When we think of the chaos of the Republic of China, we often think of warlords in various provinces, attacking each other for the sake of interests and making the people miserable. However, this is only on the surface, and under the invisible table in the history books, there are still underworld forces. They parasitize the tyranny of this chaos, the closest dark tentacles to ordinary people, the claws that hurt the most.
Picture note: The Republic of China gangsters in film and television dramas
As the capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu was one of the most prosperous cities in southwest China during the Republic of China. Just as Shanghai nourished the Green Gang, there are also underworld brothers in Chengdu, whose style of conduct is no less inferior to that of the Green Gang. Inside, there are a large number of home robbers and gangsters running rampant in the countryside.
Since the Brotherhood was an organization spontaneously formed by the lower classes of The Chinese people, there is no literature left, and it is difficult to find out when it was founded and who founded it. However, according to the performances of the yamen in the southwest of the late Qing Dynasty, we can see that this organization was very active in the late Qing Dynasty, and even had the tendency of "self-reliance portal".
Picture note: The brothers and elders in the film and television drama will worship
According to the records of Qing Dynasty officials, the Brotherhood of elders adopted the method of "meeting with allies" to win over local gentry and street gentry, and form a community with mutually bound interests, which spread throughout the Yangtze River Basin, especially in Sichuan and Chongqing.
However, it should be noted that each "mountain head" under the name of the Brotherhood of Elders has a clear territory, and those who are not in the territory are not allowed to touch it, and the territorial sense is extremely heavy, and the "mountain heads" do not rule over each other.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic of China, when they were opposed to the Qing Dynasty, out of the need to improve the success rate, they saw the influence of the Brotherhood in the southwest, so they actively attracted the members of the Brotherhood to join the establishment of the Republic of China. Because of this, there were a large number of Brotherhood members in the Sichuan Army and the Xiang Army.
In the summer of 1911, the Sichuan epidemic broke out, and on August 4, the members of the Brotherhood of brothers in Sichuan secretly held a "meeting to save the church" in Today's Zizhong Luoquanjing, planning to completely turn the other cheek with the Qing Dynasty. On September 7, a bloody case broke out in Chengdu, and the people of Chengdu took to the streets to protest, and members of the Brotherhood of Elders became activists inside.
Because the members of the Brotherhood of elders usually walked on the blade and had a certain amount of force, after which the Qing army cleared the field, they fought to the end and gave the Qing army a heavy blow. It has made certain contributions to the republic of China government to be able to unify Sichuan.
Picture note: Sichuan armed forces in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty
It is precisely because the Brotherhood was an important armed force in Sichuan at that time, and in Sichuan in the early years of the Republic of China, there was once a military government chief at all levels, who was the local Brotherhood boss. Until the Dian army entered Shu and the Yurong military government merged, the Sichuan warlords also gradually matured.
As later generations, when we look at history, warlords are very hateful, but at that time, everyone was a face-loving warlord, and although they exploited the common people, they also had to pretend to be "diligent in government and love the people" image. A large number of Brotherhood members with the nature of the underworld, standing on the table to maintain local administration, is indeed a bit ugly.
Therefore, the warlords liquidated the Brotherhood with their backhands, and the members of the Brotherhood who held important government positions must be separated from the Brotherhood on the surface, and those who violated the law on the street were killed without forgiveness.
However, the warlord's actions, although on the surface, completely kicked the Brotherhood out of the political situation. However, they have gone into the shadows, and they still control all aspects of Sichuan at all times, and in the eyes of the old Chengdu people, they have even achieved "holding the lives of warlords and big men in their hands and handling public security in Chengdu.".
In 1925, the Sichuan Sanlu warlords Liu Wenhui, Deng Xihou and Tian Songyao entered Chengdu, and Chengdu entered the stage of co-governance of the three armed forces. At this stage, because the warlords were stationed in other places, there was a lack of local resources in Chengdu. Therefore, members of the local Brotherhood of Elders born in Chengdu have been recruited into the army to be responsible for public security and stability maintenance. In order to reduce the risk of assassination, some powerful Brotherhood members were directly recruited into the warlord's side as aide-de-camps.
Photo note: Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui
Liu Wenhui's aide-de-camp Zhang Xingyuan (張星垣), known as Zhang Mazi ;Deng Xihou's aide-de-camp Wen Mengtao (文孟陶), nicknamed Wen Huzi;Tian Songyao's aide-de-camp Jin Hongtu (晋洪图), was known as Jin Fatzi (金 FatZi). All three are the big men of the Brotherhood of the Elderly Association in Chengdu. Although the three belong to different camps, they have to greet each other with "brother" when they meet privately.
Although the warlords are mighty, when they look at them, the Brotherhood will put knives around their necks, and there is a certain reason for the folk rumor that the Brotherhood will "squeeze the life of the warlord in his hand".
At the same time, the management of the Brotherhood in Chengdu was even more profound, and the joint office of the Military and Police Corps under Liu Wenhui was presided over by Yang Tieqiao, a shuangliu Brotherhood boss, from its establishment in 1926 to 1933.
Although the warlords presided over by the Chengdu City Defense Headquarters took turns to sit in zhuangzhuang, the heads of the espionage department below, whether they were Qi Liangzhai, Liu Jiaxing, or Zhao Guodong, were all members of the Brotherhood of Elders. At the same time, Liu Jiaxing is also the person in charge of the "Xiejin" Society of the Brotherhood of Elders, and a large number of members of this "Xiejin" Society are members of the Investigation Department of the Provincial Capital Police Department, and at the same time, the "Xiesheng Gong" Society of the Brotherhood of Elders has also infiltrated a large number of personnel organizations of the criminal police brigade.
Photo note: Chengdu Police of the Republic of China
It can be said that the Brotherhood of the Elders during the Republic of China period influenced Chengdu's local espionage system and police system for a long time. Later, after the military command and the central command entered Sichuan, the Brotherhood of Elders was gradually squeezed out.
Therefore, the old Chengdu people said bluntly that the Brotherhood of the Republic of China will arrange public security in Chengdu, which can also be regarded as reasonable and well-founded.