Ming Zuo

Chapter 474: Abolition of Slavery

Kowtow to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the son-in-law visits the door on the second day of the Lunar New Year, and visits relatives and friends on the third day of the Lunar New Year.

The customs passed down from ancient times are useless to Zuo Menggeng.

He started going out to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Because he will leave Linqing again on the second day of the Lunar New Year, to tour various places and return to the battlefield.

The first one to visit was Hou Xun's house.

"Yo, the rebellious baby is here."

The only person in the Hou family who dared to joke with Zuo Menggeng like this was Hou Xun's father Hou Zhipu.

Lao Hou was also a prominent figure in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty at the beginning. After he offended the eunuch party and was dismissed from office, he simply stayed behind closed doors.

After Chongzhen came to the throne, he recruited the sages to return to the court, but he didn't bother to move, but let the Hou Xun brothers go back.

He hid alone in his small courtyard, taught his juniors, molested the maids, and lived a very comfortable life.

Hou Xun sent people back to move his whole family to Shandong.

Hou Zhipu was unwilling.

People never leave their hometowns, let alone be so comfortable.

Who knew that when he encountered a stubble, he stuffed the old man into the carriage and pulled him all the way.

For this reason, the old man and Hou Xun were angry for more than three months, and they didn't talk to Hou Xun at all.

Later, it was Hou Fangyu, relying on his intergenerational relatives, who ran to the old man and told the big things that Hou Xun and others were plotting, and the old man understood his son's painstaking efforts.

This is to rebel.

If the imperial court found out, how would they know how to deal with the Hou family?

If he continued to stay in Henan, not to mention being arrested and beheaded, the court would use him to threaten Hou Xun.

The anger subsided a little, but for Zuo Menggeng who led his son to the "evil path", the old man blew his beard and stared.

There is only one old child, Zuo Menggeng can only coax him.

"We are going to rebel, do you always follow?"

Hou Zhipu is a funny person, with a bright humor, different from his sons.

"How can you not follow? Your commander-in-chief on the left will charge forward, and I will wave the flag to follow the old man. Will it work?"

Zuo Menggeng laughed loudly, sat down beside Hou Zhipu, basked in the sun with him, and peeled orange peels for him.

"With your old words, it will be done, but I dare not let you wave the flag. If I lose my waist and legs, Duke Ruogu will not spare me."

Hou Zhipu eats his oranges, should he blow his beard or blow his beard.

"Stinky boy, don't you despise this old man? Let me tell you, although this old man is sixty-five, he is still light and healthy, his fists and feet are windy, and Ye Yusan..."

This is old and not repaired.

"You have such a good body, how about going out to help the younger generation?"

Hou Zhipu blew his beard again.

"Is there anyone like you who invites someone like that? No matter what, you have to visit the door three times."

Do you think you are Zhuge Liang?
"You don't have much time, junior. After coming here today, next time, maybe it will be summer."

Hou Zhipu was upset that he didn't get the respect he wanted.It's better to be doing something than to be idle.

"What do you need the old man to do?"

Zuo Menggeng was overjoyed.

"You are full of knowledge, if you teach juniors casually, isn't it full of peaches and plums?"

Hou Zhipu's knowledge is quite profound, and he has covered a wide range of subjects. In addition, he has been an official for many years and has more practical experience.Even Hou Xun and Hou Fangyu came from his teachings.

Zuo Menggeng thought, invite Hou Zhipu to come out of the mountain, join the education committee, and cultivate more talents.

Nowadays, the stalls are getting bigger and bigger, and the places that need people, especially talents, are getting bigger and bigger, and it has reached the point of being stretched.

Every time a student from Zuozhuang High School graduates, various places will try to rob people, and each one has more reasons than the other, so Zuo Menggeng can't make a decision.

The only way is to increase investment in education, hoping to bring up more talents.

But the birth of talents requires not only good seedlings, but also good Bole.

Not to mention Hou Zhipubie, Confucianism, governance, people's livelihood and other fields are absolutely remarkable.

Hou Zhipu had five sons. Except for the eldest son Hou Xun and the second son Hou Ke who are well-known in the world, the next three sons Hou Bian, Hou Shu and Hou Li are all unknown.

Hou Xun has five sons, the most famous of which is of course the third son Hou Fangyu.

In addition, there is also the second son Hou Fangxia who passed the first imperial examination in the Qing Dynasty, that is, the time when Fu Yijian won the number one scholar.

But Hou Fangxia was ranked one hundred and seventy-nine, and his official career was average.

Two consecutive generations of father and son have five sons, but there are very few successful ones, which is enough to prove that five sons can't do it.

Whoops, just kidding.

Now these people are also in Shandong, although they have not done much, but they are everywhere, working as grassroots officials, and the effect is still very good.

Besides, even relying on the ability to teach Hou Xun, Hou Ke, and Hou Fangyu is enough to prove that Hou Zhipu is powerful.

At the level of Zuo Menggeng and Hou Xun, it is not an exaggeration to say that they manage every day.

Even if they come to pay New Year's greetings, they still talk about official business.

"A few days ago, the administrative committee had a discussion, and everyone's opinion is that slavery must be abolished as soon as possible, so that everyone is truly equal."

When Zuo Menggeng looked over, Hou Xun informed the reason.

"Currently, there is a serious shortage of people in various places. Although everyone is trying their best to recruit people from other places and provinces, there are really not many people in the surrounding areas that can absorb them."

The changes in Shandong, when there is no obvious gap in politics and military affairs, the economic field has already begun to explode.

Now in the remote areas of Shandong, North Zhili, Shanxi, Henan, South Zhili and other places close to Shandong, the reputation of Shandong's prosperity is spreading.

Just this winter, hundreds of thousands of refugees came to Shandong from other places to beg for food.

When the camp officials saw these refugees, their eyes turned green.In order to allocate these manpower, several local officials even fought violently.

Now that people are here, Shandong has no intention of spit out.

But even these hundreds of thousands of people can't fill the manpower gap.

In fact, it is not that there is no rich population and labor force in Shandong, but they are all in the hands of powerful landlords.

That is the so-called house slave.

The Ministry of Intelligence has detected that there are tens of thousands of people hiding in the Kong family alone.

The rest of Hengfan, King Lu, and powerful families, all together, can at least extract four to five million rich laborers.

For the sake of profit, without Zuo Menggeng's painstaking efforts, the decision makers of the camp are already ready to attack the servants and hidden households.

"This decision is very good. Since we advocate equality for all, we can't just talk and do nothing. After a long time, those who yearn for liberation will lose confidence in us."

It's too late for Zuo Menggeng to be happy with this opinion.

Hou Xun knew that he would agree, but he was still a little worried about the future.

"Our steps are getting bigger and bigger. Whether the situation will be stable in the future depends entirely on the army."

That meant asking Zuo Menggeng whether the new army could take on the heavy responsibility of defending the fruits of victory.

The system of separating the military from the government is implemented here. Although the top executives of the administrative committee are qualified to intervene in the military, they are not very clear about many internal situations.

Of course Zuo Menggeng wanted to dispel this worry.

"The Dongjiang rebel army is nothing to worry about. Everything is going according to plan. Let me tell you the truth. By March, the fourth division will be formed and can be put into actual combat. At the latest this summer, we will have six divisions and There are about [-] militiamen, and the total strength will reach [-]. I don't believe that there are soldiers and horses that can shake us in this world."

Hou Xun let out a long breath and smiled.

"After years of holding back this breath, I can finally release it to my heart's content."

On the second day of the new year, when Zuo Menggeng set out to inspect various places, sensational notices were hung on the streets, alleys, fields and villages in Linqing and all areas controlled by the new army.

"Abolition of Slavery"

(End of this chapter)