During the lunch break, Shisanlang found Yao Shouxin and said, "Brother, has the money been sent to Yicheng County?" ”

Yao Shouxin said: "Someone has been sent to send it, but the person sent has not yet returned, and I don't know what the result is." ”

Thirteen Lang said: "Today, the officials went to Xiangzhou. I have inquired, and the officials are here to do this for us. In addition to going to Huima Zhizhou, even Zhang Tixing was invited to Xiangzhou to discuss with several yamen. - Is this matter so big? ”

Yao Shouxin smiled bitterly: "You are the person next to the official, you can't tell clearly, how can I know?" At this point, it's useless to think too much, so let's sit back and wait for news. This time there was a lot of trouble, and we each restrained our subordinates and didn't dare to cause trouble again. ”

Thirteen Lang nodded yes. After some more gossip, Thirteen Lang left.

Du Zhongxiao arrived in Fancheng, went to the shopping mall to take a look, took Tsui Hark, crossed the Han River together, and arrived in Xiangyang City. After entering the city gate, he first arrived at the official office of the transfer department and visited the deputy envoy Zhou Xin.

When I arrived at the flower hall and sat down, I served tea, and after the ceremony, Du Zhongxiao said: "I came to see the deputy envoy today, and I have a matter to discuss." A few days ago, there was an envoy named Yao Shouxin in the Yingtian Sect Reading Xiang Army, who was extremely relied on from top to bottom. He left home to join the army when he was a child, and after going to the camp to do field work, he visited his family and learned that the wife of his second brother was a female envoy in Yicheng County's family outside the family because of the difficulties in the family a few years ago. Yao Shouxin scraped together some money and wanted to redeem it back home and reunite his brother and wife. Helplessly, the member refused, and it was extremely annoying. The officers and soldiers of the headquarters got the news, and they went to Yicheng County privately a few days ago, and they didn't have a good fight with the officer, and brought Yao Shouxin's sister-in-law back——"

Hearing this, Zhou Xin said: "Lifting, the master is not allowed, taking people away is not abducting people?" ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Exactly, I am also troubled by this." These people are extremely useful in the army, and they have made many meritorious contributions and relied on them from top to bottom. To be punished heavily, they are to reunite the family, and they have scattered people's hearts for no reason. If there is no explanation, the lawsuit will arise, and Yicheng County will not be able to explain. ”

Zhou Xin thought for a moment and asked, "How do you want to lift?" Since he is a useful person in the army, he informed Ma Zhizhou and asked him not to ask. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I have ordered those people to bring money and send it to Yicheng County, which will be counted as compensation." But it is not in accordance with the law, and it is not proper after all. The reason why I did not punish those people was not because I was protecting my subordinates, but because although they did not comply with the law, it was reasonable. This matter is very negotiable, so he came to Xiangzhou, invited Zhang Tixing, and discussed this matter with the deputy envoy and Ma Zhizhou. ”

Zhou Xin said: "There are many such things in the world, I don't know what to discuss?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In the world of life, where it can be smooth sailing, everyone has a difficult time. When encountering difficulties, it is understandable to pawn his wife and go to the rich and noble family to be a servant. It's just that there is that kind of deed of sale, and as soon as she is a woman, she breaks off her husband and her husband, which is too unkind. This is one of them. Another temporary hardship pawn sold his wife and children, one sold for three years and five years, during which there may be unpredictable events, solve the difficulties, before the deadline is reached, can not redeem the person out of the family reunion. It doesn't make sense, this is the second. ”

Zhou Xin thought for a while and said, "It makes sense. It's just that it's been like this since ancient times, how can it be changed for a while? Compared with the previous dynasty, this dynasty has taken great care of the poor. Anyone who sells himself into slavery must have a time limit, and when it expires, he will be released, and he will not be owned by the previous dynasty. If you want to change it again, the people are only afraid that it will be inconvenient. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In my opinion, it can be changed in this way, which not only does not violate the original intent of the law, but also is convenient for the people, and the deputy envoy can consider it." First, if a woman sells to someone else's house, and the husband is still husband and wife, as long as he does not violate the rules of the master's house, he cannot prevent the husband and wife from meeting. Although the deed has a time limit, as long as compensation is given, the contract can be terminated in advance and redeemed by the person so as not to violate human ethics. ”

Zhou Xin listened, lowered his head and pondered for a long time, and said: "Mention, with all due respect, the second article you said is still negotiable, and the first one is difficult to do." ”

Du Zhongxiao asked, "What is the difficulty of the first one?" Please ask the deputy envoy for advice. ”

Zhou Xin said: "Hired as a female envoy in other people's homes, the master knows everything about the affairs of the family, and some are also in charge of money. If the female envoy has two hearts, takes the master's property to help the family, or even has a money dispute, in the name of selling her body, spying on the master's privacy, there will be endless incidents. Pawning his wife must be a great difficulty for the family, and the reality of husband and wife can only be suspended for the future. ”

Du Zhongxiao was silent in thought, knowing that what Zhou Xin said was also the truth. It is impossible not to pawn a wife, and pawn sales at this time are actually employment, not slavery in the usual sense. There can be no turning back, either from the point of view of solving the problems of the poor or from the point of view of guaranteeing women's right to work. However, at this time, the sale of one's body is too broad, in addition to selling labor, there is also a direct sale, which is equivalent to a temporary divorce from her husband. There are even concubines who give birth to children, and the content of the sale is extremely complicated, which is eye-opening. Of course, later generations developed, and the content sold at this time still exists, but it is just legal or not, such as surrogacy, and so on. Different pawn contents correspond to different responsibilities and obligations.

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao felt that there were some difficulties in solving the first one, at least it was difficult to solve it now, so it could only be left for later. Start with the first one, which is also your main purpose. As long as the contract is allowed to be broken, the matter of Yao Shouxin and Thirteen Lang and others will not matter.

The two drank tea, talked for a while, and then went out of the transfer envoy office together and arrived at the Xiangzhou Prefecture not far away.

Zhang Shi'an had already arrived, Ma Xun welcomed Du Zhongxiao and Zhou Xin into the flower hall, brought two pots of charcoal, and sat and drank tea.

After the ceremony, Du Zhongxiao repeated what he had just said to Zhou Xin, and said: "Today, I asked Xu Hark from the Fancheng shopping mall in the north to come with me to discuss the fact that the contract has not yet expired and someone has broken the contract. After the contract is established, it will be impossible to implement it due to many things, which is human nature. It is unreasonable to make a deed and not to break it, so there should be no restrictions. ”

Zhang Shi'an said: "Lifting, the deed is important in the letter." Now that it has been established, if it is allowed to be destroyed, it will cause trouble in vain. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Raise the sentence, you can't say that." Let's talk about the personal deed first, just like Yao Shouxin's family, because of a temporary hardship, they pawned his wife to the Pan family. His younger brother Yao Shouxin came back, as an official of the imperial court, and his sister-in-law was a slave in someone's house, how did he deal with himself? also lost the face of the court. When the ransom comes home, and the master does not allow it, there is nothing to be done. In addition, the business contract, the two parties make a contract, set the time limit price, and there is nothing to say when it is done, and there are many times when it cannot be done. At this time, the poor claimant must compensate for the loss of the other family, and if there is no amount, the family is often bankrupt. In my opinion, in the future, whether it is a personal deed or a commercial deed, a breach of contract clause must be added when it is concluded. ”

Ma Xun said: "What does it mean to lift? Now that the deed has been made, how can someone be allowed to breach the contract? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Which thing in the world is sure of?" Someone must break the contract, and it cannot be forcibly withheld. At the time of the deed, it can be agreed on what to do if one party breaches the contract. For example, for a business, how much is the deposit, how much is the amount of the business, and if one party breaks the deed, how much money should be compensated to the other party. In this way, the businessman encountered difficulties and knew early that the business could not be done, so he could break the contract and lose money without delaying other businesses. ”

What Du Zhongxiao is talking about is actually the liquidated damages when the contract cannot be enforced. In this era, there are rules on how to compensate for the breach of the deed by the party who has established the contract, but liquidated damages are not a common phenomenon. Most of the time, one party is unable to execute the contract, so he has fled and has no choice but to claim compensation from the guarantor.

Instead of using a deposit or asset mortgage to guarantee the execution of the contract, it is not good for business to let the guarantor do the guarantee. Needless to say, like the example of the Yao family, if you have money, you can't redeem people, which is obviously unreasonable. Commercial practices are also not good, and the guarantors must be local magnates, and they are too powerful.