Chapter 82: The Gang Leader

In the classical cities of China, the beggar gangs in large cities had great power and were also an important part of the so-called “socialized management” by the government. Therefore, the leaders of the beggar gangs in the Ming and Qing dynasties were considered semi-“official” people, and most of them had “tokens” symbolizing the authorization of the government. Their leaders had absolute power over the lives and deaths of the beggars. On weekdays, they enjoyed the offerings of the beggars and lived a luxurious life. Not only did they have fine clothes and food, and were served by slaves and maids, but they often also had many wives and concubines, and their lives were no different from those of wealthy merchants.

“The Wenlan Academy has many shops on Chengxuan Avenue, all of which are profitable shops that make a lot of money every day. If you want to demolish those sheds, Mo Rongxin will definitely go to the Guan Di Temple people for help,” Bi Defan said. “The chief should make preparations early.”

In order to understand more about the situation, after Bi Defan left, Lin Baiguang summoned an old clerk from the fast shift, Gao Chongjiu.

The main job of the fast shift was “arresting,” and they were responsible for the local public security work. They had the clearest grasp of the situation of all kinds of local ruffians.

Gao Chongjiu was not from a family of fast-shift yamen runners. He had been an apprentice to an old yamen runner since he was a child and had been a white member for half his life before he finally got a regular position. He was extremely familiar with the social conditions and public sentiments of Guangzhou, especially his understanding of the lower class of society was even better than that of ordinary yamen runners.

Gao Chongjiu was already over fifty, which was considered old age in the 17th century. He had great difficulty in having children and only had a son in his early forties. Because he believed in karma, he did not dare to do too much evil in his daily life and was a person who could be won over.

Lin Baiguang asked him for detailed information about the “Guan Di Temple people.” Gao Chongjiu did not hide anything and told him everything he knew.

He said that the leader of the Guan Di Temple people was named Gao Tianshi, and his family had inherited the position of the general leader of the Guan Di Temple people for generations.

“…According to Gao Tianshi, his ancestors followed Emperor Hongwu on his eastern and western expeditions and came to Guangzhou from the expedition. After Emperor Hongwu ascended the throne and became the emperor, his ancestors, who were originally beggars, received this reward. This matter is so old that no one has investigated its authenticity. However, Gao Tianshi has always boasted that his family has a certificate from the court to the general leader of Guangzhou, as well as a ‘royal pole’ bestowed by the emperor.”

Lin Baiguang nodded. This was not rare. The leaders of organized beggar gangs always attached the origin of their school to a certain emperor. This was not a complete fabrication. It was likely that the government had indeed given them some power in history. As for whether it was the emperor’s golden words, that was just made up.

It was said to be the people of the Guan Di Temple, but in fact, the general leader was not in the Guan Di Temple. Gao Chongjiu said that Gao Tianshi’s “headquarters” was located in the Jinhua Temple outside the West Gate. As for the other leaders of various levels, they lived in various broken temples and rotten shrines inside and outside the city, each with their own territory, and the boundaries were clear. Beggars from each headquarters were not allowed to cross the border to beg. Beggars from other places also had to register at the Guan Di Temple before they could beg. Otherwise, they would be beaten and expelled at best, and at worst, they would be tied to a stone and sunk into the Pearl River.

“How many beggars are registered at the Guan Di Temple in this Guangzhou city?” Lin Baiguang asked.

Gao Chongjiu was a little nervous. He licked his lips and said, “There are about ten thousand people.”

“Ziji has been running a charity hall in Guangzhou for many years. Anyone who is willing to make a living can go to Lingao. Why are the beggars unwilling to go? They would rather beg in Guangzhou to live?”

Gao Chongjiu smiled and said, “Chief, those who are registered at the Guan Di Temple are either old and weak or disabled. They are afraid that if they go to the charity hall, they will be asked to do work that they can’t do, so they would rather beg to live a precarious life; or they have their own skills…”

Lin Baiguang asked, “What do you mean by skills?”

Gao Chongjiu said, “There are also many kinds of begging. The most common ones are: either begging along the street, or sitting on the ground and begging. These are the ones without skills. The ones with skills are passed down from their masters. Or an old beggar with a child beggar, which is considered a fallen noble; or a female beggar holding a dead child, and there are also those who get a corpse from somewhere, and have a female beggar or a child beggar kneeling beside it to sell themselves to bury their relatives… these are all well-rehearsed routines—these are considered one category; there are also those who stick rotten meat on their bodies to pretend to be disabled, or those who are originally disabled, this is another category; then there are those who hit bricks on their heads and pierce their faces with nails…”

Lin Baiguang understood. The so-called “skilled” were actually professional beggars. Although it was called “begging,” most of it was actually “cheating.” He asked again, “What else?”

“The last kind, the person himself is strong and has no skills, but he is lazy and dislikes work. Besides begging on weekdays, he also works as a servant for the ceremonial shop. After a red or white happy event, not only can he get a full stomach, but he can also get a few coins to live on. Another line of work is to be a fighter in the village feuds.”

The clan power in Guangdong was extremely strong, and feuds were common, even around the provincial capital. Some clans and villages were weak. In order not to be at a disadvantage in the feuds, they often hired strong beggars through the Guan Di Temple headquarters as a borrowed force for the feuds. Most of the beggars had no family or home, and there were no consequences if they died in the feuds, and the compensation was even more meager. So every time there was a feud, it was when their business opened.

“…Whenever there is a village feud, the big bones are the happiest. Not only can they get a cut of the ‘hiring fee,’ but if the person who goes is killed, the employer will definitely give compensation, and this money will go into their pockets. Furthermore, whenever there is a feud, if someone is killed, it is customary to find someone to surrender to the authorities to take the blame. This is another exclusive business of the Guan Di Temple. They either coax or force the old and weak among the beggars to take the blame, and they can get another sum of money for buying a life.”

“What else?”

“As for other ‘livelihoods,’ they are countless. Guarding the public cemetery and the cremation ground; watching the streets and beating the watch at night, acting as a coroner to collect unclaimed corpses; going to the funerals of large families to mourn and cry… these are all considered legitimate livelihoods; as for the illegitimate ones, the ghost market outside the West Gate sells all kinds of stolen goods and even burial objects from tomb robbing… without the support of the Guan Di Temple people, it would be impossible to form a market; pickpockets, thieves, and ‘flower beaters’ from other places… if they want to ‘do business’ inside and outside the city, they also have to come to the Guan Di Temple to ‘burn incense’ and seek protection.”

Lin Baiguang had been in Guangzhou for a long time and was not without contact with the Guan Di Temple people, but this was the first time he had learned such detailed information. He felt that he had underestimated them in the past. Now it seemed that the Guan Di Temple people were already a festering sore in Guangzhou, which not only needed to be treated, but also needed to be treated quickly.

“So, all the Guan Di Temple people are willing to be beggars?”

“Not all of them. Except for the ‘skilled’ ones, most people still want to have a proper meal. After all, in this line of work, you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, and you don’t know when you will die on the street,” Gao Chongjiu sighed. “No matter how powerful the Guan Di Temple people are and how much money they make, how much can an ordinary beggar get? They still have to pay respect to the big bones every day. The beggars have a slogan: ‘Those who take off their shoes to find something to eat will wear clogs; those who wear clogs to find something to eat will wear shoes; those who wear shoes to find something to eat will wear boots.’ They beg for a little alms and give it to the big bones as respect. The big bones have to pay respect to the group leader, and the group leader has to pay respect to the yamen. The big fish eat the small fish, and the small fish eat the shrimp.”

Lin Baiguang looked at Gao Chongjiu and suddenly asked, “Old Gao, I heard that you and Gao Tianshi are sworn brothers?”

Gao Chongjiu was startled and quickly explained, “I do have close contact with Gao Tianshi, but it is mostly for official business in the yamen. In order to win me over, because my surname is also Gao, he said that he wanted to form a clan with me and recognized me as a brother of the same surname. He just said it casually, and I also agreed casually—in fact, my ancestral home is in Nanxiong, and his ancestral home is in Huainan…”

“Alright, you don’t have to defend yourself,” Lin Baiguang interrupted him. “You and he are not the same kind of person. I am very clear about this.”

“Yes, thank you for your clear observation, sir!” Sweat dripped from Gao Chongjiu’s forehead. He had heard from the people in the soap shift that the more than one hundred clerks and yamen runners who had been arrested these few days were being tortured day and night in the prefectural and county prisons to confess their “crimes,” especially to confess the whereabouts of their hidden private property. The experts in torture in the soap shift were all transferred to work in shifts. It was said that the “torture inside was extremely cruel,” and the people who were arrested “only sought a quick death.” Recently, because someone had secretly reported or complained to the yamen, more than a dozen of the clerks and yamen runners who had already been registered and retained were arrested again. He asked himself that he had no blood debt and did not dare to do anything that would harm the heavens and reason on weekdays, so it should be fine. But what if he was arrested because of this inexplicable “brother” relationship? Wouldn’t that be an injustice?

“You go down for now. I will send someone to take a record of your statement later. You tell me everything you know about the people and things of the Guan Di Temple, no matter how big or small, important or unimportant. The clearer and more detailed you are, the greater your merit will be.”

“Yes, yes, I understand,” Gao Chongjiu’s back was now also wet. The chief’s meaning was to move against Gao Tianshi!

Lin Baiguang thought for a long time at his desk alone: although Bi Defan had warned that the Guan Di Temple people might cause trouble, and the information provided by Gao Chongjiu just now also showed that this force was very powerful, he believed that they would not take the initiative to jump out at the moment. Although they claimed to be afraid of nothing, they were actually still afraid of the powerful. At this juncture of “changing dynasties,” they would not be so blind as to take the initiative to jump out.

But just because they didn’t come out didn’t mean that the shopkeepers wouldn’t have other means to resist. The shopkeepers were after all “common people” and “good people,” and they could not be dealt with simply by shouting and fighting. When Lin Baiguang was the director of the county office in the old time and space, he had dealt with the demolition of illegal structures and had also handled mass incidents in demolitions. The experience and lessons he learned were that there must be sufficient preparations before taking action, and the action must be fast during implementation. The manpower and equipment must be sufficient. Once a sudden incident occurs, the majority should be used to control the minority, and the situation should be quickly controlled to avoid spreading the influence and prevent the crowd from being incited.

Although he had a small but very capable team of native cadres in his hands, and also a large detective team that was eager to show their loyalty, which was enough to complete this operation, he decided that tomorrow’s demolition operation would still use the National Army to suppress the formation. Let them appear with loaded guns to suppress the various evil winds in the city.