Chapter 170: The Negotiation

Seeing the Frenchman’s astonishment, He Ying thought to himself, “I even know that La Rochelle will be captured this year. I just don’t know if the adventures of Monsieur d’Artagnan and his friends fighting the Protestants in the bastion will still happen.”

Being assigned to this Frenchman because he knew French, He Ying was full of confidence about his rising position within the transmigrator group. He never expected that the French he had learned to pick up girls in college would be of such great use. Was this considered diplomacy? Or was it the work of the United Front Department? He had originally been an advertising planner, but now he couldn’t find a suitable position in the transmigrator group. He was assigned to the propaganda section of the Propaganda Department, writing leaflets and painting slogans. His life was incredibly full, but lacked passion. Occasionally repairing a TV or radio was a small diversion. Because of his good marksmanship, despite his best efforts to avoid being a core militiaman, he was still assigned to the “Instructional Corps” after the recent organizational adjustment. He had to stand guard at night every week. Now that he had a new position, he probably wouldn’t have to do this chore anymore.

“Will the heresy in France be completely eradicated then?” Lu Ruohua was very interested in this topic.

“The surrender of La Rochelle is imminent, but the religious disputes will not end—”

Lu Ruohua stared at this “Australian”—yes, no matter how you looked at them, they were authentic Chinese people. Lu Ruohua knew that the Chinese they spoke was different from that of other Chinese in the Ming Empire. It was not Cantonese, not Minnan, nor was it Mandarin. It was another kind of Chinese. Who were they? The origin of these people interested him more than missionary affairs.

“In your opinion, the heretics will still cause trouble in France, is that right?”

“That’s right. The religious disputes in France are just beginning,” He Ying said modestly.

“May God bless and save those lambs who have gone astray,” Lu Ruohua silently recited a passage of scripture.

For a week, he had been constantly spreading the gospel of Christ to He Ying, but he knew that this young man, who spoke French with a strange accent, maintained a polite smile but did not care about what he said. This made him a little frustrated—this person was proficient in French and was a knowledgeable and talented man. If he could be baptized, he would be a good assistant for his missionary work.

He Ying felt a little bored. He was an atheist and found the constant religious bombardment a bit overwhelming. But the organization’s task had to be completed—to chat with Lu Ruohua and gather as much intelligence and information as possible, especially to grasp this person’s personality for use in negotiations.

After so many days of talking, He Ying had managed to find out about his family, his land, and the number of cattle on his land, but he still couldn’t figure out the man’s personality. The missionary always maintained a gentle and calm smile. Today, he brought up the topic of the French Wars of Religion to provoke him and reveal his character, but it seemed he had gained nothing.

“Alright, you piece of trash. A real old fox!” He Ying knew he couldn’t do anything more. Fortunately, Chief Wen’s backup plan was ready.

“Where there are human beings, there will be disputes. Father, let’s go. President Wen wants to see you today.” To reflect the nature of the transmigrator regime, he called Wen Desi “President,” not “Shopkeeper.”

“Good, please allow me to change my clothes,” Lu Ruohua said with a solemn face.

Lu Ruohua was not wearing a black cassock, but a long robe that imitated the clothes of the Ming people—it looked rather strange on such a bearded foreigner. He also wore a square flat-topped cap on his head. The Jesuit missionaries had understood the principle of “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” many years ago. They not only learned Chinese but also the local dialects, and tried to dress like the locals as much as possible.

A new four-wheeled carriage came to pick them up. This was the first large modern product produced by the mechanical department. It took the collective effort of the entire department almost twenty days to manufacture. Its core component, the shock-absorbing spring, was made of 0.6% carbon steel with heat treatment technology, and was self-rolled on a steel column. The heat treatment process alone took almost 10 days. The performance of this spring was average and could not be used on the key components of artillery. It was barely adequate as a shock absorber for a carriage.

However, making wheels was a difficult task. Ancient wooden wheels, both Chinese and foreign, had specialized craftsmanship. The transmigrators couldn’t figure out wheel manufacturing for a while, so they simply used the wheels from their stock of two-wheeled handcarts. The ball bearings in the axles were self-made. Through the construction of this carriage, the mechanical department trial-produced standard hardware parts, bearings, and chains, the most basic industrial components.

The carriage body was made of local wood. The seats were spring-loaded sofas wrapped in genuine leather and filled with dried seaweed. The windows were inlaid with glass. The emblem on the front of the carriage was a red flag fluttering in the wind.

This “Red Flag” model carriage was created to reduce the use of automobiles. More and more important people were coming to the transmigrators’ area. Although picking them up in a jeep would be very impressive, the consumption of gasoline and the wear and tear of parts were real.

Lu Ruohua was invited into the carriage. The carriage itself was not unusual, but after sitting down, he found it very comfortable. It was not simply the softness of being filled with a large amount of wool, but a feeling of being firm yet yielding, as if it was both resisting and welcoming.

Looking at the interior, it was simple and unadorned, just coated with a layer of Chinese lacquer. But the interior space was spacious and comfortable to sit in. The ride was also smooth.

Looking out the window, the road the carriage was traveling on was flat and straight, paved with a mixture of a black substance and gravel. The road surface looked very solid, with no ruts from wheels. The middle of the road was slightly raised, with drainage ditches on both sides. It was clear that the design was well-thought-out and the construction was of high quality. He secretly admired it—he had never seen such a good road in all his travels around half the world.

The facilities along the road were even more comprehensive than he had ever heard of. There were stone milestones at intervals of about a quarter of a French league. At every fork in the road, there were stone road signs. Along the road, there were also small forts, protected by trenches, low walls, and barbed wire cheval de frise. The forts were equipped with artillery, and fully armed soldiers stood guard. It was clear that one did not have to worry about robbers on this road. Small open-air markets had spontaneously formed in the open spaces outside the forts. In each market, there was an identical pavilion for shelter from the wind and rain. The pavilion had a well and a stone trough to provide water for livestock. The carriage always rested for a moment at these markets to water the horses. A large wooden barrel inside the pavilion stored boiled and cooled water, which seemed to contain some kind of medicinal herb. Lu Ruohua found it very bitter, but it was cool and thirst-quenching.

New trees had been planted along the roadside, presumably to provide shade for the road in the future. But along the road, there were also thick wooden poles, which were buried very securely. Some were even held in place with ropes, as if these poles were very important. But on closer inspection, there was nothing on the poles. They were empty. He wondered if it was some kind of idol worship of the Australians, like the natives on the Southeast Asian islands who worshiped wooden poles. But there were no decorations on the surface of these poles—they were just poles, coated with black wood tar.

“Are all these arranged by you?” Father Lu asked after they were back on the road.

“Yes.”

“God, this is the best road system I have ever seen. Is it all over Lingao?”

“No, not yet,” He Ying knew that the transmigrators’ powerful engineering technology and humanized design would leave a deep impression on everyone who traveled this road. “You know, this kind of road is very expensive.”

“Indeed,” Lu Ruohua nodded. “Not just the road, but also those facilities. They are so well thought out.”

“This is called ‘people-oriented’.”

“‘People-oriented’,” Lu Ruohua pondered for a moment. “Based on the needs of the people?”

“The highway serves the public, so naturally it should be based on the needs of the public.”

“It seems that pedestrians on this road do not pay tolls. But the road needs constant maintenance. How do you maintain it? Do you rely solely on your profits from commerce? Is this a form of Australian charity?”

“Although we don’t collect tolls from this road, we still benefit from it.”

“How do you benefit?”

“Father, you should know that roads bring merchants and wealth, right?”

Lu Ruohua understood. “You use roads to attract merchants.”

“Yes, Father. With merchants comes wealth. The better and safer the roads, the more merchants will come, and the greater our profits will be.”

“Your leader is indeed far-sighted,” Lu Ruohua’s praise was sincere.

“Hehe, I believe there are many people in this world who understand this principle.”

The negotiation was held in the merchant’s guild hall in East Gate Market. One of the conference rooms had been cleaned and a conference table had been set up. Father Lu was a little nervous as he took his seat. Then he smelled the aroma of an Arabian beverage—coffee. A young girl in a strange skirt uniform brought coffee in a dazzlingly beautiful fine porcelain cup.

Coffee had already been introduced to Europe at this time. At the end of the sixteenth century, the Venetians first introduced coffee to Europe, but it was only enjoyed by a few people. More people regarded it as a medicine. However, Europeans in the Far East were very familiar with this drink, because the Muslim kings and local rulers on the Indian subcontinent had the habit of drinking coffee.

Although it was only low-quality instant coffee, for this missionary, being served coffee by the transmigrators made him feel highly valued.

“Please wait a moment,” He Ying said politely and disappeared behind the door.

The room was empty, and he could only hear people coming and going in the corridor. Lu Ruohua was bored and began to admire the furnishings in the room. The furniture was all of the most exquisite Chinese style, but it was arranged in a disorderly manner, unlike the exquisite and orderly residences of the Chinese merchants he had visited. There were no long Chinese paintings on the walls. Thinking of the simple and coarse clothes they wore, it seemed that this group of Australians had little artistic aesthetic sense. Lu Ruohua planned to choose a brother who was good at art to help when he expanded his missionary team in the future. This would make it easier to penetrate their ruling class—everyone loves beautiful things.

While he was thinking about how to impress this group of Australians, he heard a commotion outside the door, followed by an English dialogue, with a few particularly loud sentences. Lu Ruohua trembled. There were English people here?! He quickly got up and went to the door to peek outside. He saw a charming blonde, blue-eyed woman in a long, flowing dress accompanying a gentleman in a mask and wig coming out of another room. Seeing them off with a smile was none other than Shopkeeper Wen Desi. They exchanged a few more words, and Shopkeeper Wen laughed loudly, then said something in English, and the other party nodded repeatedly.

It seemed that the English were also in contact with them. From the appearance and demeanor of the visitors, they did not look like ordinary English merchants trading in East Asia. The man wore a long sword, which was not the attire of a merchant. Although the gentleman wore a mask and his face could not be seen, his every move was majestic and dignified. He seemed to be a gentleman who had experienced many battles.

Such a gentleman was at least a representative of the East India Company. If he was here only for trade, it would be fine. But with such a female companion, one could not help but worry about the long-term intentions of the English here. The heretics in France were able to resist the king and the church for a long time with the support of the English. Did they have some kind of plan here too?

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Wen Desi walked in slowly. He was followed by several “Australians”—among them He Ying and Bai Duolu, whom he recognized. Wen Desi politely welcomed Father Lu’s arrival. The two sides then got down to business.

The negotiation was conducted in French through He Ying. Lu Ruohua first stated the requests of the Jesuits, a total of four:

First, to allow Jesuit missionaries to preach freely in Lingao and to guarantee their freedom of movement within the ruling territory.

Second, to allow Jesuit missionaries to freely buy and lease houses for religious and residential use.

Third, to ensure the personal and property safety of the church, clergy, and converts.

Fourth, to not allow clergy from other religious orders to preach here.

These four points, except for the one about not allowing other religious orders to preach here, were all within the Executive Committee’s expectations. Wen Desi did not directly answer whether they were feasible, but first made a solemn statement to him:

Australia has a Catholic Church. Although no bishop or priest was sent on this return to the Central Plains, a priest came along to take charge of church affairs.

“This is Father Bai Duolu. Although he is a lay brother, he is very loyal to your religion and church.”

Bai Duolu bowed awkwardly.

“And this is He Ying,” Wen Desi continued the introduction. “He is your translator and also the Executive Committee’s religious affairs officer. You can negotiate with the Executive Committee about all church affairs in Lingao through him.”

He Ying bowed slightly. “At your service!”

“We agree to the request to preach, but—” Wen Desi emphasized the last word.

“But.” Lu Ruohua certainly knew that the part after “but” was the key. He held his breath and paid close attention to He Ying’s translation.