Chapter 4 Military Police Third Battalion

  "But Wen Yuan, there are some unwritten rules behind the scenes that you, as a young man from the central government, may not be aware of. Generally speaking, whether in the concession or in the Chinese district, if someone commits a crime and is caught and thrown into prison, everything they eat, wear, and use in prison requires payment; otherwise, the expenses would become a public burden. Moreover, after paying the money, the prison guards can share the profits, so naturally, taking care of them becomes easier." Hao Shao Guang brought out his more mature side to discuss some experiences with Xu Shao Wen, this young man: "As for this money, commonly known as 'gate fees' in Shanghai slang, it's usually necessary to find the family members of the person who committed the crime to ask for it."

  Xu Shaowen's expression changed, and although he had also heard of similar donations before, using them in prisons was unthinkable. Didn't that neglect human rights? He immediately asked: "But this way, once someone can't afford to pay, won't they have to suffer from hunger and cold in prison?"

  "If it's just petty theft, and the family can't afford to bail them out, they'll just suffer in prison for a few days before being released. As for those who commit serious crimes, that's their own fault." Hao Shaoguang saw Xu Shaojun's indignant expression and couldn't help but think of his own youth, when he was also like this. However, now it seems that some deep-seated habits can't be changed no matter how angry one gets.

  Hao Jiguang continued: "What our third battalion means by assisting the concession's security is handling situations like this within the concession. If a Chinese person commits a crime in the concession and is caught by the concession police, but cannot afford to pay the door fee and has committed a relatively minor offense, releasing him would not be right, nor would detaining him be right. At that time, the police station would send someone to notify our third battalion, which would then take charge of handling such cases."

  "What's this, isn't it also too absurd? Because they can't afford the door fee, even the prison doesn't lock up the prisoners. If things go on like this, won't the law and order be in chaos?" Xu Shao Wen said with some dissatisfaction, his face still flushed with indignation, the sense of justice he brought from the 21st century still unchanged to this day. "If it's said that way, these criminals who can't afford the door fee, even if they're brought out from the concession area, the prison on the Chinese side won't take them in either. Are they just going to be let go like that?"

  "It's precisely because of this that I said earlier our third camp's affairs are very complicated and certainly can't be underestimated," Hao Lieguang said calmly, his middle-aged eyes with an air of being unflappable slowly swept over Xu Shaowen's body, as if sizing him up. "After we bring these prisoners who have committed not-so-big-not-so-small crimes out of the concession area, this is when our ability to handle affairs must be put to the test. Since they can't afford the gate tax and neither the concession nor the Chinese jail cells are willing to take them in, then we must use judgment to ultimately find a way to solve the problem."

  "How to solve it?" Xu Shao saw Hao Jiaoguang's steady expression and felt that he was too rash, so he restrained his heart and calmed down.

  "First, let's analyze what kind of crime this person has committed," Hao Jiguang said seriously. "If it's just some minor offense that's been blown out of proportion, we can simply release them or send them to Zhabei for a stint of hard labor; if it's not too serious but still a significant matter, we can arrest him and have him serve in the military. If it's something heinous like murder or arson - although usually the concession police would handle such cases themselves - I mean, if there really is some scoundrel who deserves to die, we can take them out of town and execute them on the spot."

  Xu Shao Wen was somewhat impulsive and wanted to refute something, but he stopped himself. He calmed his mind down and thought seriously about Hao Jia Guang's words. In this era, there were countless cases of bribery, although he came from the 21st century, wanting to change such a deeply ingrained bad habit would be like trying to crack a rock with an egg. Since that was the case, he could only choose to maintain the remaining fairness in this unfair world.

  Hao Liangguang is right. If it weren't for maintaining this cruel fairness, Shanghai wouldn't have established the third military police regiment either.

  "I understand." Xu Shao Wen finally sighed and nodded his head.

  "Wen Yuan, you're young and vigorous, I understand that, but don't underestimate the work of our third battalion, thinking we're just here to wipe the backsides of the concession police station," Hao Zhaoguang chuckled, stood up and walked over to the other side of the table, patted Xu Shaowen's shoulder. "What our third battalion does isn't just about carrying guns, it's more important to carry brains."

  Xu Shaowen smiled wryly and didn't say a word.

  "In fact, our third camp usually deals with two types of cases. The first type is the kind I just told you about, those who can't afford to pay the door fee. The other type mainly involves rich young masters who get into trouble in the concession area. For example, if some big shot's son gets into trouble in the concession area, no matter how serious the crime is, we will negotiate with the police station and try our best to get him released back to the Chinese jurisdiction." Hao Shaoguang added another sentence.

  "What does this count for? Is it because the rich and powerful have money, so they can let him off scot-free?" Xu Shao Wen asked skeptically, he disliked nothing more than wealthy people interfering with judicial justice.

  "It can't be said that way," Hao Jiguang smiled, "Now Shanghai has a large piece of land occupied by foreigners, and as a result, a considerable part of Shanghai's economy is controlled by foreigners. Our Huajie is a poor and remote place, and we can only rely on the support of a few wealthy families to sustain our economy, so we must try our best to protect their interests. Of course, if these rich young masters commit crimes, sending them back to Huajie for punishment is also necessary, but it's better than letting foreigners get hold of evidence against these wealthy families."

  Xu Shaowen thought for a moment and finally replied: "Indeed it is."

  "To be honest, our third camp is not bad either. We have a leisurely life when we're idle, and we're busy when we need to be. When there's oil to be made, we make oil; when there are human relationships to be had, we have them," Hao Jiguang said with a smile. "We usually deal with the concession areas, so naturally we have more opportunities to get to know influential foreigners. And we also often show our faces to help the wealthy gentry of the Chinese community, and these rich nationals will remember our kindness."

  At this moment, a figure suddenly rushed in from outside the office door. Judging from his attire, he also seemed to be an officer of the Third Regiment. He didn't have time to salute and report, hastily walking over to Hao Shaoguang while also casting a suspicious glance at the newly arrived Xu Shaojun who was still wearing his Army University uniform.

  "Hao Guanda, something's happened again on the French concession side." This officer was a young man of twenty-seven or eight years old, older than Xu Shaowen, but his temperament seemed less steady than Xu Shaowen. He wiped the big sweat from his forehead and his chest was still panting heavily, apparently having run over from the French concession side.

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