Chapter 1069 - The Engine Starts

This was the second question he needed answered: what exactly did the Australians want?

Pies do not fall from the sky. The Australians had shown such enthusiasm for the Dengzhou-Laizhou rebellion—clearly they pursued their own ends.

Asking others for help was, in the end, an exchange of interests. If he could not produce something of value immediately, everything depended on what he might offer in the future.

What were the Australians attempting? Sun Yuanhua puzzled over this endlessly.

Puzzled or not, both parties had reached a tacit understanding. That evening, Lu Yang and Lu Wenyuan hosted Sun Yuanhua at a banquet in the inner hall.

The wine and food were simple, and no one's mind was on eating and drinking. After three rounds of wine, Lu Wenyuan dismissed everyone around them. The two sides immediately commenced earnest discussion of "deep cooperation."

Sun Yuanhua presented his request for "Borrowing Troops to Help Suppress" and specifically asked them to dispatch a navy to blockade Dengzhou, preventing the Dengzhou forces from colluding with Dongjiang.

His plan was straightforward: depart for Laizhou at first light, gather the remnants locally, and simultaneously request reinforcements from Yu Dacheng. With those reinforcements, he would hold fast to Laizhou and Qingzhou.

Historically, it was precisely this steadfast defense of Laizhou by Xie Lian—Sun Yuanhua's successor as Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou—and Shandong Governor Xu Congzhi that confined the rebels' scope of activity to the Dengzhou-Laizhou region, thereby granting the Imperial Court time to mobilize reinforcements for suppression.

Lu Wenyuan heartily agreed. If Sun Yuanhua did not enter Laizhou, he could neither submit memorials nor explain his whereabouts. In terms of seizing initiative, the sooner he arrived in Laizhou, the better.

"The difficulty," Sun Yuanhua said, "is that I have only three followers by my side. I must ask Master Lu to send escorts for part of the journey."

"Easily arranged." Lu Wenyuan nodded. "I will dispatch a fast boat to convey Sir to Laizhou tomorrow. As for Sir himself..." He paused to consider. "Three followers will hardly suffice—you won't even have someone to manage documents."

Sun Yuanhua agreed upon reflection. All his aides and servants remained trapped in the city; he lacked even a secretary to handle paperwork.

Though Laizhou fell within his jurisdiction, his Governor's position and the local Magistrate and Prefect were not in a direct subordinate relationship. After losing Dengzhou, how these officials would treat him remained uncertain. Without his own people, he might not find anyone willing to pour him a cup of water when the time came.

Lu Wenyuan immediately stated that he had prepared an entire retinue—a private advisor, servants, family retainers, and maids—everything necessary to accompany Sun to Laizhou.

"They are all Catholics, and mostly local Shandong people," he added specifically, seeking to diminish Sun Yuanhua's wariness.

This retinue was indeed composed mostly of native Shandong commoners. Since Sun Yuanhua was entering dangerous territory, there was no need to risk too many naturalized citizens. People like retainers and servants could be recruited from local refugees. Only a few were naturalized citizens. Among them, the man assigned to handle documents was a naturalized citizen from Zhejiang—originally a Xiucai, a scholar who had passed the county-level imperial examination. When his attempt to "study to become an advisor" ended in failure, his master threw him out as a scapegoat. Stripped of his Xiucai status and exiled to Leizhou, this man had landed in prison without money for bribes and was nearly tortured to death. At the time, the Leizhou Station was specifically recruiting naturalized citizens with "great bitterness and deep hatred." They searched the prisons at both prefecture and county levels in Leizhou and rescued this dying unfortunate. Now he was specially dispatched to Shandong and assigned to Sun Yuanhua's side.

As for blockading Dengzhou, Lu Wenyuan agreed readily. First, this presented no difficulties. Second, whether to blockade or not depended on necessity—they would certainly not seal off Dengzhou before fattening up Kong Youde. Historically, tens of thousands of Dongjiang soldiers and civilians had fled to join Kong's forces in Dengzhou; Chen Youshi's unit alone brought seven or eight thousand people.

For the return on their investment, Lu Wenyuan laid out the Senate's conditions:

1. Sun Yuanhua tacitly permits them to act at their discretion in the Dengzhou-Laizhou area: buying land under false registry, hiring workers, taking in refugees, and freely transporting populations out of Shandong. He will provide every convenience.
2. Australian ships may freely enter and exit all ports in the Dengzhou-Laizhou area.
3. Australians may freely organize and train village braves in the Dengzhou-Laizhou-Qingzhou area and receive nominal status for them.
4. Sun Yuanhua may not arbitrarily transfer troops subordinate to the Australians; he can communicate with Lu Wenyuan only through the liaison officer at his side.
5. Sun Yuanhua is to subsidize some grain and pay for the village braves the Australians organize.

Regarding the final item, Lu Wenyuan magnanimously expressed that, considering Sun's present circumstances, no specific figure would be stipulated. Supplies could be provided as situation permitted.

At the same time, Lu Wenyuan stated that all Australian village braves and naval forces would fly no Australian flag, operating instead under the name of local village braves.

Sun Yuanhua considered these five conditions carefully and found none of them excessive. He agreed to all of them on the spot.

With agreement reached, they drank and conversed happily. Lu Wenyuan reminded him:

"Before departing for Laizhou, Sir should write letters to Grand Secretary Xu and Grand Secretary Zhou. I will arrange a ship to proceed immediately to Tianjin Wei."

"Yes, yes—I am confused!" Sun Yuanhua exclaimed, repeatedly cursing himself. In his excitement, he had forgotten this crucial matter.

Xu Guangqi was his mentor and relative by marriage; Zhou Yanru was the man Sun had fed well with silver, his greatest backer at Court. He had to inform them of the situation immediately so they could speak on his behalf before the Imperial Court.

His capture, of course, could not be mentioned, nor his private discussions with the Australians. But his future whereabouts and plans could be explained in detail.

After careful deliberation, Sun Yuanhua composed letters to Xu Guangqi, Zhou Yanru, Minister of War Xiong Mingyu, and ten other Court officials with whom he had connections and could claim as backers. He sealed them and handed them to Lu Wenyuan.

"I will arrange for special personnel to deliver these directly to their residences," Lu Wenyuan said. "If there are replies, those will be brought back as well."

"I fear the replies won't come quickly..."

"No matter. Sir need only add a note on the envelopes: instruct them to give their replies to the Qipwei Escort Agency in the Capital for delivery. The letters will surely arrive within three to five days."

"Good." Sun Yuanhua nodded repeatedly. The Australians handled matters with impressive precision!

Lu Wenyuan instructed his people to pack Sun Yuanhua's luggage and prepare a fast ship to transport him to Laizhou at first light. He also summoned the advisor assigned to Sun and said:

"Hereafter, if the Lord has any matters, he may instruct this gentleman to relay them. If I have news to report, it shall likewise be conveyed through him."

Knowing that Sun Yuanhua could not fully trust this advisor, he saw fit to simply identify the man as a "liaison." That way, Sun would not dare treat him lightly.

At that moment, Cheng Lingsu approached holding a package and presented it. Sun Yuanhua examined it with suspicion.

"Please open it, My Lord," Lu Wenyuan said with a grin.

Inside was the Seal of the Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou. Sun Yuanhua's shock was profound. His Governor's seal had been lost when the city fell, presumably taken by the rebels. He had never expected to see it here—how had they obtained it?

Upon closer examination, however, this seal was not the original. Though the entire piece was crafted with remarkable fidelity—even the serial number from the Ministry of Works casting was exact, complete with the gaps near the number and wear on the strokes—he could sense that it was a forgery.

"This..."

He looked at Lu Wenyuan. Losing the Great Seal brought many inconveniences and was itself a "crime," but using a forged seal carelessly could backfire disastrously once exposed.

Lu Wenyuan instructed someone to bring Xuan paper and stamp the Great Seal upon it. Seeing the cinnabar-red imprint on the snow-white paper, Sun Yuanhua was shocked once again. No carver, however brilliant, could replicate the weight of strokes and wear of a forged seal to perfect exactitude. Yet the impression made by this seal was virtually indistinguishable from the original.

In anticipation of the moment when Sun Yuanhua would be rescued, intelligence personnel inside Dengzhou City had spent months collecting his various notices and documents. The seals on those documents were scanned at high precision, saved as digital files, and sent to Lingao by fast ship. Zhou Dongtian's printing factory processed them by computer, then carved replacements using a combined processing center. The Great Seal's form came from historical materials; Huang Ande had managed to photograph the various details with a digital camera. After manufacture, all details were complete. Finally, the seal was artificially aged based on the photographs.

Lu Wenyuan merely smiled slightly. He was confident Sun Yuanhua would raise no objections. Now that he had escaped trouble with the Seal of the Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou in hand, he was like a tiger given wings.

Sun Yuanhua finally cupped his hands in thanks. With the seal in hand, everything would proceed far more smoothly.

---

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, escorted by Qimu Island village braves, Sun Yuanhua arrived in Laizhou by ship. The Prefect of Laizhou had been in a state of panic—rumors abounded, some claiming Sun Yuanhua was dead, others that he had been taken prisoner. He had dispatched messengers to report the emergency to Yu Dacheng, but upon receiving news of Dengzhou's fall, Yu Dacheng had retreated helplessly to the Governor's yamen and taken to chanting scriptures. Servants and officials privately called him the "White Lotus Censor." The messengers from Laizhou received neither instructions nor reinforcements.

Just as the Prefect despaired, Sun Yuanhua suddenly appeared. Joy and surprise mingled in equal measure—joy at finally having a pillar of support, surprise at where this Sun Yuanhua had emerged from. Fortunately, the Prefect had met Sun Yuanhua many times before, and Sun arrived with dozens of followers. The city gates opened immediately, and arrangements were hastily made to clean the Prefecture School to serve as Sun Yuanhua's temporary Governor's headquarters.

The moment Sun Yuanhua settled in, he wrote to Yu Dacheng and dispatched it by mounted courier immediately. He understood well that once this rebellion erupted, he and Yu Dacheng shared a "common fate." They had to coordinate their stance in responding to the crisis.

Yu Dacheng bore at most indirect responsibility for Kong Youde's rebellion. So long as he responded properly, disciplinary punishment with retention in office remained highly possible. With Yu Dacheng in Shandong, Sun Yuanhua would have far more room to maneuver.

Subsequently, he began composing his memorial to the throne without delay.

(End of Chapter)