Beggar gangs in big cities have great power in classical Chinese cities and are also an important part of the so-called "socialized management" carried out by the government. Yue-Wen Therefore, the leaders of beggar gangs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were all half-official people, and most of them had "tokens" that symbolized the authority of the government. Their leaders have absolute power over the life and death of the beggars. On weekdays, they enjoy the offerings of the beggars and live a luxurious life. Not only do they have fine clothes and fine food, they have slaves and maids, they often also have multiple houses of wives and concubines, and their enjoyment of life is no different from that of wealthy businessmen.
"Wenlan Academy has many shops on Chengxuan Street, and they are all prosperous shops that make a lot of money every day. If you want to demolish those shacks, Mo Rongxin will definitely ask the Guandi Temple people for help." Bi Defan said, "The chief wants to Prepare early."
In order to learn more about the situation, after Bi Defan left, Lin Baiguang summoned Gao Chongjiu, a retained fast-shift veteran.
The main job of the fast class is "hunting". They are responsible for local security work and have the clearest knowledge of the situation of various urban foxes and rats.
Gao Chongjiu was not from a Kuaiban family. He became a disciple of an old government official as a child and spent half his life as an official before he got married. He is very familiar with the social conditions and people's sentiments in Guangzhou, especially his understanding of the lower class society is better than that of ordinary government officials.
Gao Chongjiu was already over fifty, which was considered twilight in the 17th century. He had a very difficult time raising children. He didn't have a son until he was in his early forties. Because of the superstitious belief in the theory of retribution, I don’t dare to do too much evil in my daily life, so I am someone I can win over.
Lin Baiguang asked him about the detailed inside story of "Guandi Temple Troops", and Gao Chongjiu did not hide it. He told everything he knew about the situation.
He said that the leader of the Guandi Temple troops was named Gao Tianshi, and his family had inherited the position of head of the Guandi Temple troops for generations.
"...According to Gao Tianshi, his ancestors followed Lord Hongwu in his expeditions to the east and west, and they came to Guangzhou from the conquest. Lord Hongwu ascended the throne and became the emperor, and his ancestors were originally from Huazi, so they received this reward. This happened over time, and also No one has checked whether it is true or not. However, Gao Tianshi has always boasted that his family has the Zha Zi given to the head of the Guangzhou General Regiment by the imperial court, as well as the 'imperial seal pole' given by the emperor."
Lin Baiguang nodded. This is not unusual. The leader of an organized beggar gang always attached the origin of his sect to a certain emperor. This is not completely fabricated. Most of the time, the government did give them some power in history. As for whether it is the emperor's golden words, it is just made up casually.
It is said that they are from Guandi Temple, but in fact the general leader is not in Guandi Temple. Gao Chongjiu said that Gao Tianshi's "Doukou" is located at Jinhua Temple outside Xiguan. As for other leaders at all levels, they live in various places inside and outside the city. Among the ruined temples and ancestral halls, each has its own territory. The boundaries are clear. Beggars at each sinus are not allowed to cross the boundary to beg. Foreign beggars must register at Guandi Temple before they can beg. Otherwise, they will be beaten and driven away, or they will be tied up with stones and sunk into the Pearl River.
"How many beggars are registered at Guandi Temple in Guangzhou?" Lin Baiguang asked.
Gao Chongjiu was a little nervous, licked his lips and said, "There are about nearly ten thousand people."
"Zi Ji has been running a charity hall in Guangzhou for many years. Anyone who wants to make a living can go to Lingao. Why don't the beggars want to go? Would they rather live in Guangzhou begging?"
Gao Chongjiu smiled and said: "Chief. Those registered at the Guandi Temple are either old, weak or disabled. They are afraid that they will not be able to do the work in the charity hall, so they would rather beg to survive; or they have their own skills. of……"
Lin Baiguang asked: "What is craftsmanship?"
Gao Chongjiu said: "There are many kinds of begging, the most common ones: either begging along the street, or sitting on the ground and begging. These are all unskilled. Those who have skills are passed down by masters. Or old beggars and child beggars Yes, Gongsun is in trouble; either a female beggar gets a dead child to hug, or a corpse is found somewhere, a female beggar or a child beggar kneels aside and sells his body to bury his relatives... These are all well-acted routines - These are considered one category; there are also those who wear rotten flesh on their bodies to pretend to be disabled, or those who are originally disabled, which is another category; and then there are those who slap bricks on the Tianling Cap, those who have nails on their faces..."
Lin Baiguang understood that the so-called "skilled" people were actually professional beggars. They said they were "begging", but in fact most of them were "cheating". He asked again: "What else?"
"The last one is that I am strong and have no skills. But I like to live in leisure and work. In addition to begging, I work as a deacon in the ceremonial shop. After a wedding or wedding, not only can I have a good time, but I can also make some money. To survive. Another occupation is to be a thug in rural fights."
The clans in Guangdong are extremely powerful and fighting is common, even around the provincial capital. Some clans and villages are weak, so in order not to lose in the armed fight, they often hire strong beggars through the entrance of the Guandi Temple to use them as leverage for the armed fight. Most of the beggars have no family and no room to live in. If they are killed in a fight, there will be no consequences, and the pension will be meager. So every time there is a fight, it is when their business is open.
"...Whenever there is a fight in the countryside, the big bones are the happiest. Not only can they earn a sum of money as a "recruitment fee", but if someone is killed, the owner will provide compensation, and the money will go into their pockets. Again Whenever a beggar fights with weapons and kills someone, he or she must find someone to surrender to him as usual. This is Guandi Temple's unique business. Either by coaxing or forcing a few of the old and weak among the beggars to surrender, and they can get another chance. Money to buy your life."
"anything else?"
"As for other "earnings", there are countless. Guarding graveyards and humanization factories; watching the streets, working as a widower to collect corpses without owners; and mourning when large families hold funerals... These are all considered legitimate livelihoods. ; Speaking of what is unfair, the ghost market outside Xiguan sells all kinds of stolen goods and even funerary objects obtained by robbing graves and digging graves... Without the support of Guandi Temple people and horses, there is no market at all; outside pickpockets, thieves, and "flower-shooters" ...If you want to 'do business' outside the city, you have to come to the Guandi Temple to 'burn incense' and seek protection."
Lin Baiguang had been in Guangzhou for a long time and had no contact with the Guandi Temple people, but this was the first time he learned such detailed information. He felt that he had underestimated them in the past. Now it seems that the people of Guandi Temple have become a sore in Guangzhou. Not only do they need medical treatment, but they also need to be treated quickly.
"So, all the people in Guandi Temple are willing to be beggars?"
"I can't say it at all. Except for those who are 'skilled', most people still want to have a bowl of serious food. After all, in this industry, you don't know the next meal, and you don't know when you will rush to the street." Gao Chongjiu sighed, "No matter how powerful the people of Guandi Temple are and how much money they make, how many ordinary flowers can be lost? They have to pay filial piety to the big bones every day. The flower children have a slogan: 'Take off your shoes and find food with clogs, put on clogs and find food. Wearing shoes to eat, wearing shoes to find food to wear boots. They asked for some alms and gave them to Dagu as a filial piety. Dagu wanted to show filial piety to Tuantou, and Tuantou also wanted to show filial piety to Yamen. Big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimps. .”
Lin Baiguang looked at Gao Chongjiu and suddenly asked: "Old Gao, I heard that you and Gao Tianshi are brothers?"
Gao Chongjiu was startled and quickly argued: "It is true that Xiao Xiao has close contact with Gao Tianshi, but it is mostly for official affairs in the yamen. In order to win over Xiao Xiao, because Xiao Xiao also has the surname Gao, he said that he wanted to get along with Gao Tianshi. When the younger Lian Zong recognized his brothers with the same surname, he just said it, and the younger one accepted it randomly - in fact, the younger one's ancestral home is Nanxiong, and his family's ancestral home is Huainan..."
"Okay, don't judge yourself." Lin Baiguang interrupted him, "You and he are not the same person. I know this very well."
"Yes, thank you sir for your insight!" Sweat dripped from Gao Chongjiu's forehead. He heard from people in Zaoban that more than 100 subordinate officials and yamen officials who had been arrested in the past few days were being tortured and interrogated day and night in the prefecture and county jails, asking them to confess their "crimes", especially the concealment of their private property. whereabouts. The best torturers in the prison class were all transferred to work in shifts. It was said that "the torture was extremely brutal" and those who were caught "just wanted to die quickly." Recently, more than a dozen subordinate officials who had been registered and retained were arrested because someone secretly reported it or complained to the government. He asked himself that he had never committed a blood debt, and he did not dare to do anything harmful to the law on weekdays. It should be okay. If he was caught because of this inexplicable "brother" relationship, wouldn't it be an injustice?
"You go down, and I will send someone to take a transcript later. Tell me clearly all the people and things you know about the people and horses of Guandi Temple, no matter big or small, important or not. Tell me clearly one by one. The clearer you explain, the better. Understand, the greater your contribution.”
"Yes, yes, I understand." Gao Chongjiu's back was wet now. The leader meant to touch Gao Tianshi!
Lin Baiguang thought for a long time alone behind his desk: Although Bi Defan warned that the Guandi Temple people might interfere, and the information provided by Gao Chongjiu just now also showed that this force is very powerful, he believed that they would not take the initiative to jump out at the moment. of. Although they claim to be fearless, they are actually afraid of power. At this time of "change of dynasty", they will not be so blind and take the initiative to jump out.
But if they don't come out, it doesn't mean that the shop owners won't have other means to fight against them. After all, shopkeepers are "common people" and "good people", and they cannot be dealt with simply by shouting to kill and beat. When Lin Baiguang was the director of the county office in the old time and space, he had engaged in demolition violations and also dealt with problems during demolition. The lesson he learned was that there must be sufficient preparation before taking action. When implementing, the action must be fast and the manpower and equipment must be sufficient. Once an emergency occurs, use more to control the smaller, and quickly control the situation to avoid spreading the impact and prevent the crowd from being incited.
Although he has a small but capable team of naturalized civilian cadres in his hands, as well as a large detective team eager to show their loyalty, which is enough to complete this operation, he has decided to use the National Army for tomorrow's demolition operation. Come and suppress the formation, let them show up with guns and ammunition, and suppress all the evil spirits in this city. (To be continued.)
