The scenery along the Qinhuai River is picturesque.

At night, the lanterns on the flower boat were hung high, one after another, like stars dotted on the Milky Way.

There are wine shops gathered on the shore, and people are crowded. Looking around, they are full of vitality.

Zhu Qizhen looked at the scenery in front of him and was a little lost.

It seems that the nightlife of the ancients was very rich, and it was no less than that of later generations.

But... I don't know if the technician here will pinch his feet...

Behind him, Fan Zhong kept frowning, wishing to twist his eyebrows into twists.

There were not many people I brought with me during this trip. Beilin stayed in Huai'an, and Yuan Bin was busy mobilizing personnel and assigning tasks. Now the emperor is the only one who is left by himself.

He doesn't look like a good person now, and he keeps feeling rude. If something happens and he doesn't have three heads and six arms, what should he do...

"The smoke is covered with cold water and moon is covered with gauze. I am mooring near a restaurant in Qinhuai at night. The businesswoman does not know the hatred of the country's destruction, but still sings the back garden flowers across the river."

Zhu Qizhen, like a person who was fine, was actually reciting poems on his own.

"Emperor!" Fan Zhong couldn't help but step forward and said, "There are so many people here, I'm afraid it's... unsafe..."

Zhu Qizhen shook his head and said with a smile: "I don't understand, it's not safe to enter the city now!"

Fan Zhong was very puzzled, scratched his head and said, "I... can't figure it out..."

"I have been out for some time. I don't know how long it will take for the capital to hide it. Perhaps... the officials of the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites are already on the way."

"But... why is it unsafe to enter the city?"

"The White Lotus Sect is everywhere. If the news of my trip is leaked, they will definitely get the news as soon as possible. I don't know how many officials in Nanjing are entangled with the White Lotus Sect. I am traveling in plain clothes now, without officials and guards accompanying me. If I enter the city, it will be hard to say whether I can come out."

Fan Zhong thought for a while and asked again: "The emperor simply issued an order to let the officials of Nanjing go out of the city to welcome him, enter the Forbidden City, and have the guards accompany him. I think who dares to act rashly?"

Zhu Qizhen smiled and asked back, "If I enter the city with great fanfare, will the White Lotus Sect and the Japanese pirates dare to attack Nanjing?"

Fan Zhong said again: "I still think that your safety is the most important thing. There is no need to take risks for those thieves who killed thousands of swords."

Zhu Qizhen shook his head and said, "I finally got all the people together, and I can see that I can make a pot of it. I don't want to miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Fan Zhong sighed helplessly, "Even if you don't plan to identify yourself, you can go find an inn to stay here. It's better than here. This kind of place... There are all kinds of people in all kinds of religions, and I really don't feel at ease..."

Zhu Qizhen looked dissatisfied and said, "As the saying goes, "The small one is hidden in the wilderness, the big one is hidden in the city. Now there are only you and me left. Just find a flower boat to drill. Even if someone knows that I have come to Nanjing and searched the whole city, I would never have thought that I would hide here!"

At this time, a flower boat slowly landed on the dock.

Sitting at the bow of the boat was a woman dressed in a shiny manner.

"Young Master, don't you come to the boat to sit?"

Zhu Qizhen was wearing a blue Confucian shirt and holding a folding fan in his hand. The singing girl on the boat didn't think much about it, just thinking that she was a romantic talented man who came out to have fun.

"Okay, then sit down!"

Zhu Qizhen closed the folding fan and stepped onto the boat. Fan Zhong sighed helplessly and had to keep up.

The woman was just seventeen or eighteen years old, with almost pathological fair skin and pitifully thin, as if she had been malnourished for a long time.

"Miss, don't you blame me for being abrupt. Do you have to eat enough to make a living like this?"

The woman laughed and asked, "Is this the first time I'm here in Qinhuai River?"

Zhu Qizhen said in confusion: "Why did the girl say this?"

"If the young master comes out to have fun often, he should know that thinness is beautiful on the Qinhuai River. If he gets fat and has no guests, he will really not be able to eat enough!"

Zhu Qizhen was stunned and suddenly realized that this was what was called...skinny horse!

The so-called thin horse is a deformed aesthetic culture in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

In "Yu Congkao: Raising a Thin Horse" written by Zhao Yi, it is recorded: "The people of Yangzhou raise virgins and sell people as concubines, which is commonly called raising a thin horse. The meaning is unknown. Baixiangshan's poem says: "Don't raise a thin horse, don't teach a little prostitute. The funeral is here. I don't believe you remember: horses are fat and fast, prostitutes can sing and dance. In three or five years, I have heard of another master. "Song Mantang introduces it to him, thinking that the saying of raising a thin horse is based on this."

The secretary of Zhang Dai's "Dream of Tao'an" by Zhang Dai in the late Ming Dynasty said: "There are dozens of hundred people in Yangzhou who eat and eat thin horses every day."

The "Slim Horse" section of the "Guest Window Gossip" Volume 4 of Wu Chichang of the Qing Dynasty recorded: "The gangsters in Jinling bought young girls in all directions, selected them to regulate their skin and modify their clothes. They taught them. They could do all kinds of calligraphy, painting, piano, chess, and chess, and Xiaoguan and flute. When they were given melons, they would sell them at a high price to become concubines in the wealthy house of the businessman, or even enter a brothel, called them "raising thin horses". When they met a poor woman, they would tempt them."

These thin horses are mostly children of poor families. When they were seven or eight years old, they were bought by human traffickers. Then, what awaited them was a long concentration camp-style devil training period. This kind of thinness was both natural and deliberately hungry.

Some of them are lucky, and are attracted by high-ranking officials and rich gentry, and are married to them home. More are sent to the Qinlou Chu Pavilion.

Therefore, on the banks of the Qinhuai River, most of the singing girls on the flower boats are from thin horses.

"Young Master, don't sit there, I will sing a song for you!"

Zhu Qizhen looked at the woman who was so thin that she was sickly, and a thought suddenly emerged in his mind.

Human traffickers are really not something!

Those who run brothels are not good. If they were not buying and selling women, how could there be so many human traffickers in the world?

Such an industry will sooner or later be banned, but the time is not yet ripe.

Then restore a ancestral system, and court officials are not allowed to stay in prostitutes.

First let you lose the support of the court, then gradually shrink until it is completely banned.

…………

On Zhoushan Island, Japanese pirates are gathering on a large scale.

Except for a few small troops that were still haunting Fuzhou, Quanzhou and other places, almost everyone came.

In fact, Zhoushan Island is less than a hundred miles away from Ningbo Port. However, due to the implementation of sea ban by the Ming Dynasty, although Zhoushan Island and Ningbo were across the sea, they were separated from the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the Central Plains dynasty was rarely threatened by the sea, so the focus of military defense was mostly on land fortresses in the northwest, making the Zhoushan Islands seem insignificant.

By the Ming Dynasty, this situation changed. In the 12th year of Hongwu, Zhoushan established a thousand household offices. By the 17th year of Hongwu, the thousand household offices were upgraded to Changguowei, which is enough to show that Zhoushan Island was once highly valued by the imperial court.

However, as time went by, the imperial court's strategy for coastal defense was to focus on guard and set up Japanese guards in coastal areas. For islands like Zhoushan that were hanging on the sea, they chose to give up directly.

Yuanchang Guowei moved to Xiangshan, leaving only two thousand households and about two thousand people in Zhoushan, with defense power greatly weakened.

The county system of Zhoushan was abolished and residents were required to move to the mainland, leaving only more than 500 households to guard Zhoushan Island with the military households.

As the Ming Dynasty's garrison system gradually collapsed, it was difficult for military households to even protect their lives, so they kept fleeing the garrison privately, some fled back to the mainland, and some simply went out to sea to be Japanese pirates.

The emptiness of Zhoushan's garrison allowed the Japanese pirates to take advantage of the situation.

Chen Lang, nicknamed the Three-Headed Dragon on the Sea, has long been eyeing this island, but his strength is insufficient. At this time, Zhoushan Island has been occupied by the Li brothers.

At this time, Shi Heng's joining increased his strength greatly. After several fierce battles, he finally drove the Li brothers out of Zhoushan and occupied the island alone, thus becoming the largest Japanese pirate leader in the coastal area.

Since then, Zhoushan has become the base camp of Japanese pirates. They are entrenched on various islands centered on Zhoushan and often raid coastal villages and towns at night. When the officers and soldiers react, they will immediately go out to sea, which will be disturbed.

After fighting with the Li brothers, Shi Heng also became the most capable deputy under Chen Lang.

The 300 people he brought were all regular troops of the court, and their combat effectiveness was quite strong. Because of this, Chen Lang generally did not send Shi Heng to harass the villages and towns, but used this army to fight against other forces.

It can be said that he is now able to be king at sea, and half of Shi Heng's contributions are made.

"Brother Chen, are you looking for me?"

"Come on, Brother Shi, come and sit down!"

Chen Lang enthusiastically pulled Shi Heng to him and ordered: "Go and prepare the wine and food, I want to have two drinks with Brother Shi!"

Shi Heng was not polite, and sat opposite Chen Lang.

He knew that Chen Lang was interested in his own strength, so he always showed a carefree look, thus creating the illusion of a simple mind and a well-developed limbs.

"Brother, why are there so many people coming to Zhoushan Island? Is there something big going to happen recently?"

Chen Lang smiled calmly and said, "Brother Shi is right. This time, we will do a big vote!"

Shi Heng pretended to ask, "Could it be that the Li brothers are back?"

Chen Lang smiled and said, "It is said that the two brothers went to Luzon and supported a general to rebel. They failed. They probably had been thrown into the sea to feed sharks!"

Shigeun asked again: "That's... the Oda family?"

"The Oda family and Ozaka family have married each other and have regained support in China. Now they are busy fighting for power with the Ashikaga family and don't care about anything outside of Shanghai."

Shi Heng scratched his head and said, "It seems that my elder brother is already the overlord of the sea. What else is there to do?"

Chen Lang smiled mysteriously and said, "My wish is not just the overlord of the sea!"

Shi Heng thought for a while, and seemed to have come back to his senses and asked, "Is it that my brother...was he... ready to attack the Ming Dynasty?"

"Those who know me are brothers Shi!"

Chen Lang laughed and said, "I have been wandering on the sea for my brother for half my life. My greatest wish is to return to my hometown and kill the dog officials who framed me one by one, and avenge the family and young people. If this life is realized, I will die without regrets!"

"What are you going to die? Brother, don't say bad things, what's the name of the official you are talking about? Where is the job now? Just leave this kind of thing to your brother!"

"With your words, you will be content with your brother. However, this person is Yingtian Prefecture now. How easy is it to take revenge?"

"Brother's revenge is brother's revenge. If you are brothers, even if you sacrifice your life, you will still avenge your elder brother!"

Chen Lang was very satisfied with Shi Heng's performance and finally started the topic.

"I know my brother's intentions, but how can a man be content with this corner of the vast ocean? Since he wants to do it, he will do a big deal. After he takes over Nanjing City, what can a small prefecture in Yingtian run away?"

Shi Heng immediately pretended to be surprised and asked, "Brother, are you going to fight Nanjing?"
To be continued...