The two Lingnan people sent by He Lianfang were genuine locals of Lingnan, not descendants of criminals exiled there. They were from the Hidden Mountain Tribe in the Upper Lingnan.
Lingnan is divided into Upper, Central, and Lower regions, based on the terrain. In Lingnan, locals almost never refer to themselves as residents of a particular city; instead, they say, "I am from a certain tribe in Upper Lingnan," or "I am from a certain tribe in Lower Lingnan."
While the division is based on terrain, Upper Lingnan is more prosperous and powerful than Central Lingnan, with Lower Lingnan being the poorest in Lingnan.
The reason the two people from the Hidden Mountain Tribe could speak the official language of the Great Zhou was because everyone in their tribe interacted with the Central Plains people, specifically those exiled to Lingnan.
The chieftain of the Hidden Mountain Tribe was a person of great wisdom and open-mindedness. She was not like the chieftains of other tribes, who were conservative, stubborn, and outdated, and held great hostility towards the Central Plains people.
She had a keen interest in the culture, merce, and etiquette of the Central Plains and appreciated them. Therefore, she always encouraged her tribe to interact more with the Central Plains people and learn their good practices.
Clearly, her policy of interacting with the Central Plains people was correct. Over the years, under her leadership, the Hidden Mountain Tribe transformed from a backward and impoverished small tribe into the largest tribe in Upper Lingnan.
Regarding the Hidden Mountain Tribe’s dealings with the Central Plains people, people from other tribes looked down on them, unanimously considering it disgraceful. In reality, while they disdained the Hidden Mountain Tribe, they also envied its growing strength.
The chieftain of the Hidden Mountain Tribe paid no attention to the scorn from other tribes. In her opinion, people are living, but rules are dead, and nothing is more important than filling one’s stomach. What mattered most to her was ensuring her people were well-fed and clothed. If she adhered rigidly to unyielding rules for the sake of pride, ignoring the people’s livelihood, she would be a very unsuccessful chieftain.
Under her management, almost everyone in the Hidden Mountain Tribe could speak the language of the Central Plains. Moreover, most people could read, and of course, they read the characters of the Central Plains. Quite a few had also studied books like the "Analects" and "Mengzi."
Each tribe in Lingnan had its own language but no written script. They recorded events using drawings instead of words.
The people of the Hidden Mountain Tribe learned to read and write from the exiled Central Plains people using the characters of the Central Plains to document everything. Since learning these writings, the whole tribe developed an increasing obsession with Central Plains culture.
After learning about some aspects of the Central Plains, the chieftain of the Hidden Mountain naturally yearned even more to visit. She wanted to see the Central Plains personally, but unfortunately, Lingnan people could not leave without a travel permit.
Applying for a travel permit to leave Lingnan is extremely difficult because it is not issued by the Lingnan government but by the capital. This means that if one wishes to leave Lingnan for the Central Plains, they must obtain approval from the capital’s government.
Even if you applied for a travel permit out of Lingnan, the capital’s government would generally not approve it. That is to say, Lingnan people are destined to spend their entire lives there, unable to go anywhere else. If a Lingnan person tried to sneak out and was discovered, not only would they face severe punishment, but local officials would also be harshly penalized. If the situation was serious, the person who snuck out would be executed.
The inability for Lingnan people to leave the area was not a law established by the Great Zhou but by the previous dynasty. The previous dynasty prohibited Lingnan people from leaving because they once rebelled and successfully captured several nearby cities, killing many people. The then-emperor of the previous dynasty was furious and sent a large army to suppress the Lingnan rebels.
Because of this event and frequent assassinations of officials sent to Lingnan, the court of the previous dynasty regarded the Lingnan people as barbaric and uncivilized. Therefore, the emperor of the previous dynasty decreed that Lingnan people were not allowed to leave Lingnan.
Although the Great Zhou modified many of the previous dynasty’s laws, they pletely adopted the laws concerning Lingnan without altering a single clause.
Whether it was the previous dynasty, the Great Zhou, or even earlier empires, they all saw the Lingnan people as stubborn barbarians. In their eyes, Lingnan people were no different from beasts, not worth the effort to civilize. Even if efforts were made to teach them, they would not learn well.
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