During the period from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Yuan and Ming dynasties, ancient Chinese law always referred to the use of violence or fraud to deprive others of their liberty and put them in a state of enslavement as "sloppy people", and the act of selling a slightly acquired population as "sloppy selling people".

In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the punishment was extremely severe: as long as there was an act of "slighting people", whether it had been betrayed or not, it would be punished with "stilt"; Those who knowingly buy are "guilty of the same crime"; Those who buy and resell without knowing will be punished in the same way.

Han Cheng Qin system, many of the laws of the Han Dynasty, most likely directly derived from the Qin law, is the embodiment of the Legalist policy of strict punishment and strict law, some of which are too strict.

However, with the evolution of the times, the punishment for the behavior of "selling people" has gradually been reduced, and the "Da Ming Law, Criminal Law, and Thieves" stipulates that "the sale of slaves and maids" is no longer a capital crime, and regardless of the first offender and accomplice, they will be punished with 100 rods and 3,000 li.

This is the stipulations of the law, but these are a set of regulations made by the ruling class in order to rule the people at the bottom, which can only cure some thieves who abduct and sell people, and there is not much binding force on the powerful families who rob the people's daughters.

The behavior of this group of people in front of them is obviously not in line with the laws of the Ming Dynasty and is an act of violating the law, but in addition to the laws of the imperial court in the Ming Dynasty, the people also have folk rules, and some clans even have their own patriarchal laws, and the court also acquiesces.

For example, the first person, directly immersed in the pig cage, such as stealing directly killed, as well as the father's debts and sons' debts, pulling people's wives and daughters to pay off debts, in the eyes of the people, it is mostly a matter of course, the people do not feel that this violates the criminal law, and the government is too lazy to intervene, and the affairs in the countryside are mostly handled by the squire, and the power of the official family does not go to the countryside, which has been a rule for thousands of years.

Debts to repay money, it is a matter of course, men run away to take their wives and daughters to pay off debts, although the behavior is disgusting, but the people can still accept this method of treatment, because the weaker party is not qualified to challenge the rules set by Haoqiang.

This kind of gray behavior must have been widespread in the entire Ming Dynasty, but Wang Yan did not allow him to happen in Nanjing, and he did not allow the Wude Chamber of Commerce to obey the law.

As a person in power, he naturally knows that these gray things exist, and the entire administrative organs of the Ming Dynasty can't control so much, but as a person in power, as a court, he must take a clear stand against this gray behavior and crack down on this gray behavior, otherwise the supreme ruler will not oppose it, then this gray behavior and unspoken rules will be more unscrupulous, and it will be tacitly legal, the real law will be further trampled on, and the people at the bottom will also despair of the government.

It's one thing to be able to manage it, but it's another thing to have an attitude and whether you want to care about it.

Wang Yan hoped to establish a strong central government that would bring back the power held by the gentry and the powerful to the imperial court, especially not allowing the people to lynch them.

"Your Highness, the Wude lends money to the people, and provides funds to some merchants to open workshops or trade. These businesses have losses and profits, and after making a profit, Wude will naturally profit, and the loss of Wude will have to recover the loan! Wang Fu took a step forward and said in Wang Yan's ear: "The matter of recovering loans is very complicated, some people even have money and do not pay it back, and the business does not have so much energy to entangle with these people, so in addition to collecting debts through the government, the business will also hand over some dead debts that are difficult to recover to some private gangs, so that they can collect them on their behalf, and the money recovered will be distributed with the gang according to the agreement, and the senior management of the chamber of commerce does not know that the gang collects debts in this way." ”

Wang Fuzhi is not only a big man of the Chu faction, but also a member of the Wang family, he saw that Wang Yan's face was angry, afraid that he would be angry with the Five Virtues, so he came out and said a few words that seemed to be fair, but in fact opened up for the business.

Wang Yan frowned and laughed miserably, "In this way, the Five Virtues are only profitable and not losing, focusing on benefits, and not taking risks at all." ”

From Wang Fuzhi's words, Wang Yan knew that the senior management of the Chamber of Commerce must have known something about debt collection, but they selectively ignored it.

Tang, Lu and many other ministers are not used to Wang Yan, there is still a reason, just say that these five virtues, it is too easy to make money.

The money bank lends money to the merchant, the merchant earns it, the Wude number wants to take the money, the merchant loses the money, and immediately submits a lawsuit to the yamen, and the merchant's assets are repaid for the debt, which can be said to be an industry that makes sure that he does not lose money.

There are many people who also want to enter the Qianzhuang industry, but most of them have lost all their money, have no background, and the lawsuit is handed to the yamen, and the official errand drags it out, and after a few times, the Qianzhuang falls. Even if there is a background, some money banks can only be limited to a certain province and a certain region, where can it be compared with the influence of Wude all over the country, who dares not to pay back the money of the King of Chu? Which yamen would dare not help in the recovery?

Wang Yan listened to Wang Fuzhi's words, and actually understood what he meant, the Wude number could not be moved, and this matter could not be counted on the head of the Wude number.

The ruling class, making money is so fast, so easy, it is like this, it is so sure that it will not lose money, it will not suffer losses, it will be the same for whoever is replaced, and it is impossible for Wang Yan to say that he will not let Wude recover the loan, after all, Wude is not his family, and he doesn't count what he said, but he has to take care of this means of debt collection.

If he acquiesces to this method of debt collection, then the hearts of the people in the world will be scattered sooner or later.

The leader in charge of debt collection is nicknamed Zhao Wu, after he reported to his home, he saw Wang Yan's face change, and saw an old man next to him with his ear persuading, so he thought that the guy originally wanted to be a hero, but after hearing the name of Wude, he was frightened a lot, plus the old man's persuasion, I don't know how to end, so my face was red.

Seeing this, Zhao Wu sneered, but he didn't say anything to ridicule Wang Yan, after all, Nanjing is no more than other places, there are as many officials as dogs, and a brick can be smashed into the relatives of two Beijing officials.

"Take people away!" Zhao Wu decided to ignore Wang Yan and take someone back to make a difference.

Several strong men were about to pull people immediately, and it was also fitting that they didn't look at the yellow calendar, and they were destined to be unlucky today.

In fact, in the city of Nanjing, people like them who help Qianzhuang collect debts are not the only ones, but they are unlucky and happened to be bumped into by Wang Yan.

As soon as the strong men made their moves, the women immediately screamed again, Wang Yan reacted immediately, and immediately ordered: "Arrest all these people who rob the people's daughters and send them to the government!" ”

The surrounding guards immediately walked out, and Zhao Wu didn't intend to provoke Wang Yan and his party, but he didn't expect Wang Yan to be aggressive and want to send them to the official.

For a while, Zhao Wuyi and his party were also angry, they had been rampant in Nanjing for a long time, and by virtue of the reputation of the Five Virtues, they did not provoke others, and generally no one dared to provoke them, and they were not afraid of anything that happened.

At this time, he saw a man walking towards him and wanted to take him, so he immediately put on a posture and was about to make a move, but when the man stepped forward, a token was directly delivered to him, and Zhao Wu couldn't help but tremble his legs.

"Your Highness, you can save them for a while, but you can't save them for a lifetime, and you always have to pay off your debts!" Wang Fuzhi said.

Wang Yan looked at him and said, "Brother, do you remember what I said last time?" The hearts of the people in the world, it's still urgent to clean up now, don't wait until the party and the country are destroyed, and then you will regret it! ”

"It's morality to repay debts, but you can't force people to a dead end, the court has its own law, how can you tolerate a ruffian hooligan to practice the law on behalf of the court!" Wang Yan said in a deep voice: "I see that the laws of the Ming Dynasty need to be repaired and supplemented, and in the future, the country will be governed according to the law, and the people will be educated by virtue, so that the world can sit firmly!" ”

Gu Yanwu, who was on the side, listened to Wang Yan's words, and his brows jumped, "I agree with what His Highness said, governing the country according to law and educating the people with morality, it is really the words of a saint!" ”

The Ming Dynasty implemented the study of the mind, and the thought of the mind abandoned many rules and regulations of science, and talked about seeking holiness in the heart, but everyone's heart is different, so what is right and what is wrong cannot be unified, so the mind is open, but it will also cause many problems. If, in addition to seeking holiness in the heart, a set of laws and regulations is listed as a basic standard, it will undoubtedly be of great benefit to the country.

This is the combination of Confucianism and law, one system for the people, and one rule for the world and the people.

As soon as several big men saw the waist card, they immediately obediently pleaded guilty, they were bullies in Nanjing City, but when they met the brocade guards of the imperial court, they still didn't look at it enough, and they didn't even dare to resist.

Wang Yan's identity has almost been revealed, and he saw that the people around him had already looked at him, and many people could still recognize Wang Yan after looking carefully.

In order to avoid causing trouble, Wang Yan immediately turned around and said to Wang Fu: "Brother, I want to see Chen Yonghua tonight, you let him come to the palace." ”

In the early morning of the next day, at the Nanjing wharf, Gao Yihuan's family, plus more than a dozen men, boarded a cargo ship early in the morning.

(End of chapter)