Chapter 314: The Mountain Goods Store

Lin Ming saw the clerk off, closed the door, and finally let out a sigh of relief. A rare sense of ease washed over him. Ever since he had left Foshan and blended in with the merchant ship, he had not had a moment to himself, living under a careful disguise all day long.

Although the room was small and simple, it was a small world of its own once the door was closed, allowing him to temporarily shed his disguise.

Out of caution, he first inspected the room. In ancient times, there were many “black inns,” even on major thoroughfares. The practice of robbing and murdering guests, and even butchering them to make human-flesh buns, was a real thing. Lin Ming himself had handled such cases, and as a frequent traveler, he naturally paid some attention to the safety of inns.

Although this “For the People Inn” was run by the “short-haired rebels” and would not be a black inn, it was still a dragon’s den and a tiger’s lair. He had to be extremely careful.

Lin Ming checked under the bed and in the cabinet one by one, then carefully examined the door and windows, confirming that there were no peepholes or hidden mechanisms. Only then did he put down his pack and tidy up his things.

There wasn’t much in the pack, just a few changes of clothes and two pairs of shoes—which he had brought from Foshan. He didn’t wear shoes on the ship, so they were basically unused. Then there was an ink box. To make it easier to hide his identity, Lin Ming had brought as few items that could reveal his identity as possible. He had not even brought the dagger that he never parted with.

He had very little money with him. After disembarking, he had exchanged most of it for circulation coupons, leaving only a few silver dollars hidden on his person for emergencies.

After tidying up, Lin Ming went to the first floor for a shower, changed into clean clothes, and prepared to go to the “Haixing Firm” for a “job interview.” From his observations along the way, he already knew that the “short-haired bandits” had very strict control over “drifters.” The fact that there were no beggars or street performers on the streets from Bopu all the way here already proved this point. He had also heard that they often “arrested vagrants” here. People without ID cards and employment certificates, once caught, would be sent to the quarry or sand quarry to work for a few months. If he didn’t have a stable job, his activities in Lingao would be very risky.

The employment contract had the detailed address of the shop. The roads in the East Gate Market were neat, and there were many road signs for guidance. Lin Ming found a map in the inn and studied it a few times, and soon found the location of the Haixing Firm.

The Haixing Firm had a small storefront, only one bay wide. The signboard, however, was very large, with big gold characters that didn’t match the small storefront, giving it the feeling of a child wearing an adult’s hat.

The shops in Lingao were not allowed to hang banners, so as not to affect traffic. So Lin Ming couldn’t tell what kind of business it was at first glance. It was only when he walked in that he discovered it was a mountain goods business. The prices for various mountain products and local produce were hung above the counter.

A clerk came forward to greet him. He quickly explained that he was here for a job interview. The clerk then led him to the accounting room in the back. Only then did he realize that the shops in the East Gate Market all had narrow storefronts but were deep inside. The shopkeeper was a Cantonese and spoke fluent Guangzhou official dialect. As soon as the two of them spoke, they felt very close.

When Lin Ming was in Guangzhou, he had a considerable understanding of merchants. From the decoration of the shop and the speech of the shopkeeper and clerks, he knew that the retail business of the Haixing Firm was just a front. It was actually a merchant engaged in wholesale business. The owner of this firm should have deep connections with both the “short-haired bandits” and the Ming Dynasty.

“Since we are from the same hometown and are trying to make a living here, I will naturally take care of you.” The shopkeeper introduced himself as Qian. He had been entrusted by his master since he was young to trade mountain goods and local produce with the Li people in Hainan, so he was considered a “Hainan expert.” “Since you are literate, you can be a clerk in my accounting room.”

“Thank you, Shopkeeper Qian!”

“You’re welcome. From your appearance, you must have been the son of a scholar’s family in the past. To have fallen to this state, there must be a reason. But the Australians here don’t ask about the past or talk about old matters. As long as you work hard, it won’t be difficult to make a living.”

“Yes, I will rely on Shopkeeper Qian’s guidance.”

“The laws here are strict, and the surveillance is like a net. Those who commit crimes cannot escape their grasp. You must be careful in your daily life and not violate their laws, otherwise even a god cannot save you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Do you have a place to stay now?”

“I am staying at the For the People Inn.”

“That place is crowded. After you sign the contract, you can move in here. We have a few empty rooms. It will save you some rent.”

Lin Ming readily agreed. Shopkeeper Qian stamped the employment contract, gave him one copy, and told him to return it to the employment agency as soon as possible. He also wrote the date of employment on his employment certificate and stamped it. After everything was done, he called over a clerk:

“Take this Mr. Lin to the police station to register his household.”

Household registration was also a system in the Ming Dynasty’s baojia system, so Lin Ming was no stranger to it. He then followed the clerk out.

The clerk who led him was very young, looking no more than sixteen or seventeen, but he was sallow and thin, as if he had just recovered from a long illness. Lin Ming knew that this was his future “colleague.” For the sake of future work convenience, he naturally had to win him over. So he found a topic and started chatting with him.

However, the other party couldn’t understand his Guangzhou official dialect at all. Lin Ming had to switch to Mandarin, which the other party understood.

Perhaps because he was bored from being cooped up in the shop all day, the young man was quite talkative. Lin Ming soon learned that his name was Wang Xinglong, and he had just started working at the Haixing Firm last year.

“Brother Wang can speak Mandarin. You’re not from Guangdong, are you?”

Wang Xinglong’s face suddenly darkened. “To be honest, I am from Laizhou Prefecture, Shandong.”

“Laizhou?” Lin Ming had only known that there was a place called Shandong in the provinces of the world. As for Laizhou, he had no concept of it at all. But after the news of the Deng-Lai rebellion more than two years ago, the name Laizhou was deeply imprinted in his mind.

“Isn’t that…”

“Exactly, the place where the rebellion happened two years ago.” Wang Xinglong let out a deep breath. “It was慘不忍言 (cǎn bù rěn yán - too tragic to talk about)!”

“I saw in the official gazette…” Lin Ming realized this was inappropriate. Ordinary commoners didn’t read that stuff. He quickly changed his words, “I heard people say that the official gazette published a lot of news. The rebellious soldiers were very powerful and ravaged almost the entire province of Shandong. Fortunately, the former governor of Deng-Lai, Sun Yuanhua, led the gentry to defend Laizhou to the death…”

“Governor Sun, my foot. Without the Australians, Laizhou would have been finished long ago,” Wang Xinglong said with a pout.

This immediately aroused Lin Ming’s interest. Sun Yuanhua had initially defended Laizhou to the death and later assisted in suppressing the rebellion, making a great contribution. It was said that someone in the court had helped him, so although the rebellion occurred during his tenure, his subsequent punishment was very light, only a dismissal from office. And he still remained in Dengzhou to “assist in the military affairs of Liaodong.”

He had not expected this rebellion to involve Sun Yuanhua! The political sense of the Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately excited his whole body. He deliberately said:

“This place is at least a few thousand li away from Dengzhou and Laizhou. How could the Australians help Governor Sun? Besides, Governor Sun is an official of the court. How could he secretly collude with the Australians? This… this… is too incredible…”

“You don’t know about this.” Wang Xinglong was young after all, and how could he know that this gentle and elegant “clerk master” was an Embroidered Uniform Guard? He blurted out, “The Australians set up a stockade on a deserted island off the coast of Laizhou to take in the refugees from the rebellion. The rebellious soldiers besieging Laizhou went to attack it and were beaten to a pulp by the Australians. Tens of thousands were killed or wounded, and many fierce generals also died. Even the cannons they brought from Dengzhou were captured by the Australians. If it weren’t for this great battle, how could Laizhou have been held?”

Lin Ming nodded. “So that’s how it is.” He was slightly disappointed. He had originally thought he could get some major news about Sun Yuanhua’s secret collusion with the “short-haired bandits” from this young clerk, but he hadn’t expected it to be just this.

However, this news was still very shocking. The “short-haired bandits’” tentacles actually extended far beyond Guangdong and Fujian! Deng-Lai was not a rich place, yet the “short-haired bandits” had also extended their hands there and even set up a stockade to recruit refugees. Their intentions were sinister!

As the governor of Deng-Lai, it was impossible for Sun Yuanhua not to know about them setting up a stockade. And for the rebellious soldiers to divide their forces to attack the “short-haired bandits’” stockade while besieging Laizhou… even if there was no collusion between the two sides, there was some kind of tacit understanding. And to think that Sun Yuanhua had managed to get away with it, Lin Ming couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine. Could it be that the “short-haired bandits’” hands had already reached the capital and extended into the court?!

“Fortunately, the Australians set up this stockade, and many people from Shandong were able to survive!” Wang Xinglong sighed. “Although we have left our homes, it’s still better than filling the ditches!”

“Oh? In that case, are there many people from Deng-Lai here?” Lin Ming asked.

“At least more than a hundred thousand. They were all transported here by the Australians’ large ships, one ship after another. The pier was a sea of people…”

More than a hundred thousand! This number shocked Lin Ming once again. What were the Australians doing with more than a hundred thousand people from Shandong?

In their conversation, Lin Ming learned that Wang Xinglong was only eighteen this year. He was originally from a middle-class merchant family in Laizhou Prefecture. He had studied and learned the contemporary literary style, and was always at the top of the list in the county’s children’s examinations, a hot candidate for the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination).

His family had some property. Unfortunately, the Deng-Lai rebellion turned all this to ashes. Although Laizhou city was not breached, most of his family’s shops and properties were outside the city and were all destroyed in the fierce fighting. His parents and family members were either dead or scattered, leaving only him and his cousin to escape.

He did not come to Lingao by boat, but fled west from Laizhou to Jinan Prefecture. His father had relatives in Jinan who were also business partners. He hadn’t expected this relative to ignore him completely when he saw that his whole family had been ruined.

Seeing that he could not rely on his relatives, Wang Xinglong thought of a few merchants he had met who had been to Lingao. He had heard them say that he was very interested in “Australian miscellaneous studies” and “Australian goods,” and they had suggested that he go to Lingao to have a look.

Since the Australians had set up a stockade in Longkou to receive refugees and send them south, they were clearly in urgent need of population. He was now a ruined man. In the Ming Dynasty, he would only starve to death. It was better to go south and join the short-hairs. He had heard that Lingao was a peaceful place, and whether he did business or worked as a clerk for someone, he could at least support himself and his cousin.