Facing the rising sun, Zhang Nan and Xiao Song came to the darkest place in the Tang Dynasty, the slave market.

People are the least valuable things here, whether it is a man or a woman, an old man or a child, as long as you pay enough silver taels, you can lead a slave back like a dog, and of course, you can also lead multiple slaves.

In ancient times, the registration system was strict, and the hierarchy of the Tang Dynasty could be roughly divided into two types: "good" and "cheap". "Liang" is mainly an official, and the people are all in the household. "Cheap" refers to slaves and maids, official households, tribes, etc. In between, there are miscellaneous households, workers, and happy households.

But if we talk about slaves, the slaves of the Tang Dynasty can be summed up in one sentence, whether they are human beings or not human beings, and they are not animals.

There are many clear provisions in the "Tang Law and Discussion": "Slaves and maids and livestock are similar to assets." "Slaves and slaves are sluts, and the law is better than livestock." "Those who produce a feud are called women giving birth to children, horses giving birth to foals, and the like. "Their slaves and maidservants are the same as wealth, and they are not exempt from the law." Slaves and maids are the same as wealth, so there is no other thing. "Slaves and maidservants are the same as their wealth, that is, they are disposed of by the Lord." It can be seen that slaves are regarded as animals, and are not regarded as independent people.

However, in the country's household registration, slaves and beloved people are registered together, and the household registration of the Tang Dynasty needs to record the name, gender, age, and related relatives of slaves, and the state and county must also record the slaves by category. Beasts don't need to ascend the throne like this, so they are a bit like people.

Obviously we are all human beings, how can we separate slaves and maids? The Romans in Europe were straightforward, just put a mark on the face of the slave.

And we like to be gentle and don't do that. Datang relies on a strict account system, soldiers have soldiers, people have people, craftsmen have craftsmen, and slaves have slaves. The names of officials, slaves, maids, and official households are fabricated by various divisions, "Every time Meng Chun, the department uses the same appearance to alienate his nationality to apply."

In the midwinter month of each year, it is alive and well, reading its old and young, and it is in the right book. "Every spring, the tabulation is reported, and the winter is checked and checked, and there is no ambiguity.

The list of slaves and maids and tribals of the temple is attached to the monks, nuns and Taoist priests. The slaves and maids of the households and the subordinates are registered in the self-reported hands and the household registers and ninth-class fixed books fabricated by the counties. Regardless of temples or households, the procedures for the addition and deletion of slaves and maids and subordinates are extremely strict, and the removal of slaves and maids due to death must be signed by five witnesses, and only after verification by the government can they be cut down and removed from the list of slaves and maids.

In addition to the attachment of the application for the purchase and sale of slaves and maids, there must be 5 guarantors to verify and prove that the identity of the slaves and maids bought and sold is not false, and the slaves and maids themselves must sign and pledge on the market bonds, "the promise is not false".

Although Zhang Nan came to the Tang Dynasty and was used to the life of a superior, and was also used to the life of clothes and food, Zhang Nan still resisted the slavery system from the heart.

There is no other reason, just because Zhang Nan has been instilled with the concept of equality since he was a child, although this society is not equal, but in modern society, killing someone is still to pay for his life, no matter who you are, killing someone is criminally responsible.

But this is not the case in the Tang Dynasty, where slave owners have the right to change and die slaves. Although the Tang law stipulates: "Slaves and maids are lowly subordinates, although they have their own masters, as for killing, they should have a gift." But in fact, the law also stipulates: "The lord beats the person to death, and the one who kills is punished by one year, and the person who commits the crime is punished to death, and the person who kills manslaughter shall not be counted." Although it is a crime to kill a registered slave for no reason in Datang, the punishment is lighter than killing a cow in Datang.

Even if the master is guilty, and the slave runs to the government to denounce his master, the master's guilt may not have been decided, and the slave who denounced the master may have his head cut off.

The Tang law stipulates: "All the tribes, slaves and maids sue the master, and those who are not rebels, rebels, or rebels are hanged." "The sun and the moon shine, Mo Bandit Wangchen." Although slaves and servants belong to the master, if the master commits rebellion, rebellion, or rebellion, he is a person who is not a subordinate, so he is allowed to sue him. If you don't tell them about these three things, you will be hanged, and there will be no leader in the crime. ”

The status of slaves is as low as you can imagine.

As soon as he entered the slave market, Zhang Nan smelled the unique stench in the slave market, here, except for those female slaves with good faces, they would be cleaned up, but the rest of the slaves did not have this kind of treatment, so the air in the slave market can be imagined.

As soon as Zhang Nan and Xiao Bai entered the slave market, several people immediately surrounded them and asked Zhang Nan what kind of slaves he needed, but looking at Zhang Nan's white face, those slave traders were all recommended female slaves to Zhang Nan.

"Eh, this lord looks at the female slaves on my side, they all look like top water spirits, you will definitely not suffer a loss if you buy them back."

"Don't, sir, look at my slave girls here, you just need to give them a bite to eat, not only can they help you work, but also, eh, hehe."

Zhang Nan understood very well what these people meant, and Zhang Nan also wanted to experience a feudal society of all evils, but reason finally occupied Zhang Nan's brain highland, and then Zhang Nan waved his hand and said: "I'm not here to buy a slave girl, what I want is a tall and strong man." ”

As soon as the slave sellers heard that Zhang Nan wanted a tall and strong man, they immediately lost interest, for them, the price of the female slave was much higher than that of those men, but although they lost interest, they still had to do business.

The people who bought slaves enthusiastically introduced their slaves, and they almost said that their slaves were born with divine powers, and they only worked without eating.

Zhang Nan doesn't know how to look at people, or rather, Zhang Nan doesn't look at whether a person is suitable for martial arts, so Zhang Nan said to Xiao Song: "Xiao Song, you can pick some for me, you don't have to be more, just twenty people are enough, remember, physical strength is not the only criterion, the important thing is that people are smart, willing to endure hardships, and have a clean foundation, understand?" ”

"My subordinates understand." After Xiao Song finished speaking, he walked forward on his own, looking at the slaves on both sides of the road as he walked.

Xiao Song went to pick a slave for Zhang Nan, Zhang Nan was not idle, anyway, Zhang Nan had nothing to do, so he walked around the slave market. In fact, Zhang Nan thought very simply, just to see if there were any female slaves with outstanding faces, of course, Zhang Nan did this without any obscene thoughts, just wanted to simply save them from the sea of suffering, well, it's so simple.

Zhang Nan walked forward by himself, and soon came to a small corner of the slave market, Zhang Nan glanced at the corner casually, and found a man with his head down, and a sign in front of him, Zhang Nan came up curiously, the slaves in the slave market are all piled up to buy, what is the matter with this person coming out alone?