Chapter 321: The Ideal

Li Yongxun stayed at the resettlement center for a month, her main task being “visiting and studying.” Every day, she wrote “reflections and experiences” and participated in group discussions. Fortunately, she had written so many self-statements that she was familiar with this kind of writing. Although she didn’t know what the “short-haired rebels” planned to do with her next, it was unlikely that they would go through all this trouble just to kill her in the end. Since she couldn’t leave Lingao, she might as well make the best of it. Anyway, life at the resettlement center was not bad. Although there were many things in the “study” content that she didn’t understand, most of it was still very interesting, such as: “Recent Changes in the Central Political Situation of the Great Ming,” “Foreign Relations of the Great Ming since the Late Wanli Era,” “A Study of the Administration of the Great Ming,” “An Analysis of the War Situation in Liaodong”…

Li Yongxun was a girl and originally had no concept of the court or the government. All she knew was her own small world. She would sometimes hear about the court situation and national affairs from her father and elders, but she was not very interested. To her, the court was the emperor, especially the current emperor who had ascended the throne at a young age, eradicated the Wei Zhongxian clique, and had a somewhat legendary air about him. This made Li Yongxun, who was in her budding youth and had few opportunities to see men from the outside world, secretly fall in love with the handsome and heroic Prince Xin in her mind…

The purpose of the study class was first and foremost to break the orthodox authority of the “Great Ming.” But it could not be done with crude and direct denial, lest it cause a rebellious mentality. Because most of the people in this study class were people with some “status” and “property” under the rule of the Great Ming, roughly the “vested interests.” To reform their thinking, one could not be as direct as with the poor and refugees in denying the rule of the Great Ming and the traditional social system.

Therefore, these lectures and courses were almost exclusively “black materials” about the Great Ming, speaking with detailed historical materials and data. The vast collection of Ming history research papers and monographs in the Grand Library provided sufficient ammunition. And after they arrived in this time-space, they had also conducted a large number of sociological investigations and data collection work. In the use of data and historical materials, the Senate had more powerful talents, concepts, and methods than any other force in this time-space.

However, these black materials were all presented under the cloak of “objectivity” and “fairness.” Specifically, it was roughly: affirmation in small places, negation in the big picture: “Ming fan, dark heart.”

By fully utilizing the slow spread of news and the serious distortion of information in transmission at that time, and by using human curiosity, the social and political hotspots and key points of the time were systematically expounded, with a large amount of “private goods” mixed in.

Through this kind of subtle influence of modern propaganda methods, the concepts of “corruption and incompetence” of the Ming government and the “inefficiency” of traditional society were soon infiltrated into the thinking of the people. This was combined with the continuous display of the “Great Song’s” construction achievements in Lingao, accompanied by carefully edited promotional films of the “Great Song’s Australian Temporary Residence,” plus the constant “thought reports” and “group discussions” every day. It was difficult not to change.

Li Yongxun was young and came from a family of hereditary military officers. She had not been indoctrinated with too many traditional concepts and was at an age where she was most easily influenced. She was much faster than others in “changing her concepts.”

Although the resettlement center was like house arrest, the living facilities were better than the “study class.” Lingao had always shocked outsiders with its “clean toilets full of porcelain.” This was equally effective for Li Yongxun: it was not a dry toilet full of excrement and crawling with maggots that made it impossible to set foot in, not a cesspit with a shaky wooden board covered in excrement on top, where one would drown if one fell in, nor a smelly chamber pot… bathing was no longer in a wooden bathtub full of old dirt that could not be completely removed. Clean tiles, sanitary ware, and clean water that could be obtained by turning on the tap—all this had a greater impact on a woman who came from a relatively well-off family and had certain requirements for the quality of life.

Before long, the only remaining feeling Li Yongxun had for the Great Ming was for the “emperor.” However, her feelings for the emperor changed from a simple “one-sided love” to “worry”: the emperor was in such a “low-efficiency, incompetent, and corrupt” environment. No matter how diligent he was, he probably couldn’t turn the tide. Unless he could let the Australians be officials for the emperor and govern the world…

Ke Yun came to see her from time to time and took her out for visits. Although Ke Yun’s background was different from hers, the two were not far apart in age and always had some common language. Li Yongxun had no relatives in Lingao, so Ke Yun was her only acquaintance. After she came out of the study class, Ke Yun had arranged everything for her, so she psychologically regarded her as someone she could rely on. Li Yongxun began to cling to her, calling her “sister,” “sister.” Ke Yun ignored it at first, but after a while, she also casually responded, calling her “younger sister.”

Gradually, she learned that Ke Yun’s “Political Security Bureau” was the Australians’ “Embroidered Uniform Guard” and “Eastern Depot.” It was said that there was also a “Dugong,” but no one had ever seen him. He was a very high-ranking Australian leader.

Li Yongxun was very envious of Ke Yun, especially when she wore her black uniform and leather belt. Although it was not as gorgeous and beautiful as the “flying fish robe” of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it also looked capable and powerful. The cross-body belt, black uniform, blue collar tabs, epaulets with insignia, the holster at her waist… although there was no embroidery or precious artifacts, it looked incredibly good on Ke Yun—a completely different kind of beauty.

Thinking that although she was a “Embroidered Uniform Guard fan” and a “Ming fan,” and had a passionate heart for the court and the emperor, because she was a girl, she couldn’t even wear a flying fish robe. She had secretly worn her father’s and was scolded when she was discovered. She could only carry a small-sized brocade spring saber. But the other person was a real “Great Song Embroidered Uniform Guard,” wearing an official uniform and even having a “seven-star continuous-fire hand cannon.”

“I offered my heart to the bright moon, but who knew the bright moon shone on the ditch.” Li Yongxun felt a sense of resentment towards the Great Ming out of envy. Thinking that she was full of loyalty and wanted to serve the court, but because she was a girl, it could only be a pipe dream. She couldn’t help but feel very resentful.

Once, she confided her feelings to Ke Yun, saying that she was very envious of her.

“You are a fine young lady, or at least a girl from a good family. Why do you envy me?” Ke Yun laughed. “You know, people like us were all pulled back from the bridge of helplessness by the leaders. This kindness is something that even death cannot repay.”

“You are repaying a kindness, but I want to be able to do something. Just getting married and that’s it, it’s really boring,” Li Yongxun said eagerly.

“If I were you, and could have lived a peaceful life and gotten married back then, I wouldn’t have come to work for the Australians…” Ke Yun smiled somewhat sadly. “But, in the Great Ming, you can’t be an Embroidered Uniform Guard.”

“That’s right,” Li Yongxun said like a deflated ball.

“Do you want to stay in Lingao and work?”

“Yes,” Li Yongxun said without hesitation.

“You don’t want to go home?” Ke Yun asked.

“I do. But will the leaders let me go back?” Li Yongxun knew very well that she had seen things she shouldn’t have. The Australians had been exceptionally lenient in sparing her life. Whether they killed her or released her, they wouldn’t have kept her here for more than half a year and spent so much effort.

Ke Yun smiled. Just as the leader had said, this little girl was very smart.

“I want to work in the Xingren Si, just like sister.”

Ke Yun did not speak.

How to deal with Li Yongxun had been decided not long after she was captured. While she was writing her self-statement in a daze, the Political Security Bureau carefully studied her situation.

The simplest and safest way, of course, was secret execution: Li Yongxun was not an important figure, and her value as an intelligence source was very limited. Therefore, the preliminary opinion of the Political Security Bureau was execution.

However, considering the gender ratio in Lingao, it would be a waste of a young woman’s life to kill her directly. Moreover, she had no irreconcilable hatred with the Senate. She was literate, which was very useful. And at the very least, she could be used to solve the marriage problem of a naturalized citizen.

Of course, releasing her just like that was not an option. After all, she had witnessed the kidnapping of Imperial Censor Gao. Resettling her on the spot seemed to be an appropriate arrangement. As long as she was placed in an area with a concentration of naturalized citizens and labeled as “controlled use,” the ten-man group would naturally monitor her. After a few years, when the situation changed, such monitoring would no longer be necessary.

The decision to “resettle Li Yongxun on the spot” was thus made. When Ke Yun reported that Li Yongxun was very envious of her work and that her former ideal was to be an Embroidered Uniform Guard, a final arrangement was made for her specific work.

Li Yongxun came from an Embroidered Uniform Guard family and knew a lot about the ways of the jianghu. According to her self-statement and the report from the Guangzhou station, she was good at “interrogation by torture,” which was said to be a family skill. This immediately aroused Zhou Dongtian’s interest. Because this kind of work was considered “dirty work,” most of the senior members were unwilling to get involved. Both the Political Security General Bureau and the National Police could only solve this need by retaining yamen runners. These people did not satisfy Zhou Dongtian. They were too old-fashioned, too old, and had bad habits. They could only be used as temporary tools, not as useful new-generation talents.

Li Yongxun was young, had a family tradition, was not afraid to get her hands dirty, and more importantly, she was very enthusiastic about “public service” and had self-awareness. Considering these points, she was a promising talent.

So, after discussion, given her low political appraisal and complex social relations in the Ming Dynasty, she could not be assigned to the Political Security General Bureau, but was instead assigned to the National Police.

Since the National Police was also a very important and powerful department, Li Yongxun’s position had to be one that was easy to control and where her expertise could be used at any time. After much consideration, Ran Yao assigned her to the household registration office.

The household registration office itself had a heavy workload and required a large number of personnel. Assigning her to this department, which was dominated by women, would not be conspicuous. Most of the work in the household registration office was clerical, which was convenient for monitoring. And the work in the household registration office was a ten-hour normal day shift, so she could be “borrowed for overtime” at night.