Chapter 152 Changlu Salt Field! Cookers Are Born in Purgatory!

Changlu Salt Field.

Tang Hao, wearing a ragged linen shirt, walked slowly towards a house.

After slowly knocking on the door, a dark-faced man opened the door.

The man was dark and thin, so thin that he looked like a layer of skin wrapped around his bones, and was no different from those seriously ill, emaciated and dying people.

The man looked at the burly Tang Hao and subconsciously wanted to close the door.

After all, such a burly and strong man is really rare in their village!

"Don't be afraid, big brother, I'm here to escape from famine, I just want to ask for water to drink and food to eat!"

Hearing this, the man almost didn't think about it, and directly "bang" closed the door.

In fact, this door can't even be considered a door, it's just a broken wooden board.

And this house is just a straw shed.

"My child starved to death because his mother had no milk. Where can I find food for you!"

Without milk, the child starved to death.

The history of boiling salt with seawater is very long, dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The traditional skill of boiling salt was gradually eliminated until the emergence of the method of drying salt.

This means that what the grandfather is, the son is, and the descendants and generations are the same. If nothing unexpected happens, they will never have the opportunity to change in this life.

"There is no food in my family!"

The "road permit" must indicate the name, age, address, reason for the matter, starting and ending places, and return deadline.

To put it bluntly, Comrade Zhu Yuanzhang attempted to use such a deformed system to maintain the entire Ming Empire for thousands of years!

The so-called "road permit" is a travel certificate. Its essence is a measure taken by the court to restrict population mobility and bind the population to the land.

The lightest punishment for smuggling is 80 strokes of the cane. Even if you are lucky enough not to die after the beating, you will definitely be disabled.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang chose to inherit the Yuan Dynasty's "various household registration" household registration system, and directly divided the household registration of the people into civilian households, military households, and craftsman households.

However, from another perspective, Comrade Zhu Chongba did not do many things properly, or his "small peasant thinking" and "family-based" thinking deeply influenced him, and his pattern was too small.

For example, the household registration system.

As soon as these words came out, there was no sound behind the tattered wooden board, and the man seemed to be in thought.

It is hard to imagine how these stove households survived in this humid area on the Bohai Sea.

Moreover, there is another kind of "stove household" among the craftsmen, just like the man hiding behind the door panel in front of him, whose life is no different from purgatory.

"Brother, I am also desperate!"

"No food! No food! Get out!"

I don't know how long it took before his voice sounded again behind the wooden board.

"Then... In addition to the tax from the salt field, you have to bear the labor of the prefecture and county!"

"So, you give me something to eat, and I will help your family cook salt in the future. Even if I am your distant cousin, do you think it's okay?"

This kind of thing happened to the salt field cooks, which was actually very common.

There is only one reason. If people run away and the land is barren, where can the court collect taxes?

What do you say?

The world is so big, do you want to go and see it?

Do you believe it?

Comrade Zhu Chongba wanted to use these means to imprison the people of the Ming Dynasty in the villages and towns with fields and let them farm the fields peacefully and work hard. As for the others, don't think too much, it has nothing to do with them!

The cooks are the ones who cook salt in the salt field.

Because scholars are not restricted by the household registration of the road permit, they can go out to study everywhere, and the government will not hold them accountable, but if you change to farmers and businessmen, I will break your dog legs!

Craftsmen were originally of low status, and they had to bear the labor service for the palace, government and official handicrafts, but they received almost no compensation.

The reason why it was so troublesome was that the court deliberately restricted it.

The land at home is still waiting for you to plant, so hurry back home to plant the land!

To put it bluntly, this is "class solidification".

And applying for "road permits" is also a troublesome matter. You have to apply to the local village first, then report to the prefecture and county for review, and issue "road permits" after approval.

The status of all people was stipulated by the court decree, and this status was passed down from generation to generation and could not be changed.

For example, the road permit system, according to the Ming Dynasty law, people need road permits when they leave their place for 100 miles, otherwise, soldiers will be treated as deserters and people will be treated as smugglers.

To be honest, it is really difficult to evaluate the Taizu Gaohuang Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Because of poverty, suffering, lack of food, and hunger, mothers have no milk and can only watch their children starve to death!

In other words, if Tang Hao wanted to, he could punch the broken board and the man behind the door, and they would probably all die.

Tang Hao was not in a hurry, and quietly waited for the man's answer.

In addition, the household registration system strictly prohibited the change of household type, and the hereditary occupations of various household registrations could not be changed. The children of farmers farmed for generations, the children of craftsmen worked for generations, and the children of military households served in the army for generations.

You say he is great, he is indeed great. He can write the slightly outrageous "Great Edict" for the sake of the common people, and he can resolutely implement anti-corruption and punish corrupt officials to death. From this point of view, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang is indeed a great emperor.

Tang Hao was stunned when he heard this, and his fists clenched together unconsciously.

In this way, their lives are very difficult and hard, and they are far inferior to those wealthy businessmen.

Not to mention eating and wearing warm clothes, even supporting a family has become a problem, and even their descendants will be like themselves, and there is no possibility of turning over in this life.

Civilian households farm and pay agricultural taxes and perform corvée labor to the state; the obligation of military households is to serve in the military and serve as soldiers in local guards; artisan households must serve for the court, government and official handicrafts.

In essence, it is still a continuation of the "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans" class.

The Changlu Salt Field is close to the Bohai Sea, so it is mainly engaged in salt boiling, so it is full of salt households.

If you want to boil salt, you must have the identity of a salt household, but this is a desperate identity.

Perhaps people who don’t understand will say that in addition to paying the so-called salt tax, the salt boiled by the salt households can be sold to make money, but they will be beheaded!

Under the system of salt and iron monopoly, the salt of the salt households can only be sold to the government, and the price is naturally suppressed to the extreme. The government can easily make a huge difference from the salt when it resells it, so this has also bred the emergence of private salt dealers.

However, whether it is a private salt dealer or a legitimate salt merchant, it is only people with connections and backgrounds who dare to do so.

If you are an ordinary salt household, do you dare to sell private salt?

In other words, whether you are a salt household or not, if you dare to sell the salt you boiled, they will kill you!

In order to ensure the income from the salt industry and keep the salt farmers fixed in the salt field, the Ming Dynasty adopted various harsh and abnormal methods to control the number of salt farmers, such as "all the labor is permanent and no arbitrary registration is allowed", that is, when there is a shortage of salt farmers, nearby farmers or prisoners are directly captured to make up for it.

This is why Tang Hao took the initiative to offer to be a salt farmer, and the man was moved.

There is no way not to be moved, and there is no reason not to be moved, because the man is already useless, his body has been destroyed by years of salt boiling and is no longer in human form, and now he can't boil salt.

But when the government asks for salt tax, you must hand over enough salt, otherwise the officials and yamen runners will not care whether you are dead or alive, and will arrest people without salt, so you must find a way to fill this hole, otherwise the whole family will be beheaded.

The salt farmers in the Changlu Salt Field either died and their descendants were completely cut off, or they escaped and became refugees at the risk of their lives.

Because once the salt-makers were included in the salt register, their descendants would become slaves of salt production, lose their personal freedom, and live in this inhumane purgatory life without any hope.

To be honest, it was the first time that Liu Dashan behind the door saw someone fleeing famine to this purgatory, and he also took the initiative to ask to be a salt-maker.

As for the labor service he mentioned, it was another outrageous thing.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, salt field salt-makers were under the jurisdiction of the Salt Transport Department, but their names were registered in the prefectures and counties.

That is to say, the Salt Transport Department was responsible for collecting salt taxes, while the prefectures and counties required the salt-makers to do miscellaneous work!

To put it more bluntly, the salt-makers not only had to boil salt every day to meet the court's demand for salt-making salt permits, but also had to bear the corvée labor imposed by the prefectures and counties, and from time to time they would be caught as coolies. This is the real reason why the salt-makers lived a life worse than death!

The suffering of corvée labor was ten times more than taxes!

Because during the corvée period, there is no pay, no wages, and you have to bring your own dry food to ensure that you will not starve to death.

Because during the corvée period, you are enslaved, beaten, driven, and even blackmailed. If you resist a little, you will be beaten and scolded. There is no money to see a doctor and treat your injuries, so that one corvée will lose half of your life!

Because during the corvée period, you are far away from your hometown, away from your wife and children, and your wife and children are humiliated or even killed by others without knowing it. After returning home, you basically end up with a broken family!

Going to serve corvée, there are no young and strong people in the family, the salt boiling work is delayed, and you can't pay the corresponding amount of salt, which is the so-called salt tax. Those officials and minions don't care whether you have anyone at home. It's better if no one is at home. The big ones play by themselves first, and when they have enough fun, they are sold to the brothel. The small ones are more valuable and sold to higher-end brothels to be cultivated from childhood...

So, the stove households are a group of poor creatures. They have been in purgatory since birth and are destined to live a life worse than a dog of a rich family.

Finally, the man pushed open the door and looked at Tang Hao with a wary face.

"Do you really want to be a kitchen keeper?"

"I warn you, once the master comes to register, you will be a kitchen keeper for the rest of your life."

"Not only you, but also your descendants, generation after generation, will all be kitchen keepers!"

Liu Dashan is not a bad person by nature. If it weren't for his broken body and he couldn't support the family anymore, he would never have agreed to Tang Hao's request to harm others for no reason. He would have driven this "idiot" away long ago.

But even at this point, he still told Tang Hao everything without hiding anything.

Hearing this, Tang Hao smiled warmly and said sincerely: "There's nothing to hesitate about. You can make a living anywhere!"

"Okay! Then come in, I'll find you something to eat!"

Liu Dashan coughed heavily a few times and said nothing more.

Good words can't persuade you to die!

He has done his best.

When Tang Hao walked into the hut and took a look, his brows suddenly knitted together.

There were a lot of things piled up in the thatched shed. The only thing that was relatively clean was a bed, or something that could be called a "bed".

This bed was also made of soil and a few wooden boards, with a thick layer of hay spread on top.

There is also a quilt on the side of the bed, which is full of patches, and some clumps of black cotton can be seen in some tattered areas.

Under the quilt, a head poked out, blinking big eyes, staring at Tang Hao unblinkingly.

"what's your name?"

"My name is Nannan."

Nannan, a little girl.

So what this man said just now was...

While Tang Hao was thinking, Liu Dashan walked in with a small bowl.

"This is the only food in the house, you go ahead and eat it!"

After saying that, Liu Dashan sat on the bed and glared at Nannan.

The little girl hurriedly retracted her head into the quilt like a frightened rabbit.

Tang Hao smiled when he saw this, and then picked up the bowl politely.

This is a bowl of rice bran porridge. The rice is basically invisible, but the rice bran is still enough, but it makes your throat a little scratchy after drinking it.

There is a saying that since Tang Hao came to the Ming Dynasty, he saved the little emperor's life on the first day, so his living standard has skyrocketed. He also went to the palace to meet the emperor when he had nothing to do, and shared the palace meals with the little emperor.

The living standards suddenly changed drastically. Zhongshan Hou was really uncomfortable with it and almost vomited out the only food in his house.

Fortunately, he finally swallowed it, but it was too loud.

Liu Dashan watched Tang Hao finish the rice bran porridge in one breath, swallowed subconsciously, and then said: "Brother, what is your name? I will go to Master Cha to register right now, what do you think? "

"Okay, my name is Tang Ritian and I am your cousin. What do you think?"

Tang Ritian?

Why does this name sound weird?

Liu Dashan glanced at Tang Hao suspiciously, but didn't think much about it.

"Okay, I am Liu Dashan, and I will be your cousin from now on!"

"Nanny, take Brother Ritian out for a walk. Get familiar with the folks first, but don't go too far. If you see those bad guys, go home. Do you hear me?"

When the little girl heard this, she poked her head out of the quilt and nodded happily.

Seeing this, Tang Hao didn't quite understand, and said, "Brother Liu, this is..."

"The salt farm is not peaceful recently. I heard that this noble man likes...many girls from other families have been kidnapped."

Liu Dashan sighed, and then coughed violently.

"Then what's wrong with your body?"

"After a lifetime of boiling salt, my body has long since become useless and I won't live much longer."

Liu Dashan smiled sadly and then looked at Tang Hao.

"Brother Ritian, I'm sorry for you. I shouldn't have let you go into this pit of fire, but there's really nothing I can do about it!"

"The day to pay the salt tax is coming soon. If we can't come up with so much salt, our family will..."

Having said this, Liu Dashan lowered his head in silence, not daring to look at Tang Hao's eyes.

At this moment, he just felt that he deserved to be harmed by others.

Tang Hao smiled and spoke.

"Brother Liu, this is my request, so you don't have to think too much."

"You go to Mr. Chai's place to register, and I'll go shopping with you, okay, Nannan?"

The little girl jumped up and nodded, then stretched out her little hand and placed it on Tang Hao's big hand.

One big and one small, just walked out of the house.

On the same day, many people fleeing famine came from various villages and towns in Changlu Salt Field.

And without exception, they all successfully joined in and became "idiots" in the eyes of the government officials!

These days, why are there still people rushing to become kitchen households?