Chapter Sixty-Six: Dedication

He had specifically checked at the Provincial Administration Commission and found that this Magistrate Wu of Lingao was a recently famous capable official in the province, and was very popular in the Provincial Administration Commission yamen. He had submitted several documents reporting great victories in suppressing bandits, and had also sent many heads of pirates and bandits to the prefecture—among them were many important criminals wanted by the prefecture and province. And the last time he reported a wind disaster, he did not ask the prefecture or province for money and grain, but provided relief himself, and did not cause any refugees—the county’s registered population had even increased. Last year’s taxes and grain were also paid in full.

Magistrate Wu had been rated “outstanding” for two consecutive years. If he continued like this, his promotion to prefect was already expected.

On the one hand, the bandits occupied Bopu, and on the other hand, the magistrate of Lingao had become an unprecedented “capable official”—there must be some collusion between the officials and the bandits. At the very least, they maintained a tacit understanding.

It seemed that Magistrate Wu had received many benefits from the bandits in recent years. Lu Yizhong thought to himself, this time he could also have a good talk with him. If Wu Mingjin was a sensible and understanding person, not only could he continue to wear the official hat of the magistrate of Lingao, but he could also rise to a higher level.

While the staff were planning the strategy, Li Xijue asked:

“Why not immediately arrest Guo Yi, Pei Lixiu, and others? They are at least fake bandits. The inside story of the real bandits can be known at once. If they are not arrested now, they will surely escape when they hear the news, and they will also leak military secrets.”

“No, no,” Lu Yizhong shook his head repeatedly. “The several businesses of the Zi brand are in full view of the public in Guangzhou. I don’t know how many people are watching. Once they are sealed, it will be very difficult to deal with. It’s better not to move for the time being. As for Guo Yi and others, they are just fish in a pot. If Nanhai County and Guangzhou Prefecture send more officials to guard them, they won’t be able to escape—he has such a large business in Guangzhou, how could he easily abandon it and flee?”

It was precisely because the three businesses of the Zi brand were a big piece of fat that everyone coveted that they could not be touched now. Once Guo Yi and others were arrested and imprisoned, the businesses would of course be sealed as illegal property. How to deal with them then would become a difficult matter. Not to mention those far away, there were many big shots in Guangzhou who wanted a piece of the pie. They were either local gentry, or influential figures in the officialdom, or eunuchs, meritorious officials, and imperial relatives who were far away but could reach very far.

When these people all came at once, the matter of “disposing of illegal property” would become a hot potato. Thinking of this, Li Xijue could not help but admire his colleague’s caution.

“Anyway, the words ‘bandit’ are not written on Guo Yi’s head. It’s reasonable not to arrest him. It’s just a matter of raising a hand to arrest him,” Lu Yizhong already regarded Guo Yi and others as meat on the chopping block.

Guo Yi was at this time spinning in the core vortex of a conspiracy. He was very clear that the Guangzhou station did not have many days left. No matter how much useless struggle he made, the fate of the Guangzhou station would be decided by the great battle that was about to begin on Hainan Island. This was an unavoidable matter.

Although he had thought many times that this day would eventually come, he still felt a little sad when he thought of everything he was about to face. Everything he had built with his own hands.

The storm facing the Guangzhou station was getting closer and closer. Even in the secret room on Huifu Street, he could feel the bone-chilling cold coming. Many people were reaching out to this place: the small fish and shrimp who were borrowing the tiger’s might were gone, and now what appeared were real big crocodiles. They swam around the target, staring at the fat meat of the three shops of the Zi brand, ready to swallow it in one gulp.

This safe house no longer had the composure of the past—there was a large pile of ashes in the brazier on the floor. This was left by Zhang Yuchen when he hastily withdrew with the radio and burned the telegram drafts and materials. Now he had retreated to a secret location in Guangzhou, continuing to maintain contact with Lingao.

In Guo Yi’s hand was a telegram from the Colonial Trade Department in Lingao. Although Si Kaide had approved the Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s plan to “withdraw from Guangzhou and protect Leizhou,” he still had a glimmer of hope for saving the Guangzhou station. In the telegram, he once again requested that while preparing for withdrawal, they should do their best to seek the possibility of continuing to exist in Guangzhou. In the telegraphed order, the Colonial Trade Department agreed that if there was no other choice, they could consider the model of “dedication”—Gao Ju or Liang Cunhou were both good candidates.

“Hmph, it’s too late to think about this now,” Guo Yi already knew who was coveting the big fish of the Guangzhou station—they were all heavyweight big crocodiles. Not to mention Liang Cunhou’s background, even Eunuch Yang behind Gao Ju would probably not dare to provoke them.

While he was in a daze, the bell in the room suddenly rang. He quickly lit the telegram draft with a match and threw it into the brazier. After watching it turn completely black, he opened the door and walked out.

The courtyard where the safe house was located could only be entered by the most trusted servants—all of whom were strictly vetted native staff. Others could only register with the doorman at the moon gate of the courtyard and then ring the bell to request a meeting.

According to the discipline of the Guangzhou station, no one was allowed to call an Elder out of the safe house unless it was an emergency.

The person who came to see him was Sun Chang, which was a very unusual thing. Given Sun Chang’s status, he had to deal with many things and would never suddenly come to see him without reason.

“What is it?”

“Someone is here to see you.”

“Didn’t I say that I won’t see anyone who isn’t an acquaintance?” Guo Yi knew that the person who came at this time was definitely not a good person. It would be troublesome to see them, so it was better to avoid them.

“The person who came has a big name,” Sun Chang took a step forward and said in a low voice. “It’s a servant from the family of Imperial Relative Tian.”

“What?” Guo Yi didn’t quite understand.

“Imperial Relative Tian, that’s Noble Consort Tian’s father,” Sun Chang knew that Guo Yi was from overseas and knew little about the figures of the Ming Dynasty. “Noble Consort Tian is the emperor’s favorite consort…”

“So he’s the father-in-law of the emperor?” Guo Yi immediately thought of the “father-in-law of the emperor” in movies and operas, who were generally not good people. Generally speaking, the people’s feelings were relatively accurate.

“Yes, yes, a ‘qiwǎn’,” Sun Chang used a special term of the time. A ‘qiwǎn’ was a relative of the imperial family on the mother’s side. The father of the emperor’s consort was a ‘qiwǎn’ of this generation, and his daughter was currently in favor, so his reputation and power were different from others. “The power of the father of the emperor’s consort is second only to that of the Earl of Jiading.” The Earl of Jiading was the father of Empress Zhou.

“Why would he come to Guangzhou?” Guo Yi found it strange. This father of the emperor’s consort should be in Beijing. He wouldn’t come to Guangzhou for no reason.

“It’s not him in person, it’s a servant from his family who specifically helps him with things,” Sun Chang said. “This person’s intentions are probably not good.”

“It’s just for our property,” Guo Yi originally wanted to say that he wouldn’t see him and let Sun Chang deal with him and send him away. But on second thought, it was better to see him. Since several parties had already shown their ambition for the Zi brand, it was not a bad idea to let them restrain each other as a delaying tactic.

Walking at the end was a round-faced man in his forties. He wore a six-in-one hat, a parrot-green lined silk long robe, and three-silk official shoes. His attire was neither expensive nor cheap. He stood still when he came into the courtyard—seeing that Guo Yi did not come down the steps to greet him, he spread his legs, put his hands behind his back, and glared at Sun Chang with his small, gloomy eyes.

“A mere abacus-pusher dares to be so arrogant!” he cursed in a low voice, and then came up the main steps.

Guo Yi greeted him and learned that the visitor was named Tian Da, a “servant” from the mansion of Tian Hongyu. According to the Ming dynasty system, the spouses of empresses, noble consorts, and princesses were all selected from “good families” of commoners. These families were generally not large and powerful. The so-called “servants” were basically those who came to serve them after they became powerful. Among them were many local “evil people” who relied on the power of the imperial relatives to do evil outside and gain benefits for both the imperial relatives and themselves.

This Tian Da’s appearance did not look like that of a servant, but rather like a local “hooligan” or “troublemaker.”

“Master Guo,” Tian Da’s eyes on the maid who brought the tea did not return until she had left the room. “You are worthy of being the richest man in Guangzhou. You are very magnificent!”

“Not at all. I am just a foreign merchant who has made a fortune by selling some foreign goods. I am still far from being the richest man,” Guo Yi said with a smile.

Tian Da did not hide his intentions and directly proposed that the Guangzhou station should dedicate the three businesses of the Zi brand to the Tian family.

According to him, Guo Yi had to “pay tribute” to the father of the emperor’s consort with 40,000 taels of silver at once, and then pay 60,000 taels of silver every year.

“…As long as it becomes the property of the father of the emperor’s consort, no official in the world will dare to make things difficult for you,” Tian Da said, spitting. “And no one will dare to say you are a pirate.”

This number made Guo Yi gasp—this was a lion’s mouth. Not to mention that he had no such intention at all, even if he did, agreeing to this condition would get him criticized in the Senate.

“This matter is of great importance. Please allow me to think about it for a few days.”

“It’s up to you whether you think about it or not. But if you think about it any longer, you’ll be thinking about it in prison. Why is Boss Guo so ill-informed?” Tian Da pointed his fan at his nose without any courtesy. “The court is about to send troops to suppress your Australian lair. At that time, all your property will be confiscated and sold, and not even a blade of grass under your feet will be surnamed Guo. Now, if you dedicate it to my master, for a mere hundred thousand taels of silver, you can protect both yourself and your property—it’s a good deal!”

After finally sending this Tian Da away, Guo Yi went on to meet several other messengers who either explicitly or implicitly wanted him to dedicate his property. Even Gao Ju had sent his chief steward twice to tell him that the young Eunuch Yang was coming to Guangdong to purchase ivory. If he wanted to dedicate his property to Eunuch Yang, it was a good opportunity.

“Eunuch Yang is very fond of the Australian goods you presented. If you dedicate your property to him this time, Eunuch Yang will surely look at you differently.”

Guo Yi had no choice but to say “I need to think about it for a few days” for each case as a delaying tactic.

Although the Colonial Trade Department had agreed that “dedication” could be considered as a plan to preserve property in an emergency, he was very clear that once this was done, it would inevitably cause a great uproar in the Senate.

From a good perspective, dedicating to the father of the emperor’s consort or Eunuch Yang was a good way out. Both could not only provide a strong protective umbrella, but also establish a very wide range of court and public relations.

However, he was very clear that there was no such thing as a free lunch in the world. How big the appetite of Eunuch Yang and the father of the emperor’s consort was, and what their tempers were like, were all unknowns. Now they said it was 60,000 taels a year. What if they wanted to increase it in the future? How would they deal with it if they wanted to directly interfere in the personnel and management of the three Zi brand businesses? Or the worst-case scenario: as the legal owner, he could kick Guo Yi and others out at any time and directly occupy the three Zi brand enterprises. He had seen this kind of thing many times in Guangzhou. Many small and medium-sized businesses that originally wanted to seek shelter with the powerful gentry ended up losing their families and fortunes because the owner they dedicated to suddenly turned against them.

“This is a matter of principle,” he muttered. In his hesitation, he suddenly understood: the demise of the Guangzhou station was inevitable, and the sound of cannons from Lingao would also announce the rebirth of the Guangzhou station. Letting it exist under a different name now would only increase the trouble in the future.

At this point, he was suddenly enlightened. Zichengji, Ziminglou, and Zizhenzhai, without the existence of Australians and Australian goods, were just empty shells without a soul. Whoever wanted them could take them.

He quickly returned to the safe house and quickly drafted a telegram to report his specific plans.

In the telegram, he clearly opposed dedication. This would increase the complexity when they returned to Guangzhou in the future. Once the business belonged to someone else, it would be very difficult to get it back, and continuing to operate it would cause uncontrollable problems.

Guo Yi reported his response plan in the telegram: he was prepared to start the withdrawal operation immediately, withdrawing most of the vetted native staff—it was not necessary to withdraw all of them back to Lingao. They could be evacuated to the various counties under Guangzhou Prefecture for temporary residence. The local shop assistants and craftsmen would be given half a year’s settlement allowance and temporarily dismissed to go home.

Guo Yi believed that the Guangzhou station would be closed for at most a few months, at most a year. It could be reopened as the war situation in Lingao became clear. He was very confident about this.

With the policy set, it was much easier to do things. Guo Yi immediately convened a secret meeting of the people at the Guangzhou station. It was decided that the Delong Bank would settle its accounts with the Zi brand immediately, and all deposits and debts would be written off to avoid the officials from pursuing the deposits from Delong once the Zi brand was sealed.

As for the inventory of goods, he had already sent Sun Chang to negotiate with the Gao family to sell all the inventory of Zichengji to the Gao family on credit. The Gao family would definitely be happy to accept it now.

“The collection day for the Dragon Boat Festival in May has arrived. What we owe the Gao family and what the Gao family owes us should also be settled,” Zhang Xin said.

“Try to balance the accounts as much as possible,” Guo Yi said. “Bring back the surplus silver for backup.”

“What for?”

“To deal with withdrawals,” Guo Yi said. Many people who had deposits in the Zi brand had now heard the news and were successively requesting to withdraw their money. Many people did not even ask for interest, only to withdraw their principal.

This money was actually deposited in the Guangzhou Delong, but now for the sake of safety, Guo Yi did not want to have too much money dealings with Delong. He decided to only do account write-offs with Delong, and the matter of repaying the deposits would be handled directly by the Zi brand.

As for the due payments owed to the Guangzhou station by other merchants, they would be collected immediately. Originally, Zhang Xin had considered trying to transport the silver back to Lingao or purchase goods to be transported back. But now it was probably difficult to do so—according to the reports of his subordinates, there were many official spies active in the vicinity recently. Large-scale silver transport and transactions would probably not be able to be transported out, and even if they were, they could not be hidden. Guo Yi instructed him to use all the collected silver to clear the accounts.

“We don’t need to press for what people owe us—they won’t dare not to pay in the future. We must pay off what we owe others. Keeping the silver in our hands will only benefit the corrupt officials in Guangzhou for nothing,” Guo Yi said. “We have to leave, but we must also leave behind the reputation of the Australians for being trustworthy and keeping their promises.”

“Understood,” Zhang Xin nodded. “I was originally worried that it would be difficult to deal with the run on deposits. Now with this batch of collected payments, it should be enough.”

As for the account books, land deeds, house deeds, personal contracts, IOUs, receipts… all kinds of documents, he had long since instructed people to pack them all up, ready to be transferred out. He had already secretly destroyed all the account books with Delong. Most of the people here did not know the true face of Delong, so it was very likely that it could be preserved.

“This is our ‘doomsday book’,” Guo Yi said to Zhang Xin. “In the future, when we come back, this will be the proof to get our capital back.”

Zhang Xin asked: “How do we transport these dozens of boxes of account books?”

Guo Yi said: “Transfer them out in batches. It would be best if these account books could be transported back to Lingao. If it can’t be done for a while, they can be temporarily stored in a secret location.”

As they were talking, a servant came to report that Shen Fan had arrived.

“Please let him in,” Guo Yi was originally going to talk to Shen Fan about how to deal with Zizhenzhai.

“Owner!” Shen Fan came in a hurry, even forgoing his usual etiquette. “Is the government really going to seal Zizhenzhai?”

“How can this be!” Shen Fan was so anxious that he was wiping his sweat. “Didn’t I suggest dedicating it to the Liang family?”

“Even if we dedicate it to the Liang family now, the Liang family may not dare to accept it,” Guo Yi told him about Tian Da’s visit.

“What?! The father of the emperor’s consort is also interested…”

“That’s right. With him reaching out, who else would dare to accept it?” Guo Yi shook his head. “My mind is made up. I would rather be a broken jade than a whole tile. This Guangzhou city can’t accommodate us. We’ll just leave…”

“Are you going back to Australia?” Shen Fan said anxiously. He had worked for Guo Yi for more than two years, and the host and guest had gotten along well. He was also very happy that he could be the manager of such a prosperous and large business in his old age.

Now that he suddenly said that the government was going to seal it, and that Owner Guo had to return to his country, Shen Fan could not help but have a thought: why can’t this world of the Ming Dynasty allow people to do business and live a good life.

“I have to go out and hide from the trouble,” Guo Yi said in a low voice. “If I stay here any longer, I’m afraid I’ll get into trouble with the law for no reason.”

“Is it that serious?”

“Exactly. I was originally going to talk to you about the disposal of Zizhenzhai…”

“Yes…” Shen Fan saw his serious expression and knew that it was not an empty threat. He thought of how this young man had saved his grandson’s life and had treated him well. Seeing that such a prosperous and thriving business was about to be destroyed, he could not help but feel sad and sighed heavily.

“How many goods are there in Zizhenzhai?”

“Not many,” he took out a booklet from his bosom. “This is the inventory book.” He quickly added, “In the past few days, more people have come to the counter to withdraw their deposits…”