The sale of slaves is considered illegal today, but it was very common in ancient times. Some high-ranking officials and nobles can buy servants for a certain amount of money, and they can also give them to others.
Then the question arises, how much silver did it take to buy a servant in ancient times? If it is converted into the current renminbi, what is the value?
According to our understanding, in ancient times, the purchase of slaves was no different from the purchase of goods, but the price was different according to the different times.
For example, during the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an, as an international city, came to a group of Arab merchants who sold slaves that were famous in history.
Here we should simply popularize that the Kunlun Mountains here are not the Kunlun Mountains that we often talk about now, but the South China Sea and Southeast Asia, so many of these Kunlun slaves are black.
Don't look at the black people's appearance is five big and three thick is a little scary, but they are very loyal, the personality is also very docile, very obedient, will not cause trouble for the master, will not have too many personal needs, as long as they can eat and drink enough.
Good character, cheap price, coupled with a physique like a cow, the appearance of Kunlun Nu immediately detonated the slave market of the Tang Dynasty.
However, with the shortage of supply and demand, the price of Kunlun nu has risen.
In the Tang Dynasty, the price of a coarse servant was 1-3 yuan, but when the price of Kunlun Nu was at its highest point, it could be several times that of ordinary servants. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty people are not rich in anyone, but in whose Kunlun nu are more.
So let's calculate, rough to make the price of the servant we compromise according to 2 yuan calculation, and Kunlun nu is 5 times the price of good, then a Kunlun nu is about 10 yuan.
According to the research of the famous historian Mr. Tan Wenxi, in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the consistent money was equivalent to about 7,000 yuan today.
Then the price of an ordinary servant who is rude is 14,000 yuan, while kunlun nu is 70,000 yuan, and this price may not be available.
In the face of such a price, it is no wonder that people say that Kunlun Nu is the façade of the Tang Dynasty.
However, this situation was short-lived, and after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Kunlun nu also disappeared, not only replaced by local servants, but also after the Song Dynasty, the price of servants began to flatten.
For example, in famous novels such as "Golden Plum Bottle", "Water Margin", and "Dream of the Red Chamber" after the Song Dynasty, the price of buying servants has been mentioned many times.
Of course, the price mentioned here is much more flat, and the relative is more refined in the type of servant.
The servant at this time was not as simple as we thought, just pouring water for the lord's house.
According to historians' research on historical records, the servant system has become more and more perfect, generally classified by gender.
Among female servants, there are two categories: close to the body and rough.
There are more categories of male servants, from young to old, including book boys, miscellaneous servants, and so on.
The so-called rough beard refers to a type of person who pours tea and water in our impression. The close-fitting lady is relatively advanced, mainly responsible for the hostess or the lady's diet and living.
Therefore, the price gap between the two is very large. For example, in "Golden Plum Bottle", Ximen Qing bought a rough messenger, only spent a few or two grains of silver, and put it to about four to five thousand yuan now.
The close-fitting lady is generally bought from a young age, accompanied by the lady day and night, and is both a master servant and a friend.
Therefore, the price of these close-fitting beards is generally above 10 taels of silver, so the conversion is about 10,000 yuan.
Male servants depend on their physique and skills.
Some miscellaneous servants who are responsible for work, when buying, they should look at whether their physique is good or not, a few or two silver that are not good, and a good one can even be sold to a dozen or two.
Of course, these are relatively low-level servants, as well as high-level servants such as book boys and cooks.
For example, we can see in Zhou Xingchi's "Tang Bohu Dian Qiu Xiang" that the status of book children is very high.
This is because the book boy is similar to the maid, who has been bought since he was a child, not only spends a relatively high fee, but also gets along with the young master in the family from childhood, so the status is naturally higher.
For example, the Ming Dynasty scholar Jiang Shaoshu once said in "Yun Shi Zhai Pen Talk" that he had been accompanied by a book boy since he was a child, and the two seemed to be the master servants, but they were actually friends, and they often talked about ancient artifacts and famous paintings together, so they were not happy.
In addition, there are cooks, and the average domestic cook is also a servant who has been bought with money, because these people have special skills, so the price is relatively high, about 10 to 20 taels of silver.
The conversion is almost 10,000 to 20,000 yuan.
The Qing Dynasty scholar Kong Shangren recorded in his miscellaneous works "The Great Thunder" that some local gentlemen generally spent about 15 taels of silver to buy domestic kitchen servants.
After understanding this, we have a rough understanding of the price of a servant in ancient times. Then if converted into RMB, the senior servant needs to spend more than 10,000 yuan, while the low-level servant is about 5,000 yuan.
At this price, if modern times allowed the buying and selling of servants, there were still many families who could afford to buy.
But then again, the ancient matter of buying and selling servants was completely unfair. Some poor people who are forced to make a living can only be selected as goods on the shelves, even cheaper than goods.
How many people can be like Tang Bohu, selling themselves in Washington not for making money and making a living, but for a beautiful person?
What's more, if these servants do not accumulate enough money to retire in their old age, their fate is also very miserable, not only childless, but may even sleep on the street, and finally end their miserable life.
It's really sad, it's sad.
References: Old Book of Tang, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Great Thunder, etc