Chapter 418 Too Skilled
Wang Chun and his family avoided everyone's gaze and held on tightly to the seats in the carriage.
As soon as Wang Ze saw the reaction of Wang Chun's family, he realized that what Butler Wang said was true.

The stationmaster of Yuzhou Station exchanged glances with Duan Ping, and it was unclear what they were thinking.
"What's going on?" Duan Ping asked.

Steward Wang hesitated for a moment and said, "This is also a shameful thing for my Yuzhou Wang family, but since you asked, let me tell you so that you can know what's going on."

Steward Wang's eyes fell on Wang Chun's family hiding in the corner of the carriage. He sneered and continued, "This man is very cunning. A few days ago, he came to my Wang family and wanted to sell his wife and two children as slaves. My master felt sorry for their hard life, so he bought these three people. As a result, this man was ungrateful and secretly took his wife and children and fled here when we were not paying attention."

The Ming Dynasty inherited the slave system of previous dynasties. Nobles and wealthy families usually had their own slaves, mainly recruited from rural or poor areas.

The Ming Dynasty law recognized and protected the slave system. For example, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty granted Li Shanchang 120 soldiers as slaves and later granted them iron certificates, which were also called iron certificate soldiers. For example, Lan Yu, the Duke of Liang, had hundreds of slaves. During the Yongle period, those who followed Jianwen but did not join the Yan army were mostly killed, and the relatives of the victims were all reduced to music households and included in the slave register.

After the reign of Emperor Jiajing, the economy of Jiangnan was prosperous, and there were many wealthy families. The number of bankrupt farmers and craftsmen who sold themselves as private slaves increased day by day. Some wealthy families had as many as one or two thousand slaves. All these slaves had a contract of sale, and their descendants could not get rid of it for generations.

Slavery was also prevalent in all parts of the Ming Dynasty, which eventually led to the famous Jiangnan Slave Rebellion in the late Ming Dynasty. The slaves tied up their masters and "took up weapons to demand their deeds", asking "Why do you call me a slave?" They shouted slogans such as "Eliminate masters and servants, nobles and humbles, rich and poor, and make them equal!" They occupied land and distributed food. "More than tens of thousands of people sat down and demanded their deeds", which was a huge movement with far-reaching impact.

The family of Xu Xiake, a famous geographer and traveler in the Ming Dynasty, suffered a slave rebellion. Xu Xiake's eldest son Xu Qi and more than 20 others were killed. His wife Miao escaped with their two sons Xu Jianji and Xu Jianshu.

Although it was only the middle of the Ming Dynasty, selling oneself into slavery was not uncommon.

More and more people on the platform were attracted by this scene.
Everyone's eyes fell on Wang Chun, who shouted with a ferocious face: "I won't go back with you. If you hadn't forced us to death, why would I sell my wife and children? We would rather die than go back with you. We won't survive if we go back anyway."

Then Wang Chun and his family burst into tears.
Wang Chun's words were very contagious, and Wang Ze was moved, as were the people around him.
Based on Wang Ze's understanding of Wang Chun, Wang Chun would never sell out his wife and children.
Steward Wang was unmoved by Wang Chun's words. He looked at the stationmaster and Duan Ping and said, "My lords, the matter is clear now. I will capture these fugitives right away."

After saying that, he winked at the servants beside him, and the servants were about to rush into the carriage. Wang Chun's family burst into tears. Wang Ze wanted to lend a hand, but he knew that he could not help at all. The people around him also foresaw the fate of Wang Chun's family, and they all looked reluctant.
A solid figure appeared at the door of the carriage. Duan Ping stood at the door like a wall, blocking the servants' way and looking at them with contempt.
"Get out!" Duan Ping shouted in a deep voice.

The servants were suddenly at a loss.
Butler Wang looked at the stationmaster. With his ability to read people's expressions, he knew that this person was the one who was really in charge.
"Sir, why is this happening?" Steward Wang looked straight at the stationmaster. "No reason. Everything must have evidence. You can't just say whatever you want." The stationmaster said briskly, "You said they were runaway slaves of the Wang family. You can't just say it without evidence. You need to show evidence! How can I let you arrest people without evidence?"

Butler Wang immediately smelled something different, and the people around him also felt something.
Steward Wang stared at the stationmaster for a long time before he slowly spoke: "I wonder what evidence the official wants."

"Since you said they sold themselves into slavery, there must be a contract of sale. You have to produce their contracts of sale as evidence!" the stationmaster said quickly.

The people around were stunned for a moment, and then the air was filled with a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone understood the attitude of the stationmaster.
The indenture is kept at home, who would take it out?
The webmaster is using this as an excuse, which means he is definitely invincible.
Butler Wang's face became extremely gloomy.
"If you can't produce it, I can't let you arrest anyone, so please go back." The webmaster said rudely.

"Don't worry, sir." Steward Wang suddenly laughed, "When I went out this time, the master specifically gave me some instructions and asked me to bring out the indentures of these people. Please take a look, sir."

After Wang Butler finished speaking, he took out a few pieces of paper with red handprints on them.
This turn of events stunned the people around. No one expected that Steward Wang could actually take out the indenture. The situation in the field suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse, becoming extremely unfavorable to Wang Chun's family.
The webmaster casually took the contract and flipped through it, but he didn't read a single word.
"Get started!" Butler Wang shouted.

The servants started to move, but Duan Ping at the door of the carriage showed no intention of moving aside.

"Butler Wang, don't be anxious! This is indeed a contract of sale, but it is not enough. Who knows if you just made up a contract of sale to fool me," the stationmaster said slowly.

"What do you mean, sir? You said I wanted to sell my body, so I took out the body contract," said Butler Wang, looking deeply at the stationmaster.

"There's not enough evidence." The stationmaster looked at Butler Wang without showing any weakness.

Wang Ze's heart was also lifted, he watched the confrontation silently, not daring to breathe
"What more evidence do you want?" Butler Wang said through gritted teeth.

"These indentures involve Wang Chun's wife and children. You have to prove that the people in the carriage are Wang Chun and his wife and daughter before I can release them," the stationmaster continued. Wang Ze even heard a sense of familiarity in his tone.
"Hahahaha!" The people around burst into laughter. They completely understood what the webmaster meant.
Butler Wang's face turned red. In the 21st century, proving who a person is takes a lot of effort, not to mention this era, proving who a person is is even more troublesome.
Butler Wang didn't expect to encounter such a tricky thing. He didn't know what to do for a moment, but he quickly thought of a solution.
(End of this chapter)

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