Chapter 1740: Wielding the Thunderbolt

"Each team only needs to manage your own section. Leave other matters to specially assigned personnel." Xie Buliao continued. "If you encounter violent confrontation, blow the whistle to summon nearby National Army reinforcements."

"Start the operation!"

At Lin Baiguang's order, a guard beside him lit the signal rocket in his hand. A green flare soared whistling into the sky.

The whistle was the signal. Whistle sounds erupted all along the street. The riot squad of the National Army entered Chengxuan Street from both north and south entrances simultaneously. Precise footsteps rang out on the street, which had fallen deathly silent. The riot squad wore steel helmets and local-version anti-riot suits made of kapok and rattan following anti-riot suit patterns; on their feet, iron-soled ox-hide short boots. Holding anti-riot rattan shields, standard police batons, and long forks, they marched past the common people in lockstep—eyes forward, faces expressionless. The clattering of boots amplified the terror already building in the hearts of shopkeepers and assistants. Many began secretly regretting not having demolished on their own.

The riot squad left a small team every hundred meters, making arrangements along the street. Then, at the second whistle, the Detective Brigade entered—led by naturalized citizen police. Though dressed neatly, their marching formation was considerably worse. The demolition teams didn't hurry to begin but arranged themselves along the street, one team every hundred meters. Each team wore armbands of different colors and numbers.

Each team had a flag bearer holding a colored flag. Whenever a team arrived at its position, the flag bearer raised the flag to signal their presence.

The merchants and assistants in the shops, along with the idlers watching the spectacle, had never witnessed such a display. All were terrified—was this war?

Lin Baiguang sat upright in his chair. The guard lowered his binoculars, turned back, stood at attention and saluted: "Report to Chief—all teams are in position."

"Begin."

A red signal rocket soared whistling from the Double Gate Tower. The Detective Brigade, who had been rubbing their fists and palms, pounced like hounds unleashed, roaring.

When had the shopkeepers and assistants ever seen such a scene? Watching the wolf-like, tiger-like Detective Brigade descend upon them, those who had planned various obstructions immediately scattered like birds and beasts. The more timid simply collapsed on the ground with a cry, unable to move—they were dragged aside by specially assigned personnel long before causing any delay.

The Detective Brigade had been eager for this moment. Everyone wanted to perform well before the Chief. Once the order came, they immediately set to work according to their pre-assigned duties. For a time, moving goods, demolishing walls with big sledgehammers and hook-sickle spears, climbing ladders to remove tiles... the chaotic din of activity filled the street.

Accompanying the demolition, portable audio systems dedicated to square dancing—positioned at both ends of the street—began broadcasting the pre-recorded "Demolition Notice."

"Citizens of Guangzhou, hello. The Guangzhou Military Control Commission and the Guangzhou Municipal Government, in accordance with..."

The monotonous electronic female voice echoed above the street. After standard Mandarin with perfect pronunciation came a broadcast in Guangzhou Mandarin. As the broadcast continued, the Detective Brigade's demolition work reached its peak.

According to prior arrangement, bricks, tiles, and stones were collected; reed mats, bamboo poles, and timber were piled by category. The Gale and Purple Lightning handcarts borrowed by Lin Baiguang from the Joint Logistics Headquarters moved down the street from north to south, collecting as they went. Demolished building materials were loaded and transported as soon as they came down—remarkably, nothing accumulated on the road surface at all.

The tools and goods inside the sheds were also sealed one by one and transported away by cart, all taken to the East Parade Ground outside the city along with the building materials. This wasn't because Lin Baiguang wanted to covet these things, but to impose additional costs on the shops that had built the sheds.

Guangzhou's commerce was something the Senate wanted to maintain and promote. Therefore, Liu Xiang couldn't use overly drastic punishments—arresting bosses for labor reform, suspending businesses, and so forth. Yet he couldn't let the violating shops bear no costs. For most shops, the material and labor costs of building sheds had been minimal, but the income had been considerable. Without effective deterrence, maintaining rectification results over time would be difficult. Detaining goods and tools to force fines—the time, property, and turnover costs incurred during the detention period—would make many think twice before trying again.

On-the-spot fines were naturally possible, but achieving effective control amid the chaos would be difficult. Dragging everything to the East Parade Ground meant each shop would inevitably come forward voluntarily to accept punishment—neither missing anyone nor overcharging. This suited their still-limited law enforcement capabilities.

Lin Baiguang watched the street before him in silence. The dust raised by the demolition shrouded the entire area, rendering it hazy and indistinct. Through the dust and fog came the sounds of tools striking walls, the tearing of reed mat sheds being pulled apart, the shouting and cursing of demolition personnel. Occasionally, women's crying and cursing drifted through as well.

Overall, the effect was good. Lin Baiguang thought to himself that the city foxes and social rats—especially the Guan Di Temple people—were all quite sensible. Not one had leaped out to serve as his chicken.

He knew that tomorrow, news of this demolition would spread throughout the city. Every teahouse and tea shed would vividly relate what they had witnessed today. He had staged this display precisely for that effect. He had roughly surveyed the entire city's situation—illegal structures existed virtually everywhere on main roads and commercial areas. Some were built directly over the Six Veins Canal. The demolition work in this city had just begun.

The Guangzhou Municipal Government couldn't mount such a grand display every time it demolished illegal structures, so the first time required sufficient momentum and spectacle. He even felt a slight regret that no one had come forward to cause trouble—otherwise, he could have properly slaughtered a few chickens, which would have enhanced the warning effect for subsequent demolition work.

Demolition began at seven in the morning. By noon, the crowded sheds along all of Chengxuan Street had been swept away, revealing the original broad road surface of blue bricks and red sandstone slabs. Looking over it all at once, Lin Baiguang suddenly felt his heart lighten, as if the city itself could now breathe normally.

Yet traces of years of road-occupying commerce remained—like a floor plan drawn in stains. Standing on the Double Gate Tower, one could still roughly make out the original footprint of each shop's encroachment. A few families had simply built houses directly on the road surface; now the wall foundations were still being demolished, a few beams and pillars standing lonely in the middle of the street.

The road ditches originally covered by sheds were now completely exposed. He instructed that the stone slabs and wooden boards covering them not be removed for now—wait until after the entry ceremony.

"Good roads, ruined like this." Lin Baiguang remarked casually. "Have the goods been transported away?"

"The detained goods and tools have all been transported. A small amount of building materials remains undemolished," the cadre responsible for field command reported.

"After cleanup, tell the cleaning team to sweep the street once. Ensure no residual garbage on the ground." Lin Baiguang raised his binoculars. "Anyone making trouble?"

"No. Very cooperative."

"Tell the law enforcement team to erect gallows in front of the Double Gate Tower. Finally we have a proper place to put them."

That afternoon, black gallows rose on the open ground before the Double Gate Tower. The rope loops coated in black tar swayed in the wind, silently reminding all who was master of Guangzhou City.

A new notice was pasted on the bulletin board before the gallows, stating that all shop numbers whose goods and tools had been detained must go to the East Parade Ground within three days to accept fine processing. Overdue items would be confiscated entirely.

"Hair-thief, I f*** your old mother..." A shopkeeper couldn't help cursing in his back room. If he didn't pay the fine, his detained goods and tools would all be lost. But he was truly unwilling to part with his shining silver. His heart ached with pain, regret, and hatred. His wife advised: "Husband, if we spend some money, we can still get the things back. Under the former government, not only wouldn't you get things back—you'd still have to spend silver."

The shopkeeper considered this and realized it was true. Setting aside everything else, if the former government had come to demolish, and he hadn't given enough silver on the spot, those black-hearted runners would probably have robbed his shop clean while they had the chance. In this way, the hair-thieves were actually quite polite.

Lin Baiguang had no energy to care what citizens thought. As soon as the sheds were demolished, he immediately organized teams to carry out temporary repairs on Chengxuan Street's road surface.

Major repairs were impossible at the moment. The road was not only long but had gone years without proper repair; road surface and roadbed were seriously damaged. Major repairs would require tearing up all the covering sandstone slabs and blue bricks—impossible to complete without months of effort, and they didn't even know where to source paving materials. So Li Xiaolü, who had come to oversee Guangzhou's municipal engineering, suggested using the bricks, tiles, and stones recovered from demolished sheds for temporary repairs. Simply fill the potholes and gaps to make the road surface roughly level.

Such temporary repairs didn't require many skilled workers and took very little time. Lin Baiguang agreed to this plan. He said to Li Xiaolü:

"Complete the repair work within thirty-six hours." He issued a firm order. "The road must be fully open to traffic before 7 a.m. on March 5th!" Turning to the Works Department clerk Jia Jue, he added: "From today on, you take orders from Chief Li!"

Jia Jue was surprised to see that the Chief was actually a woman. Did a woman even understand road repair?

Li Xiaolü moved into the Double Gate Tower with her own team and personally directed the road surface repair project. The construction crew consisted of county laborers gathered by Jia Jue—they also counted as a kind of yamen runner. To compensate for the manpower shortage, part of the National Army was mobilized as well.

As soon as the street was cleaned up, lanterns were hung on both sides, and repairs began overnight. Li Xiaolü personally went to the construction site to command.

The citizens of Guangzhou were shocked to see a "female hair-thief" gesturing on the street and commanding hundreds of workers. But what shocked them even more was that this "female hair-thief" went onto the street wearing only trousers—not even a skirt. "The hair-thieves corrupt public morals to this extent!" A scholar wrote this sentence in his notes that night. Next, he added: "The female hair-thief has a graceful figure and a romantic bearing of her own."

(End of this chapter)