Chapter 223: Expansion of Police Administration

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. The common people would be in a state of panic. If they get caught and forced to work for a minor misstep on the road, you might think you’re correcting a violation, but they’ll think we’re press-ganging them,” Dongmen Chuiyu said after further consideration. “This is different from theft or fighting. Everyone knows those are wrong—but no one thinks walking is a crime. So we need to publicize the rules and make them known to everyone before we can implement punishments. Let’s focus on education and publicity for now, for a period of half a year.”

“But that still requires manpower, doesn’t it?” Shan Daoqian said, his interest waning. “I can’t just create my own road administration agency, can I?” This thought suddenly excited him. He came from a railway background and was very familiar with the all-encompassing system of the railways. From the current situation, it seemed that the future transportation authority of the transmigrator empire would be his. If he started a road administration now, his Ministry of Transportation would have its own law enforcement department. In the future, there might even be a traffic public security bureau, a traffic procuratorate, and a traffic court…

Shan Daoqian’s mind wandered. In fact, when he was in the railway department, he had been scornful of this all-encompassing system, but when it was his turn to hold the power of this system, it suddenly seemed very reasonable. This kind of psychology was probably human nature.

“Traffic management should be under the police to avoid multi-headed management, which would lead to no one taking responsibility when something happens, but everyone coming to collect fees,” Wu De finally stated, extinguishing Shan Daoqian’s little fantasy. “Don’t underestimate the so-called expedient measures of today—many malpractices and bad policies start from expediency. It will not be easy to change them when the situation becomes larger. If we are to do it, let’s do it right from the root.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“We don’t need traffic police for now. Let’s do more publicity on traffic regulations. In the East Gate Market… I think we should double the strength of the East Gate Market police station—no, or maybe just upgrade the East Gate Market police station to a police bureau…”

“Whether it’s upgraded or not doesn’t matter,” Dongmen Chuiyu said. “The key is to add more people. Nanbao and Bopu don’t have police stations yet; we need to add one to each.”

“Bopu doesn’t need one for now. There’s the army and the navy there, and the native population is not large. A police station in Nanbao with five or six people will be enough.”

“Let’s promote a native to be the station chief,” Dugu Qiuhun said, thinking of a few capable police officers under him who deserved to be cultivated.

“Promote a deputy chief and observe him for a few years. The chief should still be a transmigrator to grasp the general direction. The police administration is a violent institution and deals with the public, so we must be cautious.” Wu De slapped his forehead. “It’s not that I don’t trust the loyalty of the natives, but I’m really worried about what they will do once they have power—when will our own students be able to grow up…”

“Ah De, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Dongmen Chuiyu said. “If we don’t let them do it, how can we know if these people are reliable? We talk about brainwashing every day, but in the end, we still don’t trust them. If we always have to have our own people at the helm, the native cadres will never grow up. What’s the point of promoting a deputy chief then?”

“This is also an opportunity to test them!” Dugu Qiuhun said excitedly.

“Alright, alright, I agree,” Wu De said, surrendering.

Dongmen Chuiyu proposed: the East Gate Market police station had Zhou Shizhai and his two apprentices from the Qiwei Escort Agency. They had been in Lingao for a year and had performed very well in maintaining public order—they were very familiar with the tricks of the local thieves and rogues. Moreover, their performance on the last business trip to Leizhou was also good. Zhou Shizhai could be considered for promotion.

“I’m afraid that won’t work. Zhou Shizhai is still a guest retainer and not within our system,” Wu De shook his head.

“He’s been here for over a year. Isn’t that reliable enough? He even participated in the Leizhou affair. He’s taciturn, reliable, and absolutely the right person for the job,” Dongmen Chuiyu argued.

“I also admire Old Zhou very much. A true gentleman under traditional culture!” Wu De said. “But our relationship with Qiwei is still one of cooperation. He is still a man of Qiwei, and we have no right to appoint him without authorization.”

In addition, Wu De had another concern. Although escorts were hired, they had a strong sense of self-respect. To make him a station chief within the Crossing Group’s system, wearing a uniform, carrying a baton, and having to stand at attention and salute his superiors—he might not be willing. It was easier to get along with him by treating him as a guest retainer.

“His two apprentices…”

“They’re too young, aren’t they? I think Li Biao is only seventeen, and Chen Kai is only fifteen or sixteen.”

“I’m not saying they should be station chiefs. I’m saying these two young men should be educated by us, to become police officers in the future…”

“How about a police administration training class?” Dugu Qiuhun suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Dongmen Chuiyu strongly agreed. “The police agencies will continue to expand in the future, and the current police officers will all be sent out to take charge on their own. The current police are only at the level of patrolmen and have not received much professional training. We should set one up!”

There were several people in the Crossing Group who had been police officers, and their positions were not low—in addition, there were two American law enforcement officers, which was also a usable resource. Wu De said he would go back and discuss it with the Executive Committee to open a police administration class at the National School.

It was indeed necessary because, according to the expansion plan, the Nanbao police station had five positions. Apart from one promoted from the East Gate Market, the other four had to be newly recruited.

Recruitment was, of course, easy. Both the army and the navy had personnel who had been eliminated—they were either injured during training and deemed unsuitable for line service, or they had physical defects. They couldn’t be soldiers, but they were qualified to be police officers—at least they had undergone physical and drill training and were disciplined enough.

Wu De said, “You guys select the candidates quickly and let them take up their posts on a chosen day. Recruit a few more new police officers—five will do.”

And so, Ma Peng became the deputy chief of the Nanbao police station. He was surprised by his promotion because, before this, he had been an ordinary police officer at the East Gate Market police station, no different from the other nine officers. He patrolled the streets every day, correcting prostitutes who solicited outside their designated areas, arresting farmers who urinated or defecated in public, and checking the measuring tools of the merchants—the East Gate Market had already begun to fully implement the new unified system of weights and measures. If he encountered a few clueless thieves who came to the East Gate Market to make a fortune, he would give them a good beating with his baton and then drag them to the labor reform team. When he had nothing to do, he would memorize the Manual for Handling Public Security Incidents in the station—this was a guide written by Mu Min specifically for the native police. It used a case-based system, compiling all possible public security and management problems into a large collection of cases, written in simple and easy-to-understand language. The literate native police only had to follow the rules strictly. Writing various special manuals was a common method used by the Crossing Group to adapt to the situation of this era.

After receiving the official appointment from Dongmen Chuiyu, Ma Peng was so astonished that he forgot to accept the appointment letter, just staring at Dongmen Chuiyu.

“What, is there a problem?”

“No, no, this humble one, no, I will definitely work hard and not disappoint the chief’s expectations!” Ma Peng snapped to attention and said loudly.

“Good, you may sit down,” Dongmen Chuiyu gestured for him to sit.

“Thank you, Chief!”

“The place you are going to is Nanbao, in the mountains. The conditions are not as good as in the East Gate Market—”

Ma Peng nodded cautiously, thinking to himself that the pay would probably be a little higher.

“…So? Do you have any requests?”

“Yes, can I bring my mother to Nanbao? If I go, there will be no one to take care of her here.”

“You can. Just take her with you,” Dongmen Chuiyu nodded. “There are ready-made houses there. You just need to move your things. I’ll give you thirty yuan for moving expenses.”

“Thank you, Chief!”

“I’ll give you three days to take care of your family affairs. On the fourth day, come to me to get your reporting certificate and free travel pass.”

Ma Peng left the office with the transfer order, his face pale. The changes in life were truly unpredictable. A year ago, he was a long-term laborer. Now, he had actually become a cadre under the Australian masters. Ma Peng had seen the native cadres in the East Gate Market. They all wore neat blue short tunics with four pockets and carried a satchel—don’t underestimate those four pockets. They were only two more than the ordinary laborers, but this was an important distinction between a cadre and a laborer! The way they walked down the street with their heads held high had once made him a little envious. Now it was his turn to be a cadre!

His colleagues had already heard the news and came to congratulate him one after another. Ma Peng had to treat them to a feast at Gou Buli’s restaurant in the East Gate Market. There was, of course, a lot of talk about “don’t forget your old brothers when you’ve made it.” Ma Peng also said a lot of polite things, basically “thank you for the leadership and cultivation of the chiefs, and thank you all for your consistent support in the past,” words that would not cause problems in any situation.

Everyone drank to their heart’s content. Even Gou Buli came to join in the fun, saying that since it was Deputy Chief Ma’s happy occasion, the food and drinks today were on the house. Unexpectedly, the tipsy Ma Peng immediately straightened up and warned him not to let him make a mistake. He even lectured Gou Buli for a bit: the Australian police were not the yamen runners of the government; they were here to serve the people.

This kid! So smooth! No wonder he got promoted, Gou Buli thought as he wrote his surveillance report under the lamp after closing up. His little test had been immediately rebuffed.

“Master, are you not going to bed yet?” his wife came over.

“How many times have I told you, you must call me ‘comrade’!” Gou Buli quickly covered the paper he was writing on. “‘Master’ and ‘madam’ are too backward…”

Gou Buli’s wife was a recent marriage. She was also a refugee from the mainland, a widow. Although she was not very good-looking, she was hardworking and capable of managing the shop. Gou Buli was very satisfied with this marriage.