Qing Yao

Chapter 28 The Qing Gang Can Also Produce an Emperor

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Zhao An really wanted to curse.

What he hated most in his life was this kind of urinal organization. Today he had no choice but to borrow a urinal, but in the end he not only didn't get the urinal, but he ended up becoming the urinal. What a crap!
He almost wanted to stand up and walk away, but his butt seemed to be stuck to the bench and he couldn't lift it up.

The situation is stronger than the person.

If he can’t use the Green Gang members to do his work, where can he find people to work for him?

The matter was assigned by the county magistrate himself. As the executor, Zhao An had only one choice, which was to roll up his sleeves and work hard, overcoming all difficulties.

There is no other way, unless he sets up shop now and goes back to his hometown of Xinghua to be a fisherman for the rest of his life.

Someone wanted to borrow it, but he didn't want to be a urinal, so he could only look embarrassed and euphemistically say that he was working for the county, so it would be inappropriate for him to join a gang.

After all, he is a "leader" now.

Sun Rui was unhappy to hear this and snorted slightly: "Boy, why do I think you don't like our Qing Gang?"

"Fourth Master, you're joking. That's not what I meant. I just, that's what I meant."

Just what?
Zhao An himself was speechless.

Sun Rui crossed his legs and said unhappily, "Don't look down on our Qing Gang, kid. Let me tell you, our Qing Gang was founded by the Governor-General back then. We've done a lot for the imperial court. Even now, the government relies on our Qing Gang for a lot of things. I only introduced you to the gang because I think you're a good person. Don't be ungrateful."

"Lord Governor?"

Zhao An was confused: There is a gang with the Governor as its leader?

In fact, the gang leader is not that bad, but it’s almost there.

The governor that Sun Rui mentioned was Li Wei, a famous figure in the Yongzheng Dynasty. When he was serving as the governor of Zhejiang, the grain transport was already very developed. The grain transport gang that made a living from the grain transport was not only very large in scale, but also had developed an internal militarized management system.

Logically, such a civil organization would have been cracked down by the Qing court, but after listening to Li Wei's report, Yongzheng ordered Li Wei to legally incorporate the Qing Gang and reform it, making it an important tool for the Qing court to rule Jiangnan.

Li Wei not only used the Qing Gang to control the people, spy on and pass on various official information, but also used the Qing Gang to crack down on underground anti-Qing organizations and the big and small salt smugglers who were rampant in the Lianghuai area.

As a result, during the Yongzheng period, the status of the Qing Gang was comparable to that of the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau during the Kangxi period.

But the Qing Gang’s success and failure were both due to Li Wei.

During his southern tour, Emperor Qianlong saw statues of Li Wei and his wives and concubines in the West Lake Flower God Temple, known as the "Lake and Mountain Gods." Furious, he issued an edict, stating, "Li Wei, relying on the Emperor's favor, has become willful and arrogant. He was never a loyal and honest minister. It is highly absurd to have a temple erected in his name!"

He ordered the statue to be removed and burned on the spot.

This burning also burned the political "legacy" that Li Wei left to the Qing Gang. In addition, Emperor Qianlong was particularly concerned about folk associations, so the influence of the Qing Gang on officialdom has declined a lot in the past few decades. If the canal transportation was not the economic artery of the Qing court, and the Cao Gang organization was indeed needed to manage millions of canal workers, it would have been eradicated by Emperor Qianlong long ago.

Li Wei himself was the reformer and supporter of the Qing Gang. Under his influence, many officials naturally had close contacts with the Qing Gang, and some even joined the gang secretly.

So even though the Qing Gang's influence is not as great as before, it is still very popular in its base in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. So Zhao An's rejection of the Qing Gang must have made Sun Rui, a member of the Qing Gang, unhappy.

The multiple-choice question was once again placed in front of Zhao An: will you be a urinal or not?

If not, not only will the work be unable to proceed, but it will also offend Sun Lao Si, and may even offend the entire Qing Gang.

These local tyrants may not be able to accomplish anything, but they are more than capable of doing harm.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhao An could only reluctantly tick the option.

He has to use this urinal whether he wants to or not.

Then I thought, if Governor Li Wei can be used as a urinal, I am nothing.

Seeing Zhao An agreed to join the Qing Gang, Sun Rui's face finally smiled again: "Okay, since you are willing to join my Qing Gang, then I will take you to see my uncle now. After that, I will tell my uncle to lend you some hands."

"Uncle" is the name used by the Green Gang to refer to the older generation. Zhao An is quite familiar with this name because the term "Uncle" was popular in Shanghai in his previous life.

But now I understand that "Uncle" is a special term for gangsters, all of whom are old gangsters.

Although Sun Laosi forced him to join a gang, he was a nice guy. Knowing that he was in urgent need of people, he couldn't wait to bring him into the gang. Zhao An had to appreciate this kindness.

On the way to meet "Uncle", Sun Rui revealed some simple information about the Qing Gang to the newcomer Zhao An.

According to Sun Rui, the Qing Gang is now divided into two factions. One is the main gang, which is composed of people from Wenzhou and Taizhou in Zhejiang Province, and its main activity location is Jiangnan.

The second is the Hakka Gang, which is composed of people from northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, and their activities are located in the Jianghuai area. The tangkou docks further north are mostly subsidiary gangs, which only have ties with the main gangs and the Hakka Gangs, but no hierarchical relationship.

It is equivalent to a passenger dedicated line, with people in the south of the Yangtze River responsible for the south section and people in the north of the Yangtze River responsible for the north section.

Sun Rui didn't say anything about other situations. Maybe after Zhao An officially joins the gang, there will be someone to teach him, or he may be given a booklet to study on his own.

The "uncle" that Sun Rui took Zhao An to meet was Zhang Baofa, the leader of the Green Gang at Yangzhou Xiaguan Wharf. According to the organizational structure of the Green Gang, Zhang Baofa was a middle-level backbone member similar to the prefect level.

I originally thought that an organization as large as the Qing Gang must have a special incense hall for office work, and that the "uncle" must have a grand ceremony, and who knows how many rules there must be.

Zhao An didn't expect that he met Zhang Baofa in a house for boat workers to rest near the dock. This old gangster of "uncle" level looked very immortal, and his skin was not just white, but extremely white.

When I got closer and took a closer look, I found out that he was a severe vitiligo patient.

"Disciple Xinghua Zhao An kowtows to my uncle!"

Following Sun Rui's previous instructions, Zhao An respectfully stepped forward and kowtowed three times to Zhang Baoyi, then presented the visiting card.

The visiting card is equivalent to a letter of introduction. In addition to Zhao An's hometown, name, age, family background, it also contains his occupation.

"Uncle,"

Sun Rui briefly explained Zhao An's personal situation. Zhang Baofa didn't think much of it at first, but when he heard Sun Rui say that Zhao An was highly regarded by the county magistrate and was now in charge of the newly established certification department in the county, he couldn't help but look at Zhao An twice more. Then he nodded slightly, reached out to take Zhao An's visiting card, and handed it to a gang member behind him who looked like a civilian staff member of the Qing Gang.

At the same time, another gang member took out a red envelope and walked up to Zhao An. Zhao An thought it was a red envelope given by the master to the new apprentice, and he was happy for a moment, but he didn't expect that the other party wanted him to put money into the red envelope.

How much to stuff?
Sun Rui didn't tell him, it all depends on his personal opinion.

Helplessly, I had to take out the one or two taels of money I received last month and stuff it in.

Fortunately, Zhang Baofa didn't think it was too little. He smiled and nodded, "Since I have accepted your invitation, from now on you are my disciple, Zhang Baofa. After that, I will visit you for three years. After that, you, the disciple, will visit me for another three years. If you truly want to join the Qing Gang during these six years, I will formally report to the Ministry of Revenue to request your name."

Hube?

Zhao An was stunned when he heard this. Sun Rui, who was standing next to him, explained to him that this Ministry of Revenue was not the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court, but an internal organization of the Qing Gang.

It is equivalent to the personnel management department of the Qing Gang. For any invitation to join the family or for personnel to be promoted, all masters must write to the Ministry of Revenue, which will list the personnel in detail in the Qing Book. Finally, the annual summary will be submitted to the Ministry of Personnel for transcription into the gang genealogy.

This rule was also improved by Li Wei for the Qing Gang.

This means that Zhao An can only officially join the gang after six years, and he is currently a nominal disciple on probation.

"You brought him in, so you'll have to keep an eye on him from now on. You'll also be the one teaching him the rules of the gang. I need to cross the river now. When I come back, you'll bring him to the incense hall to see me."

Zhang Baofa was waiting for the boat to cross the river at the dock. After giving Sun Rui a few instructions, he led a few gang members away.

After everyone left, Sun Rui called a gang member at the dock and whispered a few words to him. The gang member hurried over to the gang's store at the dock and got something that looked like a family tree.

Sun Rui took it and smiled at the curious Zhao An, saying, "This is the gang's rules and generation tree. I won't elaborate on the gang rules. In short, you can't bully your master or destroy your ancestors, and you can't disrespect your elders. Also, my master and uncle are of the Lun generation, and you and I are of the Zhi generation. From now on, no matter where you are, as long as you meet a gang disciple, you must first announce your generation. The one with the older generation is respected. Do you understand?"

"I know, Fourth Master!"

Zhao An nodded mechanically like a wooden man.

Sun Rui smiled and corrected him, "You and I are both from the Zhi generation. From now on, don't call me Fourth Master. Just call me Senior Brother."

"Hey, senior brother."

Zhao An nodded again and glanced at the genealogy that Sun Rui had opened. He found that the last four generations were "Da, Tong, Wu, and Jue".

The entire process of becoming a disciple and joining the gang was similar to a buffet, with no sense of ceremony at all, except for receiving a visiting card and a red envelope of one or two taels from Zhao An.

It may be because he is a disciple.

Zhao An lost his virginity to a gang without knowing why, and he felt so bad. He obviously hated being a urinal, but he had to be one anyway. He really had no choice when he was in the underworld.

What can we do now that things have come to this?
Just take one step at a time.

He didn't know if this gang-related identity would affect his official career. He was not like Li Wei, who was favored by Emperor Yongzheng. When he shook his head secretly, a person popped up in his mind: "Huh? Yeah, who said that the Qing Gang only produced those three tycoons? The Qing Gang also produced emperors!"

At worst, I can ask this old man to return the post in the future.

(End of this chapter)