Chapter 160: Plans for Peace Talks

If the Portuguese were willing to dispatch ships to patrol the Pearl River Estuary, it would be very difficult for the Kun thieves’ ships to enter the inner river.

“However, about Sir Gao…” another advisor said in a low voice.

The Censor of Guangdong, Gao Shunqin, was still adamant about “fighting the Kun thieves to the death.” A group of anti-foreign, anti-maritime trade officials and scholars had gathered around him. Their previous target had been the Portuguese in Macau, and now it was the Aussies. Of course, the Portuguese had not been forgotten—in the midst of this chaos, he still submitted his usual memorials, demanding that the Portuguese be banned from trading in Guangzhou.

“I hear that Censor Gao’s memorial has already been sent,” said the advisor who specialized in gathering information from various government offices. “I’m afraid this matter cannot be reversed.”

“I wonder if we can ask the high officials in the capital to intervene and shelve this matter? If we can just drag it out for two or three years, it will eventually be forgotten.”

“To handle this, we would need at least ten thousand taels of silver,” He Chengzong said with a grave expression. “And, this matter cannot be known to the Portuguese.”

An advisor blurted out, “This is going to be difficult!”

Normally, if the news were leaked, the Portuguese might be willing to pay for the lobbying fees. The person handling it could easily pocket two or three thousand taels of silver.

But the current situation was delicate. The Portuguese probably knew that the Guangdong government needed their help. They held the cards. To ask them to provide both troops and money was a pipe dream.

Of course, Li Fengjie would not pay the ten thousand taels himself.

Li Fengjie sighed heavily. He had privately discussed this matter with Gao Shunqin many times, but they had never reached an agreement. Gao Shunqin’s attitude was very firm. This made Li Fengjie very unhappy: in his view, Gao Shunqin was a Censor. The success or failure of the war had little to do with him. His high-profile advocacy for war was purely to gain fame and reputation. Moreover, if the court really banned the Portuguese from trading, it was hard to say how much interest the Portuguese would have in protecting the security of the Pearl River Estuary.

“However, even if we don’t send people to lobby in the capital, it will be at least next year before the court reaches a decision and issues a decree,” He Chengzong said. “The Portuguese can’t possibly know what’s happening in the capital. As long as we keep it strictly confidential here, they will still help.”

Another advisor said, “Although the Portuguese cannot reside in the city, many people in the city benefit from them. I’m afraid this matter cannot be kept secret.”

“We’ll just have to deny it!” Li Fengjie sighed. To this end, he strictly ordered that this matter not be leaked to the Portuguese and instructed the Xiangshan County Magistrate and Assistant Magistrate that if the Portuguese asked about it, they must unequivocally state that it was “purely a rumor.”

He decided to immediately send someone to contact the Portuguese, while at the same time stepping up the pace of peace negotiations. Li Fengjie’s biggest headache was the lack of an intermediary. Originally, the Zi-brand businesses in Guangzhou were the best intermediaries, but during the height of the anti-Kun campaign, they were seized as rebel property. Not only were all their goods confiscated and sold, but their real estate and assets were also seized pending disposal. The once-bustling Zhiminglou and Huifu Street were now deserted. Not a single person could be found.

Besides the owners of the Zi-brand businesses, the Gao family was the most ideal choice. After all, they were the Aussies’ agents. But the Gao family was very cunning. They told the advisors from the governor’s yamen who came to visit them repeatedly that Master Gao Ju had gone to the Jiangnan region to procure goods and was not in Guangzhou at the moment. Any matters would have to wait for his return.

“That sly fox!” Li Fengjie cursed inwardly. Gao Ju’s refusal to come forward showed that he felt the current situation was still unclear and was unwilling to stick his neck out. In addition, there was also a rift between the Gao family and the Guangzhou officialdom over the disposal of the Zi-brand properties. Now, they were clearly standing on the riverbank, watching the water rise.

As soon as Guo Yi and the others withdrew, Nanhai County immediately seized the various properties of the Zi-brand businesses, which instantly attracted countless covetous figures. The most enthusiastic among them was Tian Da. He clamored at the Guangzhou prefectural yamen every day, demanding to buy these “rebel properties.”

Since Lu Yizhong had gone to Qiongzhou with the army, Tian Da had no official figure in Guangzhou to run errands for him, and he had been quiet for a while. But when he heard that Guo Dongzhu, Pei Lixiu, and the others had all fled, leaving only some real estate and assets behind, he was furious. Tian Da knew that the Zi-brand businesses’ ability to rake in money was due to the Aussies’ management. Now that everyone was gone, not even a single clerk or craftsman was left, what was the use of these houses and businesses, and the tools and machines that no one knew how to use?

He had promised his master that this trip to Guangzhou would bring in tens of thousands of taels of silver and the Aussies’ large shops as a contribution. Now there was nothing. How could he explain this to his master when he returned? He might even be expelled from the household for this.

Tian Da was well aware of the value of his status as a servant of the Tian imperial relative. He had committed many evil deeds, and if he lost the protection of the Tian family for even a single day, he would be tortured to death.

Tian Da used his status to pressure the Guangzhou prefectural yamen and the Nanhai and Panyu county yamens to arrest people for him. The officials of this prefecture and two counties couldn’t stand his pestering and randomly arrested some clerks and craftsmen to placate him. They were all people who knew nothing. This infuriated Tian Da, who ran around the various government offices in the city every day, clamoring to “buy” the Zi-brand properties.

The officials and prominent families in Guangzhou felt it wasn’t worth provoking this petty man and did not compete with him. Gao Ju had originally intended to let Tian Da have the valuable Zhiminglou property, while he would buy the residences, shops, and workshops on Huifu Street. This way, the Aussies could secretly return later and they could continue their partnership. He would both earn the Aussies’ gratitude for protecting their property and gain control over a portion of the Zi-brand’s ownership.

Unexpectedly, Tian Da was insatiably greedy for the Zi-brand properties. He not only wanted to occupy the Zhiminglou but also to swallow all the properties on Huifu Street. Gao Ju knew that Eunuch Yang’s position and power in the palace could not compare to the rising influence of Imperial Consort Tian, but he was unwilling to back down. This was not just about interests; everyone knew that Guo Dongzhu was his business partner. If he couldn’t effectively protect his business partner’s interests, the Gao family’s reputation in the business world would suffer a great blow.

Gao Ju personally visited Li Fengjie, hoping the governor and the Guangzhou officialdom would help him. Of course, he also promised great benefits.

But Li Fengjie was unwilling to offend Tian Da, and even less willing to offend Tian Hongyu. Officials knew that the most fearsome were not the censors, but a mouth in the palace. A few careless words could plant the seeds of disaster at any time.

Gao Ju knew he couldn’t compete with Tian Da and had to reluctantly give up, no longer meddling in the matter.

Thus, the Zi-brand properties fell into Tian Da’s hands without any suspense. However, Li Fengjie kept a card up his sleeve. He instructed the Guangzhou prefect to agree to the matter but to “drag out” the process of transferring the deeds.

“I understand,” the Guangzhou prefect asked Li Fengjie. “But as long as Tian Da doesn’t get the deeds, he will come and make a fuss every day. How long should I delay before processing it?”

“When the dispatch arrives that He Zhen’s troops have entered Lingao, you can process it then. It won’t be too late,” Li Fengjie instructed. “For now, just drag it out.”

Li Fengjie thought to himself, it was fortunate that he hadn’t transferred the Zi-brand properties to the Tian family back then! Otherwise, negotiating a truce now would be ten times more troublesome. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late—the Tian family was not yet the owner of the properties.

As for Tian Da continuing to make a fuss, he didn’t think it was a problem. Not to mention that the Aussies clearly hated Tian Da to the bone; once they returned to Guangzhou, Tian Da would surely die. Even if the Aussies were magnanimous and didn’t want to bother with him, someone else would take care of him for the Aussies.

But now he needed to find an intermediary, someone reliable and capable. Li Fengjie was unwilling to risk sending his own advisors to Lingao—first, the situation there was unclear, and if word leaked out, he would be in a difficult position; second, he didn’t have such talent among his staff.

This person, first of all, could not be an official, and preferably not one of his own advisors, to avoid being implicated if things went wrong. Li Fengjie’s advisors racked their brains for a long time and finally thought of Huang Shunlong.

Huang Shunlong was a shady figure in Macau, very active in dealing with pirates and smuggling prohibited goods. Although a high official like Li Fengjie was not very familiar with this, the local advisors and lower-ranking officials who knew the local situation well were very clear about it. They knew that Huang Shunlong had deep connections with the coastal pirates of Guangdong. He probably had contacts with the Aussies as well. Using him as an intermediary would be a reliable and safe method. If things went wrong, it would be easiest to deny any involvement.

Besides Huang Shunlong, Li Fengjie’s men thought of a second group: the Qiwei Escort Agency.

The close relationship between the Qiwei Escort Agency and the Zi-brand businesses was no secret in Guangdong. It was Sun Kecheng of Qiwei who had established a connection with Guo Dongzhu of the Zi-brand, which had transformed the originally small Qiwei Escort Agency into the large-scale business it was today, involved in land and water transport, inns, and porters.

After Guo Yi and the others fled from Guangzhou, the Qiwei Escort Agency was not hit hard—their service relationships with local gentry and high officials had created a large protective network. Of course, Sun Kecheng had also spent over twenty thousand taels of silver to smooth things over—ten thousand of which was a “voluntary contribution” to the “Kun suppression military fund.”

Li Fengjie had no doubt that Sun Kecheng still had secret dealings with the Kun thieves, passing information back and forth. Perhaps the mysteriously disappeared clerks and craftsmen of the Zi-brand were under Sun Kecheng’s protection. But that was none of his business. For now, he just needed Sun Kecheng to help him establish a channel of communication with the Kun thieves. Moreover, Qiwei was also a bargaining chip in his negotiations—didn’t the Kun thieves claim to be the most trustworthy? The people from the escort agency, like Sun Kecheng, could also be used as hostages if necessary.