The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 363 This King is Too Devil (Please subscribe, please vote)
Seeing two Taiping soldiers taking out ropes and rushing towards him like evil monsters, Daozi did not panic nor try to escape. Instead, he cooperated by binding his arms behind his back.

Of course, the two Taiping soldiers were not polite. They first tied her upper body and arms with a hemp rope, and then tied her hands and forearms behind her back with another hemp rope. It was a bit tight, but Daozi just frowned slightly and called out softly.

While these two men were tying up the rice, several other Taiping soldiers took out a long hemp rope and prepared to tie up the dozen or so girls who came along with the rice. The girls were frightened and screamed in fear, and some even started crying.

"Don't be afraid. They are all believers of God and direct warriors of His Majesty the Heavenly King. Please obey them no matter what they want to do! Believe me, your situation in Tianjing will never be worse than in Edo Yoshiwara!"

Daozi hurriedly spoke to comfort them. She had some prestige among these girls, and her words made sense.

In fact, all the girls she brought with her were sold to Hong Daquan by their parents - they all came from the poorest farming families around Osaka. In the Edo period of Japan, which had a strict hierarchy and a long-standing overpopulation, it was extremely difficult for them to turn their lives around.

For them, even if they just wanted to marry the eldest son of a farming family with a little inheritance, it was impossible because their parents simply could not afford a dowry for them. Even marrying the non-eldest son of a farming family was not easy because in the Edo period, the non-eldest sons of farming families and townspeople usually had no inheritance, no upward mobility, and of course no status. They were truly at the bottom of the social ladder and most of them could not afford to marry.

For those girls at the bottom of Japanese society, being sold to a brothel in Yoshiwara, Edo, waiting for customers in a cage, and finally being redeemed by a poor low-level samurai, becoming the latter's concubine, and living the rest of their lives in poverty was considered relatively lucky.

If I could give birth to a little samurai who has the "right to wear a sword", it would be a class leap!

And the men who are now tying them up with ropes, if converted to Japan, each of them would be a direct samurai of the Tokugawa Shogun - there are only more than 10,000 people of this status in the whole of Japan!
If they didn't go to Edo Yoshiwara to "sell", they might not be able to meet one even if they sold themselves elsewhere for their entire lives.

Now, the girls immediately felt that they were just one step away from happiness, so they cooperated by stretching out their hands and obediently letting the Taiping Army tie them up in a string. They also looked at the people who were tying them with affection. Otherwise, take them home!

Seeing that the people he brought with him had been tied up, Daozi smiled at Chen Decai and said, "Sir, can you take me to see His Majesty the Heavenly King now?"

The king is the combination of the emperor and the general!
If she could enter the Heavenly King's Palace, it would be like entering the Great Inner Palace! If she could become the Heavenly King's concubine, it would be like becoming the Shogun's concubine. If she could give birth to a son, it would be like becoming the mother of the "feudal lord"!

It's simply amazing!

In fact, becoming Hong Daquan's woman was already a heavenly achievement for her.

It’s okay for Hong Daquan’s identity to match that of the chief of Nishi Honganji Temple, right?
Chen Decai saw this mixed-blood foreign girl smiling at him, and then looked at Daozi's tied-up body, and his heart suddenly rippled. It was not that he was too lustful and coveted her body, but that the king above him was too crazy - in the inner city of Tianjing, the system of separate male and female halls was still in place!
After Feng Yunshan's rear army, Xiao Chaogui's front army, and Luo Yaoguo's upper army established their own base, they quickly abolished the system of separate libraries for men and women.

It’s time to get married, it’s time to get married, and you can live a happy life long ago.

Yang Xiuqing's Central Army was a step behind, but recently it also sent people back to Tianjing to take all the women's halls belonging to the Central Army to Yangzhou. Although it did not say that the system of separate halls for men and women in the Central Army would be abolished, there were precedents of the Rear Army, the Front Army, and the Upper Army. Brothers and sisters in Tianjing City all knew what was going on, right?

However, the Yulin Army, the Left Army, and the Right Army, which still have their old camps in Tianjing City, are still implementing the system of separate camps for men and women, and it is even enforced quite strictly!
Although Chen Decai had an elder brother, Chen Chengrong, who was the prime minister, and he himself was the commander of the Yulin Army and was considered a direct officer of Hong Xiuquan, he did not dare to break the rules.

This Hong Xiuquan would really kill someone just because his subordinates "reunited in violation of the rules" with their spouses. In fact, Shi Dakai was determined to move his left army camp to Nanchang. Although he wanted to be a local emperor, the collective will of his subordinates who wanted to have a wife and children was also at work.

Feng Yunshan, Xiao Chaogui, Luo Yaoguo and Yang Xiuqing all became local emperors so easily. Not only did their subordinates not oppose it, but they were very supportive. This was largely because Hong Xiuquan was almost obsessed with insisting on separate libraries for men and women.

So when Chen Decai saw Daozi tied up, he could only feel sad for a while, and then silently said a few words "God bless you" in his heart, and ordered his men to pull a carriage to load Daozi and the luggage of the girls she brought with her. Then he brought two more people and escorted them to Yifeng Gate. As soon as she entered Yifeng Gate, Daozi immediately felt a murderous atmosphere!

Outside Yifeng Gate is a bustling street market, with shops lining both sides of the Qinhuai River, and merchants gathering there. Even the boats coming and going on the Qinhuai River are filled with goods. However, once you enter Yifeng Gate, all the atmosphere of the market disappears without a trace.

The wide and long street inside Yifeng Gate was deserted. The only few pedestrians were all wearing the Taiping Army's yellow robes, red turbans or hoods, and carrying swords.

There used to be many shops on both sides of the street, but now all their doors are closed and they have become military barracks or warehouses.

It turned out that in order to strictly implement the system of separate halls for men and women, Hong Xiuquan issued an edict to separate a "Paradise City" from the inner city of Tianjing City. A high wall was built between Sanshan Gate and Tongji Gate to separate the Qinhuai River area, the most prosperous and populous area in Tianjing City, from other parts of Tianjing City.

Commercial activities in Tianjing could only be carried out in the areas on both sides of the Qinhuai River inside and outside the inner city of Tianjing. The rest of the city belonged to the Little Paradise and the Sun Palace, and all had to follow Hong Xiuquan's rules.

In the Little Paradise, men and women are separated, while in the Sun Palace, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan can enjoy himself alone.

As for other people in Tianjing City, only Wei Changhui, Hu Yihuang, Qin Riguang and several "Tong Qiansui" were not restricted by the separate libraries for men and women.

As a result, a large area in the city of Tianjing, which was once quite bustling, was turned into this horrible state.

Chen Decai, carrying the rice, walked silently along the seemingly endless street. After walking for an unknown amount of time, he finally arrived outside a small town with a rectangular wall painted red.

Outside the small town is a large piece of wasteland with several wooden platforms on which are placed many black logs and several crosses, which looks a bit creepy.

There were two flagpoles on the city wall, with two flags hung on each. One flag was inscribed with the words "Military Supervisor" and the other was inscribed with the words "Tianwei".

It turns out this was the Taiping Army’s prison!
Daozi thought to herself, "They won't drag me to the wooden platform and behead me, will they?"

Just as she thought of this, two women dressed the same as Chen Decai walked out of the town. One of them was older, about thirty years old, with dark skin, high cheekbones, and phoenix eyes. She looked a little fierce. She stared at Daozi fiercely for a while before asking Chen Decai, "Lvshuai Chen, what's going on with these foreign sisters? Why were they kidnapped?"

Chen Decai bowed and said, "Sister Meng, this woman claims to be from Nagasaki, Japan, and was sent by Hong Daquan to pay homage to the Heavenly King. She also said that Hong Daquan is the Heavenly King's cousin!"

Daozi was a little scared, and quickly bowed to "Sister Meng": "Sister, we are believers of God from Japan, and we came to heaven voluntarily to serve the Heavenly King. Please inform His Majesty the Heavenly King of our arrival. As for any misunderstanding between Lord Hong Daquan and His Majesty the Heavenly King, I am not aware of it."

When she said this, her eyes were a little tearful.

Sister Meng is Meng De'en's elder sister. Meng De'en now manages the affairs of the women's hall and the women's camp together with Bian Sanniang. His sister has also been assigned an official position as the military supervisor of the women's camp, specifically responsible for catching "adultery" - this is a serious crime!
However, Daozi's situation was not "adultery" at all. She was at most a spy sent by Jiao Liang. And Jiao Liang was just an enemy of Yang Xiuqing. When he was in Yong'an Prefecture, he was still trusted by the Heavenly King.

Thinking of this, Sister Meng said to a female official beside her: "Take those little ones away first!" She pointed at the rice and said to Chen Decai: "Chen Er, come with me to escort her to Jinlong City!"

(End of this chapter)