First Prince of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 536 Unhappy Things
There are too many things in this world that cannot be scrutinized carefully. Even the imperial court is unable to supervise every corner, and ordinary people do not dare to report to officials. Unlike the convenience of justice in later generations, people in this era dare not approach the county at all. Ya's, unless you have the heart of death.

The so-called gate of the yamen opens to the south, and no one can come in if there is reason or wealth.

Contradictions and disputes between ordinary people are usually mediated by the patriarch within the clan or the old gentry to mediate and pronounce the sentence. More serious cases are investigated by the pawns and government officials. Only serious cases involving court etiquette and etiquette cannot be concealed 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 system concepts. The court laws are easy to handle, but it is difficult to say whether the government orders can be implemented in place at the local level.

Not only the obstruction and resistance of the local clan and squires, but also the common people. In their eyes, the imperial court is superior. As long as someone misinterprets it a little, the common people will resist together. From the common people's knowledge, they can't help but believe that the highly respected Let the old country gentry trust outsiders.

Moreover, some decrees have a good starting point, but they don’t actually meet the people’s ideas. For example, since the first year of Wu, the imperial court has continuously ordered to encourage births. Basically, all methods have been used. There is no shortage of people in all walks of life. Daming is such a huge body that it can't do anything with a small population.

It has achieved remarkable results in the past five years, but the problem that followed is that the practice of female infanticide among the people can even be described as a flood. The more difficult the conditions, the more people in the family are eager for males who can contribute labor, rather than marrying sooner or later. out daughter.

A county magistrate of De'an Prefecture once reported that there was a family that flooded more than ten women, and in each village, dozens of women were flooded at the age of one. Behind the eyes, in the water basin pressed by hands, babbling for a long time is witnessed by the dead in the village, it is too miserable to bear...

There are countless reports like this, and Zhu Biao couldn't bear it and had nothing to do. Most of the people who did this were poor families in barren towns, but it was not because there were no wealthy families who drowned their daughters. .

Zhu Biao has seen many records from the local chronicles of the Song Dynasty. Not only the poor are drowned, but even the poor are also drowned. Even if the family is a little rich, it is also likely to be troublesome in the future. force.

In such a situation, the imperial court is helpless, even repeated orders and repeated orders can't stop it. Babies are so delicate, and whether they can be taken care of carefully is a problem. What's more, if you are dissatisfied and people don't want to raise them, you can bear the drowning baby and still be breastfed by others?

Last year, Ningbo officials reported that a family had accumulated wages in an open space, placed a baby girl on top of it, and set fire to it.At the beginning, they croaked, and then wriggled and wriggled. After a long time, the skin and bones were scorched, and they lost their human form. Instead, they threw stones into the river. Hundreds of people watched, and they sighed.

The reason turned out to be that the family had drowned two baby girls one after another, and his wife gave birth again. The husband thought it was a ghost baby and kept pestering her, so she set fire to it so that they were afraid to reincarnate...

People's hearts and ghosts are like smiling faces, what can I do?

This is just one kind of thing. The imperial court also forbids the common people to offer sacrifices to snake gods, ghosts, and evil gods, and it is even more strictly forbidden to hold human sacrifices to sacrifice the living to gods.

In an era where there is no monitoring and no absolute grassroots control, anything can happen, and the court can't get in. It can only turn a blind eye and close one eye. Even if you don't care about the law and don't blame the public, how can ignorance be eradicated?

I'm not afraid of people being stupid, but I'm afraid they are stupid and stubborn. They can't understand the reasoning, and they only recognize the truth they insist on. This is the most troublesome thing. That's why Zhu Biao let Muying Lanyu take the opportunity to suppress the bandits last year. Sweeping away the sacrifices of bulls, ghosts and evil gods, those who pretend to be gods and ghosts for tigers will be killed by bandits.

This also brought Zhu Biao a lot of trouble. After all, such a move must be to stimulate those foolish men and women. The county magistrates of the local state capitals where Mu Ying Lanyu went did not fail to impeach them. Naturally, Shi Tai would not let it go.

Fortunately, Sapphire has a good reputation. Although the voice of courting Sapphire every day lasted for three or four months, Zhu Biao was suppressed through the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and the Ministry of War, but Sapphire, the blamed man, has been in trouble for the past two years. Don't even think about going back to Beijing. By this time, you should have taken hundreds of elites to Japan.

Although Mu Ying is better, but his reputation is bad, Zhu Biao simply sent him to Tanghe. There are still many opportunities for making contributions in the southwest of Guizhou, which is attached to Yunnan Weiping. Prepare for the future.

Zhu Biao looked at the sky getting darker and darker, and felt a little depressed. He can be said to have reached the point where he is awake and in charge of the world, but there are still many things that he can't do anything about in this world. .

But this is also a characteristic of the times, and other countries are not much better. The various social problems are far worse than those in China. The Black Death in Europe has just passed a dozen or 20 years ago. After the Great Plague, there must be a Great Famine. I don’t know. What happened to the specific situation, but it can be roughly guessed.

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 to participate and really start to affect the process of the world.

Zhu Biao walked out of Wenhua Palace and returned to Chengqian Palace surrounded by a group of court ladies and eunuchs. Chang Luohua came out with the child in his arms. Zhu Biao reached out to help his wife and looked into her arms. Almost, but in the end it is the real father, you can still tell that this is the younger one.

Zhu Biao took the swaddle and said, "Yang'er fell asleep?"

Chang Luohua heaved a sigh of relief, rubbed his arms and said, "Yang'er slept soundly, but Liang'er is naughty, crying and wanting to be hugged."

Zhu Biao said with a smile: "The child who can cry has milk."

Chang Luohua reached out and touched a tender little foot that had leaked out of the swaddle and said, "Who dares to starve him, and still need to cry? The concubine must be a naughty one in the future."

Zhu Biao's eyes lit up and he began to tell his concubine the education plan he had prepared. Chang Luohua was quite serious at first, but when he heard that no matter what was wrong, his face turned pale Something has changed, and he quickly said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, the concubine must be disciplined, and Yang Er Liang Er will be obedient."

Zhu Biao frowned and glared at her in dissatisfaction: "The benevolence of a woman... Do you know what it means to be born in the deep palace and grow in the hands of a woman... The future of this palace..."

After explaining a lot of truths, Zhu Biao carried the child to the inner hall vigorously, leaving behind Chang Luohua with a dazed face. How did I become that loving mother who lost her children?

A smile flashed in the eyes of Zhu Biao, who was walking in front, he lowered his head and kissed his son's milky little face, which made his small toothless mouth drool, and his fat, white and tender hands like lotus roots waved wildly, making inexplicable noises from time to time. baby talk.

Zhu Biao couldn't understand it either, which shows that baby language is not a common language, otherwise he had spoken baby language for several months back then, so he shouldn't be unable to understand it.

There was a sleeping baby lying on the bed in the inner hall, and three broad-minded women watched over him. Seeing the prince coming in, he hurriedly knelt down and saluted. eyebrows, and then looked at the nannies on the ground and said: "Excuse me, everyone has worked hard during this time."

"The servants dare not take the credit. The two emperors and grandchildren, Tianhuang nobles, the servants are fortunate enough to serve them because they are grateful for the mighty grace of heaven, not to mention the crown princess is often rewarded."

Zhu Biao said softly: "For meritorious deeds, deeds must be punished. This is the rule of the East Palace. Although the crown princess has already rewarded it, the palace will not be stingy. This year, the rain silk brocades that were tributed in Shu will each be rewarded with two. Serving with all your heart will not escape your reward."

The top-quality rain silk brocade is as valuable as gold, let alone a tribute to the royal family. The woman who came in with Chang Luohua hastily kowtowed and thanked her excitedly, and couldn't stop chanting words of loyalty.

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(End of this chapter)