Chapter 163: Pandora's Box

Li Siya hadn’t yet decided what use this pawn, Gou Er, would be. But an idle piece has its uses. She wouldn’t have to invest much in Gou Er, and losing him wouldn’t hurt.

The next step would depend on “Li Huamei.” She was confident that her “sister” would have the Australians wrapped around her little finger.

The result of Monde and his group’s exchange with Li Huamei was that she agreed to go to Lingao to see what kind of cooperation was possible. The transmigrators found this outcome acceptable. As for recruiting her in the future, they believed it would not be a problem once their own power grew. As for the other thoughts harbored by some of the lechers, they were too numerous to mention.

Wen Desi also concluded his meeting with Rodrigues. Wen Desi, knowing the Jesuits’ desire for a breakthrough in their missionary work in China, had dangled the prospect before the Jesuit mission head for a while. They reached a preliminary agreement: the transmigrators would allow the Jesuits to send a priest back with them to Lingao. During his stay in Lingao, the priest could move freely within the transmigrators’ controlled areas but was not allowed to proselytize. The ships of the Macau Jesuits could enter the Bopu harbor controlled by the transmigrators at any time to deliver letters and personal supplies for the priest. If necessary, the Jesuits could recall the priest at any time, and the transmigrators would not obstruct them.

In return for these conditions, the benefits for the transmigrators were much greater. The Jesuits agreed to act as the protectors of the transmigrators’ interests in Macau. The Jesuits guaranteed that after a further agreement was reached, they would provide sufficient convenience for the transmigrators’ business activities in Macau, including a license to open a trading house. An additional gain was that after tasting the rhubarb liqueur that Wen Desi had enthusiastically offered him, the mission head not only praised the taste but also fell in love with the porcelain bottle.

The mission head immediately bought up all the remaining stock of rhubarb liqueur. The agreed price was a quarter of a silver peso per bottle, which greatly exceeded Zhang Xin’s prior estimate. The combined power of the rhubarb and the porcelain bottle amazed Zhang Xin. He hadn’t believed it when Fa Shilu told him about the Europeans’ fascination with rhubarb.

Zhang Xin and Wen Desi then spent some time around the Macau docks. Macau did not have any large-scale shipyards, only the capacity to repair ships, and there were few European shipwrights. Wen Desi was rather disappointed. He had originally hoped to recruit some shipwrights skilled in European shipbuilding techniques from here. But now with the Jesuit connection, it shouldn’t be a problem to hire some craftsmen even from Europe.

The visiting group also purchased many urgently needed metal materials in Macau: copper ingots, pig iron, and lead. Zhang Xin also bought a large quantity of jute. The merchant said it was the best Indian product.

“What’s this for?” Wang Ruixiang asked, having followed them around and now seeing them spend money on a large pile of what looked like straw.

“For making rope.”

“Rope?”

“Yes, for making ship’s cables.” Zhang Xin explained that jute was the best material for making ship’s cables. It was both light and strong, an important shipbuilding material, and in the past, a very important cash crop.

The Indian merchant who sold them the jute seemed very satisfied with the deal. He brought out a magnificent silver hookah from the back room, lit it, and invited Zhang Xin to try it. Zhang Xin sniffed it, had Mendoza, who was translating, say a few words to the merchant, and the merchant brought out a box from the back. Opening it, they saw it was full of dark brown flat cakes, which looked smooth and soft and exuded a very peculiar smell. Zhang Xin’s eyes lit up. He sniffed it, pressed it with his finger, and licked it lightly with the tip of his tongue, immediately spitting out the saliva.

“Ask him how much he wants for it,” he said to Mendoza through Zhou Weisen. Miss Mendoza kept shaking her head and muttering something to Zhou Weisen. Zhang Xin grew impatient.

“Hurry up and ask. What are you whispering about?”

Zhou Weisen spoke to Mendoza a few more times, and finally, a deal was reached: one silver peso per box.

“Ask him: is there a bulk supply available locally?”

Zhou Weisen hesitated for a moment, then asked Zhang Xin, “I say, Old Zhang, do you know what this stuff is?”

“Nonsense. If I didn’t know, why would I buy it?”

“Are you planning to follow the British and get into the opium trade, poisoning the Chinese nation—”

“Dr. Zhou, don’t you know that opium is an important raw material for making medicine?”

“Of course I know that,” Zhou Weisen said. “The problem is, you’re the commercial agent in Guangzhou. When you buy opium, I just think of things like the burning of opium at Humen.”

“Hehe, I wouldn’t do something so vile that I’d be born without an anus,” Zhang Xin said. “Ye Yuming went to pick up that troublesome missionary. I’ll take care of the agricultural department’s business.”

“Damn, you’re going to grow opium on the farm? I have to warn you: once Pandora’s box is opened, the consequences will be endless. To make medicine, buying Indian opium is enough.”

“Relying on imports is always a dangerous thing, especially at this stage.” Zhang Xin got his answer from the Indian. He said that the demand for opium was not large, with only two to three hundred boxes coming from India to Macau each year. Apart from a portion for local use, the rest was sold to Guangzhou as medicine. If the transmigrators’ demand was not large, he could arrange for a separate shipment.

In this era, opium had not yet become the highly sought-after, high-profit commodity it would later become. Whether as a recreational drug or a medicine, the demand was very small.

After the Tongji’s cargo hold was full, the ship set sail for its return journey. Besides the cargo, there was also a foreigner with black hair and brown eyes on board—his Chinese name was Lu Ruohua. He was a man from southern France in his early thirties, who had recently arrived in Macau from France. He was chosen because no one among the transmigrators knew Italian, but many knew French, which facilitated communication.

Lu Ruohua, like all the Jesuit missionaries who came to East Asia at that time, had learned a special skill before beginning his missionary work: astronomy, medicine, engineering, or art, just like his peers and successors. The brilliance of the Jesuits in the field of missions was their early realization that for the Eastern countries with hundreds or even thousands of years of civilization, a Bible alone was far from enough to move them.

Lu Ruohua had chosen to study medicine. When he had read the biography of the founder of the Society of Jesus, Ignatius of Loyola, he learned that people were most receptive to the call of God when they were in pain.

After boarding the ship, he didn’t have a moment of peace. He immediately started looking for people to learn Mandarin from. The group of idle people also used this foreigner for entertainment. His stiff-tongued “Ni hao,” “Chi fan le mei,” and “Dui bu qi, ni shi ge hao ren” could be heard everywhere, which annoyed Wen Desi to no end.

Miss Mendoza, on the other hand, seemed to have found the light of her life. She left Zhou Weisen aside and doted on the “reverend father,” bringing him food and water. This made Zhou Weisen very unhappy. But having lived abroad for a long time, he knew that Catholics often had strong religious sentiments. It was inevitable that Miss Mendoza would be overjoyed when a priest suddenly appeared in this desert of faith.

“Wen Zong, I think Catholicism is bound to be introduced to Hainan this time,” Wang Ruixiang whispered to Wen Desi when he had the chance. “A country cannot have two masters. Once these foreign religions are introduced, another power center will be formed in the minds of the people. Won’t the word of the religious leader be more powerful than the government? You must not forget the many lessons from the other world. Monotheistic religions are all troublesome.”

Wen Desi remained impassive. “What do you suggest?”

“On this vast sea—” Wang Ruixiang made a chopping motion.

“That won’t solve the problem,” Wen Desi shook his head. “You underestimate the power of faith. He dared to come with us, so he’s prepared to die. If one Lu Ruohua dies, ten more will come. And then, they won’t come on our ships; they’ll come secretly.”

Wang Ruixiang seemed to understand his meaning and nodded, but he couldn’t help but add, “Religion is too destructive.”

Wen Desi looked at the undulating sea and sighed after a long while. “I hope that in our lifetime, we will have the ability to change the tide of this world.”

At this moment, Monde came to report: the ship had reached the vicinity of Hong Kong.

“Lock Lu Ruohua in the cargo hold. Don’t let him on deck,” Wen Desi ordered. This order immediately caused strong dissatisfaction from Miss Mendoza, who was nearby. Relying on her service to the transmigrators, she came to protest the rough treatment of a clergyman.

But Wen Desi was unmoved and directly had Zhou Weisen drag his woman back. The place he was going next was absolutely not to be known by foreigners at this time.

Under the guidance of Monde and a 21st-century nautical chart, on their return journey, they came to another small island in the Wanshan Archipelago off the coast of the Pearl River estuary. From the ship, the island was lush and green, with scattered fishing villages of various sizes. By checking the nautical chart and measuring the latitude and longitude, they could confirm that this was the Hong Kong Island of later generations. The shores of Victoria Harbour were desolate. Not to mention a market, there were hardly any signs of human activity.

A small boat was lowered from the ship. Under the pretext of replenishing fresh water, they landed. Their purpose was to conduct a basic survey of Hong Kong Island, including its topography, landforms, and freshwater resources. They also needed to measure the water depth of the various bays along the coast of Victoria Harbour to see where was suitable for establishing a future commodity transit base.

Hong Kong Island had an area of nearly 81 square kilometers. It was large, had fresh water and forests, and Victoria Harbour was known as one of the three great deep-water ports in the world. As a base, it had great value for both military and commercial purposes, and far more development potential than the small Macau. When the Portuguese first came to the coast of China, they recognized this place as a treasure land. It was just that they were too eager for quick success and had occupied Tuen Mun in the New Territories, hoping to directly control the entrance and exit of the Pearl River estuary. As a result, they were driven out by the Ming army. Wen Desi knew very well that there was a large Ming army camp in Tuen Mun, not far from here. It was absolutely impossible for the transmigrators to occupy Hong Kong under the nose of the government without a fight.