Some people say that the so-called underworld should have four characteristics. First, it is rooted in the dark side of society, like moss under a rock; second, it can coordinate and communicate with the government, including both 'fighting' and 'harmony', rather than simply
'Fight'. This point of the temple is very important. Gangsters who leave this point are at best bandits and not a gangster. Thirdly, they have their own armed forces. Finally, they have their own purpose and beliefs.
Looking back based on this standard, you will find that the history of the underworld is almost the same as the length of China's trust history. For example, the Momen in the pre-Qin era basically conforms to the form of the underworld, but it can only be regarded as its embryonic stage. The true sense of the gang was born in
In the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the "official management of salt and iron". Iron was not bad, but the court treated salt, which the common people could not live without, as a monopoly item to make huge profits. It was really lacking in virtue.
As a result, there were a large number of smuggled salt traders, who were engaged in the business of beheading. Naturally, they needed to be organized and armed, and they also needed the support of the government and princes. The real gangsters emerged. Later, the salt and iron monopoly was gradually liberalized.
Allowing private capital to intervene, the underworld began to transform. The gangster color became lighter and weaker, and the commercial atmosphere became more and more intense. Finally, after a thousand years, Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants were born. Of course, this is a story later.
However, these gangs wander between the upper class and the world, and are far away from ordinary people. Therefore, there is still a big gap between the first definition of underworld - rooted in the dark side of society. A underworld that truly meets the current concept,
It was born in the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, big cities like Chang'an and Luoyang appeared, and the market class also appeared.
Compared with rural areas where farming and weaving are the main occupations and the people are honest, cities are more likely to have unrest factors. These include groups such as unemployed workers, destitute scoundrels, idle men, soldiers, entertainers, private prostitutes, beggars and vagrants...
…These people are at the bottom of society, have a low status, live in distress, and are unwilling or unable to make a living by selling their labor, so they engage in illegal activities. There is an idiom "market scoundrels" that refers to them. The church treats this kind of illegal activities as
Once organized, a real underworld was born.
In the Song Dynasty, the commodity economy developed unprecedentedly, the slavery system no longer existed, farmers could move freely, and a large number of people poured into the cities. Naturally, the scale of rogues in the market became larger and larger, and the scale of the underworld also expanded accordingly. However, the Song Dynasty's control of the underworld
The intensity of the attack was unmatched by previous dynasties.
Especially in the capital city of Kaifeng, no gang-like organizations are allowed to exist. People are also prohibited from carrying weapons, and a neighborly protection system is adopted. This makes it difficult for gangsters and their families to move under the sun.
In a capital with hundreds of thousands of troops garrisoned, it is unthinkable to confront the government head-on. This has caused the underworld in Bianjing City to either move their activities to areas with weak control on the outskirts of Beijing, or to underground ditches.
Speaking of the underground ditches in Bianjing City, they are really... so spectacular. This is also Zhao Guangyi's fault. He refused to let his brother move the capital back then. As a result, Kaifeng City, a flat and poor place, had no danger to defend during wartime.
As long as the rain is heavy, waterlogging will occur.
Because of this, builders in the past dynasties have worked hard to build underground drainage facilities for Bianjing City. After more than a hundred years of construction, a spider web-like underground waterway has been formed several feet underground in Bianjing City. These
The main channels of waterways are generally one foot high and one foot wide. At some junctions, there are even spaces as high as two or three feet, the size of a football field. Not only can people walk, but they can also run horses, and they can also punt in the rainy season.
This is not an exaggeration. Urban drainage technology was very developed in the Song Dynasty. Ganzhou in Jiangxi Province was still using the drainage system built by the Song Dynasty even a thousand years later. In the Song Dynasty, Ganzhou City was located in Bianliang, which was almost equivalent to the Mohe River in Beijing in later generations...
…
It was such superb water-launching technology that allowed cities with a population of more than one million to appear in China during the Song Dynasty. However, until seven hundred years later, the twin cities lit up by the so-called light of civilization - Paris and London - were still filthy.
There is a big toilet, with feces and water flowing everywhere, and the stench is overwhelming. Needless to say, there are no sewers or even latrines. When people are in emergency, they will quietly find a corner to solve it... But we are not qualified to laugh at others, because at that time I was in the Qing Dynasty.
People are also a virtue. ("")
They are both said to be the two most useless dynasties in China. How come the gap is so big?
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This criss-crossing underground maze has become a shelter for the underworld in Bianjing City, so it has also been nicknamed the "Worry-free Cave". Every year, countless desperate people enter this huge maze through hidden ditch entrances.
The underground world has become a member of Wuyou Cave...
However, the rats hiding underground also need to find food on the ground. What’s more, everyone joins Wuyou Cave not only to solve the problem of food and clothing, but also to have wine, meat and women - these do not grow underground. Only
It can only be obtained through the ground.
Liquor, meat, and even gold and silver can be easily solved... If gambling houses, brothels, dental shops, and docks on the ground want to operate normally, you must pay protection fees to them. Some of these businesses are even directly related to the origins of Wuyoudong.
Innocent subordinates come forward to run the business. There are also many trivial ways to make money that can satisfy their material desires... at least the material desires of the middle and upper classes.
But there is only one thing they cannot buy, and that is women...
Although in Bianliang City, brothels are everywhere, just like restaurants that are necessary for daily life, and they are everywhere, which is true to the ancient saying that "food and sex are also important". It is said that there are as many as 20,000 prostitutes in Bianjing City, but there are absolutely no
Most of them are 'official prostitutes'... Official prostitutes are not prostitutes owned by the government, but refer to sensual workers registered with the government, the so-called 'Le Ji'.
This means that on the one hand, they have to provide free services to the government many times...but not including providing sexual services. On the other hand, their personal safety will also be protected by the government. In the Tang Dynasty, officials played tricks and raped officials.
It may not be illegal to kill prostitutes or even official prostitutes, but in the Song Dynasty, let alone killing prostitutes, it was illegal for officials to order official prostitutes to sleep with them... Of course, in places other than Bianjing, this provision seemed to be in vain.
But at least in Bianjing City, if a brothel loses a few girls, it will be in big trouble...
In addition, there are also the so-called private prostitutes, who do not belong to the legal system and attract prostitutes in their own homes, which is the so-called "ajar door". They have the identity of private households, and their life safety is naturally more guaranteed.
Because it is not impossible to force prostitutes to come down to serve them, but the number is very small, which is far from meeting the demand. They can only rely on robbery and selling... Human trafficking was prohibited in the Song Dynasty, and parents would not send their children to unreliable families.
Being slaves and maids would naturally lead to a huge manpower gap, so human trafficking was rampant in the Song Dynasty.
The population business in Tokyo City is monopolized by Wuyoudong. The main sources of their plundered population are remote places such as Hebei Road and Liangguang Road, as well as areas affected by floods, droughts and locusts. They are either abducted or hijacked.
Take it back to Wuyou Cave and enjoy it, or sell it out to make a fortune... There is naturally a lot of filth behind this, which I won't mention here.
Another source is to kidnap women from major night markets, specifically picking beautiful and well-educated Xiaojiabiyu or maidservants. The number is naturally very small, mainly for the enjoyment of the bosses.
Hou San is such a kidnapper. He sleeps in Wuyou Cave during the day, and when it gets dark, he wanders around the night market, looking for suitable targets. He used to be a rogue, and was nicknamed "Golden Monkey".
In a fight, he stabbed his opponent. Because he was afraid of punishment, he fled into Wuyou Cave.
After entering, I realized that although the name of Wuyou Cave is very pleasant, compared to the heaven-like Bianjing City on earth, it is like hell. This is not only true for the sex slaves and slaves who were snatched in, but also for the low-level minions like them.
It's just as hard.
Fortunately, he was quite clever and he was from Tokyo. After being tortured in purgatory for several months, a boss took notice of him and asked him if he should be a kidnapper.
In order to keep his chrysanthemum, Hou San agreed without even thinking. He first served as a lookout for his master. Later, the master was arrested by the government, and he took over as the master. Within two months after the Chinese New Year, he had already taken his apprentice and abducted him.
He has married three women, and as long as he kidnaps two more, he can be promoted to the leader of the hall. From now on, he will not have to rush to the front line, but he can also be popular and play with women...
But after all, he was young and impatient, and committed crimes too frequently, which attracted the attention of the government. Throughout March and April, some officials patrolled Zhouqiao all night long, causing him to stay underground for months at a time, occasionally coming out for a while.
I could only take a quick breath, and there was no time to commit the crime.
In the past few days, the government's patrols have finally relaxed, and Hou San couldn't wait to bring a few apprentices up, ready to kidnap them again, and everything would be fine.
As expected, people are forgetful. It has only been two months since the serial disappearance of girls. The Zhouqiao Night Market was once again filled with all kinds of women out for fun... many of them made Hou San's eyes light up.
"It's better to do it earlier tonight." Hou San knew that if he did it today, even the flies at the Zhouqiao Night Market would be male tomorrow, so if he wanted to do it, he had to do it quickly: "It's best to do it twice in one night, no matter what
It will be turned upside down tomorrow.'
At this time, his ruthless eyes were fixed on a pair of young lovers. Seeing that the girl was very pretty and the boy was weak, Hou San stopped thinking and stared at the two of them.
He followed them step by step and wandered around the night market. The woman seemed to have sneaked out and was particularly obsessed with the man, but she only walked around for half an hour before the woman wanted to go back. The man hadn't finished shopping yet, but the beauty had
I had no choice but to accompany her out of the night market...