Yang Province, known in ancient times as Guangling and River Capital, was connected by land and water routes in all directions, making it an important, prosperous city in the Yangtze River Delta.
Of all the poems written about Yang Province, two were surely the most widely known.
One went: "With a hundred thousand strings of cash around his waist, he rode a crane down to Yang Province." The other: "My old friend bade farewell to Yellow Crane Tower in the west; amid March's misty blossoms, he journeyed down to Yang Province."
Yet what truly fulfilled people's imaginings of Yang Province was not those two famous verses known throughout Jiangnan, but a later phrase of only four words.
Yang Province Slender Horses!
Yang Province was a flourishing gathering place for the salt merchants of the Two Huai region. Wealth beyond counting filled the city, as did endless chains of interests. Where money and power benefited one another, anything went.
They were no longer satisfied with beautiful women who were nothing but empty shells. Instead, they began raising their own. They bought underdeveloped children of seven or eight from poor families and trained them from a young age—in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, literature, etiquette, and the Book of Changes. They broadened their horizons as well, acquainting them with the ways of high society, luxury goods, and the like.
After training them for a time, they sold them to powerful men as concubines or playthings. How long the training lasted depended on the needs of the buyers. Some preferred them young, some older, and the powerful men could trade among themselves as well...
A fine rain hung in the sky, dampening the bluestone pavement. Donkey and horse hooves struck the stone, their shod feet making crisp clopping sounds as they landed. Sedan