Chapter 227 - Cooperation in the Liaodong Direction

Li Luoyou listened to these conditions with a blank expression. They were harsh, but a little more lenient than he had expected. These conditions were in the same style as those he had encountered when negotiating with the Australians in the past: harsh, meticulous, attentive to detail, and hair-splitting, filled with a strong confidence based on their own strength.

Xu Tianqi then pointed out that the repatriated Ming officers and soldiers would be checked off one by one against the Ming army’s roster and repatriated.

Li Luoyou had to raise an objection: soldiers aside, whether they were combat troops or auxiliary soldiers, and even the officers’ private retainers, were all listed on the payroll. But there were also many people in the army who were not on the roster, including temporarily conscripted laborers who followed the army, and the servants of civil and military officials.

“This can be sorted out. Those who were indeed brought from the mainland and are willing to return to Guangdong will be released. Those who are from Qiongzhou Prefecture or are unwilling to return to the mainland can stay.”

Xu Tianqi put forward the principle of voluntary repatriation, and Li Luoyou agreed. Whether the people not on the roster could return was not something the big shots in Guangdong were concerned about.

Finally, there was the issue of the disposal of the prisoners. The Council of Elders was certainly unwilling to release the prisoners—they were all good laborers. However, they had no interest in entertaining the captured civil and military officials for a long time. Therefore, they allowed the Guangdong side to ransom them, whether it was the government or the prisoners’ families. The ransom was set in tiers according to their official rank. In addition to the ransom, each prisoner had to pay a daily food and lodging fee of one mace of silver for the number of days they had stayed in the Lin’gao prisoner of war camp.

Li Luoyou nodded in agreement. The government would not pay this money, but the families of these officials always had some money, so paying the ransom would not be a problem.

Thus, the matter of the disposal of He Rubin’s remnants in the Qiongshan and Haikou areas was settled. They only had to wait for Li Fengjie’s approval for the entire plan to be implemented. Li Luoyou sent a trusted subordinate with a secret letter containing the specific details of the peace talks to Guangzhou. The result was not in doubt—Li Fengjie had no other choice but to agree to these conditions to save the remnants of his defeated army from disaster.

The talks were over, and both sides secretly breathed a sigh of relief. For the transmigrator group, the siege without fighting in Qiongshan was also a drain on their energy. Now that the matter had a definite conclusion, and they had also obtained what they most wanted—peace.

Since Li Luoyou was a merchant, many matters were separated from the officialdom, making it inconvenient for him to run around. Before leaving, Li Luoyou had discussed with Li Fengjie to have Lu Yizhong act as the intermediary. Lu Yizhong was very familiar with the Guangdong officialdom, had many connections, and knew many people. Moreover, after being captured, he had been forced to write a letter for peace talks out of fear of death. After Wang Zunde’s death, his team of advisors had scattered, but Li Xijue had been recruited by Li Fengjie and had joined the governor’s staff. Therefore, Li Fengjie was also aware of the matter of Lu Yizhong writing a letter for peace. A person who had lost his backer and had a historical stain, unless he was willing to retire, could only be at their mercy.

“Mr. Lu as the liaison? His Excellency the Governor is truly insightful,” Xu Tianqi laughed and expressed his approval.

Li Luoyou also laughed a few times, feeling contempt for these advisors and officials in his heart. The two then had a preliminary discussion on the next step of in-depth cooperation. Li Luoyou’s enthusiasm for making guns and cannons for the Great Ming and modernizing its armaments had waned considerably. Many of the Hongyi cannons his workshop in Foshan had made for the Guangdong side had not been sent to Liaodong: some were lost in the Battle of Qiongzhou, some were lost in the Pearl River Delta campaign, and the rest were taken by Xiong Wencan to Fujian to equip Zheng Zhilong. This made him very disappointed. In addition, in the Australians’ second campaign in Guangdong, the power of the Australian cannons was far superior to that of the Hongyi cannons, which made Li Luoyou very dejected—he almost wanted to give up.

Unexpectedly, there was a new order from Shandong. This time it was a request from Sun Yuanhua, the governor of Deng-Lai. This Catholic governor was training a new army in Deng-Lai and had employed many Portuguese as instructors. Sun Yuanhua had organized people in Shandong to cast Hongyi cannons under the guidance of the Portuguese, but because the pig iron smelted in the north used coal as fuel, the pig iron contained sulfur and was brittle, far inferior to the cannons cast in the south. Therefore, he requested more cannons from the Guangdong side. Li Luoyou was certainly unwilling to give up a profitable business. Moreover, Shandong was an important window for his trade with the Qing, and Sun Yuanhua was a fellow Catholic. He had to agree, both for profit and for friendship.

Li Luoyou once again raised his request to purchase Australian cannons or production equipment. Xu Tianqi only gave a vague response and was unwilling to take a stance—the Council of Elders had always been divided on the issue of selling arms. Seeing that the other party was unwilling to engage, Li Luoyou knew that there was little hope for this matter and couldn’t help but sigh.

In their conversation, Xu Tianqi mentioned the Liaodong trade, expressing that the transmigrator group was very interested in participating in it and hoped to get Li Luoyou’s help.

He had originally thought that Li Luoyou would readily agree, but unexpectedly, he showed a troubled expression and was reluctant to engage for a long time. Only after Xu Tianqi repeatedly pressed him did he slowly speak:

“I am forced to do business with the Jianzhou Jurchens,” he said. “You are doing business here, and it’s not like you can’t make money. Why do you have to trade with the Jianzhou Jurchens?”

“We are businessmen. Of course, the more business partners, the better.”

Li Luoyou tried to persuade them to give up this idea. First, the journey was long and the transportation of goods was inconvenient. The risks on the road were high. The Ming Dynasty had imposed a trade embargo on the Manchu Qing, and trading with them was illegal smuggling. Even for legal trade, one had to deal with layers of exploitation from the government. For such illegal business, whether it was Li Luoyou’s trade from Shandong to Liaodong or the Shanxi merchants’ trade with the Manchu Qing through the Mongols in the Zhangjiakou area, many Ming officials had made a fortune.

“You don’t know the hardships involved,” Li Luoyou couldn’t help but exaggerate the various difficulties, such as the stormy seas on the sea voyage. On land, they often lost both men and goods to bandits and soldiers. As for the goods, they were also subject to the nitpicking, extortion, and deductions of the Manchu Qing officials.

Xu Tianqi did not refute him. He knew that Li Luoyou did not want them to interfere in the Liaodong trade—not only because he wanted to monopolize the profits, but also because he was afraid that the Australians would “aid the enemy.” The Australians did not have his loyalty to the Great Ming and would inevitably sell whatever was profitable. At that time, things like grain, ironware, and even gunpowder and cannons might be sold to the Manchu Qing.

“I hear the Tartars are extremely short of grain,” Xu Tianqi suddenly asked.

“That is indeed the case.” Li Luoyou’s mind stirred. Could they be planning to transport grain to the Tartars? The Tartars were willing to pay ten or even twenty taels of silver per shi of grain, which was a hugely profitable business. The Shanxi merchants had spared no expense to buy up grain in the already grain-deficient Central Plains to sell to the Manchu Qing. Did the Australians want to do the same? They could easily buy grain in Guangdong and then resell it in Liaodong for a huge profit. To that end, he quickly added, “However, the officials and soldiers in the Deng-Lai area are very strict in their inspections, and not a single grain is allowed to cross the sea.”

“Hehe,” Xu Tianqi laughed. “Shopkeeper Li! We understand your thoughts very well! However, you should know the situation of the people captured by the Tartars.”

How could he not know? Li Luoyou had traveled in Liaodong to ransom people and was very clear about the living conditions of the Han people who had been captured and enslaved. Not to mention the various hardships they suffered, many could not even get enough to eat and were in a state of semi-starvation.

“It is extremely miserable,” Li Luoyou sighed.

“I hear that the Manchu Qing even trade women and children to the Mongols for cattle and sheep, a half-grown child for a sheep. Shopkeeper Li, you can’t be unaware of this, can you?”

“I have indeed heard of it.”

“We do business with the Manchu Qing, not for their gold and silver—but for the people, the people of the Great Ming who are being abused and sold by the Tartars!” Xu Tianqi said with an air of righteousness. “Do you think this business should be done?”

“What? You are going to Liaodong to ransom the people?” Li Luoyou was greatly surprised and stood up. He felt a wave of dizziness and fell back into his chair. His personal servant, Sao Ye, who was waiting on him, quickly took out a medicinal wine and gave him a few sips, which calmed him down.

He composed himself and thought to himself, the Australians are truly ambitious. Even with his wealth, he had never thought of such a thing. He was not a philanthropist, after all. This kind of thing could never be finished, even if he spent all his fortune. How could the Australians, who were so calculating and penny-pinching, suddenly be so generous? The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

Seeing the doubt on his face, Xu Tianqi explained: what they wanted was the population captured by the Manchu Qing. The traded population would all be transported to Qiongzhou for settlement.

So that’s how it is! Li Luoyou thought. Qiongzhou is vast and sparsely populated. They need people to farm the land, open factories, and train their own troops. No wonder they have their eyes on the Manchu Qing.

In any case, it was much better for those pitiful people to fall into the hands of the Australians than to stay in the hands of the Tartars. Thinking of this, Li Luoyou’s original attitude softened a little. He then agreed to help the Australians establish contact with the Manchu Qing officials in the Liaodong trade.

Xu Tianqi thought to himself, this trick really works. Of course, whether they would only accept population as a means of payment was another matter. The wealth, gold, and treasures that the Manchu Qing had plundered from within the pass, according to the financial department’s speculation, Liaodong should be in a state of inflation at this time, with silver greatly devalued. It was a hugely profitable business to go and buy up gold and silver at this time.

In addition to the population, Xu Tianqi also proposed to purchase horses, cattle, and sheep from the Manchu Qing-controlled areas, especially horses. This was a commodity that Lin’gao urgently needed at present.

“As for horses, you can actually buy them from the Mongols through the Guanning army’s channels,” Li Luoyou said. “But transportation is inconvenient. A small number is fine, but a large herd of horses traveling south would probably be intercepted halfway. Besides, the supply of grain and fodder for the horses along the way is also a difficult matter.”