Chapter 295: The growing number of son-in-laws has a negative impact on Ming taxation

At this time, Zhu Gang, who received a hint from his elder brother, took a sip of tea and continued, "At that time, Wang Yuanwai wanted to continue his bloodline.

He then sought medical treatment and medicine everywhere, and invited famous doctors to treat his wife Li.

But the final result was, 'Madam can no longer have children! '

This undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the couple. "

Zhu Gang paused, as if he also felt the despair in Wang Yuanwai and Li's hearts at that time.

He took a deep breath and continued, "For a traditional family, not having a son means not being able to pass on the family line. How sad it is!"

Having said that, Zhu Gang took another sip of tea.

Then he slowly put down his teacup and continued telling the story.

"Later, Wang Yuanwai followed his mother's advice and decided to take a concubine. Finally, good news came that the concubine was pregnant.

Mr. Wang was overjoyed, and at the same time he did not forget to comfort his wife Li.

He said that if his concubine gave birth to a son, he would give the son to his wife Li to raise.

Zhu Gang smiled slightly, seeming to be happy for Wang Yuanwai.

However, his smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a look of regret.

"But fate is so cruel that after ten months of pregnancy, the baby is born in one day.

The child born to the concubine was still a daughter.

This was undoubtedly another heavy blow to Wang Yuanwai and Li, who had been looking forward to having a son. "

Zhu Gang sighed and continued, "At this point, my wife Li has completely given up the jealous feeling she had when she heard that her husband wanted to take a concubine.

Instead, she began to take the initiative to look for a concubine who could give birth to a son for Wang Yuanwai."

Speaking of this, Zhu Gang couldn't help but shook his head, as if he felt helpless about the experience of Wang Yuanwai and his wife.

"In the days that followed, Wang Yuanwai took in many concubines, but he never got his wish of having a son.

I see that my eldest daughter has grown into a graceful and elegant young lady.

Wang Yuanwai's expectation of "having a son" gradually faded with the passage of time.

After all, a daughter is one's own flesh and blood and can also inherit the family business.

So Mr. Wang began to consider other solutions.

He said to Li: "Since you don't have a son, why not find a son-in-law to marry into the family."

Let him run the family business with his daughter, and when they have children, they can take the Wang family surname.

This way, the family business will still be in our hands.'

This idea gradually took root in Wang Yuanwai's mind and was supported by his wife, Li.

They decided to find a suitable son-in-law to continue the family's glory together. "

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was more familiar with the sufferings of the people, interrupted again and said, "As the saying goes, a son-in-law is half a son. If his character is indeed reliable, this may not be a bad idea."

Zhu Yuanzhang was well aware of the difficulties faced by the common people and expressed his understanding and support for this situation.

"As long as we find a loyal, reliable, hardworking and kind son-in-law, it will not only help Wang's family continue to prosper, but also reduce social pressure."

However, not everyone agrees with this approach.

According to relevant historical records, the Qin Dynasty was the first to suppress people who married into their wives' families.

Because the laws of the Qin Dynasty stipulated that men must separate from their families after they reach adulthood.

In this way, the original one family became two families.

Originally, the imperial court could only collect taxes from one household, but now it could collect taxes from two households. This policy made marrying into a woman's family a discriminatory act, and many people were unwilling to accept it.

Nevertheless, in some special circumstances, such as having no children or financial difficulties, marrying a son-in-law is still a way to solve the problem.

However, this means that the son-in-law's status in the family is often lower, and he needs to bear more pressure and responsibilities.

For the Qin Dynasty, the person who married into the wife's family was originally an adult man.

According to common sense, if this man got married normally, there would be one more family in Daqin, and the imperial court would receive more tax revenue.

However, when an adult man chooses to marry into the woman's family.

The number of registered households, which should have been increased, did not, which meant that the imperial court would have one less source of tax revenue.

Faced with this situation, the Qin government took a harsh measure: those who married into the wife's family were demoted to the status of slaves.

The status of a son-in-law in Qin Dynasty society was almost the same as that of a criminal.

Whether it is labor or military service, they will be given priority.

This policy made the sons-in-law have a low status in society and suffered discrimination.

The reason why the Qin Dynasty government adopted such a policy was, on the one hand, because marrying into the wife's family reduced the country's tax revenue, and on the other hand, it was also out of consideration for maintaining social order.

By degrading the status of a son-in-law, more men can be prevented from choosing to marry into the wife's family, thus ensuring the stability of the country's tax revenue.

Because the Qin Dynasty classified those who married into the wife's family as slaves, the common people also developed prejudices against son-in-law, and even looked down on those who were willing to be son-in-law.

In this context, it was only natural that the son-in-law lost the right to name his offspring.

Of course, when the feudal dynasty progressed to the Ming Dynasty, the relevant policies had changed greatly.

If there is a special situation where the family is wiped out, the married woman can indeed take over all the property of her parents' family.

It needs to be explained here that the so-called "extinction of the family" means that the relevant department responsible for household registration cannot find information about other male family members who can inherit the family property.

However, the Ming Dynasty laws during the Hongwu period also clearly stipulated that the head of the household must assume corresponding social responsibilities, including the payment of corresponding taxes and the conscription of military service or corvee labor.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty's care for women's property rights was not based on concern for their vital interests, but more on comprehensive considerations at the national level.

Parents also don't want to see their daughters doing corvee labor, in order to avoid affecting their daughters.

Rich people with certain assets usually choose to avoid risks by "recruiting a son-in-law".

Therefore, when Zhu Gang was explaining the fable related to "The Monkey Game", he made such a long preparation because he wanted his elder brother Zhu Biao to understand a truth.

No one should only consider personal interests, but should look at the problem from a higher perspective.

Only in this way can we better understand and respond to complex and changing situations.

At the same time, Zhu Gang also wanted to remind Zhu Yuanzhang to pay attention to the corresponding drawbacks of this Ming Dynasty law.

This will reduce the potential adverse impact on taxation caused by the growing group of son-in-laws.

However, the two core decision-makers of the Ming Dynasty present did not seem to realize the seriousness of the problem.

Seeing Zhu Gang looking thoughtful, Zhu Biao asked impatiently, "How is the situation with Wang Yuanwai's family back there?"

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting not far away, also said with dissatisfaction: "The books that Lao San handed in before were the same as the story he is telling now.

Part of it is psychological description, and part of it is mixed with the author's own narration and opinions.

Another plot has tens of thousands of words, but it hasn't even been finished.

It's hard to find a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that's fairly acceptable.

In the end, it was written by Luo Guanzhong, and has nothing to do with the third brother, the King of Jin!"

(End of this chapter)