Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Long live the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty!

There are very few relatives of the Wang family who are now officials.

One of them was named Meng Zhonghou, who was Qin Hui's brother-in-law and the husband of Wang's cousin.

Due to historical reasons, Zhao Yuan had a very good impression of Empress Dowager Meng.

Moreover, Meng Zhonghou, along with the former Song imperial guards, actively surrendered when Zhao Yuan took control of Tokyo, so he's doing quite well right now.

With the Ming Dynasty moving its capital to Luoyang, Meng Zhonghou, who remained in Kaifeng, has risen to become the third-in-command of the Kaifeng police system.

There was also Zheng Yinian, the son of Zheng Juzhong, the former prime minister of the Song Dynasty, and also Wang's cousin.

Zheng Yinian was suppressed by Wang Fu and demoted to a local post as a prefect.

However, he turned misfortune into blessing, and after the fall of Kaifeng, he surrendered the entire prefecture to the Ming Dynasty.

He had rendered meritorious service, so he was promoted back to the imperial court and given a sinecure.

In the last major national corruption case, Zheng Yinian managed to weather the storm unscathed because he had no real power.

Moreover, he was transferred to Shaanxi as a powerful prefect.

Another person, Li Qiu, is the father-in-law of Wang's younger brother and currently holds the position of Councilor of Hebei Province.

These three men held relatively low-ranking official positions, but they had numerous relatives and friends by marriage.

After attaching themselves to Qin Hui, they could also help Qin Hui build a network of relationships.

There are others like this, such as Wang's brother-in-law Zhao Shipeng, who also served as a local official. I won't list them all.

After Qin Hui became a high-ranking official, his own relatives gradually gravitated towards him.

Xu Fu, the former Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices who was transferred by Zhao Yuan because he was not familiar with his professional duties, was the cousin of Qin Hui's cousin.

There was another prefect in Fujian named Wang Fu, who was Qin Hui's cousin.

Qin Hui's brothers include one who passed the imperial examination and has now risen to the rank of fifth grade.

The others, through Qin Hui's machinations, rose through the ranks from clerks to minor officials of the eighth or ninth grade.

Among Qin Hui's classmates and old friends, the highest-ranking among those who were willing to attach themselves to him was the fourth-rank official.

Qin Hui gradually came to control one-third of the officials in the Ministry of Works.

Several of his trusted confidants, whom he had personally promoted, were also transferred to other posts in the Ministry of Revenue, where he previously served.

Qin Hui also married his elder brother's daughter to the son of a local official.

A small faction is taking shape.

The couple had a fight, but quickly made up.

Qin Hui officially took that mistress as a concubine, and moved her, along with her son and servants, into the official residence.

Lady Wang, however, moved out of the Minister's official residence with her trusted servants and settled into her private home.

He had one wife and one concubine, and they did not interfere with each other.

The adopted son, Qin Xi, is to go back to the Wang family and change his name to Wang Xi.

When good things happen, people are in high spirits. When Qin Hui returned to work, he was extremely pleased with himself.

He then secretly took two more concubines, hoping to have more children before he turned fifty.

Qin Hui was unaware that his elder brother, Qin Zi, a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, was secretly embezzling and seizing land under the guise of building official roads and water conservancy projects.

Furthermore, not a single penny was given to Qin Hui!

...

In autumn, the renovation of Aranya Courtyard was not yet completed.

Because houses in the city were too expensive, Li Bangyan bought a private residence outside the city and sent someone to Hangzhou to bring his wife and grandchildren over.

One day, he was teaching the young girls poetry, songs, and dances when a servant rushed in: "My lord, the government has posted a notice; you should go and see it yourself!"

Li Bangyan frowned and asked, "What notice?"

The servant said urgently, "I can't explain it either."

Chapter 3562 Employment Law

Li Bangyan rode a top-quality blue mule, which cost 50 strings of cash, slowly making his way towards the city wall.

The notice was posted nearby and people were discussing it.

Li Bangyan had his servant lead the mule, and he walked closer, glanced at it, and was immediately stunned.

The New Employment Law of the Ming Dynasty!

The content translated into plain language is as follows:

First; all persons within the Ming Dynasty (including those without household registration), as well as those who hold Ming Dynasty household registration but reside overseas.

Upon employment, an employment contract must be signed, and the employee will be protected by the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Second, employers who hire unregistered persons shall be fined.

The fine shall be ten times the wages due to the employee.

Third; even without an employment contract, one can prove that they are an employee and are protected by the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

The employer will also be fined, the same as in Article 2!

Fourth; employment is divided into public employment and private employment.

Being employed by a trading company is called public employment, while being employed by a private individual is called private employment.

Fifth; privately hired individuals are prohibited from engaging in business activities.

For example, dancers in a household are not allowed to perform for profit in brothels, karaoke bars, or similar venues.

Sixth; those employed by the public are the employees of the trading company.

Seventh; the employment contract should specify the scope of work, employment period, salary and remuneration, and penalty for breach of contract.

The amount of the breach of contract shall not exceed three times the wages for the unfulfilled work period.

Eighth; any act of forcibly renewing a contract or forcibly reselling a contract without the employee's consent is considered human trafficking.

Ninth; regardless of whether it is public or private employment, the employment contract shall not exceed five years.

Contracts older than five years are considered invalid.

Tenth; Employment contracts are invalid if they are converted from public to private employment or vice versa.

Eleventh; the signing of employment contracts can be done at the government office or by an agent.

If an employment contract is signed privately, it must be signed by three or more guarantors.

This law shall take effect on the first day of the first month of the third year of the Great Ming Restoration of China.

Li Bangyan was dumbfounded.

Moreover, he was very clear in his heart that he had been targeted by the emperor, and that this decree was made because of the Bodhisattva Man.

It must have been made by the emperor!

If the officials in the imperial court disliked the Bodhisattva, they would at most demand that it be banned on the grounds that it was offensive to public morals.

Only the Liangshan emperor would use the law to restrain people.

After this decree was enacted, Li Bangyan's plans were severely hampered.

First, he had to apply to register a company, and then sign labor contracts with the Bodhisattva, the musicians, and the students.

This type of labor contract can only be resold to another company, not directly to a private individual.

Therefore, if he wants to give Pusa Man away, he must first terminate her labor contract and then have her sign a private employment contract with someone else.

If the Bodhisattva regrets the transfer during the transfer period, she can directly report to the authorities and gain her freedom.

Even when they are employees, as long as they can afford the penalty for breach of contract, they can break their contracts and run away at any time.

This is equivalent to a new form of self-redemption.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty government prohibited the trade in prostitution and frequently launched crackdowns on prostitution, with fines imposed on anyone caught doing so.

Li Bangyan wasn't afraid of the anti-prostitution campaign, but if Pusa Man was determined to leave, her employment contract would definitely become invalid after the authorities were notified.

The reason is simple: the employer made the employee engage in illegal transactions, which exceeded the scope of the employment contract.

Furthermore, Bodhisattva Man, students, and musicians must now distinguish between public and private property, and Li Bangyan must pay everyone's salary!

.....

A few days later, Li Bangyan went to the Luoyang Prefecture's Bureau of Industry and Commerce to register a company.

The clerk in charge of processing the business clearly recognized Li Bangyan and handed him a piece of paper with a smile: "Master Li, just fill this out."

"To apply for a business license, a copy of the household registration book is required."

Li Bangyan quickly filled in all the information, and the clerk began to process his license.

The cost, including processing fees, is only three hundred coins.

Street vendors and individual business owners both inside and outside the city are not required to obtain a business license.

For those operating a fixed stall within the city, simply pay the stall fee.

If you have a fixed shop, you must obtain a business license.

The clerk asked, "Master Li, you should be familiar with the rules of running a trading company, right?"

Li Bangyan nodded: "Understood."

The clerk said, "But I must emphasize a few points."

"The government will conduct unscheduled inspections of your business to see if you have expanded your operating area or changed your business scope, and adjust your taxes or impose fines accordingly."

"Of course," Li Bangyan said.

Business tax is difficult to levy in detail. If there is a fixed place of business, in ancient times, a fixed tax (shop tax or stall fee) was generally levied.

Taxes are levied based on the size of the shop and the type of business; entertainment industries like brothels have very high taxes.

The clerk added, "The Ming Dynasty prohibits the trade in flesh. Anyone caught doing so will be severely punished, and the woman will be asked if she consented!"

Li Bangyan said, "Thank you for the reminder."

In ancient China, prostitutes were categorized into official prostitutes, market prostitutes, and private prostitutes.

Official prostitutes were run by the imperial court and were therefore legal.

Prostitutes in the city had to register with the Jiaofangsi (a government-run institution for courtesans) and pay heavy taxes, which was also legal.

Or the entire brothel might be affiliated with the local brothel administration office.

Therefore, when famous courtesans redeemed themselves, they had to go to the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution) to change their household registration, and their household registration was registered there.

Chapter 3563 Private Prostitutes

Private prostitution does not require registration or tax payment, which is illegal and may lead to encounters with anti-prostitution squads.

The Ming Dynasty abolished the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) and made brothels illegal.

However, one can register a company with the government to operate businesses such as singing, dancing, and drinking.

The government usually won't get involved; if they do, it's only because something has gone wrong.

For example, a prostitute might make a scene by reporting to the authorities to leave her profession, or the family members of a trafficked woman might come knocking on your door.

The main point is that it is illegal in principle, but tacitly approved in substance.

The imperial court reserves the right of final interpretation and will severely crack down on human trafficking, imprisonment of persons, and other similar acts.

The promulgation of the "New Employment Law of the Ming Dynasty" further regulates related business activities.

Of course, it also regulates all employment activities, including issues such as keeping private slaves and refusing to release them.

Li Bangyan left with the business license, encountering many government officials on the way.

"What happened?" Li Bangyan asked a passerby.