Chapter 53: The Tang Monk Project

The Guangzhou station’s network in Leizhou was already capable of gathering most of the intelligence they needed. There was little concept of secrecy here; with time and effort, almost anything could be discovered. So why had the Executive Committee sent Bei Wei and the mysterious Chen Tianxiong? What was their true purpose? Were they planning to occupy Leizhou?

Despite his doubts, Chang Shide didn’t dare to ask. With the “central” authorities present, he couldn’t even summon the women to his room. For a man who had grown accustomed to a life of nightly revelry, it was an unbearable hardship.

That evening, Bei Wei and Chen Tianxiong, who had been lying low in the courtyard with their team, came to see them.

“We have indeed come to Leizhou with a mission,” Chen Tianxiong said, getting straight to the point.

Chang Shide and Wen Tong nodded. Wen Tong stood, went to the door, and looked out into the courtyard. “Keep an eye out,” he said to Zhou Shizhai, who was meditating under the eaves. “Don’t let anyone come near.”

Zhou Shizhai gave a slight nod. Wen Tong returned to the room.

“Go on. What is it?”

“The plan is still in the evaluation stage,” Chen Tianxiong said. “Bei Wei and I are here on the same mission: to conduct a field survey, assess the feasibility of the plan, and gather operational data. As for the plan itself… its name is the ‘Tang Monk Project’.”

The Tang Monk Project?! Wen Tong and Chang Shide were stunned. Was this some kind of joke?

Seeing their expressions, Chen Tianxiong explained, “Do you remember the first tribulation Tang Monk faced after his birth?”

“The story of Jiang Liu’er,” they murmured, wracking their brains to recall the events of Journey to the West.

Chang Shide’s face changed. “Are we going to be river pirates?”

“That’s right,” Chen Tianxiong nodded.

A member of the Intelligence and Information Committee, while compiling historical reference materials, had stumbled upon a curious tale in the Leizhou Annals.

During the Chongzhen era, an official appointed as the prefect of Leizhou was robbed by mountain bandits on his way to his post. The official and his family were killed. The strange thing was that the bandit leader, using the official’s documents, went to Leizhou, took over from the previous prefect, and became a proper official.

This bandit served as an official in Leizhou for two years and earned a good reputation. It wasn’t until the real official’s son came to Leizhou seeking refuge and discovered the bandit’s identity that he reported it to the local Jinyiwei. The Jinyiwei arranged a banquet, lured the bandit into an ambush, and captured him. He confessed to everything.

This “curious tale” sparked the imagination of the intelligence department. The Leizhou Annals was a local history, its reliability high.

What if the person who took over the post was not a bandit, but a member of the transmigrator group?

The idea was so fantastical, so bold, that it was met with opposition from many in the Internal Affairs and Intelligence Committees. But its supporters presented a powerful argument: if an ordinary mountain bandit could hold the position of Leizhou prefect for two years and govern well, a transmigrator from the 21st century, with the backing of the entire transmigrator group, should be able to do so as well.

Opponents argued that the Ming Dynasty bandit had succeeded only by taking advantage of the underdeveloped information network of the time. He was, after all, a man of his era, with a deep understanding of Ming society. To have someone from a completely different era impersonate an official was preposterous.

“The differences between us and the natives are too obvious!” Ran Yao argued vehemently. “If you asked me to impersonate a county mayor in the 21st century, it might be possible. At least I’ve seen a pig run, even if I haven’t eaten pork. But this is like asking a pure-blooded Anglo-Saxon American to be a city leader. The gap between us and the people of the Ming Dynasty is even greater than the difference between modern Americans and Chinese!”

His argument was well-founded, but the potential benefits were too great to ignore. The entire Leizhou Prefecture would indirectly fall under their control. The prefect had subordinate officials, but with a combination of economic and military pressure, they would all submit. This would create a “white-skinned, red-hearted” local regime.

The key was that they could openly enter the Ming Dynasty’s bureaucracy, participate in its operations, and obtain direct government information. This was far more reliable than bribing yamen officials. Controlling Leizhou would also create a buffer zone for Hainan. If the Ming Dynasty were to launch a military campaign against Lingao, Leizhou would inevitably be the main staging area. It would provide a reliable base for both intelligence gathering and harassment.

“If replacing one official can bring such great benefits, why don’t we just go to Guangzhou, assassinate the Guangzhou prefect, and then replace the successor on the road?” someone asked.

“Because the bandit in Leizhou succeeded in history,” Chen Tianxiong, a fervent supporter of the plan, replied. “The replacement of the Guangzhou prefect never happened. Now we just need to replace the bandit, just as we are preparing to replace the Qing Dynasty.”

After several internal discussions, the plan was submitted to an enlarged meeting of the Executive Committee.

“I object!” Wu Nanhai was firmly opposed. “This is a critical period for our development. The knowledge possessed by every transmigrator is precious. I object to such a dangerous undertaking!”

“Are we going to stop the revolution just because we’re afraid of dying?” Xi Yazhou, his waistline having expanded after a long “recuperation,” reappeared at the meeting. “I firmly support this proposal. It will be of great help to our future development.”

“Let’s select some loyal natives to go,” Xiao Zishan said cautiously. “Our speech is not right, and we can’t even write properly. It’s too difficult to impersonate a Ming Dynasty prefect.”

“Who says bandits can’t write well? Maybe he was illiterate, but he still managed to be an official for two years and governed well.”

“Who says bandits are uncultured? Maybe he was cultured but just fell on hard times.”

“Maybe he was one of our predecessors… a pity his ambitions were not fulfilled…”

“Attention, don’t go off-topic,” Ma Qianzhu, who was chairing the meeting, said with a deep-seated hatred for the “off-topic” culture of their meetings.

“On this point, I agree with Committee Member Xiao,” said Wu De. “It’s not just a matter of speaking and writing. In many aspects of our daily habits, we are out of sync with the natives. It’s fine when dealing with the common people; at most, they’ll think you’re eccentric. The real fear is encountering colleagues, subordinates, superiors, and the gentry. These people are not so easily fooled.”

“I think we should select some loyal natives to do it,” someone suggested. “For example, Zhang Xingjiao. He is educated and can speak Mandarin. He should be able to do it.”

“Comrade, revolution is not a dinner party,” Xi Yazhou retorted bluntly. “This task, though dangerous, is a critical one. If we don’t send our own people to take charge, can you guarantee the reliability of a few surrendered natives? Zhang Xingjiao is reliable now, but what if he gets carried away with being an official and decides to betray us for a real official position?”

“Then we don’t have to have a transmigrator be the prefect. We can use a puppet and control them from behind the scenes,” Wu Nanhai said.

“That makes it even less secure,” Wei Aiwen said contemptuously. “Don’t forget, we are sending someone to infiltrate the court. The most important thing is this official position. If we use a puppet, what’s the difference between that and just collecting information from the common people? He’s a civilian official, after all, afraid of death.”

“How can you say that?” Wu Nanhai jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on. “Without us administrative personnel, where would your army get its weapons and food?”

“And what about our army serving as free labor for you every day? It’s all unpaid!” Wei Aiwen’s posture suggested he was ready to settle accounts with the agricultural department once and for all.

“Without our military protection, it’s a question of whether the transmigrator group could even survive,” Le Lin, the navy’s representative, chimed in. The navy’s hotheads were at sea, so this role was now played by the Hong Kong military enthusiast who “dressed like a Hollywood actor.” Though the navy and army didn’t see eye to eye on many things, they disliked the administrative personnel who controlled the economy even more.

“Alright, everyone, quiet down.” Facing a potential conflict between the civil and military factions, President Wen spoke up. “The position of Leizhou prefect is very crucial for us. My view is that we should try our best to occupy it. As for whether the prefect should be a transmigrator or a native, we can discuss that later. First, let’s vote on whether to implement this proposal. Those in favor, please raise your hands.” He raised his own hand.

The resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority.

“Alright,” Wen Desi said slowly. “We’ve overlooked a problem. What year did this happen? Chongzhen had seventeen years, after all.”

“According to the Leizhou Annals, it was in 1632.”

“So there are still three years,” Wen Desi said. “A lot can be done in three years. The first thing we should do now is to send people to Leizhou to conduct a field survey of the terrain and social environment to assess the difficulty of this plan.”

“That’s right,” Ran Yao reminded everyone. “This is extremely difficult to execute. We don’t know the name of the official who was appointed, where he was from, which road he took, or on what date he entered Leizhou. The book doesn’t say any of this.”

“Isn’t that obvious? He must have been in a sedan chair, with people in front holding signs like ‘Silence’ and ‘Make Way’…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He hadn’t even taken office yet,” Yu E’shui said. “Ran Yao is right. If we don’t investigate these details, how can the Special Reconnaissance Team intercept him? There’s another thing: we have to act before that bandit does. I think finding this bandit is much more difficult than finding the official.”

“That’s not a big problem,” Xi Yazhou said. “The key is the official. If we can find him, we can find the bandit. It doesn’t matter if the bandit acts first. As long as he hasn’t taken the official seal, we can still take him out on the road. The main thing is to get the official’s luggage and documents.”

After the plan was finalized, the Executive Committee authorized the Intelligence Committee to formulate the “Tang Monk Project.” The project was divided into two parts. One was to recruit future infiltrators from among the transmigrators. The prerequisite was that the transmigrator group’s cause would not be affected if this person was lost. And he had to be a volunteer. After being recruited, they would receive training from the Intelligence Committee to quickly master the customs and official language of the Ming Dynasty, and also practice their handwriting. At the same time, the Civil Affairs Committee was instructed to find usable young intellectuals among the subjects under their regime, select them for preferential treatment and brainwashing, and use them as backup personnel.

The other part was to carry out large-scale intelligence gathering in Leizhou to prepare for and evaluate the Tang Monk Project. Considering that the South China Sugar Factory was not a convenient intelligence gathering point, the Executive Committee decided to only use them as a support unit. Chen Tianxiong was sent to Leizhou as a dedicated intelligence officer to make full use of the network established by the Guangzhou station.

After hearing Chen Tianxiong’s introduction, Wen Tong and Chang Shide finally understood. Chang Shide said excitedly, “This is really exciting! Replace everyone with our own people, hahaha… It would be best to replace the Xuwen county magistrate as well!”

“The idea is good,” Wen Tong said, “but the Leizhou prefect is in Haikang County. The prefecture and county are in the same city. I’m afraid it won’t be so easy for a fake prefect to act, right?”

“That’s why Bei Wei is here,” Chen Tianxiong said.

“I’m here this time to conduct a reconnaissance trip for the Tang Monk Project,” Bei Wei nodded. “To get a comprehensive understanding of the terrain and urban environment of the entire Leizhou Prefecture, so we have a clear picture.”

“Good. If you need anything, just ask. We will do our best to be a strong backup for your intelligence work.”

“Help me find a reliable guide,” Bei Wei said. “Someone who is familiar with the local situation.”

“Of course. Liao Dahua, the manager of the Qiwei branch, is a good choice. He is familiar with both the officials and the common people. But he doesn’t know martial arts…”

“It doesn’t matter. We are here for reconnaissance. We plan to disguise ourselves as small merchants and walk around to have a look.”