Chapter 138: East Gate Market Police Station (Part 3)
Before his arrival, Zhou Shizhai had assumed these people were like Guangzhou's foreign merchants—wealthy traders seeking protection for their mansions and treasures, nothing more.
The moment he stepped ashore, he knew how completely wrong he had been. Bopu's colossal ships, the impossibly smooth roads, the four-wheeled carts that moved without horses—each new sight struck him like a blow. But when he beheld the staggering construction scale of Bairren Fortress, genuine panic seized his heart for the first time.
Were these truly just sea merchants? Zhou Shizhai understood with sudden, terrible clarity: this place needed no escort to protect its property. The ships anchored in Bopu Harbor alone represented a force that nothing in these waters could possibly match. So why had they summoned him?
He and his two disciples were housed in a small building belonging to the East Gate Industrial-Commercial Bureau. The rooms were cramped but comfortable enough, furnished with an obviously mismatched assortment of pieces. Zhou Shizhai had quarters to himself while his disciples shared the adjacent room. That evening, the merchant leaders hosted a dinner—one named Dongmen, another Dugu, plus a woman. The meal was practical rather than lavish: fish, meat, vegetables. The leaders proved courteous, and through their conversation, Zhou Shizhai learned this was a newly established market where increased traffic had brought increasing chaos.
"Though we've recruited some police, we understand nothing about the Ming underworld environment." Dongmen Chuiyu raised his cup in a courteous toast. "Please guide us, Master Zhou!"
"I'll do my utmost!" Zhou Shizhai drained his cup. "Only—may I ask the masters—and, ah, the lady?"
Mu Min waved dismissively. "No 'masters' or 'ladies.' Just call us 'comrades.'"
"We are definitely not comrades! Get that straight!" Dugu jumped to his feet in protest.
"I meant 'comrade' in the original sense," Mu Min shot back with righteous indignation. "Don't pollute the word with your garbage colonial culture!"
Zhou Shizhai took careful note: this woman was clearly the local boss. She must have spent considerable time overseas—long enough to adopt barbarian mannerisms. He felt a flicker of disdain.
"May I ask, comrades," Zhou Shizhai said carefully, "exactly what do you want this market to become?"
What style did they want? The transmigrators exchanged uncertain glances. Obviously, the more prosperous and bustling, the better.
Zhou Shizhai shook his head slowly. "This market's masters are you sea merchants, correct? I don't understand how to make markets prosperous—but once prosperity comes, various characters will naturally arrive seeking their share. How do you intend to coexist with them?"
"How can others sleep soundly beside one's own bed!" Dugu Qiuhun declared with decisive finality.
Zhou Shizhai fell silent for a moment, then spoke. "Comrades, East Gate Market is currently a wild market with few established shops. Even attracting petty thieves isn't particularly concerning at this stage. But once prosperity arrives, the various factions that follow will all have powerful backers behind them. Even the street beggars will have connections reaching to heaven. One misstep and your entire operation gets turned upside-down..."
Mu Min smiled faintly. "Master Zhou, we understand all of this. But our first advantage here is that we have no entanglements. Nobody is 'our people.' Power flows from gun barrels. Whoever's connections—if they cause trouble—" She made a slashing gesture across her throat, her expression turning murderous.
Zhou Shizhai nodded. "Understood. I will serve with my full effort!"
The merchants of East Gate Market noticed something new taking shape at the main crossroads: a screen wall under construction. Craftsmen were chiseling an inscription onto one face—the new Treatment Regulations. The document essentially combined the Public Security Management Punishment Regulations with the Ming Code, though with one crucial difference: detention, paddling, and exile had all been replaced with labor reform, minimum one year. Labor reform required no judicial process—the station chief's signature alone sufficed. This proved wonderfully effective for suppressing security crimes, and various departments eagerly welcomed this policy of free labor. A few democrats questioned whether punishment without trial violated principles of judicial fairness, but fairness for natives clearly concerned few transmigrators.
Before the screen wall rose a three-tiered semicircular platform—the public sentencing stage. Public trials and sentencing had always been proletarian dictatorship's most effective form of deterrence, and this tradition would continue. Dugu Qiuhun had lobbied eagerly to install a guillotine at the crossroads, but death sentences remained the exclusive domain of state judicial authority. For transmigrators to openly usurp court authority seemed premature. Besides, this was merely a market.
Alongside the screen wall appeared strange-looking figures: rattan helmets on their heads, short-hair-style black button-front stand-collar jackets fastened with wooden toggles, wide leather belts cinching their waists, white puttees wrapping their calves, and straw sandals on their feet. Short horizontal-handled clubs hung from their rears. Their sleeve patches bore shield-shaped embroidery with incomprehensible patterns—only a few characters were legible: "Security" at the top, "East Gate" at the bottom.
"Damn—these look exactly like Annam constables!" Dugu Qiuhun let out a despairing wail when he saw the delivered uniforms and equipment. His own submitted design had been far more handsome: peaked caps, black turndown-collar tunics, leather Sam Browne belts, riding breeches, polished boots, plus chest badges—a look that somehow already felt familiar.
"Commissioner Xiao—my submitted uniform design wasn't like this!" Dugu phoned Xiao Zishan. "How can such rustic looks possibly intimidate criminals?"
"Didn't you just want police looking like the SS? Unacceptable!"
"Pre-plagiarizing Hitler's ideas should be fine, shouldn't it? It's 1628—Hitler's still atoms!"
"Riding boots and Sam Browne belts? In Hainan? Too wasteful. Resources are tight—economize. Red Guard members just wore armbands for the revolution—never heard of needing full uniforms for revolutionary work."
The hard faction had suffered its first heavy blow. Though other hard factions also seriously questioned Xiao Zishan's aesthetics.
The police squad's first appearance at East Gate drew massive crowds. Though nobody knew what "police" meant, the commoners quickly arrived at their own conclusion: the short-hairs' version of the fast squad! But these fast squads differed from yamen runners in two significant ways. First, their movements were uniform—they patrolled the streets on a regular schedule. East Gate Market wasn't large, so you saw them frequently. Second, their jurisdiction proved remarkably broad—"street dogs" who managed everything. Even littering or trade disputes that grew slightly heated would draw their immediate intervention.
These ten police officers comprised the "uniform squad." Beyond them, Zhou Shizhai led his two disciples plus two or three recruited laborers as the "plainclothes squad"—scattered throughout the market daily, covertly monitoring situations from the shadows.
Dongmen Chuiyu had originally proposed merchant group defense—organizing shop assistants for night patrols. But here, traveling merchants dominated while settled shopkeepers remained scarce. With only a handful of storefronts, there was simply no one to organize. Traditional security methods were still applied, however. Inns were required to enforce guest registration, with innkeepers reporting daily to the station regarding any suspicious circumstances.
Ma Peng's mother even contributed to East Gate's security efforts: as a simplified form of group defense, she and several elderly laborer wives were assigned to set up stalls throughout the market as covert sentries. Several clerks from the Welfare Society's Li Mei also joined this "group defense" in exchange for extra grain. As Mu Min's mother-in-law, Li Mei enthusiastically supported the plan—expenses came from the Welfare Society's coffers.
With everything in place, the 1628 Security Crackdown, jointly conducted by the Industrial-Commercial Bureau and Police Station, officially commenced. The operation mobilized not just the police squad and enforcement team—the Military Group, Security Group, and Bairren Commune Militia all joined in. First they established perimeter blockades. Then teams conducted large-scale dragnet arrests based on the plainclothes squad's prior reconnaissance. Mu Min's requirements were clear: action must be fast and quiet, with minimal disturbance to uninvolved persons.
From the Industrial-Commercial Bureau's rooftop, a massive voice broadcast continuously in various dialects and Mandarin:
"Citizens, listen: this market is now arresting criminals. We won't release a single criminal; we won't wrongly arrest a single good person... Everyone remain in place... No resistance—violators will be shot without question..."
Squads wearing Year-One rattan helmets and wielding Year-One batons or bayonet-mounted rifles swept through the market under the loudspeaker's relentless blaring, arresting people according to name lists and photographs. Those who resisted or fled were beaten bloody. Several self-proclaimed agile fighters managed to down a few police officers before finally being bayoneted to death. The arrestees were bound with rope and forced to squat before the station, forbidden to look up or speak. The newly minted police recruits happily strutted their newfound authority over the cowering prisoners.
Those arrested were mainly petty criminals of every stripe—pickpockets, burglars, con men, fences. After brief public sentencing, all received one year of labor reform. Wu De led several armed soldiers to march them away—the Bairren Beach quarry was hungry for convict labor.
Gambling had severely impacted security, so the station initially banned it altogether. Every gambling stall at East Gate was shuttered, money confiscated, and operators expelled. Before expulsion, each operator underwent the standard procedure: confessions recorded, fingerprints taken, guarantees signed, and photographs taken with placards held before their chests—all creating comprehensive case files.
"Come gambling again and it won't be so cheap next time! Scram!" Dugu Qiuhun snarled viciously, one foot propped on a stool. The operators were already terrified; the camera's flash made them believe they had been hexed.
Throughout the operation, loudspeakers continuously broadcast the Notice on Rectifying the East Gate Market Security Environment: beyond the gambling ban, related small pawnshops and usury lenders were also ordered to leave. Those who continued would face severe punishment. Prostitutes were required to register at the station within a deadline—unregistered ones would be expelled...
Prostitution alone survived the purge. The market's prostitutes were mostly itinerant or nearby "half-door" types who operated covertly from private residences. Theft from clients was a recurring problem, but given Lingao's extreme gender imbalance, the industry served a necessary function and would be tolerated. After discussion with the Civil Affairs and Medical departments, it was decided that prostitute licenses would be issued. All prostitutes were required to register for these licenses. Unlicensed prostitution would result in expulsion for the first offense; a second offense meant labor reform. Civil Affairs had originally wanted monthly health examinations administered by Medical, but Medical lacked the personnel, equipment, and drugs to manage such a program. This was left unimplemented for the time being.
The entire operation proceeded with clockwork precision, and Zhou Shizhai found himself deeply impressed. These "Australian comrades" might not understand the underworld, but their methods far exceeded those of any yamen office. It wasn't just the clean, efficient execution—everything had been prepared meticulously in advance. Their punishments struck a careful balance between severity and leniency. Compared to the dark, corrupt, and cruel yamens he had known all his life, there was simply no comparison.
Such a small place as East Gate Market, handled this well—what if they governed all of Lingao? All of Guangzhou? Zhou Shizhai shook his head, dismissing the thought. Too absurd to contemplate.
(End of Chapter)