Chapter 1735: Illegal Construction

"Quite a majestic impression..." Liu Xiang laughed, deeply aware of the gulf between officials and common people. This wasn't something that could change overnight. So he didn't rush to make "close to the people" gestures—supporting an old lady and asking emotionally, "How old are you?" or grabbing a vegetable-selling farmer and inquiring with expectation, "How is your income this year?" Instead, he walked casually along the street. Seeing the Comprehensive Governance Office's notices posted on the walls, with quite a few people gathered beneath them reading, he felt satisfied. Our voice must spread openly and uprightly—the farther, the better.

Guided by Lin Baiguang, Liu Xiang proceeded along the main street. Commerce flourished here, with shops lining virtually every stretch. Walking on, he soon understood why Lin Baiguang had insisted he "come see in person"—the illegal construction and disorderly building in this 17th century rivaled anything in the 21st.

Except for the government offices on both sides, hardly an inch of street remained unoccupied by shops or vendor sheds. The road, supposedly over nine meters wide, was at least half-consumed. At the most extreme points, the middle barely allowed a sedan chair to pass. Tattered reed mats, haphazard bamboo poles, scraps of brick and tile... these structures assembled from junk made the entire Chengxuan Street resemble a decrepit junk market—and in truth, junk markets in another time-space were neater than this.

He noticed many sheds had been built by the shops on both sides. Initially meant for shade, they had gradually become extensions of the shops themselves. Some had set up workshops in these sheds; restaurants and tea stands had simply placed tables and chairs in them for customers. A few had completed the transformation from shed to house entirely, building proper dwellings on the road and treating the encroachment as fait accompli.

The road surface clearly hadn't been repaired in ages—or repairs had been slipshod at best. He observed at least two types of paving. One used green bricks standing on their sides, spliced into a herringbone pattern. Though incomplete, the original craftsmanship was visible—fine and exquisite, with the surface sloping from high center to low sides for drainage. The other type used green stone slabs, laid quite roughly.

Currently, regardless of paving type, damage was severe. Bricks were missing, slabs cracked. Whether due to absent drainage ditches or silted ones, runoff on both sides was clearly poor. Sewage dumped by shops flowed freely across the street. The sheds on either side had adapted variously—some were raised on bamboo poles, others simply infilled with sand and soil. Combined with sewage and garbage heaped everywhere, an indescribable stench permeated the entire street.

Liu Xiang frowned. "How many years since this road was last repaired?"

Jia Jue hastened to answer. "It's repaired once every two or three years."

Every repair came when high officials like the Left and Right Administration Commissioners of Guangzhou took office. The one prefecture and two counties would routinely fix the road surface—first, to give the newly arrived lord a good impression; second, if the sedan bearers stepped in a pothole and twisted their ankles, the local officials couldn't explain themselves. But "repair" was simple indeed: just leveling and tamping the uneven surfaces with a mixture of sand, soil, and crushed stones—similar to "yellow earth paving the road." Such repairs might fool people temporarily, but before long the old appearance returned.

"Why not repair with bricks or green stone slabs like when the road was built?"

Jia Jue smiled apologetically. "Replying to Your Excellency: mainly because there's no money. The last major repair of Chengxuan Street was in the forty-second year of Jiajing—when the green stone slabs were used." He continued, "You don't know, Your Excellency, but repairing bridges and mending roads depends on gentry and merchants. In these unsettled times, who has spare money? Major road repairs cost no small sum—at least tens of thousands of taels of silver..."

Liu Xiang recalled Yu Eshui's lecture on "Ming Dynasty Fiscal Policy" and understood this was true. Local Ming finances were extremely weak. Public facilities relied primarily on private fundraising and self-management; the government at best served as initiator and supervisor. Otherwise, so many stories of "repairing bridges, mending roads, and doing good deeds" wouldn't have been passed down through the ages.

Truly the height of "local autonomy," Liu Xiang thought. He asked again: "Does Chengxuan Street have drainage ditches?"

"Yes!" Jia Jue answered without hesitation.

"Where?"

"Your Excellency, please look." Jia Jue led the group to a spot on the roadside not occupied by sheds. Liu Xiang saw a section of exposed open ditch, fully more than a meter wide. Though filthy, the brick-built walls were visible. It was filled with silt and assorted garbage, nearly overflowing. Sewage flowed sluggishly through, emitting a disgusting stench.

"Originally, there was an open ditch on each side here. Rainwater and sewage from each household poured into them, then discharged into the Six Veins Canal. Now you can see the state of things."

The illegal structures and sheds occupying the road had essentially covered the open ditches with wooden boards or stone slabs, then built on top. The original "open ditches" had become "hidden ditches"—sewers in name only.

Sewers might seem more hygienic than open ditches. The problem was that the "illegal buildings" on both sides had completely sealed the channels. Even if the government wanted to dredge them and clear the silt, it couldn't be done.

"With the ditches not dredged for years, they silted up long ago. These days aren't so bad since there isn't much rain. But when the 'Return South Days' come in a few days—the humid season with plenty of rain—the ditches will overflow. That's when it's truly 'stinking to high heaven.'" Jia Jue shook his head.

"Why not dredge the ditches? Is it also because of no money?"

"Replying to Your Excellency: dredging doesn't cost much. Just calling peasants from the surrounding countryside to do the work is enough. Wages aren't even particularly necessary—letting them haul away the dredged muck for fertilizer suffices. But as you can see—" Jia Jue gestured at the sheds. "How can ditches be dredged like this?"

"Shops cover the ditches to build sheds. The extra space is certainly welcome, but with sewage flowing everywhere, they're suffering from their own creation." Liu Xiang was genuinely puzzled.

"Your Excellency, it's true—they've brought this suffering on themselves. But now that things have reached this state, who would tear down their own shed to let the government dredge? Besides, tearing down one or two is useless. The sheds on both sides of this main street would all have to come down. There are several hundred merchants here, with different minds. So the matter has been discussed many times but never accomplished."

"These sheds have no land deeds or house deeds in the first place," Liu Xiang said. "Merchants have encroached on government road land. Why doesn't the government tear them down?"

Lin Baiguang smiled. "That question answers itself. Tearing down illegal structures has always been extraordinarily difficult—the interests involved are too great."

Jia Jue smiled apologetically. "Master Lin is right. Which of these shopkeepers isn't backed by powerful connections? Some don't even put the magistrates of Nanhai and Panyu in their eyes, nor even the Prefect himself. As the saying goes, cutting off someone's income is like killing their parents. When pushed, they'll do anything. Years ago, a Prefect Hu wanted to tear down these sheds. When the shopkeepers' bribes and connections failed, they spent money to bribe the Guan Di Temple people, getting several thousand beggars to swarm the Prefectural Yamen entrance—defecating and urinating everywhere, singing "Lotus Flower Drop" beggar songs, pretending to be crazy and cursing in the streets. After several days of chaos, they forced Master Hu to withdraw his order."

"Beggars that powerful? The yamen has torture instruments and prisons. Arrest everyone who makes trouble, execute a few in standing cages—can't that cure them?"

"Beggars have nothing to lose. Their rotten lives are already precarious—you can't frighten them." Jia Jue shook his head. "Besides, how big is the prison? How many can it hold? The yamen doesn't provide food, so they'd have to be released anyway. If things escalate and opponents find a handle, the four-word verdict 'inciting civil unrest' will immediately ruin the master's career."

"Truly formidable."

Lin Baiguang laughed. "Even the most prominent gentry and great households in Guangzhou, when holding weddings or funerals—if they don't pay 'Bi Chen' to the beggars in exchange for a scarlet post to paste on the door—I guarantee they'll make such a scene the affair can't be conducted. Even if it escalates to a formal petition, at most a few scapegoats go to court. Beat them or kill them as you please. They have plenty of lives to spare."

"It seems the Mayor of Guangzhou is really not an easy job." Liu Xiang touched his forehead. "Qiongzhou Prefecture was just a small place after all—it can't compare." He turned to ask Lin Baiguang: "How much do you understand about this lower society?"

"Not much. The social dynamics here are dozens of times more complex than Hainan Island." Lin Baiguang sighed. "Our City Operation Department has few people and limited strength—we mostly took the middle and upper-class route, learning little about society's bottom. However, Qiewei Escort Agency should know something. Old Manager Sun submitted a card to me, wanting to meet you."

"I'll see him tonight. We need people like them now."

"Don't have too high hopes. The escort agency deals with all kinds from the three religions and nine streams, but they only 'deal with' them—they don't 'collude' with them. They may not know all the inner workings."

"You're presenting me with difficulties." Liu Xiang smiled wryly.

"Not at all," Lin Baiguang said. "The three religions and nine streams inside and outside Guangzhou City still hold considerable fear of us—thanks to the Special Reconnaissance Team back then. I don't think tearing down illegal structures will be that difficult. We've just entered the city, and demolishing the illegal structures on Chengxuan Street is tantamount to declaring our determination to rid the old and establish the new."

"Precisely—not only that. We also need to accomplish some practical things to show we're different from the corrupt, declining Great Ming." Liu Xiang's expression grew serious. "My first impression after entering the city was that the streets are dirty and chaotic, with sewage flowing everywhere. We should mobilize troops and agency personnel for a comprehensive general cleaning—clear the garbage in the city and dredge Guangzhou's sewage system. These are concrete things that benefit the common people."

(End of this chapter)