Going to Qiongzhou is not difficult in Guangzhou. Before the Australians entered Guangzhou, Dabo Shipping had a branch at Tianzi Wharf. There were ships between Lingao and Guangzhou every few days, which was very convenient. Nowadays, Wuyangyi on the bank of the Pearl River has been occupied by Dabo as the Guangzhou sales office, and the liner has also been changed to operate every day, not only to Lingao, but also to Qiongshan.
If Zhang Dai wants to go there, he can just buy a boat ticket and set off. However, it was not easy for people to travel far away at that time, and living as a guest was even more inconvenient. In order to make the journey smooth, people with a certain wealth and status should write letters to ask acquaintances at the destination to take care of them before going out. If there are no relatives or friends in the area, you have to find one in a roundabout way, and bring a letter from the introducer to visit to ask for their care. For the wealthy gentry households, such exchanges and care for each other were even more common.
Zhang Dai naturally had the same plan when he went to Lingao. The Liang family had connections with the Australians, and he had originally planned to ask Liang Cunhou to make arrangements.
Now that Guangzhou has fallen, the Liang family has also "received the favor of the emperor", so it is naturally inconvenient for them to have contact with the Australians - in fact, all the gentry in Guangzhou have this attitude now, and no one wants to be "succumbed to Kun". Making excuses will cause unnecessary trouble to their relatives and friends, especially since many of their fathers, brothers, sons and nephews are still studying in the Ming Dynasty as officials, and they dare not have any contact with Australians anymore.
Since the Liang family could not come forward, Zhang Dai had another option: Zhao Xiucai from Sanshui in Hangzhou.
In Hangzhou, Zhao Yingong had frequent contacts with him and could be regarded as a "friend" - this was not because Zhang Dai was impressed by Zhao Yingong's special temperament or personality charm, but because of the care of Zhang Pu, the leader of the restoration community.
The "Australian background" of Sanshui Zhao Xiucai is not a secret among the gentry in Hangzhou. Zhang Pu's view goes even further: Zhao Yingong is actually the agent of the Kun thief, and it is very likely that he himself is a Kun thief.
Zhang Pu was not ignorant of what the Kun thieves were doing in Guangdong. However, compared with the Donglu, the Kun thieves had advantages and disadvantages for the Ming Dynasty. They were not just capable of barbaric looting like the Donglu. If they could be guided and utilized, they would be a good medicine for the Ming Dynasty to prolong their lives.
Therefore, he hinted to Zhang Dai that he might as well make friends with Mr. Zhao and maintain a certain friendly relationship. It would be a reliable communication channel at critical times, and he could also understand some of the internal situation of the Kun thief. Zhang Pu knew that the imperial court's understanding of enemies from all walks of life was shockingly ignorant.
Zhang Dai is not as complicated and long-term as Zhang Pu thought, but he has always loved novelty and exquisite things. The various "Australian goods" brought by Master Zhao of Sanshui just met his needs, so he was happy to obey.
This time when he went south, he made a special trip to visit Zhao Yingong and asked him to write an "eight lines" letter.
Hearing that he intended to visit Lingao, Zhao Yingong seemed very attentive. He immediately patted his chest and expressed that he was interested in him, and immediately wrote an "eight-line" letter to the "Master of Runshi Hall".
Zhang Dai didn't know who the owner of Runshitang was, but since it was written to him, everything would be easy as long as he found Runshitang when he arrived in Lingao.
Unexpectedly, when I arrived in Guangzhou, I heard that there was also a branch of Runshitang in Guangzhou. This way, things are even simpler. Zhang Dai had made up his mind and sent a boy to take his name card to Runshitang and post it, saying that he would visit on a certain day.
"…Through the public security rectification, industrial and commercial registration and household surveys of the city's customs industry, the clean-up and rectification team has initially grasped the situation of brothels and customs industry practitioners in the entire urban area of Guangzhou (including the Simenguanxiang area)
"There are 194 registered brothels in the urban area, with 1,548 registered employees and 3,445 auxiliary employees. The youngest prostitute is 10 years old and the oldest is 55 years old (note: Pipa Tsai is not included). Young women aged 16 to 25, Accounting for less than 50% of the total number of prostitutes. The specific age distribution is shown in the table below...
"In terms of sources of prostitutes, 62% of the total number were from Lehu, 27% were from Danhu, and 11% were from good families. However, during the survey we learned that many madams from Lehu led their families to purchase girls from poor families. , pretending to be his own daughter in order to avoid the relevant legal prohibitions on forcing girls into prostitution. Therefore, this statistics cannot truly reflect the source of prostitutes...
"Based on our comprehensive assessment of brothel size, decoration level, consumption level and traditional social views, Guangzhou's brothels can be roughly divided into four grades. The first-class brothels are mostly named 'Xingyuan' or 'Dazhai' (water brothel) Form exists. In terms of business scale, there are at least 10 prostitutes, and there can be more than 20 prostitutes. In addition, there are several "Pipa boys". The building decoration and furnishings are very elegant. Prostitutes are generally younger, better-looking, and have more backgrounds. Lehu family. Most of them are proficient in writing, proficient in calligraphy, chess, calligraphy and painting, as well as poems and songs. Some famous prostitutes are well-known locally and even throughout the province. Prostitutes are less abused and have a higher living standard. This type of prostitutes are less abused. The consumer price of brothels is very high, and most of the brothels are for banquets, singing, wine, and tea. However, the number of such brothels in the custom industry is very small. There are only 9 in the urban area, accounting for less than 1% of the entire industry. 5%, with 134 employees, accounting for 8.6% of the employees.…
“It is worth noting that although the proportion of prostitutes employed in first-class brothels is less than 10%, the number of auxiliary employees in first-class brothels, including busboys, cooks, housewives, craftsmen, etc., accounts for more than two-thirds of the entire auxiliary employees. Operating income and profits account for more than half of the entire custom industry. The scale effect is very obvious.…
"Second-class brothels are mainly smaller in size and quality than first-class brothels, but in terms of specific grades, they are on par with first-class brothels. Locally, they are often called 'semi private brothels'. Second-class brothels are often called 'book apartments' or 'painted boats' ' and other forms of operation, the house is small and exquisite, there are only 1 to 2 prostitutes, and there are also several maids and pipa boys. In fact, the maids are also employees. The operation situation is the same as that of the first-class brothel. There are also famous prostitutes. This type Most of the brothel practitioners are from "Lehu" and often operate in a family style. Madams and prostitutes often have a mother-daughter relationship. There are 38 second-class brothels in the urban area, with 80 employees (including maids).…
"Third and fourth-class brothels are purely trading, with simple venues and no pomp. Fourth-class brothels do not even have formal houses. They only build shacks and shacks in the wasteland outside the city for prostitutes. Third- and fourth-class brothels mostly have clients from the middle and lower classes. The business targets and employees may be older or less attractive. Because the price of selling sex is very low, in order to squeeze the maximum profit, some prostitutes have to receive more than 20 customers a day and night. Prostitutes are also the most severely abused and oppressed. This type of brothel is also a source of sexually transmitted diseases. In high-incidence areas, the investigation of sexually transmitted diseases among prostitutes in third- and fourth-class brothels is shown in the table below...
"In addition to the brothels that have registered and obtained business licenses, there are still 6 brothels in the form of nunneries. Their operating conditions are roughly similar to first- and second-class brothels. There are also Danhu Hua Ting, 'Salt Water Girl' and Beggar Bone. Due to the large mobility of the site and people, it is initially estimated that the employees working in the 'Tu Cave' should be among the people, and most of them are floating population without household registration...
"In addition to brothels, there are four or five Xianggong Tangzi in Guangzhou. The scale and form of their operations are roughly similar to those of second-class brothels. They employ about 50 people. They are currently also included in the scope of custom industry regulation...
"To sum up, we can find that the scale of the custom industry in Guangzhou is not only large, but the percentage of related employees in the urban population is also quite high. This has a lot to do with the fact that it is a trading port city with many places... …”
"This "Preliminary Investigation Report on the Customs Industry in Guangzhou" has almost been revised." Liu Xiang closed the manuscript with satisfaction and nodded to Zhang Yunmi. Zhang Yunmi's expression at this time was like that of a girl who Liu Xiang had mentored years ago who urgently needed to complete a big thesis within a month - before the D-Day when Liu Xiang was still a PhD student working for his boss for free. expression.
"Give it to Lu Cheng for the second work. I've been treating you like a loser for half a month." Liu Xiang casually added Lu Cheng's name to the author of the cover. Zhang Yunmi agreed with a "hmm", but his eyes narrowed meaningfully.
Liu Xiang just pretended not to see it, casually talked about some work matters, and sent Zhang Yunmi away.
As soon as Zhang Yunmi left the office door, he saw Lu Cheng coming with a few documents. Zhang Yunmi smiled mysteriously, responded to Lu Cheng's greeting, and left. As they passed each other, Lu Cheng glanced sideways at the cover of the article, as well as the two names that were very inconsistent and forcibly inserted. He felt slightly excited, but within a few seconds he calmed down again. There was a rhythmic knock on the door of Liu Xiang's office.
"Mayor, today someone came to the Runshitang Guangzhou Business Station with the name card of Mr. Zhao from Hangzhou, saying that he wanted to see the 'Master of Runshitang'." Lu Cheng handed over the official document box in the kraft paper box in his hand.
"Mr. Zhao... uh huh, what's the news about him?" Liu Xiang was a little confused as a monk. He was so surprised that he almost said the words that should have been omitted in front of the naturalized people. "Is it possible that Guangzhou has been conquered here, and the situation on Lao Zhao's side is very tense? Didn't he say last time that he 'inspected the trade routes with Japan'? There should be no problem!" Liu Xiang secretly wondered.
"Who is the visitor? Did you send a name card?"
"Yes," Lu Cheng said, "My name is Zhang Dai. This is his name card."
"Zhang Dai, this name is quite familiar... he should be a famous person." Liu Xiang looked at the famous letter, took out a "reading book for seniors" with no cover and only a black cardboard box from the drawer, and turned the pages. After a while, I found Zhang Dai's name under the "z-Zhang" entry.
Zhang Dai, Fushe...Jiangnan Shilin...Liu Xiang closed the pages of the book with a slightly loud movement, making a dull "bang" sound.
