The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 38 Punishment of the Beneficiary
"Very busy, right?" Yue Wenxuan suddenly landed in front of Qian Zhuoqun.

Qian Zhuoqun quickly put down the Cuju in his left hand and the brush in his right hand, freeing his hands to bow deeply: "Your Excellency, I am the only one in the Jimo Righteous Army who can write and calculate, and I am a little overwhelmed."

"I have considered this matter a long time ago and have already left you a solution, but you haven't thought of it yet." Yue Wenxuan said with a smile.

Qian Zhuoqun was confused and wanted to ask more, but he saw the True Lord waved his hand and said, "Follow me."

This dumb fan beat Qian Zhuoqun so hard that he felt very uncomfortable!

Hurry and follow behind...

I saw the True Lord in front, turning left and right, as if he was very familiar with the roads in Wangjiazhuang Fort, and he quickly arrived at the backyard gate.

The backyard gate was closed.

When Qian Zhuoqun saw the door, he suddenly understood.

The wives of Mr. Wang lived in this courtyard.

When the rebel army attacked the village fortress, the True Lord was stationed at the gate of the courtyard and protected all the female members of the Wang family.

No one understood what it meant at the time, until now, Qian Zhuoqun finally understood it.

In those days, the women in the homes of wealthy gentry were usually literate and could write and do math, so it was just right to use them to help manage food and property.

At this time, the women were hiding in the backyard in panic and helplessness, not knowing what their future fate would be. For them, the past few days were the longest torment in their lives.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of the courtyard door opening, and the leader of the "bandits" led a group of soldiers in, scaring the women so much that they turned pale.

"The day when innocence is lost" has finally come.

Unexpectedly, the young, handsome, and scholarly-looking bandit leader actually spoke to the houses with their doors tightly shut: "I need a few people to help the rebels with their accounts, managing their money, food, and weapons. If there are any of you who can write and do math, please come out and work. You can receive wages like a pharmacy owner."

"Hey?" The women were stunned for a long time. A door opened and the cousin of Mr. Wang came out. The woman also had the surname Wang and the given name You. She was only seventeen years old this year and still a virgin. She was a little beauty, but she was a little scared in the past few days. She couldn't eat or sleep, and she looked haggard and her eyes were dull.

She mustered up her courage and said, "This great king..."

Yue Wenxuan smiled: "You can call me True Lord like the other rebels, or you can call me Young Master."

Wang You then said, "True Lord, I can write and count. I am willing to serve you as your slave. I will do whatever you ask of me. I only ask for one thing."

Yue Wenxuan: "Oh? Tell me about it."

Wang You: "I only beg you, Master, to spare the other women in this courtyard and let them leave."

Yue Wenxuan spread his hands and said, "From the beginning, I had no intention of doing anything to you. I locked you up in the courtyard not to restrict your freedom, but to let you calm down first."

Wang You was stunned when he heard this.

Qian Zhuoqun chimed in, "Do you know what's going on outside? The Jin soldiers have just retreated, and the imperial officials haven't yet arrived. The entire Jimo County is in a state of limbo. Bandits are rampant outside, and the mountaintops are everywhere. Whoever has the bigger fist is the law. If the True Lord had let you women go from the beginning, it would be a miracle that you could walk fifty miles alive."

Wang You's face drastically changed, and the women in the room who had been hiding and eavesdropping also turned pale with fear. Yue Wenxuan continued, "I know you're afraid because the rebels killed the men in your family. But... they're collaborators and traitors, oppressing innocent people. They deserve to be killed!"

Wang Huyou remained silent.

Yue Wenxuan: "But I won't take this out on women. In this world, women are powerless to influence men's decisions. Mr. Wang is collaborating with the enemy and selling out his country, and you don't even have the power to object."

Wang You cried out "wow".

These words touched her heart!

She knew her uncle was colluding with the Jin people, and she felt it was wrong, but what could she do? Object? Forget it, a mere cousin, Wang Daguanren's wife, wouldn't dare say a word against it.

Yue Wenxuan: "But you are not completely innocent either. Your luxurious living is due to Mr. Wang's collaborating with the enemy and oppressing innocent people. Although you are not the main culprit, you are also a beneficiary. Hiding in the backyard these past few days, feeling terrified, uneasy, and mentally tortured, this is my punishment for you beneficiaries."

Qian Zhuoqun, who was listening to Zhenqun's theory, couldn't help but look sideways in astonishment. So the True Lord had considered so much? I thought he'd saved these women, just like he'd kept the salt smuggler, just to help the rebels get some tools for writing and calculating. I hadn't expected the True Lord to have a reason for doing things, and it was quite convincing.

Yue Wenxuan: "I've made it clear. From now on, those of you who want to leave can leave, but those who want to stay will have to work for their wages. I will have the rebels provide you with food for another three days, and after those three days, every grain of rice you eat must be earned by your own hands."

Hearing this, the doors of all the rooms in the yard opened.

There are quite a lot of female members in the Wang family. Including Wang You, there are seven of them in total. Including their maids, more than twenty people came out of the house together and looked at Yue Wenxuan with complicated eyes.

Originally, only Wang You expressed his willingness to work for the rebel army. Now all the women in the Wang family have to come out and express their stance, otherwise they will run out of food in three days, which could be fatal.

I get paid according to the medicine shop owner's salary...

The wages were not too low, definitely a little more than what ordinary people made, but forget about keeping a maid. Several women from the Wang family looked at their maids with embarrassment.

The maids also understood that from today on, they had to leave the master's house.

The Song Dynasty was a very special era. The Tang Dynasty before the Song Dynasty and the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties after the Song Dynasty all had a slave system. Once enslaved, they became the private property of their masters and had an extremely low status.

This was not the case during the Song Dynasty. Starting in the middle of the Song Dynasty, slaves were employed. They were no longer the property of their masters, but rather had independent personalities protected by law. They were considered good people, no longer pariahs. They simply signed long-term employment contracts with their employers due to financial hardship. Once the contract expired, they were no longer bound by their masters' labor.

The maximum employment period stipulated in the "Song Dynasty Criminal Code" is ten years.

Of course, those who are rich and powerful can use their power to manipulate the contract, turning "employment-based" slaves into "permanent" slaves.

But that's illegal!
Illegal slavery still exists even in modern society, so I won’t go into details here.

In short, the maids are not the master's private property, and the master has no right to decide whether these maids stay or go, and can't even think of reselling them for money under such circumstances.

Yue Wenxuan also waved to the maids and said, "If there are any of you who can write and count, you can come and work for the rebels. The wages will be paid according to the standard of a pharmacy owner. If you can't, it doesn't matter. The rebels still need a logistics team to boil water and cook for them."

The maids didn't even need 0.32 seconds to think before they immediately replied, "We are willing."

(End of this chapter)