sweeping the world

Chapter 990 The method is what people think
Raising slaves can naturally make amazing profits, but the important ministers of the country will do it if the environment allows it, and if it is not allowed, they will not care what benefits the slaves will generate. Their greatest benefit is their title and official position.

The Han Empire allowed private ownership of slaves, but it was not without restrictions. It was an iron law how many slaves could be owned by what kind of title.

The title of title can obtain land, houses, and slaves, and there are very subdivided differences.For example, a public official is [-] acres of land, a house and a slave. The land of a public official can be increased, but the size of the house is fixed, and the upper limit of slaves is only one.

In the Han Empire, the only way to get more slaves and live in larger and more splendid houses was to upgrade the title.In addition, any increase of slaves beyond the quota and houses exceeding the specifications is a violation of Han law.

Unless you are hiding slaves, that is, violating Han law, you can have as many slaves as you want. This illustrates one thing. Under the constraints of the existing system of the Han Empire, in addition to the emperor being able to own an unlimited number of slaves, Everyone has a ceiling on the number of slaves they can have, and the environment for raising slaves is not good.

So Sang Yu said it very truthfully, these marquises are the group that can raise the most slaves besides the emperor, but even the county marquis, the upper limit is only [-] slaves.

The quota of [-] slaves seems to be a lot, but this is an illusion that people who don't know the situation will have.

Just to say a few things, the tyrants in the Eastern Han Dynasty, even those in poor villages, would not keep less than a hundred servants.It is not uncommon for a wealthy and powerful man to keep more than a thousand servants.Considering the top family members at that time, the number of servants they raised did not exceed [-]. Who would have the nerve to say that they were the top family members?

Those who are familiar with the Three Kingdoms should be most envious of Liu Bei, who married a concubine (Mi's family), but the concubine brought a considerable amount of money, and there were two thousand servants at the private army level. Ten years is as simple as that. Only after laying an extremely solid foundation can we have the capital to rise later.

What is important is not money, but the two thousand servants.With two thousand well-trained soldiers, how many people should be behind them to produce and serve them, and how many servants did the Mi clan raise?The Mi family was only one of the four major merchants at that time.

Another of the four great merchants, the Zhen family, the Yuan family of the fourth generation and three princes, did everything possible to marry Zhen Mi (the concubine Zhen Fu of Luoshen).Why would such a cocky Yuan family conspire to set up a family of merchants?The answer is that after the annexation of the Zhen family, the Yuan family's hundreds of thousands of troops had ten years of food and fodder, but the number of recruits suddenly increased by tens of thousands.

Today’s Han Empire was founded for a short period of time. The rich families in the Eastern Han Dynasty were run by several generations. It seems that there is no comparison, but there is an obvious contrast. The answer is that the Eastern Han Dynasty did not limit the number of slaves. The Han Empire has.

It was very difficult for the Han Empire to have slave-raising business as its main business, so the benefits and damages that castrated slaves could bring were not so simple.

"There are more than three million registered private slaves. This is the difficulty." Lu Yi must first suppress Ran Min's anger, otherwise Ran Min will not continue to mess around, and he will not be able to say anything clearly: "If it is only controlled by a few people hands, under the premise of not breaking the contract, coercion and temptation are effective."

"Yes." Ji Chang took the platform for Lu Yi, and said: "There are more than one million nobles in the big man, they are the pillars of the country, can the Marquis of Meiyang agree?"

Ran Min pursed his lips, no matter how frantic he was, he dared not deny this.

Not to mention that all the nobles won the title by beheading an enemy soldier on the battlefield, but more than [-]% of the nobles earned their first-level titles by fighting their lives on the battlefield.They dare to go to the battlefield, no matter why they went to the battlefield, defend the country with practical actions, and shed blood for the nation. Who dares to deny the fact that they are pillars?
It is some nobles who did not fight for the title with their lives. They made contributions in other aspects, such as improving some tools, developing new tools, or making contributions to local governance.Can't these be counted as meritorious service, and are they not the pillars of the country?
"Marquis Meiyang, do you want to turn the pillars of the country into people who are hostile to the country?" Seeing that Ran Min's aura had weakened, Ji Chang's own aura had increased, and continued, "It's just ignoring criticism. Does the Marquis of Meiyang want to see him?" to the point that the law is useless?"

Liu Yan was the founding king of the country. He was in his prime and strong, and his death was still early.

According to Zhu Xia, the laws established by the first monarchs will become the ancestral family law.

Generally, wanting to destroy an ancestral family law is almost equivalent to denying the correctness of the royal family's rule. If a courtier proposes a change, even the most stupid emperor will stop it.

Only such a class of people can try to change the ancestral family law under certain circumstances.The need is when it is really necessary to change, and then the reigning emperor has prestige and supports the reformers.

In Zhuxia's long time, the pre-Qin period in ancient times was a time of great contention. If you want to be strong, you must keep up with the times and even surpass the contemporary countries. The reform is regarded as a good medicine and a good deed.

After the Western Han Dynasty, let alone reforms, whoever wanted to do something less drastic, some conservatives stood up to oppose it, and even went to great lengths to fight against it.

The further the dynasty of Zhuxia went, the more difficult it would be to reform. Even if the emperor supported the reform, there would never be a successful reform.

Liu Yan is the founding king of the country. It is impossible for others to overthrow the laws formulated, but there will be no problems at all if he makes improvements. Honest and loyal ministers will not directly object.

If you want Liu Yan to modify the law, there is only one prerequisite, and that is that the law is really inappropriate. It may cause turmoil to the present, or it may plant hidden dangers for future generations.Even if he really felt the need to change, unless it was Qiankun's arbitrariness, communication would still be indispensable, and at least half of the people would agree.

Law making is no small matter, as long as it is not necessary to change, since a law has been made and promulgated, it is really not necessary to change it.This is a matter of national credibility!
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Ran Min was not impatient, he felt that he was still a reasonable person, but he was a little bit confused: "Speaking of it, should I push it all the time?"

But Liu Yan knew that they had said so much, not for Ran Min, but for himself.

Of course, governing the country should not be treated as a trifling matter. No matter what you want to do, you must think about the pros and cons in advance. If you do something harmful, if it is about maintaining the credibility of the country, you will formulate and promulgate harmful laws. Then you have to grit your teeth and carry it out until the court and the people agree that it is necessary to change, and then follow the call to change.

That is not simply to save face, it is to maintain the country's credibility at an acceptable price, and it is also to ensure that the rule will not be shaken at a deeper level.Compared with the stability of the rule and the reputation of the country, unless it is to subjugate the country, there is really no unbearable price.

It may sound absurd, but as long as the country loses its credibility and its rule is no longer stable, the country will fall into turmoil and even civil war, and it will definitely be clear which cost is more serious.

In later generations, it is said that the people of Zhuxia are easy to rule, how can they bear so much.

Some crooked nuts who can't stand some things at every turn, obviously live a more comfortable life than most people on the earth. They listened to some words from the first power, were blinded by the lighthouse, and overthrew their own dissatisfaction. The ruling class, and their small lives are worse than chickens and dogs in Taiping countries.

It is basically difficult for the people of Zhuxia to say anything more when faced with the question from Wai Guoren. The answer in their minds is: Ma De is mentally retarded, and the unique environment of the Great Heaven Dynasty is something that barbarians can understand!
Thousands of years of history have told the descendants of the Xia Dynasty that whenever there is turmoil, there will be war. It is better to be a peace dog than to be a chaotic person.

Take a look at the end of that "big brother", and then look at those Middle Eastern countries that have listened to some fooling themselves, they are all out of their minds.

It is true to say that Zhuxia people are good at ruling. As long as there are tiles on the top of the head and something to fill the stomach, they will have a submissive psychology towards the ruling class.But if you really can't survive, the countless uprisings recorded in the history books are proof.

In a country with central power, how much responsibility does the ruling class bear?
Liu Yan had told Ran Min before that once castration is forced, it will not only cause damage to interests, but also means abandoning those groups that most support the existing ruling class.

Only the stupid ruling class will do things that make supporters feel cold.

Only a stupider ruling class can do stupid things that shake the foundation of the ruling class.

Liu Yan tapped the tabletop a few times with his fingers and scanned around.

Ji Chang, who was speaking, shut up.

Everyone first looked at Liu Yan, and then at Lu Yi.

"I think forced castration is not advisable." Lu Yi stood up, facing Liu Yan and paused for a second or two before continuing: "I think that those who have nobles are as one with the country (interests), and that a strong man is beneficial to them. , can be guided by public opinion.”

Ran Min subconsciously said "ha", and wanted to speak, but Liu Yan looked over sharply, suppressed his expression sullenly and continued to listen.

"Throughout all the dynasties, there has never been one who has won the country. Your Majesty's prestige is endless in the hearts of the subjects." Lu Yi bowed to Liu Yan, and after facing his colleagues, he turned to Liu Yan again and said: "Since we are one body with the country, , know the powerful relationship and follow it.”

Liu Yan knows the power of public opinion, as long as it is properly guided, no matter whether it is good or bad, once it becomes a trend, it will die if it is blocked.

The Han Empire has used the guidance of public opinion to promote the implementation of national policies more than once. For example, when the country's internal affairs are difficult, it still continues to fight against the outside world, which means that the main theme of public opinion is to exterminate the alien race.In addition, there are Han men who marry or accept women of other races as wives and concubines, which will go so smoothly without some guidance from public opinion.

"Let your Majesty take the lead, and it will inevitably become a trend of upward and downward effects." Lu Yi knew that Liu Yan supported the castration of male slaves, but it happened that the Shaofu was the department with the most slaves in the entire Han Empire, and the Shaofu was privately owned by the emperor: "It's just Even so, I’m afraid there will still be some complaints.”

If you really want to do that, it means that all the blame will be borne by the emperor.In the past, only other people took the blame for the emperor, how could the emperor take the blame for others?

So it was Liu Yan. If it were another emperor, once a courtier dared to make such a suggestion, he would be angry, and he might even deal with the proposer severely.

At present, it is not far from the tragic consequences caused by the wanton use of slaves in the Western Jin Dynasty, and the Han people who have once again become the main ethnic group of the country are also the most centripetal moment. Lu Yi said that it is indeed a feasible way to guide public opinion. Some national policies have been overthrown.

Liu Yan knew that Lu Yi...or some ministers and workers had worked together to think of many ways, and the one mentioned was just one of them.

"On the premise of not changing the law, compensation is a supplementary strategy." Lu Yi is the Minister of Rites, and he is just a person who raises this topic: "The minister is just throwing bricks to attract jade, and other colleagues must have other good strategies."

Liu Yan knew it would be like this. After all, no one dared to take the blame, not to mention the emperor with little prestige, let alone the founder of the country like him.

After Lu Yi sat down, Sang Yu stood up instead.

"Your Majesty, colleagues." Sang Yu saluted Liu Yan first, then saluted everyone present, and said slowly: "There are more than a thousand slaves in the Han Dynasty. Whether it is guidance or coercion, it is definitely not feasible for a while."

When it comes to this issue, everyone has to admit it.

Castration is a profound craft. After the Han Empire wiped out the small courts of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it gained some people who possessed this craft. However, there was no longer a group of eunuchs in the Han Empire, and those who had crafts naturally lost their jobs. No one cares where they go.

It is not difficult to find those people back.After all, the Han Empire had a household registration system and a guide system. If you really want to find someone, you can find it no matter how much you use the power of the state.

Castration with the previously mastered technology is not 100% safe, and it is necessary to consider what compensation should be given to the original owner if the slave dies.

Then, if the slave did not die after castration, it must take a period of time to recuperate. What kind of compensation should be given for the damage to the original owner's interests when the slave is recuperating.

"If you die, you will die. If you give another one, you will get it." Ran Min liked the progress of the discussion topic, and the castration has actually been passed: "Isn't Ah San more than 3000 million people? Catch it! If Ah San is not enough , Aren’t there Persians, Daqin people… some messy alien races? Or catch them!”

No one wanted to pay attention to Ran Min, who was so happy that he was delirious. They were either speechless or looked at or glared at Ran Min angrily, and used their eyes to signal Ran Min to shut up and stop delaying their own business.

(End of this chapter)