Biography of historical figures "Gao Zhiyuan" Part 1 "Gao Xiangyun" Chapter 3 "Gao Xiangyun"
Portrait of Gao Zhiyuan
5. The vigilante group · eliminate evil
The "Defense Regiment" of the Republic of China's "Luan County Chronicles· Political Affairs Chronicles (3) Armed Preparations and Wuxun Defense" recorded, "In the past ten years, the people of Shuomen have been quiet, bandits have been frequent, kidnapping and robbery cases have been seen endlessly, and the villagers are restless at night, and even frightened overnight. The local police force is weak and not enough to defend it, so the defense is set up as an important policy. In Luan County, in the 15th room of the Republic of China, it was ordered that the Qing Township Security Office was located in the county seat, and the county party committee appointed Li Yongsen, Feng Qingyou, Zhang Huating, Tian Diyun and other four people as the directors of the general regiment, and supervised the townships to draw Ding Ding for self-defense.
Forced to the 17th year of the Republic of China, the county's security was reorganized, the Qingxiang Security Office was ordered to change the regiment, set up the headquarters of the regiment in the county government, the county magistrate concurrently served as the head of the regiment, and the director of the financial bureau Tian Diyun served as the deputy head of the regiment, and the internal organization of the regiment had clerks, accountants, inspectors, etc., each district set up a sub-regiment, according to the police district set up a sub-regiment, placed a regiment is a person, directly under the jurisdiction of the regiment, each township has a branch, each regiment has a regiment, a squad leader, ten regiments, directly under the jurisdiction of the sub-regiment. There are more than 2,000 regiments in the county, and the system is well organized, especially the training method, so that the bandits can be calmed down and the local area can be stopped.
During the 19th year of the Republic of China, the general regiment was reorganized as the general head of the regiment, and the deputy general regiment was the deputy chief of the regiment, and all the organizations remained the same.
In the past 21 years, it was ordered to reorganize, abolish the regiments in each district, and organize the district regiment headquarters to concurrently serve as the head of the district, and each district has a regimental battalion of 90 people, a team leader, and a team leader in each detachment, and each detachment has a detachment leader, and centralized training is no longer set up in each township.
In March of that year, Tian Diyun, the deputy head of the regiment, was unable to take charge of the affairs of the regiment because the financial affairs of the manager were too complicated, so he resigned from the part-time position of the deputy head of the regiment.
In April of that year, the regimental headquarters of all districts and districts were abolished, and the brigades of each district were directly under the jurisdiction of the regiment.
In the past 23 years, Liu Zuozhou, the third head of the security team stationed in Luan, and Sun Rongbin, the head of the regiment, and Sun Zhizhou, the deputy head of the regiment, jointly agreed that the security corps would send a committee leader to train the security corps in all districts, and increase the number of regimental workers by 2 to 300 in each district, and increase the salary of the captain. Since then, the regimental affairs have been greatly expanded, and they have tried their best to train. The villagers are becoming more and more burdened.
In the winter of the 24th year, Commissioner Yin and County Magistrate Chen (succeeded by Chen Ren) could not bear to sit idly by and watch the suffering in view of the heavy burden on the villagers, so they reorganized the defense regiments of each district into the first brigade and went to Changping, and then dispersed. So far, although the pain of the villagers has been relieved, the losses have also been heavy. ”
The "Luan County Chronicles" of the Republic of China recorded the establishment of the defense regiment as "order", but in fact, it was only before and after the tenth year of the Republic of China (1921). In the 22nd year of the Republic of China, that is, the "Tanggu Agreement" in 1933, and the "Hemei Agreement" in the 24th year of the Republic of China, that is, in 1935, the "Hemei Agreement" was signed successively, and the eastern Hebei region became a "demilitarized zone". The anarchy caused by this 'political void' has led to social unrest in eastern Hebei and rampant banditry in urban and rural areas. There are more than a dozen bandits in the Luannan area alone, such as Liu Lanting, the bandit leader who is active in the Luanle border area, Zheng Deen and Zheng Deyong, the bandit leaders in the Chuanlin area, Zhang Xiting, the bandit leader in the Hugezhuang area, and Zhang Xiwu, the bandit leader in the area of Hugezhuang, nicknamed the 'three battalion chiefs', and Paoli (the common name of 18 villages such as Jiangbao, Gaobao, Liangbao, Zhongbao, Xiaotun, Beiying, Zhangbao, Huopao, and Fangpao), and Hu Baoshan, the bandit leader in the Macheng area. In addition, there are also small groups of bandits who are active in the vicinity of my city, such as 'grass chicken feathers', 'cake beans', and 'Du Erzu'.
Taking advantage of the special environment in eastern Hebei, these bandits often go out to extort money, rob people's daughters, and kidnap their only son, causing harm to the people and disturbing their lives. In addition, the puppet army that invaded eastern Hebei with the Japanese army, except for some of them who were reorganized into the 'Eastern Hebei Theater Security Team', the rest were dismissed. Some of the demobilized ruffians also became bandits.
The above-mentioned bandits burned, killed, and plundered, and did all kinds of evil, but they rarely touched the Japanese, and some were even protected by the Japanese army.
Bandits during the Republic of China
Under such circumstances, the rural areas in Luannan have followed the existing practice and generally set up defense regiments to prevent bandits from defending themselves. The weapons of the defense regiment are to buy guns according to the amount of land of each household, generally buying a gun for 50 acres of land, in some places buying a gun for 30 acres of land, and for less than 30 mu or 50 acres, several households buy a gun together according to this standard. Those who have guns are members of the defense regiment, and young adults who have no money are also members of the regiment. (See the History of Luannan County of the Communist Party of China (Draft for Review), Vol. 1, 2017, p. 45)
This is how the militia in the third district (Macheng) of Luan County, where Gao Xiangyun is located, was established.
Chen Weiji, "In order to protect their families, the common people have set up Lianzhuang Associations and self-defense regiments in various villages. ..... We are a team of the self-defense regiment in Yutun, Haozhuang and Da Li Zhuang, and there are more than 50 people in the north, and each person can receive seven yuan of ocean per month, and these expenses are drawn from the tax per mu. At that time, it cost 120 or 30 yuan to buy a gun, and most of the sources of the guns were scattered among the people when the team of the warlord Zhang Zongchang in the 17th year of the Republic of China was beaten in Luan County. Because Zhiyuan is kind, fair, and good marksmanship, everyone elected him as the captain.
Before the establishment of the self-defense regiment in our villages, there was a group of bandits in the vicinity, and the leader was Hu Baoshan, who relied on his own strength to not lose money, gathered a group of people to do evil, and often harassed and kidnapped votes in neighboring villages, and did all kinds of evil, and the masses hated him to the core. At that time, the bandit leader Hu Baoshan was afraid of Gao Zhiyuan, and threatened: "As long as Gao Zhiyuan is cleaned up, I will be afraid of no one." For this reason, he is always looking for opportunities to attack Gao Zhiyuan.
In the winter of 1933, Gao Zhiyuan's father-in-law Yuan Kunshan died, and a 'big hanging' was held for a grand funeral. Hu Baoshan, the leader of the bandits, knew that the Gao family and the Yuan family had been good for generations, and Zhiyuan was a person who talked about 'loyalty and filial piety', so he would definitely go to the old Yuan family to accompany the spirit to hang his filial piety, thinking that this was a good opportunity to eliminate the self-defense group.
So, Hu Baoshan said to the other bandits: 'The Yuan family is holding a funeral, Gao Zhiyuan will definitely hang his filial piety, if he is not there, only the dozens of people in the self-defense regiment are from crops, and they are not worth a dozen at all, let's first surround their 'regimental bureau' (referring to the team headquarters), and then grab their guns." ’
Gao Zhiyuan immediately gathered people and horses, surrounded Hu Baoshan and a group of bandits who were still holding a meeting in Xiaohaozhuang in the evening, and captured them alive.
At that time, Hu Baoshan heard that Gao Zhiyuan led people to surround the village, and thought that if he really wanted to use a gun, he himself would definitely not be Gao Zhiyuan's opponent, so he ran to the pit of an old man named Wang Zhang in Haozhuang, and told Wang Zhang not to leak the news, once the news leaked, as long as he Hu Baoshan had a breath, he would never spare the old man Wang Zhang, saying that if he wanted to escape this catastrophe, he would be rewarded in the future. So according to Hu Baoshan's instructions, the old man Wang Zhang covered the kang mat, and there was no flaw in the house, inside or outside the house, on and under the kang.
Because the other bandits didn't have any big crimes, after they were caught, they said that they would change their evil and turn to good in the future and never do bad things again, so Gao Zhiyuan let them go, but the bandit leader Hu Bao was not caught. Gao Zhiyuan judged that it was impossible for Hu Baoshan to leave the village, and someone happened to report that when he saw Hu Baoshan, he often went to Wang Zhang's house. So Gao Zhiyuan took a few of us to the old man Wang Zhang's house to search. As soon as he entered Wang Zhang's house, Zhiyuan asked: 'Hu Baoshan didn't come?' ”
Old man Wang Zhang replied: "Hu Baoshan didn't come, he didn't come to the house at all. While using his fingers in the kang hole.
As a result, Gao Zhiyuan called the old man Wang Zhang outside and said: 'It's none of your business, let's search by ourselves!' ’
Saying that, Gao Zhiyuan walked to the edge of the kang, and when he pulled the kang mat, he found Hu Baoshan, Zhiyuan forced Hu Baoshan with a pistol and said: 'Come out, if you don't come out, I will kill you!' ’
Hu Baoshan was already frightened, trembling like sifting chaff, and as soon as he heard it, he obediently raised his hands and came out.
We first escorted the bandit leader Hu Baoshan to Duoyutun Damiaoli, where the self-defense team headquarters is located, and planned to send him to the Macheng District Office or the county the next day. Gao Zhiyuan asked us all to sum it up first, and someone proposed: 'I'm not sure if I send it up, Hu Baoshan has made a fortune in the past few years, and their family has lived up and down for a while, isn't it redeemed?' The traitor leader Liu Zuozhou needs such a person, so it is better to get rid of him as soon as possible to avoid future troubles. We all agreed with that, and that night we said to escort him away. I took the rope that tied Hu Baoshan, and deliberately left the rope a live buckle, I remember that night was a moon land, Zhiyuan and they took Hu Baoshan to the north of the village, saying that he would be sent to the district office. After walking for a while, Zhiyuan motioned for me to untie the live button that tied Hu Baoshan, I understood, pretended to fall, threw my hand down, and pulled Hu Baoshan's rope with the buckle, Hu Baoshan ran away, and when he ran out, Zhiyuan shot at Hu Baoshan.
Hu Baoshan was killed on the spot, he was in his thirties when he died, Gao Zhiyuan was twenty-six years old, and I was twenty-three years old.
After getting rid of Hu Baoshan, the villagers in the third district of Macheng and the neighboring villages in the vicinity went to tell each other that Gao Zhiyuan had accumulated great virtues, done a great deed, and eradicated a major scourge, and since then the area of the third district of Macheng has been much more stable. (Chen Wei, "I Followed Gao Zhiyuan Twice to Eliminate the Tyrant", see "Soul Jidong", p. 6)
Another note: "In the spring of 1933, Zhiyuan took a few of us to the Tingliu River in Leting County to recruit about 200 people, preparing to participate in the 'Volunteer Family' and support the 'Great Wall War of Resistance',.....
At this time, there was a big bully Liu Lanting in the southern division camp of Luan County, and after he heard the news that Gao Zhiyuan had recruited the 'Volunteer Army', he led a group of bandits to preach that they would surround us, confiscate our guns, and prevent the establishment of the 'Volunteer Army'. Because Liu Lanting was a local tyrant, there were many others at that time, and he was forced to have no choice, so Gao Zhiyuan had to distribute the foreign money to everyone according to the distance of the road to make the road expenses, and was sent home. He ran away alone and went to Tangshan to find Peng Zuyou. (Chen Wei, "I Followed Gao Zhiyuan Twice to Eliminate the Tyrant", see "Soul of Jidong", pp. 5-6)
Another note: "Liu Lanting is a native of Xiaosiying in Luan County, about 20 years older than us. Liu Lanting, this guy is very different from Hu Bao Yamada. Hu Baoshan just took advantage of the chaos in the world to make black money, and his methods were to kidnap tickets, slander people, and rob things. Liu Lanting also kidnapped votes, and his hands were also black, but he was politically ambitious, he took root with Liu Zuozhou, the head of the big traitor 'National Salvation Army' stationed in the Luan Theater, pulled up a group of troops, and also played the banner of 'Loyal and Righteous National Salvation Army', and the ruffians and bandits in the southern part of Luan County to the coastal area gathered under his name, robbed men and women, and made people die and live, and did all kinds of bad things, which has long left public anger in our hometown. Later, in order to collect money, Liu Lanting also engaged in a very big gamble, named 'Say Hui', a total of 37 doors, bribed the ruffians and hooligans who did not walk, and 'ran the wind' for him within a radius of dozens of miles.
The 'running wind' can speak well, and many people have been turned around, and they have all lost their homes. My father was an honest farmer who lived a life, he didn't spend a penny indiscriminately, there was a person in our village who asked Liu Lanting to buy and give him a 'run', my father couldn't stand this person's propaganda, and he also spent money to 'will', he didn't win once, and he 'won' next time, so he lost his family.
At that time, there was a slip of the tongue, 'It's going to be good, it's going to be good, it's going to be pants first, then it's going to be a jacket.'" The people hated it so much.
Liu Lanting was still slow to make a fortune, so he openly took people from private households as hostages, and let the people who were taken out use heavy money to redeem them.
One night, the guns rang out fiercely in Yixingwangzhuang, more than two miles southeast of Macheng, and the next morning I heard that Liu Lanting had snatched people, and left a message: 'Don't kill if you want money, you have to spend money if you want money.' If you want someone, take the money and redeem it. The local people complained to the self-defense group one after another, and said: "The rabbit still doesn't eat the grass next to the nest, Liu Lanting is only ten miles away from here, and he is so black, even a rabbit is not as good, if you don't get rid of him, what else is the self-defense group called?" ’
Zhiyuan was very angry when he heard this, thinking that Liu Lanting had disbanded the 'Volunteer Army' we established in 1933, and he was even more angry, so Gao Zhiyuan decided to get rid of Liu Lanting, the big bully. (Chen Wei, "I Followed Gao Zhiyuan Twice", see "The Soul of Jidong", pp. 8-9)
Gao Jizhi remembered: "My father first went to Siying to find my old uncle Liu Xingzhou, and my old village uncle Liu Xingzhou introduced him to Liu Lanting, the leader of the big bandits. (Gao Jizhi, "Shed the Last Blood for the Death of the Country", see "The Soul of Jidong", p. 89)
Chen Weiji: "The day to get rid of Liu Lanting was the seventh day of the seventh month of the old calendar in 1934. Before this, because Liu Lanting was powerful and had the support of the big traitor Liu Zuozhou, it was not easy to get rid of him. For this reason, Zhiyuan took me to reconnoiter the vicinity of Xiaosiying four or five times, all of which were after dinner, and walked more than ten miles to the foot of the iron stone mountain at the edge of Xiaosiying Village to visit Liu Lanting's whereabouts. Then we lived in Tian Tong's house in Yu Cang, who was Gao Zhiyuan's eldest brother-in-law.
We figured out that Liu Lanting always 'said that he would' gamble on Tieshi Mountain during the day, and sometimes went home at night, so we had to observe back and forth along the slope of Tieshi Mountain every time.
At that time, Liu Lanting also knew that his behavior was not good and his reputation was stinky, while Gao Zhiyuan's character was good and won the hearts of the people. Therefore, Liu Lanting always wanted to connect with Gao Zhiyuan, eliminate the previous 'knot', and also wanted to win over Gao Zhiyuan, so as not to be against him, so he often sent letters to Gao Zhiyuan and asked us to be guests.
Zhiyuan, we ignored him at first, but then we thought that it would be better to make a plan and use this opportunity to get rid of him. At that time, Zhiyuan discussed it with me and made up his mind, but others didn't know.
I remember that the day I got rid of Liu Lanting was the Macheng market day, and Gao Zhiyuan took dozens of our self-defense regiments to the market in the morning. At noon, Zhiyuan said to everyone: 'Let's go to the company to do something.' So everyone followed.
When they reached the southeast direction of the Dasi camp, they stopped, and Zhiyuan and Yang Wanchang of Dongtuozi said: "Chen Wei and I will go to the village first, you take everyone to cat in the crop field, if we have an accident, you will quickly respond." ’
After speaking, I followed Zhiyuan to the small camp at the foot of Tieshi Mountain, and walked into the compound of Liu Lanting's house.
Liu Lanting happened to be at home, he was surprised and happy when he saw the two of us, because he finally invited Gao Zhiyuan to the house, and only two people came, so he was very relieved.
He let us into the house, and Zhiyuan took the opportunity to take off the two guns and put them on the cabinet casually.
Liu Lanting was more at ease at this time, and the two of them started talking, fiddling with each other's guns while talking, sometimes dismantling them, sometimes putting them on again, and the more they pulled them, the closer they were.
Immediately, Liu Lanting ordered his family to prepare wine and food. I clearly remember that the banquet was placed in the east main room of the Liu family, and the table of the Eight Immortals was placed on the kang, Liu Lanting sat in the southwest corner, Zhiyuan sat in the east, and I sat in the northeast corner.
Liu Lanting apologized to Gao Zhiyuan while eating: "There was a place where I couldn't live with my brother before, don't worry about it, in the future, we will have to contact more and take care of each other." ‘
Zhiyuan asked: "I heard that your 'meeting' is prevalent here, and the people of the four towns have complaints, what do you think?"
Liu Lanting shirked and said: 'That's all done by the people below, a little gamble, change it in the future, just don't let the people below do it again!' ’
The meal took about half an hour to eat, we said let's go, Liu Lanting while staying, while putting on shoes, just when Liu bent down to lift his shoes, Zhiyuan took out the third gun from his arms, and the 'horn' shot Liu Lanting hit a bullet in the head, I was afraid that he would not die, so I made up another shot from Liu Lanting's waist, and the big bully Liu Lanting returned to the west with his life.
At that time, there were six or seven Liu Lanting's bodyguards in the Xizheng house and the wing house of the Liu family, Gao Zhiyuan held two guns in his hand, and preemptively guarded the door of the main landlord's house, and shouted: "We are here to settle accounts with Liu Lanting today, and it has nothing to do with others." It's the friends who go away, and the enemies who come up! ’
None of Liu Lanting's bodyguards dared to come out, there was silence outside the courtyard, Gao Zhiyuan and the two of us left, and I also took out the pony pistol that Liu Lanting was lying in the door.
After a while, the two of us arrived at the southeast of Dasiying, met the dozens of brothers who were cats in the crop field, briefly told the story of killing Liu Lanting, and returned to the self-defense team headquarters of Yuyutun along the road.
Gao Zhiyuan's assassination of Liu Lanting soon caused a sensation in the whole county, and the people all applauded. Coupled with Hu Baoshan, who was eliminated before, the people said that Lizhiyuan gave Luan County two big 'town things' and scourges. In the past, there were many local people who took advantage of the chaos to rob, those who dominated the government and the market, and those who seized the people's daughters, but they were all shocked for a while and had to be restrained somewhat, and even the bandit leaders in the areas of Liangcheng and Hugezhuang had to disband their ranks. (Chen Wei, "I Followed Gao Zhiyuan Twice", in "The Soul of Jidong", pp. 9-11)
Old photo of the Republic of China · Capture bandits