Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 176

The so-called Luojiao is the predecessor of the Shanghai Bund Youth Gang.To be precise, the Green Gang evolved from the Hangzhou Luojiao Branch.

The so-called "first 24 generations" of the youth gang in later generations were originally the 24 generation characters of the Luojiao, namely "pure morality, literary and Buddhist teachings, benevolence and wisdom, originally from nature, Yuan Ming Xingli, Datong Enlightenment".

However, although the Luojiao and the Qingbang have an inheritance relationship, the early Luojiao was only a loose religious organization.After Luojiao was severely suppressed by the Qing government in the 33rd year of Qianlong, a gang system in the nature of a secret society began to emerge internally.

The old official (also known as the old manager) is the person who is recognized as the oldest, the highest seniority, and the most authoritative person in the gang.Veteran officials have become a symbol of gang power, and the gang leader group organized by veteran officials has become the power organization in the gang—Xiangtang.

Xiangtang formulated gang rules and gang joining ceremonies, and established contact signals within the gang. In case of trouble, he used the names of "red chopsticks" and "liuzi" to quickly call the brigade.If there are sailors causing trouble for no reason, they will be sent to the old officials for punishment.If it is light, it will be punished, and if it is serious, it will immediately sink into the river, which is the so-called "pig cage".

Why did Wang Changsheng take the route of Luo Jiao?It was very clear in his previous report to Zhao Xin and Lu Shoushan.That is the so-called member of the Luojiao Gang, who is actually the largest private salt dealer group in the Qing Dynasty.

It is said that Cao Ding's work is extremely heavy and dangerous, and the duration of each water transportation is more than half a year, but the remuneration is extremely low; their income can only maintain their own lives.In order to make up for the lack of salary, the slotters took advantage of their jobs to engage in some activities of trafficking in private goods.They took advantage of the exemption from inspection of tank ships, or carried their own goods in tank ships, or transported goods for merchants.

Following the example of the law and clear system, the Qing Dynasty also adopted a default attitude towards Caoding's smuggling activities; however, it also imposed certain restrictions on the amount of smuggled goods.In this way, Cao Ding can be encouraged to work hard, and the low wage system can be implemented for a long time through this method, reducing court expenditure.So Cao Ding's smuggling activities intensified.

The private goods sold by water transport are generally the types of goods stipulated by the government, and most of them belong to daily necessities and local specialties along the canal.However, Cao Ding also carried some contraband, such as salt, in order to obtain huge profits.Salt transportation and sales are lucrative, and profits can be several times or even dozens of times.Therefore, even if the Cao Ding risked their beheading, they had to carry private salt in the water boat.In the Qing Dynasty, it was very common for Cao Ding to engage in illicit salt trafficking, and even had contacts with salt lord groups from all over the country, forming a huge illicit salt trafficking network on the Grand Canal.

Wang Changsheng twirled three sticks of incense and respectfully worshiped the statue of Luo Zu.Then he followed Old Guan Liu to the upper cabin and took a seat.The two chatted for a while, and Old Guan Liu also asked about Wang Changsheng's sailing at sea.

The two were talking when they heard someone outside the cabin say: "Brother Wei San is back."

I only heard another man say: "Is Master here?" This man's voice was hoarse, as if he had caught a cold.

Old Guan Liu said: "Wei San, come in."

As soon as the words were finished, the cabin door was pushed open, and a thin man in a bunt came in.Wang Changsheng raised his eyes and saw that this person was about forty years old, wearing a black cotton short robe, legged trousers, and a pair of low-waisted cloth boots.

As soon as the man entered the room, he saw Wang Changsheng, and hurriedly bowed his hands to Old Guan Liu and said, "Master has a guest."

Old Guan Liu pointed at Wang Changsheng with a smile and said to the man: "This is not an outsider. His name is Wang Changsheng, and he is the apprentice of your deceased Master Li." After speaking, he said to Wang Changsheng: "This is my great apprentice Wei San."

Wang Changsheng hurriedly got up to greet Wei San, and called "Senior Brother".

Wei San smiled and said: "This is a family. Changsheng, you can just call me third brother. I always hear the master mentioning the uncle on weekdays, but unfortunately I never have the chance to meet. Now that I can see the successor of the uncle, we two brothers have to be good." chat."

Wang Changsheng said: "This is the first time for my younger brother to visit Martial Uncle Liu. Now that Master is gone, Martial Uncle is just like my Master, and third brother is like my own elder brother. My younger brother is the host today, to show the younger generation's heart."

Old Guan Liu said: "I'm getting old, not to mention I've been a vegetarian for many years. You brothers and sisters, go."

Wang Changsheng was about to persuade him again, but he noticed that Wei San seemed to have something to say to Old Guan Liu, so he agreed, saying that he would wait on the shore first.After almost a meal, Wei San came out of the cabin.Wang Changsheng saw that his face was a little ugly, so it was not easy to ask him for a while.

Wang Changsheng originally wanted to invite Wei San to eat in the city, but Wei San said that he could just find a restaurant nearby.So the two found a restaurant near Lujiabang Bridge.Wang Changsheng asked for a private room, ordered some water, land and river delicacies with the waiter, and ordered two jugs of high-quality rice wine.Because Wei San is a senior brother, he took the chief position.

After some persuasion, three rounds of drinking.Wei San put down his wine glass and couldn't help sighing softly.

When Wang Changsheng saw it, he quickly asked, "Third Brother, what's bothering you? Why don't you tell me, maybe my younger brother can help?"

Wei Sandao: "Everything is fine, everything is fine."

Wang Changsheng said again: "Third brother, since you and I are a family, we have nothing to talk about. If you have any difficulties, why not tell the truth and discuss them together. Your difficulties are my difficulties. If you are not good at being a person, you only care about yourself and don't care brother."

"Changsheng, if you say like this, if I don't tell the truth, I won't be one of my own." Wei San pondered for a while and whispered, "Master disagrees with this matter, and I don't know how to explain it to the brothers below. Changsheng, you have been doing this all these years Running a ship overseas, do you know the difference between Zhongxin'an and Lao'an when I teach?"

Wang Changsheng said: "When Master was still alive, I once heard him say something about it."

It is said that the original Weng, Qian, and Pan clans of Luojiao, after being suppressed by the imperial court in the 33rd year of Qianlong, their respective forces have formed three major factions, and each faction recruits its own disciples.The so-called "everyone who is a sailor must worship one person as his teacher, rank them in the seniority, take care of each other, and divide themselves into members to strengthen themselves."

Under the three sects, they are divided into many small sects.These small sects repel each other and compete for jobs, forming a confrontation situation throughout the canal water system.For example, when the Weng and Qian families were preaching, they had a harmonious relationship, and they were later collectively called Lao'an; the Pan family was called Xin'an.Lao'an and Xin'an have always had great conflicts, often mutually exclusive, and even regard each other as professional competitors.And Wang Changsheng's master and uncle Liu Zhao belonged to the Lao'an faction of the Songjiang Gang.

Wei San nodded and said: "I came back to look for Master today, and it happened that Xin'an from the Suzhou Gang had a dispute with our Songjiang Lao'an. I wanted to ask Master to send a 'liuzi' to summon the gang members to argue with the Suzhou Gang. But Master Disapprove of this."

"Oh? What is the reason for the dispute?" Wang Changsheng asked in a low voice while pouring wine for Wei San.

"It's not worth mentioning. It was a big deal, but it ended up killing people!" Wei San picked up the wine glass, touched Wang Changsheng and drank it down, and then explained the whole story.

It turned out that in the 48th year of Qianlong, when the Suzhou gang passed the Hengji lock in Suqian, they could not pass through the lock due to the heavy bow.The flag Ding on the tank boat moved the peanuts, jujubes and other goods that the sailors had taken privately to the boat of the Songjiang Gang.After passing through the lock, the sailors of the Suzhou Gang went to the Songjiang Gang's ship to ask for the goods.Unexpectedly, in the process of asking for the claim, the two sides had a quarrel for some reason, and then they fought with knives, and both sides suffered casualties.Fortunately, only one member of the Songjiang gang died, and he died only on the fourth day after the incident, so the government did not pay attention to it.

This year, Su Song Liangdao allocated eight newly built grain transport ships.Originally, the boat should belong to the sailors of the Songjiang gang, but the Suzhou gang sent people to seize four of them by force.Su Song Liangdao only sent a secretary to come forward to persuade them to make peace, but did not make effective adjustments.This time the old and new hatreds all gathered together.So the two sides assembled their own people and prepared to fight each other.

After the formation of the power system of various factions in Luojiao, the exclusivity among the factions became very strong.The official corruption of the Qing government could not maintain social order to ensure social justice, but became an important reason for social disorder, judicial injustice and the prevalence of fighting with weapons.The so-called "every murder case, anonymous posting, mob fights, beating police to resist arrest, bribery to seek."

After Wei San finished talking about what happened, Wang Chang slapped the table angrily: "This Suzhou gang is too deceitful!"

"Who says it's not." Wei San sighed. "The brothers in the gang couldn't take it anymore, so I came back and asked Master to send a message. But the old man said that Lao An and Xin'an were originally a family, so why bother to fight and kill to attract the attention of the government."

The purpose of Wang Changsheng's original invitation to dinner with Wei San was just to get on the other side's line, in the name of opening up the private salt trade, to open up the gates of the guards at the locks from Shandong to Jiangsu.

Seeing that Wei San was in trouble now, his heart skipped a beat, thinking maybe this might be an opportunity.So he didn't mention the matter of private salt anymore, and said directly to Wei San: "Third Brother, how many people are you still short of with the Suzhou Gang?"

"What?" Wei San asked hesitantly.

"Little brother, although I have been sailing overseas for many years, I also know a few good players in Chongming. If the third brother needs it, I will go back to Chongming to attract people."

"Changsheng, what an embarrassment." Wei San said with some emotion. "It's fine if it's brother Lao An. You haven't participated in the affairs of the gang for many years, why bother to go through this muddy water."

"Third brother, what you said is out of the question. Uncle Liu and my master are brothers who exchange posts, and third brother is my senior brother. How can I not be considered an old Anzhong person? Besides, my brother in Chongming is capable of this." Wang Changsheng Thumbs up, and continued: "We will run away after the fight, and we will go there for at least half a year after we get on the ship. Even if the government wants to find it, hehe, let him find it slowly."

After hearing this, Wei San thought for a long time before saying, "Changsheng, third brother, to tell you the truth, if this kind of thing goes wrong, people will die."

In the fifth year of Yongzheng in history, it was precisely because of the large-scale bloody fighting between sailors in Jiangsu and Zhejiang that Luojiao emerged from the folk and began to be noticed by the government.

Wang Changsheng smiled and said to Wei San: "Third brother, you underestimate me too. Brother, let me put it bluntly, my brothers in Chongming were also killed at sea."

Wei San was taken aback, he also heard that those ships that go overseas often become pirates as soon as they reach the open sea.Thinking of this, he asked in a low voice: "Changsheng, tell me, how many people are there?"

Wang Changsheng had already calculated in his mind that the people on Lu Shou Mountain could not be moved, and there would be eight people on the side of himself and Xu Dayong.So he said: "There are always seven or eight people."

Wei San did some calculations, there are about 30 people in the Suzhou gang, and there are more than [-] brothers under him. Counting Wang Changsheng, he can call a dozen more people to match (you can bully people.) Immediately slapped his thigh and said: "Do it!"

Wang Changsheng and Wei San made an appointment to go back to find helpers, and after setting a date to meet, they ate hastily and went back to their respective homes.He didn't go directly to Xingrenli to find Xu Dayong, but planned to talk about Wei San when they met at night.

Let's talk about Xu Dayong's side. In the morning, he took two of his men and rented a warehouse in the Hengjie area of ​​the Nanhuiguan, planning to transfer the private salt stored in Huang Shengtai's warehouse to the warehouse at night as planned.After finishing his work, he found a tea shop on Xiaodongmen Street. While drinking tea, he listened to the chatter of the guests around him, trying to get some news from the conversations in the market.

In the evening, Xu Dayong went alone to a restaurant on Xinmatou Street, which was the meeting place he had agreed with Wang Changsheng in advance.As soon as he entered the door, he found that Wang Changsheng was already sitting at a table in the corner.

Xu Dayong made a look of surprise, walked to Wang Changsheng's table, cupped his hands and said, "Hey, isn't this Brother Changsheng, why are you here?"

"Brother Xu, long time no see, what a coincidence."

Like old friends they met by chance, the two chatted with each other for a few words and then sat down together.After other people no longer noticed their place, the two began to drink and talk in a low voice.

After about half an hour, Xu Dayong stood up and said goodbye.Afterwards, I went to Dadongmen Street in a calm manner, and after pretending to wander around a few shops, I headed towards Xingrenli Inn.

After he saw Lu Shoushan and reported the situation at Wang Changsheng's side, Lu Shoushan thought for a while and said, "After two days, you can check out with someone and go to Nancang Street to find an inn to stay in. If it is really according to As Wang Changsheng said, after helping Wei San fight this time, the Songjiang Gang's situation might open up."

Xu Dayong said: "Brother Lu, how do you arrange here?"

Lu Shoushan said: "You finish the shipment at night, and don't worry about other things. Just keep in touch with Wang Changsheng. I have already found the book office introduced by Boss Huang during the day, and he promised to help with registration. After finishing, I will set off for the north. As for the eight of you, after the Songjiang gang's work is done, you can avoid the limelight for the time being and handle all the household registration documents."

Xu Dayong said: "The matter of household registration is easy. I know a catcher in the Chongming county government, and I can help with it if I give him ten taels of silver."

The county government secretary office introduced by Lao Huang to Lu Shoushan still entrusted the relationship with the Zhu family of the Shachuan Gang.Now the Zhu family is also a big customer of cigarettes. They have approved cigarettes from Lao Huang and sold them to northern Jiangsu, Shandong, and Jinzhou.

Lu Shoushan said: "The line of the Songjiang Gang is very important. It is up to you whether the victims can go to sea."

Xu Dayong hesitated for a moment, and asked hesitantly: "Brother Lu, my boss said that there will be a nationwide drought next year. I think it's too weird?"

Lu Shoushan glared, and reprimanded: "You can question the words of the boss?! How long have you been with me! If you dare to talk nonsense to your subordinates, be careful of your head!"

Xu Dayong was taken aback, and quickly said: "Never again, never again."

In fact, Lu Shoushan also doubted Zhao Xin's judgment in his heart, how could there be a catastrophe if everything was going well.However, his knowledge and experience over the past year told him that his master was definitely not a mortal; so Lu Shoushan could only keep his doubts in his heart.

Three days later, Wei San met Xu Dayong and others in the inn on Nancang Street.At first sight, it was indeed as Wang Changsheng said, all of them were strong and strong, and they were not comparable to ordinary water transport sailors.Especially Xu Dayong, because this guy has been training in the barracks longer than Wang Changsheng and the others, so his demeanor already has some soldierly air, Wei San was secretly surprised.

Because it was the helper Wang Changsheng found, Wei San agreed with Xu Dayong that each person would pay two taels of silver for this fight, half of which would be paid first, and the other half would be paid after the fight.If there are casualties, the pension will be given another two taels.

Xu Dayong didn't bargain with him, he just said that it doesn't matter if it's money or not, and Wang Changsheng and him have a lifelong friendship.Since he has found me, my brothers and I must help, and if something happens, we will each have our own destiny.

Wei San was also very happy to see that he was a happy man.So they told Wang Changsheng that everyone would set off from the Xiaodongmen Wharf as soon as Xu Shi arrived this night, take a boat to Suzhou, and leave after the fight.As for weapons such as knives and sticks, they will be distributed to everyone in Suzhou.

That night, Wang Changsheng and Xu Dayong and their party of eight boarded a large driving rope and headed north.

(End of this chapter)