Chapter Eight: Macau

After Lin Ming arrived in Guangzhou and paid his respects to Li Fengjie, He Chengzong came to see him specifically. He exchanged some pleasantries and left a bank note for two hundred taels before leaving. Although Lin Ming was a hereditary probationary centurion of the Jinyiwei, with an inherited tradition of throwing his weight around, he was no rich man’s son. Since his family had lived in Guangdong for generations, he knew he had to give the officials some face. Helping the officialdom cover things up would only benefit him. He understood the governor’s intention without it being said—the responsibility had to be shifted away.

The best outcome, of course, would be to find Gao Shunqin and bring him back, which would make everyone happy. If he couldn’t be found, how to report it would be a headache.

Lin Ming knew that since He Zhen’s defeat, it was fortunate that Wang Zunde had died in a timely manner. This gave the staff and advisors ample room to maneuver. In short, Wang Zunde became the main culprit. Li Fengjie managed logistics from the rear, He Zhen fought bravely at the front, and the soldiers fought with their lives… In the end, the government forces, after an initial defeat, emerged victorious, fighting for a month and thwarting the kūnzéi bandits’ attempt to capture the prefecture and seize the county… The bandits, in a desperate move, fled to Guangzhou, where they were defeated by the coastal defense commander Xu Tingfa. The entire Qiongzhou prefecture was secured, without the loss of a single prefecture or county…

This routine of concealing defeats and embellishing victories could also be applied to this matter. He thought it over and over. If Gao Shunqin had really died at the hands of the kūnzéi bandits or the Portuguese, the best way to handle it would be to report him as “whereabouts unknown” and turn it into a cold case—of course, that depended on whether Governor Li and the others were sensible. Anyway, he, Lin Ming, was just a “guest official” in this case.

Lin Ming mulled over the causes and consequences until his eyes gleamed, losing all sleepiness. By then, the third watch of the night had already been sounded. Suddenly, he heard the loud sound of a door opening and closing in the courtyard. He couldn’t help but wonder—it was the middle of the night, and besides the yamen runners on guard, there were no outsiders in the Gao residence. Who was walking around in the courtyard? He quickly got out of bed and peered through a small piece of glass inlaid in the window. It was his sister-in-law. This little girl, for some unknown reason, was standing in the courtyard, staring at the sky in a daze.

“What’s gotten into her now?” Lin Ming had a headache over this sister-in-law who had run away from Nanjing. She refused to go back. People had come from Nanjing to pick her up once, but she ran away again. She only came back after they had left, declaring that she would not go back unless her father broke off her engagement. This put Lin Ming in a very awkward position. As her brother-in-law, he had an obligation to take care of and protect her, but this sister-in-law was not a pushover. She pestered him every day to take her out with him to “handle official business”—Lin Ming himself only went to the yamen for show, or to scrounge around for some profit. Where would he find such a “big case”?

Lin Ming wanted to ignore her and let her be crazy in the courtyard by herself, but he had always been tender towards the women around him. Although Li Yongxun was his sister-in-law and it was inappropriate to touch her, she was still “a woman of the house.” It wouldn’t be good if she caught a cold and got sick. So he got dressed and pushed the door open.

…

Lin Ming silently cursed himself for being an idiot who lost his head around women! Last night, he had a heart-to-heart talk with his sister-in-law in the courtyard while watching the stars. The atmosphere was incredibly good, especially when she said, “I don’t want to go back to my room to sleep,” and rested her head on his arm… The result was that he somehow ended up promising to take her to Macau to broaden her horizons. Looking at the ecstatic Li Yongxun, Lin Ming realized he had fallen into the little girl’s big trap.

Lin Ming knew that Li Yongxun was young, active, and loved to see new things. Not long after settling down in Foshan, she had tried to get him to take her to Macau through his wife’s pillow talk. He had held out and not agreed. This time, he had agreed in a muddle, and he couldn’t help but feel some regret.

However, a gentleman’s word is his bond, especially a promise made to a young girl. Lin Ming knew that he couldn’t eat this piece of meat, but he couldn’t help but do things to please women. Fortunately, the men he had sent to track Gao Shunqin had not yet returned. A trip to Macau would only take two days—it wouldn’t delay things. Although Macau was the territory of the Portuguese, it was still under the jurisdiction of the Xiangshan County Magistrate. As a dignified probationary centurion of the Jinyiwei, the county magistrate would naturally do his best to take care of him, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

“Who are you?!” Gao Shunqin asked in a deep voice. “How dare you be so bold! Do you know who I am?!”

A ray of sunlight shone through a high window near the roof, brightening the room. He looked around and found the appearance of the house very strange, not like Chinese architecture.

A high, pointed roof, with no ceiling, revealed the supporting structure of the trusses. The floor was made of stone slabs, and the walls were painted snow-white. There was only one door in the entire room, which was now closed. The room was empty, except for the heavy chair he was sitting on.

The few people standing in front of him, although dressed as ordinary people—one as a small merchant, the others as servants in blue robes and small caps—their expressions and demeanor were clearly not those of Ming citizens who would tremble at the sight of an official.

The leader nodded slightly.

“You are Master Gao, the Provincial Censor of Guangdong.”

“Since you know, you still dare to offend a court-appointed official!” Gao Shunqin sneered.

The leader smiled lightly and pulled off his hat—as if by magic, his head seemed to shed a layer of skin, revealing short stubble.

“You are the kūnzéi bandits!” he exclaimed, both shocked and angry.

“This official is the Acting Minister of the Court of Receptions of the Great Song’s Australian Regency.” The young man uttered this sentence fluently. He had practiced it countless times in private to fully display the majesty of the Great Song.

Gao Shunqin was stunned. He had no knowledge of Song Dynasty history and was a little slow to react to Jiang Shan’s sudden announcement. However, he immediately sneered, “You are just overseas barbarians!” He then thought that since the kūnzéi bandits had captured him, this must be their lair, Lin’gao! He had been in a semi-conscious state since he was captured, and his memory was not very clear. He couldn’t remember if he had been out at sea. The few remaining impressions seemed to include being on a boat and hearing the cries of seagulls.

His heart sank. Given his past anti-foreigner rhetoric, it was needless to say that these overseas barbarians who claimed to be descendants of the Great Song hated him to the bone. They must have gone to great lengths to capture him in order to torture him in every possible way and then execute him by slow slicing, to intimidate the court officials in Guangdong.

At this thought, Gao Shunqin felt a sense of utter despair. The Ao bandits were able to abduct him from his residence in Guangzhou and bring him to Lin’gao without anyone knowing. Their methods and abilities were far beyond the imagination of ordinary people. He was afraid that up to this point, the officials in Guangzhou still didn’t know he had been taken to Lin’gao, let alone come to rescue him.

“This must be Lin’gao!” he asked nervously. “What do you want?”

“We will entertain you for a few days, sir. Please be patient,” Jiang Shan said.

“Hmph, you must want me to change my ways and submit a memorial on your behalf for trade!” Gao Shunqin said loudly. “This is a fool’s dream! I will never obey!” He said this with great bravado, but in his heart, he was in turmoil, not knowing what these Ao bandits were planning to do. From the so-called “Great Song official title” that the bandit had revealed, it was most likely that they wanted him to serve the enemy!

Of course, Gao Shunqin would not surrender. This group of overseas barbarians who claimed to be descendants of the Great Song only occupied a single county in Lin’gao. At best, they could only carve out a territory in Qiongzhou Prefecture and crown themselves kings, like monkeys in clothes. How could he, a dignified Provincial Censor with a Jinshi degree, serve a thief?

“We will never ask you to submit a memorial, sir,” Jiang Shan said calmly.

“Do you want to persuade me to surrender? That’s even more of a fool’s dream!” Gao Shunqin raised his voice. “I have studied the words of loyalty and righteousness since I was a child. As a minister of the court, it is my duty to die for my country if I am unfortunate enough to fall into enemy hands. I have no thought of clinging to life!”

“You exaggerate, sir. My Great Song is not lacking a few officials,” Jiang Shan said with a smile, not getting angry at all. This was almost an insult, and sure enough, the other party showed an angry expression. He carefully observed the other party’s reaction, especially his body language—this was the first high-ranking Ming official to fall into their hands. Censor Gao was different from the people they had previously dealt with, like Wu Mingjin, Sun Ruiwu, and Wang Ci—they were all failures in the officialdom, grassroots civil servants who were just getting by. But Gao Shunqin was a dignified Provincial Censor with a bright future, a rising star in the officialdom. The Foreign Intelligence Bureau had always been interested in their true thoughts, will, and integrity.

Obviously, this high-ranking Ming official was very nervous inside—he was not as unafraid of death as he appeared. However, the firmness expressed in his words was not entirely a bluff.

This place was not Lin’gao, nor was it Hong Kong, but a new “safe house” set up by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau in Macau. After Xue Ziliang’s team successfully “snatched him from his bed” in Guangzhou, they followed Lin Biguang’s advice and moved the entire team towards Foshan and Sanshui. After “exposing” Gao Shunqin a few times at appropriate moments, the team split into two on the way from Sanshui to Qingyuan. One group, with Gao Shunqin, quietly disembarked, returned to Guangzhou, and, with arrangements made by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s contacts, took a boat out of the Pearl River estuary to Macau. The other group continued to sail north, leaving a few small clues along the way to attract the attention of any pursuers.

According to the original plan, after kidnapping Gao Shunqin, they had intended to take him to Hong Kong for detention. But Jiang Shan happened to be in Macau at this time, setting up the Macau station—as the Hong Kong development plan unfolded, the work of establishing a direct presence in Macau was also put on the agenda. At his suggestion, the plan was temporarily changed to hide Master Gao in Macau. Macau was also very close to Guangzhou, and they could respond to any news from Guangzhou at any time. Moreover, this was not Australian territory.

“Keep a close watch on him. Don’t let him escape,” Jiang Shan instructed the Senator stationed in Macau. “It would be embarrassing if he escaped. If there are any problems, just eliminate him directly.”

Neither the Senate nor the Executive Committee had any plans to make Master Gao a future member of the Political Consultative Conference, so Censor Gao’s fate was more or less decided. As for when to make him “disappear,” that would depend on the situation in Guangzhou and the next steps.