Chapter 88: The Quarantine Station (Part 1)

The so-called “captured instruction manual” was actually a background information booklet for the transmigrators compiled by the Executive Committee. Just as a secret agent needs a completely new identity to infiltrate enemy territory, the transmigrators also needed something like this to explain their origins and purpose.

The entire set of materials was compiled under the direction of Yu E’shui. It was largely based on the version of “Song Dynasty remnants developing Australia” that Wen Desi had used when conducting two-way trade, with many details added. It took into account the psychological and cultural factors of the people of that time as much as possible. Of course, no matter how brilliant a historian is, it is impossible to grasp the real social conditions and psychology of the time with 100% accuracy, so the manual has been continuously revised since D-Day. The personnel of the Guangzhou advance station and the crew of the self-proclaimed “Naval Transport Brigade” were the first to be issued the trial version.

“If you discover any problems during your daily interactions with the natives, contact headquarters as soon as possible. This manual will be continuously revised,” Xiao Zishan said. “In case of capture, remember the cover story and the three lines of defense.”

The reason for coming to the Great Ming was protected by three layers. The first layer, of course, was that they were here for business and trade. If threatened with torture, they could confess that there was a civil war in Australia and they had come to the Great Ming to escape it. If they were still not believed and the torture continued, they could confess that the transmigrators were the losing side in the Australian civil war.

As for the iron ships, machines, and weapons, the transmigrators’ official story was that they were brought from Australia, and they knew nothing about how to manufacture them. Civilian commodity technology could be revealed under life-threatening circumstances.

In general, the capture policy formulated by the Executive Committee was: confession is allowed, but betrayal is not. In the worst-case scenario after being captured, a transmigrator could confess—including the truth that they were transmigrators—although the other party might not believe this truth. However, they were not allowed to actively serve other regimes or forces with the technology, information, and other various abilities they possessed.

“This rule is a bit vague. What counts as ‘active’? A traitor, after being caught, will say he was forced,” Bei Wei, who had been silent throughout the discussion, couldn’t help but raise a point when it came to this capture policy.

Xiao Zishan gave a wry smile. “The capture policy is quite sensitive, so for now, we can only word it a bit flexibly.”

“I don’t approve of this,” Bei Wei shook his head, but he did not elaborate further.

“In short, try your best not to get caught. Not to mention falling into the hands of the Eastern Depot or the Jinyiwei, even being thrown into the county jail for a few days would be an unforgettable experience for a lifetime!”

The Dengyingzhou set sail for its return journey, and Xiao Zishan returned with it. There was nothing left for him to do in Guangzhou; everything had been handed over to Guo Yi and the others, including the negotiations with Gao Ju. If he involved himself too much, it would be detrimental to the future development of the Guangzhou advance station.

All the purchased servants, except for the sick, the very young, and the weak, were herded onto the ship. A 78-ton ship packed with nearly a hundred people was indeed crowded. Fortunately, the sea journey was only a few days, so they had to endure it. In comparison, the transmigrators’ endurance during the entire voyage was significantly lower than that of the people confined in the hold. Not long after setting sail, the group was so overwhelmed by the constant smell of urine emanating from the hold that they started vomiting. This slave-trading business was really not easy. No one cared about pirates anymore; they took the fastest route straight to Bopu.

Before the ship even arrived, the entire health department was mobilized to prepare for epidemic prevention and quarantine work—this work was now officially named “Purification.” This was the first time such a large population had been imported from the mainland. In preparation for the upcoming large-scale population influx, the Executive Committee had built an immigrant quarantine zone at Lingao Cape.

Guo Sanniang and Tian Sanwu climbed out of the filthy hold with the crowd, gasping for breath and inhaling the fresh air. For the past two days at sea, except for those whose turn it was to empty the urine buckets and were lucky enough to go up on deck for some fresh air, everyone else was crammed into a small space in the hold. The smell was indescribably foul. Fortunately, the sailors gave them enough fresh water and dry rations every day. For Guo Sanniang and Tian Sanwu, who did not get seasick, life was not too bad.

“Sanniang, where do you think we are—”

“No talking!” A tall and sturdy man stood by the gangplank, with short hair and short clothes, holding a long stick in his hand.

Tian Sanwu was startled. What kind of law was this that didn’t even allow talking? But since he had already sold himself into servitude, it was better to be obedient. He quickly shut his mouth.

The servants herded out of the hold were driven to the front of a corridor separated by wooden planks before they could figure out what was going on. On both sides of the corridor entrance was a table, next to which were piled some bamboo-woven steamer-like objects.

“Men to the left, women to the right!” a “short hair” at the entrance shouted through something that looked like a megaphone. “You, I’m talking to you! Why are you, a woman, running towards the men’s side!”

“My son—”

“Your son won’t run away. Go to the right!”

Tian Sanwu and Guo Sanniang were separated in front of the corridor. After more than a year of wandering, the two youths had developed a bond of shared joys and sorrows. Parting at this moment, Tian Sanwu felt a pang in his heart. He thought he saw tears in the corners of Guo Sanniang’s eyes as well.

“Take out all your things and put them on the table. No hiding of personal belongings.” The “short hair” who said this saw Tian Sanwu and the girl on the other side looking at each other with some reluctance. He smiled and said, “Don’t be afraid, you can see each other again in the future.” He then gave him a small bamboo tag tied with a thin string to hang around his neck.

“Don’t lose it! You’ll need this to eat and get your luggage back later. You don’t have any?”

Tian Sanwu shook his head—he was a street urchin, what luggage would he have? If he had anything, it was a coarse pottery jar for begging, which he had already thrown away before boarding the ship. The others were much the same, with nothing but the rags on their backs. Only a few had some copper coins, a comb, or a few pieces of tattered clothing with them. These were all thrown into the numbered steamers.

At the end of the corridor was a large pool of water separated by wooden planks, filled with fresh water.

“One by one, crawl through the pool!” a “short hair” on a high platform commanded. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Was this a bath? Why did they have to crawl through it? Tian Sanwu crawled into the pool. The water wasn’t deep; if he crawled, his head could stay above the water. But they had to submerge their heads and crawl a certain distance underwater until they couldn’t hold their breath any longer. Finally, they climbed out of the pool, gasping for breath.

Before they could catch their breath, a team of temporary workers from the health group, personally commanded by Shi Niaoren, all burly and strong, were already on the shore. They dragged the people over to a row of long benches like chickens. Each bench could seat ten people. Above it was a rack with long wooden cangues, like those used for prisoners in the yamen. Once closed, the ten people were as immobile as chickens and ducks hanging on a rack in a slaughterhouse. The people who had just climbed out, choking on water and disoriented, were then put into the wooden cangues. They were scared out of their wits—what law had they broken to be publicly displayed in a cangue without a word being said?

Because the “kūnzéi” masters were present, the temporary workers were all quick and rough. In a moment, all five rows of seats were filled with people in cangues. It was quite a spectacular sight. Some of the younger children, not knowing what was happening, immediately started crying. At this moment, the screams and cries of girls could be heard from the other side of the wooden partition. Tian Sanwu couldn’t help but think of Guo Sanniang—what was happening to her?

“They’re going to give us a ‘welcoming beating’—” a boy next to Tian Sanwu said, trembling, water dripping continuously from his messy hair.

“A beating with the board?!” Tian Sanwu was shocked. He thought that his buttocks didn’t have much flesh on them; a beating with the board would surely break his bones and tear his tendons.

“If they were going to beat us with the board, they wouldn’t let us sit. I was just making a comparison. Sigh, this master’s rules are so strict—we’re put in the cangue as soon as we get ashore.”

Tian Sanwu understood what a cangue was. There were always a few prisoners at the entrance of the county yamen, wearing cangues and chains, on public display. Looking at his current situation, it was indeed quite similar. The only difference was that being in a cangue could last for several days, and some prisoners even died from it. He became afraid:

“We haven’t done anything wrong. Why does the master want to put us in the cangue?”

“That’s why it’s called a ‘welcoming beating’!” the boy whispered. “Whether you’re right or wrong, they first beat you into submission, so you’ll be obedient later.”

Tian Sanwu wondered what was happening on the women’s side. The master had spent a lot of money to buy the girls at the market, so he probably wouldn’t let them suffer too much, right? Just as he was thinking, shrill cries and pleas for mercy came from the other side of the wall, sending a shiver down everyone’s spine—what were they doing?

The scene on the other side of the wall was actually identical to this side, except that the people who were to shave their heads had arrived first. The barbers were strong and healthy women selected from the villagers who had migrated to Bairen City. They had undergone brief barber training: shaving heads bald. They had practiced for a long time on local pumpkins, watermelons, and laborers. Working in pairs, one would hold the head while the other first cut off the long hair with scissors, followed by a sharp razor to shave all the hair from the roots, revealing the bluish scalp. After shaving each person, the razor had to be thrown into a small earthenware pot hanging around their neck—it contained high-proof white wine and three razors, used in rotation. The women had never seen such a scene. The shopkeeper had spent money to buy them; he couldn’t possibly want them to become nuns, could he? Frightened and scared, someone started crying in the chaos, and immediately, everyone joined in.