Chapter 224: Gou Er's Property

Of course, he had Wu Fo to thank for this—he was his immediate superior, and it was he who had introduced this woman to him. Thinking of this, Gou Buli’s dissatisfaction lessened considerably. The big shots among the Australians were quite humane, didn’t put on airs, and were considerate of others.

“Isn’t it too formal to address each other like that between husband and wife?” his wife said aggrievedly. “I heard that ‘comrade’ is how the cadres and chiefs address each other…”

“Hmph, how do you know I won’t become a cadre!” Gou Buli said indignantly. He thought to himself that even a long-term laborer like Ma Peng had become a cadre, while he, who had contributed so much to the Australians at the Gou estate, had only managed to get a small hotel and become an informant. It was too pathetic!

Of course, having a small hotel of his own wasn’t bad. Not counting the monthly stipend, the income from running the hotel was quite substantial. The Australians had been good to him, but Gou Buli’s ambitions were much greater—he wanted to make a name for himself!

As for how to make a name for himself, Gou Buli hadn’t figured that out yet. Generally speaking, he had to uncover a major case, preferably one of “treason.” The thought startled him. Who exactly was plotting treason? This question was a bit difficult.

It was the first time Gou Buli had considered this question, but he didn’t dwell on it. Thinking too deeply about it was too terrifying. Suddenly, he felt that being a small hotel owner and receiving a stipend on the side was a pretty good thing.

“Um, wife, you should just call me ‘master’ from now on,” Gou Buli said to his wife.

Lin Baiguang had been drinking with Shi Shisi and the others and was a bit dizzy, but his mind was still clear. To avoid showing his drunkenness, he slowed his pace and walked back to his office with steady steps.

Once in his office, he locked the door and took a bottle of sobering medicine from his safe—this was a locally made safe, not of iron, but of reinforced concrete with an iron door. It was something he had always kept on hand in the county. Taking one pill before drinking and another after could generally keep him sober and prevent him from talking nonsense.

He swallowed the pill with cold water and leaned back in his rattan chair. These pirates could really drink! he thought. They drank rum like it was water!

After the pirates had settled down, because they knew no one else here, Lin Baiguang naturally became their friend and spokesman. People often invited him for drinks and asked him to handle matters for them. Lin Baiguang never refused, dealing with each one. On the one hand, he tried his best to solve their difficulties; on the other, he kept a grasp on their state of mind.

Although the pirates who had surrendered had been formally reorganized, various underlying emotions still existed. This did not surprise Lin Baiguang—not everyone could adapt to such a transition. The fact that these men were willing to voice their complaints to him showed that they still trusted him, and letting them speak at least gave them an outlet for their frustrations.

First, there was great resentment about the separation of their relatives and nephews. After moving into the villas, relatives who were used to living together were assigned to apartments in the commune and no longer lived together. This made many people uncomfortable. They were used to being surrounded by their brothers, nephews, and other relatives, ready to be summoned at any time. Now, besides their parents, wives, children, and a few servants, there was no one else around. This was especially true for some of the leaders who had always regarded their nephews as their most trusted and capable men. Now, these nephews were living in army barracks or schools. Having lost their followers and their relatives, they felt a sense of bewilderment and loss—they were used to standing on the decks of their own ships, looking at their surrounding fleet and men. Now, there was no one around but their wives and children. Their hearts felt empty and insecure.

Second was the endless study class. It had only been a month, and although their days were full, they were men of the sea. After resting on shore for a while, they inevitably grew restless. A few who were confined to the venereal disease prevention and treatment center were even more full of complaints—it was one thing to be without women, but to be stripped naked and have their private parts handled by several men and women, taking medicine and applying ointments, was a bit too much to bear.

Lin Baiguang used the opportunity of drinking to let them vent and offered some comfort: it was a good thing for their sons and nephews to be away from them, to have a future in the army or in school. Wasn’t that better than being a follower forever? As for going to sea, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future; there was no need to rush.

After each drinking session, he would tirelessly compile a summary of the entire meeting and conversation, and send a copy to his superiors. It didn’t matter if they read it or not; the key was to have a record, to avoid any misunderstandings in the future.

Lin Baiguang finished writing his report, stamped it with his personal seal, and sealed it. He closed his eyes and thought about the next steps for his role as the head of enemy work.

First, he needed to select a group of activists from among Zhu Cailao’s former subordinates who had recently surrendered and integrate them into the naval patrol fleet. After Zhu Cailao’s demise, his remnants had retreated to Guangdong, besides those who surrendered to Zheng Zhilong. Some were absorbed by Liu Xiang, while others roamed the seas, looking for opportunities to plunder. Some ships, like the small pirate bands defeated by Zheng Zhilong a few months ago, had drifted into the Qiongzhou Strait.

The navy planned to conduct recruitment activities in the Lingao waters of the strait to absorb these scattered soldiers. Of course, it was best to have persuaders to avoid casualties in battle. For the ships, capable sailors were even more valuable.

Second was to make an intelligence trip to the mainland. He had already arranged for people to go to the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian to find the family of Lin Dan—this matter had to be resolved for Lin Dan. As for a package from Xu Cheng, he had someone exchange it for a money order at Delong, which was then telegraphed to Guangzhou for him to collect. He planned to find Xu Cheng’s family and settle this matter.

He still held a sliver of hope that Xu Cheng was not dead. This man was loyal and valued friendship. If he was not dead, recruiting him would make him an excellent assistant.

For this trip, he did not plan to take a boat directly to Guangzhou, but to go to Qiongzhou first—he had an idea he wanted to try.

The idea of going to Qiongzhou was inspired by the letters seized from the secret room at the Gou estate, which he had been cleaning up in the enemy work department. Although the letters were written in vernacular, the grammar of ancient vernacular was different from modern Mandarin. He had Zhang Xingjiao come and read each letter word by word, explaining the meaning clearly.

Most of these letters were correspondence with Zhu Cailao and his subordinates, dealing with the results of selling stolen goods, arrangements for meeting to hand over money and goods, and requests for purchasing items. But another part was correspondence between Gou Da, Gou Er, and some figures in Qiongzhou. From the letters, it seemed that these people were local merchants or gentry in Qiongzhou Prefecture who specialized in dealing in stolen goods and smuggled salt with the Gou brothers.

Lin Baiguang didn’t know who these people were specifically. In the letters, they used either aliases or simple surnames as identifiers. However, the clues in the letters revealed a lot of information. For example, a certain Mr. Ma, from the tone of the letters, seemed to be a government official, probably a minor one. To his surprise, it turned out that Lusiya had also had dealings with the Gou family! Lusiya had once stored a batch of stolen goods at the Gou estate.

The more he studied these letters, the more ideas Lin Baiguang had. Since the Gou estate was finished, their material legacy had been inherited by the Crossing Group. The Crossing Group could also try to inherit these relationships.

However, the letters from the Gou family were mostly from Gou Da; there were very few from Gou Er. This didn’t make sense. According to the locals, Gou Da was the brawn, and Gou Er was the brains. Logically, a strategist and advisor like Gou Er should have had a lot of correspondence.

Where had it gone? Lin Baiguang thought for a moment and suddenly remembered that Gou Er did not live at the Gou estate; he lived in the county town. He called his communications officer to the archives and retrieved the action report on the search of Gou Er’s house.

The report was very detailed, from the time the commando team entered the county town, to the time they surrounded the Gou residence, to the route of entry and the people they encountered—everything was written down clearly.

During the entire operation, not a single member of the Gou family was captured, including Gou Er, his son, and their wives. Only two gatekeepers were caught.

Finally, there was a list of items seized from the Gou residence—this list was simply disheartening. Although it meticulously cataloged every broom and basket in the house, there were no valuables, letters, or account books.

Apparently, Gou Er had disposed of his property and important letters when he fled, which was why nothing was found.

The key was, where had he hidden his things? Lin Baiguang suddenly became very interested in Gou Er’s “lost treasure”—gold, silver, and jewels were secondary. Those letters should contain a lot of explosive material, and maybe even more important things, like bribery ledgers, which could be of great use if found.

He made a phone call to Ran Yao: “I suggest we immediately issue a warrant for the arrest of Gou Er and his son. Let the Lingao County Yamen issue the documents and draw their portraits for the wanted posters.”

“Is that necessary?” Ran Yao was very doubtful. “They are just dogs who have lost their homes.”

“Yes, it is.” Lin Baiguang briefly explained his thoughts. “Capturing Gou Er is like opening a door to Qiongzhou Prefecture.”

Ran Yao said, “But Gou Er’s son is still a xiucai. In theory, the Lingao County Yamen cannot issue a warrant for his arrest. His xiucai title must be revoked before a warrant can be issued. This requires a formal request to the provincial education commissioner’s office in Guangzhou, which could take several months.”

“Then we’ll issue a private warrant!” Lin Baiguang thought that without the Lingao County Yamen issuing the warrant, the notice would have no official standing. They couldn’t issue it in the name of the Executive Committee, could they? “Or we could just issue a warrant for Gou Er himself.”