Chapter 1866 - Out with the Old, In with the New (Part 2)

"The city's permanent population is only a little over 500,000, yet beggars and vagrants account for nearly 1%. Such a waste." Liu Xiang couldn't help commenting.

"Actually, the current number of vagrants and beggars is more than this." Mu Min said. "That figure only includes those under the Guandi Temple faction's control. Large numbers of refugees are also flooding into Guangzhou."

As the Guangdong Campaign deepened, despite the Fubo Army's efforts to stabilize local areas, wherever warfare reached, social order inevitably collapsed. The Executive Council's limited administrative and military forces could not quickly pacify regions. The chaos in local security had driven masses of people to flee into "stable" Guangzhou, forming a new vagrant population.

The municipal government's refugee relief, as before, was handled by the Cihuitang charitable hall that had been part of the old Guangzhou Station. However, the relief effort was not going smoothly. Because the Cihuitang had historically shipped refugees to Hainan Island, the markets had developed a saying that going to the Cihuitang meant "being sold overseas to pioneer." The current wave of refugees had mostly fled temporarily due to local unrest and had no intention of going to some "overseas" place. They would rather beg on the streets than go to the Cihuitang. Whenever the Cihuitang came to collect refugees, they scattered in all directions, doing everything to avoid them.

As a result, large numbers of refugees were dispersed everywhere, making them difficult to manage and assist. They had become a destabilizing factor for public order. Security incidents were frequent, and numerous human trafficking cases had occurred. Many victims in the sorcery case had come from this refugee population.

At this juncture of old and new regimes, the masses neither understood nor trusted the new government. Guangzhou's current security situation might appear much improved compared to when they first entered the city, but undercurrents ran deep beneath the surface—it was far from peaceful.

"How many refugees are there?"

"Director Lin reported 9,000 yesterday." Mu Min said.

"Is that accurate?"

"That number is calculated from the porridge tokens distributed at the city's charitable porridge stations." Lin Baiguang said. "There's probably some overlap with the Guandi Temple faction numbers, but the margin of error shouldn't exceed 500."

Lin Baiguang explained that to assist the refugees and prevent them from dispersing further, he had asked Gao Ju to have the Merchants' Federation set up porridge stations.

"...The Cihuitang isn't trusted by the refugees right now—everyone says they'll be seized and sent overseas to pioneer. So we had to have the Merchants' Federation step forward. At least that should stabilize morale." Lin Baiguang smiled wryly.

"Let's not discuss the refugees. Bureau Chief Mu, please continue."

"The Guandi Temple faction has a total of sixty-four large and small dens inside and outside the city walls. Each den is controlled by a dagu, with its own sphere of influence, mostly operating out of various temples and shrines. Many temple abbots have complained about their long-term occupation of temple property. They simply don't dare offend them." Mu Min uncovered a map of Guangzhou densely marked with den locations. Liu Xiang noticed that even the inconvenient, relatively barren Henan Island had dens.

"I won't go into detail about the various businesses of each den. Previous situation briefings have covered them multiple times. As our investigation has deepened, we've found the Guandi Temple faction also has a certain monopoly on vegetable sales from outside the city—our officers have more than once cracked down on their crimes of intercepting and forcibly buying vegetables from farmers and peddlers near the city gates."

"What's the situation now?" Liu Xiang immediately followed up.

"After several concentrated crackdowns, plus our establishment of the wholesale market for foodstuffs, this practice has ceased," Mu Min said. "This forms the first favorable condition for completely suppressing the Guandi Temple faction."

Ever since wholesale markets for grain and foodstuffs were established outside the city gates, the Guandi Temple faction's practice of extorting farmers and peddlers and forcibly collecting "tolls" had ended. The patrol system had also cracked down on beggars' aggressive panhandling and extortion of shops. The Guandi Temple faction's income had declined substantially. The beggars were no longer as obedient and disciplined as before; cohesion had naturally weakened.

"...From the intelligence we've gathered, their internal morale is unstable. Both ordinary beggars and dagu are dissatisfied. Many dens are demanding reductions in the dues paid to the Gao family. After Gao Tianshi's sudden death, the Gao family itself is in considerable dispute over succession to the Chief Beggar position and division of the estate. There's potential for internal strife."

"So the timing for dealing with the Guandi Temple faction is just right."

"Yes. Currently the faction's morale is scattered, and there's no leadership core that commands respect. Though Gao Dacheng, the eldest Gao son, has taken over as Chief Beggar, his several brothers are dissatisfied. For now, he's barely maintaining order. In other words, the new Chief's control over the lower ranks has greatly weakened."

It seemed everyone had reached consensus on dealing with the Guandi Temple faction. Shen Ruiming thought the key question was what to do with them afterward.

Sure enough, the discussion then turned to the details of the citywide concentrated detention and rehabilitation of beggars and vagrants.

This work was easy to describe but difficult to implement. First, beggars and vagrants were widely distributed, visible almost everywhere inside and outside the city. Especially now that summer had arrived, with fruits and vegetables abundant in the suburbs and the weather warm enough to sleep outdoors and forage, they weren't concentrated in the city and at the gates as in winter. Once the detention operation began, word would spread and cause large numbers of beggars to scatter, creating instability in the countryside.

"...Therefore, this detention operation will mobilize all police and National Army forces stationed in Guangzhou. We've also requested the South China Military Command to deploy some Army and Navy units stationed in the Guangzhou area to assist. We estimate mobilizing 6,000 people."

Second, the combined total of beggars and refugees citywide was as many as 15,000. The Cihuitang, having transferred refugees year-round, had a transit camp outside the city, but it could hold only about 1,000 people—nowhere near enough.

"That's not a problem. Hong Kong Island has the transit camps built for Operation Engine. They can hold 20,000 without difficulty." Lin Baiguang said. "And Hong Kong has the farms of the Agricultural Reclamation Brigade. The beggars and vagrants can be put to labor reform right there."

"We should distinguish between refugees and the Guandi Temple faction. We can't lump them all together."

"Naturally. The Bureau has drafted a rough resettlement plan." Mu Min said.

In this "final solution" plan, the overall principle was "divide in two, treat differently."

First, the plan emphasized distinguishing between people: refugees who had flowed into Guangzhou due to war, famine, or other causes and were forced to beg for survival should be distinguished from professional beggars like the Guandi Temple faction. The former would be held on Hong Kong Island for only a short period, focusing on health and work training, then repatriated to their homes once their areas were pacified. Those willing to stay for local agricultural employment could also be accepted.

The Guandi Temple faction should likewise be divided in two. The Gao family and the dagu of various dens—the middle and upper echelons—would be prosecuted for their past crimes. Those with blood on their hands would be executed without exception. Those without blood crimes but with public grievances would be sentenced and transferred to the Tiandu Iron Mine or other mines for hard labor. Those without public grievances but confirmed as mid-to-upper-level Guandi Temple faction members would be forcibly relocated to Taiwan. Family members of such individuals would also be relocated to Taiwan.

Lower-level members, though mostly exploited, included many professional beggars, some of whom had committed serious crimes. Especially the various "skilled" beggars, involved in fraud, extortion, human trafficking, theft, grave robbing, fencing, harboring... The general principle: all those definitively found to have committed crimes would be classified, prosecuted, and convicted. Those without crimes or with minor crimes—able-bodied young men—would all be organized into labor brigades for compulsory labor. Those who were disabled or elderly and had lost the ability to work would be transferred to the newly established Guangzhou Municipal Welfare Institute. Orphans and women would all be sent to Lingao.

Those from the Guandi Temple faction who had served as street sweepers, night watchmen, and corpse handlers—performing municipal and security services—would be received by the relevant departments, re-screened, educated, and employed.

"That's essentially the general principle."

Everyone nodded in agreement. A few more questions were raised, and Mu Min answered each. Finally, Liu Xiang delivered a summary statement: "Beggary is the human social phenomenon most deserving of disappearance, contrary to the progress represented by the Executive Council. Not only do they disrupt social order; they also seriously affect the stability of people's lives and the consolidation of the new regime. Governing beggary is an important component of Guangzhou's civil administration reform. A few beggars are inconsequential to the Executive Council; what matters is maintaining social stability and transforming customs."

In the Executive Council's worldview, there was no place for beggars in the new world. Everyone was a cog in society, meant to create social value. Lingao had essentially eliminated vagrancy; even fortune-tellers, street performers, and hangers-on had been concentrated, re-educated, and put to productive use.

Shen Ruiming listened while jotting down key points and his own thoughts. Without question, the judicial processing of the Guandi Temple faction would be a major undertaking. Not only because of their connection to the sorcery case, but the prosecution materials for all the miscellaneous crimes mentioned in Mu Min's briefing would keep him busy for quite a while.

The Executive Council's legal system emphasized "evidence." The Guandi Temple faction had been entrenched here for over a century; though their criminal acts were countless, most lacked clear physical evidence. Some cases dated back years—never mind physical evidence, even witnesses might be nearly gone. If testimony was the main basis, the scope would be too broad. Shen Ruiming knew clearly that though the Guandi Temple faction's crimes sounded varied, in terms of criminal circumstances and case value, very few actually rose to the level of criminal offenses—the vast majority were public security violations. To reach "substantial case value," they would need testimony from who knew how many people—another human-wave operation...

He was contemplating how to effectively prepare prosecution materials—because from the meeting's general direction, the Guangzhou municipal government's approach was "severe punishment" and they wanted a "clean sweep." So his prosecution materials needed to be prepared with a "strict and severe" mindset...

Just as he was pondering how to proceed, he suddenly heard Liu Xiang call his name: "Little Shen, you're the prosecutor sent by the justice department. Share your thoughts!"

(End of Chapter)