Qing Yao

Chapter 60 Qianlong is the Grandfather

After leaving Old Wu's house, Zhao An went to find Sun Rui. One was to arrange a boat for Old Wu to go north, and the other was to enforce the Green Gang's rules of the incense hall.

Now that I have become a member of the society, there is nothing much to think about now. I can only try my best to integrate into it and see if I can have the opportunity to become an "old man" in the future.

If you can't make it, you can be a "Ya uncle" in a branch.

Strictly speaking, the Qing Gang is much more powerful than the society in Zhao An's previous life. Its organization is too tight, and most of its members are young and strong laborers. In particular, there are as many as one million people, and there are no less than millions of people who make a living from the canal transportation.

During the Yongzheng period, Li Wei's militarization of the Qing Gang meant that the Qing Gang still possessed certain military capabilities. For example, most of the members of the "Yun Ding", a paramilitary organization under the jurisdiction of the Grand Canal Transport Office, were members of the Qing Gang.

Therefore, if they could successfully reorganize the Qing Gang, which controlled the economic arteries of the Qing Dynasty, they would definitely be able to bring Zhao An into the Forbidden City for a day trip.

At the very least, it is better than the mob-like Tianli Sect.

You know, the transporters who escorted the grain carried weapons to Tongzhou to deliver the grain and inspect the warehouse openly!
How far is Tongzhou from Beijing?
It’s exciting to think about organizing thousands of armed transporters and canal workers to attack the undefended Forbidden City.

Of course, if the old man Qianlong was still around, Zhao An might not dare. After all, the old guy was a ruthless political machine. No matter how bad the guards in Beijing were, there was still some confidence. But when his son Jiaqing came to power, there would be some doubts.

The emperor was assassinated four times in his life. The first time was by a cook, the second time was by a monk, the third time was by a madman, and the fourth time was by more than a hundred peasants who broke into the Forbidden City (Tianli Sect).

The results of several assassination attempts showed that not only the imperial guards who protected the imperial city, but even the guards around the emperor were a bunch of cowardly rats.

If a beheading really happened, Zhao An felt that even if he could not overthrow the Qing Dynasty, at least he would be able to go down in history.

It's just that being executed by slow slicing is a bit painful.

Of course, he would not take risks unless it was absolutely necessary, especially since he was currently only a peripheral member of the Green Gang.

Without the identity of "Old Master", it is impossible to deal with the paramilitary organization of the Green Gang.

He was found in the small restaurant where Sun Rui liked to gamble.

Sun Rui didn't know that Zhao An had been promoted to the provincial school as a teaching official by the government. In addition, he hadn't seen him in the past few days, and the certification office that was planning to make some money by intervening was also dismissed by the county magistrate. This made him full of resentment, so he naturally scolded Zhao An.

Zhao An smiled and told the story of how he was promoted as an exceptional official by the promoted prefect.

“Are you an official now?”

Sun Rui's eyes were stunned. He also had a white leather coat as a clerk in the yamen, so how could he not know the difference between an official and a clerk, the difference between a clerk and a regular worker, and the difference between a regular worker and a temporary worker.

It takes an ordinary person at least several years to go from a temporary worker to a formal clerk, and then from a formal clerk to an official.

To become an official, one must work for nine years before taking the exam to get the opportunity to be promoted.

In other words, if a temporary worker wants to become an official, even the lowest ninth rank will take twelve or thirteen years, and every step must go smoothly.

Of course, those who spend huge sums of money to donate official positions do not count.

Zhao An obviously did not spend a huge amount of money, so Sun Rui was quite surprised by the rapid speed of his promotion. His eyes looked like someone who had been away for three days and was looked at with new eyes.

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh, but I'm just a teacher."

Zhao An naturally attributed everything to the appreciation of the prefectural and county magistrates, and never mentioned that he had achieved where he was today through his own abilities.

Then he told the story of Old Wu, but he didn't give any specific details about Old Wu, only saying that he was a relative of the family.

"This year's summer taxes have been collected almost everywhere, and there are already grain ships heading north on the canal. When the time comes, you can bring the people to the dock and tell any brother." Sun Rui's attitude was surprisingly good. He grabbed Zhao An and was about to take him to see his uncle.

Why so urgent?
Because times have changed.

Zhao An was no longer the temporary worker who had gotten along well with the county magistrate, but an official official of the Qing Dynasty.

Even if he is just a ninth-rank academic official, he is an extremely valuable connection for the Qing Gang.

The disciples of the Qing Gang also have family members who are studying. These family members serve as academic officials in the provincial school, which is similar to how Zhao An had relatives who served as vice principals of key middle schools in his previous life.

Anyone who joins a gang wants his descendants to be like him. They all hope to study hard and make a name for themselves.

Zhao An also wanted to go through the rules, so he followed Sun Rui to the Qing Gang's Yangzhou branch.

It was in the courtyard behind a temple in Jiangdu County. It was inconspicuous from the outside, and at first glance it looked no different. But when Zhao An entered the incense hall, he immediately felt a sense of gangsterism.

Smoked.

There was a huge copper incense burner with dozens of thick incense sticks inserted in it. Three huge portraits of people were hung in the hall, and on both sides were white banners with various words written on them, which looked like martial arts secrets.

Sun Rui asked Zhao An to wait in the incense hall while he went to invite his uncle over.

Zhao An nodded. There were a few other Qing Gang disciples in the incense hall copying something. Since Zhao An was brought here by Sun Rui, those disciples didn't pay any attention to him.

Zhao An took a quick glance and discovered that the Qing Gang disciples seemed to be doing their accounts, so he didn't want to disturb them and just stood there quietly waiting.

Less than five minutes later, Zhao An's apprentice Zhang Baofa called. It must have been Sun Rui who told him that Zhao An was now an official. This is why the patient with severe vitiligo laughed heartily from a distance: "Zhi An, your disciple really makes me proud. From now on, I can discuss Taoism with those scholars."

Zhao An secretly complained, but he knew that "Zhi'an" was his legal name in the Qing Gang, because he was of the Zhi generation.

With a humble and ashamed expression on his face, he respectfully stepped forward, knelt down, and kowtowed: "Disciple Zhao Zhian greets Master!"

"Get up, get up,"

The old rogue, whose whiteness was a little scary, really liked Zhao An, the apprentice disciple, because his grandson would take part in the provincial examination next year. With the help of Zhao An, the official of the provincial school, it should be no problem to move up his ranking.

What followed was a series of polite words, and then with a serious expression, he asked Zhao An to hold the incense and pay his respects to the three ancestors painted on the wall.

The names of the three people are written in the lower right corner of the portraits: Weng Yan, Qian Jian and Pan Qing.

"Since I am setting the rules for you today, I, as your master, will tell you about the origins of my Qing Gang. Remember, the three founders of my sect came from the Luo Sect, also known as the White Lotus Sect."

Zhang Baofa talked about the history of the Qing Gang at length, but Zhao An only remembered the three words "White Lotus Sect".

It is really confusing. How could the Qing Gang, an organization that worked hard for the Qing Dynasty, be related to the White Lotus Sect that rebelled a few years later? If the two were really related, then what role did the Qing Gang play in the great uprising a few years later?
Just as he was at a loss for words, Zhang Baofa's voice reached his ears: "Please, old master, bestow upon me the image of the dragon stick. Your disciple, Zhao Zhian, will pay his respects with all his heart!"

Ok?
Zhao An turned around and saw Sun Rui walking up to him with a scroll in his hand. When he opened it, he saw a painting of a coiled dragon stick.

The two words "Qinci" are particularly clear inside the dragon's mouth on the stick head, and the five words "Guardian Panlong Stick" are also engraved on the stick body.

Just as he was about to do this, Sun Rui shouted from the side, "Junior Brother Zhi'an, kneel down quickly. This is a token specially bestowed upon our gang by Old Master Qianlong. Seeing the stick is like seeing the old master!"

(End of this chapter)