Chapter 287: Extortion

Among these people, he valued most the scribe Ma Benyuan in the Hainan Sub-prefectural Dao Yamen. This man was a local Hui Muslim of Hainan, a key figure in the Gou family’s stolen goods disposal route from Qiongzhou to Guangzhou. Most of the large amount of stolen goods plundered by pirates like Zhu Cailao were sold through his hands. Gou Da and Gou Er had a lot of correspondence with him, and the various black materials were enough to have him beheaded ten times. Lin Baiguang felt that he had enough leverage to force him to submit.

Lin Baiguang did not value the stolen goods disposal route that Ma Benyuan controlled. The trade routes in Lin’gao had basically been opened up now. Adding another one would be just icing on the cake. What he valued was Ma Shiye’s position in the Sub-prefectural Dao Yamen. With such an inside man, the Transmigration Group could know in advance every move of the highest authorities in Hainan.

Lin Baiguang knew that he would never get to see Ma Benyuan if he went to see him directly. This kind of person was extremely suspicious and never easily saw strangers he didn’t know. So he presented a silver longevity star inlaid with eight treasures, which Ma Benyuan had given as a birthday gift back then, from the items seized from Gou Er’s house.

This unexpected gift startled Ma Benyuan—this was a gift he had given to Gou Er, how did it suddenly appear before his eyes? Since Gou Er had fled to Qiongshan in embarrassment last year, crying that his estate had been destroyed, he had not seen him for almost a year.

At that time, he had unceremoniously driven Gou Er away, and had not even given him the three thousand taels of silver from the sale of the stolen goods. It was not that he wanted to keep this money for himself. He had been the one who had connected the Gou family with Zhu Cailao, and was considered a semi-guarantor. Now that the den had been taken over and nothing was left, if Zhu Cailao were to vent his anger on him and come to his door to demand an explanation, he could not afford to bear the blame. This sum of money could at least calm Zhu Da’s anger a little.

After Gou Er was driven away, Ma Benyuan had been on tenterhooks. He was a figure in Qiongshan County, but in front of a sea lord like Zhu Cailao, he was nothing.

Fortunately, Zhu Cailao was in trouble himself. Apart from sending people to ask about Gou Er’s whereabouts a few times, he did not bother him. However, he also learned from the people sent by Zhu Cailao that the ones who had taken over the Gou family estate were a new force from the sea. They called themselves Australians, came on iron ships, and their firearms were very powerful. Ma Benyuan secretly complained. The Australians and Zhu Da, neither of them seemed to be easy to deal with.

Recently, he learned that Zhu Da had died in battle in Fujian. This made Ma Benyuan breathe a sigh of relief. For the past six months, Zhu Cailao’s men had been searching for Gou Er everywhere. He was deeply afraid that one day they would not be able to find Gou Er and would come to him to vent their anger.

Now that this longevity star appeared before his eyes, could it be that Gou Er also knew that Zhu Cailao was dead and had come to his door to ask for the money from the sale of the stolen goods?

Ma Benyuan thought for a moment whether he should keep this money and avoid seeing him. Anyway, Gou Er was now a stray dog, with no strength except for a son. If he dared to cause trouble in Qiongshan County, he could crush him with one finger.

To be cautious, he asked, “Is the visitor Gou Er?”

The doorman was his confidant and naturally knew all of his master’s cronies.

Upon inquiry, the visitor was not Gou Er, nor his son, but a stranger he did not know, who spoke a strange Qiongzhou dialect. Ma Benyuan was stroking his chin in suspicion when he suddenly had a jolt:

Could it be the Australians!

This thought almost scared him off his chair. He wondered what the Australians wanted with him. He had no past dealings with them, nor any grudges.

But this silver longevity star—Ma Benyuan knew very well that when Gou Er fled from the estate, he would only have taken gold, silver, and other valuables, and would never have run away with such a gift. This item could only have fallen into the hands of the Australians.

What did the Australians want with him? Ma Benyuan wanted to avoid seeing them, but he thought that since the Australians had come to his door, they must have come prepared—they had even found the silver longevity star he had given to Gou Er. He might as well see them and find out what was going on.

“I am not acquainted with you, sir. I wonder what brings you here?” Ma Benyuan saw that the visitor was very young, with a calm temperament and a sophisticated air. He couldn’t figure out his background for a moment and asked very politely.

“My surname is Lin, and I come from Lin’gao,” Lin Baiguang said with a smile. Since he wanted to recruit him to serve the Transmigration Group, there was no need to be secretive.

Ma Benyuan’s heart skipped a beat. It really was them!

He said cautiously, “You are an Australian, sir.”

Lin Baiguang nodded. “That’s right,” he said, handing over a thin stack of paper.

This was a copy of an account book, which was compiled from the materials seized from the Gou brothers. It clearly recorded the accounts of Ma Benyuan selling stolen goods for pirates like Zhu Cailao. There were dates, quantities, all very clear. And the last entry was also very clear, stating that there were three thousand taels of silver from the sale of Zhu Cailao’s stolen goods that had not been settled.

When Ma Benyuan saw this copy, he immediately deflated like a punctured ball and collapsed into his chair. After a long while, he said:

“I did have business dealings with the Gou brothers, but it was just to sell some goods for them,” he waved his hand weakly. “I was not aware that the goods were the stolen property of Zhu Cailao and others…”

“Mr. Ma,” Lin Baiguang said with a broad smile, “I am not the government. I don’t care about such things.”

“Yes, yes, thank you for your kindness,” Ma Benyuan said. From his experience, he certainly knew that the other party was about to state their terms. “I wonder what you need my help with?”

“I just want to continue to partner with Mr. Ma,” Lin Baiguang knew that the matter was more than half done. He smiled. “To conspire in a great plan.” Lin Baiguang thought that Ma Benyuan was a smart man, and he had enough cards in his hand to force him to submit, so there was no need to beat around the bush. He stated his demands one by one. Ma Benyuan’s originally calm face became more and more ugly as he listened. After a long while, he replied, “This is too difficult.”

Lin Baiguang said, “Sir, you just need to pass on what you hear and see in the yamen to us. We will naturally have someone contact you.”

Ma Benyuan still hesitated and shook his head. This kind of activity was equivalent to being a spy for the Australians. It was not a big deal to pass on information in the yamen, but he knew something about the Australians’ actions: this group was building cities and roads in Lin’gao, recruiting rebels and defectors, and sooner or later they would cause a big mess! If he was discovered to be spying for them, it would be a capital crime!

But Lin Baiguang’s threat was also really scary—especially this account book, it was too damaging. Zhu Cailao had just been wiped out recently, and the government’s enthusiasm for suppressing pirates had not yet passed. If this thing was thrown out, he would be skinned alive even if he wasn’t killed. Lin Baiguang saw that his determination was wavering and told him that he could keep the three thousand taels of silver, and he could continue to sell stolen goods for the pirates in the future, and the Transmigration Group would pay the commission as usual.

This tempting offer made Ma Benyuan finally agree. In fact, he had no choice but to agree. If he agreed, he could at least get some silver every year. If he didn’t, this account book and the letters that had fallen into their hands would be his death warrant! As for how to be a spy, that was a matter for the future.

Seeing that he had agreed, Lin Baiguang told him the contact method: under normal circumstances, he would send someone to contact him once a month on a certain day, at a teahouse on the West Gate Main Street.

“You just sit there, and someone will naturally contact you,” Lin Baiguang said in a low voice. “The person who comes to contact you will be carrying a water pipe with a jade mouthpiece. You just need to tell him what you hear in the yamen and in and out of the city.”

This was not a difficult matter, Ma Benyuan thought.

“If we have any news we want to know, he will tell you,” Lin Baiguang said.

Ma Benyuan nodded.

“If you ever need to see our people immediately, go to the Wugong Temple and drop a broken straw shoe next to the stone steps outside the main gate. Then go to the teahouse and wait, and someone will come to meet you.”

A chill ran through Ma Benyuan’s heart. It was not that this method was so clever and unexpected, but that being able to do so meant that the Australians had already planted many people in the prefectural city. Perhaps there were even Australian spies watching his house outside.

“Sometimes we will look for you urgently. We will draw a circle on the wall outside your house. When you see it, go to the teahouse, and someone will contact you.”

Lin Baiguang spoke with great confidence, but in fact, he had no one in Qiongzhou Prefecture. The so-called Qiongzhou Station was still a long way off. But this rhetoric did serve the purpose of intimidating Ma Benyuan.

After successfully recruiting Ma Benyuan, Lin Baiguang’s visits continued for a few more days. No one on his list dared to refuse his request—the power of black material was very effective. This group of people was not very reliable and was only forced to serve the Transmigration Group. Lin Baiguang only used them as a source of intelligence. The real intelligence work still had to be done by intelligence personnel sent from Lin’gao.

He was a little worried about one thing, and that was the Jinyiwei personnel in Qiongzhou Prefecture. According to custom, there was a Jinyiwei branch in the prefectural city, with officials of various ranks such as centurions, probationary centurions, banner commanders, and squad leaders. Most people were influenced by movies and television and were very familiar with the Ming Dynasty’s secret service agencies such as the Jinyiwei, the Eastern Depot, and the Western Depot, and could not help but feel a little afraid. Lin Baiguang was no exception.

However, there was no name of any Jinyiwei personnel in the Gou family’s network. This made him a little strange. The Gou family’s business of harboring and selling stolen goods and smuggling salt were all very profitable black businesses. For an agency as powerful as the Jinyiwei, which would even create trouble out of nothing to get money, it was impossible for them not to come and take a share.

In the bribery ledger seized from Gou Er’s box, the names of the Jinyiwei centurion and probationary centurion of Qiongzhou Prefecture were only listed in the gift-giving ledger for the three festivals and two birthdays. Their names were not in the ledger with large bribes.

[Note: Whether the Hainan Dao was called the Bingbei Dao or the Fenshou Dao, and whether this Hainan Dao still existed in the late Ming Dynasty, I have not found a definitive statement. Some materials only indicate that there was a Hainan Dao Yamen in Qiongshan County town.]