Di Ming

Chapter 56 The Yangtze River!

"Father." A clear, childlike voice interrupted Zhu Yin's poetic reverie.

Zhu Yin turned his head and saw that it was one of the twins.

"I already told you, don't call me dad," Zhu Yin corrected again, speechless.

He snapped his folding fan shut. "I'm only nine years old, and you're two years older than me."

Ning Caiwei couldn't help but smile upon hearing this. Now they're complaining about her being too young?

Your goddaughter Dongguo is two years older than you, how come you're also her godfather?

My sister also became a mother because of this.

He died unjustly.

Now the twins call you "Dad," and you say you're too young, but actually you just think they don't have any connections or influence like Dongguo.

The twin brothers' surname is Kang. One is named Kang Gousheng and the other Kang Goudan. They come from a poor family of boat trackers.

In their own words, life is as cheap as dirt, worthless.

The twin brothers, only ten years old, followed their father, looking like mud-covered monkeys, pulling boats and carrying loads at the dock. They worked from dawn till dusk, barely making ends meet.

“Father.” Kang Gousheng said with a hint of grievance, “Father is the head of the family and the benefactor who adopted me. I can’t be without manners. I don’t know what to call you, and I don’t know what to call you.”

Zhu Yin was speechless.

Kang Gousheng wasn't wrong in calling him that. Since he had taken him in, Kang Gousheng should indeed call him "Dad."

In the Ming Dynasty, the word "father" had two meanings.

First, the father; second, the master.

Servants generally address their masters as "father" and "mother".

According to the "Great Proclamation," only officials of the third rank or above were legally allowed to keep slaves, and even high-ranking officials of the third rank could only keep eight slaves.

Those below the third rank are not permitted.

So how did the gentry and wealthy merchants circumvent the law by keeping slaves?
Using adoption as a pretext.

Therefore, if we really want to be strict with the "Great Proclamation", the illegal servant relationship falls under the legal category of "adoptive father and adopted son".

Therefore, servants began to call their masters "father" and "mother." Even if the master was a child, he would still call him "father."

After the Hongzhi era, many provisions in the "Great Ming Code" and "Great Proclamation" became mere formalities, existing in name only, yet the terminology was habitually retained.

Similarly, there was the practice of taking concubines.

Concubines also addressed their husbands as "father" and their wives as "mother."

Emperor Taizu decreed that commoners over the age of forty who had no children were allowed to take concubines.

Officials and wealthy businessmen would create "godfather-goddaughter" relationships in order to take concubines. In reality, the concubine was a "god-daughter" in name only.

This created a loophole. Eventually, the law became virtually ineffective, and this custom of addressing someone remained.

As a result, slavery became rampant in the Ming Dynasty, with a huge number of slaves who were not registered in the household register, and even led to several "slave rebellions".

Zhu Yin thought for a moment and said, "If you follow me, just call me Lord. It means head of the family. Have you ever heard of opera? Just call me Lord."

The title "Lord" actually existed in the Ming Dynasty and was not considered a forbidden term, but it was rarely used.

Moreover, these were mostly terms used by subordinates to address their superiors, shopkeepers to address their owners, and guests to address their benefactors.

Upon hearing the word "My Lord," Ning Caiwei's face tightened, and she tried her best not to smile.

Ning Qingchen couldn't help but giggle.

"Yes, my lord!" Kang Gousheng and Kang Goudan accepted the order together and were about to kneel down.

Zhu Yin shouted, "I told you not to kneel! From now on, you can only bow deeply, not kneel."

"Yes, my lord." The twins could only stand up straight and instead bowed with their hands clasped above their heads in a salute.

Zhu Yin suddenly thought of something and said seriously:

"Your names aren't very respectable. I'll change them for you."

The folding fan snapped open. "Who's the boss?"

Kang Gousheng said, "It's me."

Zhu Yin nodded and gently waved his folding fan. "From now on, you will not be called Kang Gousheng, you will be called Kangxi."

Kangxi? Kang Gousheng was illiterate, but he knew right from wrong.

It's obvious that Kangxi was better than Gousheng!

"Thank you, my lord, for naming me!" Kang Gousheng exclaimed with delight. "From now on, I will be Emperor Kangxi!"

Zhu Yin then said to Kang Gou Dan, "Second brother, from now on you won't be called Gou Dan, you'll be called Kang Qian."

"Kang Qianlong..." Kang Gou Dan was also very happy; this name sounded better than Gou Dan.

The lord is clearly a well-educated young master; his naming skills surpass even his father's. "Father!" The two brothers suddenly faced north, knelt down on the deck, and wept.

"Father, don't worry, we won't die. The Kang family will have descendants!"

"Gou Dan and I have new names. I'm called Kangxi, and Gou Dan is called Kangqian! When we burn paper money and incense for you, you should know it's us!"

After saying that, he kowtowed repeatedly on the deck.

This time, Zhu Yin did not stop them from kneeling. They were kneeling before their deceased father.

Ning Caiwei hugged her younger sister, turned around to face the other side, her body trembling uncontrollably.

But she couldn't laugh out loud; she had to hold it in, her abdominal muscles aching from the effort.

Difficult to stretch.

What the hell are Kangxi and Kangxi-Qianlong?

This man has such a perverse sense of humor, how annoying!
Seriously! This is hilarious!

"Giggle..." Ning Qingchen was an infant with extremely low emotional control, and she was laughing so hard she almost choked.

This dog-headed spy is also a goofball.

“Father…” The thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, dressed in patched clothes, stepped forward and said, “Father, please change my name too.”

Zhu Yin sighed in an old-fashioned manner, "Ugly girl, I've told you twice already, don't call me father."

"You should call me Lord, just like Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong."

This woman was also from Shandong, and her name was Jin Chouman.

But in fact, she is not ugly at all; her features are quite delicate, and she has the bone structure of a beauty.

He was just malnourished; his hair was dry and yellow, he was very thin, and his skin was a bit rough.

If someone were truly ugly, they wouldn't be targeted by human traffickers. Ugly people don't fetch a good price.

Human traffickers are bad, but not stupid.

She was a boatwoman on Weishan Lake, living on Weishan Island. From a young age, she followed her parents to sail and ride the waves, enduring the hardships of life.

But after her parents died, her sister-in-law couldn't tolerate her anymore. Her two older brothers also ignored her.

According to local custom, a daughter's wedding requires a substantial dowry; even impoverished boatmen need a new boat with a minimum dowry of twenty shi (a unit of weight).

The two older brothers lived their own lives and were unwilling to help their sister get married by boat. At the behest of their respective wives, they simply ignored the matter.

Upon hearing Zhu Yin ask her to change her address, she immediately said, "My lord, I also want to change my name."

Zhu Yin said, "Alright. You can call yourself Jin Yunniang. But if you change your name, you'll be removed from the Yellow Register of Household Registration."

The name is casual, but it's not a joke.

"Thank you, my lord." Jin Chouman said with a joyful expression. "From now on, I will be called Yunniang. I don't care about the Yellow Register of Household Registration."

She was already thirteen years old, so of course she could tell that Zhu Yin came from an extraordinary background.

Jin Yunniang revealed a stubborn look, "I will follow my lord well and not let them look down on me."

The "they" she was referring to were, of course, her brother and sister-in-law.

...

After the black ships passed Xuzhou and left the Huitong River, the upstream became downstream, and the ships' speed increased significantly.

Two days later, the boat passed the Huai River and entered the Huaiyang section of the canal. The canal was even wider, and the banks were bustling with activity.

The grain transport boats on the river flew the flag of the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner, and they were all standard grain transport boats with a capacity of 400 shi (a unit of dry measure) customized by the Ministry of Works.

A large fleet of ships, escorted by soldiers from the canal transport bureau.

It looked like a naval fleet sailing north.

According to the Ministry of Revenue's requirements, the minimum standard for annual grain transport to Beijing was four million shi (a unit of dry measure), not including losses during the journey.

This means that standard grain transport ships of 400 shi (a unit of dry measure) would be needed to transport 10,000 loads. If the food consumption of the grain transport soldiers and workers along the way is taken into account, at least 12,000 loads would be required.

This means that on average, forty grain transport ships belonging to the Ministry of Revenue would travel north on the canal every day.

With the addition of merchant ships, civilian ships, military ships, official ships, salt ships, as well as procurement ships from various textile manufacturing offices in Jiangnan and various palace bureaus, the waterways were extremely busy.

Because the journey was smooth sailing, Zhu Yin and his group completed the 400-mile-long Huaiyang Canal in just two days.

On the morning of July 11, a magnificent river finally appeared in front of us. As far as the eye could see, the water and sky met, a vast expanse of white.

Beneath the radiant sunrise, gulls and egrets danced gracefully in the air.

Yangtze!

P.S.: We've finally reached the Yangtze River. The story of this book has truly begun.

(End of this chapter)