This is not the first time that Chen Qinghan has been so embarrassed in front of Wu Mei, and as she spends more and more time with Wu Mei, and Wu Mei's temperament has become more and more easy-going over the years, Chen Qinghan is no longer as embarrassed as when she first entered the palace. In that way, she couldn't let go of her hands and feet in front of Wu Mei.
So he stood up hurriedly, took the feather duster handed over by Wu Mei, nodded heavily, and said resolutely: "Don't worry, queen, I will fulfill my mission."
Chen Qinghan, who seemed to have sacrificed his life generously, held the "Shangfang Sword" in his hand and walked quickly to the outer hall with a proud smile. Then when he saw Li Hong, he threw the feather duster in his hand to Li Lingyue: "Her Royal Highness, here you go" Let’s see if he dares to fight back.”
Wu Mei couldn't help but smile knowingly when she heard Li Lingyue's screams outside and Li Hong's furious voice.
A short while later, Li Lingyue was seen walking in with her hair in a messy bun, holding a feather duster, and Li Hong with a lewd smile on his face, but Chen Qinghan and Li Mei were missing behind them.
"Where are Qinghan and Li Mei?" Wu Mei swayed from side to side, looked behind them, and asked involuntarily when she didn't see the little girl.
Li Mei is a bit gentle like her mother-in-law. She has been quirky since she was a child, just like Li Lingyue was when she was a child. What makes Wu Mei like Li Mei the most is that this little guy doesn't cause trouble at all on weekdays, and he doesn't cry unreasonably. Nao, he is a very sensible and lovely person.
Even several times, Wu Mei saw Xiao Li Mei in the back garden, leading the tiger that her mother-in-law brought back to the palace with tenderness, playing alone in the garden, or with the palace maid, holding a knitting in her hand. The little flowers are worn on one’s own head or on the head of a tiger or a tiger girl.
Of course, from Wu Mei's point of view, holding a tiger by the hand to scare palace maids or eunuchs, especially eunuchs or palace maids who are not on duty in the harem, is just a child's mentality, greedy for fun, and is not a quality problem. .
But what Wu Mei has never figured out is that Wen Wen, with his aggressive and restless temperament, is a master who only cares about giving birth but not raising children. How could the child he gave birth to to Li Hong be so lovely
But what worries Wu Mei the most is that Li Mei is the youngest among Li Hong's princes and princesses. Will one day she accidentally turns into the second Li Lingyue? After all, her mother-in-law and her aunt are both so inconsistent.
Li Mei was obviously sent back by Chen Qinghan, but standing at the door of Penglai Palace, little Li Mei didn't recognize her. After all, she was the youngest in the palace. She was only four years old and was not as tall as the tiger next to her. Niu was tall, so she stretched out her two small arms and asked Chen Qinghan to carry her on Huniu's back. Then, accompanied by two palace maids, she wandered around somewhere else.
As she grows older, Wu Mei's temper is much more easy-going now. Even Li Hong, who is smiling playfully, is less likely to lose his temper now. The feather duster in his hand is just symbolic now. Maybe it's because I've gotten used to holding it in my hands over the years, and I couldn't bear to put it down for a while.
"Listen to Li Lingyue, do you want to reform the slave class? How to change it? How to change it? How will they live in the future?" Wu Mei's left and right arms were supported by her children, and then she walked to the dining room.
Li Hong let go of Wu Mei's arm and looked at Wu Mei who was being supported by Li Lingyue alone. After thinking for a while, he said: "First official, then private. As long as the court or the royal family takes a stand, then the rest will be easy to handle." "
"Putting yourself first before becoming a private person? Has everything changed in this royal palace? Are all the officials and family members who have committed crimes also removed from their status as slaves? Or are you and Bai Chun trying to create something for you? Bai Chun's identity has to be dealt with in a roundabout way?" Wu Mei sat down in the middle seat, and Chen Qinghan also walked over quickly, and Xiao Li Mei waved to her, saying there was no need to send it off.
Slaves were the lowest and most enslaved class of people in the Tang Dynasty. They had no personal freedom or any rights. In this era, they were generally regarded as personal assets, and their status as slaves would be inherited hereditary, and they were closely related to the people of the Tang Dynasty. In comparison, there are no rights or benefits at all.
But it cannot be overgeneralized. Like official slaves, like some slaves in the palace or other government offices, although they also have no personal freedom and rights, relatively speaking, they still have some so-called personality independence. Including food, clothing, medication, etc., all can be guaranteed to a certain extent.
Official slaves were also divided into several types, and they were served differently according to different conditions, such as: city slaves, household slaves, palace maids, dwarf slaves, servants, etc. There were different divisions of labor.
As for private slaves, they have become diverse, such as: servant, boy, boy servant, servant, house slave, house boy, boy slave, boy slave, servant, waiter, maid, etc.
However, what remains true is that the identity and status of those who can own private slaves are naturally much more noble than ordinary people and good people.
The rich and powerful families, the bureaucracy, the wealthy businessmen, and most importantly the monasteries and Taoist temples were the places where the largest number of private slaves were found.
As for Turkic slaves, Tubo slaves, Uighur slaves, Silla slaves, Kunlun slaves and other foreign countries, private slaves or official slaves sold by merchants were often not a few in the Tang Dynasty, especially in Chang'an, where there were noble and wealthy families. The family of a certain status is proud of their Silla maids. Naturally, the price in the market is much higher, and it is not something that ordinary people can own.
The emergence of slaves, in general, is a new generation of contemporary people in addition to the legacy of previous generations, but no matter which type they are, there are huge dirty interests in them.
Officials can abuse their power to force good people to sell themselves into slavery, and powerful men can also use various means to force good people to sell themselves into slavery.
Official slaves and private slaves can also be converted. As long as officials and powerful men reach a certain transaction value, it often happens that official slaves are sold to powerful men and nobles and then become private slaves in the blink of an eye.
For example, no one knows where Pei Qing bought Hongxiu and Tianxiang. These two are enough to prop up the facade of Shengyun Tower. With the pressure of the two of them and Wang Shishi, they work hard for the daily operation of Shengyun Tower. Doing various errands.
Furthermore, temples are like this. At their peak, the temples in Chang'an alone had no less than 100,000 private slaves. In addition to being attached to the temples, these private slaves also became local officials and honorary officials. Noble, powerful and other distinguished people come here to choose their private slaves.
The monastery is like a source of private slaves. Due to its special characteristics, it is often easy to convert official slaves into private slaves and sell them to others.
"Whether they are official slaves or private slaves, they have existed for a long time. Which dynasty did not have them? Why do you, Li Hong, have to be so determined to ban them? As an emperor, you can't see the value of slaves, but can't those wealthy nobles not see the value of slaves? ? If you do this, the risk will be much greater than when you faced off against the wealthy families of the Five Dynasties more than three years ago." Wu Mei wiped her fingers on the red wine glass and complained that there were too many political affairs in the court, which made his hair gray. That’s a lot.
But he is obviously looking for something to do. If he exists well, he must be restructured. Does he feel uncomfortable when he is busy or when he is idle
"In the previous dynasty, the latter was the Han Dynasty or the Jin Dynasty, etc. The role of slaves was to increase productivity and to be attached to powerful families. Because of the scarcity of land, they had to do this. But now our Tang Dynasty is in peace and prosperity. If we still Let slaves have no human rights... Well, this kind of thing is equivalent to livestock, or in their words, it is the existence of talking animals. I think it is disrespectful to the mercy of heaven... "
"Okay, stop it. Have you, Li Hong, ever believed in the way of heaven? Now you still know how to be kind and disrespectful. I think you, Li Hong, just throw it away for no use and want to pick it up again. Not everyone who becomes an emperor is like you. What is not good for you is the devil, and what is good for you is the way of heaven..."
"But what I said is right. The Tang Dynasty is a country of etiquette, and we pay attention to persuading people with virtue..." Li Hong said the words often spoken by sages and great Confucians, and they were not bad at all.
"Stop it now. Just tell me directly what your ultimate goal is, a state of etiquette and persuading people with virtue. When these words come out of your mouth, Li Hong, I will blush for you even if you don't blush." Wu. Mei rolled her eyes at Li Hong speechlessly.
Li Lingyue, who was worried about the world being in chaos, had already put her hands on Wu Mei's shoulders and whispered in her ears. From time to time, mother and daughter would look at the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty together.
"Two maids?" Wu Mei muttered, then looked at Li Lingyue blinking her eyes in confusion, nodded to her with certainty, and then looked at someone involuntarily.
"Well... Li Lingyue is right. This matter has nothing to do with Baichun. Eliminating the slave status is what I have wanted to do for a long time. The total number of official slaves and private slaves in the entire Tang Dynasty has been It has caught up with the population of Zhongzhou. There have been no major wars in Datang in the past few years, and the population has been steadily increasing. With this, there has been a shortage of land resources. Although most of the land is now... "Li Hong took a sip of wine, and then prepared to talk. After all, he had done enough homework today.
In addition to doing enough homework on Bai Chun, he has also basically read all the memorials that have been handed over by the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Husbandry in the past few days, so now he has a rough idea of the number of slaves in the Tang Dynasty. .
And if these people are released and given household registration and land, then the reclamation of wasteland in the Tang Dynasty will naturally be enough to get twice the result with half the effort. The most important thing is that in the process of reclamation of wasteland, local powerful people can also be restrained from annexing and occupying the land, thus Expanding agricultural production in the Tang Dynasty and liberating the hierarchical concept of the population were the best of both worlds.
"Li Hong, I would like to ask you, are you sure you are not going to war because of Bai Chun's identity, and do not hesitate to offend the world and overthrow this slave class?" Wu Mei looked at Chen Qinghan, who had a calm expression, and then looked seriously Li Hong asked.
"After returning to my mother, I have nothing to do with Bai Chun. Even if Bai Chun is no longer a slave in the future, she will still not have a place in the harem." Li Hong looked equally serious. At this time, he had to make everyone believe that, I took the risk of changing the system myself, not because I was pure.
(End of chapter)