Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 348: Eradicating Evil
In the evening, everyone arrived at Mude. Mude is located on the bank of Liuxi River, and there is a post road running through the north and south of Guangdong, which is an absolute water and land strategic point.

The Ming Dynasty set up a patrol office here, which was under the jurisdiction of Panyu County, a city attached to Guangzhou Prefecture. The Red Army also stationed a battalion of 300 soldiers here. This place has a large population and a prosperous economy, surpassing the prefectures and counties in the interior of Guangxi.

In modern times, the Qing Dynasty added a county seat here, named Huaxian, which is now Huadu District. There are many Hakka people who admire Germany. Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan in the late Qing Dynasty were born in Huaxian. They also had an enemy, Luo Bingzhang, who was also from Huaxian.

Since it was a private visit, it was inconvenient to not alert the patrol officers and the garrison. Danchu and his companions found an inn to stay in, and the room and food were relatively clean.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, just after daybreak, there was a commotion in the store. Danchu was still sleeping soundly. He was woken up by Mrs. Mo and started to put on his clothes.

Soon, the guard Yang Dingzhen knocked on the door and whispered, "Master, there are robbers."

In times of turmoil, there are always bandits. After the Red Army pacified eastern Guangdong, the bandits have been greatly restrained. Today, in broad daylight, bandits broke into the inn and openly robbed it. It is really abominable.

Danchu and his wife got dressed and checked their pistols and swords. Qu Dajun, who had no martial arts skills and Wang Hua, who was still young, packed up their belongings and hid in Danchu's room.

There were quite a few robbers. They first searched the counter and then went through each room, picking up valuables.

After about a quarter of an hour, the robbers came to Danchu's room. Danchu also found out the details of these people. There were about 20 of them, and they simply covered their faces. They were very arrogant, but they only had weapons such as waist knives and daggers. They didn't look like big bandits, but more like local petty thieves.

"Get out of the way. I want to search the house." Five or six robbers gathered together and approached, shouting.

"Our boss is in the house and doesn't owe you anything." Yang Dingzhen, holding a knife in his hand and looking proud, stood guard at the door with another guard.

"Brother," the leading robber, with a face full of flesh, bowed and sneered, "From your accent, you are a Hakka?"

"Yes, I'm from western Guangdong."

Yang Dingzhen was from Xunzhou, Guangxi, and was also a Hakka. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Hakkas had already entered Guangxi and were mostly distributed in Wuzhou, Xunzhou, and Nanning.

Since they came from western Guangdong, they were probably the Red Army. The robber looked at Yang Dingzhen and was unwilling to give up. He said, "We have lived in Mude for generations. Even if the Red Army comes, we are not afraid. The inn owes us money, so we want to go in and take some things to pay off the debt."

"Ding Zhen, let them in." Dan Chu said.

"Yes." Yang Dingzhen's respectful look made the robbers more convinced that these people might be the Red Army.

But there were so many robbers, and there were still many rooms that had not been robbed, and he did not want to lose face. The leading robber gritted his teeth and pushed the door open.

There were four people in the room, two gentlemen, a handsome servant, and a scholar. Although they had swords on their waists, they did not look like martial artists, let alone soldiers.

The robber felt relieved, bowed and said, "Excuse me for disturbing you, guys." He waved his hand, and the three followers behind him were about to start robbing.

Although Mo Yufen was a woman, she had practiced martial arts since childhood. She drew her sword and blocked the robber's way.

The room was not big, and when she drew her knife, the robbers were startled and they drew their knives against each other.

"Why do you have to do this? The innkeeper owes us money. We can just be friendly and take a few things and leave. There's no need to resort to violence."

What kind of bandit logic is this? Danchu sneered and said, "There is nothing valuable in this room, but I have a treasure here. If you like it, just take it."

The robber was startled, but saw Danchu pull out a flintlock pistol from his waist and open the fire button. Wang Hua also pulled out his Dinglu carbine, opened the fire button, and was ready to fire at any time.

In this day and age, those who can afford a flintlock pistol must be rich or noble; who else can afford a Dinglu-style carbine except the Red Army? The robber was timid and begged for mercy: "Master, I don't know what a great man is. Farewell."

It's not that easy to leave. In troubled times, severe punishments are used. The laws in South Vietnam are very strict. In today's situation, the robbers who robbed in broad daylight can at least be sentenced to immediate execution.

Yang Dingzhen blocked their way and waited for Danchu's decision. Danchu said, "I am in a good mood today, and I will allow you to reform. If you put down your swords and surrender, I will spare your lives."

There were more than 20 robbers, but Danchu and his group only had 6. The leader was unwilling to surrender, so he whistled to attract his accomplices.

Danchu was not polite and immediately opened fire, killing the leading robber first. Wang Hua was only fourteen years old, the son of Mrs. Liu, who married Li Dingguo's daughter. He remained calm in the face of danger and resolutely opened fire, killing another robber.

Everyone rushed forward and killed all the robbers in the house.

Soon, the robbers' accomplices arrived and saw that Danchu and his men were holding muskets, and they showed their fear before they even started fighting. Although these petty thieves were numerous, they were no match for Yang Dingzhen and his men. They were defeated after a brief fight and fled in panic.

Yang Dingzhen did not dare to neglect it and sent another guard to rush to Mude’s camp to mobilize troops. After interrogating the robbers, he found out that the robbers were from the “Da Gang”.

When Qu Dajun heard the word "Daxing", he shook his head and sighed, saying, "Daxing is a guild of thugs. If we don't get rid of the thugs, we can't get rid of Daxing. If we don't get rid of Daxing, the people can't expect peace."

He was familiar with the customs of Guangzhou people and briefly described the origins of the daxing.

It turns out that in the Ming Dynasty, as in previous dynasties, there were many idle vagrants in towns. In the early Ming Dynasty, they were called "Yifu" or "Yimin", which was actually a shameful term.

The worst of the Yifu were called "Lahu". Taizu of the early Ming Dynasty used strict laws and cracked down on "Lahu" so severely that "Lahu" disappeared in the early Ming Dynasty.

After the Zhengtong period, the national affairs became worse and worse. The "Lahu" reappeared and became even more harmful. They engaged in fighting and murder; they ran rampant in the streets and robbed goods; they gambled and cheated; they acted as a head of the gang and controlled taxation.

In addition to the "Lahu", there are also urban hooligans, who were called "Daozi" by the people of the Song Dynasty, "Guanggun" or "Chigun" by the people of the Ming Dynasty.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the urban "bachelors" evolved into "baguns". Ba means group, and when thugs gathered together, they became "baguns".

The worst kind of "Bagun" is the "Daxing", which is mostly composed of thugs who dare to kill people in broad daylight and rob in public.

According to the innkeeper, the gang was originally the local bosses in the Mude area, controlling the ferry and the dock, and the government was powerless. Since the Red Army stationed in Mude, they have been much more restrained, and they don't want to make trouble again today.

Soon, the garrison arrived, led by a battalion deputy. When he saw Danchu, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am sorry for being late in saving you..."

"It doesn't matter. Where is your battalion commander now?"

"The battalion commander has taken his troops to suppress the bandits. I have been ordered to stay behind."

It turned out that there was a mountain called Yaji near Mude, where a group of bandits, numbering about 300, often came down the mountain to harass travelers and rob houses. The Red Army first gave them courtesy and sent people to order them to disband and go down the mountain to become good citizens. The bandits were unwilling and clamored to resist to the end.

"As for the Daxing gang, the camp has always wanted to ban them. Because of the urgency of suppressing bandits, the camp plans to deal with the bandits on Yaji Mountain first, and then send troops to attack this Daxing gang. These shameless thugs dared to offend the king. I will gather the remaining troops and catch them all in one fell swoop."

"Well," Danchu said, "the people don't ask for much, just to have land to farm and not be harassed by bandits. Open robbery is a bad thing. You must eradicate all evil, act as soon as possible, and catch them all in one fell swoop before they get far away. If you don't have enough troops, you might as well mobilize the militia and the people."

"promise."

(End of this chapter)