Chapter 70: The Surrendered People

Before entering the city, he had assumed that if the officials did not surrender, they would commit suicide, and their families would likely follow them in death. In this time and place, there was no concept of preferential treatment for prisoners of war, no special consideration for women and children. Defeat and capture usually meant beheading for the men and being sold into prostitution for the women. Mercy from the victor was a rarity.

That someone from Prefect Dong’s family had survived was strange. He couldn’t help but ask again, “What happened?”

“She was originally going to die for her honor, but for some reason, she hesitated. By the time she was about to hang herself, the heavenly soldiers had already arrived—so she was saved,” Wei Bifu said. “This humble subject believes her will to die was not strong.”

“That is not surprising. Even ants cling to life.”

“Yes,” Wei Bifu said, his head bowed. “Does Your Excellency wish to question her?”

“No need,” Liu Xiang shook his head. “Just lead the way.”

Beside the flower hall was another courtyard, the residence of the master secretary. Wei Bifu said the secretary’s whereabouts were unknown; he had likely gone into hiding.

Behind the flower hall was the prefect’s private residence. It was no different from any other large household, with a small garden in the back, modestly decorated with springs and rocks for relaxation.

Liu Xiang saw that the furniture in the hall was in disarray, clothes and valuables scattered across the floor. A rosewood tea tray lay overturned, several cups shattered… One could imagine the fear, chaos, and despair that had gripped Prefect Dong’s family before he took his own life. Liu Xiang sighed with emotion.

Wei Bifu carefully accompanied “Master Liu” on his inspection. He saw the Fubo Army soldiers who had rushed in that morning standing guard at every doorway, their gazes fixed forward, unmoving, even as valuables and pearls lay scattered at their feet. He was secretly amazed. If it had been any other army, the back residence would have long since become a scene of bloody fighting over property, plundered until not a single teacup remained.

The ones collecting the property were another group of “false Australians.” They worked in groups of three. One carried a small wooden box and a sack for transporting the goods; another held a ledger and a dip pen, an ink bottle hanging from his neck, responsible for registration and bookkeeping. The third man was in charge of picking up the items, holding each one up and shouting its name.

“One kingfisher feather and silver hairpin!”

“One half-new blue satin vest!”

“One piece of broken silver, weight unknown!”

“One string of copper coins, over a hundred! Uncounted!”

The shouts rose and fell in the hall. There were also supervisors watching over them. It was said the Australian bandits are as meticulous as a hair and value money as much as their lives, Wei Bifu thought. Seeing it today, it is indeed so!

He dared not let this thought show, however, and simply bowed his head, awaiting instructions. Just then, a native cadre ran over, stood before Liu Xiang, and bowed. “Chief!”

Liu Xiang knew they were from the special search team of the Planning Institute. The prefect’s private property alone was likely a considerable fortune. He smiled. “No need for formalities. How long have you been here? Have you inventoried the prefectural treasury?”

“Three hours,” the cadre said crisply. “Most of the front has been searched. The prefectural treasury will be inventoried tomorrow. The back residence is today’s focus and requires careful inspection.”

“The harvest is not small, I trust?”

The cadre looked a little embarrassed. “To be honest, the harvest is not great. No large amounts of silver were found in either the master secretary’s residence or here. There are quite a few valuables. Next, we are preparing to dig for hidden treasures.”

“Oh? Are there any clues?”

“Yes. Though many of Prefect Dong’s family have fled, his housekeeper and long-time followers have been caught. After they are all interrogated, we will find it. If not, we have our own methods. We will not let the silver grow moldy underground.”

“Good. It must be done as soon as possible. Clean up this house so that we can receive guests. I am waiting to use this place.”

“Yes, chief. We will see to it at once.”

Liu Xiang looked around the prefectural yamen. There were many houses, the buildings tall and cool. The conditions were much better than the Wuyang Posthouse. He decided to temporarily set up the Guangzhou municipal government here. Though according to the plan, the Senate was preparing to build a “new Guangzhou” on Henan Island, with the administrative center located in the new urban area, their main work for the time being had to be carried out in this old city. It was far more convenient to open the yamen and handle affairs directly here than to travel in and out of the city each time.

He had considered the Guangdong Provincial Administration Commission yamen, but thought it best to leave it for Wen Zong’s Guangdong Grand Area administration. As the mayor of Guangzhou, besides the prefectural yamen, he also had the yamen of Nanhai and Panyu counties at his disposal. Moreover, Guangzhou was a provincial capital. The yamen and government offices on the east and west sides of Chengxuan Avenue were as numerous as ox hair, and there were many large temples in the city. Transitional housing was plentiful; there was no need to rush to grab buildings.

So he decided to establish the Guangzhou Military Control Commission in the Guangzhou Prefectural Yamen. He immediately ordered the surrendered officials and their families living there to move out as soon as possible.

According to the reception plan, all surrendered persons and their families and property would be settled in the Guangdong Imperial Examination Hall on Dashi Street at the foot of Yuexiu Mountain. The hall was large, with enough rooms to accommodate all the surrendered and captured Ming officials. The more important officials and their families were sent to the Guangxiao Temple for screening. All surrendered generals and soldiers were sent to Hong Kong Island for reorganization.

Liu Xiang turned and saw that the flower hall had been tidied up. He immediately instructed that the surrendered officials of Guangzhou’s one prefecture and two counties be received there. Led by Wei Bifu, the vice-prefect, a dense crowd of county magistrates, chief clerks, registrars, instructors, river inspectors, patrol inspectors—all manner of officials, both in and out of the formal hierarchy, as well as the clerks and heads of the various yamen departments—stood in the courtyard. There was not even the sound of a cough.

Liu Xiang instructed Wei Bifu to call the roll. The surrendered officials came up one by one to pay their respects. Liu Xiang asked a few questions and then dismissed them. This was not a display of airs, but a way to get a general understanding of the surrendered personnel and assess their potential usefulness. What disappointed him slightly was that not only had the prefect committed suicide, but the county magistrates of both Nanhai and Panyu counties had as well. Almost all who surrendered were subordinate officials.

Subordinate officials had far less appeal. The Ming Dynasty did not necessarily have the “support of the people,” but it was a fact that the “hearts of the officials were with the Ming.” It would have been a great boon if the Foreign Intelligence Bureau could have persuaded a few high-ranking local officials to surrender. It would have had a tremendous effect on the subsequent pacification by proclamation. After all, only high officials served as a weathervane.

However, the whereabouts of officials from other yamen were beyond Liu Xiang’s purview. His calculations were confined to the territory of Guangzhou Prefecture. It would be a great thing if there were genuine officials in the other prefectures and counties under Guangzhou who could “see the light.”

For now, Wei Bifu seemed a promising candidate. Though his true abilities were unknown, he had at least been active in “leading the way.” He could be temporarily tasked with assisting.

After receiving the surrendered officials, Wei Bifu stepped out from the ranks and reported, “Your humble subjects and others have prepared gifts to welcome the holy envoy and express our sincerity. We implore the Senate and Master Liu to accept them with a smile.”

They presented ten thousand taels of silver, as well as many precious items: agarwood, jade belts, gold jewelry, and jade pots. A rough estimate put their value at tens of thousands of taels of silver.

The gifts were divided into two parts: a larger portion for the Senate, and a smaller one for Liu Xiang himself.

“The items presented by Wei Bifu and the others show your loyalty,” Liu Xiang said. “I will accept those presented to the Senate. As for those given to me personally, I will not take a single one. You may take them back.” Wei Bifu and the other surrendered officials quickly knelt, pleading, “If Your Excellency does not accept a single item, your humble subjects will be greatly uneasy. We hope you will deign to accept a small token!” Seeing their sincerity, Liu Xiang ordered his secretary to accept a jade pot and return the rest.

He then “admonished” them with a few words, telling them “not to have any burdens,” and “to study hard, accept transformation, and strive to serve the Senate and the people as soon as possible.”

After speaking, he dismissed them, leaving only Wei Bifu and a few old clerks from the former Guangzhou, Nanhai, and Panyu yamen. He began to ask about the local conditions.

Liu Xiang called for the personnel of the Planning Institute to inventory all the property and register it, even handing over the jade pot he had received. The few surrendered officials who witnessed this were secretly surprised. It is said the Australians are greedy for money, and they are indeed calculating, but their elders are as incorruptible as water. I truly do not know what they are thinking!

He then chatted casually with the surrendered officials about the basic situation of Guangzhou.

He was most concerned about the population. The population was not only a labor force but also a consumer market. Guangzhou was not like Qiongshan, whose urban population had not exceeded 40,000. Guangzhou was a megacity of the 17th century. Feeding the non-agricultural population alone was a major issue, especially now that Guangdong had not yet been completely occupied. The food supply from Guangxi would be interrupted for a considerable time. It was crucial to determine the size of the non-agricultural population and the local self-sufficiency rate for necessities like grain, firewood, and cloth, in order to organize an effective supply chain and avoid a crisis.

However, the information he received was not satisfactory. The population statistics he could get were still the numbers from the yellow registers stored in the prefectural and county yamen. Liu Xiang had long since learned the accuracy of the yellow registers in Qiongshan.

According to the registers and the estimates of the household registration clerks, Nanhai County had 38,000 households, Panyu County slightly less, and Guangzhou City a total of about 60,000 households, with a population of around 200,000. The real numbers were likely a little higher. The population of the entire Guangzhou Prefecture was estimated to be between 500,000 and 600,000.

Liu Xiang began to feel overwhelmed. Though the yellow registers detailed the various classifications of military households, artisan households, and so on, these classifications were largely meaningless in the late Ming. Military households did not necessarily serve as soldiers, and artisan households were not necessarily artisans. It would take a great deal of imagination to calculate the non-agricultural population from these records.

“We still have to conduct a census,” Liu Xiang wrote in his notebook.

After talking for a while, his native secretary, Guo Xu’er, came in and said in a low voice, “Chief, Miss Dong wishes to see you.”