The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 833: The Power of the Dragon
A few days later, the Kyoto Morning Post published a news report stating that the Ministry of Justice had determined that the fire at the textile workshop in Gaotang County was caused by lax fire safety measures. Due to the high number of deaths and the significant impact of the incident, the owner of the workshop bore undeniable responsibility. The court decided to severely punish the owner, Cui Hongsheng, by stripping him of his title of Duke of the County, demoting him to a commoner, and exiling him to Liaodong.

The Kyoto Morning Post also published another statement, announcing that Duke Cui Hongzhou of Wu had removed all slaves from his household register, including servants in his son's household. Thus, there are no more slaves in the household of Duke Cui Hongzhou and his two sons.

That evening, the four Cui brothers, including Cui Hongjun, Cui Hongshou, Cui Hongzheng, and Cui Hongzhou, gathered at Cui Hongzhou's residence to discuss important matters of the Cui family. Although the Boling Cui clan had more than one branch, the second branch was basically in charge of all family affairs.

The second branch of the Cui family of Boling was known as a first-class family in the world and was hailed as the crown jewel of the gentry.

Although Cui Hongzhou was the youngest of the six brothers, he held the highest position. Not only was he the father of the Empress, but everyone also knew that he would succeed Pei Ju as Chancellor no later than next year. Originally, the Crown Prince's Chamberlain should have become Chancellor, but in order to take care of Pei Ju, Cui Hongzhou could only wait for the next term. However, Cui Hongzhou was currently serving under the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, which was a sign that he was about to become Chancellor.

Cui Hongzhou slowly said, "Second brother ignored advice and sold off the family business at a low price for personal gain. In the end, the Gaotang Weaving Workshop ran into trouble and backfired on him. It can be seen that there is a divine will in the dark."

"Did the Empress intervene in Second Brother's matter?" Cui Hongshou asked.

Cui Hongzhou nodded. "They must have pleaded for him, otherwise he would have been exiled to Anxi. Forty-seven people died; how could he possibly have escaped?"

Everyone fell silent again. Cui Hongjun then slowly said, "It's a good thing for the family that Second Brother isn't in Boling. We need to correct many things. Our family has suffered setbacks in the past few years, largely due to his perverse actions. All the properties he sold off at bargain prices must be taken back. All students who don't meet the Cui family's qualifications must be expelled. The discriminatory clauses against illegitimate sons must be abolished. The lax family rules must be strengthened again. The great scholars he drove away must be invited back. The charitable act of helping the elderly and orphans must be reinstated. The support for temples must be abolished. Taking concubines is strictly prohibited unless it's for the sake of offspring. Younger members are not allowed to go to brothels or other places of pleasure. In short, Second Brother's decisions over the past three years must be reviewed one by one, and those that violate the rules must be resolutely dealt with."

Choi Hong-jun was extremely resentful of Choi Hong-seung's various perverse actions, and he wished he could expel him from the family.

Cui Hongjun's attitude won unanimous agreement from everyone. The four brothers decided to appoint the sixth brother, Cui Hongzhou, as the head of the family, replacing Cui Hongsheng. Since Cui Hongzhou was not in Boling, Cui Kuang, who had retired from officialdom, would temporarily assume the duties of the head of the family.

At this moment, Cui Hongzhou said to his elder brothers, "The Emperor has entrusted us with another important matter."

Everyone's spirits lifted immediately, and Cui Hongzhou slowly said, "The Emperor hopes that the Cui family of Boling will take the lead in abolishing slavery and set an example for all the gentry families in the world."

Cui Hongjun paused for a moment and said, "I really didn't expect the abolition of slavery to be so important. This time, the emperor publicly executed the governor and the prefect of Wei Commandery and even accused them of defying the court and the emperor's orders."

"That's why I said this is an opportunity."

Cui Hongzhou said to his elder brothers, “No one realizes the importance of the abolition of slavery. The Emperor himself told the Empress that the abolition of slavery is not just about increasing the population, but more importantly, it concerns the stability of the country. Household slaves are the root of rebellion, and he must solve this problem within five years. If our Cui family can take the lead, it will be a meritorious service to the emperor. Do you all understand what I mean?”

At this moment, Cui Hongzheng, who had remained silent until now, slowly said, "I've done the math. Our entire Boling Cui clan has over 3,200 slaves, but slaves also need to eat, live, and have housing. They also need their masters to take care of them from birth to old age, illness, and death. The various expenses are not small. Converted into land rent, it's roughly 40/60. If we convert the slaves into tenant farmers, the rent will be 50/50, which is basically not much different. The loss of over 3,000 slaves would be at most 10,000 strings of cash, but the political benefits we would gain would be enormous. We are a prestigious family that responded to the emperor's call to completely abolish slavery. In the future, the emperor will definitely reward us. Any reward will far exceed the loss from abolishing slavery." The four brothers finally reached a consensus. The Boling Cui clan would take the lead in completely abolishing slavery. Once the four brothers made their decision, the entire family would implement it. The four of them controlled the second branch of the Boling Cui clan, and the second branch of the Cui clan controlled the entire family. This was the leader effect.

The following morning, more than one hundred members of the Cui clan living in Luoyang held a meeting at the ancestral hall and formally passed a resolution for Cui Hongzhou to succeed as the head of the family, as well as a resolution for the complete abolition of slavery by the Boling Cui clan.

Two days later, the Kyoto Morning Post published the bombshell news of "The Choi Clan of Boling Abolishing Slavery" on its front page. The newspaper had been publishing news about the abolition of slavery for the past few days, so the news of the Choi Clan of Boling Abolishing Slavery was like a depth charge. On the surface, it was calm, but in reality, it caused a great reaction among the major aristocratic families.

The Cui family of Boling was a bellwether. The Cui family's abolition of slavery would inevitably force many families who were hoping for a lucky break to face reality. Soon, the Pei family of Wenxi also announced the complete abolition of slavery. Pei Ju, a seasoned official, had already realized that the abolition of slavery was inevitable. Rather than having to abolish slavery in the end, it was better to take the initiative and leave a good impression on the emperor.

Immediately afterwards, the head of the Yuan family also announced his anger, and more than 10,000 slaves were freed from slavery and became commoners. The Guanzhong gentry also began to follow suit, and the next one was the Cui family of Qinghe. The two Cui families basically followed each other.

No aristocratic family is stupid; they know that in the face of the prevailing trend, going with the flow is the best course of action.

Following this, the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Zheng family of Xingyang, the Wei family of Jingzhao, the Su family of Jingzhao, the Li family of Longxi, the Li family of Zhaojun, the Gao family of Bohai, the Lu family of Wujun, the Dugu family, the Houmochen family, and many other families announced the abolition of slavery.

The abolition of slavery, which had been stalled for two years, was finally broken thanks to the leadership of the Cui family of Boling in abolishing slavery. Of course, the root cause was still the major case in Wei Commandery.

The abolition of slavery by families in various places rose up one after another, growing bigger and bigger like a snowball.

However, there was a type of abolition of slavery that was very low-key: the official abolition of slavery. After the Wei County case was communicated to all counties and prefectures across the country, the official slaves disappeared completely almost overnight.

In early October, the imperial court issued another notice requiring all officials to conduct self-examinations and release the slaves in their homes as soon as possible. Starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year next year, if anyone reports that an official still owns slaves, the Ministry of Personnel will investigate the case. If the report is verified, the official will be dismissed from his post.

In addition, scholars who owned slaves would not be admitted to the imperial examinations, and even if they were lucky enough to be admitted, they would not pass the Ministry of Personnel's review.

Thus, Xiao Xia's goal of abolishing slavery, which he planned to complete within five years, was already 80% complete by the end of the year, and the remaining 20% ​​would be completed within a year.

(End of this chapter)