Chapter One Hundred and Twenty The Battle of the Guild Hall
The steward was about to ask what was going on when he heard a burst of shouting outside, and then two gatekeepers stumbled in. One of them had blood on his head and shouted: "No, it's not good...
…Called in!”
Everyone at the banquet was shocked. They stormed the club in broad daylight. These thieves were so rampant! The steward quickly asked: "Who are they?"
"It's the people from Guandi Temple!" The gatekeeper covered his head with a rag and said in panic: "I don't know what happened, but more than a hundred people came in at once, and they didn't want money or food.
Without saying a word, he smashed bricks and stones, and rushed in with a stick!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the banging and smashing outside, and dozens of voices yelling: "Tamp him down!"
"Kill these Chaoshan guys to death!"
"Dare to run wild in Guangfu!"
This kind of thing happened a lot in the guild hall. The late Ming Dynasty was an era when "beating shops" were rampant. Although there were no gangsters in Guangzhou, it was common to hire similar gangsters to fight. Many businessmen in the guild hall had done similar things.
.Although the people present were a little frightened, they did not lose their composure.
The steward was very calm. He frowned and waved his hand decisively: "Close the second door!" Then he rushed forward and worked together with the servants to close the heavy second door forcefully.
When they had just fastened the bolt on the door, the attacker was already banging the door leaf loudly outside.
Shopkeeper Ding said angrily: "It must be someone from Yahang who is causing trouble!"
The steward shouted loudly: "Play the gong! Tell everyone to copy the guy!"
Chaoshan people have always been known for their emphasis on hometown friendship, and the Chaoshan area has "strong folk customs." Therefore, when the manager hit the gong, other merchants living in the guild hall heard the sound and rushed out from all corners, some even holding handcuffs in their hands.
Carrying the poles and sticks that he grabbed casually, dozens of people gathered up and down the lobby in an instant. After finding out what happened, everyone looked surprised and angry. Several young people couldn't help but cursed.
stand up……
Just as they were discussing, the door shook violently. The attackers probably moved logs and were banging them from the outside. Everyone was shocked. They quickly moved the rosewood tables and chairs in the lobby to block the door. The steward
Making gestures to calm everyone down, he raised his voice and shouted: "Hey! People outside. Stop, stop! We have something to say!"
He shouted several times in succession, but the outside ignored him at all. On the contrary, the banging and yelling became even more crazy, and there was a crazy sound of smashing outside.
He Gao punched the door panel and shouted loudly: "You bastard from Yaxing, you really bully others! If we let him off lightly this time, we Chaoshan people will never be able to gain a foothold in this area in the future! I
Take the lead and go out and defeat them!" As he said that, he picked up the stick in one hand, strode to the steward, and glared at everyone angrily, "This is the business of our grain store. If you don't want to be here,
Leave quickly."
At this time, people no longer hesitated and picked up sticks and poles one after another. Some people also picked up a lot of bricks and stones. The steward shouted: "Don't be afraid, everyone, beat them to death. If you are beaten to death, the money to buy your life will be paid by the guild hall!"
"
The men and horses of the Guandi Temple here have used logs to knock open the second door. The beggars were shouting and cursing, pushing away the tables and chairs and rushing inside. The merchants inside had already been waiting for the door. As soon as the door opened, the steward shouted: "Smash it!"
"The bricks, benches, tables and chairs in the hands of the merchants were smashed over like raindrops. The dozen beggars who rushed in front were smashed to pieces in an instant, with their heads broken and bleeding. Some screamed and ran back.
But he was pushed back again, fell to the ground and was trampled on.
The steward lifted the pole and shouted: "Everyone, get on shoulder to shoulder!"
Dozens of businessmen screamed wildly, each holding a stick, and rushed over together.
The beggars and businessmen started fighting at the second door. Up and down the door steps, inside and outside the threshold. Suddenly, people were beaten with bloody heads and bruises. They were lying on the ground and being stepped on, making heart-stopping wailing and cursing sounds.
The screams and shouts were endless, the space at the entrance was small, and the merchants were of one mind, so the Guandi Temple people did not have the upper hand. However, there were many people in the Guandi Temple, and they kept pressing in, step by step.
The merchants pushed back and gave way to the second door. More and more beggars poured into the courtyard and surrounded the merchants. One merchant was left alone and was immediately beaten with blood all over his body. He lay on the ground unable to do anything.
Move. However, the reputation of Chaoshan people as "brave and aggressive" is not earned in vain. Even though many people here are usually well-dressed businessmen, they fight with great ferocity. He Gao is young and strong, holding a
A red sandalwood bench was swung with great force, and anyone who touched it would suffer head injuries, bleeding, broken bones and tendons. Shopkeeper Ding was old and frail, and was not strong enough, so he took the stick and aimed it at his opponent's face and crotch.
Poke. Once the stick comes down, there will be a scream.
Seeing that the merchants were gradually losing ground, at this time, they suddenly heard a crisp gunshot from outside, followed by a sharp whistle. This was a signal to summon the national army and police to urgently gather. The people who were fighting fiercely were
The beggars dropped their tools and turned around to run away. The Guandi Temple troops who had been vandalizing and looting property suddenly retreated out like a tide.
The shooter was Zhang Gengshuo, a corporal of the White Horse Team who was guarding the Haiyang Guild Hall. He and a squad were originally going to enter the Haiyang Guild Hall according to Lin Baiguang's order, but they were opposed by Mu Min:
"Chaoshan people have always had a bad reputation in Guangzhou, and there are deep regional barriers. As a new government, we cannot directly send people to the guild hall to protect them. People will think that we are giving a platform to Chaoshan people. It will be detrimental to future public security work."
Because of her opposition, the class was eventually stationed in a dilapidated temple half a street away from the guild hall.
Since the people in this team couldn't even speak New dialect, let alone Cantonese, Mu Min sent another retained yamen officer to monitor the entrance of Haiyang Hall, and alert the White Horse team if there was any situation.
Seeing the Guandi Temple troops rushing into the guild hall, the yamen officer hurriedly ran to call the police. Although he could not speak clearly, his gestures made Zhang Gengshuo understand what he meant. He quickly blew the whistle and summoned the soldiers from the White Horse Team.
.Run to.
However, as soon as he arrived at the entrance of the Haiyang Guild Hall, Zhang Gengshuo was surprised. He originally thought that only a few dozen people would come, but he did not expect that the entrance was so dark and crowded with people, all in rags and unkempt, but holding sticks and poles.
aggressive.
"Everyone, bayonets!" Zhang Gengshuo shouted. His Korean words immediately caught the attention of the people watching the excitement.
"You! Move away - stop - call - them." Zhang Gengshuo pointed at the beggars and said to the remaining government servants.
The yamen servant quickly opened his throat and shouted: "Three old men and four young men! The official mission has arrived. If you have anything to say, go to the yamen and tell us!"
According to his experience, in the past, when he shouted like this, it meant that the government officials had arrived, and all parties would usually stop and disperse. The government officials did not arrest anyone. After the people dispersed, as usual, the county magistrate visited the scene and inspected the injured. If anyone
If he died, he would come to do an autopsy. After the team went back, someone would naturally come to the Yamen to "surrender".
However, Zhang Gengshuo said again: "You! Sit down - hold your head -" He made a gesture of holding his head, "Shout - them!"
This is the standard procedure for handling riots by the internal security system of the Senate. However, when the yamen shouted like this, the beggars realized that the Australians were going to take someone on the spot, and they couldn't help but feel fear in their hearts: Australians have extremely strict laws, and what they did today is going to be a big mistake.
It is said that if a crowd is gathered to cause chaos, the Australians will definitely kill people to establish their authority. If they are caught on the spot, they may be hanged before anyone can "surrender".
"Everyone, run!" the beggars shouted, and the beggars fled in all directions. There was chaos at the entrance of the Haiyang Guild Hall. The merchants who were watching the excitement were knocked down, some took the opportunity to rob their property, and some had their burdens pushed away...
Shouts and curses mingled together.
Seeing that the beggars completely ignored the authority of the Senate, Zhang Gengshuo couldn't help but became furious, turned the nose of the machine open, and shot the fleeing beggars.
"Fire!" he roared.
When Lin Baiguang received the emergency report, Lin Baiguang was surprised. He had expected that the people in Yahang would probably resort to violent measures, but he did not expect that Yahang could mobilize hundreds of people in an instant to attack Haiyang Guild Hall.
There was only one squad of members of the White Horse team "guarding" outside the guild hall. If they hadn't had Nanyang rifles and the captain could make a decisive decision to fire, the situation might not have been suppressed at all.
Even so, the scene was ugly. According to the police report, more than 40 people were injured as they trampled on each other in the chaos, more than a dozen shops were damaged to varying degrees, and seven itinerant vendors suffered total losses.
Three people from the police and National Army were slightly injured, more than 40 people were arrested at the scene and six were killed.
As for the Haiyang Guild Hall, Mu Min, who went to the site to investigate, said: "It was a mess and there was a river of blood."
One of the beggars who attacked the guild hall was beaten to death, and more than 20 of the arrested were injured. One person from the guild hall also died, and almost everyone was injured.
"It's like a street fight inside. There are injured people everywhere and bloodstains everywhere. Every table, chair and bench is destroyed." Mu Min said, "I've also done security work. I've seen a lot of big and small fights. It's really...
I’ve never seen someone so ruthless.”
Although both parties in the fight followed the Ming Dynasty legal principle of "seeing the sword to kill" and all used blunt weapons, the injuries suffered were not many. Broken bones, concussions, internal contusions and vomiting blood... Liu San took a rough look.
After walking around, they said that the condition of several injured people was not optimistic and they were not expected to survive tomorrow.
"Our public security environment is really not optimistic." Lin Baiguang shook his head. He was very angry. He didn't expect Yaxing to be so bold and the Guandi Temple people to be so rampant. They openly gathered a large number of people to attack the guild hall in broad daylight. This was simply unbelievable.