Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 1102 Your Highness, do you feel that their methods are familiar?

"Dividing the family property."

"Let adopted sons also inherit a share of the family property."

"My original intention in adopting a son was to raise slaves, but in the end, I ended up having to share the family property with these servants."

Just as the words "dividing the family property" were echoing in Chen Juren's mind, Kong Xilu glanced at the crowd again and bowed to Zhu Biao once more: "In order to prevent some people from using the pretense of adopting a son to keep servants, but then not wanting to share the family property with the son and canceling the adoption contract in their old age, I propose that the adoption contract should not be canceled."

"For example, if a scholar named Chen has fifty adopted sons, he must stipulate the minimum amount of his inheritance to be distributed among these adopted sons in the future."

However, just as there is the sun and moon in the sky, there are yin and yang in all things.

"The imperial court cannot protect the rights and interests of so-called adopted sons while ignoring the interests of kind-hearted people like Chen, the scholar."

"In my opinion, the court should make separate provisions if Chen, a scholar, commits any serious crime that would implicate his family or even his nine generations of relatives."

Kong Xilu gave Chen Juren a forced smile and said, "Chen Juren, don't misunderstand, I'm just giving an example."

Suppressing his anger, Chen Juren replied in a low voice, "This humble subject dares not." Kong Xilu continued, "If Chen Juren commits any serious crime that would implicate his family or even his nine generations of relatives, then his adopted sons will naturally be punished in the same way as his biological sons."

Chen Juren's fifty adopted sons were instantly dumbfounded.

They should be punished the same way as their own children...

His own wife and children had to be buried with him, Chen Juren?

Zhu Biao glanced at Chen Juren, then at Chen Juren's fifty adopted sons, and suddenly chuckled, saying, "How about this, Vice Minister Kong, first write an article about adopting sons, and I'll have it published in the 'Da Ming Gazette.' As for the specific policy, I'll have the Grand Secretariat discuss it with the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Court of Judicial Review, and then set a specific date for implementation."

Kong Xilu glanced at Chen Juren, then bowed to Zhu Biao with a hint of reluctance, saying, "Your Highness, if the article is published first, and then the Grand Secretariat, the Ministry of Rites, and the Three Departments discuss it together, I'm afraid many people will rush to cancel their adoption contracts. In that case..."

Zhu Biao waved his hand with a smile, stood up, and walked out while saying, "Confucius said: Killing without teaching is cruelty; failing to warn and expecting results is tyranny; delaying orders until the deadline is thievery."

“Even if I know that many people are keeping slaves under the guise of adopting sons, I cannot kill them without teaching them, nor can I delay their orders until the deadline.”

"After all, there are still many people who genuinely adopt godsons."

"During the war in Hu Yuan, he truly saved the lives of many people."

"..."

Yang Shaofeng glanced at Kong Xilu and the others, chuckled, and followed Zhu Biao out.

Just a short distance from Chen Ju's house, Zhu Biao leaned over and whispered, "Brother-in-law, isn't that enough?"

Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement and said in a low voice, "Let Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu visit a few more places, and we'll also go see 'The White-Haired Girl' and listen to the grievance meeting to make our presence felt even bigger in Yangzhou Prefecture."

"First, get their attention focused on adopting godsons and keeping servants."

"Then we'll take Maoge'er, Shengge'er and the others and head straight for the coastal garrisons."

"..."

Before Yang Shaofeng could finish speaking, Xia Yu, who had rushed over, dismounted and ran a few steps to Zhu Biao and Yang Shaofeng. He took out several secret reports and whispered, "Your Highness, Prince Consort, news has come back."

“In Zhejiang, Zhili, and Fujian, almost every prefecture and county had officials and gentry who kept servants under the guise of adopting sons.”

"The situation was even more serious in coastal prefectures and counties, where many officials and gentry sent their so-called adopted sons to sea to engage in smuggling."

“Especially in the Fujian area, many officials and gentry bought laborers from maritime merchants and took advantage of the many islands at sea to set up workshops on islands far from the sea. Some even set up workshops in Yizhou.”

Zhu Biao flipped through the memorial in his hand and then handed it to Yang Shaofeng.

Yang Shaofeng glanced at it a few times, then chuckled and said, "A leopard can't change its spots."

After saying that, Yang Shaofeng pulled out two more memorials and waved them around. He then said to Xia Yu, "Have someone thoroughly investigate their background, dig deep, and try not to alert them."

Xia Yu accepted the memorial, but Zhu Biao asked with a curious look, "Brother-in-law, who are you investigating?"

Yang Shaofeng smiled meaningfully and said, "Your Highness just read the secret report. Did you feel that their methods were familiar?"

Zhu Biao paused for a moment, then asked, "Methods? Familiar?"

Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "The methods they use don't seem like the kind of methods that proper officials and gentry would use. Instead, they are very similar to those used by Pu Shougeng back then."

"The Pu family made their fortune through maritime trade."

"Then, the pirates in Quanzhou became rampant, and the Southern Song court was unable to control them. Pu Shougeng and his brother repelled the pirates and were appointed as the Fujian Pacification and Coastal Defense Commissioner."

“In previous years, our Ming Dynasty also suffered constant raids on the coast by Japanese pirates.”

"But Your Highness should still remember the Japanese pirate raid in Dengzhou Prefecture that time."

"There are only a few real Japanese; the rest are all fake Japanese."

"And the secret reports from Mao Xiang's side are also mostly false."

"Later, when the Dengzhou fleet went to war against Japan, the short and ugly man steamed all the real Japanese in Dengzhou Prefecture, and the Japanese pirate problem in Jiangnan was also quelled."

"Later, the coastal garrisons were reorganized and took over the maritime patrols. Smuggling at sea became more and more secretive. Subsequently, there were constant disturbances and rebellions. Recently, they have raised the banner of 'cleansing the emperor's inner circle'."

"..."

Yang Shaofeng slowly explained his analysis, while a layer of cold sweat slowly seeped out from Zhu Biao's forehead.

The Southern Song court did not treat Pu Shougeng badly, but Pu Shougeng carried out a large-scale massacre of the Southern Song imperial family.

It could even be said that without Pu Shougeng's betrayal, the Southern Song Dynasty would not have collapsed so quickly.

Similarly, if it weren't for these officials and gentry exploiting the tax farming system, the Hu Yuan dynasty wouldn't have collapsed so quickly.

Now that we're in the Ming Dynasty, these officials and gentry remain unchanged.

They still relentlessly pursued the same old practices: keeping slaves, engaging in smuggling at sea, and exploiting the people.

Yang Shaofeng suddenly sneered and said, "Especially these two families, one surnamed Chen and the other surnamed Hong, but their methods are exactly the same as those of the Pu family."

"I suspect that these two families may have some connection with the Pu family, or that they may simply be descendants of the Pu family who have adopted the Pu family name, or that these two families may have married into the Pu family."

"But no matter which one it is, and no matter whether they have any connection with the Pu family or not, they should all be dealt with cleanly."

"..."

Zhu Biao suddenly said, "Whether they're using someone else's surname or not, we'll know if we just have someone bring over their household registration records."