Early the next morning, Guo Song arrived in Yunyang County, one of the twenty counties of Jingzhao Prefecture, on the north bank of the Wei River, northeast of Chang'an, less than 100 miles away from Chang'an.

Yunyang County ordered Zhao Jun to be one of the Guanzhong officials who were valued by Guo Song, he was originally a county lieutenant in Fengtian, and was promoted to a county commander by two levels, and he strongly advocated the abolition of slavery, advocated the abolition of all lowly status, and the equality of all people.

The county seat of Yunyang County is not small, with a population of about 200,000, and the residents are mainly farming, and there are endless farmlands around the county.

Zhao Jun, the county commander, led a group of officials to greet Guo Song's arrival at the gate of the county seat, Zhao Jun was about thirty-five or sixteen years old, of medium stature, and dignified appearance.

Guo Song said kind words to everyone and comforted everyone, so he entered the county seat surrounded by officials.

He was a surprise attack this time, without any notice in advance, and the county had no time to prepare, everything appeared in front of Guo Song's eyes with his true face.

The main street of the county town is quite clean, there is no branch, both sides of the street are dense shops, people come and go, there are donkey carts and ox carts that transport goods everywhere, the street is very lively, the sound of selling is continuous, full of life.

Guo Song secretly applauded, this is the business he wants to see, Zhao Jun and the others were quite nervous in their hearts, lest His Royal Highness the King of Jin dislike the county seat too messy, but seeing that His Royal Highness the King of Jin had a good face, he seemed to appreciate the liveliness of the county, which made them breathe a sigh of relief.

Everyone came to the county office, Guo Song sat down in the back hall, the tea boy served tea, Guo Song took a sip of hot tea and asked: "The situation in Yunyang County looks good, what are the tricky things now?" ”

"Back to His Royal Highness, Yunyang County has a good foundation, fertile land, the current situation is not bad, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the price of grain is also stable.

Guo Song nodded, yesterday Du You also mentioned the issue of new money, the people know in their hearts, the new money is relatively poor, it used to be forced by Zhu Jun, and if you don't want to use it, you have to use it, but now Zhu Jun has been driven away, this kind of money with poor quality will be eliminated sooner or later, and everyone has begun to resist the new money in their hearts.

Guo Song slowly said to everyone: "The problem of new money is indeed the legacy left by Zhu Zhu, to remove these poisons, we can only come step by step, at present, we have raised a batch of new money, ready to gradually exchange the new money in the hands of the people, of course, it is impossible to let go all at once, there is a quota, such as each household to exchange a few pieces of money, may be launched next month, the specific plan is not yet, you have to appease the people, the new money recognized by the government, will be exchanged for old money step by step, will not be invalid." ”

Everyone has been worried about this matter for a long time, after listening to Guo Song's words, the officials suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, Zhao Jun said happily: "Your Highness has expressed your attitude, we can also give the people some promises, otherwise walking on the street, there are always people holding new money and asking us, can this money still be used?" It's not answering, it's not answering, it's really embarrassing. ”

Guo Song nodded, "You tell the people that the new money can be used normally, and in a few days, the official letter from the Jin Wangfu will be sent to the counties, and you will give everyone a clear answer." ”

After talking about the new money, Guo Song turned the topic back to today's intention, and he muttered: "I saw a report the day before yesterday that Yunyang County wanted to thoroughly investigate the slave black households, and I was more interested in it, so I made a special trip to Yunyang County to investigate. ”

Everyone looked at each other, it turned out that His Royal Highness the King of Jin was here for this matter, Zhao Jun bowed down and said: "This matter is reported to His Highness by humbling his position!" ”

Guo Song waved his hand, "Everyone sit down!" I'm just here to investigate, everyone is casual, don't be too nervous, Zhao County ordered a report, you can also add. ”

Everyone ran to move a few chairs, and the four county officials sat down on both sides, Zhao Jun said: "The humble post has always strongly advocated the abolition of slavery, but the abolition of slavery is not something that Yunyang County can decide, so we want to do some basic things well, find out the details of slaves and slave black households, and register them all, so that the county can grasp how many slaves there are in Yunyang County?" In the future, when slavery is abolished, it will not be exploited. ”

"That's a good idea, step by step, find out the family first, but how did you come up with the idea of starting with a slave family?"

"This is triggered by a case, County Lieutenant Zhu, you handle this case, you come to report."

Zhu Changguidao, the county lieutenant next to him, hurriedly bowed and said: "Your Royal Highness, here's the thing, about the fifth day of the first month, the county received a report from a woman, she said that her daughter was abducted and sold into slavery, she searched for many years, and finally found it in a music shop in Yunyang County, and then we went to the music fang to investigate, and found that there were more than a dozen music girls in the music room who had no identity, and then the proprietor had to admit that these dozen music girls were slave black households, and we found that slave black households were widespread. ”

"What about the woman who reported the crime?" Guo Song turned back to the first topic, and he didn't know why, he always had a little worry about this case in his heart.

"That woman's daughter is not a slave black household, she is indeed a female slave, it is a deed of sale issued by Yongxian, because it is a legal slave, we are not good to forcibly take it away, and then the two sides negotiated, this little lady temporarily lives in Le Fang, and when her mother redeems it, Le Fang offers fifty yuan to give her mother three years."

Guo Song was slightly displeased and said: "Since she is a little lady who is abducted and trafficked, why doesn't the government redeem it for her and reunite their mother and daughter?" ”

Several officials showed embarrassment on their faces, and Zhao Jun said for a while: "There are too many such things, we can help lower the price at most, the proprietor of the music shop will open fifty yuan, and we will reduce the price to thirty yuan, and both parties have signed an agreement." ”

"What about the dozen or so slave blacks?"

"At present, they still live in Le Fang, they have no identity, no parents, and they are willing to learn a craft to eat, but they are not willing to leave."

Guo Song got up and said, "Let's go to the music square to have a look." ”

This kind of slave trade is indeed a headache, not a ban can be solved, the key is the consciousness of the common people, they regard the slave trade as a very common thing, and even the slaves themselves have no sense of resistance.

The name of the music workshop is called the Cuckoo Music Workshop, on the one hand, the music school trains female students to play the pipa with Le Ji, sing, dance, on the other hand, it is also a commercial performance organization, the wedding and funeral of the Tang people will generally find Le Ji to help the fun, and the major restaurants will also invite Le Ji to settle in, and even a dignitary who takes a fancy to a beautiful Le Ji, will also pay to redeem her, in general, the music square is still a more profitable business, basically all counties have.

There are two ways to source Le Ji, one is a female slave bought since childhood, this kind of Le Ji basically has no income, and the proprietor of Le Fang eats and stays.

Another is the active practitioner, this kind of need to change nationality, from the civilian nationality to music, prostitution and other lowly nationality, but no matter which way, once you enter the industry, it is not easy to get out, generally after the age of thirty, old and decrepit, the eldest will marry a businesswoman, or marry a fellow musician.

There are only a few good-looking and lucky people who are favored by high-ranking officials and nobles, and are committed to being concubines of large families, like Zhang Lei's concubine is Le Ji Congliang to marry him.

However, Guo Song issued a divorce order last year, abolishing the untouchable, if it is not a slave, Le Ji with ordinary untouchable status is a commoner, and he can leave at any time to change careers, Hedong and other places have been implemented, and soon Guanzhong will also be enforced.

After a short time, the group came to Lefang, and at this time, Zhao Jun pointed to a woman who was selling tofu at a stall opposite: "That is the woman who complained, she is selling tofu at a stall here, staring at her daughter!" ”

Guo Song saw the woman, saw that she was about forty years old, her face was full of vicissitudes, and she could see that she had suffered a lot, Guo Song asked casually, "What is her name?" ”

"She is also surnamed Guo, a native of Mingsha County, Lingzhou, and seems to be called Guo Ping!"

Guo Song was slightly stunned, it was actually Mingsha County? But then there was a look of shock on his face, and the woman's name was ...... Guo Ping?

The place of origin is also right, the name is also right, is it.... Could it be her?

Guo Song's predecessor was a native of Mingsha County, Lingzhou, his parents died, and he had only one sister, and later married to Fengxiang Mansion, that is, Qizhou, Guo Song specially asked Liang Yundao to help find her, a few years ago, Liang Yundao inquired about the whereabouts of this eldest sister, but when she found her home, her family was empty, and she didn't know where she was, and the neighbors were also later, and they didn't know at all.

Liang Yun told Guo Song that his eldest sister was called Guo Ping, married to a small businessman named Zhou Liang, and made tofu in Yongxian County for a living, because Mingsha County was repeatedly invaded by Xue Yantuo people, it was not safe, Guo Ping followed her husband and moved to Yongxian, but Zhou Liang had died ten years ago, she became a widow, pulling a son and a daughter to grow up, life was very difficult, the family disappeared five years ago, and now the whereabouts are unknown.

"When was her daughter abducted?" Guo Song asked quietly.

"Her statement says five years ago, her daughter was 10 years old, and now she is 15 years old."

"What's her daughter's last name?"

"It seems to be surnamed Zhou."

The name is also right, this middle-aged woman is her eldest sister nine times out of ten.

At this moment, Guo Song had an indescribable sadness in his heart, that poor woman turned out to be his eldest sister, no wonder he had a strange feeling just now, and he was very concerned about her case.

Guo Song no longer had the heart to go to Lefang, so he ordered: "Go back to the county office!" ”

He turned his horse's head and returned to the county office, everyone didn't know what was going on, so they hurriedly followed, and walked to the door of the county office, Guo Song said to Zhao Jun: "The abduction and trafficking case will be retried, and it will be tried now, the abducted children are not allowed to be sold as slaves, and its deed of sale is not established. ”

Everyone was stunned, Guo Song's personal soldier guessed Zhao Jun a few points, and persuaded Guo Song: "Your Highness, maybe we can track down the abductor and trafficker of children from the proprietor of Lefang." ”

Guo Song said coldly: "The child's identity deed is run by Yongxian County, and it can be found from Yongxian." ”

"Your Highness, it's been a long time, so you may not be able to find out, and if the proprietor of Lefang doesn't buy it, I'm afraid that the fate of that little lady will be even more tragic."

Guo Song understood the more tragic meaning, that is, he was sold to a brothel, he pondered for a moment, then nodded, and said to the county commander Zhao Jun: "You can spare him to die, but the abducted children are not allowed to be slaves, her slavery status is not established, let's start the trial!" ”