Chapter 474: The West River Shipping Route

Chen Hongyi found himself increasingly unable to fathom the man before him. On this official vessel, flying the lantern of the “Brocade Guard’s Foshan Hundred-Household,” the esteemed Commander Lin treated this man with the utmost deference. The cabin, though simply furnished, was arranged with a discerning eye. The large glass skylight in the ceiling was a luxury beyond the reach of ordinary men. And then there were the food containers he had seen piled on the foredeck upon boarding… His estimation of the man’s importance rose another notch.

“You need not be so tense,” Thorpe said with a faint smile, observing the man’s apprehensive expression and the way he perched on the very edge of his chair. “I hear from Master Lin that you are a boatman on this West River.”

“Yes, yes, my family has been on these waters for generations, rowing and sailing. I was on a boat myself at fourteen.”

Thorpe studied him. “And may I ask your age, Master Chen?”

“A useless fifty-six years,” Chen Hongyi said, shaking his head with a wry laugh. “Old and worn out. Every time the weather turns, my whole body aches.”

“I think Master Chen’s constitution is still quite robust, though your hair has turned white. This business must weigh heavily on the mind.”

“It does, it does. Making a living on the water is no easy feat,” Chen Hongyi lamented, the words stirring old feelings. “But thanks to the patronage of you gentlemen, I have been able to eat in peace to this day.” He found the man’s calm demeanor and easy, graceful air disarming, and his own nervousness began to subside.

Thorpe then began to inquire about the shipping on the West River. Chen Hongyi reasoned that this was hardly a state secret. If this great personage wished to hear of it, he would speak. And so he gave a general account of the waterway from Sanshui to Nanning.

“For ease of travel, there is no river like the West River,” Chen Hongyi said, patting his knee. “The river is wide and deep. Below Wuzhou, during the summer floods, the water can be fifty or sixty feet deep, deep enough for thousand-dan ships. In some places, like the Sanrong and Lingyang Gorges, it is simply bottomless. A rope of several hundred feet won’t touch the riverbed…”

“And during the dry season?” Thorpe pressed.

“Even then, it’s thirty or forty feet deep, though the water at the Wuzhou docks drops to only ten feet,” Chen Hongyi explained. “Less than a hundred li downstream from Wuzhou, there is a shoal called Xintan. In the dry season, the water there is only four or five feet deep, and large ships cannot pass. So, while the West River is deep, it is not convenient for large vessels. Most boatmen prefer smaller boats—unless there is a great drought, one can sail from Wuzhou to any part of Guangzhou Prefecture year-round, saving a great deal of loading and unloading.”

“Though small boats are convenient, your cargo shipments sometimes go only as far as Wuzhou. Why not use large ships for that leg of the journey?”

Chen Hongyi laughed. “Your Lordship was born to wealth and privilege. You do not know the hardships of a waterman’s life. Though large ships can be used to reach Wuzhou, it is a journey against the current. Boats traveling east can drift with the flow, but those heading west must rely on poles, oars, and sails. A large ship is cumbersome, and favorable winds do not blow every day. It must be rowed by the crew. And that’s not all. When we reach the gorges and shoals, we must go ashore to pull the tow-ropes. Just entering the territory of Zhaoqing Prefecture, you have the Lingyang and Sanrong Gorges, both with steep, high banks pressing close to the river. The boatmen must climb these perilous slopes to haul the ropes. The current in the gorges is swift, with swirling whirlpools. One misstep, and a man’s life is lost. I don’t know how many die each year…”

Thorpe nodded, sighing. “Truly, a difficult way to make a living.” He noticed the man swallowing repeatedly, his throat dry from speaking. “I have been remiss. Tea!”

There were no servants on the boat, and no one had thought to observe the custom of serving tea to a guest. Seeing Thorpe’s command, the ever-astute Lin Ming, realizing there were no servants to attend them, hurried out to find some.

There was tea, but it was a large pot of coarse, dark brew—the same they had used to wash down their dry rations at midday. Lin Ming knew this was unfit to serve. Just as he was at a loss, Xie Peng produced a glass bottle. Lin Ming recognized it as Kvass, the most common beverage in Lingao, also sold at the Zi Ji Trading House in Guangzhou.

Lin Ming quickly poured the Kvass into a teacup and brought it in.

Chen Hongyi, being old, naturally had less saliva, and his long speech had left his mouth dry. Seeing Commander Lin himself bringing him tea, he scrambled to his feet in alarm, saying, “I dare not, I dare not.”

“Not at all, not at all. We have been negligent. This is Australian water, most refreshing and thirst-quenching…” Lin Ming’s politeness was unsettling to Master Chen, and only deepened the mystery of Thorpe’s identity.

Chen Hongyi took the cup. The liquid inside was clear, with a faint yellow hue. Tiny bubbles clung to the white glaze of the cup, and a fresh aroma rose from it. He took a sip. It was sweet, with a slight tingle, and wonderfully cool.

“This is Australian water, isn’t it?” he suddenly recalled. A few days ago, his eldest son had specially procured some from Guangzhou. It came in a glass bottle and was very expensive.

“It is,” Thorpe said, inwardly surprised that this beverage, a minor luxury even in Guangzhou, was known in Sanshui.

No wonder the little brat went out of his way to buy it, Chen Hongyi thought. The taste is indeed unique, a superior remedy for the summer heat. He silently cursed the Australians for their endless stream of clever contraptions, which tempted his children to constantly demand “Australian things.” They were ruining the family!

He drank half the cup before continuing. “The hardship of hauling the boats is one thing, but there are also many villains on this river. At best, local tyrants will stop your boat and extort ‘passage money.’ At worst, they will board your vessel, rob you, and even kill without a second thought.” The banks of the West River, especially around Zhaoqing, were mountainous and provided a haven for pirates. The pirates of the Xu, Zheng, Shi, and Ma families, all of the Dan people, were particularly rampant, operating not only on the West River but also deep into the North River.

He suddenly realized his blunder. With Commander Lin sitting right there, to speak of “rampant banditry” was a slap in his face. He grew uneasy.

“I had no idea the pirates were so audacious,” Thorpe said, noticing the man’s discomfort and his furtive glances at Lin Ming. It took him only a moment to understand. “The government is not without blame.”

Sweat beaded on Chen Hongyi’s forehead. If not for the fact that this distinguished guest was on a genuine Brocade Guard vessel, he would have taken his leave immediately. He wanted no trouble for a slip of the tongue.

He heard Lin Ming chime in, “Indeed, indeed. The government is lazy and allows the thieves to grow powerful. It is the merchants and the people along the river who suffer.”

“Since the pirates are so rampant, how do you manage your business on the water, Master Chen?”

Chen Hongyi fell silent. Lin Ming said, “Don’t be so secretive. Everyone knows about these things. This Master Thorpe is… is… from the capital. You may speak freely.”

With this assurance, Chen Hongyi continued. “It is much like a security escort agency on land. First, you must make friends. The large pirate gangs have their price. If you pay the regular fee, your boat can travel in relative safety. But even that is not a guarantee. The smaller factions under the big gangs may not honor the arrangement, and if you run into them, you can only count yourself unlucky. As for the small-time pirates and local bullies who are tempted by greed, you must rely on the officials. When passing through dangerous stretches, you can hire government patrol boats for protection. And then, most importantly, there is the unity of our fellow townsmen.”

The first two were ways of buying peace, but neither the officials nor the pirates could be truly trusted. Only the hometown associations were of great use. Boatmen, large and small, would travel in convoys through dangerous waters. They would pool their money to hire guards and use the influence of their local gentry to deal with the government.

“A conversation with you, sir, is worth more than ten years of study,” Thorpe said with genuine admiration. This man was a living encyclopedia of West River shipping. His knowledge was firsthand and invaluable.

“You flatter me, Your Lordship,” Chen Hongyi replied. The man’s inquiries about geography and the condition of the people, his air of an official on a secret inspection tour, and Lin Ming’s deference and mention of the “capital” made him wonder if he was in the presence of an imperial envoy. But the man seemed too young…

As his mind raced, Master Thorpe spoke again. “Has Master Chen’s boat ever traveled to Guangxi?”

“Yes, yes,” Chen Hongyi nodded. “Once you pass Wuzhou, you are in Guangxi. The river there is not as wide or deep as the West River, but it can still accommodate large ships. A large salt boat like Your Lordship’s can sail fully loaded directly to Nanning during the summer floods.” He warmed to his subject. “The West River in Guangdong is merely wide and deep. It is only when it enters Guangxi that it becomes a heaven-sent thoroughfare: a network of waterways reaching in all directions, to every corner of the land.”

He explained that from Wuzhou, one could travel north up the Gui River to reach Guilin. West from Wuzhou, along the Xun River, past Guiping, and into the Qian River, one could then go north on the Liu River to reach Liuzhou. Or, by staying on the main course and not entering the Qian River, one could travel straight to Nanning.

“…And from Nanning, Guilin, and Liuzhou, the waterways continue, leading all the way to Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. But I, a humble man, have not traveled so far.”

It seemed the waterways of Guangxi were no worse than those of Guangdong. Thorpe knew that Guangxi had a reputation as a poor province. But while it had vast mountainous regions like the Ten Thousand Mountains and the Eighty Thousand Mountains, it also possessed many fertile agricultural basins. It was not a land of utter poverty. With such convenient water transport, it was perfectly suited for the General Staff’s policy of control based on waterway communication lines.

Taking Guangxi would not be too difficult, Thorpe thought. It had a solid geographical foundation. Once they had a firm foothold in Guangdong, taking Guangxi would be a natural next step.

“What goods are mostly transported?”

“Coming down to Guangdong, it is mainly grain. Going up to Guangxi, salt is the main cargo.” Chen Hongyi explained that there was a huge market for salt. Through the waterways of the West River, salt from Guangdong could be sold as far as Guizhou and Yunnan. And the local products of those regions could, in turn, be transported down the West River to Guangdong.