Two hundred and forty-nine chapters remove the old and cloth the new (twelve)
The time was half past six in the evening, and it was still bright in August. Outside the Golden Flower Temple, newly-recruited officers from Australia, called police in Newspeak, were surrounding the temple on three levels, inside and outside. There were several people outside Xiguan.
Baojia's security chief, Paijia, also led "security activists" to keep watch outside to maintain order.
Several nearby street intersections were blocked by the police, and everyone entering and exiting was questioned. If there were any suspicious ones, they were temporarily detained and Bao Changpai A, the principal of Baobao A, was called to come and claim them back.
The common people could only watch from a distance. Some of the well-informed ones chatted with the people around them and swore that the witchcraft case had been solved and that the Guandi Temple people were the culprits. This time there was a city-wide manhunt.
Just to catch the rightful owner and punish him with the rightful punishment.
The operation to seize the Guandi Temple took a little longer than expected. The flower boys gathered in front did not resist. When they saw the police coming, they dispersed. They were arrested one by one at each street corner. Some people wanted to climb over the wall and jump into the river.
Those who ran away were inevitably shot, and were reduced to a row of corpses covered with reed mats at the base of the temple wall. It took a lot of effort from the back house, and the police used tear gas to drive out the crying female servants inside.
Generally speaking, the action did not encounter much resistance, not even decent resistance. In the face of the iron fist of the dictatorship, the beggars are still very aware of current affairs.
The door of the Golden Flower Temple was open, and there were bloodstains on the steps - it was left after an ignorant person was stabbed with a bayonet.
All the Guandi temple residents in the temple were immediately cleared out and taken away. People coming in and out of the temple gate were police and national troops. They were conducting a comprehensive search under the command of the special search team of the Planning Institute.
Under a kapok tree at the street corner, there is a folding table propped up. This is the command seat of the elders. The key to combating local evil forces is "the culprit must be punished". Gao Tianshi is dead and cannot enjoy the public trial of "all his crimes"
He received the treatment of a public judge, but since his son was still the leader of the Guangzhou General Regiment, he naturally had to bear the title of "chief culprit".
Cui Hantang was wearing a Taoist robe with many magical weapons for subduing demons. He was fanning the wind while watching the inspection process. As the two elders leading the team at Jinhua Temple, in addition to serving as the chief and deputy team leader respectively, Cui Taoist priest
There is also a special mission. According to the investigation of the witchcraft case, the Guandi Temple people are deeply involved, and there may be some secrets hidden in their lair. He is asked to be responsible for going to the "Palm Eye".
There is another reason that cannot be explained: the people of Guandi Temple were deeply involved in the witchcraft case, so Taoist Cui was required to be present to embolden the young police team - the naturalized people here in Guangzhou Prefecture are not as good as those in Lingao, and the feudal superstitions are
There is still a market for a set.
The person sitting next to him drinking tea was the new "prosecutor" Shen Ruiming. It was the first time for him to participate in this kind of manhunt, and everything seemed new to him.
It is said that they are "commanding", but in fact Cui and Shen are only responsible for issuing orders and determining the general direction. The specific execution is still responsible for the senior naturalized police officers.
The work was gradually coming to an end. As the latest report came, both Cui and Chen showed disappointed expressions on their faces - this raid on Guandi Temple's home base was a failure!
Not only was Gao Lingxiang not captured, but his wife and children were also not captured. Only a few concubines were left behind.
Gao Tianshi has three sons and two daughters alive. His daughter is already married. The only person caught in Gao Tianshi's house was Gao Tianshi's fourth son Gao Lingquan, a well-known local playboy. When the police rushed in, he was fooling around with one of Gao Tianshi's concubines. , was so frightened that he turned into a puddle of mud and could hardly climb off the woman.
Although Gao Lingquan was well-known among the local dandy boys, he was not a key figure.
As for Gao Lingda, who has not yet been arrested, his presence is even weaker. His wife looks indifferent when talking about the man, and seems to not care about the man's life or death at all.
Several confidants of the Gao family who were in charge of important affairs also disappeared without a trace.
Shen Ruiming had just arrived and had no intuitive understanding of the Guandi Temple people, so he was somewhat confused about this result. But for Cui Hantang, who had been directly involved in the witchcraft case, this result was disappointing.
After interrogating the arrested persons temporarily, they all said that these people had just left two days ago. Gao Lingxiang's wife and children "went back to their parents' home" and left. As for Gao Lingxiang, he was still at the Golden Flower Temple during the day yesterday I gave orders here, but I found out early this morning that the room was empty.
From this point of view, the Gundam Order ran in a hurry and moved covertly, so that the hidden stakes monitoring them outside the temple were not discovered. They must have gotten fairly accurate information before running away.
Cui Hantang murmured: "I think Mayor Liu is going to get angry this time..."
Not a single important person was caught. Even Shen Ruiming, who didn't know much about the local situation, knew that there was a big problem: "I think someone leaked the secret."
"There are spies!" Cui Hantang gritted his teeth.
"That's for sure!" Shen Ruiming nodded. He had read a lot of files on witchcraft cases and still remembered Han Yue's rebellion. It seemed that Han Yue was not the only traitor in the city government.
At this moment, more than a dozen women in mourning were escorted from the temple, all of them with gloomy faces and sad expressions. Cui Hantang stopped the policeman leading the team:
"Who are these people?"
"They are all Gao Tianshi's concubines," the policeman said.
"This Huazitou actually has more than a dozen little wives!" Shen Ruiming said in surprise.
"What does this mean? Gao Tianshi is the 'local prefect', so what does it mean to have a few more wives?" Cui Hantang looked at these women carelessly, from middle-aged women in their forties to teenage girls, of all ages. They are all different. They are both fat and thin, but the same thing is that they all have a pair of small feet.
"This Gao Tianshi is such a waste!" Cui Hantang looked at the group of female prisoners who were gradually walking away. He felt it was a pity and patted his belly and said, "The new Taoism just needs female Taoists..."
Shen Ruiming stopped him: "Many cadres in our judicial department don't have wives yet!"
"Damn it, I'm just saying it, don't be so impatient."
The two people were chatting, and the police came to report that the people inside had been cleaned up and asked the two chiefs to go in and inspect.
As soon as I entered the mountain gate, I saw that the temple was very large, but the house was collapsed and dilapidated, with the walls falling down and the house leaning. According to the standards of the Senate, it was considered a dilapidated building. Within the mountain gate, the corridors and side halls on both sides of the corridor were filled with beggars. According to reports,
According to the investigation, there are hundreds of beggars living here, and you can imagine how dirty the environment is.
All the beggars here have just been taken in, and there are still rags, reed mats, and various broken pots and jars left behind everywhere inside and outside the rooms... A stench filled the air, and Cui Hantang thought that Liu San was almost gone.
He once told the city government that some temples and ancestral halls where beggars gathered were likely to become important sources of infectious diseases in summer. He couldn't help but frown.
After passing through the second courtyard in front, the third entrance is much better. The main hall here is the "office" of the Tuan leaders. Public cases and torture instruments are all available. The "imperial pole" that symbolizes the authority of the Tuan head
It is being carefully removed from the base by several police officers.
This "pole" aroused great interest in them. From the looks of it, the yellow cloth cover on the outside of the pole was rotten and easily broken. Many places were wrapped with yellow cloth. There was a seal on the opening at the top of the pole.
, it was still stamped. The seal was quite new, and it looked like it had been signed during the New Year. The two of them didn’t know the seal script, and they didn’t bother to know what was written on it. They asked the soldiers to open the cloth cover and see the "imperial dragon head pole".
appearance.
Regarding this "imperial pole", the elders have all heard the legend about it. Why is this pole a gift from Zhu Yuanzhang? Why is it brought by a special messenger from Nanjing? It is made of red sandalwood hardwood with dragon carvings all over it... and this
The pole has always been spiritual. Whenever there is a crisis in Guangzhou, a spirit will appear... It is so miraculous that Cui Hantang wanted to see the true face of this thing.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the cloth cover was pulled open a little, the white stubble of the wood was exposed. Although the color was dim with age, the rough texture that had not been polished and painted was still very clear.
Judging from the wood grain, it is obviously not red sandalwood, or even hardwood. It should be ordinary wood such as pine and cypress.
Pulling the cloth cover up again, I saw that there was still white stubble on it. Not to mention the carved dragon, there was not even a trace of paint. When I pulled it up to the top, where there was a dragon head in legend, there was no dragon head, just a random hewed one.
It's just a wooden block, fixed on it with nails.
"This is the imperial pole?!" Shen Ruiming looked at the "pole" in front of him and was really surprised.
The elders don't really believe in the legend about the "imperial pole". Even if this happened at that time, it is unlikely that the pole has been preserved to this day. It was probably made later.
I didn't expect this thing to be so rough. According to Cui Hantang's words, it is "a fake without any sincerity." No wonder no one has ever seen the yellow cloth wrapping the pole opened.
"Damn it! Is this just a thick stick!" Cui Hantang shouted loudly, "This is the heirloom of the Gao family?!"
The Gao family has held the position of leader in Guangzhou for more than 200 years, relying on the supreme authority of this "imperial pole". Not to mention whether this thing existed in history, using the financial resources of his family to make a "real pole"
"The same pole" is not difficult.
Just like this, a wooden pole that came from nowhere, was not even painted, and was wrapped in yellow cloth and became a symbol of the Gao family's authority - and it has been in use for hundreds of years. A strong sense of absurdity came to Shen Ruiming's heart.
"Chief, what should we do now?" Several policemen and soldiers also found it unbelievable. After a period of silence, a policeman asked cautiously.
"This thing is too thick and long to use as a stick," Cui Hantang touched his chin. "It is too thin and too short to build a house. I can see that it is of no use as a chopping wood..."