Chapter 51 Listening to music on the hook 2
"Business in Nishang Lake is really good!" Looking at the endless stream of men at the brothels and Goulan gates near Nishang Lake, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Yes! The money collected here is no less than millions of taels of silver every year. This is just the income brought by the opera singers, not to mention those brothels that deal in flesh and blood." Meng Ruolang agreed. He nodded and explained at the same time.
"Let's go, you lead the way. I've never been to this place before, so I don't know the rules here."
"Hey! What are the rules in this wretched place? If you have money, you will be rich! But it should be noted that although these women are all housekeepers, they will inevitably have skinny business. If you don't have much in your hands, brother Money, try not to have anything to do with these women, this is an official kiln after all."
"Oh? What do you mean by official kiln?" Bi Yuntao stopped walking in the door, looked at Meng Ruolang's figure in front of him, and asked doubtfully.
"I'll ask someone to open a private room first. Let's go up and talk in detail." Meng Ruolang also stopped and whispered in his ear.
The sharp-eyed old woman looked at the gorgeously dressed Bi Yuntao and Meng Ruolang at the door, and hurriedly came over to greet the guests. "Hey! You two gentlemen! You look really hateful, but this is your first time here? Do you want me to introduce you to someone who can sing well? Miss Xiaoli..."
"Okay! Call Miss Fuchun over, I miss you so much." Meng Ruolang saw that the old woman in front of him was still pretty, she smiled and pinched her Hunyuan buttocks, took out a silver coin and stuffed it into her face. The old woman opened her chest in the white snow.
Bi Yuntao was speechless when he saw Meng Ruolang's frivolous movements. This boy actually liked this kind of tone. This old lady did still have some beauty, and she still had some charm when she was young, but some wrinkles were obvious at the corners of her eyes. Her age was revealed, and her face was smeared with thick makeup. Meng Ruolang's frivolous movements made her grin. With this exaggerated movement, the makeup fell off her face like salt.
Looking at the obvious local light snow in front of him, Bi Yuntao's mouth twitched and he glanced at Meng Ruolang suspiciously. Could it be that he lacked maternal love? ! I don't object to you liking mature women, but if you like such a mature woman who can be your mother, it's a bit too much, especially one with a small amount of snow in it. How can you say it? !
Bi Yuntao quickly turned his head away from the two of them, holding back his nausea and looked at the hall behind his mother. He felt relieved when he saw that the people in the hall were drinking tea and listening to music in a polite manner. But how could this Goulan and the brothel receive customers? The pattern is exactly the same? ! emmm, although I have never been there, it has been shown like this in previous TV series.
"Hey! What a pity! This young master, Miss Fuchun has been booked by someone. It's inconvenient. How about I change the two young masters to a better one?" My mother squinted her eyes and took out the snowflake from her chest without leaving any trace. Silver replied with a flattering smile on his face.
"Oh?" Meng Ruolang stuffed another ingot of silver without leaving a trace, and pinched the softness on her chest. "What about this time? I wonder if Miss Fuchun has time?"
"Hahaha! Of course there is time. The two young masters will go to the private room to have tea first. I will go and call someone for the two young masters." The old lady rolled her eyes at Meng Ruolang ambiguously, and then twisted her body in front of her in a coquettish way. lead the way.
The corner of Bi Yuntao's mouth never stopped twitching. He glanced at Meng Ruolang, who was watching the old woman obsessively as she kept twisting her waist. His steps slowed down and he quietly took a few steps back. He said that he would not come with him next time. , what a shame.
Several people entered the private room one after another. Bi Yuntao quickly drank a cup of tea to calm down his shock. When he saw the old woman retreating, he asked the doubts in his heart, "I think you are very familiar with this place, but I don't think so." Understand, why the way of welcoming guests here is similar to that of a brothel?"
"Some old ladies are too old to receive customers in brothels. In order to further squeeze out their remaining value, they are asked to come out to greet customers at the door."
"In other words, they were all brothel girls in the past?! Ruo Lang, your hobby is really special." Bi Yuntao secretly pointed out.
Meng Ruolang also heard what he was implying, and explained nonchalantly: "Hey, brother, you don't understand. Although I also like young and beautiful women, the experienced old woman is the best. It hurts. Although the figures of these old ladies are far inferior to those of young and beautiful women, their initiative on the bed is unparalleled by women."
"Ahem!" Hearing Meng Ruolang speak truthfully and logically, he choked on his tea, "You are lying, don't force your theory on me and shake my heart. I will not be shaken. , I just like young and beautiful girls, who are as beautiful as flowers." Bi Yuntao said this as if he was hypnotizing his heart to prevent his theory from polluting his pure thoughts.
"Haha! Everyone has their own preferences for radish and cabbage." Meng Ruolang shrugged indifferently and didn't take it seriously.
"Ahem! Okay, let's continue the topic we just didn't finish at the door." Bi Yuntao quickly changed the subject, "What did you mean by official kiln before?"
Meng Rulang took a sip of tea and then said slowly: "I told you before I came here that Goulan is divided into the east courtyard and the west courtyard. The east courtyard is the brothel and the west courtyard is Goulan. Although they are collectively called Goulan, in fact They are the relationship between private kilns and official kilns."
Bi Yuntao was speechless. It was just a kiln, but it was divided into so many details, including private kilns and official kilns.
Meng Ruolang didn't see the expression on Bi Yuntao's face, and continued to boast, "Both are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, and the people who listen to Qu'er in the elegant rooms here in Goulan are basically either rich or noble, or powerful, so naturally He would have relations with the girls here, and the imperial courts tacitly approved of it.
But if you have no money or power and still have a relationship with a woman, if the supervisor discovers it afterwards, the man will be sent to the government for questioning. After all, these women belong to the court and are tools used by the court to make money. "
"Isn't it just a matter of concealing it and not reporting it?" Bi Yuntao was puzzled and asked tentatively: "Is there someone else who can't check it?"
"Haha! Of course, I said that these women are used by the court to make money. Every week, old women will check their bodies. If they are found to have lost their virginity and concealed it, the consequences will be very serious. The fate of the women who are found will be the same. They will all be miserable. Not only will their money be confiscated directly, but they will also be sent directly to a brothel. There are many top celebrities and oirans in brothels who are good at singing and dancing, and they all came out of here like this."
"What about the flesh business? Since the investigation here is so serious, why is it still there?"
"Of course you have to serve the guests in the private room. With the tacit approval of the imperial court, the price of tea in the private room includes these expenses, so generally only the first-class guests can enter the private room to serve them. These first-class guests are all recorded by the stewards. , allowing them to spend the night with the guests. After all, the cost of these top names is not small. And for the girls who are named by the guests, the cost of spending the night together is not much less than that of the top names. Therefore, unless they have a romantic partner, they are basically called the top names. Come and serve." Meng Ruolang drank a cup of tea, moistened her dry throat, and then said in a mysterious manner: "Do you know how much the tea in this private room cost?"
Bi Yuntao shook his head, "I don't know."
Meng Ruolang knew that he didn't know, so he stretched out two fingers and shook them.
"Two hundred taels?" Bi Yuntao tentatively guessed.
"What! Two thousand taels."
"Pfft!" Bi Yuntao spit out a mouthful of tea. Damn it, are these girls inlaid with gold or diamonds? This is RMB 400,000. These big business owners are really rich. What could they do with the money? Just to have fun here? !
Bi Yuntao wiped the tea stains from the corner of his mouth, "It seems that the Ministry of Rites is really rich. You just threw away two ingots of snowflake silver. Although they were customized at twenty taels, they are still making money every day. Look, I’m so greedy that I want to step in and get a piece of the pie.”
"Haha! Brother, it's better not to think about it. This is the business of the imperial court." Then he stood up, looked around, and said in a low voice, "The emperor attaches great importance to this aspect. As long as it is corrupt, even if it is only one tael of silver, it will not be enough." While walking around, I heard that a minister of the Ministry of Etiquette was found guilty of corruption, and his daughter was brought in, but no one knew her true identity."
Bi Yuntao nodded clearly, and suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he put down his tea cup and said in confusion: "Then the last time we came to Jinling, the flower boat cost fifty taels of silver to enter. Could it be that the emperor ordered it behind his back? "
"Then I don't know. Maybe the emperor is trying to make money. But what I know is that brothels and goulan are only very finely divided in the capital, and the others have long been integrated with brothels. The court also turned a blind eye to this. One eye, after all, all you have to do is pay your taxes on time.”
"Dong dong!" A knock on the door ended the conversation between the two of them. The old woman came in with embarrassment and apology on her face, "You two gentlemen, Miss Fuchun really can't come, how about I give it to you two?" Are you looking for a better one?"
Meng Ruolang had a look of displeasure on his face. This was the first time he invited his eldest brother to play, but he didn't expect that he would suffer a loss. "What? The money I gave you is not too much? Tell me! How much does it cost for Miss Fuchun to come over?!"
The old lady said in embarrassment: "This... Young Master! This is not about money, but about the other party's overwhelming power. I really can't afford to offend him. How about just forget it?!"
"Hmph!" Meng Ruolang slammed the table angrily and yelled, "Too powerful?! You bring this person over. I want to see who is so powerful, and you don't even give me my face!"
After hearing Bi Yuntao's tone, the old lady knew that these two people could not be offended, but that one was the eldest son of the Ministry of Rites, which put her in a dilemma.
"Forget it! Ruo Lang is just a girl, just change it to another one!" Bi Yuntao didn't want to cause trouble. If it got bigger, not only would the mother and concubine's nagging spread to Ruo Xi's ears, it would only add to the trouble.
"Brother!" Meng Ruolang ignored Bi Yuntao's persuasion, "If you don't make steamed buns to fight for your reputation, leave this matter to me!"
Looking at Meng Ruolang's serious face, he sighed, "Okay, I'll leave it to you! I'll be here waiting for your good news."
Meng Ruolang nodded and said to the old lady: "I don't believe you take me to that person's private room. There is someone who can be as powerful as me."
Bi Yuntao looked at the two disappearing figures, turned his head and squinted out the window, thinking, how should he break the situation on the day of the banquet? It seems that some careful calculation is needed.
(Ancient silver is the same as modern RMB, divided into one tael, ten taels, twenty taels, fifty taels, and one hundred taels. Generally, snowflake silver is a hundred taels of official silver. The silver taels here refer to the exchange rate during the Qing Dynasty. 1:200. By the way, according to the "Song History Food and Huo Zhi", based on the exchange ratio of 1:900 to 1:1800 during the Song Dynasty, the scene where Guo Jing invites Huang Rong to dinner in Mr. Jin Yong's novel, at least uses I lost as little as 13,000 and more than 30,000 yuan. So, corrupt officials in ancient times were all big dogs. T_T)
