chengqian couldn't help but said to the oil seller, with a hint of resentment in his tone.
Old Man Qian didn't know who this young man was, but he knew he was extraordinary just by looking at his clothes, especially the jade on his waist. He didn't dare to say that he didn't know the world, so he had to explain in a low voice.
He really didn't want to let him become a good man. With his current status, he worked as a soldier in the Wu Prime Minister's family, became a member of the military family, farmed the fields, and sold oil on credit in his spare time. He was very satisfied with his current life.
"What's wrong with a good man, why are you so afraid of a ferocious beast?" Cheng Qian has now begun to learn some government affairs, and he also knows very well how much benevolent government it is to transform the humble people into good ones.
But this old man was so ignorant that he hugged the teacher's thigh and burst into tears.
The air was filled with the rich fragrance of peanut oil, and the sound of chants from a group of young and strong men pushing the hammer could be heard in the square.
It is a sunny autumn day,
sunny,
Five huge windmills are rotating slowly, and several workshops under the windmills are busy, with many merchants and people coming in and out.
"Uncle Qian, get up,"
Cheng Qian couldn't figure out why Old Man Qian and the others were unwilling to shake off their humble status and reform, but in fact Wu Huaiyu knew it in his heart.
There is indeed a huge difference in status between the good and the bad. Not only do the good and the bad not get married, they even have unequal legal status.
The law of slaves and maidservants is like that of livestock, which can be bought and sold. Buqu, guest girl, and fanhu are slaves who have been freed once, but have not yet been able to escape from lowliness and become good people.
Although the original law clearly clarified that although Buqu and others could not be bought or sold, they still had low status and were still attached to the owner's family, so in fact they still had no personal freedom. The law said that they could not be bought or sold, but they could be gifted and transferred, so they could be transferred under other names.
Collecting money is actually a business under another name.
Legally speaking, the status of Bu Qu and others is slightly higher than that of slaves. For the same crime, Bu Qu and others are one level higher than the crime committed by the husband, and slaves are one level higher than Bu Qu.
And for a good man to be a slave or a servant, his crime will be reduced accordingly, or even not guilty.
Slaves have no private property, but servants and others can own some.
But after all, he has no household registration and must depend on his master.
Now the imperial court has launched this program to cancel the low status of guest girls and peasant households, allowing them to enter the society and establish households. In fact, the real purpose of the imperial court is to weaken some of the power of powerful families.
For example, Lao Qian's current status is just a tribe. According to the new regulations, by next year, all tribes with this status will be converted into husbands. They must establish registrations, register households, have their own accounts, and have their own identities.
No longer dependent on the powerful landlord family.
Of course, there are pros and cons.
The advantage is that the personal status has indeed been greatly improved, and no one can transfer or gift them to others. However, after establishing a household and having an identity, although there is legal protection, you also have obligations to the country, such as paying taxes and serving in the military.
Although the proletarians can be classified as customers, and those who have no land are exempt from local taxes, charity warehouses, and even lower-class households can be exempted from taxes, but as long as they are strong, this service is inevitable.
And once you set up your own business, it means that you can no longer take shelter from the powerful, and there may be various agencies in the local government and the countryside.
Of course, for Lao Qian, he is actually the most reluctant to get rid of his humble status. What’s more important is that now his family is following the Wu family.
After giving Wu Huaiyu, life in the Wu family was good.
At least I have two meals a day, so I don’t have to worry about food or housing. I have someone to arrange my work, and my food and clothing are also arranged.
In fact, it is not important to old money whether you are free or not. What is important is whether you can live, whether you can have food to eat, a place to live in, and clothing to wear.
Can it be stable and safe?
The Wu family had given him all this. Not only were everything arranged, he would have food and clothing as long as he obeyed the arrangements and did things, and there would even be some annual rewards.
And he worked for several years, performed well, and was released as a subordinate, so he was qualified to farm a piece of land with the warriors. He didn't have to produce anything, he only used manpower, and he could get a 28% share of the harvest.
In fact, it is actually more than 28%, because the Wu family only needs 80% of the staple food in one season, and the miscellaneous grains in the other season are not divided.
The Wu family didn't have many restrictions on them. It didn't matter whether the old man went to sell oil or his son went to work during the off-season. They didn't take a commission on the money they made.
When his son got married, the Wu family even gave him a gift.
How nice it is to have such a master family. Compared with other good tenants with household registration, Lao Wu's family doesn't even have to pay taxes or serve in the military.
There is no need to worry about the rent increase of the Wu family. With the status of the Wu family tribe, such as when his son marries a wife and goes to bed, his wife and children are sick and need medicine, etc. When they are in urgent need of money and food, they can borrow it from the Wu family, and they only charge a little interest.
.
How could Lao Qian be willing to leave such a master family? Not only Lao Qian, but also the other members of the Wu family were basically unwilling to leave.
Following the Wu family, it seems that I have a backer and even an iron rice bowl.
As a member of the Wu family, no matter whether they are arranging for a team to farm the fields, or directly become a hired laborer, or become a village clerk, etc., they do not have to worry about running out of food. Even their children can ask for help from the Wu family when they are ten years old.
Arrange errands.
Whether you are working as a shop apprentice, or as a book boy, etc., you can always have an arrangement and make a living.
What kind of song is this? It means that he is from the Wu family.
Relatively speaking, there is no big benefit in turning from lowly to good. The imperial court has no space to give them. The temples or criminal officials' tribes were fine before. If they are still good, at least they will be given points.
land, or give them a permanent lease of a piece of land,
But this opportunity is rare.
Now the imperial court wants to convert these tribes from low status to good ones. Apart from changing their status to a good man, thinking that they are not subject to the restrictions of good men and low status, and then serving as a soldier, reading is not restricted, and their legal status is improved, there is no other practical reason.
benefit.
No land, no money to give,
There will be no errand arrangements,
In everyone's eyes, this is not a good thing. Instead, a strong man will have to do free labor for the court for at least twenty days a year.
"Uncle Qian, you get up first,"
Huaiyu held up Lao Qian, who was trembling with fear. He was really panicked, as if he would become a homeless wild dog after deportation and returning to good health, and he wouldn't know what to do in the future.
Especially for people like Lao Qian who have experienced more than ten years of war since the late Sui Dynasty, they have truly experienced hard times and even desperate times.
He is very satisfied with the life of the Wu family now. He does not envy any beloved man at all. If there is no land or property, then everything is fake.
If they are part of the Wu family, the Wu family will take care of and protect them.
"Xiangguo, please don't drive us out."
Cheng Qian said on the side, "Buqu, guest women, peasant households, etc. are lifted out of humble status and become good people. This is the benevolent government of the saints, this is good government."
Lao Qian looked at Wu Huaiyu and gritted his teeth, "Xiangguo, if it really doesn't work out, I'm willing to sell my entire family into slavery again. Please don't drive us out of the Wu family."
After comforting Lao Qian for a while, he pulled him up first.
"Uncle Qian, you have been in my house for almost five years. You are a real old man. In fact, you don't have to worry. This new policy is indeed a saintly and benevolent policy.
You just break away from the Wu family affiliation and set up your own business in the Yamen. Nothing else will change. You can still continue to farm the land you are farming with the Wu family, and the rent will not change. You can sell oil in your spare time.
There are no restrictions on your sons working as part-time or part-time workers.
With your current conditions, you are a client, so you will definitely have to settle down, so you don’t have to worry about household taxes. If you don’t have land, you don’t have to pay local taxes, free warehouse grain, fire consumption, ding grain, etc.,”
What Lao Qian and his family really have to bear is twenty days of regular service every year, and forty days if he serves as a local handyman.
Of course, you can also fold silk for labor, just pay money or silk, but it is still a lot of money. You can fold three feet of silk every day, which is equivalent to one and a half feet in twenty days. According to the current price of silk, that is three feet.
One hundred coins is worth six shi of millet, and it is more cost-effective to work as a servant.
"Can you not leave the Wu family?" Lao Qian still looked hopeful.
Not only did he feel that after establishing his own business, he would have to work hard and share these burdens, but what he was more worried about was that after leaving the Wu family, there would be no one to protect him. If he could meet a good and virtuous family like the Wu family, it would be a waste of money for him.
Fortunatley.
Not all powerful people from aristocratic families will treat lowly people like Buqu Kenu kindly.
Wu Huaiyu supports the new policy of the imperial court. The problem of land annexation is difficult to cure. There will always be landless people, and there will be more and more people.
It's okay if you are a good citizen, but if you become a bitch without household registration, whether it is a slave or a servant, it is actually a huge loss to the court. It is poached by a wealthy family. In many statistics of the court, what slaves are,
Tribes, monks, nuns and Taoist priests are not included in the statistics and do not count as the country's population.
Population is always the country's largest resource.
Without household registration and legal status protection, Buqu, guest girls, etc. must actually be seriously dependent on powerful landlords.
The imperial court retained slaves, but abolished the official and private status of servants, guest girls, and peasant households. Wu Huaiyu supported it.
Although it is a bit poaching, but from a quick perspective, the Tang Empire is a giant ship sailing on the sea. Although the Wu family is in the upper echelon of this giant ship, they are also people on this ship. If they do not maintain
He didn't care about the safety of the entire ship, but he only cared about enjoying himself on the upper level. After the ship broke into the water, it would eventually sink.
Many powerful nobles, especially those from aristocratic families, are particularly concerned about personal control. Upstarts like Wu Huaiyu cannot compete with them.
Wu Huaiyu has a more modern way of thinking. In other words, the thinking of many wealthy families today is still feudal thinking, which focuses on control. Wu Huaiyu's thinking is capital thinking, which values efficiency.
Just like a slave, the old nobles don't care how much you can do in a day. What they want is for you to be absolutely obedient and do whatever they ask you to do. In comparison, Wu Huaiyu values more about how many things you can do.
, how much value is generated, efficiency comes first, so the Wu family's workshops or manors also introduced reward and punishment mechanisms early, and even piece-rate and work-point mechanisms.
If you do well, you will be rewarded, and you may even finish ahead of schedule. You may also get breaks, extra meals, etc. The higher the benefits you provide, the better the treatment you will receive. Some slaves may even make some significant contributions due to their good performance.
, such as what tools have been invented and what processes have been improved, so you can directly get a free shot, or even get a free body directly.
There are also rewards such as getting married slaves.
The Wu family's tribe has the best conditions among the powerful and powerful tribes in Chang'an. Basically, there are not many restrictions. Whether you are a long-term worker, a tenant, or a domestic servant, it is all work requirements, and there are not many additional requirements for personal control.
The imperial court is now going to grant the status of official betrothed to the female patrons. Wu Huaiyu doesn't mind at all, because it doesn't matter if you become a betrothed, a customer, or even a principal customer. In the final analysis, it is a kind of cooperation, or in other words, it is a kind of cooperation.
employment relationship, so nothing will change.
There is no big difference between a long-term laborer, a tenant, and a clerk as a subordinate, and as a husband. For the same job and the same remuneration, he is not treated strictly differently from others.
Lao Qian was very frightened and always afraid of this kind of change.
Cheng Qian looked at it with doubts in his mind.
After Lao Qian and his son said goodbye with all their thanks, he couldn't help but ask why.
“Isn’t this good governance by the imperial court?”
"yes."
"But why are they?"
"Your Highness, in fact, throughout the dynasties, many good people have taken the initiative to abandon their country of origin and flee, either to escape into the wilderness, or to hide and join powerful families. Many people are even willing to take the initiative to become slaves of powerful families. There are even some people who are willing to take the initiative to become slaves of powerful families.
Those who took their land, houses, and property to become slaves,”
Cheng Qian became more and more puzzled after hearing this. He had vaguely seen this kind of thing in books.
"But now, in the Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan's policies are enlightened. Emperor Shengren, are the people the same?"
"Your Highness, the sage has a saying: if you have enough resources, you will know the etiquette. If you explain it more straightforwardly, it means that survival is the first priority. Everything must be prioritized to solve the needs of survival. Only when survival is achieved
After protection, people will start to consider other things, such as identity, etiquette, beauty, and even morality."
"Of course, what His Highness just said is correct. Nowadays, the Tang Dynasty Zhenguan is prosperous and prosperous due to its good government and people. However, after all, for many ordinary people, many of them are actually barely surviving.
So they are afraid of change, because change brings unknown variables, and they are afraid that once they change, their barely achieved survival will face crisis again,"
"I believe that everyone is just afraid of the unknown and not dissatisfied with the benevolent government of the court."
Cheng Qian thought for a while and asked a question, "But Uncle Qian just said that he works in the Wu family and has no taxes or labor. But if he becomes a good household and establishes a household, even if he is a low-class customer, he does not need to pay rent."
, Yicang grain, household tax, fire consumption, Dingliang, etc.,
But you have to serve as a sergeant. For twenty days, if you break silk, it will break three feet a day."
People are afraid of labor. The twenty days of labor may not sound like much, but sometimes it can lead to bankruptcy and ruin the family, because these twenty days are counted from the time when the formal service begins upon arrival at the construction site, and sometimes it may be overdue. If it is some big companies
National projects, such as digging canals and building the Great Wall, may take months or even half a year to travel back and forth.
For some ordinary families, the first generation is a strong labor force. If a strong labor force is away from home for more than half a year or even a year, then the family may not be able to survive, including the wife, children, and children.
"The service your Highness mentioned is indeed a big burden for many poor people, especially those tribesmen, guest women, and farmers who have escaped from lowliness to good deeds,"
"Teacher, do you have a good solution?"
"Unless the servants are changed into hired servants, and the servants are converted into mediocre servants, and then they are treated as additional taxes, such as the same as the small grains of local miscellaneous items, which are paid into the household, the local and local taxes are surcharged, and the bulk is paid to the household.
The land tax is spread among the acres. In this way, these tribes, tenants, guest girls, etc. are equivalent to being exempted from labor or reducing most of their burdens."
There were many kinds of servants in the Tang Dynasty, including national servants, local servants, and various types of servants collectively called color servants. Basically, they were assigned and rotated according to their status, mainly based on population.
If the people are divided into acres, it is actually converting the original head service into a tax, and even transferring it to the wealthy landowners.
Cheng Qian thought this was a good idea, but Wu Huaiyu just smiled. No matter whether he asked the tenants to take over the land, or asked them to pay for free service, or pay for the service, the most important thing was to take care of the common people, and to pay attention to the property owners and the rich.
Taxation, so this method is not considered a good one, and will inevitably lead to more dissatisfaction with the new two-tax law.
There are currently three million households in the Tang Dynasty, but the number of students is not very large. There are a large number of households that do not teach students and do not teach students. The actual number of students has not yet reached one million. If all of them are mediocre, there will be about one hundred to three or four.
One hundred thousand pieces of silk, and if all the pieces are counted, there should be nearly three million pieces, and the number of pieces of silk can be reduced to four million pieces.
If these four million pieces of silk are spread to two taxes, especially if the bulk is spread to acres of land, of the hundreds of millions of acres of cultivated land in the Tang Dynasty, about 200 acres of silk will be spread to one piece of silk, and the price is roughly one penny per mu. Of course, the land is
Whether it's good or bad, it will definitely be spread out.
But the figure is roughly like this, one penny per mu, eight hundred million mu, eight hundred million penny. In fact, it is only 800,000 yuan, and four million bolts of silk.
However, if you want to add such a sum of money for labor service to the land in addition to the current two-tax law, I am afraid it will be very difficult.
Even if you pay an extra dollar per acre, there will still be many people who are unwilling to give in.
One more money today, one more money tomorrow, and one more money the day after tomorrow. Is that still okay?
A bushel of grain is only worth three to five cents, and two or three liters of grain is only worth one cent.
Seeing that Cheng Qian seemed very excited and even eager to try, Wu Huaiyu quickly stopped him.
"Your Highness, please read and listen more to this matter, and don't say too much."
Cheng Qian was stunned.
"The alternation of new, old and new changes has caused many disputes. Your Highness should not give up easily,"
"Can't I tell my father in private?"
"I still say the same thing, read more, listen more, learn more, don't talk too much."
Don't look at the discount for freeing from labor, which is only about 1 yuan per acre, but its actual implementation is a national matter that affects three million households in the world, hundreds of millions of acres of fields, and millions of bolts of silk.
Even the newly promulgated regulations on guest women and peasant households being transformed from lowly status into good deeds are also extremely involved.
A gentleman does not stand on dangerous ground,
Especially the prince who is only eleven years old cannot be easily involved in danger.
"Alang, the saint has arrived at the south bank of Longqiao," Shi Shouxin came over to report.
Huaiyu stood up and said, "Your Highness, please greet Your Majesty."
It was a crisp autumn day, and the emperor led his civil, military and imperial guards to the Sanyuan Wanshou Plain to shoot hunting.
