There are too many things in this world that cannot be scrutinized. Even the imperial court is unable to supervise every corner. Moreover, ordinary people do not dare to report to the official. Unlike the convenience of justice in later generations, people in this era do not dare to approach the county at all. Yamen, unless you are determined to die.
The so-called yamen door opens to the south. If you have reason or no money, don't come in. No matter what the injustice is, kill the powerful first, and the killing stick will be like a mountain of corpses...
Conflicts and disputes between ordinary people are usually resolved by the clan leader or the village elders to mediate and pronounce judgments. For more serious cases, the magistrates and officials are responsible for investigating the cases. The county magistrate will let the matter pass after he sees it and thinks it is okay. Only serious cases involving court etiquette that could not be covered up were brought to trial by the county magistrate in person.
Both Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao are determined to change this situation, but it is not easy to change the inherent institutional concepts. The court laws are easy to handle, but it is difficult to say whether the decree can be implemented in place.
Not only are the local clan gentry obstructing and resisting, the people are also the same. In their eyes, the imperial court is superior. As long as someone misinterprets it a little, the people will resist together. Based on the knowledge of the people, they can't help but believe in the highly respected people in front of them. Just be like the old squire and trust outsiders.
Moreover, the starting point of some government decrees is good, but in fact they are not in line with the people's ideas. For example, since the first year of Wu Dynasty, the court has been issuing orders to encourage childbirth. Basically, all methods have been used. There is no way that the country is broken and everything is in ruins. There is no shortage of people in all walks of life. The Ming Dynasty is so huge that nothing can be done with a small population.
The results have been remarkable in the past five years, but the problem that has arisen is that the killing of female infants has become a common practice among the people. It can even be described as widespread. The more difficult the conditions are, the more families are eager for men who can contribute to the labor force, rather than getting married sooner or later. Daughter out.
A county magistrate of De'an Prefecture once reported: There was a family where more than ten girls were drowned in a row, and every village was flooded with dozens of girls in one year. Newborn baby girls were often immersed in cold water to death, and their parents could not bear it and often closed their doors. Behind my eyes, I pressed my hands into the basin, and there was a babble for a long time. I saw it in my hometown, and it was so miserable...
There were countless such reports, and Zhu Biao couldn't bear it and had nothing to do. Most of the people who did this were poor families in barren villages, but it was not that wealthy families doted on their daughters. It was not that they were unable to raise several baby girls, but that they were unwilling to do so. .
Zhu Biao has seen many records in the local chronicles of the Song Dynasty. Not only the poor, but also those who are not poor are also flooded. Even if the family is slightly rich, there is a risk of being remarried in the future. The trend of drowning girls is probably due to stinginess with money. force.
In such a situation, the court is powerless and cannot stop it despite repeated orders. Babies are so delicate that it is often a question of whether they can be raised with careful care. What's more, if you are dissatisfied and someone doesn't want to raise him, how can you resist drowning the baby and still press him to breastfeed?
Last year, Ningbo officials reported that a family accumulated salary in an open space, placed a baby girl on top of it, and set it on fire. It started croaking, then squirmed, and over time the skin and bones were charred, and it no longer looked like a human. Instead, it was thrown into the river with a stone, and hundreds of people watching sighed.
The reason turned out to be that two baby girls had drowned in this family, and the wife gave birth to a baby girl again. Her husband thought it was a ghost baby and was obsessed with it, so he burned it with fire so that he would not dare to reincarnate again...
The human heart is like a ghost with a smiling face, what can I do?
This is just one kind. The imperial court also prohibited people from offering sacrifices to snakes, fairies, ghosts and evil spirits, and even strictly prohibited human sacrifices to gods. However, so far, countless innocent people have been killed by ignorance in remote areas.
In an era without surveillance and absolute grassroots control, anything can happen, and the court can't get involved. It can only turn a blind eye. Even if it doesn't care about the law and blames everyone, how can ignorance be cured?
We are not afraid of people being stupid, but we are afraid that they are stupid and stubborn. They will not understand the truth and only recognize the truth they insist on. This is the most troublesome. That is why Zhu Biao let Mu Ying Lanyu take the opportunity to suppress the bandits last year. Clean up the sacrifices of cows, ghosts and evil spirits, and those who act as evil deities and act as ghosts will be punished as bandits and bandits.
This also brought a lot of trouble to Zhu Biao. After all, such actions are bound to irritate those stupid men and women. The county magistrates of the local prefectures where Mu Ying Lanyu went to all the time impeached them for committing crimes that disregarded human life. The imperial court Naturally, Shi Tai would not let it go.
Fortunately, Lan Yu has a good reputation. Although there have been calls for Lan Yu to be killed every day for three or four months, Zhu Biao has suppressed it through the Governor's Office and the Ministry of War. However, Lan Yu, the scapegoat, has been suppressed in the past two years. Don't even think about returning to Beijing. By now, you should have taken hundreds of elites to sea to Japan.
Although Mu Ying was doing better, his reputation was also bad. Zhu Biao simply sent him to Tanghe. There were still many opportunities for Guizhou to make contributions to Yunnan's Weiping Southwest. Mu Ying's qualifications were still not good enough. Zhu Biao had to work for him. Make some preparations for the future.
Zhu Biao looked at the getting darker and darker outside and felt a little depressed. It could be said that he had reached the point where he had regained the power of the world and was drunk and lying on the knees of beautiful women. However, there were still many things in the world that even he could not do anything about. Nine times out of ten, things were not as expected. .
However, this is also a characteristic of the times, and other countries are not much better. Various social problems are far worse than those in China. The Black Death in Europe has only passed ten or twenty years ago. After the great plague, there will inevitably be a great famine, and it will not I don’t know what the specific situation is, but I can also make some rough guesses.
This is also the reason why Zhu Biao wants Wu Liang to go to sea as soon as possible. The critical period for the West to break free from the Dark Middle Ages has arrived. It is necessary for Ming Dynasty to participate and truly start to influence the process of the world.
Zhu Biao walked out of the Wenhua Palace and returned to the Chengqian Palace surrounded by palace ladies and eunuchs. Chang Luohua came out to greet him with his child in his arms. Zhu Biao reached out to help his wife and glanced at her arms. Although the two children looked alike, It's almost the same, but after all, it's the biological father, and you can still tell that this is the younger one.
Zhu Biao casually took the swaddling clothes and said, "Is Yang'er asleep?"
Chang Luohua breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed his arms and said, "Yang'er slept soundly, but Liang'er was naughty and cried for a hug."
Zhu Biao smiled and said: "Only children who can cry will get milk."
Chang Luohua stretched out his hand and touched a white and tender little foot that leaked out of the swaddling clothes and said: "Who dares to starve him without crying? I will definitely be naughty from now on."
Zhu Biao's eyes lit up and he began to tell his princess about the education plan he had prepared. Chang Luohua was quite serious at first, but then his face turned pale when he heard that no matter what was wrong, he would be beaten once every three days and once every five days. Something changed, and he quickly said: "Your Highness, don't worry, I will discipline my concubine well, and Yang'er Liang'er will be well-behaved."
Zhu Biao frowned and glared at her with dissatisfaction: "The kindness of a woman... Do you know what it means to be born in a palace and grow up in the hands of a woman... I will be in the future..."
After explaining a lot of truth, Zhu Biao walked toward the inner hall with his child in high spirits, leaving Chang Luohua with a confused look on his face. How could I become the loving mother who often loses her children?
Zhu Biao, who was walking in front, had a smile in his eyes. He lowered his head and kissed his son's milky little face, making his toothless mouth drool. He waved his little fat hands as white and tender as lotus roots, making inexplicable noises from time to time. baby talk.
Zhu Biao couldn't understand it either, which showed that baby talk was not a universal language. Otherwise, he had been speaking baby talk for several months back then, so he shouldn't have been unable to understand it.
There was a sleeping baby lying on the bed in the inner hall, and three broad-minded women were looking after him. Seeing the prince coming in, he hurriedly knelt down and saluted. Zhu Biao held the baby on the bed, reached out and touched his eldest son's faint smile. He raised his eyebrows, then looked at the nannies on the ground and said, "Excuse me. You have worked hard during this time."
"The slaves do not dare to take credit. The two emperors and grandsons are very noble. The slaves are grateful to God for having the honor to serve them. What's more, the crown prince is always rewarded."
Zhu Biao said softly: "Every merit must be rewarded and a fault must be punished. This is the rule of the East Palace. Although the Crown Princess has already been rewarded, I will not be stingy. This year, when the rain silk brocade tribute from Shu comes, each will be rewarded with two pieces, and we will continue from now on." If you serve me with all your heart, you will be rewarded.”
The best rain silk brocade is worth as much as gold, let alone a tribute to the royal family. It has always been priceless, and only the duke's legitimate wife and mother can have such a thing. This is a real reward. Three women plus The woman who followed Chang Luohua in quickly kowtowed and thanked her gratefully, and couldn't stop mumbling words of loyalty.
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