Chapter 56: The Etiquette of Giving a Clock

This one sentence completely blocked him off. Their claim of being so-called Australians was baseless in the first place. And they were not Westerners with red hair and green eyes, who could be identified as not of our race at a glance. Master Jiang, who had originally prepared a long tirade of accusations, was left speechless. He fiercely squeezed the fan in his hand.

This move was ineffective, so he had to resort to his backup plan: using a big name to intimidate. He cleared his throat lightly:

“Secondly, it’s a long story. I think it’s better to be frank.” He glanced at Pei Lixiu and said, “His Excellency the Governor’s venerable mother’s eightieth birthday is in a few days.”

Pei Lixiu nodded and said, “This is already on the official register in our establishment. At that time, there will be no delay, and a heavy gift will be presented to seek her favor.”

Master Jiang smiled. “This is just a matter of offering congratulations according to the usual practice. How can it please the superior? In the current situation, doesn’t your master want to add to the joy of His Excellency Governor Li’s venerable mother?”

The element of threat and demand in these words was already very clear. Pei Lixiu secretly frowned and could only say, “I’ll have to ask Master Jiang to give me some guidance.”

Only then did Master Jiang say, “His Excellency the Governor’s mother has long heard that there is a self-moving, self-chiming Australian clock in your residence. She would very much like to borrow it for her birthday, to show it off and let the visiting relatives and friends broaden their horizons.”

Pei Lixiu suddenly understood: so he had his eyes on the large mahogany clock in her room.

This thing was not particularly valuable. If it weren’t for Dr. Zhong Lishi’s insistence on waiting until the self-produced clock technology was fully developed before putting it on the market, Lingao had hundreds of sets of modern mechanical clock parts in stock. The skilled craftsmen of Zizhenzhai could immediately assemble them with a beautiful case. If giving it to Li Fengjie could alleviate this crisis, the price was not high.

But Su Ai’s words came back to her mind—”Recently, rumors are flying everywhere. You must hold your ground and not make any rash decisions or seek connections blindly. There are too many black-hearted beasts outside who eat people without spitting out the bones!”—plus, she clearly remembered that the birthday of Li Fengjie’s venerable mother was not in the “next few days,” and there was a long-standing precedent for how much silver to give. They would not send someone to urge them specifically. And they would generally not name a specific item.

She stared at this sanctimonious “official face,” at his smug smile and the constantly opening and closing fan. She decided to test him.

“Since I am honored by the venerable mother’s favor, I will send someone to deliver the clock to His Excellency the Governor’s residence later. With the good fortune of the old birthday star, I hope to gain some appreciation.”

“No need, no need. I have already brought people with me. They will take it away themselves. No need to send it.”

“That’s not right. This birthday gift should be delivered on the proper day, decorated with red and colored ribbons, with music and celebration. I should also go and kowtow to the old birthday star.”

“No need, no need.”

Pei Lixiu suddenly frowned and said softly, “Oh, that’s not right, that’s not right.”

Master Jiang was originally prepared to argue at length that there was no need to trouble her, but when he suddenly heard her say “not right,” he stared at her blankly.

“This thing in my room is called an Australian mahogany grandfather clock. I’m sure you know that, sir.”

“Exactly, exactly.”

“Since it’s for His Excellency the Governor’s venerable mother’s birthday, to send a clock… this, this, this…” her words took a turn, “is probably extremely inappropriate.”

Giving a “clock” (送钟 - sòng zhōng) for a birthday sounds the same as “sending someone off to their death” (送终 - sòng zhōng). This was simply bringing bad luck to the host’s family. This Master Jiang was just using clever words, using the name of the governor’s mother’s birthday to seize this precious clock. It was not originally intended as a birthday gift, so how could he have thought of this point? When Pei Lixiu pointed it out, he was dumbfounded and completely speechless.

Master Jiang left in a huff, and before he left, he couldn’t help but throw out a few veiled threats. Pei Lixiu couldn’t be bothered with him. She had already guessed that Master Jiang was not acting on Governor Li’s orders at all, but was just using the recent matter of the attack on Lingao to extort them.

Zheng Shangjie was a little worried after she found out—after all, the other party was someone close to the governor. What if he made trouble at a critical moment?

“Hmph, he doesn’t have the right,” Pei Lixiu said lazily. “On such a major issue of right and wrong, the governor’s yamen is not his place to speak. Besides, the matter of attacking Lingao has not even been decided by the governor-general’s yamen of Liangguang. What role can a guest of the governor’s yamen play? I’m afraid he doesn’t even have the qualification to participate in confidential matters. Don’t be afraid of him. This mahogany clock, I would rather send it to Governor Li’s residence. Maybe it can play a role.”

“Hmm, that’s right. But shouldn’t we discuss the matter of giving a gift with Proprietor Guo…”

“I was just saying. Now, every move we make is a major event. Of course, he has to make the decision,” Pei Lixiu bit her lip—and was startled to realize she hadn’t put on lipstick.

---

On Guo Yi’s side, Sun Chang had already returned. He reported that most families had accepted the tea, but only a very small number had seen him, and some had even given him a tip. Most just sent back a card. Some families said the master was not at home and it was inconvenient to receive gifts.

He looked at the gift list made by Sun Chang one by one, trying to see if there was any pattern.

It seemed that although the officials and nobles that the Guangzhou Station had dealings with had begun to consciously distance themselves, it had not yet reached the point of a complete break. It seemed that there was still room for maneuver on all sides.

To sum up: it was clear that the Guangdong government intended to use force against Lingao, but it was not yet a final decision.

Guo Yi specially visited Gao Ju, and the great official had also received similar news. He was calm. He directly told him: this matter is very strange.

“You don’t have to be too flustered. This matter is very likely to be a drawn bow that is not shot.”

This coincided with his own guess, Guo Yi thought. He intentionally wanted to probe for details, so he pretended to be puzzled and asked Gao Ju.

“To attack Lingao, where will the troops come from? Where will the pay come from?” Gao Ju said with a smile. “Without troops and pay, are the masters in Guangzhou city going to take up arms themselves?”

He told Guo Yi that the Guangdong provincial treasury simply could not come up with such a large sum of silver.

“The soldiers under General He haven’t been paid for almost a year. Unless Governor-General Wang has the ability to conjure up hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for pay, attacking Lingao is just empty talk.”

“I see. So it’s just a rumor?”

“Not necessarily. At the very least, Governor-General Wang has this idea,” Gao Ju said. “Think about it, Governor Xiong of Fujian is so prominent. If he doesn’t achieve anything, how can he succeed? He has offended so many people in Guangdong. At that time, I’m afraid he will have no way to explain to the court!”

“You can’t be too careless either,” Gao Ju said. “The best strategy now is to find a solid backer to pledge allegiance to as soon as possible.”

Gao Ju’s meaning was the same as Su Ai’s: they should pledge allegiance to Eunuch Yang, so as to appease the greedy hands stretched out from all sides.

“I cannot make the decision on this matter—”

“Yes, you still have to ask Manager Wen’s opinion,” Gao Ju was in a good mood. “Old Wen hasn’t been to Guangzhou for a long time. Is that damn place Lingao really better than Guangzhou? He’s really not giving me face!”

“Not at all, not at all.” Just as Guo Yi was about to make some excuses for Wen Desi, Gao Ju waved his hand. “Go and talk to Manager Wen. It’s not a long-term solution for him to be entrenched in Lingao like this! He still needs to make plans early!”

Comparing these various aspects, Guo Yi probably had a good idea in his mind. In his report to Lingao, he stated that the possibility of the Guangdong Ming army moving out in the short term was very small.

However, the spread of this news made the situation of the Guangzhou Station difficult. Not only did the business volume of Zhiming Tower plummet, but just as Su Ai had predicted, the political climate in Guangzhou city seemed to have changed in the following seven or eight days. The number of people coming to Zhiming Tower decreased significantly, and reservations almost disappeared. On Guo Yi and Pei Lixiu’s side, a continuous stream of various guests began to appear, asking to see them.

These guests all had great backgrounds: they were either the governor-general’s professional guests, the governor’s relatives, or the long-term attendants of the eunuch in charge of the garrison… one by one, they came to visit, asking to borrow silver as soon as they opened their mouths. Some didn’t want silver, but used the excuse that their master was interested in “Australian treasures” and hoped to borrow them to have a look. The reasons for extortion were one after another. If there was any slight neglect, their fierce words would be tinged with threats.

Fortunately, Pei Lixiu had already gotten the bottom line from Su Ai, and Gao Ju had also secretly instructed them not to be afraid of this group of people—they were just using their master’s name to extort some benefits. Even if they were given something, it would be useless and would only attract more of them in batches. Later, Guo Yi simply had Sun Chang see them, claiming that he was not feeling well, and closed his doors to guests.

But privately, he was making all kinds of preparations to deal with any possible situation. He instructed Sun Kecheng to deploy more men to the vicinity of each firm to prevent anyone from inciting riots; he secretly transferred cash from various channels to Delong’s main silver vault, ready to deal with a run on the bank at any time. Publicly, all the firms operated as usual. Especially for those who requested to withdraw their deposits in advance, the principal and interest were calculated as usual, without showing any hesitation.

What made him slightly relieved was that the native management, such as Sun Kecheng and Shen Fan, although they had not been reviewed by Lingao, were very loyal to the Guangzhou Station. Not only did they not show any sign of shirking or avoiding, but they also actively came forward to offer advice. Shen Fan’s idea was to talk to Liang Cunhou.

“Young Master Liang and his father are not only kind-hearted, but also upright in their dealings. If the master wants to pledge allegiance, it would be better to pledge Zizhenzhai to his family,” Shen Fan was very enthusiastic about the matter of pledging allegiance, believing it was the best way to solve the current problem.

“The Liang family is a local gentry family, and his grandfather was a high official in the central government. Their foundation is extremely deep. With their backing, no one in Guangzhou city will dare to have designs on the master’s property!”

Furthermore, Liang Cunhou had also cooperated with Guo Yi and others in running the Cihui Tang, and their private relationship was not shallow. With this layer of relationship, it was different from an ordinary shop.

“If it were an ordinary shop wanting to pledge allegiance, they might not even be willing to accept it,” Shen Fan’s meaning seemed to be that they were already giving you a huge face by being willing to take your property for free. This made Guo Yi very unhappy.

That night, Guo Yi was almost sleepless in his room. The environment of this era was indeed a hundred times more complex than the old one. He had originally thought he had gone too far with the collusion between officials and merchants, giving these officials too many benefits. He had not expected that they would not only take the benefits, but also want to swallow him whole!

What was troubling him now was how to resolve the crisis of the Guangzhou Station.

Guo Yi was not at all afraid of the so-called attack on Lingao—it was just self-destruction. Lingao would definitely be safe and sound. But the Guangzhou Station was facing a huge crisis in this matter.

Pledging allegiance of a firm to Eunuch Yang or the Liang family was a choice of compromise. However, it would not pass in the Yuanlaoyuan and the Executive Committee.

He now fully understood that Lü Yizhong’s idea, which seemed to cater to Wang Zunde’s eagerness to achieve merit at sea, was actually harboring ill intentions towards the various firms of the Guangzhou Station.

He didn’t care at all whether the Australians could continue to be entrenched in Lingao. He just wanted to use this as an excuse to swallow the Guangzhou Station!

However, for a retired prefect, his appetite was a bit too big!

Could there be someone else behind him? Guo Yi became alert. Lü Yizhong was just a retired prefect, relying on Wang Zunde’s trust to act unscrupulously in Liangguang. He himself did not have much power. Even if the Guangzhou Station obediently pledged allegiance to him, he would not be able to protect it at all! Thinking of this, he realized that the person who was plotting to seize the Guangzhou Station should have a much higher status, at least a eunuch in the palace at the level of Eunuch Yang or a high official in the central government.

It was just that this person had not yet shown his true face.

He took a sip of the tea that was almost cold and stood by the window. The moon was sometimes visible and sometimes hidden in the night sky. The north was still a patch of impenetrable dark clouds.

---

The telegram from Guangzhou about the signs of the Great Ming’s military action against Lingao used the most urgent call sign. As soon as this telegram from Guangzhou arrived, it was sent to the confidential room of Lingao Telecom. When Li Yunxing saw the full text of the telegram, he was stunned for a moment.

“Fuck, do it!” he excitedly grabbed the telegram folder and was about to leave.

“Chief, chief, you haven’t signed yet,” the female native telegraph operator in charge of receiving and dispatching telegrams quickly called out to him when she saw him about to leave with the telegram.

“Okay, okay.” Li Yunxing took out his pen and signed his name with a flourish on the receipt book. Then he hurried out of the confidential room and ran back to his office. His newly assigned life secretary and office secretary, Bei Jinyi, was tidying up the documents on his desk.

Li Yunxing strode into the office and swept everything on the desk to the side, which greatly surprised Bei Jinyi, who was in the middle of tidying up. She thought he was dissatisfied with her for some reason and stood aside, afraid to speak.

“Quick, make a copy immediately and send it to the confidential room of the General Office!”

Li Yunxing said excitedly. This was great. The Ming army was finally here! Once this war started, all the people who advocated for the turtle strategy would have nothing more to say. Lingao Telecom would become Hainan Telecom, and maybe he would directly become the boss of Guangdong Telecom!

He rubbed his hands in excitement, knowing that once this matter reached the Executive Committee, a plenary session would be held tomorrow at the latest—this was the first national war of the transmigrator group!

Li Yunxing decided that at the subsequent Yuanlaoyuan meeting, he must jump out and speak with great eloquence, firmly demanding to expand the war, not just be satisfied with repelling the Ming army’s attack. At the very least, they had to pursue them to Qiongshan County and completely destroy the Ming’s notice in Hainan.

The telegram was quickly sent to the confidential room of the General Office and then printed into dozens of copies. According to the rules, this type of telegram was first sent to the Executive Committee, the Standing Committee of the Yuanlaoyuan, and the heads of relevant business departments.

An hour later, this message was posted on the BBS and became a pinned announcement on the homepage.

Recently, the BBS had no hot topics except for a group of people from North America who were constantly talking about political system reform and people from the Ministry of Colonial Trade who were advocating for Liaodong trade. The news of the Ming army’s attack immediately caused a stir.

That night, a flood of posts poured into the BBS. For a time, all kinds of ideas filled the board, and it immediately became a state of “brushing the screen.”

The next morning, the Yuanlaoyuan announced that a plenary session would be held.

In the Yuanlaoyuan, more than three hundred and eighty council members who were currently in Lingao and did not need to stick to their posts attended the meeting. Because this was the first national decision involving war and peace, all the council members who could leave their posts came to the meeting.

The atmosphere at the meeting was very lively. The council members were either sitting or standing, all with excited expressions on their faces. From time to time, a few sentences flew out from the crowd: “Fuck! Let’s beat them so they piss their pants!”, “Let’s wipe out Wang Zunde’s whole family!”, “Ten days in Guangzhou!”, “Three massacres in Dongguan,” and the like.

“Damn it, the war hasn’t even started, and they’re all thinking of being Tartars!” Liu Zheng, representing the majority of the long-range exploration team, came to the Yuanlaoyuan and couldn’t help but curse when he heard someone say this. Behind him was Bai Guoshi’s girlfriend, Zhao Xue—after Bai Guoshi’s tireless pursuit and vowing never to take a concubine, Zhao Xue finally agreed to be his girlfriend. As a single woman, her range of choices was not too small, but when this group of single otaku were all dreaming of seventy-two female slaves of all ethnic groups and skin colors, her choices were pitifully small.

“They seem to be talking about women,” Zhao Xue thought. “These men are so boring. ‘To have all the women in Guangzhou and Dongguan, um, that once’.”

“Hmph, no ambition!” Liu Zheng placed his special wooden board cushion on the brick seat carved with his number. A large area around him was empty; almost everyone from the long-range exploration team was out.

Liu Zheng was not very excited about this news. Although he was not a Ming fan, he was a Han chauvinist. So he would rather fight the Tartars or some other foreigners than the Ming army—although this was also unavoidable.

While he was feeling frustrated, he suddenly saw Ma Qianzhu sitting in his seat, signing an autograph for a girl with glasses. He also praised her a few words, but because the crowd was so noisy, no one heard what he said.

“Hmph, you Ma Qian—”

A sharp, high-pitched song of “Above the Moon” echoed in the venue—Xiao Zishan, who was presiding over the meeting, had banged his gavel dozens of times, but no one paid any attention to him. In the end, he had to turn up the volume of the loudspeaker and start playing “Above the Moon.”