In fact, there are other ways and means to obtain the population than to recruit refugees. For example, Zhang Cai's son Zhang Jiafu gave Marin an idea - to go to Yaxing to buy slaves.

In fact, although those refugees are in distress, they are still people with status. And the slaves to be sold in the tooth shop are all slaves who don't even have the status of ordinary people.

It should be pointed out that the law of the Ming Dynasty forbade ordinary people to keep slaves and maids privately. Because, if the number of slaves and maids increases, the number of good citizens who pay taxes to the state will decrease, which will affect the tax revenue of the state.

However, this policy was only seriously implemented during the Hongwu period in the early Ming Dynasty. And over time, by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it had been loosened too much.

During the Hongwu period, only those top wealthy families above the rank of honorable and third-rank were qualified to raise slaves and maids. Others, are not eligible. Even if the merchant had money, it was useless, not only was he not allowed to wear silk, but he was also not allowed to buy slaves and maids. The phenomenon that an ordinary merchant can buy slaves and maids on TV does not exist, of course, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, merchants can also do the same. During the Hongwu period, businessmen dared to do this, and they would be imprisoned.

It is now the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang's population policy has been loosened. However, it has not yet reached the private sector. Small landlords and merchants were still not qualified to buy slaves and maids. But they also have countermeasures, for example, ordinary people can circumvent legal restrictions by "accepting righteous sons and daughters". Or, directly enter into an employment contract to circumvent legal restrictions.

But there is one kind of person who can legally buy slaves and maids, and that is the class of scholars with officials as the main body......

As long as you have fame, there are no restrictions. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, only the nobles and the three rank masters were allowed to raise slaves and maids, but in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, as long as they were officials and scholars with meritorious reputation, they could freely raise slaves and maids. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, even ordinary rich families could raise slaves and maids......

Why? In addition to the loosening of policies, the large increase in population is also an important reason.

The Ming Dynasty was socially stable and economically prosperous, and the population naturally increased year by year. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the population was only about 60 million, and natural labor was precious. And Zhu Yuanzhang will never allow the precious population to be wasted on slaves and maids. Therefore, he restricted the existence of slaves and maids in every possible way, and liberated slaves in large numbers.

But by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the time of the Hongzhi Dynasty, the population of the Ming Dynasty reached eighty or ninety million, and it is even said that it reached 100 million. Because, there is a large number of hidden people among the people.

The population has grown so much, but the land area has not increased, and there is naturally a large surplus of labor. Many poor families simply cannot afford to raise so many children. In order to let their children live, those poor families voluntarily sent their children to large families as slaves. Because only in this way can the child have enough to eat. Moreover, the money from the sale of the children can also support the children left behind by the family.

The middle of the Ming Dynasty was not serious, and by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the population of the Ming Dynasty had reached about 150 million, and it seemed that there were many people and few people. At this time, the imperial court had to turn a blind eye. At this time, ordinary people, as long as they pay money, can legally buy slaves and maids......

……

It is now in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and the population is neither more nor less. Supposedly, ordinary people are not allowed to buy slaves and maids. However, Marin is no ordinary person. He is the lord of the Beihai Kingdom, and he is also the consolation envoy of the Eastern Fan, and he belongs to the imperial court, and he happens to belong to the class that allows the purchase of slaves and maids.

So, Ma Lin directly took Zhang Jiafu and others to the tooth shop to buy slaves and maids......

It's just that Marin's handwriting is a bit big, which alarmed the imperial court......

In just three days, Ma Lin swept through the capital and bought 3,500 slaves and maids at a low price of a few taels of silver and a slave, including 2,000 male slaves and 1,500 female slaves. Moreover, most of the slaves and maids are adults. After all, these are to be used to reclaim wasteland, and children are not good at it.

Such a huge stroke naturally aroused the idea of the Ming court. So, on behalf of the Ming Dynasty, Li Dongyang interviewed Ma Lin......

"Master Equestria, why did you buy so many slaves and maids?"

"Dongfan Island needs to be developed, and naturally it needs a large population. I don't know how many people can be recruited, so I'll buy some people first. ”

"Ahem...... Li Dongyang coughed twice and continued:

"It's right for you to buy slaves, and it's okay to be the owner of the Equestrian Kingdom. However, your hand is also too big, and there are 3,500 people in one shot, which is too eye-catching, and the impact is not good, and the impact is not good......"

It is true that the influence is not good, and the people of the Ming Dynasty are very conceited. For a ghost country lord to buy a large number of Ming Dynasty people as slaves and maids in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, it really hurts the feelings of the Ming Dynasty people. Therefore, Li Dongyang interviewed Ma Lin and asked him to stop. It's not that you can't do it, but it's that being too arrogant has a bad impact......

"I understand...... "Ma Lin is a smart person, so he naturally understands what Li Dongyang means - don't be too ostentatious, work quietly......

"Since then, I've been quietly buying people in Fuzhou, Ningbo and Guangzhou?" Marin asked.

Li Dongyang shook his head and said:

"You can't say you buy people, otherwise the people will not be happy. You gotta say – hire someone...... For example, in the name of hiring shipwrights, female weavers are hired ......"

Ma Lin understands in seconds - it is to save some face for the Ming Dynasty...... That is to say, when the slave is bought normally, but when it is reported to the city department, it must be reported as a "hired laborer". In this way, it will not hurt the face of the Ming Dynasty......

……

Seeing that he could no longer continue to buy slaves and maids in the capital, Marin had to stop for the time being. Anyway, it's a long way to go. Moreover, Li Dongyang also pointed out the direction - continue to buy in the name of "hired workers" in the future......

But now that the matter is basically done, I can't sit still in the capital. The European side is still waiting for himself to go back, and besides, the things on the Ming side have not been finished yet......

For example, a very important thing - how to transport Taihu pigs and Biluo spring tea seeds after Zhang Cai bought Taihu pigs and Biluo spring tea seeds in the Taihu Lake area?

Tea is good to say, it doesn't take up much space. But those Taihu pigs take up a lot of space......

Come to think of it, it's better to let your own ship transport it......

……

Moreover, Ma Lin also plans to go to Anhua, Funan, to buy black tea seeds, and hire craftsmen who know how to make black tea. Then, it is cultivated and produced in places such as Taiwan and Cuba.

It's not that Marin likes to drink black tea, but that black tea has a long shelf life and doesn't worry about the tea spoiling. Moreover, the requirements for boiling tea are lower than those for brewing tea. It is more appropriate to use black tea bricks to cook milk tea.

In addition, Ma Lin planned to go to Fubei, Shuzhong, and southern Yunnan to buy a large number of medicinal materials such as Coptis chinensis, Youyang Artemisia annua, and Panax notoginseng, as well as seeds of medicinal materials, for what he needed.

Coptis chinensis can be extracted in a simple way, which is a good medicine for the treatment of dysentery, tuberculosis, pneumonia, typhoid fever, diphtheria and other stubborn diseases. Moreover, the extraction method is super simple, which is a must-use good thing for traversers.

Needless to say, artemisinin is ......

And Panax notoginseng is the main drug of the famous white medicine for bruises, not to mention......

Anyway, these are things that need to be gotten their hands on. The Ming Dynasty was only allowed to trade in the three ports of the city, and it was difficult to purchase these drugs in large quantities. Therefore, Marin plans to personally run around the country this time and get as many as possible. But first, he must have the qualifications to go to all parts of the Ming Dynasty......

Therefore, Ma Lin gave Zhengde a sparse visit and asked to go to all parts of the Ming Dynasty. As for the reason, it's very strange - Daming is so big, I want to see it......

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