The work of cleaning up the new home became much easier with Lao Wu's help.

Lao Wu was a native of Jinling and was extremely familiar with Jinling. He quickly helped Chen Yunfu hire more than a dozen day laborers from the market.

Employment, part-time labor.

These are two very key words. Write them down and don’t take the test.

There were slaves in the Ming Dynasty, but this policy was criticized because there were no slaves in the Song Dynasty.

Of course, the Song Dynasty turned a blind eye to the private ownership of slaves by official, noble, prominent, and wealthy families, but it established a memorial arch, which was the master-client system.

By the time of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian slave-holding custom led to the reappearance of slave registration, and the Ming Dynasty inherited the Yuan Dynasty and retained this much criticized policy that is not allowed by post-modern civilization.

Since there were slaves in the Ming Dynasty, why did Lao Wu hire day laborers instead of buying slaves directly?

The reason lies in an edict issued by Zhu Yuanzhang in the fifth year of Hongwu.

"Those who are weak, orphaned and unable to survive cannot be cast into the homes of common people as slaves."

The meaning of these two sentences together is concise and focused, that is, non-official households cannot keep slaves.

This is where the class nature comes to the fore.

Chen Yunfu was not an official, so of course he was not qualified to raise slaves at home, so he could only hire a group of people to work in the house as part-time workers.

He can't even be called a servant.

Because the word servant also has an obvious meaning of master and servant, and it has the nature of the oppressing and oppressed classes under the traditional patriarchal system.

But part-time workers will not have this feeling.

Chen Yunfu is just the boss and has an equal status with his employees.

It's like the so-called relationship between individual business owners and employees.

The latter get paid to go to work and can resign if they are not happy with their work.

There is no detention relationship in which one party forces the other to lead.

As for the wives, daughters and slaves who voluntarily sold themselves to the wealthy class before the edict, Zhu Yuanzhang's instruction was to "buy them for official redemption", which meant that the government would buy them out and release them as slaves.

However, considering the huge impact of the Kongyin Case and the Guo Huan Case in the early Ming Dynasty and the devastating impact on local landlords, powerful people, and the wealthy class, the possibility of the government spending money to redeem it on its own is probably very high.

Having digressed, let’s get back to the topic.

Lao Wu hired more than a dozen short-term workers for Chen Yunfu and then left. Now the former Yan Mansion has become Chen's residence, and it has welcomed its second owner. He is the keeper of Cao's house in Yingtian Mansion.

That's when it's over and it's time to return to the Yamen.

It is impossible for him to stay and be Chen Yunfu's housekeeper.

Even if he wanted to, Chen Yunfu would not be able to admit it.

After all, Lao Wu also works in the yamen, and even a subordinate official cannot work in the home of a common man like him. Then Chen Yunfu really doesn't know what is good and what is good.

Fortunately, Ling'er and other former palace maids are here.

Linger was Empress Ma's former female official. She was from the Shanggong Bureau. She was a good handler in housekeeping and put her talents to good use. Chen Yunfu entrusted all the affairs of the family to her.

As for myself.

Yao Guangxiao came and wanted to take him to dinner and meet someone by the way.

As for whom to meet in the evening, everyone seems to have a tacit understanding of this issue.

Chen Yunfu and Yao Guangxiao sat here in Tingyun Pavilion on Wangyue Tower for about a quarter of an hour when they heard the sound of footsteps outside the door. The back door was pushed open from far to near, and a man whom he had already suspected in his mind pushed the door and walked in.

.

King Yan of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di is here!

"See King Yan." Yao Guangxiao stood up and was the first to greet him.

Zhu Di had a warm smile on his face. After living in peace in the capital for half a year, he looked much younger and his evil spirit had faded a lot.

"Master Daoyan, there is no need to be polite. Sit down quickly."

As he spoke, Zhu Di cast his eyes on Chen Yunfu who was behind Yao Guangxiao.

"Your Majesty, this junior fellow who used to be a poor monk, his Buddhist name is Daoming, but now he has returned to secular life, his surname is Chen Taoyunfu."

Yao Guangxiao stepped aside halfway and introduced Chen Yunfu to Zhu Di.

Chen Yunfu was also unambiguous and did not dare to look at Zhu Di casually. He directly lifted his robe and knelt down to worship.

"Chen Yunfu, a common man, meets His Highness the King of Yan. His Majesty is a thousand years old."

He is now a commoner and has no official status. He is no longer a monk of Tianjie Temple. When he sees a vassal king like Zhu Di, he must of course bow to him. How dare he bow casually.

However, he did not bow down this time. He was still a few inches from the ground when he was lifted up by Zhu Di with both hands.

"Young Master Daoming, don't be so polite. You have been chanting sutras for your mother for half a year. For this reason, I owe you a favor."

Zhu Di, who was in his twenties, was very polite, and coupled with his heroic appearance and his status as King of Yan, it was hard not to be fond of him, but Chen Yunfu did not dare to take advantage of him too much.

Because Zhu Di is the poison of blind power and cannot be touched lightly.

Moreover, Yao Guangxiao didn't know what An was thinking when he brought himself to see Zhu Di.

Sure enough, Chen Yunfu stood up and thanked Zhu Di, and Yao Guangxiao beside him spoke.

"King Yan, you know that my junior brother has now returned to secular life."

"Oh?" Zhu Di pretended to have just known the gesture, and said happily: "Good thing, good thing. Little friend Yunfu is very talented, and he is also smart and alert. Being a monk is indeed a derogation of talent. It is a good thing to become a layman. If I don't have this, little friend

How about we go to Peking together with Gu after the moon is over?"

Is this an olive branch from Emperor Yongle?

Chen Yunfu was a little unbelievable. He was not as well-known as Zeng Tai. How could He De be worthy of Zhu Di's invitation?

There will be no pie in the sky. Chen Yunfu has always kept this in mind.

So he immediately said: "What King Yan doesn't know is that the common people have already settled in Jinling and plan to study poetry and books in order to participate in next year's imperial examination."

When he was rejected, Zhu Di was not angry and still nodded with a smile.

"Okay, okay, it's a good thing to take part in the imperial examination, become an official, and serve the country. Then I wish my little friend Luming High School in advance to win the top three."

After saying this, Zhu Di clapped his hands, and several soldiers guarding the door opened the door and walked in.

Work in pairs, each carrying a box.

The box was very heavy and made a muffled sound when it fell to the ground. It seemed that the contents were quite substantial.

Zhu Di didn't hesitate and opened the two boxes directly.

In an instant, Chen Yunfu, who was covered in dazzling jewels, could not help but hold his breath.

Two boxes full of jewelry, gold and silver!

"Jinling is no better than other places. There are more places to spend money. I have been in the north for a long time. The products are poor and I have nothing to offer as a greeting gift. Fortunately, I helped North Korea drive away the Mongols and confiscated a lot of gold and silver.

Since there is no need for it, I will give it to you, little friend Yunfu, to support the imperial examination."

The earliest political donation in ancient times was the imperial examination support.

If a local family has a scholar or other scholar, they will not be short of money when they enter the imperial examination in Beijing. Local wealthy families will often line up to give money, which is called to finance the imperial examination expenses, but is actually a political donation.

But political donations are a method used by businessmen at the lowest level. After all, scholars, farmers, and merchants, and as the most powerful vassal king in the Ming Dynasty, how could Zhu Di send money to Chen Yunfu?

In other words, why is Chen Yunfu?

This can only mean that Zhu Di has already begun to lay out Jinling at this moment.

Chen Yunfu, who was able to receive real estate from Zhu Yuanzhang, became Zhu Di's target.

As soon as the news of Zhu Biao's poor health spread, it would surely stir up trouble in all directions.

In other words, the prince is the foundation of the country.
Chapter completed!