Being rich and powerful is really convenient for anything.

In the past, I was rushing to let others take advantage of others, but now they are rushing to let me take advantage of others. When I left, the director of the branch wanted to treat me to dinner. After I politely declined, I still had a smile on my face.

Of course, those from the Ming Dynasty would take them away. If they were left here, the police station would definitely detain them and keep them as scapegoats. I wanted to buy them some food, but the shops were not open, so I had no place to buy them, and there was no place to change to take the bus. In desperation, I could only let them leave empty-handed and continue to walk to the Yujiang family.

Although they were empty-handed, their stomachs were not empty. I ate all the snacks used by the police station to entertain me. I didn't eat much, but just drank some tea.

These Ming refugees have been in Yuanxing for several months, suffered a lot and knew a lot of things. On the way to Yujiang's house, I began to sort out the information they got from them.

According to those refugees in the Ming Dynasty, they were from Bianzhou. I have never heard of this place. They said that Bianzhou is located in the north of the Ming Dynasty and is adjacent to Dazhao. They were originally farmers, but because the tax burden was too heavy and farming could not support the whole family, they had to sell the land to the landlords and go to the city to make a living with the money from selling land.

They said that the Ming Dynasty is now full of farmers who have lost their land and have to go to the city to make a living. There are very few factories in the Ming Dynasty. It is logical that there should be many workshops and many people need to learn arts and work, but in fact it is not the case.

Since about 40 years ago, the Ming Dynasty began to import daily necessities from foreign countries, and the import volume has increased year by year. Imported goods were sold cheaply and of good quality. The Ming people quickly gave up their own goods and switched to imported goods. Due to long-term losses, a large number of domestic workshops went bankrupt, and a large number of craftsmen lost their jobs.

In recent years, Westerners have begun to build factories in the Ming Dynasty. The factories they built are all very large. One factory can accommodate tens of thousands of workers and the output is amazing. It is said that dozens of factories can meet the needs of the entire Ming Dynasty. The establishment of these Western factories further squeezed the living space of their workshops, causing more workshops to go bankrupt and more craftsmen to be unemployed.

Of course, this is not their original words. The content you see is the conclusion I came to after analysis and sorting out.

I asked them, there are so many unemployed people, how can they live?

They replied that Westerners would buy people, saying that they would go to the West to make gold and earn a silver dollar a day. None of the people who went out came back, and they didn't know if it was accurate.

The Ming army also recruited people, and as long as they meet the recruitment standards, they would not refuse anyone. If you don’t want to join the army or go abroad, you can also be a tenant for the landlords or the current people in the city.

I asked them, since there are so many ways to live, why do they still run to the big first and Yuanxing? Their answer was that the quota of tenants and servants was limited, and they could not get it, and they did not want to go abroad.

The Ming Dynasty also made a rebellion in the reform party, and it was more terrible than Dasheng. They had rebelled several times. The Ming army suppressed bandits and suppressed rebellions every year, and many people died every year. They were afraid of death and did not want to join the army. Later, people heard that Dasheng was rich and could find a job. Yuanxing City was full of gold, and when they came, they could become rich, so they took the risk.

When I saw that they had only men and no women, I asked them, where are the women in your family?

The people from the Ming Dynasty replied that women came with them. But women could not come out to see people, so they could only hide outside the city, waiting for food before sending them to them.

I didn't understand this. I asked them why women could not meet people. They replied that the Ming Dynasty was different from the Daxian. The Daxian women were both powerful and could show up in public, but the Ming Dynasty women were not.

I asked them again, why can't the women of the Ming Dynasty show up? They acted as if they were taken for granted, saying that every woman was inappropriate and was unreasonable to walk around outside.

It was then that I remembered what I had mentioned in a book. The book said that in the two countries of Daming and Dawu, women had no status. The situation in Daming was better, but women had no right to inherit property and could not go out casually. The women in Dawu were more miserable. What men said was what they said, and even if they were asked to die, they had to go obediently.

Moreover, after the husband dies, women must be widowed, cannot remarry, and cannot be kind to other men, otherwise they will be unfaithful and will be hung.

Among the six Central Plains, the women in the Great Chen Kingdom had the highest status. Women could write divorce letters to men and even become emperors. The second emperor of Great Chen and the previous emperor were the queen. The previous emperor, the second queen of Great Chen, passed away when I was thirteen years old, and the current emperor became a man again.

By the way, the book was lent to me by Shuang'er, which basically talks about the social status of women in various countries today. Shuang'er seems to care about this matter very much, and has said more than once that Daxian should be like Da Chen, with men and women completely equal.

I can't understand her idea at all. I think the woman in Daxian lives a good life and is not bullied. After introducing Western mechanical production equipment, women can also work in factories and earn money to support their families. Those women who earn money to support their families, such as my mother, have a high status at home, and she has the final say in many things at home.

But in formal occasions, such as when the Gun family is having a meeting, mother cannot speak. Because women cannot speak in such occasions, this is the rule. However, she can tell her father what she thinks and let her father speak, without delaying anything.

When people live, they need food, clothing, housing and transportation. All of these require money. Isn’t it normal for whoever makes money, and whoever has the final say in the family? If women cannot make money and they have the final say, what will the man who earns money to support the family become?

If you don’t work, don’t make money, and have the final say, that is the superior; if you work hard, make money to support your family, and have the final say, that is the servant. If you really let a woman who doesn’t make money decide at home, then it’s not equality between men and women, but a servant who becomes a woman and is bullied by a woman, which is not equal at all.

The young man from the Ming Dynasty said before that he could not get a cake even if he went to the market, and this matter also made me very concerned. After asking, I realized that refugees also formed gangs and fought against each other. Refugees with gangs would bribe municipal officials or patrolmen, and usually cleaned women with pretty good looks and figures and gave them to enjoy. When the yamen officials and patrolmen accepted the bribes, they would look at them.

When the yamen sends out cakes, they will give more vagrant gangs who have bribed themselves. There are many cakes. If someone receives more, others will not be able to eat them. Those vagrants who have no gangs or gangs basically cannot receive food.

Once a conflict occurs between refugees, the patrol officer will help those refugee gangs who have bribed themselves. If both sides have bribed themselves or colleagues, they will come forward to mediate and settle the matter.

I asked them again, can they survive by begging? They replied, "No." I asked them again, what are you referring to? They replied that if someone fights and needs someone to support the scene, they will come to the side to recruit people. If they just support the scene, just give a small cake. If they want to fight, they have to pay, which is usually one cent per person.

A pancake worth five cents per is white flour cake. Some people have such a big face and thick fingers, commonly known as a big cake. If they don’t work hard, one meal will definitely be full. If they work hard, neither can stop them. When prices do not rise, one cent is enough to buy two such cakes. If it’s a meal a day, you can eat them for two days.

As for small cakes, they are only half a slap of adult men. The white flour sells for one cent, and the corn flour sells for two cents. The corn flour usually uses corn flour. Sometimes the people who pull people don’t give cakes or money, and they just use a car to pull baskets of raw potatoes or sweet potatoes to attract people. The refugees are not picky about food, and as long as they think the price is appropriate, they will help support the scene or fight.

In addition to the food and money given by others, they will also catch some living things to eat, such as insects, rats, toads by the river, or pick up garbage to eat. The people in the market basically don’t throw garbage because there is nothing to throw away. Only those living in the street will throw garbage because only they have left.
Chapter completed!