The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 54: The Fateful end of the South City Gang

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 54: The Fateful end of the South City Gang

After the missing child case, the South City Gang was uprooted, not to mention Deng Xiucai and Third Bosses. The South City Gang is now in the hands of the Northern Administrative Court Division. In the Western Depot and the Northern Administrative Court conducted a case of force raids, a common pawn was never let go, all were arrested and interrogated and their support was falling apart.


The storm has also caused a lot of havoc, and all the triads in the capital have been reshuffled. Even Boss Lai and the Six Fingers Gang leader Li were given the forceful "Please" let’s go for questioning, for a while everyone had to behave with their tails between their legs, fearing that they might get involved with the South City Gang.

Whoever doesn't have a few lives and cases in their hands, no matter how arrogant these gangs are, they are no match for the government when it has a full intention to deal with them.

After this sweep of raids, the capital immediately seemed a lot cleaner. People who had just come to the capital from abroad thought that the security in the capital had always been so good, and was still sighing that the "Son of Heaven (the Emperor) was still in power. It really is remarkable what one Emperor can do with his feet,"

On the other hand, Tang Fan and the others got a lot of news about the White Lotus Sect from Deng Xiucai.

The history of the White Lotus goes back to the Northern Song Dynasty, but by the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the world was in chaos and heroes were emerging. When it flourished, the titular leader at the time was Emperor Chen Youliang the self-appointed Emperor of the Great Han, who fought alongside the great ancestor of this Ming dynasty (Taizu Emperor). [1] A Taizu Emperor is a founding Emperor so when each dynasty is created or overthrow the past dynasty the first emperor of the new dynasty will be titled Taizu Emperor, Tai mean Great and Zu means Ancestor

After the death of Chen Youliang and the annexation by Emperor Taizu, the Emperor's intention was to take over the country, so he was disgusted with the White Lotus Society, a group of people who didn't follow the rules very well and refused to accept their surrender, but destroyed them mercilessly.

But of course, they didn't disappear, because the White Lotus Society didn't dare to rebel during the reign of Hongwu, when Yongle Emperor and his nephew were fighting for the throne, the White Lotus Society came out to support Jianwen Emperor. They thought that the young and weak Jianwen Emperor was better controlled than his powerful and smart uncle.

The nephew was defeated, the uncle became emperor, and White Lotus was forced to sink into the shadow once again.

The White Lotus Sect, which was lurking in the shadows, didn't stop, but continued to quietly develop its power, waiting for the right time, and after that. With the Yongle Emperor’s help, the country entered a period of steady development, politics was still clear, and the people were better off. It's as if they've disappeared from sight. Younger people probably haven't heard of the White Lotus Sect.

During the reign of the Yongle Emperor, the emperor himself, encouraged by his eunuchs, decided to take part in the expedition. Later on, it was proved that Wang Zhen, who encouraged the emperor, had links with the White Lotus Sect. The Oirats attempted to take advantage of the lack of leadership in the Ming Dynasty to capture the capital and annex half of the country.

After that, there were many twists and turns in the world.

In short, once the situation settles down and there's no opportunity to take advantage of it, White Lotus will disappear from the face of the earth, without a trace. They'll come out of nowhere and stir things up again at the first sign of trouble.

The imperial court was having a hard time with this, but the various factions had been fighting each other for years, and the emperor himself was not interested in politics. How can they spare the energy to deal with such a large and well-organized cult when the emperor is just letting sycophants and mediocrities hang around in the imperial court?

The Emperor was shocked and enraged when the demon Taoist Li Zilong was killed. The Jinyiwei and the Western and Eastern Depots pooled resources on this out together, to intensify the crackdown, scouring. They were searching for the White Lotus Sect's evil spirits, but the country's so big, the evil spirits are still out there. It's hard to find out if the bad men are hiding among the people.

Like this time, if Tang Fan hadn't heard the Ninth Madam's admission, he wouldn't have thought that this Wan Tong, the brother who bought The Noble Consort Wan, was just likely a head snake in the capital, the South City Gang is the most powerful gang in the city, but they're still in cahoots with the White Lotus Sect.

The South City Gang has been fostered by the White Lotus Sect all along. They're no different from any other gangster in the capital, Most of the profits earned need to be turned over to the Sect.

But Deng Xiucai was an ambitious man, and as time went by, he became dissatisfied, wondering why I was doing all the hard work but not the good work and you're all in charge of my profit? He was trying to get to the imperial court good book and break away from White Lotus by climbing up to Wan Tong.

On the one hand, he hasn't completely broken up with White Lotus, so he's still paying what he has to, but he's just using the excuse that business is bad and it's decreasing year by year. On the one hand, he has good relations with Wan Tong, and even gives half of the profits of the business to Wan Tong.

But the Sect side got less money, naturally will send someone down to investigate, so the Ninth Madam came, did not expect that this time just Deng Xiucai's He kidnapped two people he shouldn't have, but the situation got so bad that even Wan Tong couldn't protect him. So he had to go to a deserted village and take shelter for a while.

As the Ninth Madam and Deng Xiucai have been at odds for a long time, she used Tang Fan to fight with Deng Xiucai. Instead, she risked her own life.

That's how it goes.




But that's not all that Tang Fan and the others want to know.

They were more interested in knowing what was going on in the White Lotus Sect, including where the so-called Sect inner working was, how many followers there were, where they were located, what they had recently been doing, and what they were doing or if they were planning some kind of conspiracy, etc.

It's a pity that Deng Xiucai doesn't know any of these facts.

Although he controls the entire South City Gang, he's still an outsider of the White Lotus Sect and is not qualified to participate in the sect's important affairs.

Under the Western Depot's tactics, he has no choice but to confess. He says he only knows of one person in the White Lotus Sect who is the Ninth Madam. The Great Dragon Head, the head of the sect, is very mysterious. Even someone like the Ninth Madam from the Sect has never seen him before, let alone Deng Xiucai. The true nature of the leader, apart from the main sect hiding, the White Lotus Sect is spread all over the country, which means that it has branches in various places.

Since the capital is the imperial city, and the Jinyiwei and the Eastern and Western Depots are here, White Lotus doesn't dare to make too much noise. Setting up a branch by fostering peripheral forces like the South Side Gang.

The South City Gang has to pay taxes to the head of the sect on a regular basis every year, at irregular times. In the first two years, it was a sect envoy named the Monk Zhu, and this year it was the Ninth Madam. White Lotus tokens and slogans are used for contact.

The token is the one Deng Xiucai took from the Ninth Madam. It's the most valuable. It can command the White Lotus Sect members in public, but... If you just have a token and can't match the secret code, then it's useless to have a token, people will definitely know you are an impostor.

The secret code is also very mysterious, the White Lotus Sect has its own set of corresponding code, naturally, Deng Xiucai explained everything, but he also said that for the sake of preventing traitors, the code will be changed periodically, and every time an emissary from the Sect comes, the code for the next time will be taught to him, not a single code that will be used forever.

This is why White Lotus has escaped detection and oppression by the government and has been passed down from generation to generation.

That's all Deng Xiucai could tell us.

The one who knows more is the Ninth Madam, but she and two of her men have been killed by Deng Xiucai.

Although Wang Zhi and the others were unable to eliminate the White Lotus Sect, they were able to remove the South City Gang which acted as a nail in the coffin in the capital city for the sect. The first thing that Tang Fan thinks is that the South City Gang will not only bribe Wan Tong, but also sell children to be eunuchs in the palace. There may be other ways in the palace, he suggested to Wang Zhi to investigate.

Of course, the offer was turned down by Wang Zhi.

Wang Zhi's reason for refusing was very simple: he had come back from an errand in the first place, but now that his errand was over, he naturally had to hurry back to the Hetao Plains, no time to fool around.

And he told Tang Fan that the palace had been thoroughly searched after the murder of Li Zilong, not to mention the White Lotus brand. Those with a few scars were singled out and sent to the Eastern and Western Depots for interrogation. After that, all the spies associated with the White Lotus Sect were singled out and sent to the Eastern and Western Depots for interrogation. The ones that are caught out, and the others that are fine will be checked regularly, and they won't have any White Lotus brand left on them at all.

In other words, the White Lotus brand is real, but it's only for middle and lower class people such as the messenger of the Ninth Madam, who has none on her body at all. She was probably just trying to scare Tang Fan, test his feelings. It's not a way to screen the sect disciples.

And at the end he solemnly warned Tang Fan: Don't look for trouble!

This last sentence has a profound meaning, and with Tang Fan's intelligence, it's not hard to hear the meaning.

Wang Zhi is reluctant to meddle, the reason is actually very easy to understand: Although he has great power, most of the power is concentrated outside the palace, and cannot reach the palace inside. Not only him, but also Shang Ming from the Eastern Depot. There are only two people in the palace who can talk to him now, Eunuch Huai En and Eunuch Liang Fang.

Among the 12 prisons in the inner palace, the Sireijian and the Yumajian had the most power, and each department also had Huai En and Liang Fang as the top eunuchs

Every place is about seniority. Huai En and Liang Fang are the two current bosses of the Sireijian and the Yumajian respectively. These two upstarts, they're just second fiddle to each other.

The bosses of both departments were highly relied upon by the emperor, especially Liang Fang, who had taken the route of the Noble Consort Wan, who was even more successful, he had many friends and was very powerful in the palace, and Wang Zhi did not dare to provoke him easily.

The collusion between the South City Gang and the Inner Palace may not be directly related to Liang Fang, but it can't be hidden from Liang Fang's eyes and ears. He has always been a filial son to Liang Fang, and if he looks into this, it's inevitable that Liang Fang will be involved.

Wang Zhi and Liang Fang are both in the same business, they don't see eye to eye, but the latter is still a senior, of course Wang Zhi doesn't want to offend Liang Fang, let alone the emperor, after learning that Wan Tong had taken bribes from the South City Gang, he looked at the Noble Consort Wan in the face. But he didn't do anything to save his face, but he invited Yuan Bin to sit on the Jinyiwei, so he gave him a chance to take away his authority as little warning.

Wan Tong was so depressed, of course he didn't dare to do anything to the emperor, but that didn't stop him from taking his anger out on Wang Zhi.

Although Wang Zhi is also the Noble Consort Wan's man, but he's the Noble Consort Wan's younger brother, so how can an eunuch compare to a younger brother?

Wang Zhi was naturally called by the Noble Consort Wan and was given a good lecture.




So Wang Zhi is also very depressed, even if he won praise from the emperor, but turned around and got scolded ate in front of the consort, of course, he does not want to offend Liang Fang again, after warning Tang Fan, he went to the Hetao Plains the next day to make a career out of it.

Without the support of the Western Depot, Tang Fan couldn't go after the court by himself, but fortunately, A-Dong and the children were all safe, the culprits are all caught, especially Deng Xiucai and the Third Boss of the South City Gang, as well as the gang leader Ding, who is used as a puppet by Deng Xiucai. All of them were sentenced to death and the rest to banishment.

In the Great Ming Law, trafficking in human beings is called the "abduction of human beings", and abducting a virtuous person is an even more serious crime than abducting a slave. All were caned a hundred, exiled three thousand miles.

However, Deng Xiucai and the others are in cahoots with the White Lotus Sect, so they can't be equated with ordinary trafficking, and the dynasties have been the most severely convicted of people on treason-related charges.

Originally, Deng Xiucai was going to be beheaded, but since he confessed and was lenient, he was allowed to take the poison himself first, he committed suicide without pain, and then they chopped off his head afterward - his feeling on that was so painful that Deng Xiucai was unwilling to have his head cut off. So to make his death more comfortable he spilled out everything he knew.

I wonder how many other children fell into their hands before A-Dong and the others. They have been involved in a lot of things, and their hands have been stained with a lot of innocent blood, so the death of these people is not innocent at all.

The work we had done for most of the night was not in vain, and things finally came to an end, barely to a successful conclusion.

In this incident, apart from those injured in the fight with the South City Gang, the most seriously injured was Tang Fan.

He had been hit on the head earlier, but it was later confirmed that he was indeed bleeding, and his hands were tied up and bleeding in the cellar, and he was pushed down by the Xin stone. Once, his hands were tied, he couldn't move, his knees were bruised and bleeding right away, his neck was cut by a piece of porcelain, and so on.

Although his wounds are not serious, his whole body is covered with bruises, but fortunately he was injured in the line of duty, so Tang Da-ren is at peace with himself. I took half a month off to celebrate Sui Zhou's success.

Yes, Sui Zhou has been promoted again.

But this one was purely accidental.

He had already been promoted to Deputy Commander Qianhu after his last trip to Jiangxi for the Huang Jinglong case, so it's unlikely that he'll be promoted again anytime soon. However, because of the missing child case, the emperor was dissatisfied with Wan Tong's collaboration with the bandits, so he invited Yuan Bin back to the Jinyiwei.

Who is this Yuan Bin? - He was instrumental in saving the emperor’s life, and he saved the late Emperor.

During the Tumu Fort Crisis, Yuan Bin accompanied the Yongle Emperor to protect him and even followed him into captivity, taking good care of him. Yuan Bin's love and affection for the late emperor was not common, and later he helped the late emperor to restore the country.

Because of this, after the emperor ascended the throne, Yuan Bin was treated with great kindness and courtesy, but he was getting old, so he was no longer in charge of security. The emperor wanted to teach Wan Tong a lesson, so he invited Yuan Bin out of the mountain he was spending his last years.

Yuan Bin's seniority and prestige are such that even His Majesty has to pay respects to him, and that's something that even a cheap brother relative of a concubine like Wan Tong can't catch up with.

These years, because of Wan Tong, the Jinyiwei is in a mess because of him, and the villains are running rampant.

Those who flatter Wan Tong will become Wan Tong's guests, and those who have a problem with him, he will use his authority as a Jinyiwei to staple them! Sui Zhou said that Wan Tong used the Jinyiwei to suppress the undesirables and the families of those officials had ended up with a broken family because of the impeachment of the Noble Consort Wan siblings.

Now that Yuan Bin is here, the atmosphere has changed.

Although Yuan Bin is old, he is old and strong, but his style of running things is strong and tough. Wan Tong hates him so much that he can't do anything about it, but he can't complain to the emperor either. The Emperor sent him to fix the Jinyiwei.

In this way, when everyone saw Wan Tong, they dared not say a word. They behaved themselves with their tail between their legs, lest they be damned.

These matters are not directly related to Sui Zhou, but due to his strong brand and ability, he quickly removed the deputy in his official title. The word, become a real Commander Qianhu.

Commander Qianhu rank is in the Regular Fifth Rank position, but, don't look at bad grades, or military officers, but the power of the Jinyiwei Commander Qianhu is already not small, the Southern and Northern Administrative Court has five wards, and a Commander Qianhu is in charge of one of them..

What's more, since Yuan Bin who was the head of the Jinyiwei (the Southern and Northern Administrative Court) and he had just taken down the head of the Northern Administrative Court Wan Tong from the position due to his bribery, it means it was left vacant, so Yuan Bin asked Sui Zhou to take over for the time being. This is because he was not directly promoted, but was appointed as a part-time post for fear that he might not be able to explain it to the public. The way to get him to work on the position was to temporarily have him take over the Northern Town.

A temporary general is a different kind of general, and there's something to be said for that, too, he can be kicked out of that position at any time, there are many people who want that position, which indirectly encourages Sui Zhou to work hard.

So Sui Zhou is now a Fourth Ranked official with the salary of a Fifth Ranked official, and everyone is jealous of his rapid promotion, But what Sui Zhou is facing is the same unprecedented pressure, how to calm people's hearts, how to convince the public, how to make those people below follow his orders so, in reality, everything is a problem.

In any case, it was a matter of celebration, and to celebrate Sui Zhou, Tang Fan and Xue Ling and a group of Sui Zhou's old subordinates ordered a table outside - not at the restaurant, it's too expensive. Anyway, we're all friends here, and there's plenty of food in the capital, so they don't have to choose to have celebrations at the restaurant.

Tang Fan chose a long-established restaurant called Yangke's Lamb, where the lamb dish is the most famous. A few of his colleagues from Shuntian Prefecture, as well as Sui Zhou, Xue Ling and other Jinyiweis, all sat down together at a table for a lamb shish kebab.

Four pots on the table, four large plates of tender lamb on the side, vegetables, mushrooms, vermicelli and other side dishes, garlic, soy sauce, etc. The food is the same as the food you eat in the same atmosphere.

This time not only Sui Zhou, but also Xue Ling and others, thanks to Yuan Bin's blessing, have been promoted to a higher level, so naturally, everyone is happy.

On the other hand, Tang Fan solved two big cases in a row, the first one cleared The Noble Consort Wan's name and the second one recovered a kidnapped official's family. He fought with the South City Gang in the bandit's cave and risked his life, but his superiors didn't even reward him. Tang Fan himself is fine, but his friends can't help but feel sorry for him.

When Xue Ling got up from his seat and came over, he patted Tang Fan's shoulder and said comfortingly, "Runqing, I don't think you look like if you are unlucky, you will definitely be promoted to a big official in the future, so don't be discouraged now!”

"Yeah! " and so did Pang Qi, "You just haven't had your time, don't be discouraged.”




He and Xue Ling, who are still working under Sui Zhou, have been promoted to Baihu Generals, and they are not the only ones who have had good luck. Most of the old subordinates in Sui Zhou have been promoted so that everyone knows that they will have meat to eat with the boss. Naturally the more loyal they are.

Sui Zhou saw that Xue Ling drank too much wine, the whole person swaying half leaning on Tang Fan, can't help but reach out to pull him away some, lightly scolded him: " Stand or don't stand!”

This is not in business, and everyone has been drinking, so Xue Ling is not so afraid of him, but instead laughingly joked: "Big Brother is so caring to Runqing, that he can't even compare to us, the men who work behind him!”

Everyone said, "Yeah," "Yeah," and agreed.

Sui Zhou said, "Anyway, I still have a vacant apartment there, how about you move in with me and I'll be nice to you every day?”

Xue Ling immediately laughed and stopped talking.

Are you kidding? Although he's not married yet, he has concubines at home, and he's always hanging out at Qin's restaurant. If you let him stare at the cold glare of his boss all day every day it is probably worse than killing him.

Tang Fan laughed, "Everyone else wants to get promoted, but I'm not happy.”

Xue Ling yelled, "That sounds like a mouthful, but who wouldn't be happy to be promoted!”

"Yeah!” everyone rallies.

Tang Fan was grief-stricken: "Just think, I'm only in the Sixth Rank now, I'm going into a bandit's den, getting beaten and almost dying. If I go up, you won't be able to compete with the White Lotus Leader, or you won't be able to sit and drink with me next year!”

This explanation of his is also funny, the crowd laughed, and those who originally wanted to comfort him, see that he is so open-minded, also shut up.

After a feast, everyone goes home, finds their own mother, and goes about their business.

On the way home, Sui Zhou saw Tang Fan's depressed brow, and thought that he must still be upset even though he spoke freely in front of outsiders. He said: "Misfortune depends on good and bad things.”

Tang Fan: "I'm not worried about that."

Sui Zhou was puzzled: "What's that about?”

Tang Da-ren was embarrassed, "It's not even the middle of the month yet, and my salary is running out.”

So that's what this is about. Sui Zhou is a bit speechless, cold face draws:" Where has the money gone? A few hundred words?”

Tang Fan said helplessly: "Yesterday, Pan Da-ren asked me to go out, the two of u had a meal outside, but who knew it was almost time to pay the I had to give my money to him first, but when we came back, he wanted to give me the money I gave him, so how could I take his money?”

Sui Zhou: "You guys aren't going to eat at the Xianke Restaurant are you?”

Tang Fan: "That's not so bad. Not far from the courthouse in Shuntian Prefecture, I had fish dumplings and cabbage and pork dumplings at the dumpling shop, they are not worse than the ravioli stalls in the north of the city, the weather is cold now when the spring comes, they will have chicken feather stuffing, which is very tasty...”

Sui Zhou: “Off-topic.”

Tang Fan huffed: "It's only about a hundred taels for a meal.”

He said bitterly, "But the day before yesterday, I went to visit the family I know some year ago, and found that the family was so poor that they couldn't afford to pay for a meal, so I invited him to go outside. I spent 50 teals on a meal, but it doesn't seem like I spent it all at once.”

The more Sui Zhou listened, the more wrong his face got: "Didn't you take five hundred taels from that White Lotus woman earlier, even though you gave me half, the remaining two hundred and fifty taels won't be used up so soon, will they?”

Tang Fan was so frustrated by this that he didn't tell anyone, so he told Sui Zhou and even split the two hundred and fifty with him to share the booty.

Sui Zhou refused to take it, and he forced it into his arms, forcing Sui Zhou to take it.

Tang Da-ren was even more embarrassed when he mentioned this: "I saw that same year, his family was poor and had four children at home. The house he had rented in the capital was about to expire and he couldn't raise the money, so I gave him the two hundred and fifty taels.”

Sui Zhou's expressionless face said it all: "You are so generous.”

Tang Fan thought that Sui Zhou was praising him, but with a shameless modesty: "No, no, no, it is our responsibility to help those in distress. It's easy money to come by, and it's painless to spend!”

Sui Zhou continues with a blank expression: "How come this money is so effortless given, did you go steal it or rob it?”

Tang Fan: "...“

Sui Zhou: "Have you forgotten how you almost lost your life in that den of thieves? Even if his family is in dire straits, a hundred taels would have been enough. If you don't have a plan, you can't spend money like water!”

Tang Da-ren was reprimanded like a child, did not dare to look up, ashamed: "Yes, yes, yes, I go back, I will let A-Dong help to supervise! Me!”

Not to mention, since the Deputy Commander Qianhu Sui has been promoted to the rank of Commander Qianhu Sui and has taken charge of the Northern Administrative Court Division, his authority has been growing more and more every day. It's enough that he is torturing people, now he is making them afraid to say anything.

Sui Zhou said, "How can A-Dong restrain you? When you have cashed in half of your salary and grain, bring it to me, and I will keep it for you, In the future, if you still need money after you've spent all the money you have, you need to tell me and I'll agree to give you some of it.”

Sui Zhou has never been one to meddle in other people's business, and almost all of his meddling in his life has been in Tang Da-ren's life.

But thanks to their friendship, it would be hard for others to understand, and they might even fall out.

However, someone like Tang Da-ren nodded his heads happily at the news and said "It's good that you're in charge! So I won't spend the money!”

From then on, in addition to managing the Northern Administrative Court Division, Commander Sui Qianhu also had to go home and manage the money for Tang Da-ren. I'm envious of others who hold the power inside and out.





Just when everyone thought Tang Fan was going to continue his job as a pusher, a message came from the Ministry of Appointments, asking him to come over.







- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -



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