When the meeting finally ended, it was already early morning.
The representatives attending the meeting were all very tired, but the old emperor's state was just the opposite. He seemed to be more energetic than when he came.
The old emperor said goodbye to everyone with a smile and left the Wenhua Hall on foot.
The princes and ministers left the palace one after another after saying goodbye to each other with some doubts.
After Zhu Jianyan and Zhu Jingyuan got into their car again, they instinctively looked at each other.
Zhu Jingyuan asked in a strange tone:
"Now I'm ready to become a minister. Father, what do you think now?"
Zhu Jianyan sat upright:
"The lonely king doesn't think about anything right now, so don't think too much. Have a good rest after you go back. We'll talk about the rest tomorrow.
"Don't feel pressured. The formal peace talks won't start right away. Just to determine the time and location of the negotiations will take at least ten days and a half.
"It may take longer for each country to confirm its representative candidates and all representatives to arrive at the negotiation location, so I have time to guide you on basic negotiation skills.
"Although our Ming Dynasty negotiations have always relied on power to bully others, we still need to understand the basic rules."
Zhu Jingyuan also regained his seriousness:
"Thank you father for your support."
Zhu Jianyan smiled now and patted Zhu Jingyuan on the shoulder:
"Work hard, our family will depend on you from now on."
Zhu Jingyuan nodded silently and didn't say anything more, because he was feeling sleepy and couldn't bear it anymore.
As the grandson of the emperor, Zhu Jingyuan began his enlightenment at the age of four. Under the supervision of special servants, he lived in strict accordance with the schedule of royal children.
There are clear rules for when to get up, when to eat, when to study and what to study.
The time to go to bed at night is ten o'clock, and Zhu Jingyuan has never stayed up past ten o'clock.
Today, Zhu Jingyuan was very tired while holding political discussions with the princes and ministers in the Wenhua Palace until midnight.
During the discussion in the palace, I was in a state of high spirits, so I didn't feel anything.
After coming out, I got into the car with my father. I relaxed quickly and immediately felt my eyelids trembling.
Zhu Jianyan stopped talking and urged the driver to drive faster.
After entering the palace, the car drove directly into the courtyard where Zhu Jingyuan lived.
Zhu Jingyuan was in such a hurry when he left that his mother, Mrs. Liang, and the maids beside him did not have time to ask what was going on.
When the two of them didn't come back at night, Mrs. Liang and the maid beside her were a little worried. (Prince's concubines who have children are usually given the title of madam).
Mrs. Liang couldn't sleep either, so she asked her maid to guard the door. When she saw Zhu Jianyan's car finally coming back, she immediately went out to pick him up at the door.
When Zhu Jianyan's car stopped, Mrs. Liang went over to help her son down, and asked Zhu Jianyan worriedly:
"Your Majesty, did Jingyuan go to the palace with you? He didn't come back until this time. Has this child gotten into any big trouble?"
Before Zhu Jianyan opened his mouth, Zhu Jingyuan himself smiled and said:
"Mom, when you ask this question, you just think that I will cause trouble, right? I have made a meritorious service today..."
"What achievements can you make?"
Mrs. Liang looked a little confused and looked at Zhu Jianyan with a questioning look. Zhu Jianyan couldn't help but laugh:
"Yes, Jingyuan has made great achievements today, but the matter must be kept secret for the time being. You will know after the reward is awarded in a few days."
Seeing that Mrs. Liang still seemed to have doubts, Zhu Jianyan smiled and waved her hand and said:
"Don't ask any questions now. Let's go back to the house first and let Jingyuan go and rest too. He has never been through this."
Mrs. Liang nodded in agreement, helped Zhu Jingyuan into the room, and handed him over to the maid in Zhu Jingyuan's room to take care of him. Finally, she took Zhu Jianyan to her room.
The two maids in Zhu Jianyan's room, Chunxiang and Qiuyue, helped Zhu Jingyuan sit down on the bed. They helped him undress and asked:
"Your Highness, do you want a midnight snack? Do you want to take a shower?"
Zhu Jingyuan was really sleepy, so he waved his hand and said:
"No need for late night snacks. I can't hold it anymore. Go to bed first, take a shower and wait until you come back from morning exercise tomorrow..."
After Zhu Jingyuan finished undressing, he got into bed directly.
Watching the two maids carefully turn off the lights and leave, Zhu Jingyuan suddenly thought of something.
As a result, with a wave of sleepiness coming over him, Zhu Jingyuan decisively decided to think about it tomorrow, then closed his eyes and fell asleep directly.
At six o'clock the next morning, Zhu Jingyuan, whose biological clock was extremely accurate, woke up on time.
After the Renwu restructuring, the imperial court officially re-divided the twelve hours of the day and formally established the status of twenty-four "little hours".
Later, in daily use, the last "chen" in small hours was gradually omitted, and eventually became the current daily "hour".
In order to make it easier to refer to children, they no longer use the earthly branches to call them, but directly use numbers to say "what time".
According to the living standards of the prince and grandson, even if he stayed up late last night, he still could not delay his morning exercises and could only catch up on his sleep in the afternoon.
So Zhu Jingyuan immediately stretched himself up, washed and changed clothes under the service of two personal maids.
Seeing the two maids again, Zhu Jingyuan also thought about what happened last night again and the questions that appeared in his mind at that time.
After the resurgence of Renwu, the Ming Dynasty clearly prohibited the Ming Dynasty from being slaves. Anyone who violated the regulations would be exiled or beheaded.
The so-called Ming nationalities refer to the human ethnic groups that have lived in the Ming Dynasty since ancient times, such as Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uighur, Yi, Zhuang, Miao and Yao.
According to the new system of Renwu, all members of the Ming Dynasty, except those who were demoted due to crimes, regardless of gender, became citizens of the empire when they reached adulthood, and were collectively referred to as Ming people to the outside world.
Therefore, the servants of wealthy and distinguished families are now either long-term contract workers or slaves imported from abroad.
The average elite family only has a small number of hired workers, and only relatively wealthy families in the middle and upper classes can afford real exclusive slaves.
Zhu Jingyuan is the grandson of the emperor, and his father is a prince. As the top nobleman, his family has both highly educated housekeepers and real servants imported from abroad.
The hired workers themselves are still "people", and they are people with the right of residence or above among the eight levels of people stipulated by the empire.
Generally speaking, citizens are our own people, nationals are our own people with low status or restricted status, those with the right of residence are outsiders who are treated as human beings, and servants are not considered human beings.
If a person with the right of abode is killed, the government will handle it as a homicide case. Even if the head of the family is beaten and scolded for no reason, he can report to the government or resign.
But if a servant is killed, it will only be treated as property damage, and if he is beaten, he will only be compensated for the loss.
Since slaves were property and could be traded relatively freely, they were naturally divided into many levels among the people based on their popularity.
First-class Koreans, Silla maids in the Tang Dynasty, and Korean maids in the Ming Dynasty are very popular slaves since ancient times, and they are almost traditional culture.
Second-class Japan, mainly Japanese women, emerged after the Ming Dynasty conquered Japan and belonged to an emerging culture. Korean maids and Japanese women were important economic sources for the two vassal states.
The third-class Burmese, including Siamese and Annamese, are mostly not as popular as the first two classes, but they are relatively cheap and easy to use, and they are the most common middle-class slaves.
Fourth-class Tatars, Central Asia, India, Persia, Turks, Dashi, etc. are all considered Tatars. There are internal ethnic subdivisions, but the prices are about the same. It depends on personal preference. The female slaves are specially called Hu Ji.
The fifth-class Yin people, Yinzhou people, are called Indians in the West. Their popularity is actually similar to that of Tatar and Burma, but they are produced far away, are sold less, and are slightly more expensive.
Sixth-class Nanyang refers to the brown people on Luzon, Java, Old Port and other Nanyang islands. They are also the Kunlun slaves of the Tang Dynasty. They are the most common low-level slaves.
Seventh-class white slaves, mainly European whites, including pale-skinned Dashi and Tianzhu, were more expensive to capture. Most of the local white slaves were prisoners of war who could not afford the ransom.
Eighth-class black slaves, mainly African blacks, including Australian aboriginals, are relatively large in total and are the lowest-level coolie slaves.
According to the rules set by Emperor Shizu, male white slaves and black slaves must be castrated when entering the native land, and female black slaves must also be castrated. However, the operation is cumbersome, so there are basically no female black slaves.
Sometimes the difference between Tatar and white slaves, and Nanyang and black slaves is not very obvious. It mainly depends on whether the body smells bad.
Tasteless female white slaves are actually more popular, but their natural population is very small and it is difficult to obtain them. The key is that they cannot be sold at the price of Japanese slaves.
Therefore, there are no slave traders looking for tasteless white slaves, so the orchid market has been monopolized by Central Asia and Tianzhu for a long time.
The issue Zhu Jingyuan is considering now is how to deal with these slaves and related industries after North Korea, Japan, Myanmar, Siam and other places withdraw from their vassals.
After Korean maids, wives, and servants became nationals, they could theoretically no longer be slaves, and those who served them would be guilty of a crime.
However, they cannot be released without hesitation. Most slaves do not have the ability to live independently.
Failure to handle it properly may lead to slave transformation...
