What is the San Francisco Civic Council?

This is actually a civic self-governing organization, not subordinate to any government, does not recognize the rule of the Mexican government, and is composed of a group of powerful white captains, lawyers, merchants, ranchers and gold diggers in San Francisco, ranging from 22~26 people, and the current chairman of the council is John Sartre, a hardline white supremacist.

There are five vice presidents of the council, except for the well-known founder of Yerba Meadows, Captain William Richardson, the defected cavalry officer Second Lieutenant Alexander Madison, the Mexican leader Juan Carlos (native white), and Mr. Ralston, a well-known local ranch, and Mr. Adam Tatum, a lawyer, all of whom are rich and powerful whites.

Fortunately, these people are not monolithic, and they all have deep contradictions with each other, which gives Richard the opportunity to divide and win over and sow discord.

The citizens' council is a deformed product in a special historical period and under specific circumstances, and the so-called existence is reasonable.

The Mexican government, which rules the capital of the entire province of Alta California in Sacramento, has effectively lost control of San Francisco and its surrounding vasts due to armed resistance by white immigrants.

The Citizens' Council is the highest decision-making body in San Francisco, and its subordinate private police are the law enforcement force of the new town.

The so-called law enforcement of private police is based on personal likes and dislikes, and there is neither a ready-made legal provision to enforce nor an applicable legal system. To say that you are guilty is guilty, and if you are not guilty, you are guilty, and vice versa, it is so arrogant.

The vast majority of the mounted police were illiterate, and there were only three things that John could tell them: one, kill to pay for one's life, two, pay debts, and three, obey orders.

in the living room

"Mike, since you have joined my Datang Club, I would like to ask you to go to Parkview Green immediately after the meeting to convey our sincerity of in-depth cooperation to Captain William Richardson." Richard sat firmly at the top of the seat, nodded to Mike Rabiot with a warm expression, and continued as if he were an old friend;

"In the Bay Area, the Datang Club does not seek to unite one party against the other, but only seeks fair commercial rights and the right of the congregation to buy land and buy real estate and legally pan for gold, which is our basic demand.

Future developments

Datang will seek to be inclusive, and will serve as a positive force in building a fair, just, reasonable and legal society, and work with like-minded partners to build this promising land.

If Captain William Richardson is willing to cooperate, the two sides can meet at the right time to discuss the details of cooperation in depth.

But in any case, Datang will not want to turn against each other.

Mr. Mike, I would be grateful if you could convey my invitation to Captain William Richardson, at a time and place to be determined by him. ”

"Mr. President, I will convey your will truthfully." Mike Rabiot stood up and replied.

Richard raised his hand in motion; "You may be seated, Mr. Mike. Lao Gai was about to report just now, I don't know what is important? ”

"Elder Qiqi, I will report to you on the seizure of the property of the Agreement Hall." Gai Wangshan stood up and clasped his fists in salute, then pulled out a few pieces of paper from his cuff and unfolded it;

"From last night to this morning, Mr. He and I almost didn't close our eyes with a few people, and basically searched all the properties of the agreement hall, including the house of the dead ghost Lin Zhanhao, and we didn't let go of any of them.

A total of 7,752 ounces of gold, more than 2,300 taels of silver, more than 730 pieces of cloth and silk of various colors, various banknotes worth tens of thousands of dollars, 19 shops, and 9 houses (including four brothels) were seized.

In addition, 113 good horses, 26 horses, 19 large animals such as donkeys and mules, 12 carriages, a silk and satin cloth village, 4 brothels, and 2 gambling stalls were seized.

In addition, more than 220 rifles, 137 short guns, more than 300 knives, more than 40 bows, and a large amount of rice, flour, grain and oil were seized.

The seized land deeds were mainly the Rose Manor outside the city, totaling more than 3,600 hectares of land, as well as the deeds of more than 230 Chinese workers in the manor, and a number of cattle and sheep.

The most important thing is the four brothels in spring, summer, autumn and winter, a total of 363 pig flowers, as well as the 121 pig flowers who have just arrived. ”

Now that all four brothels are closed, this is an urgent problem to be solved.

Knowing that in this era, Richard could not be measured by the moral standards of later generations, so he took the lead in asking for everyone's opinions, including Instructor Mike Rabiot.

As a result, everyone was surprisingly unanimous, and they all advocated continuing to open this business, but be more open-minded, and not overly oppress the women who fell into the fire pit.

A money-making business, don't do it in vain!

From ancient times to the present day

Regardless of whether it is domestic or foreign, prostitution is an ancient profession that has been passed down for thousands of years, and everyone here does not feel that there is anything wrong with it due to their vision and knowledge.

After considering everyone's opinions, Richard finally made up his mind;

At present, the women in the four brothels choose to be good according to their own wishes, and those who are willing to be good will be issued a return deed, and they will be allowed to leave or marry freely.

Voluntary practitioners are also issued a deed of restitution, agreeing with the brothel to share the proportion, the number of years, and after the expiration of the period, they are free to leave without any restrictions.

This unprecedentedly broad condition caused an uproar among everyone present, and even Mike Rabiot exclaimed again and again; "Oh Sell Ga, this is incredible, you are simply the most benevolent brothel owner in the world."

At the hearing of his words, Richard's whole face darkened;

I'd rather not do this kind of business, he doesn't want Datang to have anything to do with brothels, what a "brothel owner", the reputation is too bad.

Since the Datang Society is extremely disgusted with the behavior of the agreement hall doing many evils and forcing good people to become prostitutes, it naturally cannot go along with them and be willing to degenerate.

In the end, the result of the discussion was that Gaiwangshan would come forward to find someone to take over the four brothels, or the prostitutes could contract them, and they could pay the protection fee on time every month.

In this way, it can barely be said that Datang will get rid of the relationship with the brothel.

Gangs, collecting protection money is a routine operation, and no one can pick out the thorns, right?

In St. Francisco, where law and order are extremely chaotic, without strong military protection, the brothel cannot do it for a day.

Over here

Chinese prostitutes are not limited to the four brothels opened by the agreement, but there are also many scattered Chinese prostitutes who work in "saloons" or rooms facing the street, and their safety is very insecure, and prostitutes are often killed or maimed

Nicknamed "laoju" (they often had to raise their legs), these low-level Chinese prostitutes solicited customers in small rooms on the side of the streets, which were sparsely furnished with only a washbasin, a bamboo chair and a hard bed.

The brothels operated by the House of Dealers, usually located on the upper floors of the shops, with spacious rooms, teak and bamboo furniture, and embroidered pillows, attracted large numbers of white and Chinese gold diggers due to their "exotic" atmosphere and relatively reasonable (as opposed to white brothels) prices.

This kind of brothel is equipped with strong weapons, the kind of customers who run away without paying, as long as the woman shouts, the Chinese gunmen stand upstairs and shoot her in the back, kill and throw it on the street to show the public, can ensure that half a month is safe.

Those "old moves" are not good, although there are also some male fellow villagers who guard the home, but they only dare to scare the white people with knives and sticks, and when they encounter the white cowboy pulling out a gun, they will be intimidated.

After all, there is no big force behind these people, and killing a white man is no joke.

In the hands of Sheriff John, the family will be ruined, and at worst, his life will be over.

Compare the two

It is still more secure in a regular brothel, although the brothel pumping is very high, as high as 7~8 percent, but the environment is good, and there is no need to be worried all the time.

Under the persuasion of everyone, considering that there are still many self-depraved women, they have no skills to make a living, they can't endure hardship, they can't stand poverty, these fireworks girls can't carry their backs, they can't pick their shoulders, what do they do if they don't do this?

Thinking that what his subordinates said made sense, Richard could only pinch his nose and admit it, but he insisted on a little;

That is, all women's deeds must be returned, whether to continue to practice is completely voluntary, and no reluctance is allowed, Datang will never do anything to force good people to become prostitutes, nor can they bear this infamy.

Dai Changfu asked for instructions on three things, and Richard directly made arrangements;

Organize a committee of referees to hold a public trial of the backbone and minions of the Association Hall, and allow victims (including prostitutes) to come forward to complain in order to set the record straight.

Three days later

That is, at three o'clock in the afternoon on March 19, all the above-mentioned criminals will be hanged, and the specific will be executed by the team members anyway, which can be regarded as paying the vote.

The new team members and the old team members are mixed, with a total of more than 170 people, and a small number of additional manpower can be added to make up the number of 300 people.

Among them, 200 were armed horses and 100 musket infantrymen.

The reason why so many manpower is needed is because now the territory of the Datang Society is larger, in addition to the daily need to guard the Grape Valley Mountain Customs, the gold rush land by the American River also needs to be guarded by the Datang Club horse team, as well as San Francisco's ...... Ahem, for daily security tasks, this protection fee can't be taken in vain!

A large amount of money has been seized, and now the Datang Club is not short of money, is it okay to recruit some people?

After agreeing on these matters, these leaders of the Datang Society handled their own affairs, and they were all scattered

Richard personally led a team of more than 30 horses to the Rose Manor in the suburbs, and as for the affairs of the Civic Council, he arranged for Mike Rabiot to deal with it, and he did not show up at all.

Knowing that the other party had malicious intentions, how could Richard send it to the door to find abuse?

Say something nasty

Richard's little temper really can't tolerate others stepping on his head, if he pulls out his gun and blows up the old white man's head, won't he go to war?

Even if there is to be a war, now is not the time.

The Datang Society must digest the fruits of the victory of this raid on the Protocol Hall, eradicate the hidden danger of Lin Zhanyuan, and at the same time strengthen its own strength, and reach a tacit understanding with the Fangcaodi or Mexicans to advance and retreat together, so as to meet the conditions for war.

There are more than 8,600 white immigrants in San Francisco, of which more than 1,760 are in the grasslands, and there are no less than 2,500~2,600 in the new town, and the rest are panning for gold by the American River.

How many Chinese are there in the new town?

The total number of people is no more than 730, of which there are more than 400 women, and most of the rest are armed personnel or shop employees of the Datang Society, and their strength is very limited.

As the weather gradually warms up and the gold rush season arrives, the vast majority of Chinese will go to the rivers of America to pan for gold, and there are very few people who stay to work.

Therefore, with this ill-intentioned invitation from Sheriff John, Richard came to use his strength to let Mike Rabiot, a Frenchman, go to him with him.

The top priority at the moment is to eradicate the hidden danger of Lin Zhanyuan.