Digging for Gold: Gaoju’s Confusion

Wen Desi was an outdoorsman and had entire sets of high-quality camping gear in his house. But in the end he only packed a set of quick drying clothes, a first-aid kit and a swiss knife. In his backpack he carried the wormhole mouth with him.^[1]

As for weapons, Wen Desi considered his steel crossbow and hunting knife. But after some thought, if something really happened and the three otakus had to physically confront some Ming people, they probably wouldn’t even get to use their weapons. Anyway, the wormhole exit could be freely moved, so if things got dangerous they could just open the portal and retreat promptly. To be extra cautious Wen Desi also retrieved three sets of stab-proof vests, a few smoke bombs^[2] and a taser. In an emergency they could use these to get away.

Xiao Zishan didn’t have any equipment like this, but he went to an army surplus store to buy an army uniform, a pair of marching boots and a military backpack. Wang Luobin was wearing a common outdoor labourer’s clothes.

Everyone brought with them two days of dry rations and a few bottles of drinking water, as well as some emergency medicine. This was mostly to minimise the number of times they would have to open the wormhole to reduce the chance of being exposed.

Xiao Zishan brought a huge variety of things with him to try to sell. Initially he planned on bringing only the glass cups and plastic powder box, but in the end still thought that bringing a little bit of everything would be better. This was because he couldn’t be certain what the Ming people would like or need, so bringing more products to test would be better.

After confirming with the others their target destination, Xiao Zishan went to the library a few times and roughly ascertained Haopan street’s corresponding location in modern Guangzhou. Close to this spot he rented a room in a nearby hotel. Afterwards, Wen Desi spent several nights opening a small portal to survey the environment on the other side. Haopan street was after all a densely populated area. If they weren’t careful about where they opened the wormhole then they might end up landing in someone’s bedroom or even in the middle of a busy street. To make sure of everything Wen Desi even went online to buy a pair of infrared night vision goggles. If the endpoint wasn't suitable then they would have to move the portal.

After several nights of surveillance, Wen Desi came to the conclusion that the other end was located in the courtyard of some fairly high-ranking official. It was possible to see a line of several grey brick and mortar houses, and after sunset there’d barely be any people.

None of them knew what would happen after they travelled through. Their tentative plan was to sneak out into a more secluded area and hide until sunrise, after which they’d try to find a store to show their goods and gauge the reactions of the locals.

They didn’t know what the attitude of people of the 17th century would be towards this group of weirdly dressed strangers: would they avoid them completely, or would a large crowd come to gawk at them? There was also the language barrier. Although, according to Wen Desi, cantonese was the most well-preserved of the Chinese dialect, the difference wouldn’t be as large as that of modern day mandarin.

They confirmed the time of their departure to be around 5 am, early enough to be before sunrise. Although there wasn’t strict enforcement of a night curfew in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the nightlife was virtually non-existent and there would rarely be a traveller in the night. If they were discovered by the night patrols then they would definitely be arrested and interrogated. But if they were to head there later then there would be way more people awake and working, and the likelihood that someone would see the wormhole open would dramatically increase. The miracle of three people materialising out of thin air would definitely stir up all of Guangzhou.

“May the almighty god of time travel bless us and may the Time-Space Administration Bureau approve our actions. Amen.”^[3] After finishing a quick prayer under his breath, Wen Desi shouldered his assault backpack and dove into the wormhole first. Xiao Zishan and Wang Luobin followed immediately behind him.

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Haopan Street, Guangzhou.

A certain evening in the 7th year of Tianqi (1627).

Master Gao Ju had not slept well these few nights. Every night the dogs in the backyard storehouse would bark non-stop, but when the guard went there to check they wouldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. After all, the building in the backyard was a storehouse where all the goods were piled. It was well-protected: the walls of the backyard were not only high but were also surrounded by side courtyards and alleys on all sides. Even if it were a first-rate thief, sneaking in would not be that easy. However, rumours had also spread that for half the night a strange glow would emanate from that storehouse. Because of this story, everyone in the Gao residence was feeling nervous. It was alright in the daytime, but once night fell, this storehouse became a forbidden area. The weather these few days was also strange. There would always be the rumbles of thunder in the evening, yet strangely, not a drop of rain would fall, and the sky would be dyed an eerie violet. Master Gao wasn’t even in the mood to bed his favourite concubine.

Master Gao wasn’t that afraid of ghosts, but rather, he was afraid for his livelihood inside that warehouse. There were over a hundred big and small merchants along Haopan street that made their living selling foreign goods. He was no exception. He had already turned the goods and silver he obtained from the Portuguese last winter into the raw silk, satin and porcelain that they liked. He had even acquired a lot of the saltpetre and ironware that the government had banned for export. If anything were to happen to these goods in the storehouse he would have to pay with his life. Well, his life wasn’t actually worth that much. Half of his huge wealth belonged to Eunuch Yang of the imperial court. Although Eunuch Yang wasn’t that high up in the palace, it would not be hard for him to annihilate the whole of the Gao family with a single word.

Tonight though at least the dogs were quiet: Master Gao had actually slept well. Because of the recent happenings he had been sleeping in the inner study by himself. It had just passed 5 o’clock in the morning when he got up. While being attended to by a servant girl, he used green salt^[4] to brush his teeth, and then washed his face. He squinted out at the half-bright half-dark sky, and was thinking about how good the weather would be today, and if he should head out into the yard for some exercise…

Furious barks from the backyard interrupted his train of thought. Master Gao couldn’t help but be startled, and his good mood from waking up well-rested this morning was shattered. He slammed down the lid of his cup, and just as he was about to call for someone to investigate, he saw the guard captain frantically rush in. Master Gao’s face changed greatly. This was the inner study room, male servants were forbidden from entering. For his guard captain to rush in like this, something major must have happened.

“M-master, in the warehouse yard…th-there are…”

“What are you panicking for, slow down.” Master Gao had been trading across the oceans for many years, and had long since cultivated a tranquil state of mind even in the face of death. After a moment of panic, he quickly calmed down.

“The backyard, master! Th-three Japanese!”^[5]

Once he heard this, Master Gao relaxed. Although he didn’t know how these people got in, as long as it was people it was easy to explain. “Three Japanese and you are riled up like this? Tie them up in the firewood store!” He waved his sleeves to dismiss the captain, but suddenly his thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

Gao Ju knew that many of the portuguese had such slaves, but the timing was suspicious. These people must have been sent from Elder Wang down by Youyu, but he didn’t think the Portuguese sail ship had even anchored yet. Also, as a business partner, there was no way Elder Wang would send over these slaves without first informing him, let alone sneak them into his own backyard.

“Master, but these Japanese…they’re very strange!” The captain hurriedly reported. “We don’t dare to approach them.”^[6]

“Useless!” Master Gao was angry on the outside, but he was also a little afraid on the inside. Although he too was a foreign resident to this area, he had heard countless tales of Japanese pirates ravaging the coastal areas. The fact that this entire Haopan street was included behind the city walls was because of the pirate problem. These three who snuck into his backyard in the dead of night, maybe it was to… Master Gao remembered the words of a trader who had travelled to Japan before, that the Japanese had some eccentric fighters, who could turn invisible and kill without leaving any traces…

Thinking of this, he felt a bit fearful, and he changed his mind about capturing them. He asked his captain: “Where are the three now?”

“The guards have them encircled in the backyard with crossbows.” The captain glanced up at Master Gao’s expression. “They appear not to bear malice.”

“Fool, if they don’t have ill intentions what would they be doing in someone else's backyard? To catch mice?”

“Master, these people are unarmed. This was given to me by their leader.” The captain hurriedly offered up a small box. “They also said a lot of words that I didn’t understand.”

Master Gao took the box, filled with scepticism. On close inspection however he was astonished. This box was bright and clean like no other, as if it had been glazed. Yet, the little hairs on the outside meant that this was a paper box.

Sure enough, this was a strange object. Master Gao gingerly opened the box. Inside it were several small oval cases, with a texture not quite like jade or like porcelain. Just like the larger box, they all had that porcelain glaze to it. Yet, they were a pink colour that he had never seen before on any porcelain, as well as much lighter in his hands. Master Gao had spent many years selling foreign goods, but yet even he could not tell how these strange little boxes were made. They appeared to be similar to the powder boxes that women would use, and sure enough, the lid split open like an oyster. What was on the inside was a bright reflective sheet, and staring at it, all the blood drained from Master Gao’s face.

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1. Please suspend your disbelief. There’s some really janky physics going on here, but just pretend that it's a portal that can move. ↩︎

2. Are smoke bombs readily available in China to the public? Where I live they definitely aren’t. ↩︎

3. Time-Space Administration Bureau is a reference to the anime Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (2004). ↩︎

4. Dunno what this means, 青盐, lit. green salt. Not sure if this is just a green-coloured salt or something entirely different. ↩︎

5. The term used is 倭人, lit. dwarf. A derogatory way of referring to the Japanese. ↩︎

6. The captain refers to himself in the third person in a lowly way. ↩︎