Chapter 183: The Thoughts of the Labor Offenders
Chapter 179 of "The Great Ming in the Box" introduces the scene: Master Zhang inwardly thought: The Deity was right. Our Zhang Family Troupe only knows a... Keep going!
Master Zhang inwardly thought: The Deity was right. Our Zhang Family Troupe only knows a few dozen plays. In a crowded county town, we could perform these plays repeatedly and there would always be new audiences.But in this strange little village, with so few villagers, if we perform a different play each day, weâd go through our entire repertoire in just a few dozen days. Who would come watch when we start repeating them?
Would we then have to retreat with our tails between our legs back to the county town?
People there can barely afford foodâwho would come watch our plays? Go collect aid and food again? No! Absolutely not! We finally found a place to earn money here. Iâd rather die than return to the county town.
A flame surged fiercely within Master Zhang: I must create new plays. Right now. Immediately.
At that moment, his gaze swept over the dispersing crowd and spotted a Daoist priest among them.
Ma Tianzheng!
Overjoyed, Master Zhang dashed over in a bound. âPriest, a moment please.â
Ma Tianzheng pressed his palms together in greeting. âWhat do you wish to discuss?â
Master Zhang: âYou just watched our Shaanbei Diaoqu play, right?â
Ma Tianzheng smiled: âYou performed excellently. It was my religionâs story.â
Master Zhang: âShaanbei Diaoqu mainly uses Daoist stories. Iâm not a learned man and know few tales. I was hoping you could tell us more storiesâI want to adapt them into Shaanbei Diaoqu plays.â
Ma Tianzheng inwardly rejoiced. As a priest, spreading the teachings was fundamental. He loved sharing Daoist stories, and now someone actively wanted to hear them and planned to adapt them into plays for the common folk? This was truly splendid.
A win-win situation with no downsidesâboth parties benefit. Consensus was achieved instantly.
Why wait until tomorrow? Tonight. Now. They immediately began their all-night conversation by lamplight.
Seeing everyone had departed,
Li Daoxuan switched off the colorful lights and took them out of the case. These things had electricityâtoo dangerous to leave unattended in the box. If some mischievous little fellow impulsively slashed the wires with a strike of the âCelestial Rabbit Sword,â who knew what might happen.
Just after storing the lights, he spotted a group of people in a corner of Gaojia Business Circle leaving in frustration, utterly dismayed. Their spirits sagged so low they stood out sharply amidst the surrounding celebration.
Squinting, he realized it was a group of labor offenders.
Li Daoxuanâs interest piqued, and he fixed his eyes intently on the group.
The surroundings were initially noisy, muffling their voices. But as they neared the Labor Offenders Village, quieter environs allowed clear hearing.
One labor offender complained resentfully: âSigh! Everyone else tipped the acting troupe except usâweâve got no money.â
âExactly!â another chimed in. âEven if I had a single copper coin, Iâd give it. But I have nothing. Felt downright humiliating.â
âWeâre labor offendersâwhat face do we even have?â one sighed deeply. âItâs our fault for attacking Gaojia Village. That was an act aimed at taking lives. That they spared us and still feed us is gifts from the heavens already. We canât complain.â
âI understand. Iâm not complaining,â the first speaker said miserably. âItâs just⌠seeing later refugees doing casual work living better than us pains me. If only I hadnât followed Zhuang Guangdaoâs recklessness back then.â
âSo youâre from Zhuangjia Village?â
âYes. Iâm Zhong Gaoliang.â
âThat nameâŚâ
Zhong Gaoliang sighed. âI truly donât mean to complain. The Deity and Gaojia Village treat us well. Thirty-Two is genuinely kind too, sneaking us extra food sometimes. I just regret the wrong path I took. If I hadnât strayed, given my strength, Iâd surely earn as much as hired workers now.â
âAh, true!â
âI wonder when this labor punishment will end.â
Shaking their heads in despair, the group of labor offenders entered the plastic houses of the Labor Offenders Village.
Silently listening, Li Daoxuan calculated. Hmm, itâs been long enough. These labor offenders were captured during their attack on Gaojia Village in lunar August/September of 1627. Now, at the end of lunar March 1628âover six months as labor offenders.
Naturally, for the crime of âattempted robbery and murder,â this duration is quite short. Modern law would imprison them for at least a decade.
ButâŚ
Modern times and late Ming Dynasty existed in vastly different worlds. Modern sentencing standards couldnât be wholly applied.
It was about time to establish activities like âmodel labor offender awardsâ or âreduced sentences for early release,â giving these men hope to rekindle their motivation and belief in life.
Early in the morning the next day,
Thirty-Two rose early, as he often did lately. He worked late into the night recently, deeply engrossed in significant research.
It involved âadjusting wage categories.â Xing Honglang had mentioned this before, and he had been planning ever since: listing every job type in Gaojia Village and distributing âdifferent categoriesâ of supplies for each.
Thus:
Someone paid rice but not oil must exchange rice for oil.
Someone paid oil but not salt must exchange oil for salt.
Goods would circulate internally across Gaojia Villageâa healthier system.
This was no simple task. He first needed to calculate approximate values for each commodity to ensure fair distribution. Only reasonable amounts would prevent laborers feeling shortchanged.
He was pounding his head over calculations when
Gao Yiye knocked outside: âThirty-Two, awake? The Deity sent me with a message.â
Rushing with pride, Thirty-Two hurried to open the door. âWhat are the Deityâs instructions?â
Gao Yiye: âYou oversee the Labor Offenders Villageâs affairs, correct?â
Thirty-Two nodded: âI manage the major aspects; Tan Liwen handles details.â
Gao Yiye: âGood. The Deity remembers five new labor offenders. Their offense wasnât majorâthey apparently robbed Old Shi Si.â
This incident was recent, occurring only after Ground Rabbit arrived. Thirty-Two remembered clearly: âYes, New Yearâs Day. Those five men clubbed Old Shi Si, stole his food. Ground Rabbitâs team caught them and threw them into the Labor Offenders Village. Three months now.â
Li Daoxuan silently commended: Heâs truly skilled with community workârecalling such details even Iâd forgotten happened on New Yearâs Day.
âYiye, tell Thirty-Five: These five committed minor offenses. Three monthsâ labor offsets their crime. Instruct him to hold a formal âsentence completion release ceremony,â freeing them before other offenders. Then relocate them to the Short-term Workers Villageâfrom now on, they receive standard wages for their work.â