Chapter 15 Beggars' Sect

Qi Xuansu wandered around the city for a long time, and after making sure that no one was following him, he came to the Taiping Inn in the city.

Because Jinling Prefecture is one of the most prosperous places in the world, there are not only merchants from all walks of life, but also overseas visitors. It can be said that it gathers guests from all over the world, so the Taiping Inn here is open for twelve hours, and there is no such thing as a closed door.

When Qi Xuansu came to the Taiping Inn, he saw that the entire lobby was brightly lit, and the night shopkeeper stood behind the counter, and the waiter was next to him.

Qi Xuansu didn't waste any words, and changed the waist badge of the black-clothed man again, and opened a room in the identity of Wei Wugui, spending 60 Taiping coins for a month. After all, after he started to carry out the task assigned to him by Lei Xiaohuan, if he could not return to Zhenwu Temple unless it was necessary, he needed a place to stay. The Taiping Inn with frequent personnel turnover was undoubtedly the best choice.

After completing the check-in procedures, Qi Xuansu followed the waiter to his room. After all, it cost as much as 60 Taiping coins. It was called a room, but it was actually a small courtyard with a single house.

After entering the yard, Qi Xuansu said to the waiter, "I will call you if there is something, but don't come in at other times."

This request is not uncommon. The waiter has seen it many times, so he agreed directly.

After the waiter left, Qi Xuansu looked around and made some changes to the gate, door, and window of the yard. If someone entered his room while he was away, he would be able to detect it immediately after returning.

Then Qi Xuansu changed into the clothes of a man of the rivers and lakes here, and waited until dawn before leaving from the side door of Taiping Inn.

Qi Xuansu asked along the way and came to a breakfast shop. He asked for a basket of soup dumplings and a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup, both of which are famous foods in Jinling Prefecture, and put his sword on the table.

After a while, a young man dressed as a scholar also came here. He looked around and sat directly opposite Qi Xuansu. He asked for a bowl of chicken soup wontons and specifically asked him to add some fragrant vinegar. The fragrant vinegar in Dantu Prefecture is also unique.

Qi Xuansu smiled and said, "Brother Tan Tai."

The person who came was Zhang Yuelu, but he used the identity of Tan Taichu, just as Qi Xuansu used the identity of Wei Wugui.

Since Pei Xiaolou said that he could tell Zhang Yuelu anything, Qi Xuansu would certainly not hide it from Zhang Yuelu, and went to see Zhang Yuelu before going to Tianji Hall.

After Zhang Yuelu knew about this, her attitude was supportive. In addition to asking Qi Xuansu to be careful, she asked Qi Xuansu to wait for her here and then talk about it in detail.

Qi Xuansu had been to Jinling Mansion, but he was not familiar with it, so he had to ask all the way to find this breakfast shop. To be honest, the taste was quite good, and I don’t know how Zhang Yuelu, a fasting person, found it.

Zhang Yuelu stared at Qi Xuansu’s face fiercely, and seemed a little uncomfortable.

Qi Xuansu coughed lightly and turned his eyes away.

Zhang Yuelu didn’t say anything, picked up the spoon, skimmed some chicken soup, and drank it in small sips.

Qi Xuansu also lowered his head to eat the soup dumplings.

Zhang Yuelu suddenly said, "I once read a Western poem: 'The ancient night and the music in the distance are eternal, but they don't belong to me.'"

Qi Xuansu thought for a while and said, "I don't like this poem. I think the night and music must belong to us. After all, the rainbow always comes after the wind and rain."

Zhang Yuelu couldn't help but smile, and then said, "Let's talk business. Which aspect do you plan to start from?"

Qi Xuansu said honestly, "I don't have a clue yet, so I want to ask you, the female martial arts master."

"Stop talking nonsense." Zhang Yuelu said, "I dare not say that I am right, I can only give you a suggestion."

"Okay, you say." Qi Xuansu put on an attitude of following the flow.

Zhang Yuelu pondered for a while and said, "I think we should start with the local Beggars' Gang."

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. There are many gangs in the rivers and lakes. These gangs do not have a unified master and do various kinds of livelihoods. For example, the Cao Gang, which relies on the Grand Canal for food, is one of them. Its members are mainly millions of Cao workers. In each big city, there are similar gangs, namely the Beggars' Gang.

As the name suggests, the members of the Beggars' Gang are mainly beggars, and the leader is also called the "Beggar King", who is considered a half-official figure. The government has to rely on them for many things. Taoism believes that everything in the world is divided into yin and yang, so the same is true for the government. As the saying goes, the imperial power does not go to the countryside. If the government wants to govern the lower class people, it has two thighs, one is the gentry, who are yang, and the other is the Beggars' Gang, who are yin. This yin and yang complement each other, which is the means for the government to govern the lower class people.

What the Beggars' Gang does on weekdays is not just as simple as begging. There are a large number of middle-aged men in the Beggars' Gang. In addition to begging, they also do all kinds of side jobs that ordinary people are unwilling to do, such as guarding the charity house, watching the streets, collecting ownerless corpses, filling the number of people for weddings and funerals, and even setting up ghost markets, selling all kinds of stolen goods from tombs and looting, etc. Foreign robbers, thieves, beggars and other low-class people who want to do business in and out of the city also get the local Beggars' Gang to come to the mountain to seek shelter.

In addition, many human traffickers also have relationships with the Beggars' Gang. To put it bluntly, human traffickers are just middlemen, and the "source of goods" is provided by the Beggars' Gang. Many maids and servants sold by wealthy families are also sold to the Beggars' Gang by human traffickers, and then sold by the Beggars' Gang.

Another is to act as thugs. Most beggars have no home, and there is no future trouble if they die in a fight, and the pension is even meager. Therefore, every fight is the time for them to open their business.

The Beggar King has absolute power to decide the life and death of the beggars, and enjoys the offerings of the beggars. Not only does he have fine clothes and food, he can call slaves and maids, and he also has many wives and concubines, which is almost the same as the gentry.

The members of the Beggar Clan hardly travel around the world, but are scattered in major towns, and they are not affiliated with each other. In other words, the Beggar Clan in Jinling Prefecture and the Beggar Clan in Imperial Capital are both beggar cliques, but they have nothing to do with each other. The power of the beggar gang is closely related to the local government. As the government becomes more powerful, the beggar gang becomes weaker. The more inactive the government is, the easier it will be for the Beggar Clan to grow bigger.

The power of the Beggar Gang reached its peak in the late Wei Dynasty due to famine, war, and political chaos. However, after the Daxuan court seized power, it carried out large-scale rectification of beggar gangs. Many beggar gangs were completely broken up. The Beggar King was beheaded and his house was ransacked. No one with a murder case was spared. The remaining members were all sent to Liaozhou for reclamation. Military camp.

The Daxuan court's thunderbolt methods made the Beggar Gang almost extinct for a time. However, in the past hundred years, the Daxuan court has been different from the Qingming Dynasty in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, the Beggar Gang has revived and become a leg of the government again.

As a person who has been in the world for a long time, Qi Xuansu certainly knows about the existence of the beggar gang, but he rarely interacts with the beggar gang.

"This is a good idea." Qi Xuansu said thoughtfully, "Compared with secret societies, the power of the Beggar Gang is really nothing, but they are real local snakes and must be well-informed. But the current situation is that some of you I, you are among me, it is difficult to distinguish between myself and the enemy, I cannot reveal my identity at will, and I am an outsider, how can I get in touch with these local snakes? "

Zhang Yuelu hesitated for a moment and said: "Cihang's lineage is quite influential in Jinling Mansion. I have a senior sister named Bai. She may have some connections."

"Chief Deputy Palace Master Bai Yingqiong?" Qi Xuansu asked.

Zhang Yuelu nodded and said: "Yes. However, the attitude of my senior sister is quite ambiguous. Although she is a member of the righteous Taoist movement and is my master's disciple, she has been rooted in Jiangnan Taoist House for many years, and there are inevitably stakes involved. I am trying my best to win over her. I want to come. There are not many changes, after all, the master is still here.”

This is also reasonable. Unless Master Cihang succeeds in becoming the head master, Bai Yingqiong can already see the end of his future. No matter how focused on the overall situation, Zhang Yuelu is the biggest beneficiary, which makes Bai Yingqiong not take any risks. Motivation, but no matter what, the current leader of Cihang's lineage is still Cihang, not Zhang Yuelu, so Bai Yingqiong still has to be cautious and maintain a neutral attitude.

Qi Xuansu thought sharply for a while and said, "That's all it can do."

In fact, Qi Xuansu still had a line, but he couldn't tell Zhang Yuelu clearly.

That is the Qingpinghui.

The Qingping Society has a small number of members, but each member has multiple identities. Key people in key positions often have unexpected effects. This is the fundamental reason why Lei Xiaohuan chose him to perform this task. It's just that Qiniang hasn't arrived at Jinling Mansion yet, and Qi Xuansu can't wait in vain. Instead, he can start with the Beggar Gang.

Zhang Yuelu finally said: "I will go to see Senior Sister Bai again, and I will give you the news in three days or one day. You can also go and find out the details first."