Chapter 79: The Daoist Priest

The best person for the job would be someone with a business background, who had been a clerk or a shopkeeper, and had lived in Hangzhou for a long time. Only then could he conduct business like a fish in water. Zhao Yigong thought, but unfortunately, such a lucky encounter was unlikely to happen twice. It was probably impossible to find another retired shopkeeper whose grandson had malaria for him to cure.

As he was lost in thought, a servant came to announce: Daoquanzi has arrived.

“Bring him here at once!” Zhao Yigong’s spirits lifted.

A few minutes later, a servant brought Zhang Yingchen over. Zhang Yingchen looked a bit worn, but his Daoist robe was clean, though it was clearly old and even had patches upon closer inspection. Zhao Yigong found it a bit strange—this wasn’t the new Daoist robe the priest had designed himself. And although he had been separated from them for a few days, he didn’t look travel-worn at all. He had clearly found a place to stay.

As if sensing Zhao Yigong’s confusion, he said, “I’m currently staying at a small Daoist temple outside Yongjin Gate. This robe was a gift from the head priest, Daoist Priest Ma. Priest Ma is a very good person, and quite handsome…”

“You really are something. You just got to Hangzhou and you’re already getting cozy?”

“Not at all,” Zhang Yingchen scoffed. “I’ve been wandering the streets of Hangzhou for the past two days, looking for a suitable place to stay. I came across the Qingyun Temple, where the head priest was ill. You know I’m a practitioner of Chinese medicine, and I had some special emergency medicine with me. One dose and he was immediately better. So, I was allowed to stay.”

“You’re really something,” Zhao Yigong laughed heartily. “Your survival skills are not bad. You’d definitely survive if you transmigrated alone.”

“I’m confident of that too,” Zhang Yingchen said. “Putting everything else aside, how many people in the Senate are willing to go deep into the Li districts alone? It’s not a big deal, really. The Li districts aren’t some dragon’s lair or tiger’s den. Of course, I got sick a few times, but with the help of modern medicine, I pulled through.”

“Stop bragging. Let’s talk about how to get started in Hangzhou,” Zhao Yigong said, laying out the problems he had been considering.

“I’d like your opinion. I don’t dare to start with a ‘business-first’ approach like Little Guo. In a place where scholars and provincial graduates are as common as dogs and metropolitan graduates walk all over the place, giving myself the identity of a merchant from the start would be very detrimental to breaking into the scholar-gentry circles later on.”

Although industry and commerce were developed in Jiangnan, giving rise to the “reactionary trend” of “money-oriented thinking,” and the status of merchants had greatly improved, with gentry and scholars more or less participating in business, there was still a considerable gap between scholars and merchants. Their statuses were still not comparable.

“But to befriend the scholar-gentry, I’m afraid you won’t be able to manage with your current identity and conversation skills,” Zhang Yingchen bluntly pointed out the main contradiction.

“Exactly!” Zhao Yigong nodded. “I’m just a fake scholar, someone who can’t even recite the Analects completely. It’s obviously hopeless to try and impress the local scholars with ‘literary talent.’ Should I plagiarize Nalan Xingde’s poems? Or should I just go full ‘overlord’ mode and quickly brush up on Chairman Mao’s poetry?” he said with a bitter smile.

“You’re talking about trivial details. It’s a dream to think you can earn a literary reputation with a few poems,” Zhang Yingchen said dismissively. “That’s just a variation of the ‘overlord’s aura,’ and it has no future.” He looked at Zhao Yigong. “I think you should at least first learn how to converse with the local scholars, to master their way of speaking. It’s very natural for me in the temple because I’m familiar with the way Daoist priests talk, their scriptures, and their lifestyles.”

“You have a point,” Zhao Yigong said, stroking his chin. “It seems I’ll have to properly memorize the Analects.”

“Actually, it’s not just the Analects. The last time I attended a lecture, according to Yu E’shui, a scholar should at least be familiar enough with the Thirteen Classics to recite them backward and forward. Imagine you’re chatting with a group of Confucian scholars. If someone quotes a few lines, and you don’t understand a thing, won’t they treat you like an idiot?”

Zhao Yigong’s expression darkened. He was a bit intimidated by the thought of memorizing books, but what Zhang Yingchen said was very reasonable. It seemed this effort was unavoidable. He had previously put in a lot of effort in the intelligence bureau’s training class, practicing calligraphy with a scholar, and his handwriting was now basically presentable.

“Also, it doesn’t matter if you don’t act as a merchant yourself, but that doesn’t mean your family doesn’t have businesses. The ‘Mountain and Sea’ networks are both going to set up shop here. When they open, you can choose one to be the owner of. That will be a very respectable title. In this era, it’s still true that money makes the world go round.”

The deployment of the “Mountain and Sea” networks in Jiangnan was originally scheduled to be fully rolled out in 1630 but was delayed due to the anti-encirclement war. So far, only Wanyou of the “Mountain” route had established a presence in Nanjing and Qingjiangpu. The “Sea” route’s Qiwei had just set up an outer branch in Nanjing and Shanghai each.

In contrast, Delong’s expansion was much faster. After the victory in the anti-encirclement campaign, through negotiations with Li Luoyou, Li Luoyou finally agreed to act as a joint underwriter for Delong. Through this method, Delong was able to expand its remittance and exchange services to Jiangnan and the two capitals, north and south. The next step for Cheng Dong was to open direct branches in the two capitals.

Delong’s rapid expansion was firstly to raise capital, and secondly to provide financial support for the next stage of the mainland strategy. The Senate’s dispatched agencies would need to mobilize large amounts of funds over a very wide area in the future, and a financial network was urgently needed.

As a transmigrator’s “industry,” Wanyou’s status as a general merchandise store was very advantageous. Zhang Yingchen’s suggestion for Zhao Yigong to be the owner was a very reasonable arrangement.

“Hmm, now that you put it that way, I feel a bit enlightened,” Zhao Yigong said. “I’ve always wanted to get into the silk industry, but I’ve had my reservations. You’re right: with the Wanyou brand, it will be much easier. But I still need a good manager to run the whole thing.”

“There’s no rush for that. We can take our time to find someone. When the business is big, people will come to you. A wise bird chooses the tree it perches on,” Zhang Yingchen said.

Zhao Yigong asked, “What’s your next step? Are you going to continue staying at the temple?”

“Of course,” Zhang Yingchen nodded. “Qingyun Temple is a small and poor temple. Including the lay Taoists, there are less than ten people, so it’s easy to control. I plan to stay there, practice medicine, and build a small reputation—and at the same time, spread my New Taoism to the priests of this temple. There are a few good-looking young Daoist boys there. I think they have potential.”

The two of them established a method of contact and a secret code, and set up a regular contact schedule. Zhao Yigong wanted to give him a portion of the supplies and silver he had brought with him, but Zhang Yingchen refused.

“I don’t need these things; it’s easy to give myself away. Just give me some of your spare Chinese patent medicines. I don’t have much use for silver. I’ll ask you for it when I need it.”

After seeing the Daoist priest off, Zhao Yigong paced around his study for a few laps. He felt there were many things he should start doing, but for a moment, he didn’t know where to begin. Finally, he stopped. “Servant! Help me change!”

Instead of racking his brains in the study, making some “plan,” it was better to go out for a walk now. Who knew, he might have a lucky encounter or get some inspiration, and come up with a brand new idea. He could also take the opportunity to see if there were any suitable children he could buy and educate properly. Although Fenghua had undergone strict training, she was still lacking in innate qualities. It was better to train them from a young age. Thinking of this, his spirits lifted.

Fenghua hurriedly brought a basin of water for washing his face. She helped him wash his face and then brought out a new set of clothes—these were made by a local tailor in Guangzhou before he left and were the latest fashion in the Ming Dynasty. The materials and tailoring were very exquisite.

Fenghua helped him put on the clothes. It was a light blue zhiduo (a type of robe) embroidered with a hundred flowing clouds and gold thread, and a blue turban embroidered with red flowers and a swastika pattern. Zhao Yigong looked at himself in the mirror and felt that wearing these clothes was like being in a play. Especially the turban, wasn’t it a bit too ornate for a man?

As Fenghua helped him dress, she was smiling with her lips pursed.

“Hmm, what are you smiling at?” he asked as he put on the turban. “Is there something amusing about me now?”

“Your servant wouldn’t dare!” Fenghua quickly said. “I just feel that the master now is very different from before, almost like a different person.”

“Oh?” Zhao Yigong said. “Do you think I still look like a local?”

“Of course not,” Fenghua shook her head. “Just look at the master’s stature and bearing. How many people on the street have that? When the master goes out, people on the street will probably never forget you after one look.”

Hearing this, Zhao Yigong was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. “You’re quite the flatterer.”

Fenghua did not reply, carefully arranging his clothes and then bringing him a genuine Japanese folding fan. Folding fans were still a relatively expensive toy in the Ming Dynasty, not as common as in the later Qing Dynasty. Although they were already being produced domestically, Japanese and Korean folding fans were still considered luxury items.

The identity the intelligence bureau had created for Zhao Yigong was that of a young master from a wealthy family in Guangdong. His clothes and accessories were all arranged according to this requirement, and of course, they also had to reveal a hint of an overseas connection—Guangzhou was, after all, a foreign trade port. This also served as a pretext for the continuous stream of foreign goods he possessed.

Sun Wangcai selected two escorts from Qiwei to follow and protect him. These two escorts had actually been trained at the General Political Security Bureau and were specifically responsible for the personal security of the transmigrators. A native intelligence agent trained by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau served as his personal servant. Finally, he called for a local servant from Hangzhou named Cai Shi to act as a guide.

Cai Shi had only recently joined their service. He was originally a servant of this house. After the original owner moved away, he became unemployed. This time, he was re-employed.

The group left the residence. Since they didn’t have a specific destination, they didn’t use a sedan chair, just strolled along the street. They lived near Qinghefang, an area mostly of large residences. There were almost no shops along the street, and few pedestrians on the bluestone road.

“Master, your instructions, please: where should we go first?” Cai Shi asked as they were about to reach the end of the alley.