Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1237 Epilogue : I didn't spend a penny to buy this Hu Ji
Xie Yan sat down next to the princess, kept his troops still, and observed the situation.

Zhu Tangxi ignored him and said to Little Hu Ji, "The household registration and name given to you by Lanruoyuan have not been changed yet. You are still called Zhao Huanlan."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Alan bowed quickly to express his gratitude.

Zhu Tangxi said: "This is not a good name. Lanruoyuan gave you this name just to attract sympathy and love from men."

Alan said, "I know."

"萑兰" is not a certain type of orchid, its literal meaning is tears streaming down the face.

Zhu Tangxi then turned to Xie Yan and said, "Liu Lang's maid, it's time for Liu Lang to change her name himself."

Xie Yan thought for a moment and said, "Let's just call her Xiren."

"Xiren?" Zhu Tangxi pondered carefully, "Where does this name come from?"

When the country is in misfortune, the poet is fortunate. Turbulent times and numerous setbacks often give birth to great poets.

On the other hand, if times were peaceful, some famous works would not be written.

Lu You, who wrote more than 9000 poems in the Southern Song Dynasty, did not have the leisure time in the Ming Dynasty. He passed the imperial examination before he was 30 and was already a second-rank official when he retired. How could he have the time to write poetry when he was busy with official duties?

Lu You in this time and space lived to be 88 years old and left behind only more than 500 poems.

The sentence "The scent of flowers makes one feel the sudden warmth" was never written by Lu You.

Xie Yan had no idea where the word "Xiren" came from, so he made up a random guess: "The fragrance is invading people, but it has no origin."

Zhu Tangxi asked Alan: "What kind of incense do you usually use?"

Alan replied: "I don't have any special perfume, I just pick up the leftovers from the prostitutes in Beijing... Zhao. I'm not married yet, I just follow the prostitutes to learn skills, I don't even get paid every month, just some pocket money."

"The famous Lanruoyuan is so stingy." Zhu Tangxi couldn't help but sneer, and at the same time, his impression of Alan changed slightly.

As the eldest princess, there is no need for her to be jealous of such a poor child.

Alan didn't dare to answer.

Zhu Tangxi said: "Your last name probably came from Zhao Jingjing. According to the Hundred Family Surnames, change it to Li Xiren from now on. I will send someone to change your household registration tomorrow."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Alan suddenly knelt on the ground. She knew that the rest of her life was in the hands of the princess.

China has had household registration system for a long time.

In the pre-Qin period, those who belonged to the state were called citizens, and those who belonged to the aristocracy were called private citizens.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, all people were registered as citizens, and regardless of their specific circumstances, in principle all people became citizens.

In the Song Dynasty, the system of slavery was abolished in the legal sense. According to the area of ​​residence, people were divided into Fangguo households (urban households) and Xiangcun households (rural households). According to whether they had real estate, they were divided into main households and clients.

In today's Ming Dynasty, the main customers have also been cancelled, and only the distinction between urban and rural household registration remains - as early as the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was already difficult to distinguish between the main households and the customers.

The household registration management in the Ming Dynasty was the same as that in the Song Dynasty. If you had lived in a certain place for more than one year and had a house purchase or rental contract as proof, you could change your place of household registration.

However, in order to prevent migration for the imperial examination, scholars who have changed their registered permanent residence within 15 years must return to their original place of residence to take the imperial examination. If the registered permanent residence has been changed for more than 15 years, they can take the examination in their current place of residence.

In addition, during the reigns of Taizu and Taizong, due to the high infant mortality rate, children were not registered until they were 12 years old. With the development of society and the advancement of medicine, children can now be registered regardless of their age.

Alan's household registration was previously registered at Lanruoyuan, but now it has to be transferred to the Princess's House.

The Ming Dynasty did not specifically manage the household registration of prostitutes because the court never recognized the legality of prostitution. This was written into the "Ming Dynasty Law". Over the past hundred years, many officials have called for the standardization of prostitution, but it has always been difficult to make substantial progress.

According to the regulations of the Song Dynasty, musicians and prostitutes were all included in the music register. The central government had the Jiaofangsi, the local governments had the prefectures, and the military had the barracks, each of which managed a set of music registers.

Only those who have a music license can be legal musicians, singers, dancers, and prostitutes. Otherwise, they are illegal practitioners and are the targets of anti-pornography crackdowns!

The "redeem" in the opera means that the musician's status must be redeemed with official approval to change his household registration.

Entertainment venues are usually in collusion with the government, and if the brothel owner disagrees, the government will not revoke his or her registration as a prostitute. In that case, the household registration cannot be changed at all, and she cannot marry normally.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was no Jiaofangsi, let alone music registration. Therefore, the mobility of musicians and prostitutes was very high. They could leave when their contracts expired and sue their employers directly.

Of course, because entertainment venues often have deep backgrounds, prostitutes dare not break off relations in most cases.

……

Alan... No, it should be called Xiren.

Xiren was taken to the courtyard where the maids lived and lived next door to Daiyu and Baochai.

"You will live in this room from now on."

The princess' maid who led her here had a neutral attitude, but her tone was slightly contemptuous: "The rules of the Princess' House are strict, and they are not comparable to those messy places. You must change all the bad habits you have developed in the past. Especially you are not allowed to seduce men, otherwise you will bear the consequences yourself!"

Xiren said quickly, "I've made a note of it. What's your name, sister?"

The maid said, "My name is Shu Su. Do you know where I come from?"

Xiren did not answer, but flattered: "Sister Shu Su must have a slender waist. If she was born in the pre-Qin period, the King of Chu would have thought about her day and night."

The maid Shu Su was quite pleased with this and said with a smile, "As expected of a girl from Lan Ruo Courtyard, she is indeed smart. Shu Su's slender waist makes her look slimmer, and my parting tears make Heng Bo look younger. Heng Bo and I are both old people. We have been following His Highness in the palace for a long time, and we are only slightly less experienced than Qing Luan and Zi Feng."

Xiren bowed and saluted with her hands crossed, and said respectfully: "I am still young and of humble origin, so I don't know any rules. I am afraid I will make mistakes in the future, so please take care of me, Sister Shusu."

Shu Su warned: "I will teach you etiquette tomorrow."

"Yes! I will be obedient." Xiren bowed again.

Only then did Shu Su leave satisfied.

These old people who came out of the palace not only disliked Xiren, but also had a hidden hostility towards Daiyu and Baochai.

But for the time being, she didn't dare to show it, for fear of angering her husband.

Xiren humbly and carefully escorted Shu Su out of the courtyard.

She was startled when she turned around, and Baochai appeared behind her silently.

"My name is Baochai, what's your name?" Baochai asked with a smile.

Xiren hurriedly crossed her arms and saluted: "Your servant calls Xiren, and greets Sister Baochai."

Baochai whispered, "You came here because my husband took a fancy to you?"

Xiren said: "I was redeemed by Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Baochai smiled silently: "No matter what, they are all new here. The old people are not nice to the newcomers. They are on guard everywhere and secretly make things difficult for them. If there is a chance to serve the young master, they will grab it if they can. When they can't compete for it, they often deliberately delay it. Last time, they made me late."

"I don't know anything." Xiren just arrived and didn't want to get involved.

Baochai said, "You will understand later. Come, go to my room and sit for a while." The princess's house was very large, and although there were countless empty rooms, she could not spoil the maids and male servants.

If you want to live in a single room, you must have seniority and status.

If both husband and wife were servants, they could live in the same room. For example, Xie Yan's four male servants brought their wives and children with them.

Only those who become high-ranking servants or low-level stewards are qualified to live in a single room.

If a senior steward was married and had children, he could even have a small courtyard. For example, the princess's wet nurse had a separate courtyard in the outer courtyard with her husband and children.

Daiyu and Baochai temporarily live in the same room.

When Daiyu can manage the laboratory independently one day, she will get her own house.

"Daiyu, this is the new Xiren. She is very lucky and is staying in a room of her own for the time being." Baochai shouted.

Daiyu is reading. She can recite and write the "Three Character Classic" from memory, and is now studying the "Thousand Character Classic" seriously.

Putting down the book, Daiyu stood up and bowed.

Xiren hurriedly paid her respects, always behaving respectfully.

I dare not be disrespectful, today is quite scary.

……

a few hours ago.

There were no customers in broad daylight, so Xiren seized the opportunity to recite poems and waited to be ordered around by Zhao Jingjing at any time.

Suddenly a middle-aged man came in, and the madam was accompanying him carefully.

Zhao Jingjing was very angry.

She didn't have to meet every guest, and she had a lot of autonomy in Lanruoyuan. If they were not old customers, first-time guests would even need to hand her a visiting card.

How could I enter her yard without even saying hello?

Seeing the madam also following, Zhao Jingjing was confused about her intentions, so she crossed her arms and bowed respectfully: "We have distinguished guests, please forgive me for not coming here to greet you."

The middle-aged man asked, "Is there a Hu Ji named Alan here?"

The madam stood behind the man and mouthed the words silently: "Eunuch."

Zhao Jingjing was startled and said to the maid beside her: "Go and call Alan."

Xiren was taken there in a daze.

The middle-aged man frowned and asked, "Lan Ruo Yuan still uses child labor?"

The madam quickly said, "She is not a child laborer, but an orphan I adopted."

The middle-aged man sneered: "Since she is an adopted daughter, there must be no contract signed, and no wages paid?"

The madam explained, "We had signed an employment contract before, but last year child labor was banned, so the contract became invalid. This orphan girl came from overseas, and if she is not given food, she will probably starve to death. I felt sorry for her being alone and helpless, so I took her in as my adopted daughter. When she grows up, I will ask a matchmaker to find her a good girl to marry."

"What a courage!"

The middle-aged man slammed the table and said with a serious expression: "The court has repeatedly ordered that you must not use the name of adopting sons and daughters to exploit and enslave others. Once it is found out, you will be severely punished!"

The madam panicked and said, "Absolutely not."

The middle-aged man said, "Since that's not the case, let's take this orphan away and find a good family for her. At the very least, send her to an orphanage, which is better than this place of prostitution."

Are you trying to get something for nothing?

The madam said, "The Lanruo Courtyard is often visited by dignitaries and great scholars. If this orphan girl stays here, she can also learn etiquette and knowledge from the adults."

"Are you using those powerful people to threaten our family?" the middle-aged man said sinisterly, "Who are the shareholders of Lanruoyuan? Just tell me one by one."

The madam had no choice but to speak frankly: "Since the nobleman has come to my humble house, you should at least tell me where you are coming from and where you are going, and then take a living person away, right?"

"Snapped!"

An official plaque was auctioned.

The madam took a quick look and saw that it was the badge of the eunuch supervisor. She wanted to turn it over to see the specific official title on the badge.

But I dare not.

The middle-aged man asked, "There is no official document. Do you want us to ask for an imperial decree?"

"The noble is here in person, and he must have brought an imperial decree," Zhao Jingjing suddenly said, "Alan, you can just follow this noble."

The madam hesitated to speak.

Zhao Jingjing shook her head silently.

Xiren had no idea what was happening and was taken away by this strange man.

Not spending a penny!
It was not because the princess wanted to save money, but because of the ban on child labor, Xiren's employment contract with Lanruoyuan was invalidated.

Once you spend money to buy someone, it becomes human trafficking.

Illegal.

After finally sending the man away, the madam came back and complained: "What kind of thing is this? A eunuch from the palace was taken away just by showing his official badge. There are so many eunuchs in the palace, if one is taken away, this Lanruo Courtyard will be empty!"

Zhao Jingjing said: "Some people think this place is dirty, and if they openly take someone away, it will tarnish their reputation if it gets out."

The madam laughed in anger: "Redeeming an actor is a romantic and elegant thing, how could it be a stigma?"

Zhao Jingjing sighed, "In the eyes of some people, even if she is related to us, it would be a disgrace to her if it gets out. Otherwise, she could just send her own servants to deal with it, or ask Luoyang government officials to come. She insisted on sending a eunuch because she didn't want the matter to spread."

"Who is it?" asked the madam.

Zhao Jingjing smiled bitterly: "Who can ask the Queen Mother to send a eunuch from the Eunuch Bureau?"

The madam suddenly realized: "It's the prince consort who has taken a fancy to Alan!"

Zhao Jingjing curled her lips and said, "The Prince Consort may have just mentioned it casually, but the Grand Princess has remembered it. Thank you, Prince Consort, for being so lucky."

The madam didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Forget it, forget it, she's just a maid. I read in the Ming Daily that the Mecca countries may have to go to war again, so I'll buy a few more when the time comes while the price is low."

Every profession has its own expertise. The madam also cares about international current affairs and can even foresee that a big war is about to break out in the Middle East.

(End of this chapter)