Chapter 55: The Connections

The three “Zi” character firms of the Guangzhou Station had all absorbed a large amount of deposits. These deposits were actually uniformly deposited in Delong Bank. If Guangdong were to attack Lingao, the fate of the several enterprises closely related to Lingao would be self-evident. A run on the bank by depositors was also to be expected.

Meng Xian shook his head repeatedly. “Where can we find so much cash now?”

Most of the absorbed deposits had been invested in the operations of the Guangzhou Station—according to the instructions of the General Finance Directorate, the deposits absorbed locally in Guangzhou were not to be used as payment for the raw materials needed by Lingao. They were used in the various businesses and investments of the Guangzhou Station: opening new industries; purchasing goods for overseas trade—the various goods of the Southeast Asia Company’s ships, except for the sugar and wine supplied by Leizhou and some commodities supplied by Lingao, were all handled by the Guangzhou Station; and operating a lending business, including inter-merchant lending, loans, and small loans to individuals.

“How much cash do you have on hand now?” Guo Yi asked.

“Less than sixty thousand that can be mobilized immediately. I have kept a reserve of 12.5%…”

Delong held a total of four hundred thousand taels in deposits absorbed by various firms and by itself. This was a considerable sum in this era.

“Never mind the reserve. You need to take stock immediately. Each firm should still have some working capital in silver. Go back and gather the silver first, and count it clearly. You must report daily on how much cash can be used. Collect the accounts receivable as soon as possible. As for the accounts payable—” Guo Yi was about to say “delay what can be delayed.”

“I think the accounts payable should be paid, and there should be absolutely no delay. Otherwise, if the news of a delayed payment gets out, it will immediately cause a run on the bank,” Meng Xian said.

“That’s right. This matter is just a rumor for now. If we make a fuss first, we will be the ones to suffer.” Guo Yi had been in Guangzhou for a long time and knew very well that business in this era relied on credit. Once there was any unstable news, no matter how big your empire was, it would collapse like an iceberg in an instant.

After some more discussion, it was decided that Guo Yi and the others would temporarily return to their original posts to handle business and social engagements. They would secretly make some corresponding preparations.

“Yan Maoda, you are in charge of the Qiwei Escort Agency. You must pay more attention to the escort agency system and keep a firm grip on Sun Kecheng. If necessary, we can retreat through their network.”

“No problem. Old Manager Sun is very reliable,” Yan Maoda said. “But Qiwei has frequent dealings with us. I’m afraid this relationship can’t be hidden from others.”

“It doesn’t matter if it can’t be hidden. Qiwei also has business dealings with many large households. Self-preservation should not be a problem.”

Before the meeting ended, Guo Yi instructed Zhang Yuchen, “You take the radio and codebook and retreat to Qiwei’s backup contact point first. And all the modern equipment in the safe house must be packed up and taken away—you handle this personally.”

“I’ll do it as soon as I get back,” Zhang Yuchen promised.

The Guangzhou Station had set up multiple backup contact points in the city as shelters when necessary. They were guarded by special personnel and could receive retreating personnel at any time.

The next morning, Guo Yi got up early and sent for Sun Chang.

After Sun Chang returned from his investigation in Lingao, Guo Yi had officially freed him. He was now the chief steward by Proprietor Guo’s side, and his status was completely different from before. By the standards of this era, he was a “powerful servant.”

“You take my sedan chair, bring the Fujian spring tea that just arrived a few days ago and my card, and deliver them to each house one by one,” he instructed Sun Chang. “If the other party sees you, you go in and sit for a while, say a few polite words. If they don’t see you, it doesn’t matter. Remember, note down the attitude of each family clearly!”

“Yes,” Sun Chang nodded. “Deliver them according to the gift book?”

“That’s right. Get the tea from Zichengji, two catties for each family.”

“Yes. I’ll go right away.”

Human relationships are as thin as paper. This was the same in any era. If the news was true, this group of people would definitely avoid Sun Chang and his gifts like the plague.

The situation at Zhiming Tower was still unclear for the time being. Although the reservations from important guests had decreased significantly, the business was still as good as ever.

“The situation doesn’t look good,” Zheng Shangjie ran over to tell her. “Of the six VIP rooms reserved last night, three were no-shows! They stood us up!”

Pei Lixiu didn’t need to look at the list to know who the six people who had reserved VIP rooms for a night of pleasure were, and she could roughly guess which ones hadn’t come. It seemed the matter was almost certain!

“Prepare the sedan chair!” Pei Lixiu suddenly shouted.

“Where are you going?” Zheng Shangjie saw her face turn pale and then white, and was very worried.

“I’m going to the Gao residence!”

Gao Shunqin’s favorite concubine, Su Ai, was her close friend. And Gao Shunqin was the investigating censor of Guangdong, a respected official in the province. He would definitely know about the military action against Lingao.

The news from Su Ai would be more accurate than the news from the masters and second masters of the various yamen.

Pei Lixiu’s sedan chair was famous in Guangzhou. To avoid being too conspicuous and being refused by Su Ai, she only had people carry the two-person small sedan chair reserved for guests in the building and went to the Gao residence.

Because of her status, and since she was visiting a concubine, she naturally couldn’t send her card to the main gate like the wife of a large family. She could only quietly go to the side gate and ask a servant to deliver her card.

The servant at the gate saw that the visitor was only in a two-person small sedan chair and was delivering a card at the side gate. He knew it was not a big shot, and certainly not the main guest visiting the master or mistress. He didn’t even ask who she was looking for and just replied coldly, “Not at home,” and was about to close the door.

Chun Liu was used to such situations. She immediately stuffed a string of cash over. “Please inform Concubine Su that a sister from the Zi family is here.”

Hearing that she was here to see Concubine Su, and having received a string of cash, the servant’s expression immediately changed and became respectful. “Please wait a moment!”

After a short while, Su Ai sent someone to receive her.

The sedan chair was set down at the central gate, and a matron led her and Chun Liu towards the backyard.

She had been to Su Ai’s place several times and knew that this favorite concubine of the Gao residence, who was a famous courtesan from Jiangnan, lived in the garden.

The group walked along a small path shaded by flowers and trees. After passing through winding corridors and stone paths, they arrived at a small, secluded courtyard. Pei Lixiu had a poor sense of direction and didn’t recognize the way even after coming several times. She just followed the matron blindly, but she recognized this place—it was Su Ai’s residence.

The flowers, trees, ponds, and rocks in the courtyard were all arranged in a picturesque way. A small three-bay building was hidden in the dense shade of the trees.

A maid was already waiting at the door. She helped her forward and called out:

“Miss Pei is here!”

Then came the sound of light footsteps. The pearl curtain was lifted, and a maid came out first. She bowed to the guest, turned around, and held up the curtain with both hands. After a while, a tall and beautiful woman walked out gracefully.

This was Su Ai. By the standards of any era, Su Ai was beautiful. But her figure was a bit thin. She was from Yangzhou. After arriving in Guangdong, she found it difficult to speak Cantonese. The maids and matrons around her were all brought from Jiangnan. Even the layout of the courtyard, the furnishings of the house, and the food were all in the most fashionable “southern style.” Every time Pei Lixiu came here, she would enjoy the Jiangnan style of the Great Ming, which was a different experience from the neither ancient nor modern luxury of Zhiming Tower.

Originally, when close friends met, there would be a lot to talk about, but now Pei Lixiu was in no mood for pleasantries. Su Ai also seemed to know her sister’s purpose and directly welcomed her into the inner room for tea.

A maid served tea and snacks. Su Ai instructed the maid to close the courtyard gate for the time being and not to let any idle people in. Only then did the two of them begin to talk.

Pei Lixiu naturally inquired about the recent movements of the Guangdong government.

“There is something I originally wanted to tell you in person at Zhiming Tower today. It’s good that you’ve come,” she said in a low voice.

Su Ai told her that Gao Shunqin had been drafting something in his study every day recently, which seemed to be a memorial to the throne. He also often talked with his advisors in his study and had specially sent people out to look for books.

“What books?”

“It seems to be books about fighting the Japanese pirates,” Su Ai said in a low voice in her room. “From the looks of it, the government may not be favorable to you recently.”

“What exactly is going on? Sister Su, please tell me.” Pei Lixiu was on the verge of begging.

“Don’t be anxious!” Su Ai had a very good relationship with Pei Lixiu and had received many benefits from her. Seeing that her close friend’s master was in trouble, she naturally couldn’t help but offer some assistance.

“The one who started this matter is an advisor in the governor-general’s office, named Lü something.”

“Lü Yizhong.”

“Yes, that’s him,” Su Ai said. “I don’t know what this person is planning, but he gave Governor-General Wang such an idea. Governor-General Wang was muddle-headed for a moment and listened to him. Alas, what a troublesome matter!”

“Advisor Lü?!” Pei Lixiu felt as if she had been struck by lightning. This Lü Yizhong, because he was the governor-general’s advisor, she had been fawning over him. Not only were the three festival gifts generous, but he often didn’t have to pay a penny when he came to Zhiming Tower to entertain guests and friends. And this Lü Yizhong was also very polite to Guo Yi and her on a daily basis. If there was any thorny issue, Guo Yi could even send a note over, and it would be settled immediately. It could be said that the two sides were a model of the traditional Chinese-style collusion between officials and merchants.

She had never expected that this old man, who usually looked so righteous and amiable, would be so vicious! Thinking that the great empire that Guo Yi and she had worked so hard to build was about to be destroyed, Pei Lixiu’s shoulders trembled with anger.

“In your opinion, sister, is there any way to salvage this situation?” Pei Lixiu asked urgently.

“That depends on Governor-General Wang,” Su Ai said. “But this Lü Yizhong is very influential with Governor-General Wang. If we can’t make this person change his mind, I’m afraid it can’t be salvaged.”

“I wonder if sister can ask Master Gao—”

Su Ai shook her head repeatedly. “You can forget about that.” Perhaps feeling that her rejection was too harsh, she softened her tone. “Sister knows my master’s temper best. He detests those who go to sea and trade with foreigners. A few days ago, he was even talking about cutting off the food and water supply to the Franks to force them to withdraw from Macau. He has also heard about you Australians staying in Lingao. If he can’t even tolerate the Portuguese, how can he tolerate the Australians!”

Su Ai added, “I advise sister to go back quickly and talk to Proprietor Guo. Let the Australians in Lingao all change their clothes and grow their hair, and then ask someone to arrange for their household registration in Guangzhou. It’s better than suffering in that miasmic place. With your abilities, are you afraid you can’t find a foothold here?”

“Thank you for your advice, sister.”

Pei Lixiu thanked her and then asked if she could intercede to protect the three “Zi” character enterprises.

“Sister probably knows that as soon as the news of the expedition against Lingao comes out, there are already many people who covet Proprietor Guo’s several properties. When the rumors start, there will probably be a lot of trouble! I hope sister can get a card from Master Gao to protect us—” she was already on the verge of tears.

This was not her being deliberately dramatic, but because she had been hit too hard. Especially Zhiming Tower, which she had poured so much effort into. How could she be willing to see it destroyed like this?

“Don’t worry, sister,” Su Ai comforted her. “The officials are very smart. They won’t target Zhiming Tower for a while. It’s just that since the rumors have started, there will definitely be a group of villains who will take the opportunity to cause trouble and extort money. It’s not impossible that they will force you to surrender your property.”

“Surrender property?” Pei Lixiu of course knew what this meant. It was not easy to do business in the Great Ming. Merchants without a background were often extorted and harassed by various local officials and evil forces. Some merchants even went bankrupt because of this. Some would surrender their property to a certain gentry in exchange for protection. Of course, they had to pay a large sum of money. And there had to be a certain amount of “filial piety” every year. This was just a commercial version of the small landlords and self-cultivating farmers in the countryside surrendering their land.

“This is not acceptable,” Pei Lixiu said in a daze.

“When things are in crisis, it’s not a bad way out!” Su Ai comforted her. “Aren’t you on very good terms with the Gao family? The Gao family has connections with Eunuch Yang. If you surrender your property to Eunuch Yang, with the prestige of the eunuch, no one in Guangdong will dare to touch you.”

Finally, Su Ai gave her a small visiting card box. Pei Lixiu opened it and saw a large red visiting card inside, which belonged to Gao Shunqin.

“This visiting card is for you. But if some big shot is determined to seize your property, I’m afraid it won’t be of much use,” Su Ai reminded her.

“Thank you, sister. I will definitely send the silver another day!” Pei Lixiu knew that it would cost at least three or four hundred taels of silver to get this visiting card—not to mention the expenses needed to bribe the connections in the Gao residence. For Su Ai to give it to her just like that was a testament to their deep sisterly bond.

“Why talk about silver between us sisters!” Su Ai shook her head. “You should come here less often recently. As for the silver, it’s not too late to give it after you have safely passed this crisis.” She hesitated for a moment. “And the silver I have deposited with you…”

Su Ai had two thousand taels of silver deposited at Zhiming Tower, which was her savings over many years. Now that the Zi character firms were in jeopardy, no matter how much she valued their friendship, she couldn’t stand on a crumbling wall.

Pei Lixiu quickly said, “Please give me the passbook, sister. I will have someone send it to you later.”

“The silver cannot be sent here,” Su Ai said quickly. “There are too many mouths and ears here…”

“Yes, sister is muddle-headed.” This was Su Ai’s private money. How could it be sent to the Gao residence so openly? “Then where does sister want to deposit it? Sister will handle everything and then send the passbook over.”

“I think Delong is fine. My master uses this firm for his remittances to the capital.”

Pei Lixiu was originally full of worries, but now she almost laughed out loud—the silver was already in Delong Bank. She was originally worried that it would affect Delong’s cash reserves, but now it was just a matter of changing a passbook.

“Okay! Sister will handle it when I get back,” she replied very crisply.

Pei Lixiu returned from the Gao residence. She first sent Xia He to Delong to transfer a sum of money and open a new passbook in Delong’s name, which was then sent to Su Ai. She herself sat down and wrote a secret letter to Guo Yi—the letter was written with secret writing ink, and it detailed her meeting with Su Ai and their conversation.

As for surrendering property, there was no need to think about it. Guo Yi could not agree, and it was not within his authority.

Just as she finished writing the letter and sent the courier off, and was about to chat with Zheng Shangjie about the current situation, someone from the gate came to report:

“Master Jiang from the Governor’s office is here.”

Master Jiang? Pei Lixiu thought for a long time before she remembered that this person was an advisor in the staff of the Governor of Guangdong, Li Fengjie. His position was not prominent, and he specialized in handling some trivial matters for the Li residence.

Such a person was a dime a dozen in Zhiming Tower in the past. But for him to suddenly visit at this time must have a reason. Pei Lixiu pondered for a moment and instructed, “Please see him in the flower hall.”

Pei Lixiu tidied herself up a bit before getting up and going to the flower hall. This Master Jiang had been “waiting for a long time” inside.

This person was about fifty years old, and from his dress, he should be a xiucai or something similar. His appearance was also quite dignified.

It was just that as soon as this person saw Pei Lixiu, his eyes were fixed on her. Perhaps feeling that this was too rude, he immediately turned his gaze to Chun Liu.

After they had exchanged greetings, Chun Liu served tea. Pei Lixiu then asked him his purpose for coming.

This Master Jiang coughed, put on an air of “official business,” and said with dignity:

“I have come to visit today, as my official position does not allow me to do otherwise.”

Pei Lixiu had been in Guangzhou for a long time and knew that this was an “official phrase,” which basically meant “I am here on official business, and official business must be handled officially.” She was secretly alarmed. Could it be that the Guangdong government was already preparing to make a move?

She remembered Su Ai’s reminder and Guo Yi’s instruction at the meeting to “keep calm.” She just nodded slightly and asked:

“What does His Excellency the Governor have to say? Please let me know, Master Jiang, so that I can comply.”

Master Jiang pondered for a moment and said:

“First, there have been some rumors in the city recently…”

He looked at her as he spoke, hoping that she would say it herself. But Pei Lixiu had already made up her mind at this time to speak as little as possible.

Seeing no reaction from the other party, Master Jiang cursed silently and had to speak plainly.

“There are rumors that your master is an impostor in Guangzhou, and is actually an Australian from overseas.”

“Although we are not natives of Guangzhou, we are still subjects of the Great Ming,” Pei Lixiu said slowly. “As for the so-called overseas Australians, I don’t know where that comes from.”