Chapter 60

After leaving Old Wu’s place, Zhao An went to find Sun Rui. His purpose was twofold: to arrange for Old Wu’s boat travel north, and to go through the formalities for the Green Gang—the "incense hall" initiation, as they called it. Since he had already become a member of the organization, there was no use overthinking it now. He could only try his best to blend in and see if he might one day have a chance to become the "Old Ancestor" himself. If he couldn't manage that, becoming an "Uncle" of a local branch would suffice. Strictly speaking, an organization like the Green Gang was far more formidable than the syndicates of Zhao An’s past life. Its structure was incredibly tight, its members were mostly young, able-bodied laborers, and its ranks reached over a million, with millions more relying on the Grand Canal for their livelihood. During the reign of Yongzheng, Li Wei had spearheaded the militarization of the Green Gang, giving it a level of military capability that persisted to this day; for instance, the members of the "transport gangs"—the paramilitary units under the Grain Transport Yamen—were largely composed of Green Gang men.