Zhu Jingyuan finished washing his face after thinking about things, and looked back at the two maidservants beside him, Chunxiang and Qiuyue.

The two North Korean maids who have taken care of themselves for five years have just turned eighteen years old this year, and their bodies are not yet fully mature, but their images have been largely determined.

Chunxiang is of medium height, relatively well-proportioned, her cheeks are fair and clean, her eyes are dark and bright, and her image is soft but not bewitching, which is very in line with the aesthetics of serious people in the Ming Dynasty.

Cautious and careful, dexterous and docile, and well-behaved, he is considered the top among the servants, and the wives of ordinary families cannot please this level.

Akizuki is slightly shorter, but her body is more curvy, and she also has a cute baby face.

In the traditional concept of the Ming people, Qiuyue is slightly disabled, but in Zhu Jingyuan's opinion, it also has a different flavor.

Thinking of yesterday's incident in the court, Zhu Jingyuan asked tentatively:

"Chunxiang, Qiuyue, your age is not too young, you are almost ready to marry, I will let my father let you out of the house......"

The two maidservants were startled, and Chunxiang knelt down directly without hesitation:

"The slave knows her mistake, please punish His Highness."

Qiu Yue was stunned for two seconds, and then knelt down, not knowing what to say, so she also learned Haruka's words:

"Please punish Your Highness."

The ritual of kneeling among the "people" of the new Ming Dynasty was abolished, but it was still naturally preserved among the slaves.

Zhu Jingyuan expected the reaction of the two, and at this time he continued to ask helplessly:

"Since you know that you are wrong, what exactly is wrong?"

Haruka's expression was a little flustered, but more dazed:

"The slave maid dislikes His Highness, then it must be the slave maid's fault, I implore His Highness to make it clear, and the slave and maid must correct it."

Qiu Yue also learned:

"Yes, yes, the slave must be corrected, please give instructions to His Royal Highness......"

Zhu Jingyuan sighed in his heart and tried to explain in another way:

"Actually, I don't dislike you, I'm really thinking about you, you two have taken care of me for so many years, and you have worked hard.

"I want my father to release you from slavery and arrange a job for you in a factory under the royal consortium, would you like to go?"

This time the two slaves and maids were almost instinctive, and at the same time very decisive and said loudly:

"The slave is reluctant to leave, the slave just wants to serve His Highness."

In Haruka's opinion, His Royal Highness must be testing himself, and Qiu Yue felt that His Royal Highness was scaring him.

They didn't know that Zhu Jingyuan was already a prince, but even as a young personal servant of the prince, although it was unlikely that she would become a concubine, the main reason was that there was an age difference.

However, it is a very normal and traditional practice to marry close subordinates of princes and princes.

The most unfortunate is to be the wife of the steward of the family when the prince becomes an adult, and even directly as the housekeeper in the courtyard.

As for going out to work as a factory worker, it was a punishment for a rejected handmaiden.

But in Zhu Jingyuan's view, if all the North Korean maids, women, and Burmese servants are released together, they will be lucky to be able to work as workers in the factories of the consortium......

Just releasing all the slaves as a whole will definitely cause social unrest, and it is impossible for the slaves' owners to accept it, after all, the slaves are bought back with money.

Zhu Jingyuan considered the identities of Chunxiang and Qiuyue again, in the current environment, they are the most credible people around him except for their immediate family.

They are not professionally educated, and it may not be possible to analyze ordinary social issues, but when it comes to their personal experiences, they are certainly more specialized than professionals.

So Zhu Jingyuan asked in an inquiring tone:

"Then Chunxiang, Qiuyue, imagine that you two would accept it if you exchanged the maid's deed for a twenty-year employment agreement, and at the same time gave the status of a free man, allowing you to marry and live on your own, do you think everyone will accept it?"

Haruka was stunned for three seconds, and then seemed to realize something, so she tried to answer seriously:

"The slave thinks it's hard for people to accept it, because then everyone has to worry about how to live when they are old, and in fact everyone doesn't want to change their current life.

"Especially like the slave maid, there is no idea of leaving here to go anywhere, the slave just wants to serve His Highness like this forever......"

Qiuyue's reaction was not too slow, and after Haruka finished speaking, she also tasted something, so she said with a little crying:

"The slave doesn't want to leave, Your Highness, do you have to change it like this in the future? Can you not change it......"

Zhu Jingyuan shook his head when he heard the words of the two, Zhu Jingyuan knew that the two girls were telling the truth, but this kind of truth made people very helpless.

It may seem difficult to understand that the owners are willing to give them freedom, but it is also a reality.

Chunxiang, a servant girl who takes care of the prince's daily life, is originally the highest grade among the slaves, and it is one level lower than the emperor's personal maid.

The key is that Zhu Jingyuan is a good master, and he will never toss her for no reason.

Occasionally, she is rewarded with jewelry and money, and she also has the opportunity to become the concubine of the prince.

Now that Zhu Jingyuan gives her freedom, she won't want it, unless she is guaranteed to arrange the grassroots management of the consortium or the wife of a low-level bureaucrat.

As for those ordinary domestic servants, as well as slaves in factories, as long as they come by normal means and have normal uses, most of them do not want to become free people.

As long as their masters are in their right minds, they will not kill their slaves for no reason.

For the slave itself is the property of the master, and it is not of low value.

The master will give the slaves the most basic livelihood guarantees, and even have to worry about them getting sick and hurt, because sickness, injury, and death are losses.

But the hired labor of this world is different.

What the employer buys is the amount of labor that the employee does over a period of time, not the employee himself.

Employers only care about how much work they can do for themselves during the time they are employed, and will ask them to do as much work as possible.

Even if an employee dies after doing his work, the employer does not lose any property, so he does not care whether the employee lives or dies.

Therefore, in this world, the living conditions of the employees in the lowest-level factories are actually lower than those of the lowest-level slaves, at least in terms of living security.

Therefore, even the lowest normal slave will not want to become the lowest hireling.

Unless they become hired laborers, they can continue to be treated the same as normal slaves, that is, they can receive the most basic security of life.

But in the actual emancipation movement, as well as in the actual abolition movement, the emancipators usually do not give such assurances.

Therefore, when the slaves were liberated, the fate before them was actually like this:

From having basic living security, there is a high probability that you can barely live and have no freedom.

It becomes a state of freedom without any security and may die at any time.

Slaves actually had to exchange their livelihood for so-called freedom.

For those at the bottom who are struggling to survive on the line of death, it is obvious which state they want to keep.

Therefore, slaves can be freed not because they are stupid or stupid, but because most of the liberators are selfish.

The workers changed from slaves to hired laborers, and the masters did not need to care about the life or death of the workers, and the overall operating costs were reduced, which was the internal driving force of the abolitionist movement.

Now, if a vassal state such as Korea is withdrawn, it is forbidden to buy and sell them as slaves if they are treated as citizens of the empire.

However, if the imperial court did not directly crack down on the slave industry and guide and reform the minds of the traders, the de facto trade would definitely continue.

And it will quickly and automatically convert into a transaction executed in the form of "hire".

As a result, the object of the sale has changed from a slave to a hired laborer, and the purchase price is definitely to be lowered, rather than a complete outright sale to the buyer.

So even slave traders are likely to support abolition.

But in the eyes of the parents who sold the child, the child is still sold, even if the child is theoretically free, he will not see it in the future.

However, the actual money after selling it is indeed less than theoretically.

The difference between the two is probably the value of freedom.

Zhu Jingyuan shook his head, shook off these thoughts, and said to the two maidservants in front of him:

"Chunxiang, Qiuyue, you should think carefully about what kind of promises you and other ordinary servants need to get before you can safely change from slaves to hired laborers.

"The relevant news has not been confirmed yet, you two discuss it by yourself, don't tell anyone else for the time being, you think for yourself, and tell me when I come back from morning exercise."

"This may be related to the future arrangements of all the slaves, including you, so think carefully and don't hide it."

After Zhu Jingyuan finished speaking, he put down the towel and turned around to go out, and the two maidservants who were confused and worried hurriedly stood up and followed.