Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Every time he came to the capital, Zheng Zhihu felt that new changes had taken place in the capital.

This was his favorite thing about the city. Compared to some lifeless and unchanging places, the capital was really fun.

He and many young people who love adventure like to come to Beijing for fun.

However, due to his status, he, a lieutenant general who was already leading troops in Weihai, could not enter Beijing at will.

This time, he was ordered to come to the Privy Council to report on the preparations for the construction of Dalinghhe Fort next year, which was why he was able to come to the capital.

After entering the capital, Zheng Zhihu and the accompanying soldiers found that the capital had become cleaner.

Not only are there no feces and other garbage on the roads, many roads are also paved with cement, making them much neater and cleaner.

This made Zheng Zhihu couldn't help but sigh:
“Cement is so convenient!”

"Not only can we build roads, but we can also build forts."

"We will also need cement when we build Dalinghe Fort next year."

People around him echoed and thought that Zheng Zhihu said a lot.

They had never heard of cement, a new thing, and even though they had read about it in the newspaper, they had no idea what it was.

But this time, the Dagu Fort they saw when they passed through Tianjin, and the Beijing-Tianjin Highway they passed along the way, all reminded them how convenient cement is to use in construction.

Therefore, Zheng Zhihu included this kind of material in the transportation list and decided to use cement when building Dalinghhe Fort next year.

Zheng Zhifeng is his fourth brother, who is only sixteen years old this year. He is currently studying martial arts and can be regarded as the person in charge of the Zheng family in the capital.

He has now changed his name to Zheng Hongkui. When Zheng Zhihu arrived in Beijing, he came to greet him and said,

"Brother, you are right to think so."

"Much of the content in the engineering textbooks of martial arts is about how to use cement."

"The bastions in western Beijing were built with cement this time."

"If you have time, you can go and have a look."

Zheng Zhihu nodded and pointed at the Jinyiwei standing on the street and asked him in a low voice:
"I heard that there was a rebellion in western Beijing, and the capital is under martial law now."

"Are these Jinyiwei the martial law personnel?"

Zheng Hongkui also whispered:

“They are the ones who are imposing martial law.”

"But it doesn't matter. Except for the fact that there are more Jinyiwei on the streets, everything else in the capital is the same as usual."

"My second brother has the transfer order from the Privy Council, so don't worry about them."

As he spoke, he seemed to recall an interesting incident and said to Zheng Zhihu and others:
"Second brother, do you know what the Jinyiwei in the capital are doing these days?"

"They are driving all the prostitutes and beggars in the capital to the Goulan Hutong."

"I heard that there is a lot of resentment in the Imperial College. If they want to visit prostitutes, they have to go to the brothels."

Zheng Hongkui laughed out loud, but Zheng Zhihu and others didn't know what was so funny.

Of course, they didn't know that among the students in the capital, there were many jokes circulating that mocked the students of the Imperial College.

As the highest institution of learning in the capital, Imperial College has the best resources. Students are also called Imperial College students, which is different from college students in ordinary schools.

They made a fool of themselves and were of course laughed at by other students in the capital.

It was even published in newspapers and widely circulated in the capital.

Zhang Pu and other students of the Imperial College, who presided over Ming Pao, were very angry about this. They repeatedly defended themselves in the newspapers, but it only caused more ridicule.

Now everyone in the capital knew that the students of the Imperial Academy liked to visit prostitutes. Some of the students of the Imperial Academy who behaved improperly further confirmed this statement.

Zhang Pu and others also gave up their excuses and began to discuss in newspapers that alcohol can also make people corrupt and whether the alcohol industry should be included in the list of corrupt industries and taxed.

This topic is very controversial, and scholars from all walks of life have published articles to discuss it.

Naturally, the romantic affairs of some of the students were also covered up.

However, the martial arts school not far from Goulan Hutong still circulated those jokes. When they met the students in Goulan Hutong, they even told these jokes to make fun of them.

Zheng Zhihu and others didn't know these funny things, so they were naturally puzzled by Zheng Hongkui's laughter. However, they heard that in the capital, prostitutes had to go to the brothels.

Some curious soldiers said:
"Does the capital even care where prostitutes are?"

"How about the prostitutes in Goulan Hutong?"

Zheng Hongkui said to them:
“It wasn’t something that was taken care of before.”

"But the imperial court issued a regulation a few days ago, classifying the pornography industry, begging industry, gambling industry, and drug industry as decadent industries, and limiting their business areas."

"The brothels and casinos in Dongcheng District were all moved to Goulan Hutong."

"Prostitutes, beggars and other degenerate people will be driven there."

As he spoke, he explained the capital's policies to these people, warning them not to visit prostitutes outside business areas, and that the Jinyiwei and Weiwei Temple were cracking down on pornography and illegal publications.

Once someone is found to be illegally soliciting prostitution, fines and forced labor are minor matters. The more serious thing is that the matter will be reported in the newspaper and become a lifelong stain.

In recent days, some officials have been arrested and even dismissed from their posts.

Some students who committed crimes in defiance of the law were also reported by the school and even had to make public self-criticisms, and could not hold their heads up in school.

It can be said that this incident is the most serious incident in the capital these days.

It is hard to say whether the regulations will be relaxed in the future, but we must not commit crimes now.

Out of curiosity and because Goulan Hutong was not far from Chaoyangmen, everyone in the group asked to go and take a look.

Zheng Hongkui had no choice but to take them there.

Goulan Hutong is not far from the martial arts school, so Zheng Hongkui had naturally been there.

This was originally a place where brothels gathered, and next to it was Bensi Hutong where the Jiaofangsi was located, and Yanle Hutong.

After the imperial court issued an order to distinguish between the entertainment industry and the pornography industry, and divided Goulan Hutong into the pornography business area, those who were unwilling to degenerate moved to Bensi Hutong and Yanle Hutong, and most of those who remained were brothels.

As other brothels and casinos in the capital moved in, this place became bustling, and many people came to take a look out of curiosity.

When Zheng Hongkui and others arrived, they saw the Jinyiwei driving some prostitutes and beggars over, including some bald nuns, which looked quite strange.

After asking the passers-by around, I found out that these nuns were secretly working as prostitutes. They were reported during the rectification of temples and were also forced to move here as prostitutes.

Zheng Hongkui and others pouted along with the onlookers, but they felt a little itchy in their hearts, wondering what it felt like to be a nun.

At this time, Zheng Zhihu pointed to some lanterns hanging in front of the brothels and said:

“Why are there so many lanterns here?”

“And they were all red lights.”

Zheng Hongkui explained to him:

"This is the court's policy, which allows business areas to relax curfews and hang red lights to operate all night."

"So the business district has a nickname, and it's also called the red-light district."

"But some people call this alley the Street of Depravity." "It is said that because of this, the court plans to move the military government in the west to prevent the officers of the Beijing camp from being corrupted and depraved."

The military government was the seat of the Governor-General’s Beijing Camp Military Affairs Office. It had been located in this location before, and no one thought it was inappropriate.

However, after the rebellion in western Beijing, the emperor felt it was inconvenient to dispatch the Beijing troops, so he planned to move them to the Zhongfu Grassland area on the edge of the imperial city, closer to the Donghua Gate.

This reason became even more sufficient after Goulan Hutong was designated as a red-light district.

It is impossible for a dignified Beijing government office to be located near a red-light district.

Zheng Hongkui naturally didn't know the inside story. He only knew that the court wanted to move the Rong government away in order to prevent the officers of the Beijing camp from becoming corrupt.

It is said that the area around the Lantern Festival west of Goulan Hutong will be developed into a commercial district.

The Nei Ting Construction Group is already investigating how to build a commercial area. They are planning to build a large shopping mall on the site of the former Rong government.

Zheng Zhihu did not think it was inappropriate to place the Beijing Barracks Office near the red-light district, because it was common for the army to visit prostitutes, and there were even camp prostitutes.

Hearing what Zheng Hongkui said, he frowned and asked:
"The imperial court is so cautious about officers visiting prostitutes, so how do they arrange for prostitutes in the camp?"

Zheng Hongkui knew a little about this and said:

"It is said that prostitutes are no longer allowed in military camps. Prostitutes are not allowed in military camps."

"This rule is related to syphilis. It is said that there was a war in the West that was led to a rout because the generals and soldiers were infected with syphilis."

"But there are also many officers who oppose it and think that strict inspections will suffice."

Thinking of the horrors of syphilis mentioned in the newspapers, as well as the accompanying pictures of red sores, Zheng Hongkui still felt a little sick and did not dare to casually look for a prostitute without a health certificate.

This is also the reason why the red-light district in Beijing was quickly recognized by people.

Everyone was frightened by the syphilis reports in the newspapers and only dared to go to places where they could feel at ease.

No matter how cheap private prostitution is, it is not as precious as life.

Even their neighbors would take the initiative to report it for fear of spreading the disease.

Therefore, in the red-light district, prostitutes were always caught and brought here by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

As they were talking, the Embroidered Uniform Guards brought another group of people over from the Lantern Festival.

This time the prostitutes were not simply expelled, but were put in shackles.

Some sharp-eyed people could even see that it was a giant shackle weighing one hundred kilograms. After the current emperor abolished the standing shackle, it was only used to shackle criminals who minted copper coins privately and trafficked in people.

So many people guessed what crime they committed. They must have discovered a young girl and were convicted of human trafficking.

Sure enough, the patrolman from the Jinyiwei Weiwei Temple who was in charge of putting them in shackles and displaying them to the public said:

"The imperial court has issued an edict: Anyone who uses underage girls as prostitutes will be treated as someone who seduces a man or abducts his children, and will be sent to the frontier guards as a soldier."

"Those who have been sold to more than three people or who have committed the same offense again will be put in a 100-jin shackle for one month."

"These people who raise young girls as prostitutes will be put in the shackles and displayed to the public for a month and then exiled overseas."

Then he pointed at some other men and said loudly:
"The Great Ming Code: Criminal Law: Anyone who commits rapism shall be hanged."

"Anyone who rapes a girl under twelve years old shall be treated as a raper, even if the rape is consensual."

"These people have committed the crime of raping young girls and should all be sentenced to death by hanging."

"Everyone who comes to the red light district should take this as a warning!"

These words made the clients watching the scene shudder with fear, fearing that they would be caught by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

But what frightened them was not just that, because the patrolman pointed at the notice being posted and said:

"So that you all know that the court is re-establishing rituals and music and is revising the Criminal Law."

"From now on, all girls who have not reached the age of marriage will be treated as young girls."

"That is to say, the age limit for raping young girls should be raised to fifteen."

"When you go to whorehouses, you must make sure that the woman is of marriageable age."

"If you find a prostitute who has not reached the age of marriage, you must report it to the Weiwei Temple immediately."

"The same applies to marriage. You cannot get married before you reach the age of marriage."

This was a regulation made by the Ministry of Rites at the request of the emperor when formulating business district policies, and the reason was also related to the marriage age.

In order to reduce population pressure and limit population expansion, Zhu Youjian planned to promote late marriage and late childbirth.

So he set the age limit for raping young girls at fifteen, so that people under fifteen were naturally not allowed to get married, otherwise they would be guilty of rape.

In the future, the marriage law will also stipulate that the minimum marriage age for men will be set at 20 years old, and for women at 18 years old. This will slow down the population growth rate and reduce the difficulty in childbirth caused by young births.

The Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital has compiled data to prove that when a pregnant woman is too young or too old, the probability of a difficult birth is higher, and she is considered a high-risk pregnant woman. The data collected in later generations is under 16 years old or over 35 years old.

In the Ming Dynasty, age was usually calculated based on the lunar calendar, so when Zhu Youjian asked the Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital to compile relevant data, he used 18 and 36 years old as the dividing line to support the modification of the marriage age.

Newspapers also began to hype up the dangers of giving birth at young and old ages.

Rescuing young girls who were raised as prostitutes was only one part of the story.

Those who were abducted would be sent home, and those who were sold would be sent to the Jiaofangsi for training to prevent them from being sold again after being sent home.

The Royal Orchestra and Shenleguan also selected some people with good character, good singing and dancing skills to be trained as musicians and dancers.

Zheng Hongkui and others were frightened after seeing the excitement. They had no intention of staying in Goulan Hutong any longer and quickly walked out.

When they reached Yanle Hutong, they found some people performing with drums and gongs, and some people had set up a stage to perform.

However, the musicians in the capital were turned into good citizens, and they performed for free to express their gratitude to the court.

In particular, the drama "The Female Number One Scholar" adapted by the royal orchestra at the emperor's order was performed most frequently, and many drama troupes were rehearsing this play.

This play is very popular among the musicians, especially the female singers. And because the form of the play is very novel, it attracts many people during this time close to the Chinese New Year.

Zheng Hongkui had heard it several times, but Zheng Zhihu and the others had never heard it. They listened to the opera with great interest, ordered tea under the pergola, and gave some silver coins as a reward.

While Zheng Hongkui was listening to the opera, he also bought a few newspapers and found that there was another big news today.

That is, because "Yilin Newspaper" often publishes erotic articles, it is regarded as an pornographic information magazine.

From now on, this newspaper will have to pay a corruption tax like the pornography industry.

This is the abbreviation of the special tax on decadent industries, and is sometimes specifically called pornography tax or gambling tax.

Newspapers and periodicals related to gambling were also implicated.

The imperial court issued a clear order that regular newspapers and periodicals were not allowed to publish pornographic, gambling and other decadent content, and they were required to rectify the situation if they were found. Otherwise, they would not only have to pay a decadence tax, but the distribution of the newspapers would also be restricted and they could only be sold to adults.

Advertisements for casinos and brothels that had previously appeared in many newspapers were naturally also banned.

There was even debate in newspapers about whether alcohol advertising should be banned.

Some people also quoted the saying "playthings will lead to loss of ambition", believing that some objects can also lead people to depravity, and suggested that the court collect a depravity tax.

Jewelry, fireworks, etc. were all discussed, causing more debate. (End of this chapter)