The Fierce Farm Girl Has A Secret Space

Chapter 778: Chapter 778: Buying People (3)_1

Yang Ruxin, though aware of the employment methods of the era, wasn’t too clear about them, so she sought out Han Baichuan.

Han Baichuan was a merchant, and his family was considered to be among the well-to-do households with many servants; he was naturally well-versed in the ways of employing people and didn’t hold back any secrets from Yang Ruxin.

In this era, if you wanted employees who would dedicate their lives to your service, you could only get those with a Selling Covenant.

The Great Xuan Dynasty allowed the buying and selling of people, but there were strict requirements—it had to be done through an institution recognized by the Governor’s Office. Such institutions were called Human Trafficking Agencies, and their managers were called slave-traders, or ’Human Teeth’. Male managers were known as ’Tooth Men’, while female managers were called ’Tooth Women’.

There were two types of people that were sold.

One was bound by a death covenant. Such people were slaves for life unless their masters mercifully set them free, otherwise, they could never change their status as slaves, and their descendants would be slaves as well. Such servants must live in dependence on their master’s household and, therefore, were usually the most loyal.

The other kind was bound by a term covenant. A term covenant had an expiration date, and upon reaching it, the person could buy their freedom if they had the money or could be redeemed by someone else. Of course, if they couldn’t afford to redeem themselves when the term ended, the contract could be extended if both parties were willing. During this period, even if the master sold a term-contracted slave, they would still be under a term covenant with the new master. Such servants could also be loyal, but only within the period of the contract, so they generally did not become the master’s confidants.

Whether it was a death or term covenant, any act of betrayal within the contract period, provided there was evidence, allowed the master to beat or kill the servant or sell them off at will. If the servant ran away, their punishment was increased.

So, if Yang Ruxin wanted to cultivate her own trusted chef and teach them cooking skills, she only had the option to buy someone—specifically, someone bound by a death covenant. Otherwise, she risked cultivating them for someone else.

Although Yang Ruxin wasn’t used to buying and selling people like objects, she understood it was a practice of the era and wouldn’t disdainfully dismiss it.

”Thank you, Uncle Han. I understand,” Yang Ruxin nodded.

”If you trust your uncle, I can actually scout a few for you,” said Han Baichuan, knowing this girl was perceptive, ”As long as you don’t mind spending the money, it’s always good to train several for a rainy day.”

Yang Ruxin naturally wouldn’t reject Han Baichuan’s help, as she still felt a certain repulsion towards places like the Human Trafficking Agency. She might end up pitying the people there and impulsively buying them all.

Han Baichuan was efficient in his work and brought six people for Yang Ruxin to consider the very next day.

”These four are a family; the man’s surname is Wang,” Han Baichuan pointed out a younger couple with two children, ”To be honest, they fled famine and found their way to my ancestral home. They have a sick daughter, and they wish to sell themselves to raise money for her treatment. However, people are only willing to buy the couple and not with their children. I thought about taking them in, but my household already has enough long-standing servants, so I temporarily put them to work doing miscellaneous tasks in the back of the building. They are quite hardworking. When you mentioned wanting to buy someone, I thought of them...”

Yang Ruxin’s gaze fell on Wang Laibao and his family of four.

The group appeared somewhat nervous, but the man stood in front of his wife with a resolute look in his eye, while the woman held her frail daughter close, leaning against her husband. The little boy, only about six or seven years old, clutched his mother’s skirt tightly, pursing his lips as he looked at Yang Ruxin.