Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1736 Illegal Buildings
"This is quite impressive..." Liu Xiang smiled, deeply understanding the depth of the gap between the government and the people.This is not something that can be changed overnight.So he didn't rush to make all kinds of "close to the people" gestures: he helped an old lady and asked full of emotion: "How old are you?" How's the income?"Instead, he walked casually along the street.He saw the notice posted by the Comprehensive Management Office on the wall by the street, and there were many people gathered under the notice, obviously all of them came to see the notice, and he felt very satisfied.Our voice must be spread openly, and the farther the better, the better.

Liu Xiang was led by Lin Baiguang and walked along the street.The business here is very prosperous, and there are various shops almost everywhere along the street.There are all kinds of shops.As he walked, he soon realized why Lin Baiguang told him to "come and see for himself"—this 17th-century illegal building, built in disorder, is no worse than the 21st century.

Except for the government offices on both sides of the street, there is hardly an inch of the street that is not occupied by shops on both sides or shacks built by vendors.At least half of the road, which is said to be more than 9 meters wide, has been taken up, and the most exaggerated part can only barely allow a sedan chair to pass in the middle.Dilapidated reed mats, scattered bamboos, scattered bricks and tiles...these dilapidated huts make the whole Chengxuan Street look like a dilapidated second-hand market—to be honest, it is another time and space. The goods market is more organized than here.

He noticed that many sheds were built by the shops on both sides of the street. At first, they were probably for shading, but gradually they became part of the shops.Some simply set up workshops in this shed, and some restaurants and teahouses simply set up tables and chairs in the shed as guest seats.There are also shops that have completed the transformation from sheds to houses, and they have built houses on the road and regarded the encroachment of the road as a fait accompli.

It can be seen that the road surface has not been repaired for a long time, or the repair is very sloppy.He saw at least two types of paving on the street, one was spliced ​​with green bricks erected on the side of herringbone patterns, although it was incomplete, it could be seen that the paving was very delicate; The low profile is good for street drainage.The other is bluestone slabs, and the laying is quite rough.

Right now, whatever the pavement is, the damage is severe, with missing bricks and chipped flagstones.I don't know if there is no drainage ditch or it has been silted up. The drainage on both sides of the road is obviously not smooth. The sewage dumped by the shops on the street is flowing in all directions. Spread the sand to raise the height.The sewage and the garbage piled up everywhere, filled the whole street with an indescribable smell.

Liu Xiang frowned and said, "How many years has this road been repaired?"

Jia Jue hurriedly said: "It will be repaired every two or three years."

Every time it is repaired, high-ranking officials such as the left and right ministers of Guangzhou take office. As usual, one prefecture and two counties in Guangzhou have to repair the road surface. If you sprain your ankle or trip, the magistrate is not easy to explain.The so-called repairs are also very simple, just use sand and gravel to pave the uneven places on the road surface and tamp them down—actually, it is similar to the method of "loess flooding the road".Naturally, such repairs can be fooled for a while, but after a long time, it will become the same again.

"Why don't you use bricks or bluestone slabs to repair the road?"

Jia Jue said with a smile: "Responding to my lord's words: the main reason is that there is no money. The major repair on Chengxuan Street was in the 42nd year of Jiajing. That's what the bluestone slabs will be used for." He smiled apologetically and said, "Your old I don't know, the repair of bridges and roads depends on the gentry and merchants. Now that the age is not stable, who has the spare money? The repair of bridges and roads is not a small amount of money, and it can't be done without tens of thousands of dollars... "

Liu Xiang remembered Yu Eshui's lecture on "Ming Dynasty Fiscal Policy" and knew that this was also true.The local finances in the Ming Dynasty were very weak, public facilities were basically run by the people themselves, and the government was at best an initiator and supervisor.Otherwise, there would not have been so many stories of "building bridges and roads and doing good deeds" in ancient times.

This is really enough "local self-government".Liu Xiang thought.He asked again, "Is there a drainage ditch on Chengxuan Street?"

"Yes!" Jia Jue replied without hesitation.

"where is it?"

"My lord, please take a look." Jia Jue led them to a place on the side of the road that was not occupied by a shed. Liu Xiang saw a section of open ditch exposed to the outside, which was more than one meter wide. Although it was filthy, it could be seen The wall of the ditch made of bricks was filled with silt and all kinds of garbage, almost full, and the sewage was flowing slowly in the ditch, exuding a disgusting stench.

"Originally there was an open ditch on each side of this place, and the rainwater and sewage from each house were poured into it and then discharged into Liumaiqu. Now you can see it too."

These shacks built indiscriminately and encroaching on the road are basically covered with wooden boards or stone slabs and then built on top of them. The original "open ditch" has become a "gutter".

To say that sewers are much more hygienic than open ditches, the problem is that the "illegal buildings" on both sides of the road have completely covered the ditches, and even if the government wants to clear the ditches, they can't do it.

"I haven't washed the ditch for many years, and it's already silted up. It's better if there is no rain these days. After a while, I will go back to the south. When there is more rain, the ditch will overflow. At that time, it will be called 'the smell is not good'." Jia Jue said.

"Why don't you go to the ditch? It's also because you don't have money?"

"Responding to my lord's words: It doesn't take a lot of money to wash the ditches. It doesn't even cost much money to ask the people from the four towns to wash the ditch. It doesn't even cost a lot of money--you just let them take the stinky mud back to make fertilizer. But you have always seen it. , "Jia Jue pointed at these huts, "How do you clean the ditch like this?"

"The store is building a shed in the ditch. It's a big place, but it's their own fault for the smelly water." Liu Xiang was very puzzled.

"My lord, it's true that they deserve to suffer, but this has become the situation. Who wants to tear down their huts and let the officials clean up the ditch. Besides, it's useless to tear down one or two houses. The roads on both sides of the street have to be destroyed." All the huts need to be demolished. There are hundreds of merchants here with different opinions, so the matter has been discussed many times, but it has never been done.”

Liu Xiang said: "These huts used to have no land deeds. The merchants invaded the roads and government land. Why didn't the government demolish them?"

Lin Baiguang smiled and said: "You don't need to ask this question. Demolition of illegal buildings has always been very difficult-there are too many interests in it."

Jia Jue said with a smile: "Master Lin is right, which of these shopkeepers has a large threshold behind them? Some don't mention your county magistrates in Panyu and Nanhai counties, even the magistrates may not be in their eyes. The so-called breaking people Making money is like killing your parents, and you can do anything in a hurry. In the early years, a Hu Futai wanted to demolish the shack, and the shopkeepers made the money channel useless, so they spent money to buy off the Guandi Temple. Thousands of beggars flocked to the gate of the government office to defecate and piss, sing the lotus flower fall, pretend to be crazy and swear at the street, and after a few days of tossing, they forced Master Hu to take back his life."

"Is the beggar so powerful? The yamen is full of torture tools and prisons. Anyone who comes to make trouble will be arrested, and a few more cages will be put to death. This will not cure them?"

"Beggars are all penniless people. Even if they die, their lives are in danger. This can't scare them." Jia Jue laughed. Get out. If things get serious, let your opponents take advantage of it, and the four-word testimonial of 'inciting a civil uprising' will immediately ruin the master's future."

"It's really impressive."

Lin Baiguang said with a smile: "Even if the most prominent wealthy gentry in the city of Guangzhou do weddings and funerals, if you don't pay them 'bichen' in exchange for a post to be pasted at the door, I guarantee that you won't be able to do anything. To do business. Even if there is a big trouble, and a report is sent to the government, they will get a few people to interrogate the dead ghosts. They can fight or kill them at will. Anyway, they have enough lives to use. "

"It seems that the mayor of Guangzhou is really not good." Liu Xiang rubbed his forehead, "Qiongzhou Mansion is just a small place after all. It can't be compared." He turned his head and asked Lin Baiguang:

"How much do you know about the situation in these lower classes?"

"I don't know much. The social conditions here are tens of times more complicated than those in Hainan Island." Lin Baiguang said, "Our Urban Industry Department has a small number of people and a single force, and most of them follow the route of the middle and upper classes, and our knowledge of the bottom of the society is very limited—— But Qiwei Escort should know something about it. The shopkeeper Sun also sent a post to me, asking to see you."

"I'll see you tonight." Liu Xiang said, "We need people like them right now."

"Don't have too much hope. Although there are all kinds of people in the escort agency, they are just 'dealing', not 'colluding'. They don't necessarily know all the thresholds inside."

"You are making it difficult for me." Liu Xiang said with a smile, he realized
"Where, where," Lin Baiguang said, "the three religions and nine schools outside the city of Guangzhou are still quite afraid of us - this is thanks to the special investigation team back then. I don't think it is too difficult to demolish illegal buildings. We just entered the city. The demolition of the illegal buildings on Chengxuan Avenue is equivalent to expressing to the citizens of Guangzhou our determination to remove the old and build the new."

"Yes, not only that. We also need to do a few practical things to let them know that we are different from the decadent and declining Ming Dynasty." Liu Xiang said, "My first impression after entering the city was that the streets were dirty and the sewage was flowing. We The army and government personnel should be mobilized to carry out a comprehensive cleaning to remove the garbage in the city, and to desilt the sewer system in Guangzhou. These are all things that are actually beneficial to the people.”

(End of this chapter)