Chapter 359 - The Foshan Journey (Part 12)

"No need," Li Luoyou replied. "Both guests can eat Chinese cuisine, and they rather enjoy it. Have Cook Liao prepare the meal." Cook Liao was his personal chef, brought from the Guangzhou household—a man renowned for several signature dishes. His roast suckling pig and roast mutton were particularly celebrated throughout Guangzhou city. Li Luoyou had brought him along specifically for the convenience of local entertaining.

"Yes. I shall arrange it immediately." Manager Cheng withdrew. Li Luoyou rose and said to Gu Baocheng: "Come with me."

Gu Baocheng was still a youth of fifteen or sixteen. He stood visibly in awe of his uncle-by-marriage, following close behind.

"The homework I assigned you on the boat—have you completed it? Were there parts you failed to understand?"

"Replying to Master: your nephew has completed it," said Gu Baocheng—for the Li family followed the custom of official households where sons, daughters, and nephews addressed their elders as "Master." "There were just a few geometry problems I couldn't solve. I shall need to ask Master for guidance."

"Mm. Bring your exercise book to the study this evening."

They arrived at the study, which had been swept clean. Over a dozen large cabinets held correspondence and account ledgers. Cabinets containing important documents bore locks. Li Luoyou inspected the seals on each cabinet, confirmed they were intact, then tore them off one by one before settling into his seat.

Gu Baocheng naturally dared not sit and remained standing in attendance at his side.

"Baocheng! Grind ink and write several letters."

"Yes!" Gu Baocheng was somewhat puzzled. Letter-writing was normally the secretary's responsibility; confidential matters Li Luoyou handled personally. Why was he being asked? He dared not question the instruction and hurried to the purple sandalwood writing desk. Taking a stick of Cheng Junfang ink, he began grinding it on a Tang-era Duan inkstone.

"Use Song-style regular script! Write—" Li Luoyou's letters were addressed to his agents in Shenyang—the "Shengjing" of the Jurchens. These agents were numerous. Some operated businesses locally; others specialized in cultivating connections with Later Jin nobility and officials. Since the Guangning evacuation, the Li family's Liaodong enterprise had been utterly destroyed. After witnessing the tragic plight of Liaodong's soldiers and civilians, Li Luoyou had returned to Zhili and, after achieving some stability, begun sending people back to Liaodong to rebuild the family business. Using trade as cover, they secretly gathered intelligence on the Later Jin. He still harbored a thread of hope: that someday, when the imperial armies recovered Liaodong, his intelligence network planted there might prove useful. At minimum, they might kill a few Tartars.

The news of the great Ningyuan victory had kindled fresh hope in Li Luoyou, who had grown deeply disillusioned with court politics. The Tianqi Emperor had passed away, Prince Xin had succeeded to the throne, the all-powerful Wei Zhongxian had lost his position and been ordered to commit suicide, and Yuan Chonghuan had returned to prominence, proposing his memorial of "recovering Liaodong in five years"—all of this made him feel an unprecedented brightness. The Mandate of the Great Ming had not yet exhausted itself after all!

The intelligence from his Liaodong agents uniformly indicated that since the old Tartar chieftain had perished under Governor Yuan's cannons, the Later Jin regime found itself in a precarious state both politically and economically. Li Luoyou sensed that the dynasty's decline in Liaodong since the catastrophic defeat at Sarhu might finally be reversing. His activities in Liaodong over the past two years had intensified accordingly.

What he dictated for Gu Baocheng were letters of instruction regarding his agents' commercial activities in Shenyang. Liaohai Trading's business in Liaodong operated mainly through the Pidao channel, smuggling goods into Later Jin-controlled territory—selling domestic goods and purchasing ginseng, deer antler, and furs, especially fine black sable pelts. This trade was illegal under the Great Ming, but was welcomed within Later Jin's domain. A regime built on plunder inevitably became militaristic, with agriculture in decline and all manner of goods in severe shortage. They enthusiastically supported such smuggling trade with China.

However, Li Luoyou was rather different from those treasonous Shanxi merchants. He never transported strategic materials the Later Jin desperately needed—grain, raw iron, bronze goods—into their territory. What he sent were only luxury goods useless for agriculture or warfare: mainly various silks and brocades, supplemented by fine and coarse porcelains. The barbarians, having accumulated vast wealth through plunder, had barely shed their pigskin garments before inevitably developing enormous appetites for such products. Li Luoyou's business, though not undertaken for profit, had grown ever larger—ginseng, deer antler, and sable pelts filled his coffers.

"...As for the Beile's request that we transport grain, please inform him: recent disasters have been frequent, grain prices are extreme, and there is no surplus grain available in the markets..."

He then dictated another letter regarding the ransom and recovery of former shop employees. He instructed his agents to gradually ransom all the business establishments' former clerks whose whereabouts had been discovered, along with any family members who could be located. Through these trade opportunities, he had found and ransomed quite a number of acquaintances, colleagues, and relatives who had been captured and enslaved during the Liaodong collapse. All ransomed persons were sent back within the passes. Those who proved bold, resourceful, and who burned with hatred for the Jurchens would be sent back beyond the passes—either to work as clerks in the trading posts or to settle locally doing small business while keeping their heads down. All waiting for the day when they might have their revenge.

After he finished dictating the final letter—regarding Dragon Boat Festival gifts for Later Jin nobles and officials—Gu Baocheng saw that his uncle had no further instructions and presented the letters for review. Li Luoyou examined them carefully—a neat hand of tiny regular script, densely but orderly written. He nodded with satisfaction, then withdrew a small seal from his personal calling-card case and stamped each letter.

Trade with the Later Jin was illegal, so Li Luoyou never delegated such correspondence to others. The contents avoided any business names or personal names, bore no signature, and carried no seals or inscriptions—only a design-seal mark as identification. Should the letters be lost, he would simply destroy the seal. Though Li Luoyou placed hope in the court, he knew exactly what manner of people filled its ranks.

The letters were carefully sealed and placed in wax capsules, to be carried north personally by specially selected trusted men. Plenty of ships traveled between Dengzhou and Pidao, making smuggling and secret communication quite convenient.

Li Luoyou finished sealing the wax capsules and stored them in a special jewelry box. Only then did he ask: "Baocheng! Do you understand why I had you write these three letters today?"

"Yes. Master wishes your nephew never to forget our nation's grievances and our family's hatred."

"That you understand is good." Li Luoyou nodded. "Sit."

"Your nephew dares not."

"Sit. I have things to say to you." Li Luoyou sighed. "Yesterday your uncle-by-marriage suffered another bout of dizziness. This illness has struck several times now. I fear I may not—"

"Uncle-by-marriage is in the prime of life..."

"Never mind. I won't die just yet." Li Luoyou spoke solemnly. "Your uncle crawled out from among the dead. I take life and death lightly now. The Li family's enterprise is flourishing in both wealth and descendants. What I cannot let go of is you—" He stopped Gu Baocheng's protest before it could form: "Uncle-by-marriage originally hoped to witness the court recover Liaodong, for us to return in glory and help you restore your family's business. Now it seems uncle-by-marriage may not be granted that fortune. So this Liaodong matter—from now on, you must pay closer attention and help uncle-by-marriage watch over it."

"Yes. Your nephew will respectfully follow uncle-by-marriage's instructions."

"The Portuguese in Xiangshan Ao—you should visit often as well. Uncle-by-marriage knows you don't wish to embrace Catholicism, and I won't force you. But going there can broaden your knowledge." Li Luoyou closed his eyes. "The Westerners have their own arts and sciences, no less than our Central Kingdom. The vastness of the world is far more than China's humble corner..." His words seemed aimed at Gu Baocheng in admonishment, yet also like murmuring to himself. Gu Baocheng dared not interrupt and simply stood listening.

"...You may go. The travel has been tiring; you should rest well. There are matters to discuss this evening."

"Yes." Gu Baocheng answered respectfully. Just as he was about to withdraw—seeing his uncle-by-marriage showed no sign of leaving but continued opening and reading correspondence from various branches—he asked: "Will Master not take some rest?"

"I'm not tired. I'll rest in a moment."

"Yes." Gu Baocheng hesitated, then ventured: "Your nephew is bold to ask Master to pardon Concubine Jiang..."

"Hmph." Li Luoyou gave a cold snort. "How tender-hearted of you toward the fairer sex."

"Your nephew dares not!" Gu Baocheng dropped to his knees in fright. A senior's woman—in the ancient order of things, this touched upon matters of fundamental principle.

"Rise! Why so frightened?" Li Luoyou regarded him with displeasure. Gu Baocheng greatly resembled Li's late wife, which lent him a somewhat delicate appearance. He sighed inwardly, wondering whether this boy could bear the burden.

"Concubine Jiang is your nephew's elder. After all, she is a woman and cannot endure such suffering..."

"Kneeling for a while—will she die from it?" Li Luoyou laughed coldly. "I crawled back from Liaodong. Those men, women, young and old of Liaodong who couldn't escape and were captured by the Jurchens as slaves—countless have been tortured to death. Those still alive—you should see the ransomed ones, hear what kind of life they endure. Kneeling for an hour won't cost her an ounce of flesh."

Gu Baocheng kowtowed once and spoke with conviction: "Master, the sufferings of the lost Liaodong people—your nephew never dares forget. But this is a different matter. What crime has Concubine Jiang committed? She merely misspoke. A rebuke from Master would have sufficed. Such punishment seems to lack benevolence..."

"Wretch!" Seeing his nephew's stubborn streak emerge, Li Luoyou cursed in fury. Suddenly his head spun with vertigo. Quickly suppressing his anger, he said only: "Leave now. Such womanish compassion!"

Li Luoyou had to compose himself for quite some time before his head cleared—these symptoms were growing worse. He resolved that after returning to Guangzhou, he must summon renowned physicians to give him a proper examination.

Just as he was resting with closed eyes, Saoye tiptoed in and whispered: "Master, Grand Shopkeeper Yang from Yangrunkai Hall has sent someone to pay respects, along with a four-item gift."

"He's not paying respects to me—he's paying respects to my ginseng and deer antler." A faint smile played across Li Luoyou's lips. "Accept the gift and tip the messenger. Tell him: please ask Grand Shopkeeper Yang to come by tomorrow for a chat."

"Yes." Saoye answered and withdrew.

"Wait." Li Luoyou called after him. "Go to the inner quarters and tell Concubine Jiang she may rise."

(End of Chapter)