Chapter 250 The earliest insurance project in the Ming Dynasty - the pension fund for eunuchs and palace maids

As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot. Seeing that the time was right, Zhu Gang ordered his men to help Zhao Yong, who was bowing to greet him, up.

“Not only do I want to save the Marquis of Nanxiong, but I also want my father to pardon your family members who are in exile.

The premise is that Nanxiong Hou can make contributions in the promotion of cowpox. As long as you perform well during this period, you may have the opportunity to re-enter the military in the future."

Such scenes often appear in later TV dramas: the prisoner pleads for mercy and his death sentence is finally commuted to exile, so he is grateful to the officials who spared him.

However, in real history, many criminals would rather be sentenced to death than be exiled.

After all, exile is the process of sending criminals to remote areas for punishment and reform. In ancient times when transportation was very underdeveloped, exile of three thousand miles was actually almost the same as the death penalty.

In addition, prisoners had to wear heavy shackles during their exile.

Walking three thousand miles, you can imagine the hardships and difficulties along the way.

Coupled with the bullying and exploitation by the escorting soldiers, it was extremely difficult for the exiles to reach their destination alive.

Even if the prisoner is physically strong and successfully reaches the place of exile, this is only the beginning of a tragic fate.

After all, the places where the prisoners were exiled were extremely poor and difficult.

Many of them are barren border areas, and it is very difficult for prisoners to survive here.

The most important thing is that the exiles have to do heavy labor, and basically live a life worse than death like slaves.

Especially in the Ming Dynasty, there was a rather outrageous regulation regarding exile.

After a prisoner was exiled, the family had to ensure that someone would serve in the place of exile for generations.

In other words, once you become an exile, unless there is a general amnesty, your descendants will have to serve your sentence.

If all of a prisoner's immediate family members have died, then everyone in the same village will be arrested and exiled, which is much more horrible than the death penalty!
Therefore, when Zhao Yong heard Zhu Gang promise to ask Zhu Yuanzhang to pardon his family members who were in exile, he knelt down without saying a word.

"Your Majesty the Prince of Jin has shown great kindness, which I will never forget.

From now on, if you give me an order, even if it means going through fire and water, I will never complain!"

Zhu Gang knew that military generals attached great importance to promises, and Zhao Yong had obviously been conquered by his eloquence.

But he felt that this was not enough, so Zhu Gang pretended to be displeased and said, "Zhao Yong, I went through so much trouble to get you out, what do you call me?"

Zhao Yong, who hadn't reacted yet, subconsciously bowed and replied, "Of course I'm calling you Your Highness the Prince of Jin."

Zhu Gang snorted coldly with a gloomy face: "I am telling you now, when you leave this door, you can call me Your Highness Prince Jin, and I will not pick on you.

Now that you have entered this door, think carefully about what you should call me, the King. "

Zhao Yong was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized.

He quickly bowed and said, "Your humble servant Zhao Yong greets the Lord!"

This is the second retainer Zhu Gang accepted besides Yao Guangxiao, and he will take him with him when he goes overseas to serve as a barbarian in the future.

The reason why Zhu Gang valued Zhao Yong so much was mainly because he valued the other party's ability to train navy in history.

In this era, connections are the foundation of everything.

After all, China has been a society based on personal relationships since ancient times. Zhu Gang believes that his respect for the wise and humble today will surely bring him rich rewards in the future.

Zhao Yong was deeply moved, his eyes moistened, and he shouted again with a choked voice: "My Lord!"

Zhu Gang nodded with satisfaction, a gratified smile on his face.

He patted Zhao Yong on the shoulder and said in a kind tone: "In the future you will be my right-hand man. As long as you work wholeheartedly for me, I will never treat you unfairly." Zhao Yong was so excited that he was speechless and quickly knelt down to thank him.

There was a determined light in his eyes, showing his strong willingness to go through fire and water for his lord.

Zhu Gang smiled slightly, stretched out his hand to help Zhao Yong up, and then said, "Get up!"

Zhao Yong stood up, straightened his back, and waited for Zhu Gang's instructions.

Zhu Gang stared at Zhao Yong sharply and said slowly, "I have an important matter to entrust to you right now."

Zhao Yong's spirits lifted, and he immediately clasped his hands and said, "My lord, please make it clear, I will not refuse even if I die!"

Zhu Gang nodded and said solemnly: "The Jin Palace wants to form a strong navy, and this matter will be handed over to you."

When Zhao Yong heard this, his eyes widened and a surge of ambition surged in his heart.

He knew very well that this was a difficult and important task, and he also understood that this was the trust and heavy responsibility placed in him by his lord.

Zhao Yong bowed and accepted the order, and at the same time secretly made up his mind: he must live up to the expectations of his lord and train an invincible army for the Prince of Jin's Palace.

However, there is no wall that is impenetrable, and the fact that Zhu Gang had unauthorizedly recruited Zhao Yong, the Marquis of Nanxiong, eventually reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears.

"Your Majesty has issued an order: Prince Jin is summoned to the palace to see you!"

After the oral order was read, the chief eunuch Wang Jinghong reminded in a low voice: "Your Highness, Prince Jin, you'd better prepare carefully the results of the cowpox vaccination during this period when you enter the palace."

Zhu Gang understood what he meant and immediately asked Zhang Long to bring 100 strings of Ming Dynasty treasure notes, which he then handed to Wang Jinghong.

"According to the laws of this dynasty, if you embezzle 60 taels of silver, you will lose your head. Your Highness, Prince Jin, please don't harm me!"

Zhu Gang waved his hand and said, "Sooner or later, all of you living in the palace will have to leave. You will not be able to spend your old age in peace relying on the little grace given by your father.

The reason why I took out these one hundred strings of Ming Dynasty treasure notes today is to set up a retirement account at the Ming Dynasty Bank for the eunuchs and maids in the palace.

While you are still able to make money, put some money into this account every month.

After leaving the palace in the future, all eunuchs and palace maids who deposit money there will receive a little money every month to subsidize their lives.

I will tell my father about this matter, and I will write it into the Imperial Instructions of the Ming Dynasty. The successor emperor will also take care of you."

Wang Jinghong looked at Zhu Gang in surprise, with tears of gratitude in his eyes.

"Your Highness, Prince Jin, you are able to think of us rootless people. I would like to thank you on their behalf."

After saying this, Wang Jinghong knelt on the ground despite Zhu Gang's obstruction and kowtowed to him.

On the way to the palace, Zhu Gang felt as if he had become the emperor sitting on the throne, and Wang Jinghong was the general who had returned victoriously.

He now finally understood why even famous officials like Zuo Zongtang in history had to give money to eunuchs.

Under Wang Jinghong's subtle propaganda, the eunuchs and maids in the palace soon knew that Prince Jin had arranged their retirement issues for them.

Although this is just a "big pie" at the moment, it still allows Zhu Gang to gain a lot of extra benefits and conveniences.

“As eunuchs, who are internal officials, especially the emperor’s close attendants, they are absolutely not allowed to make friends with external officials.

Since this is your first offense, I won’t do it again.”

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang showing an appearance of "showing mercy beyond the law", Zhu Gang simply said bluntly: "Dad, I am doing this for the thousand-year foundation of the Ming Dynasty. You must not be ungrateful to my kindness!"

(End of this chapter)