After their younger sister was born, both older brothers had high expectations for her.

He will definitely treat his sister well.

Wei Wangqing felt that she had achieved several things at once, and that she was born to be a mother!

Meanwhile, in the imperial court.

Wei Wangqing then proposed a new law, namely, to abolish slavery.

It caused a huge uproar at the beginning.

Many ministers found it unacceptable.

After all, these are all closely related to them.

Who doesn't have a few slaves in their household, or many of their servants are originally slaves themselves?

When they first heard it, half of the ministers were against it.

The rest are either royalists or indifferent, waiting to see what happens.

But the Queen's attitude was surprisingly firm.

Or rather, it's the same as always.

It was only then that the ministers realized that they could hardly oppose any decision made by His Majesty.

Regardless of the process, the final result was achieved, just as the Queen wished.

Many ministers were shocked to realize that they had been unknowingly controlled by the Empress.

Looking back on all that happened, whether it was raising the status of merchants, promoting the imperial examination system, building schools, reducing taxes, increasing pensions for soldiers, or even selecting husbands and concubines.

Whether it was the imperial court or the inner palace, there was nothing His Majesty couldn't accomplish once he took action.

Even if they initially opposed it, they would eventually unconsciously make concessions and side with the Queen.

Besides feeling resentful, all that remained was fear.

At this moment, Wei Wangqing spoke up, having already given them time to process things.

Wei Wangqing had figured it out: every time a new policy was issued, regardless of whether it was beneficial to the country, there would always be people who opposed it.

"If any minister disagrees, he/she may step forward and speak out."

Immediately, no one dared to step forward; they all looked at each other.

But this time the Prime Minister stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, this old minister believes that this move is too rash. Slaves should exist in the first place. The labor of the lowest level is necessary. The labor of slaves is needed everywhere. If it is abolished, it will cause great chaos. I hope Your Majesty will be cautious.”

As soon as the prime minister expressed his opinion, a minister immediately stepped forward to echo him, saying, "Your Majesty, I second that opinion."

"That's true. If we abolish slavery, our dynasty will face a situation where there are no people to use."

“Yes, if those slaves are liberated, what will become of them?” someone else said, seemingly concerned for their well-being.

Wei Wangqing sneered. These were just excuses. Did they think that their households only had slaves and no one else?

It was merely a way to demonstrate one's own sense of superiority by using slaves, and to highlight the class difference between nobles and slaves.

It's just to satisfy their shameful vanity.

Wei Wangqing listened quietly to everyone's words without saying a word.

After everyone had finished speaking, they realized that the court was eerily quiet, and the emperor was just coldly watching them.

A chill ran down my spine.

"Have all my ministers finished speaking? Then it's my turn."

"When did I ever say that you would have no one to use?"

"It's just abolishing slavery. No one is a slave. Giving everyone human rights doesn't mean you have no one to serve."

"My dear subjects, don't try to twist the meaning of this!"

"Then what does Your Majesty intend to do?" the Prime Minister asked again.

"Legal employment".

"Legitimate employment?"

"Yes, they are slaves, or rather, servants. They will sign an agreement with their employers. Of course, this is not a contract of servitude, but rather you hire them to do things and serve you, and you give them a certain amount of remuneration."

One minister remarked, "This seems to be no different from before."

"I have said that everyone should have human rights. The difference lies with you. You cannot arbitrarily beat or kill your servants. If you are dissatisfied, you can terminate the employment relationship. Or if they commit a serious crime, you can hand them over to the government for handling. But you cannot arbitrarily beat or kill your servants without asking why. The life and death of those servants should not be in your control."

The courtiers were astonished, as this meant they no longer had the right to dispose of their servants.

How can this be done?

What authority do they have left?

Some people felt they had lost a great scapegoat.

After all, in the past, which household didn't have one or two people die, and no one ever investigated it?

Once you sign the indenture, they're your person. You can do whatever you want with them, even kill them, and no one will care.

Now……

"Then what if we lose the right to punish our servants and they don't do their jobs properly?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Wei Wangqing laughed, "It seems that Lord Wang is not strict in managing his household; he can't even manage his subordinates."

Lord Wang's face immediately turned extremely ugly.

"Then how about I give you an idea? If someone is disobedient, incompetent, or a servant who bullies his master, just replace him. There are so many people in the world, surely there are plenty of people to hire?"

Lord Wang was speechless.

"As for the concerns of the ministers regarding the fate of slaves after their release, I have already made a decision. I just didn't expect that you ministers would be so considerate of the people. I am truly ashamed of my own in comparison!"

The minister who had just uttered those words instantly turned ashen-faced as if he had swallowed a fly.

"After the slaves are freed, all slaves may decide for themselves whether to stay or leave. If they leave, they will be treated the same as all ordinary people, and there shall be no discrimination or discrimination. Of course, you may also choose to hire the original slaves."

"Then how should we calculate our losses?"

Wei Wangqing looked surprised. "I thought all of you ministers were willing to make sacrifices for the country and the people. I didn't expect you to be short of a few taels of silver. That's fine. You can get reimbursed from the Ministry of Revenue for whatever amount of silver you spent. What do you all think?"

The courtiers below looked ashen-faced. On one hand, no one really cared about that little bit of silver, but they were just uncomfortable with it!

Besides, how could they possibly have the nerve to go to the Ministry of Revenue for reimbursement?

His Majesty is becoming more and more cunning.

The Prime Minister spoke again, "Your Majesty's actions may cause turmoil in the court. I would like to reiterate that this matter is too hasty and should be discussed later."

Why has the prime minister been stopping her all day?

This is unusual!

Looks like I need to look into it.

"Prime Minister, you are mistaken. I believe that the existence of slaves only slows down the progress of Great Wei, indicating that there are still people in a vulnerable position. Isn't there anything wrong with employing them?"

“You still have people available; they are employers and have the right to control them. But at the same time, they have more security, and besides, as long as you pay them, no one will shirk their duties.”

"They can also have a good standard of living, so hasn't the overall standard of living in the Great Wei improved?"

"Besides, the Southern Dynasty didn't have a slave system either. Have you ever seen any trouble in the Southern Dynasty?"

The court officials below were speechless, including the prime minister.

It seems the Empress is determined to do this; she cannot confront her head-on.

Does anyone else have a question?

No one spoke.

very good.