The Old Society and the New Society

The topics of the online discussion included both the preparations to be made before the crossing itself and also on future policies after crossing. This included topics such as the organisation of the time travellers, the structure of the military, industry, agriculture, education, political organisation, etc.

Every day there would be numerous updates on the message boards, and anyone who had signed up to join the crossing could sync the conversations any time.

Representative democracy? Separation of church and state? Constitutional monarchy? Totalitarianism? Nationalism? Socialism? All these terms were thrown around, and everyone wanted to be a theorist for the New World.

The discussion was quite lively with a colourful assortment of views and opinions being made. It was the dream of many people to revise history, to conquer the Ming and usurp the Qing. However, exactly what sort of new world they wanted to build was a matter of individual opinion. From democracy to dictatorship, peace or strong-armed militarism, representative or centralised power… all the way down to the style of dress, what songs the marching bands should play, even about how people should be knighted. There were people arguing about everything.

The Executive Committee abstained from participating in any of the arguments, and made no comments for or against any side. It would be better to argue now than later on the beaches of Hainan. Also, they could judge who appeared trustworthy and reliable, and thus promote good candidates to become the backbone of the group’s management structure.

What form the Executive Committee should take in the long-term and how people could be elected to it were all unknowns. In fact, during the year-long preparation period, the time travellers did not hold a real general meeting between all the members. In fact, this was almost impossible. The participants would always be in flux, with a participant in one meeting not showing up in the next one, or a bunch of new people asking to join. Xiao Zishan had been trying to get a list of all the members for half a year, and only just recently had obtained a final copy he was happy with. In such an ever-changing organisation, the three people who had been leading the day-to-day preparations for the crossing–Wen Desi, Xiao Zishan, and Wang Luobin– naturally became the core of the Executive committee.

At this moment they didn’t feel an urgent need to expand the Executive Committee. Although the three of them had completely different origins, education and work experience, they had built up a lot of mutual understanding through their adventures so far, and oftentimes came to the same solution to many problems. The three also knew in their hearts: the longer they were in this position of power, the more solid their future prospects.

In Xiao Zishan’s opinion, seniority was a precious yet intangible asset. Especially in such a flat organisation such as theirs, seniority would often determine the amount of sway and recognition. Right now, a lot of their fellow travellers did not have a notable status within the group, and allowing them to join the Executive committee would give them influence that might not match their abilities. This would be detrimental to their future endeavours.

Wen Desi had some more practical considerations. The last thing that they wanted on the other side were impetuous and rash people, and the best way to filter these people out was to kill their impulsive ambitions.

Of course, this period of inactivity shouldn’t be too long. The preparatory work needed a lot of specialised knowledge and skills that the three lacked, and the Executive Committee needed some fresh blood and new perspectives. After another quick meeting, it was decided that there was no need to wait longer, so the three crossed again to get more funding to allow for more substantial preparations.

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“My master has invited several lords over, so please change into these clothes. My Master will be coming soon.” One of the stewards respectfully welcomed the three into another small courtyard. This one was small and exquisite, surrounded by flowers and trees. On a stone table lay several wooden trays. In them were several sets of clothing and shoes.

What Wen Desi and the other two didn’t know was that Master Gao had gifted the mirror powder boxes to more than ten other big shots, which immediately caused a stir in all of Guangzhou city. Glass mirrors were rarely heard of even among the rich people, and even rarer to actually see one. His store had been flooded by people looking to buy. Even after increasing the price to 50 taels a box from 10 they were still snatched up.

Master Gao had been selling foreign wares for more than two decades, and although he had made a small fortune through it, this was the first time he had become so well-known. In the last half month it seemed as if the entire city had walked through his front door at least once. More so, everyone wanted to know where the goods came from. The seasoned merchants of course knew that such items could not have come from the Portuguese, British or any European merchant. It wasn’t the correct season for such western goods to arrive either.

The biggest possibility, in their opinion, was that a new group of foreign merchants had come to Guangzhou, and that this group was monopolised by Master Gao. They could only lament that they hadn’t been paying enough attention to the goings on in Guangzhou. Simultaneously, suspicious characters had been seen wandering around the Gao household and the store. This put Master Gao on alert. Although he had Eunuch Yang as a backer, there were still many people in this city unafraid of the heavens. To be cautious, he even temporarily set aside the matter of buying a house entrusted to him by Wen Desi.

By now, Gao Ju couldn’t care less about where these people came from. Profit was, after all, the most important thing. However, he was worried that the Australians dressed a little too conspicuously and might get themselves in trouble, and so he had made the present arrangement. It was crucial that as few people could figure out the source of his goods as possible—that way, all this money could be tightly grasped in his own two hands.

The three shared some glances between them, knowing roughly what Master Gao was thinking. Either way, being inconspicuous was in their own interest as well. Thus, they quickly changed. Only problem was, none of them were fans of hanfu cosplay, and had no idea how to wear it properly. After tossing the fabric around for what seemed like half a day, they finally managed to at least get it on. As the steward came in with more tea, he saw the terrible state of their dress and had to call a maid to come help.

The rich families of Guangdong had always had a history of having maid servants. Knowing that these were merchants that the Master wanted to make good friends with, the maids that the steward called over were naturally good-looking. Two of them soon arrived, both bright-eyed fifteen or sixteen year old girls. They came, bowed gracefully, and came up to help them take off their poorly-dressed clothes. Wen Desi was a person who had some romantic experience, but even still he was a little overwhelmed by the soft hands of such a lolis, rubbing and undressing him. He thought, ‘Now this is a man's paradise!’

With a mind filled with nonsense, Wen Desi saw that Xiao Zishan also had a dreamy face. Chuckling, he whispered to his buddy: “What, tempted?”

“Yes, this is exactly how a man should live his life.” Xiao Zishan remembered that his ex also had that sort of bossy attitude.

”How it should be!” Wang Luobin was indignant. “Ah, modern society is just a lapse of etiquette.” He then went on to make several accusations about his wife. Listening, Xiao Zishan and Wen Desi had a full understanding of the power of his wife.

As Wang Luobin went on he became more and more impassioned and indignant. Gesturing with his hands everywhere even the newly tidied sash became skewed again, and drooped down in front of his face. The two maids, after retreating to the side after completing their work, couldn’t help but lower their hides to hide their giggles.

Xiao Zishan poked the impassioned Wang Luobin. “Wang Luobin, what do you think of this girl? Should we let Master Gao know and take her away?”

Wang Luobin shook his head. “Middle school age, how could I lay my hands on her?”

“How about high school students?” Xiao Zishan continued to banter. “Raise her for a few years, wouldn’t she be ripe then…”^[1]

“You’re planning a loli raising program?” Wen Desi interjected. “I’m in.”

Saying that, Wen Desi took in the full height of the two girls. They were on the skinny side, but were still quite white and clean, perhaps with some more nutrition…

When Master Gao entered and saw the wolf eyes surveying the rabbits, he couldn’t help but smile. This group of seafarers must have braved the wind and waves for countless years, and when they come ashore like this they must be all filled with lust. Especially those Portuguese, they were eager for any kind of woman.

Master Gao didn’t comment, and only cupped his hands and bowed. “Honoured guests, have you all been well?”

[TN]

Let us just say that the attitude towards women, especially servant women, is less egalitarian than what we might be used to.

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1. Yes, this sounds just as degenerate in the Chinese. ↩︎