Chapter 213
213
Cheng Zhao not only worships his father in his heart, he also wants to change the rules at home. Now that he cannot change the world, he can start with his own family.
He found his father and daddy and told them that he wanted to return the servants' indentures to them and convert them into employment. They could choose to continue working at home or take the indentures and leave.
However, he is just a young master in this family, and his father is in charge of the housekeeping affairs. He can only take action after asking his father's opinion.
When Shen Yuntang heard him say this, he did not refute him, but asked in a tone of inquiry: "We spent real money to buy them back. If we just return the indenture to them, wouldn't we lose money? But if you ask them to pay to redeem themselves, they can't afford the money, so what should we do?"
"In fact, the monthly salary we pay them is not low. If they save up for a year or two, they can redeem themselves. But no one wants to redeem themselves. Are you sure they want to redeem themselves?" Cheng Yeran asked him.
"How could someone not want to redeem himself? How could someone want to be a slave?" Cheng Zhao was puzzled.
"Why don't you give it a try? Then you don't need to pay the ransom money." Cheng Yeran thought that since his family had money, that little bit of money was nothing, so he could just treat it as an experimental class for the kid.
Cheng Zhao looked at Shen Yuntang, who nodded. "Just do as you wish. But whether it succeeds or not, you can't force other families to not buy people like we do. If you damage other people's interests, you will be hated by them."
Cheng Zhao nodded. He knew that his father was always very careful in doing things, fearing that he would be in danger. He also understood his father's efforts. "I understand. I will call a meeting for them in a while."
"Are you also imitating me in holding meetings?" Cheng Yeran rubbed his head, "You have become a small leader too."
In the afternoon, Cheng Zhao called out all the servants in the house, handed out their indentures, and said that they would change it into an employment relationship in the future, and would be paid wages, provided with food and lodging, but if they didn't want to work anymore, they could leave at any time.
The servants below panicked when they heard this, thinking that Cheng Zhao wanted to drive them away.
Many of them were sold by human traffickers when they were young, and some were even sold from other places. Before they came to Chengfu, they lived a life of being poorly clothed, hungry, and beaten every day.
In addition to these, they were led around by human traffickers every day without shoes. Some people's feet were worn out. They were also taken to various mansions to be selected, just like selecting livestock. After arriving at the Cheng Mansion, they finally felt like human beings.
Moreover, the treatment in the Cheng Mansion was good, with high wages, clothes provided, and meat dishes for every meal. Lord Cheng and his men were also very polite to the servants and never beat or scolded them. Their indentures were in Lord Cheng's hands, which gave them a sense of security, and no one else could hurt them or take them away.
They didn't dare to take the indenture contract from Cheng Zhao, and begged Cheng Zhao not to drive them away.
Cheng Zhao didn't understand why they were doing this. "If you want to work here in the future, it will be the same. It's just that you are free now. You can leave if you want to, and you can stay if you want to."
They didn't want to leave. If they didn't do a good job and lost their indenture contracts, their masters could fire them at any time. Although in the past, when someone held the indenture contract in their hands, they could be sold or beaten to death at any time, Lord Cheng's family was kind-hearted and would not do that.
If they lose this job, they will be left without a house or land, and they won't have much money saved, so they might have to sell their property again.
But it would be different if they stayed. As servants in Lord Cheng's house, people would look up to them when they went out. Moreover, Shen Yuntang also said that when they reached a certain age, the girls and boys would be given a dowry and allowed to choose their own marriage partners, and the boys would also help them find wives.
However, most of the servants were internally absorbed. They stayed in the mansion on weekdays and spent a long time together, so it was inevitable that they would develop feelings for each other.
If servants in other houses had romance with maids, they would be despised by the master, who would think they were immoral. The better ones would be sold off, or beaten to death.
Not only did Shen Yuntang not despise them, he also let them get married, helped them arrange a double dormitory, and gave them subsidies when they had children. Where can you find such work outside?
They felt insecure, so they didn't want to listen to Cheng Zhao's advice. Only a small number of servants who had families in the local area accepted the indenture and wanted to continue staying here as helpers in the future.
The rest of the people ran to find Shen Yuntang, crying and begging him not to drive them away, treating the indenture as a stable job.
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I don't want Cheng Zhao to lose this job.
Shen Yuntang looked at Cheng Zhao who was feeling aggrieved and explained to them what Cheng Zhao meant. However, they were very frightened and were unwilling to regain their freedom, let alone leave the house.
Shen Yuntang could only let them go back and do their own things and talk about it later.
After they left, Cheng Zhao asked Shen Yuntang: "I explained it so clearly, why are they so timid, as if they don't understand what I said."
"They have been beaten and scolded since childhood, and they are afraid of it. Moreover, life in the mansion is more comfortable than before and they are out of touch with the outside world. They don't know that life in the city is better now, so they are naturally afraid of changing the environment." When Shen Yuntang was buying dried tofu in the village, Cheng Yeran suggested that they move to the county town to live. They have money in their cards, can receive express deliveries, don't have to worry about starving to death, and don't have to face those annoying fellow villagers. However, Shen Yuntang made excuses and was afraid of this and that. He just didn't want to leave the village life. If Cheng Yeran hadn't wanted to go to school later, he was afraid that he would never be able to leave that village in his life.
Shen Yuntang told Cheng Zhao about his previous life in his hometown. Cheng Zhao had never experienced that kind of life. He had never suffered any hardship since he was a child. The biggest difficulty might be small things like not being able to catch his favorite insects. He didn't understand Shen Yuntang's thoughts.
But he only then realized that his father had suffered so much when he was a child. “Is it because people suffer so much that they become timid? From now on, I will make everyone in the world live a good life. No one will suffer, and no one will be willing to be a slave.”
Cheng Yeran happened to hear him say this when he returned home, raised his hand and flicked him on the head, "You are quite arrogant."
Cheng Zhao rubbed his head and said, "Dad, I often hear people say that after you came here, you made everyone live a good life. Dad can do it, why can't I do it?"
"Good, you are ambitious. You will definitely be better than your father in the future." Cheng Yeran praised him, which made him feel embarrassed. He put on a stern face and pretended not to care, but he was actually very happy in his heart.
Cheng Zhao handed them the indentures of his younger brothers at night. They were scared, thinking he was going to drive them away. Among them, only the third brother still had a family. The other children did not have a good relationship with their families and had not been in contact with them for a long time. If they were asked to leave, they would have nowhere to go.
"I really treat you as my younger brothers. I have discussed it with the fathers and asked them to adopt you as their adopted sons. Are you willing?" Cheng Zhao wanted a few biological brothers. If he didn't have biological brothers, sworn brothers would be fine. In short, he just wanted a few younger brothers, and they were just right.
The children did not expect that they would have such good fortune, and nodded one after another, "Of course we are willing to do such a good thing, but we are just servants, can we be Master Cheng's children?"
Cheng Zhao looked at them. Although they were all children, they did not look like bookworms at all. They all practiced martial arts. "How can you look like bookworms? And second and third brothers, didn't you say you wanted to be generals when you grow up? How can you be generals with the status of slaves?"
Although they were looking forward to it, they were still hesitant. In fact, they usually lived a life similar to that of the young master. Mr. Shen and Master Cheng were also very kind to them. "Even if we are not slaves, we can't be generals..."
Cheng Zhao returned the indentures to them and said, "Uncle Wild Dog is the general. When you meet him in the future, ask him to teach you the art of war and lead you into battle to kill the enemy."
"Really? Why didn't he come along this time?" the second brother couldn't help but ask.
"What does the general look like? Is he mighty?" the third brother couldn't help but ask.
The fourth brother just raised his head. He was not good at speaking and just laughed foolishly.
"It has to be this high," Cheng Zhao said, standing on tiptoe to demonstrate. Finally, he felt that the demonstration was not enough, so he stood on the chair again, "It has to be this high."
When Shen Yuntang heard the maids say that Cheng Zhao was still playing in the small courtyard so late, he walked over to see what they were doing and saw them talking about their future as generals.
When a few children saw Shen Yuntang coming, they hurried over to ask him whether it was true or not that he had adopted them as his sons.
Shen Yuntang nodded, "Of course it's true. I plan to find a day to hold a ceremony. It can't be casual. After you become my child, you have to call me daddy. Are you willing?"
Several little guys nodded desperately, "Daddy!"
They called out very actively, with sweet voices, even more pleasant than the calls of Cheng Zhao, their own son.
When Shen Yuntang was in the village, he saw Cheng Yeran working hard and thought about having four children to help Cheng Yeran do the work. Now Wutong has three more children, which is a great bargain.
But now that life at home is better, there is no need for these children to help Cheng Yeran.
Before, Cheng Yeran hired a master for them to teach them horse riding and martial arts. They also had to go to school on weekdays. They were lively and active and preferred to practice martial arts, but they did not fall behind in their studies. Only the fourth child learned slowly and his grades were average. The remaining three children were among the top three in the class.
Cheng Zhao was gifted. When he was young, he studied with the princes and was taught personally by Yang Shiming. He had a good foundation and his academic performance was much higher than others. His second and third brothers cherished the hard-won opportunity to study and studied hard.
In the evening, Shen Yuntang went back and told Cheng Yeran about the children who called him "Dad". "I originally bought them back because I wanted them to be servants and play with Xingxing. I didn't expect that they would become my children now. However, I also have some selfish motives. They are good at martial arts and studying. If they all enter the court in the future, they can better help Xingxing and protect him."
Cheng Yeran had not expected things to develop to this point. They originally just thought that Xingxing had left the capital and would lose two playmates, so they wanted to find him a few more playmates, and they happened to see a few poor little children.
"I want a little girl, but I don't know if there is still hope in this life." Cheng Yeran turned around and hugged Shen Yuntang, but he didn't want Shen Yuntang to have another child. He was already worried to death during the last delivery, and he was afraid that another one would cost Shen Yuntang her life.
"After their efforts, the city is now rich, and every family can afford to eat. No one is willing to sell themselves into slavery. I'm afraid your little girl has no hope." Shen Yuntang thought for a while, "But you can adopt one. There are orphans without parents in the city."
"It depends on fate." Cheng Yeran didn't want to force it.
As a result, after the news that they adopted those little book boys spread, a little baby appeared at the door a few days later. Cheng Yeran almost stepped on the baby to death when he went out early in the morning. Fortunately, he had good eyesight and saw it. He retracted his foot in time, bent down and picked up the child carefully.
It was cold at that time and the child was almost frozen to death. He hurriedly took the child home and called a doctor to help check on the situation.
He didn't go to work today and stayed at home to look after the children.
The doctor said that the child caught a cold and seemed to have been hungry for several meals. The child was born not long ago and his parents probably didn't feed him much and just left him at the door of their house.
When Cheng Yeran opened the door and saw a little girl, he thought that God had heard his prayers and sent him a little girl. However, after hearing what the doctor said, he couldn't help but scold the child's parents for being inhuman.
The doctor showed Cheng Yeran, "She is missing three fingers on her right hand."
Cheng Yeran thought that the finger was not a human and was cut off by his parents. Upon closer inspection, he found that the finger was still there, but it was very small and looked like there were three small tumors, a congenital deformity.
"No wonder her parents abandoned her." The doctor couldn't help but sigh, "But they threw her in front of Master Cheng's door, which shows that they love the child and want to find a good family for her so that she can live a good life in the future."
Shen Yuntang had gone out early in the morning. When he heard what happened at home, he hurried back and saw the poor little thing on the bed. "Life is better in the city now. Even in the countryside, everyone can have enough food to eat. There is enough money at home. How can they be so cruel to throw the child out? I think they are afraid that the child will not be able to get married because of the finger problem, so they deliberately threw the child out at our doorstep, just to make themselves feel better."
"Do you want to find their parents?" asked the doctor nearby.
Cheng Yeran covered the baby with a small blanket and said, "That's all.
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This child will be my little girl from now on. ”
After he set this precedent, he could see children at his doorstep every day. Most of them were newborn girls, but there were also some boys. However, there were few boys and most of them were disabled.
Cheng Yeran had the money to support the child but didn't have the energy to do so. He simply called his master and said, "Send someone to build an orphanage in the city. In the future, if anyone wants to abandon a child, just throw him or her to the orphanage. But if you abandon a child, you can't take him or her back when he or she grows up and becomes successful."
Initially, Cheng Yeran wanted to find these parents who abandoned their children and punish them, but he heard that in many places, girls were buried or drowned directly after birth. If he asked them to take the children back, the children would be dead. If he punished them, other people would not dare to send their children to orphanages and might kill them directly after giving birth.
The villagers of several villages are very united. It is difficult for him to find out who killed the child. It is better to send the child to an orphanage run by the government than to let him live a hard life at home.
When these children grow up and accept new ideas, they will not treat the next generation the same way their parents did. By changing the children, we are changing the future of the world.
Shen Yuntang held a grand ceremony to adopt a son, and also chose the same day for their little girl's full-month banquet. They regarded the day they picked up the child as their little girl's birthday, and said that from now on she would be their biological child, not an adopted daughter.
Cheng Yeran was so happy that he even wrote a letter to Yang Shiming, asking him to help him name his little girl.
After receiving the letter, Yang Shiming couldn't help but laugh and shook his head, "You don't even want to name a child, and you push everything to me."
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