Just when Fang Lang was still weighing the pros and cons of Fang Xinshui joining the Hongmen.
The old man sighed and said:
"Hey! Hongmen? Who would have thought that after all these twists and turns, you'd end up back here?
If you really want to open a Hongmen branch in Brazil, there is no need to go through so much trouble.
Lang'er, your great-grandfather was actually a member of the Hongmen.
According to him, the reason why he joined the Heavenly Kingdom was because Qin Shuai of the Heavenly Kingdom was a member of the Hongmen.
He was also attracted by Qin Shuai’s character.”
After hearing what the old man said, the whole family looked at him in amazement.
At the beginning, when Fang Lang was discussing the history and program of Hongmen with Fang Xinshui at home, the old man acted as if he was listening to something new and never revealed his identity as the great grandfather.
...
...
I didn't expect that when I talked about my uncle Fang Xinshui joining the Hongmen today, a big Buddha image popped up.
The General Qin that the old man mentioned should be Qin Riguang, one of the main generals of the Heavenly Kingdom.
However, Fang Lang had never expected that the Prime Minister of Heaven, one of the eight founding fathers of the Heavenly Kingdom, was also born in the Hongmen.
It seems that the members of the Hongmen were indeed very flexible. In order to participate in the anti-Qing cause, they actually joined the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom organization.
"Grandpa, when we were discussing Hongmen at home before, I never heard you mention that Grandpa had such an identity!"
Fang Lang asked quickly.
The old man saw that everyone in the family was looking at him, and he sighed and said:
"Hey! At the beginning, your great grandfather didn't tell me about the Hongmen. It was not until he got older and liked to recall the past that I heard about this organization from him.
But your great grandfather said that there are many branches of the Hongmen in your hometown, and some of the things some people do are not worthy of being mentioned in public.
It made him feel ashamed, so he rarely mentioned this identity.
As for why I didn’t tell you about the Hongmen’s rules and secret codes when you were discussing them.
That’s because I don’t understand it either! I just listen to it for fun.”
Fang Lang and Fang Xinshui looked at each other. They didn't expect this to be the case.
However, the old man's meaning was expressed very clearly. It seems that Fang Lang's great grandfather was not a simple person at the beginning.
The reason for his relatively low status may be that he joined the kingdom of heaven relatively late and at a relatively young age!
Speaking of the Hongmen, in fact, its original intention was not to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. This can be seen from the fact that there are very few political words in the original "Thirty-six Oaths" of the Hongmen.
This situation gradually changed after the Opium War. In order to resist the Qing Dynasty and seek asylum, many intellectuals joined the Hongmen, which changed the personnel structure of the Hongmen, which was mainly composed of farmers and small handicraftsmen.
Under the influence of these intellectuals, the Hongmen began to carry out various activities with the goal of opposing the Qing Dynasty.
However, many Hongmen disciples also used their identities to engage in illegal activities. During the "piglet" trade in the late Qing Dynasty, Hongmen disciples personally abducted, sold, and transported Chinese laborers, making huge profits from this criminal transaction.
In the southern provinces, Hongmen disciples monopolized the trade in liquor and opium and opened many casinos and brothels.
People who joined the Hongmen came from all walks of life, and the members' backgrounds were mixed. These Hongmen disciples who were engaged in illegal businesses caused the Hongmen's reputation for loyalty to plummet.
So what Mr. Fang said about being not presentable should be referring to these people and things.
"But Grandpa has passed away for so long, and we haven't joined the Hongmen yet. How can we establish a Hongmen Hall without going through the Hongmen?
The Hongmen Hall established in this way will not be recognized by the Hongmen Halls in other parts of the world!"
The identity of the Hongmen is not passed down from generation to generation. It does not mean that if the grandfather is a member of the Hongmen, they will also be members of the Hongmen.
Therefore, Fang Lang felt that his grandfather's thinking was a little too simple.
Fang Xinshui also understood this, so he shook his head and said:
"Dad! Things are not that simple if we want to set up a Hongmen Hall.
First of all, we ourselves must be members of the Hongmen.
If you have never opened an incense hall and your name is not registered, who will recognize your identity?"
After hearing what the two said, the old man didn't say much, but stood up, walked to the shrine, pulled out a drawer and opened it.
Fang Lang didn't understand what the old man was doing, and hurried over to support him.
But then the old man took out something wrapped in red silk from the drawer and handed it over.
Fang Lang quickly took it.
Then I heard the old man say:
"Your great grandfather said at the beginning that this was something he brought out, called a token of Hong Yi Tang.
Take a look, does it work?"
Fang Lang and Fang Xinshui looked at each other. They didn’t expect that there was such a thing in the shrine at home. Why had they never noticed it before?
Fang Lang handed it to Fang Xinshui and asked him to open it. He then stepped forward and lifted up his grandfather's hand, allowing him to sit down on the recliner.
After Fang Xinshui took it solemnly, he signaled to his nephew Fang Tao, who had been watching the fun nearby, to clean up the things on the table.
Then, put the package on it and open it, gently unwrapping the outermost red cloth.
A piece of faded yellow silk was revealed.
After it was opened, everyone gathered around.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a yellow triangular flag with the three large characters "Hong Yi Tang" embroidered on it in red thread, and there were red borders on the bottom and diagonal edges of the flag.
Fang Lang understood that this should be the name of the hall where his grandfather belonged.
Inside the flag was another piece of red silk with words written on it. As Fang Xinshui slowly turned it over, before Fang Lang could see clearly what was written on the red silk, he saw that what was wrapped inside was actually a booklet.
The cover of the booklet is very beautifully made, more than three millimeters thick, and looks like it is wrapped in yellow silk cloth, but it has been there for too long.
The yellow cover has turned a little pale, and there is a large black stain in the upper left corner.
Fang Lang took a closer look and found that the stain was probably the color that had turned into after blood seeped in and oxidized over time.
On the right side, from top to bottom, there are several traditional Chinese characters written very clearly: "Hongyitang Roster".
After seeing this booklet, Fang Xinshui's eyes widened and he looked at Fang Lang in disbelief.
Fang Lang's gaze just met Fang Xinshui's, and the expressions of both of them slowly changed from shock to surprise.
This roster is of great significance.
With this roster and the flag of Hong Yitang, Fang Xinshui can directly carry out activities in the name of Hong Yitang.
We can even directly invite Hongmen members from all over the world to witness the rebirth of Hongmen Hongyitang in Brazil.
The history of this hall is obviously earlier than that of the Hongmen Zhigongtang.
In this way, even if the current headquarters of the Hongmen is the Zhigongtang, the subordinate relationship between the two halls will become less obvious.
This is obviously very beneficial for the Fang family.
As Fang Xinshui picked up the roster to look at it, Fang Lang noticed the red silk wrapped around it, which looked to be something other than simple.
On the whitish red silk, there were four big characters written in black pen in the middle: "Uphold justice and eliminate evil."
Above the big characters are slightly smaller characters that read "Red Peony with Stamens", and below are "White Peony in Bloom".
On the right side it says "Two Dragons Fighting for a Pearl" and on the left side it says "Two Phoenixes Facing the Sun".
The handwriting is not beautiful and it is impossible to tell the calligraphy level. The person who wrote these words should not have a very high cultural level.
Even the word "er" in "erlong zhengzhu" looks more like a typo.
However, when Fang Lang saw the red silk, he felt that this thing should not be simple.
As for its specific functions, you may have to ask the people in the Hongmen.
Fang Xinshui said as he flipped through the roster:
"Lang'er, do you think these things are useful?"
Fang Lang looked at Fang Xinshui who was obviously smiling and said:
"Whether it is useful or not, you can find out by just asking.
Didn’t Mr. Situ invite you to join the Hongmen?
Then just put these things out there and see what he says.”
After hearing Fang Lang's words, Fang Xinshui closed the roster and looked at Fang Lang and said:
"You mean, you agree to let me join the Hongmen and open a Hongmen branch in Brazil?"
“No, it’s not about joining the Hongmen, it’s about reorganizing the Hongyitang.
Invite Mr. Situ to Brazil to preside over the ceremony, so that Hongyitang can return to the embrace of Hongmen all over the world. "
Fang Lang said with a smile on his face.
With this outer cover, the Fang family can completely control the Hongmen force in Brazil and use it for their own purposes.
You can even use this flag to directly recruit Hongmen disciples from your hometown.
The rapid development and growth prevented the Hongmen headquarters from infiltrating Brazil.
"Yes, reorganize Hong Yi Tang. From today on, our gang will be called Hong Yi Tang. Haha..."
After Fang Xinshui finished speaking, he laughed triumphantly.
But before he could finish laughing, he was hit by the old man's cane.
"You are getting carried away. Things haven't even started yet. How do you know that others won't trip you up?
You are already old, but you still haven’t learned to be steady.”
Fang Xinshui was so frightened that he immediately shut up and everyone burst into laughter.
Yang Xiuer saw the opportunity and quickly interrupted:
"Lang'er! How long can you stay this time? You are not a child anymore, and you have made some progress now.
I was thinking, should I arrange a blind date for you too!"
Fang Lang never thought that his mother would be waiting for him here. When he heard that Qi Qingshan was arranged to go on a blind date, he worried whether he would be arranged to go on the same date as well.
I didn't expect him to speak so soon.
He waved his hands repeatedly and said:
“Mom, no, no, I already have a girlfriend and I’m studying medicine in the United States.
When she has summer vacation, I will bring it back for you to see."
As soon as these words came out, the family members were all surprised and asked about Fang Lang's situation.
Fang Lang didn't know whose question to answer.
It was only when the old man's cane slammed heavily on the ground that everyone calmed down temporarily.
The old man coughed twice and said:
"My dear grandson! Tell grandpa whose daughter this is!
There doesn't seem to be any girl in the village who went to the United States to study medicine?"
When Fang Lang heard his grandfather talking about the girls in the village, he felt a little overwhelmed. Could it be that he could only find a wife in the village?
“Grandpa, my girlfriend is not Brazilian, she is Italian, and we met in Italy.
Her father is my partner in business in Italy.”
"What? An Italian? No, you are the eldest grandson of the eldest son, how can you marry a white woman?
Wouldn’t the incense of our Fang family change? No, I don’t agree. "
After hearing what Fang Lang said, Mr. Fang stood up from the recliner.
The mother beside him also quickly spoke:
"Yes! Lang'er, if you marry a white woman, it will be difficult for me to communicate with her. How can this be possible?"
My uncle and uncle, on the other hand, looked indifferent.
My aunt standing by looked a little embarrassed. After all, she was the white woman my grandfather mentioned, a white woman of Portuguese descent.
Maybe he noticed his aunt's embarrassment.
Fang Lang's mother's expression also looked a little unnatural.
"Mom, don't worry! Your daughter-in-law is learning Chinese now, and she will have no problem communicating with you when the time comes.
Grandpa, please don't be so old-fashioned. It's a different era now. There are not many Chinese women in Brazil.
If I still look for a girlfriend in the village, I will have to marry a close relative."
Unexpectedly, the old man insisted:
"What about close relative marriage? My grandfather's cousins can get married, but why can't the Chinese girls in the village do that?
I don’t care. You are the eldest grandson of the eldest son, so you must marry a Chinese. Then my grandson must also be a yellow-skinned Chinese. "
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