Chapter 861 - The Inspection Team
The External Intelligence Bureau's Xu Ke had conducted extensive research on coastal navigation safety. As the Navy's specialized naval intelligence officer assigned to the Bureau, this fell squarely within his expertise.
Through consulting historical materials and extensive conversations with native and naturalized sailors and merchants, Xu Ke had reached a conclusion: Dabo Shipping's small number of transport vessels could pass freely through Fujian waters, but ships needed adequate armament to handle potential small-scale pirate attacks. However, he also pointed out a crucial caveat: if large numbers of ships began passing through, Zheng Zhilong's attitude might change. Any substantial shipping operation could attract the attention of these maritime powers.
"Additionally, we should consider this: traditional Chinese navigation generally stayed close to shore. Landmarks along the coast served as reference points. Even routes to Southeast Asia tried to follow island chains as much as possible. But the senior officers we've trained can rely on sextants and nautical charts to navigate the open ocean, keeping well away from coastlines and avoiding coastal routes that are easily monitored and blockaded."
After thorough discussion and preparation, the second inspection team boarded a Dabo Shipping medium-sized fuchuan and set sail for Hangzhou. This vessel had been specially modified by Dabo Company for transporting important persons and cargo.
The ship was equipped with smoothbore cannons for self-defense. Also aboard were plainclothes personnel from the escort bureau and the Special Reconnaissance Unit to ensure travel safety. The Special Reconnaissance Unit carried not only SKS rifles and grenades but also machine guns and disposable rocket launchers—guaranteeing the inspection team's absolute security at sea.
Their destination port was Shanghai County. Qiwei Escort Bureau had established a water route branch office there, specifically responsible for transshipment of personnel and goods through the Shanghai docks.
Hangzhou had used Yanpu as its seaport during the Yuan Dynasty, but by the late Ming, silting had rendered it impractical for oceangoing vessels. The city's seaport had shifted to Zhapu and Ningbo. Naval and Dabo Shipping personnel discussed the situation and concluded that rather than sailing to Zhapu or Ningbo, they should proceed directly to Shanghai to first survey local hydrographic and geographic conditions. After landing, an advance team would conduct field surveys of overland and waterway conditions between Shanghai and Hangzhou, laying groundwork for future refugee transfers from Zhejiang to Shanghai.
The journey proceeded very smoothly. The fuchuan took an "outer sea" route—merely coastal by old time-space standards, but in this era, sailing out of sight of land beyond the "inner waters" was uncommon. The ship encountered no dangers whatsoever and arrived safely at Shanghai port in late April.
Shanghai County had a long history, with records dating back to the Tang Dynasty, but it had no city walls until the mid-Ming. The county seat was walled in the thirty-second year of Jiajing, "for defense against Japanese pirates." The wall's circumference was nine li, height two zhang four chi, with six major and minor gates—four at the cardinal directions named Chaozong, Kuahai, Yifeng, and Yanhai, plus two smaller gates called Baodai and Chaoyang, commonly known as Little East Gate and Little South Gate.
The dock along the Wusong River lay just outside Little East Gate. Since the "Longqing Opening of the Seas," this location had gradually developed into a port city. Shanghai County was in Songjiang Prefecture, famous for cotton cloth and said to be "clothing the realm"—even on Hainan Island, birthplace of China's cotton weaving industry, Songjiang cloth could be found. As a cotton cloth export port, Shanghai's streets showed some prosperity. However, compared to the thriving foreign trade of Fujian and Guangdong at that time, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces lagged behind in this regard. Historically prominent foreign trade ports like Taicang Liuhe and Ningbo could no longer compare to Zhangzhou, Xiamen, and Guangzhou.
As soon as the ship arrived, people were waiting on the dock. Seeing the fuchuan flying Dabo's flag approach the shore, they immediately waved in greeting. Standing at the bow was Xu Ke from the External Intelligence Bureau. This trip, he had both the task of escorting the inspection team and personally observing hydrographic conditions along the route. He responded immediately with hand signals. The gangplank wasn't even fully secured when the leader of the reception party scrambled aboard, nimble as a cat—clearly someone accustomed to life on the water.
The man approached and bowed. "Would this be Master Xu?"
News of Xu Ke's impending arrival had been sent by coded scroll from Qiwei Escort Bureau's Guangzhou headquarters a month prior, transmitted through the bureau's chain of branch offices via human messengers and carrier pigeons, station by station, until it reached Shanghai. The scroll detailed how many people were coming, how many rooms and warehouses were needed, and how many porters to prepare.
Though not as swift as telegraph, this system was no slower than the court's postal relay. Transmission from Guangzhou to Shanghai took less than ten days—actually faster than special couriers carrying important court documents. This was partly due to Qiwei's carrier pigeon communication network, established under the guidance of Agricultural Committee horse and pigeon breeding expert Nik. They had also recruited a number of professional personnel—the court's reduction of postal station staff had released large numbers of experienced relay workers, from whom Qiwei had recruited many capable specialists.
After receiving Xu Ke's confirmation, the man gave a crisp salute. "Greetings to Master Xu. This humble one is Mao Sansheng, at your service!"
The visitor was the manager of Qiwei's Shanghai branch office, a distant relative of Sun Kecheng's mother. He had formerly worked as a log-raft driver on the Gan River. Raft workers on long-distance water routes typically knew some fighting skills for self-defense. Later, finding himself unemployed, Mao Sansheng had come to join Qiwei in Guangzhou, becoming one of the many "old cousins" who sought out Sun Kecheng. His martial skills weren't sufficient for escort work, so Sun Kecheng first assigned him to run errands, later placing him as a clerk at a branch office. Although Mao Sansheng came from a log-rafting background, he had quite a knack for dealing with people. The Political Security General Administration had secretly evaluated him, rating his reliability as B-level, and sent him to Shanghai as branch manager.
"Everything is prepared," Mao Sansheng said with a bow. "The masters will be lodging at Pan Garden. Cargo will be stored temporarily at our branch warehouse. Once the boats are ready, everything will be shipped together. Sedan chairs are waiting at the dock."
"Good. Go attend to matters at the dock."
As soon as Mao Sansheng left, Xu Ke returned to the cabin. He instructed everyone to pack up and prepare to disembark—particularly to ensure that their fake hair queues were properly worn to avoid exposure. The others posed no difficulty; Jin Lige was another matter, given his prominent nose and deep-set eyes. Some disguise would be necessary.
Because Qiwei's Shanghai branch was still in its startup phase with insufficient housing, Mao Sansheng feared he couldn't properly accommodate the elders. He had borrowed Pan Garden from a local gentry family, the Pans, as lodging for the group.
This location lay just behind the City God Temple in Shanghai County—precisely the predecessor of what would become Shanghai's famous Yuyuan garden in the old time-space. In this time-space, "Yuyuan" was the property of Pan Yunduan, who had served as Provincial Administration Commissioner of Sichuan during the Jiajing era. It remained currently in Pan family hands. Though located in the city's bustling commercial district, it was quiet amid the noise, elegant and serene. Food and access were very convenient.
The group stayed at Pan Garden for several days while Mao Sansheng ran about arranging boats. From Hangzhou to Shanghai, there was of course an official road, but for comfortable and safe travel, going by boat was preferable. Besides, they had considerable heavy cargo that would be even more inconvenient to transport overland.
"To think we'd be staying in Yuyuan. It's almost like a dream."
Lanterns lit, several elders sat together in a flower hall in Pan Garden. Xu Ke couldn't help remarking on the strangeness of it.
All the elders felt somewhat as if they were dreaming. In another time-space, they had all visited Shanghai, had toured the famous City God Temple, walked through Yuyuan, and some had even drunk tea in the teahouse by the Nine-Turns Bridge and eaten the famous xiaolongbao. Now they were actually staying in Yuyuan—though of course Pan Garden was only Yuyuan's predecessor.
Zhou Dongtian picked up a piece of hawthorn jelly from the table. The four plates of pastries had been "respectfully presented" by the Pan family master. The group's board and lodging at Pan Garden was entirely supplied by the Pan family, with Pan family servants attending them. The Pans were gentry, after all, and their fare was extremely refined. This hawthorn jelly bore no resemblance to the old time-space version—mostly sugar, additives, and a gelatinous consistency. This was genuine peeled hawthorn with tribute sugar, simmered until it achieved a sweet-tart perfection, soft yet firm.
Of course, this hospitality was not entirely free. After they departed, Mao Sansheng would duly present a substantial "gift of thanks."
"Your horizons are too small," Zhou Dongtian said, savoring his hawthorn jelly. "What's a mere Yuyuan? Someday I'm going to the Forbidden City—to sleep a few nights in His Imperial Majesty's bedchamber..."
"That building actually isn't comfortable at all," said Mei Lin, who had toured the Palace Museum. "I really can't imagine the emperor living in such a place. The inner palace isn't impressive when you think about it—just ordinary brick and tile buildings. Not to mention water and heating systems. Hot in summer, cold in winter—now I understand why Manchu emperors all built travel palaces outside Beijing."
"I think throwing a grand banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony would be quite nice," said LĂĽ Zhonghang from the Transportation Department. "Set up five hundred tables, each person at a large round table, and behind each person a row of princesses, county princesses, titled ladies, young misses of all types and complexions. Orchestras on the terrace, one Chinese and one European. When Director Wen raises his glass to toast, the orchestras play..."
"Bullshit. Why would Director Wen be giving toasts?" Zhou Dongtian expressed disdain. "It's not like he's chairman for life."
"Fine, whichever elder then—what do you think of this grand feast?"
"Stop with the fantasies," Xu Ke interjected. "Mao Sansheng says we'll have to stay here for a few days. During this time, does anyone want to tour Shanghai and observe actual market conditions?"
"Yes, of course we do. Otherwise, why did we come here?" Zhou Dongtian was emphatic. "We came to Jiangnan to understand local social conditions. Staying cooped up in a garden, we won't see anything."
Although Shanghai County wasn't a famous city in this time-space, it was after all a county in Songjiang Prefecture, renowned for cotton spinning. Shanghai itself was alluvial land, mostly sandy soil quite suitable for growing cotton. Local cotton weaving and cultivation were quite substantial—worth investigating.
The next day, led by Qiwei personnel, they toured Shanghai County. The county already had over one hundred thousand households at the time, with more than thirty thousand households living within the city walls. Among the more than one thousand county seats in the realm, it ranked as a fairly large county. When passing bridges and intersections, Zhou Dongtian noticed many people in tattered clothes gathered at bridge heads and teahouses. Every one of them had a sallow, hungry look, yet they clearly weren't beggars or refugees. He asked Mao Sansheng about them.
"Master, those are all weavers—some dyers and calenderers too." Mao Sansheng explained that the county had over two thousand craftsmen "eating cloth for a living," mostly day laborers paid by the piece.
"Recently the cloth market has been bad. The workshop owners can barely keep their own pots boiling—who's going to hire craftsmen?"
"Cloth isn't selling well?"
"Since last year, cloth prices have been very poor. Cloth can't be sold at a decent price," Mao Sansheng explained. "It's not just workshop owners and weavers suffering—even the villagers who grow cotton in the countryside are having a hard time. If cloth won't sell, cotton sells for even less."
Zhou Dongtian and the others fell silent, sobered by what they saw. They had assumed that since Songjiang cloth was "clothing the realm," there would be no shortage of buyers. They hadn't expected the local cotton weaving industry to have declined to such an extent. The Ming economy had problems—serious ones.
They walked all the way to a grand mansion in Taiqing Ward in the county seat—a place commonly called the "Nine-Room Building." Mao Sansheng spoke quietly: this was Xu Guangqi's old residence.
"The house currently has no Xu family members living in it. Only a few servants are watching over it."
As one of the relatively few people in China at that time who "had their eyes open to the world," Xu Guangqi was already seventy years old. But he was not currently in his Shanghai County residence. He had been made Minister of Rites and Hanlin Academy Scholar the previous year, and was Associate Manager of the Heir Apparent's Household. His family was mostly in Beijing.
Xu Guangqi's son Xu Ji was related by marriage to Sun Yuanhua—the two were in-laws. Because of the connection to the Dengzhou Rebellion, the External Intelligence Bureau had paid close attention to the Xu Guangqi network. One mission of the intelligence team dispatched to the capital was to use Jesuit connections to establish contact with Xu Guangqi. On the Shanghai side, for now there would be no action—only orders to Qiwei to monitor the Shanghai Xu family's activities.
Mao Sansheng told Zhou Dongtian that outside Kuahai Gate—the South Gate—in Kangqu Lane, the Xu family had "Double Garden," ancestral property serving as the family's vegetable garden and mulberry orchard. Sweet potatoes had been brought from Fujian and Guangdong to Jiangnan by Xu Guangqi, who was the first to successfully cultivate them there. Outside the North Gate lay a peach orchard with many flourishing peach trees. In Fahua Town stood another farmstead villa called "Houle Hall," which also housed the Xu family cemetery.
"That's Xujiahui!" Zhou Dongtian blurted out. He knew the origin of that name. Xujiahui was the location of this Xu family property; Xu Guangqi's descendants had once gathered here, which was how the name arose.
Mao Sansheng looked at him in bewilderment, not understanding where "Xujiahui" had come from. Zhou Dongtian just smiled and offered no explanation.
Besides the city residence, the Xu family's properties in Shanghai were almost entirely agricultural. Although Xu Guangqi's grandfather had risen through commerce, the Xu family didn't have much involvement in business. But Xu Guangqi wasn't the farming-and-reading type either. Though he didn't own extensive land, he cultivated every plot with care, studying agricultural techniques, irrigation, and field management in depth, achieving quite good yields. Although later generations would know Xu Guangqi as a scientist who spread Western learning, he could actually also be considered a successful agricultural capitalist—such figures were already appearing in considerable numbers at that time.
Evidently Qiwei's efficiency in the area was quite good; they quickly gathered detailed information about the Xu family. Though Zhou Dongtian thought the intelligence wasn't particularly significant.
The group also visited several land and water docks inside and outside Shanghai county to observe transportation conditions. LĂĽ Zhonghang in the inspection team had been sent by the Transportation Department to survey Jiangnan's road and transportation conditions. He held dual degrees in electrical engineering and bridge engineering, and had previously specialized in road and bridge quality inspection.
Surveying transportation wasn't merely for future military planning; more importantly, it prepared for developing Jiangnan commerce. Transportation was always a precondition for a region's economic development.
The next day, Mao Sansheng had the boats ready. These were two short-distance passenger boats common in Jiangnan for wealthy travelers, commonly called "Wuxi Fast Boats." The vessels weren't large but were fully equipped—with cabins for rest, parlors for dining and leisure, and a galley at the stern for convenient meal preparation. Wuxi Fast Boats were quite famous for travel comfort. For caution's sake, Mao Sansheng had replaced all the boat's crew with Qiwei personnel. This of course meant they would miss the famously attentive service of the Wuxi boat ladies. Besides the passenger boats, two freight boats accompanied them carrying luggage. Other cargo would be separately shipped in multiple batches by Qiwei.
After Zhou Dongtian's party boarded, they enjoyed the Jiangnan spring scenery along the way. When tired, they chatted in the cabins. LĂĽ Zhonghang had more work to do: he periodically measured water depths and observed channels, accumulating firsthand data for future channel development and dredging.
Bored in the cabin, the group discussed transportation planning for the route from Hangzhou to Shanghai. At that time, the most convenient route north from Hangzhou was obviously the Grand Canal. Sailing from Hangzhou along the canal directly to Suzhou was quick and convenient. But if the transfer dock was to be in Shanghai, Suzhou was still eighty or ninety kilometers distant.
"I've asked around. Mao Sansheng says there's a way from Shanghai County directly to Hangzhou without using the Grand Canal. But the channels along the route aren't as wide and deep as the Grand Canal. They probably won't accommodate heavily loaded large boats."
Jiangnan was known as a land of lakes and marshes, with not only lakes and ponds everywhere but rivers crisscrossing, plus vast areas of paddies. Except for prefectural and county seats, most villages weren't connected by land routes and could only be reached by water. Even between prefectural and county seats, though official roads connected them, water routes were more convenient. Inland water transport was highly developed. But most channels hadn't been dredged or maintained; many were too shallow or too narrow, accommodating only small boats. The largest were just so-called "channel boats." By LĂĽ Zhonghang's estimate, these channel boats had a carrying capacity of only about twenty tons.