Chapter 1865 - Out with the Old, In with the New (Part 1)

Shen Ruiming had successfully obtained personnel from Du Wen. With Guangzhou constantly pressing for judicial Elements to arrive, he wasted no time and hurried over.

The Ministry of Justice had staked out its territory in Guangzhou without hesitation: the former Guangdong Provincial Censor's Yamen, which in the old timeline had been the Great Buddha Temple in the Huifu East area. After the liberation of Guangzhou, this compound had originally been allocated to the Political Security Bureau. But Liang Xinhu had approached Liu Xiang, arguing that this yamen was situated precisely at the boundary between Nanhai and Panyu Counties—an ideal location for a court. So it was reassigned to the Ministry of Justice. The various judicial organs in Guangdong were now all concentrated here.

This site had originally been the Xincang Temple, built during the Southern Han dynasty by King Liu Yan to correspond with the twenty-eight celestial mansions. In the Ming dynasty, it was expanded into Longzang Temple and later converted into the Provincial Censor's Office.

Shen Ruiming had not come to Guangzhou alone: he brought his two domestic secretaries. Conditions during the circuits hadn't allowed for that, but now that he would be stationed in Guangzhou for the long term, he naturally wanted to arrange a comfortable nest. For this purpose, he had brought twenty-eight crates of luggage.

These crates were now piled in the courtyard. Staff from the Municipal Government's General Affairs Section bustled about carrying and moving them. Like all Elements and naturalized citizens arriving from Hainan, Shen Ruiming would live and work in the same compound. The quarters he now occupied had been the residence of the Provincial Censor.

There was irony in this, thought Shen Ruiming, standing in the main courtyard and gazing up at the great hall: the Executive Council had used illegal means to kidnap the Ming Provincial Censor Gao Shunqin, then occupied his yamen for judicial activities, and now intended to preach the rule of law to other subjects. Quite the dark comedy.

But he had no time to dwell on this. Before he could even unpack, Shen Ruiming received notice that Liu Xiang wanted him to attend a meeting.

"This urgent?" Shen Ruiming glanced at the notice, guessing it was probably in preparation for the citywide second Public Order Strengthening Campaign.

After the sorcery case, dealing with the Guandi Temple faction—that tumor on Guangzhou's municipal body—had become imperative. These several thousand people produced nothing and each controlled a piece of territory. Though they contributed somewhat to public order and municipal services, they represented an enormous hidden danger to urban order, street sanitation, and overall security.

In the past, the Guangzhou municipal government had been too unstable, with limited grassroots enforcement capacity, and couldn't move against this syndicate. Now that the police and civil administration systems had taken shape, and the material conditions for internment and resettlement were in place, Liu Xiang could no longer tolerate the existence of such an "underground government." Moreover, the sorcery case had amply demonstrated that such a profit-oriented underclass organization, lacking any basic political agenda, was extremely susceptible to manipulation—its destructive potential was not to be underestimated.

By rights, handling beggars and public order was administrative work with little connection to the judiciary. Cases requiring judicial handling could be transferred when they arose. Being summoned so urgently meant nothing more than that the justice department was expected to play the role of "the sword arm."

Though some Ministry of Justice Elements believed that the judiciary should be separated from the executive—appearing noble-minded but actually harboring ulterior motives. They simply wanted to expand their own power without constraint. In Shen Ruiming's view, there was no need for such fine distinctions at this stage; joining hands to transform society was the top priority.

"Reply to Mayor Liu that I'll be right there." Shen Ruiming circled the notice, handed it to the messenger, gave a few instructions to his maids, and immediately set off for the Municipal Government.

In the Municipal Government's classified conference room, Liu Xiang, Lin Moguang, Mu Min, Pan Jiexin... the several Elements of Guangzhou's local government sat around the table. Besides Zhang Yunmi serving as meeting secretary, the others were all Element heads responsible for administration and police work.

Liu Xiang first introduced Shen Ruiming, and then the meeting proceeded to the main topic.

As Shen Ruiming had expected, the meeting's subject was the suppression of the Guandi Temple faction and the full internment and resettlement of Guangzhou's beggars and vagrants.

"Comrades," Liu Xiang cleared his throat, "it's been over half a year since we liberated Guangzhou. Social order in the city has basically stabilized, urban improvement work has shown initial results, the new currency rollout is proceeding steadily, and public order in the city outskirts has greatly improved. We now have a reasonably capable corps of local cadres... One could say that our takeover of Guangzhou is essentially complete. Step one—getting in and gaining a foothold—has been achieved."

This was the standard opening; no one needed to respond. Someone handed Shen Ruiming a document titled Guangzhou Basic Information Compilation.

"Our next—and one of our greatest—challenges is the Guandi Temple faction, that black-and-evil force that has plagued Guangzhou for generations. Everyone knows something about this organization's origins. You also know about the sorcery case's connection to them. This beggar syndicate's energy and level of activity are considerable indeed."

From the riot at the Haiyang Guild Hall to the still-unsolved Wang Daniao case, countless unsolved thefts, kidnappings, assaults, and frauds... many were connected to the Guandi Temple faction. They didn't merely commit crimes directly—they served as a protective umbrella and fencing channel for all manner of criminals, constructing an "underground kingdom," a lawless zone that outsiders could neither understand nor penetrate. For an Executive Council that prioritized grassroots governance, this was intolerable.

"...Now let the Municipal Bureau present the specific situation regarding the Guandi Temple faction."

Mu Min stood up, holding a thick stack of materials. These had been gathered over months of social investigation targeting the Guandi Temple faction.

Though any outsider beggar who registered at the Guandi Temple was nominally a member, these beggars and vagrants were merely the outer-ring bottom tier. Apart from paying daily "dues," they served at the beck and call of the various dagu beggar chiefs. They knew little of the organization's inner workings. The true internal situation was difficult for outsiders to probe. The dagu who managed the various doukou dens were either hereditary or longtime beggars who had "fought their way up" through their own abilities. Deploying undercover agents using traditional infiltration methods was completely impractical.

Mu Min had no choice but to rely on peripheral investigation, focusing on social groups that had frequent contact and deep connections with the Guandi Temple faction—particularly Guangzhou's clerks and yamen runners.

Because the Guandi Temple faction actually performed various municipal and security functions, the clerks had extensive contact with them. Collusion and mutual exploitation were widespread, and the clerks knew quite a bit about the inner workings.

To conduct the investigation, Mu Min's investigation team not only interviewed retained clerks but also investigated imprisoned and retired ones, obtaining substantial material.

Besides these, the beggars and dagu captured during the Chaozhou Guild Hall riot and other public order operations were another key intelligence source. Though few senior dagu or key members had been captured, they provided the most valuable firsthand intelligence.

After several months, the Municipal Police Bureau had largely grasped the Guandi Temple faction's situation.

Mu Min opened an easel board and began presenting the specifics.

"The organizational origins of the Guandi Temple faction are impossible to trace. The organization has no written history and appears in no literati notes or historical gazetteers. However, from our interviews with veteran clerks, local residents, and gentry, we've confirmed that the organization existed at least since the Longqing reign.

"Regarding their origins, the Guandi Temple faction has one legend: that the Gao family ancestors were beggars who, at the end of the Yuan dynasty, studied under the Daoist Zhou Dian. Zhou the Divine wandered the world in tattered clothes and bare feet, helping the Founding Emperor win his empire, then departed without a trace. Many legends survive; the most widely spread is that during the campaign against Chen Youliang, when the imperial fleet was becalmed at Anqing, Zhou Dian chanted 'All Under Heaven Is Pacified' and told Zhu Yuanzhang, 'Once the boat starts moving, the wind will come.' So Zhu Yuanzhang had men tow the ships—and immediately a great wind arose. Afterward, Zhou Dian took his leave; Zhu Yuanzhang's repeated attempts to retain him failed. After founding the dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sent men to Zhou Dian's hermitage on Mount Lu but could not find him. He could only write Biography of the Immortal Zhou Dian and leave it on Mount Lu in memory. Out of affection for the master, the Emperor intended to make Gao's ancestor a general. But the immortal had already warned his disciple that his fate lacked one of the Three Blessings—namely, official salary. So the Emperor bestowed an imperial staff and appointed him Chief Beggar of Guangzhou, establishing the main den at the Guandi Temple. This legend, though unverifiable, indicates that the organization does have some official background."

Though beggars caused great harm, their lack of discipline and political agenda meant they posed no threat to the dynasty. Throughout history, all dynasties had adopted a laissez-faire attitude toward them. The backward, scattered social management capacity and weak economies of premodern times left governments powerless to address beggary; in some respects, they even relied on beggars. Acknowledging their legitimacy and harnessing their power became the only way many medieval governments dealt with the beggar problem.

"But their headquarters isn't the Guandi Temple—it's at Jinhua Temple..." Lin Baiguang said, puzzled.

"As for the name's origin, it's said that the earliest Guangzhou Chief Beggar's headquarters was indeed an old, dilapidated Guandi Temple. Later, when gentry and officials restored the temple, the den was relocated to Jinhua Temple outside the West Gate." Mu Min said, uncovering a second diagram.

"Currently, the total number of beggars and vagrants registered with the Guandi Temple faction is unknown to us. According to veteran clerks, the prefectural and county yamens used to maintain beggar rosters; only those registered were considered 'official' beggars. But as everyone knows, even the Ming's official household registers—the Yellow Registers—are riddled with gaps, to say nothing of such rosters." Mu Min glanced at the document. "Through various estimation methods, we calculate the total at approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people. Among them are not only the destitute, widows, orphans, disabled, and others forced into beggary, but also many able-bodied young men who simply prefer idleness over work."

(End of Chapter)