Chapter 784 – Clearing the Obstacle

One afternoon in early December 1630 by the Gregorian calendar, pale slanting sunlight bathed the White Goose Pool wharf. Since the bald bandits' withdrawal, the market here had returned to its former bustle. The flower-boats that had fled were back, resuming their old trade. Winter days ended early; though it was only three or four in the afternoon, the sun was already setting. The "old hands," bawds, and pimps on the flower-boats were stirring, preparing for the evening's business.

Scaffolding rose around the fire-damaged city tower as craftsmen repaired what the rockets had burned. Outside the gate, the ruined Wuyang Courier Station and Official Reception Pavilion were also under reconstruction. Pedestrians thronged; sedan chairs and carts never stopped. The grim, deserted scene from last year when the Australians besieged the city had vanished without a trace. Many observed that after the bald folk's visit, the Guangzhou countryside was much calmer—the Fubo Army's massive pacification operations on Henan Island and along both banks of the Pearl River had wiped out large numbers of bandits, ruffians, and local tyrants.

At the south gate, a small sedan chair, surrounded by a dozen servants, approached from the riverfront wharf by Wuyang Station. In the lead, clearing the way, was a handsome young boy-servant.

As the sedan entered the gate, it suddenly encountered the Guangdong Province Inspecting Censor's procession—an eight-bearer green-cloth sedan with runners and escorts fore and aft, shouting for way. The young servant quickly directed the party to the roadside until the censor's cavalcade had passed.

From inside the sedan, a pair of trained eyes watched the procession through the gauze. A footman beside the chair whispered, "That's Gao Shunqin's sedan!"

After the censor's party passed, the group continued on. They wound through alleys until they reached a secluded little courtyard. The person inside the sedan emerged, stretched, and sighed. From the main house came a man dressed as a Ming merchant—Lin Baiguang.

The usual challenge-and-response formalities were no longer needed. The newcomer silently shook Lin Baiguang's hand.

"I wondered which squad leader the Executive Committee would send. So it's you," Lin Baiguang said. "Done with counter-guerrilla warfare?"

"I only drafted the framework and ran pilot trials. Danzhou went well—next is island-wide rollout. Implementation is the army's job. Besides, who else is better suited for this mission?" The newcomer was tall, broad-shouldered, and powerfully built—Xue Ziliang.

"These are your boys?" Lin Baiguang dismissed the boast and glanced at the attendants lined up awaiting orders.

"Eight selected, all the squad's best."

Lin Baiguang turned to Chen Tong, who had escorted them into the city. "Smooth entry?"

Chen Tong nodded. "Smooth. Didn't even need the introduction letters. We ran into the Inspecting Censor's procession at the gate."

Lin Baiguang smiled silently, then ordered, "Take the brothers to rest. Let them conserve their energy."

Chen Tong led the Special Reconnaissance Team members away. Lin Baiguang brought Xue Ziliang into the main house—this was a secret base of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau's Guangzhou Special Operations Branch, furnished to look like an ordinary merchant's residence. He managed the full apparatus under the Black Dragon Society system.

Lin Baiguang didn't invite Xue Ziliang to sit. Instead, he went behind the partition wall and opened an inconspicuous small door. Inside was a long, narrow corridor; at the end, another door. Unlocking it revealed a windowless room, pitch-black.

Lin Baiguang lit the gas lamp inside, flooding the room with light. Xue Ziliang curiously surveyed his surroundings. The room seemed large; besides the space they stood in, doors led to other rooms.

"This is my safe house," Lin Baiguang said, taking a bottle of kvass from a cabinet. "Let's talk about this mission."

"Right." Xue Ziliang said, "The Executive Committee has decided: resolve Gao Shunqin—permanently."

Gao Shunqin was the most extreme "Expel the Barbarians" advocate in the Guangzhou bureaucracy. Whether Red-Hairs, Folangji, or the Australians who had popped up from who-knows-where—all were targets for his expulsion. Though he had no winning strategy when the bald bandits threatened the walls, his unyielding stance had won cheers from many "angry-youth" scholars in Guangzhou. Governor Li's covert "pay ransom to withdraw the enemy" scheme, though concealed at the time, was now rumored abroad. Many literati, forgetting their own panic when the bald bandits launched their rockets, now vehemently denounced Governor Li for "selling out to the enemy for glory." Gao Shunqin, encouraged by his memorial's progress in the capital requesting a ban on Folangji traders entering the city, was now preparing a vicious impeachment of Li Fengjie.

"Gao Shunqin's position in the Guangdong bureaucracy is critical. His words and deeds influence a large number of officials," Lin Baiguang explained. He had wanted Gao removed for a long time. Wang Zunde had died of illness, no longer an obstacle to transmigrator control of Guangdong. But as long as Gao Shunqin remained in Guangzhou, officials and commoners alike would hesitate to cooperate with Lingao. And certain "Expel the Barbarians" elements—not only some scholars but also merchants harmed by Lingao's trade impact—would rally around this banner, forming a sizable anti-Lingao bloc.

The last thing they needed was for him to mobilize a few hundred literati to blockade Ziming Tower's doors—enough to give Pei Lixiu a headache, not to mention if he incited the populace to "burn Ziming Tower." Lin Baiguang was quite familiar with the post-First-Opium-War struggle over entry into Canton and other treaty ports.

"Decided to kill him?" Lin Baiguang asked. Though he fully endorsed removing this obstacle, he had to consider the consequences. Gao Shunqin was no minor clerk; he was Guangdong's Inspecting Censor. If killed, the court would investigate fiercely—a political earthquake for Guangdong.

Xue Ziliang smiled slightly. "More precisely: make him disappear."

"Disappear?"

"Yes. The Foreign Intelligence Bureau discussed it and concluded that if he's killed, it becomes a major case. Better to have him disappear—leave the court unable to judge."

"You mean kidnapping."

"Correct." Xue Ziliang said, "A bloodless kidnapping."

"What's the point?" Lin Baiguang was slightly disappointed. "Kidnapping is too much trouble! Better to kill him outright and destroy the body. That counts as disappearance too."

"Completely destroying a body in Guangzhou is difficult." Xue Ziliang explained the plan: the Special Reconnaissance Team would kidnap the Inspecting Censor directly, then have him appear from time to time near Guangzhou. Finally, they'd take him out of Guangdong entirely.

"Make people think the Inspecting Censor ran away himself?"

"Roughly."

"Damn, that makes no sense. He's a court official. Only a madman would abandon his post and family to flee." Lin Baiguang found it incomprehensible. "Why not poison him? Use some biological agent."

"It's precisely the senselessness that works. Everyone speculates but can't figure out a motive—so it won't be connected to us." Xue Ziliang said, "If we use other means—whether a 'natural' death or a highway robbery—it'll stir public debate, and suspicion may point our way."

Lin Baiguang thought the plan was imperfect, but Gao Shunqin truly couldn't remain any longer. The Guangzhou Team was about to return to Guangzhou, carrying grand commercial plans. A hardline Expel-the-Barbarians leader would be a major obstacle.

The ideal solution would be to have the Inspecting Censor promoted or transferred elsewhere—a soft touch that satisfied everyone. But the House of Elders didn't yet have such influence in the Ming bureaucracy.

"How do you plan to do it? What support do you need from us?"

"I need Gao Shunqin's activity patterns, floor plans of the censor's office and his private residence. Preferably with elevation marks on the buildings."

"Activity patterns are easy. The two floor plans will take some time."

"How long?"

"A week," Lin Baiguang said.

"Also give me a full city map of Guangzhou—as detailed as possible."

"No problem. I have that on hand."

He retrieved a large roll of paper from a locked safe and spread it on the conference table. It was a large-scale Guangzhou city transportation map.

"Very detailed." Xue Ziliang was pleased, studying it by gaslight. "No wonder Bei Wei said you'd have everything here. I didn't need to bring my own."

"Of course. The Grand Library's Guangzhou maps came from the Guangzhou Station," Lin Baiguang said. "Head Manager Guo isn't just playing shopkeeper."

Xue Ziliang laughed. "He became 'the first to have a woman' and ended up with N women. Those elders who can't stand him are just jealous and bitter."

Lin Baiguang smiled noncommittally, acknowledging Guo Yi's contributions without attacking anyone else.

"Has our equipment arrived?"

"Yes—right here."

The Special Reconnaissance Team's weapons and clothing had been shipped separately, hidden among cargo and smuggled into the city. They were secretly stored in the Special Operations Branch's warehouse. Xue Ziliang checked the crates; the seals were intact, and the equipment was in good condition.

"Clothing, transportation, and anything else you need—give me a list and I'll arrange everything."

Xue Ziliang was satisfied. Lack of good coordination during an operation was a disaster—"afraid of pig-brained teammates," as they said. The Special Reconnaissance Team had come to the mainland multiple times for military reconnaissance and raids, but abducting a VIP deep inside a major city was a first. From his experience in another time-space, such an operation without local intelligence support was pure fantasy. The performance of Lin Baiguang's Guangzhou Special Operations Branch so far was reassuring.

(End of Chapter)