Chapter 15: Li Luoyou Arrives

“It seems we’ll have to make a trip to Lin’gao,” Li Luoyou said, putting down the letter in his hand, as if talking to himself.

The man standing beside him said nothing. Ever since his last trip to Foshan, Li Luoyou seemed to have become obsessed with the place called Lin’gao.

His subordinates couldn’t quite understand why their master had suddenly taken an interest in this small county, a place even most people in Guangdong province knew little about. Only a few of his confidants knew that the great shopkeeper Li believed the source of the hottest-selling Australian goods in Guangzhou was Lin’gao.

As a merchant, his sensitivity to such matters far surpassed that of others. Recently, more and more unprecedented goods had appeared on the Guangzhou market, all wholesaled from the Zichengji in Guangzhou. And Zichengji was the trading house for Australian goods.

Li Luoyou was extremely attentive to Australian goods. He had sent special personnel to patrol Zichengji and Zizhenzhai every day, and to immediately buy back any new items they saw, from rare treasures to inexpensive sweets and pickles. Now, a special room had been set up in his main office, filled with all the Australian goods available on the market.

He had noticed a change: unlike before, when Australian goods were all exquisite and expensive luxury items, the recent wholesale items from Zichengji were all for daily practical use. The items were as exquisitely made and useful as ever, but the prices were much more affordable, within the reach of well-to-do families.

A pack of twelve sewing needles in a bamboo tube, not only was the steel good, but the eye of the needle was completely smooth; “monosodium glutamate” in a porcelain bottle sealed with wax, a pinch of which could make any dish incredibly savory; multi-colored, transparent hard candies, not only brilliantly colored and beautifully shaped, but also tasting of various fruits when eaten; a thick, looped “towel,” soft and comfortable for washing the face, and especially absorbent, much better than a plain washcloth; socks made of some unknown light, soft, and breathable material; small wooden sticks that could be lit with a single strike anywhere, without the need for a flint… and finally, pure white, smooth paper. Li Luoyou had never seen such white paper. Even the best imperial Xuan paper still had a slight yellowish tint upon close inspection, but this paper was completely pure white, like winter snowflakes. As for the smoothness of the paper, Li Luoyou had never seen anything like it.

Of course, when it came to white paper, the large white paper used for mounting in the capital was also very white, but that kind of paper was just a layer of white clay brushed onto coarse paper. It couldn’t be used for writing, and its surface was very rough, a world of difference from the Australian white paper.

What surprised him even more was that when he bought a thick stack of paper and randomly pulled out a sheet, the quality was exactly the same, with almost no flaws. It was the same no matter how much he bought.

He had this feeling with all Australian goods. If he took a needle from two different packs, their length, luster, and thickness were identical.

Not only could they make things well, but the quality was always consistent. This was the impressive thing about Australian goods. The last point was even more terrifying: its price.

The Australian goods recently sold by Zichengji were still not cheap in terms of price, but when compared to similar local products, their huge price advantage became apparent.

The most common, mass-market Australian paper sold by Zichengji was priced similarly to the cheapest local ledger paper, but its quality was dozens of times better. With such a price advantage, the sales of local and other imported paper plummeted. The market was flooded with a large variety of Australian paper. Subsequently, Zichengji began to sell various paper products, including ledgers, students’ calligraphy practice books, and various types of cards…

The paper was of high quality, the printing was extremely exquisite, and the price was cheap. With these three factors combined, over ninety percent of the goods in Guangzhou’s paper shops became Australian paper. Only a small amount of paper for painting and calligraphy and the coarse paper used in the mounting industry continued to be the original products.

Li Luoyou could never figure out how Australian paper could be sold so cheaply and still be profitable. This paper was definitely not shipped from some distant Australia, but even if it was made in Lin’gao as he suspected, he couldn’t imagine how the Australians did it. It seemed unlikely that Lin’gao had a particularly abundant or cheap supply of raw materials for papermaking—the place had never had any paper workshops in the past.

If the Australians were selling at a loss, then what was their intention? Li Luoyou became more and more interested in these Australians.

In the room where the Australian goods were stored, the various items already filled the rosewood multi-treasure shelves. There were things to eat, to use, and to play with, a dazzling array. Li Luoyou would sometimes come here to admire and fiddle with these novel little gadgets. His favorite was a crystal-clear “miraculous self-lighting fire,” inside which one could see a water-like substance. A light flick of the small wheel would produce a flame. It fascinated him. Sometimes he would think, if this thing could be used to ignite cannons and muskets, wouldn’t it be better than the smoky and easily extinguished matchcords? Because he was preparing to undertake the task of casting cannons and firearms for the Guangdong government, he was very attentive to new things that could improve performance.

Unfortunately, this item was too expensive, and Gao Ju’s shop had been out of stock for a long time. As for Zichengji, they had never sold this item at all. He had sent a clerk to inquire if they would have it if he placed a large order. But the clerk at Zichengji had clearly refused, saying that this item “would not be available again for three or four years.”

“I must go and see,” he said to himself again.

“Master, are you going to Lin’gao?”

Gu Baocheng, who was standing by, asked cautiously, seeing that he had said this for the second time.

“That’s right. I was originally thinking of going after a while, but now it seems time waits for no man,” Li Luoyou said, his eyes fixed on the pile of correspondence and account books on the table. Among them was a letter from the head office in the capital.

The content of the letter was very simple. It informed him that the Jianzhou barbarians had retreated. The branch in Zunhua was completely destroyed, with losses of both men and goods. The manager of the Shenyang branch had been secretly instructed to try to find out if any of our captured clerks and their families were there and to try to rescue them. The other branches in the capital region had all suffered varying degrees of financial losses. Some were looted by the Jianzhou barbarians, and some were forced to “reward the army” by various government troops and local militias. In short, the losses were heavy.

And Governor Yuan, in whom he had once placed high hopes, had been imprisoned. Public opinion in the capital was very unfavorable towards him. After receiving the letter, Li Luoyou sighed deeply. Regardless of Governor Yuan’s crimes, his fate was likely to be grim. Someone had to take the blame for such a military defeat and national humiliation.

He had originally thought that with Governor Yuan managing Liaodong, the Ningjin defense line would be impregnable. Even if they couldn’t “recover Liaodong in five years,” they should at least be able to keep the Jianzhou barbarians outside the pass. He never expected them to bypass the pass and enter through Da’ankou in Jizhen. From the looks of it, the court was completely unprepared. The so-called Guanning cavalry was not so formidable after all.

Thinking of the devastation caused by the Jianzhou cavalry, he wondered how many families had been broken and how much public and private property had been looted. The thought filled Li Luoyou with grief and indignation.

Not only grief and indignation, but also disappointment. The Tartars were once just a small tribe among the Jianzhou Jurchens. The late chieftain Nurhaci was once just an attendant under Li Chengliang, yet he had managed to beat the great Ming, with its hundreds of millions of people and immense wealth, into a corner, losing Liaodong and now even letting them breach the border wall. They had rampaged for hundreds of li at the foot of the capital, routing the government troops and even taking Zunhua! What on earth had happened to the great Ming?

According to Li Luoyou’s past thinking, with the power of the Ming, even if the field armies were not effective in battle, they could still rely on cannons and firearms, strong walls and solid fortresses, to simply defend and not attack, and wear down the Jianzhou barbarians.

Now it seemed the Jianzhou barbarians were becoming more and more vigorous. Based on Li Luoyou’s understanding of the Later Jin and the Ming, the Jianzhou barbarians’ incursion this time would definitely not be a losing venture. They must have captured a great deal of population, money, grain, property, and livestock, enough to have a prosperous new year. As for the government troops, they were probably just following from a distance, “politely escorting them out of the country.”

Grief and disappointment aside, Li Luoyou knew he was just a merchant and could not play any role in military and state affairs. But he could still work hard to manufacture firearms and renew the army’s equipment. Li Luoyou’s recent efforts to lobby the Governor-General of Liangguang and the Governor of Guangdong to entrust him with the task of imitating the Hongyi cannon had already shown initial results. It probably wouldn’t be long before the “official documents” came down.

Although Quaker had sent people back to his country to purchase equipment and hire craftsmen, the sea voyage was long. Even if everything went smoothly, it would take at least a year and a half. The Australians had long been rumored to have sharp firearms. Since they could produce so many exquisite and useful goods in Lin’gao, they must have skilled craftsmen and machines there. Whether it was buying machines and hiring people directly, or cooperating with the Australians, Li Luoyou just wanted the foundry to start work as soon as possible and produce more firearms for the government troops.

“Please ask Mr. Quaker to come,” Li Luoyou instructed.

John Quaker, or Quaker Qiong, was living a comfortable life in the Great Ming. When he got tired of staying at the Li family’s trading post in Macau, he would go to Li Luoyou’s Guangzhou residence to eat and drink for free. From time to time, he could also enjoy a free tour of southern China with Li Luoyou. Li Luoyou, wanting to win him over, took meticulous care of him. There was no shortage of women and strong liquor, which made the English merchant so happy he forgot about returning home.

Quaker was in a good mood. The Indian cotton cloth he had brought from India had been sitting in warehouses in Macau and Guangzhou, unable to be sold, but recently it had all been sold off. Although the profit was not large, it was still a small gain overall. And this great shopkeeper Li’s plan to make cannons and gun carriages was a potential big business. He had sent one of his clerks back to England with a personal letter to see if he could find any ironworkers and technicians willing to come to China. He also instructed the clerk to try to “collect the latest machinery specifically for cannon foundries.”

The prospect of becoming a military supplier to the Chinese army made him a little giddy. The Portuguese were already mercenaries for the emperor. Wouldn’t it be better for the English to be the emperor’s arms dealers—at least they wouldn’t be risking their own lives for money.

He had heard that the Tartars had attacked near the capital this time, and the government troops had suffered several defeats. He was even secretly a little pleased. The more pressure the emperor and his civil officials were under, the easier they would be to persuade. Quaker knew from Li Luoyou that European firearms had performed well in all battles, so the more defeats the court army suffered, the greater their desire to purchase new firearms to arm their troops.

Of course, he did not show these thoughts, but just kept cursing the “Tartars” and “barbarians” along with Li Luoyou.

“Go to Lin’gao?” Quaker was a little surprised. Li Luoyou had been talking about this for a long time, but had never taken any action. As a foreigner, he was unfamiliar with the place and didn’t even know in which direction Lin’gao was from Guangzhou, so naturally he couldn’t go.

“That’s right. I’m thinking of going to see it in the next few days,” Li Luoyou nodded.

“Excellent! I’ve been wanting to see that place for a long time!” Quaker was very excited. “I want to see how they make those things. And that ship.”

“I want to see it too,” Li Luoyou smiled. “Actually, you should be more interested in them.”

“Why?” Quaker was puzzled.

“Hehe, do you know who bought your cotton cloth?”

“Was it the Australians?” Quaker was truly surprised this time. Indian cotton cloth was already cheap, but shipping it to China still made it more expensive than local cloth. Of the several thousand bolts of cotton cloth he had brought, he had only sold a tenth of it after several years, and those were the ones with more unique patterns.

He had originally had ambitious plans to sell English woolens to the north, but seeing this situation, he knew it was impossible to sell woolens.

“Although I have no proof,” Li Luoyou nodded, “I can be sure it was them who bought it.”

“Lin’gao,” Quaker said, “is this place commercially prosperous? Or does it have a good harbor?” A thought suddenly struck him: since the Australians could establish a long-term presence here, could English merchants also get a piece of the pie? He knew that none of the European countries did not want to obtain a stable trading base on the coast of China, but so far only the Portuguese had succeeded—the place the Dutch occupied could no longer be considered the coast of China.

If he could establish trade relations with the Australians, and even further establish an English factory, it would be of great benefit to England’s trade with China, and he would be greatly credited. If their strength was not strong, he could also entice the East India Company to send an expedition to expel them. The East India Company would not be short of benefits for him either.

In this light, a trip to Lin’gao was a must. Even if he couldn’t make a deal, he could at least find out the situation.

“This place is sparsely populated, with almost no commerce,” Li Luoyou said, unaware of the many thoughts running through the Englishman’s mind. He also knew very little about Lin’gao. In preparation for this trip, he had gone to great lengths to find someone familiar with Lin’gao and learned that it was a typical “poor and remote place” in the province.

“As for the harbor, there are a few, but they can’t be called good harbors.”

“That’s strange. What are the Australians doing there?”

“The sky is high and the emperor is far away,” Li Luoyou said.

“You mean, Lin’gao is a place the emperor can’t control?”

“China is very large, and there are many places the emperor can’t attend to,” Li Luoyou said. “But once the emperor knows about it, he will have to take care of it.”