I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 12: Dog Man

There is a Xiangxi Lane in Gaoli Street, which was originally a gathering place for more than one hundred Xiangxi Tujia people in Beijing.

In the early years of the Hongzhi reign, the female head of this group of Tujia people married a senior official of the Jinyiwei as a concubine. All the members of the tribe also rose to prominence and became lieutenants of the Jinyiwei, and all moved away from here.

Now the entire Xiangxi Lane has been rented by Hu Dayan, the largest dog dealer on Gaoli Street.

Mr. Hong led Lin Shisan and Chen Ju into Xiangxi Lane.

The alley was lined with wooden cages filled with dogs of all shapes and sizes, all with muzzles on their mouths.

The three of them stopped in front of a courtyard in the alley. Four burly men stood in front of the gate.

The four men all had something missing. One was missing his left palm, one was missing an eye, one was missing an ear, and one had a scar on his face that ran from his forehead to his chin.

Lin Shisan said with a smile: "The four great warriors under Hu Dayan are still so majestic."

The four big men ignored Lin Shisan. One of them, One Eye, bowed to Master Hong and said, "Master Hong."

Master Hong asked, "Is your Master Hu here? I have something to talk to him about."

One Eye nodded: "Inside. Please."

The three of them entered the courtyard. There were about twenty people in the courtyard busy. Some were helping the waiters of the dog meat restaurant to pick dogs; some were killing dogs with sticks; some were skinning dead dogs hung upside down on wooden racks.
If you observe carefully, you can find that all the people working in the yard have disabilities.

Hu Dayan's twenty or so men are all disabled veterans who were seriously injured on the battlefield.

Emperor Taizu issued an edict when he founded the country, requiring the court to treat disabled veterans kindly and this would remain unchanged forever.

Only one hundred and ninety years have passed, and things have changed.

If an ordinary military household is injured or disabled, he will be transferred from the war camp to the military garrison.

The generals at all levels in the military garrisons had a hundred ways to make disabled military households suffer from debts that would compound interest.

Eventually, disabled military households would actually become domestic slaves and hired farmhands of military officers at all levels.

Hu Dayan didn't want to see the twenty or so disabled comrades who fought with him against the Tatars become slaves of the military officer, so he led them to Gaoli Street to beg for a living.

These people were born into a bloodthirsty family and had fought many battles. How could the hooligans on the street be their opponents?
In less than five years, Hu Dayan had monopolized the largest business on Gaoli Street - selling meat dogs.

Master Hong shouted towards the main hall: "Master Hu!"

There was an immediate response from the main room: "Old Hong, I'm negotiating a price with someone. I'll be out right away."

Lin Shisan and Chen Ju saw an amazing scene in the yard.

I saw an old man wearing an old sheepskin coat that was too big for his knees. He opened the coat and saw a whole dog tied around his waist like a rope.

The old man untied the dog from his waist and laid it on the ground. The dog lay motionless and looked dead.

A man handed him a string of copper coins: "One hundred coins, not a penny less."

The old man stretched out his hand to take it. But the man pulled back his hand holding the copper coin and said, "We don't accept dead dogs."

The old man seemed insulted: "When have I ever sold a dead dog?"

After saying this, the old man stretched out his right thumb and pressed the dead dog two inches below its neck. Then he slapped it twice.

The "dead dog" immediately stood up from the ground.

The old man picked up a silencing cage, put it on its mouth, and threw it into the dog cage.

The man handed the copper coin to the old man with satisfaction: "It has to be you!"

Lin Shisan, who was standing and watching more than 20 steps away, said to Chen Ju, "Brother Chen, open your eyes. That old man is a dog rider. There are no more than ten proper dog riders in the entire capital."

Chen Ju was confused: "Sit on a dog? What does that mean?"

Hu Dayan hadn't come out yet. Lin Shisan had nothing to do, so he told Chen Ju what a "dog-sitting man" was.

The dog-stealing thief is not just an ordinary petty dog thief, but a big thief with clever dog-stealing skills.

People in Beijing pay attention to eating dog meat and drinking Huadiao wine in autumn and winter. The four or five months from the beginning of autumn to the beginning of spring are the busiest days for dog owners. Dog owners first walk around the streets and alleys of Beijing to check out the places. They look for fat dogs and untied dogs.

Before dawn, the dog rider would put on an old sheepskin coat that was too big to cover his knees and head to the chosen spot.

When they arrive at the place, the dog rider will take out a piece of cooked horse lung and use the smell of the meat to lure the dog out of the house and run to a place where he can easily take action.

At this time, the dog rider would throw the horse lung to the dog. The dog could not resist the temptation and was eating it with relish, while the dog rider quietly approached.

After approaching, the person sitting on the dog will hold the dog's hind legs with his left hand and pinch the dog's neck with his right hand.

In a flash, he would sit hard on the dog's waist. This is "sitting on the dog" - the most important step in the whole process of stealing dogs.

The blood vessels of a dog are all in its waist. The force of the sitting is very important. If you sit too lightly, the dog will not faint and will jump up and bite the person sitting on it.

If you sit too hard, the dog will die. The price of a dead dog is five times that of a live dog.

Only when the force is neither too light nor too heavy, but just right, can the dog feel dizzy but not dead.

When the dog faints, the dog rider will lift up the hem of his old sheepskin coat and tie the dog around his waist like a belt.

When they arrive at the place where the meat dogs are collected, the dog owner uses clever means to wake the dogs up.

After Lin Shisan told Chen Ju all this, Chen Ju sighed: "There are really 360 professions, and every profession has its top talent. I didn't expect that stealing dogs would have such a big deal."

Lin Shisan said, "Yes. Although dog riding is not a glorious thing, it is also a delicate craft."

The white-haired man sitting on the dog took the copper coin and left the courtyard, passing by Lin Shisan.

A lame man in his forties with a crutch walked out of the north main room. This man was Hu Dayan.

As his name suggests, he has a pair of big eyes like gongs.

Hu Dayan limped over. He looked at Master Hong, then at Lin Shisan: "Master Hong, are you helping the kid from the elephant training institute find a dog again?"

Mr. Hong said, "I take money from others and do things for them. I don't like this slick little guy, but I don't hate the money he gives me."

Hu Dayan cursed, "Old Hong, you only helped me find a brother in the Shuntianfu Police Station, but you have been annoying me for two years. You should pay back the principal and interest, right?"

Master Hong smiled and said, "I don't care. You owe me a favor so you should help me. This is the code of conduct in the martial arts world. I know that Master Hu is the most righteous."

"Ah, bah!" Hu Dayan gathered up a mouthful of saliva and spat at Mr. Hong's feet.

Then Hu Dayan turned to look at Lin Shisan and said, "Tell me. What kind of dog are you looking for this time?"

Lin Shisan replied: "A thin dog, black-haired, with short black hair."

Chen Ju added: "There is a copper bell tied around his neck."

Hu Dayan chuckled, "Ye Wulong? The meat on the body is so thin and dry. Even the poor porters who have their buttocks exposed in their pants are not willing to eat it. I never accept it here."

Lin Shisan was greatly disappointed. It seemed that the two taels of silver had been wasted. It was Mr. Hong's rule that if the money was received, it would not be returned if the work was not done.

Lin Shisan was just about to take Chen Ju to say goodbye to Mr. Hong and Hu Dayan.

Hu Dayan suddenly remembered something: "Yesterday evening, someone did come to me to sell a short-haired black ox. I thought the dog was not tasty and would damage the Xiangxi Lane brand if I sold it to a dog meat restaurant, so I told him I would not buy it. He tied the dog and left."

Lin Shisan heard a clue from Hu Dayan's words: "Master Hu, you said that man was 'tying' the dog? Not leading it? That man was sitting on the dog?"

Ordinary dog thieves usually lead their dogs when they come to sell them. Only the dog riders tie their dogs.

Hu Dayan said, "Oh, you have been helping those dog officials, dog nobles, and dog rich people in the capital to find dogs and cats for three years, and you have become quite skilled. You even know the dog man. That's right, the one who sells Ye Wulong is the dog man."

Lin Shisan bowed and said, "May I ask, Master Hu, what is the name of the man sitting on the dog? Where does he live?"

Hu Dayan said, "He was here just now. Hey, he's gone?"

Lin Shisan exclaimed after hearing this: "It seems that the man sitting on the dog just now is the culprit of the stealing mistake. He actually passed by him!"

(End of this chapter)