1 - Setting Sail
Hideout
Chapter 10
Published December 20th, 2024Xiao Zishan and the others stood and returned the greeting. Their caution towards Master Gao had reduced a lot. Especially with what Gao Ju had done in their last trade, the three felt that this person was quite trustworthy, and would definitely be of great assistance in their future plans.
After some small talk, the four got down to business. With the help of the newly purchased hydraulic trolley, the time travellers moved over four pallets with more than a hundred boxes of goods. Xiao Zishan’s original surplus of promotional gifts had run out. This time, the goods they brought were all purchased wholesale off the market. They had procured mirrors of various sizes and shapes, disposable lighters, and various types of glassware. Wen Desi had also found out that pearls were a very valuable commodity as well in the late Ming, and so he brought a lot of cultured pearls along, both large and small ones.
The steward led a group of servants to retrieve several sample items and presented them to Master Gao one by one. While Master Gao had been mentally prepared for the rare goods that the Australians would bring out every time, he was still nonetheless taken aback by every new item. In particular, a disposable lighter: once it was in his hand he wouldn’t put it down. The convenience of this thing as a firestarter was incomparable to flint or firesticks.
Master Gao took in all the details of this lighter and lit it a few times. After a while, he exclaimed, “The way in which the fire is ignited is the same as a normal fire striker,[1] but instead of tinder it uses oil and instead of an exposed rod it rotates a wheel. There is nothing miraculous about it, but the craftsmen who can make such a delicate object are really unmatched in the world.”
The travellers secretly nodded. Who said that the ancients were ignorant? Master Gao had immediately understood the principle of the lighter. Of course, the gasoline that filled the lighter was not something the ancients could make, but Gaoju still realised it was a type of oil.
“Unfortunately, this lighter cannot be refilled.” Wen Desi explained. “It is disposed of when it’s empty.”
“Really? What a shame.” Master Gao stopped playing with the lighter. “Why can’t it be refilled? It’s a pity to waste such a useful thing.”
How could Wen Desi explain the concept of disposable goods? If he explained everything about modern society, wouldn’t Master Gao be scared off? So he vaguely explained that the craftsmen were still making improvements to the lighter.
After all the goods were handed over, they sold for more than 30,000 taels of silver. Among the catalogue were several full-length dress mirrors. When Master Gao saw the pieces his eyes almost fell out. Even if this were to enter the imperial palace even His Majesty would be dumbfounded.
The pearls also caught Gao Ju’s eye. Ever since the rebellion in Liaodong, the flow of tribute pearls from the Northeast had run dry. The harvest of pearls in the South China sea was small, and there was a severe shortage in the market.
Master Gao had also learned that these Australians liked gold, so he had exchanged for 1,000 taels of gold in preparation. Next, he ordered people to go take the porcelain out of the warehouse and load up the pallets as much as possible. To be honest, he didn’t know how these three people managed to transport more and more each time. Although he didn’t ask, he guessed that these people knew some sort of magic art for moving things.
Xiao Zishan felt a little dizzy looking at the boxes loaded with gold and silver. Fortunately, they had bought a hydraulic trolley, otherwise, how could they ever move almost a ton of gold and silver. Just as he was thinking this, he heard Wen Desi asking about the house.
Gao Ju pondered for a moment. “This matter is not usually hard to do. It’s just that you are overseas merchants. According to the laws of the Ming dynasty, you cannot buy a house or live here. However, since you are all descendants of Huaxia, and look and speak Chinese, it’s not difficult to live a quiet life here as long as you change your clothes. It’s just that after selling the goods you’ve brought over, I have attracted a lot of attention, especially of the official kind…”
Hearing this, the three realised that they had really become renowned people in Guangzhou. With so many unprecedented items suddenly appearing in the city, they wondered how many eyes and ears were closely tracking this place.
The only issue was that their original plan to set up a base in Guangzhou fell apart. According to their strategic planning, Guangzhou would have served as a gateway to the mainland, through which they could export modern industrial products manufactured in the Hainan base and also import various materials and people. It was also a window to spy on the movements of the Ming Dynasty.
Seeing the disappointment on the faces of Wen Desi and the others, Gaoju spoke out his plan. In his opinion, the reason why these merchants would want to buy a house was that they planned to have a more permanent trade agreement, and needed a stable place to store goods and live. This was the same as the Portuguese who bribed the officials and leased out Macau, but it was apparent that these Australians didn’t have such a big appetite.
“I have another idea which could work.” Gaoju twirled his thin beard and looked at the group.
“Please, may Master Gao explain?”
“If what these distinguished guests want is just a place to stay in the city, I have such a place. If you don’t mind, you can use it.”
Seeing the looks of assent on the foreign merchants, Gaoju dismissed the maid. Two servants came forth, and led the group away. After crossing the walkway into the backyard there was a sudden smell of mules and horses. Master Gao did not enter the stable, but rather turned around the corner. At the end of the alley was a small house, before which an old servant was sitting.
“Open the door.” Gaoju ordered.
The old servant retrieved a key, unlocked the door and led the four into the building. Inside there was another small iron door. After exiting through it, the door was once again locked and bolted behind them. Looking around, they saw that they had already exited the Gao residence. They found themselves on an extremely secluded stone path running along the base of the city wall. On one side was the base of the wall, while the other side was the high stone wall of Gao’s residence. There was no one around, and weeds had even overgrown the path.
“This alley leads to the main road at the front gate. The entrance of this alley is closed off by a wooden gate at its entrance which is always locked. Although this is technically a public road, ordinary people cannot come here.”
After several hundred metres, they came to a very dilapidated wall, weathered by years of wind and rain. They unlocked the door, and found themselves in a small bluestone courtyard. There were some flowers and shrubs planted along the sides, and it was very quiet. Further in was another, smaller courtyard filled with all kinds of furniture and supplies.
“This is my outer house. I had it built a while ago but never lived here.”
So, it turned out that this was Master Gao’s secret hideout. He had many houses like this both inside and outside of Guangzhou. The front door of this house didn’t even face the street; instead, it was a grocery store. From the outside it looked like an ordinary salt store, doing some business for the rich families along the street, but it was in fact all a show put on by Master Gao. Right next to the shop front was a small door through which lay an alley that connected to the house, making entry and exit convenient.
There were several servants that kept the house tidy. When they saw Master Gao approach with visitors in tow, they busied themselves by boiling water and serving tea.
“We merchants who trade with foreigners have to take utmost caution!” Master Gao sighed. “It’s really not easy to make a living.”
All the people who smuggled goods were not good people. All kinds of pirates and bandits were greedy for any small bit of money. Robbery, extortion, murder and looting were common affairs in this line of work.
Although merchants such as Master Gao would have their own backing in the local government and even higher up in the provincial capital, these officials were frequently tyrannical and extorted the merchants. Since the imperial court is itself sceptical about foreign trade, even to the extent that there were discussions about banning the Portuguese from Guangzhou entirely, local officials would use this as leverage against the merchants.
“The officials are more or less easy to deal with! But recently, the pirates have been all over the place, and many foreign ships have been attacked. Our keep has become hard to earn.”
Xiao Zishan thought that this would be a good time to ask about the current situation along the coast of Guangdong and Fujian, so he deliberately said: “We sailed all the way from Australia, and didn’t have many problems along the way.”
“Ahh, this is because you distinguished guests are blessed by heaven itself!” Master Gao smiled bitterly. “But compared to Fujian and Zhejiang, this place is still relatively peaceful. Haicheng already lies in ruins, you know!”[2]
Since the second year of Tianqi,[3] the pirates along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong had recruited widely and formed several large gangs. They even proclaimed themselves as kings and full countries. Among them, Yang Liu, Cai San and Zhong Liu were the strongest. In the sixth year of Tianqi,[4] General Yu Zigao of Fujian and the Guangdong Navy joined forces, and vanquished Yang Liu. After this battle Cai San and Zhong Liu fled. This seemed to have slightly curbed the piracy problem.
However, not long after, Zheng Zhilong, Zhong Lingxiu, Li Kuiqi and others raided the coast of Fujian and Zhejiang again. The coast of Fujian suffered the most. Yuegang, the largest export trade port in China since the opening of the market in Longqing, was sacked. Ever since then, the number of ships travelling to and from Yuegang had greatly reduced for fear of pirates.
“Here in Guangzhou, it has been relatively peaceful since the great purge by General Yu and the Guangdong navy. The Portuguese have also been patrolling the river mouth because of their base in Macau.”
So, the travellers learned that for now the focus of the pirates' activities was on the coast of Fujian. This greatly strengthened their confidence - at least they would not have to face BOSS-level pirates such as Zheng Zhilong and Li Kuiqi at the beginning.[5]
“But still, it’s better to be careful.” Gao Ju reminded them. “Although there are no big pirate groups along the coast of Guangdong, there were still many loose pirates and bandits. You have come from afar and are unfamiliar with these waters. You must be careful on the sea.”