Chapter 495 - Blackmail

Among his targets, the one Lin Baiguang valued most was Ma Benyuan, who served as a secretary in the Hainan Branch Surveillance Commissioner's Yamen. This man was a local Hainan Muslim and a key figure in the Gou family's Qiongzhou-Guangzhou stolen goods disposal network. Vast quantities of plunder seized by pirates like Zhu Cailao had passed through his hands. The correspondence between Gou Da, Gou Er, and this man was extensive. The blackmail material alone was sufficient to see him beheaded ten times over. Lin Baiguang was confident he held enough leverage to compel the man's submission.

What Lin Baiguang valued was not the disposal network Ma Benyuan controlled—Lingao's trade routes were already essentially open, and another channel was merely icing on cake. What he prized was Ma the Advisor's position within the Branch Surveillance Commissioner's Yamen. With such an insider, the transmigrator group could know every move of Hainan's highest authorities in advance.

Lin Baiguang understood that approaching Ma Benyuan directly to request an audience would prove futile. Men of this type were extremely suspicious and never willingly met unknown outsiders. Accordingly, he presented as a gift an Eight Treasures silver statue of the God of Longevity—originally a birthday present from Ma Benyuan that had been seized from Gou Er's residence.

This unexpected gift gave Ma Benyuan a considerable fright. This was a gift he had given to Gou Er—how had it suddenly appeared before him? Since Gou Er had fled to Qiongshan in wretched circumstances the previous year, weeping that his farmstead had been destroyed, nearly a year had passed without contact.

At that time, Ma Benyuan had unceremoniously driven Gou Er away, refusing to give him even the three thousand taels of silver owed for fencing stolen goods. This was not because he wished to embezzle the money. He had been the one who connected the Gou family with Zhu Cailao, serving as something of a guarantor. Now that this nest had been wiped out with nothing remaining, if Zhu Cailao turned his anger on him and came demanding explanations, the consequences would be beyond his capacity to bear. This silver could at least partially mollify Chief Zhu's wrath.

After driving Gou Er away, Ma Benyuan had lived in constant fear. He counted as a figure of some standing in Qiongshan County, but before a pirate lord like Zhu Cailao, he was less than nothing.

Fortunately, Zhu Cailao had troubles of his own. Beyond sending men a few times to inquire about Gou Er's whereabouts, he had made no trouble. From those emissaries, however, Ma Benyuan learned that the force that had destroyed the Gou Family Farmstead was a new power from the sea. They called themselves Australians, arrived in iron ships, and wielded formidable firearms. Ma Benyuan complained secretly; neither the Australians nor Chief Zhu seemed the benevolent type.

Recently, he had learned that Chief Zhu had fallen in battle in Fujian. This brought Ma Benyuan considerable relief. For the past half-year and more, Zhu Cailao's subordinates had been searching everywhere for Gou Er. He had lived in dread that one day, unable to locate Gou Er, they would come to vent their fury upon him.

Now this God of Longevity appeared before his eyes. Could it be that Gou Er, also having learned of Zhu Cailao's death, had come to demand the silver owed for his goods?

Ma Benyuan pondered whether to simply embezzle the money and refuse the meeting. Gou Er was now a stray dog with no power remaining beyond a son. If he dared cause trouble in Qiongshan County, Ma Benyuan could crush him with a single finger.

To be prudent, he inquired: "Is the visitor Gou Er?"

The gatekeeper servant was a confidant who naturally knew all the master's associates.

Upon inquiry, the visitor proved to be neither Gou Er nor his son, but a stranger speaking with an unusual Qiongzhou accent. While Ma Benyuan rubbed his chin in perplexity, he suddenly shuddered:

Could it be the Australians?!

This thought nearly frightened him off his chair. He wondered what the Australians could possibly want with him. He had no dealings with them, no grievances.

But this silver God of Longevity—Ma Benyuan knew perfectly well that when Gou Er fled the farmstead, he would have taken only valuables like gold and silver. He would never have fled carrying such a gift item. This object could only have fallen into Australian hands.

What business could the Australians have coming to his door? Ma Benyuan wished to refuse the meeting, but reasoning that since the Australians had come to him, they had clearly come prepared—they had even recovered the silver statue he had given Gou Er—he decided he should meet them to assess the situation.

"This student is unacquainted with your distinguished self. I wonder what matter brings your great self to honor me with a visit?" Ma Benyuan observed that the visitor was young yet possessed a steady temperament and appeared quite shrewd. Unable to determine his background, he spoke with elaborate politeness.

"My surname is Lin. I come from Lingao." Lin Baiguang smiled. Since he intended to recruit this man into the transmigrator group's service, there was no need for concealment.

Ma Benyuan's heart lurched. So it truly was them!

He spoke cautiously: "Your distinguished self is an Australian, correct?"

Lin Baiguang nodded. "Precisely." With that, he handed over a thin sheaf of papers.

This was a copy of "The Ledger"—compiled from materials seized from the Gou brothers. It clearly recorded Ma Benyuan's accounts for fencing stolen goods on behalf of pirate chiefs like Zhu Cailao. Dates, quantities—all meticulously documented. The final entry stated plainly that three thousand taels of silver for Zhu Cailao's goods remained unsettled.

Upon seeing this copy, Ma Benyuan slumped into his chair like a punctured balloon. After a long silence, he managed:

"This student did indeed conduct business dealings with the Gou brothers, but I merely sold some goods on their behalf." He waved his hand weakly. "I truly did not know the goods were stolen property from Zhu Cailao and others..."

"Mr. Ma," Lin Baiguang smiled broadly, "I am not the government. Such matters do not concern me."

"Yes, yes—much obliged." With his experience, Ma Benyuan naturally understood negotiations were about to commence. "I wonder what task your distinguished group requires of this student?"

"We simply wish to continue our partnership with Mr. Ma." Lin Baiguang recognized the matter was largely settled. He smiled. "To scheme great plans together."

Lin Baiguang considered this Ma Benyuan a shrewd man. He held sufficient cards to force submission—no need for circuitous maneuvering. He promptly laid out his requirements one by one. Ma Benyuan's initially composed face grew uglier as he listened. Only after a prolonged silence did he reply: "This is too difficult."

Lin Baiguang said: "Sir need only relay what is heard and seen within the yamen to us. We naturally have people who will contact you."

Ma Benyuan continued to hesitate, shaking his head. This sort of business amounted to spying for the Australians. Passing information for others within the yamen was no great matter, but he understood something of the Australians' conduct: this group was building cities and roads in Lingao, recruiting renegades—sooner or later, they would cause enormous trouble! If he were discovered spying for them, it would be a capital offense!

Yet Lin Baiguang's threat was also genuinely terrifying—especially this ledger, which possessed tremendous killing power. Zhu Cailao had only just been exterminated, and the government's zeal for eliminating pirates had not yet cooled. If this document were released, even if he escaped death, he would lose a considerable amount of skin.

Watching Ma Benyuan's resolve waver, Lin Baiguang informed him that he could keep the three thousand taels of silver. Furthermore, he could continue fencing stolen goods for pirates in the future, with the transmigrator group paying commissions as usual.

This enticing condition finally secured Ma Benyuan's agreement. In truth, he could not refuse. Agreement meant receiving silver annually at minimum; refusal meant this ledger and the letters in their possession would become his death warrant. As for the particulars of spying—that was a matter for the future.

Seeing his acceptance, Lin Baiguang explained the contact protocol. Under normal circumstances, on a designated day each month, someone would be sent to meet him at a teahouse on the main street outside the West Gate.

"Simply sit there. Someone will naturally make contact." Lin Baiguang lowered his voice. "The person coming to contact you will carry a water pipe with a green jade mouthpiece. Whatever news exists in the yamen or inside and outside the city, you simply tell him."

This was not difficult, Ma Benyuan thought.

"If there is specific news we wish to know, he will tell you," Lin Baiguang added.

Ma Benyuan nodded.

"Should you ever need to meet our people urgently, go to the Five Officials Temple and drop a broken straw shoe by the stone steps outside the main gate. Then wait at the teahouse. Someone will naturally come to meet you."

A chill crept up Ma Benyuan's spine. Not because the method was particularly clever, but because the ability to implement this meant the Australians had already positioned numerous personnel within the prefectural city. Perhaps Australian spies were watching his house at this very moment.

"Sometimes we will need to contact you urgently. We will draw a circle on the wall outside your gate. When you see it, go to the teahouse. Someone will contact you."

Lin Baiguang spoke with complete authority. In reality, he had not a single agent in Qiongzhou Prefecture. The so-called Qiongzhou Station was still nothing but a concept. But this speech served the purpose of intimidating Ma Benyuan.

Having conveniently recruited Ma Benyuan, Lin Baiguang's visits continued for several more days. Not a single person on his list dared refuse his requests—the killing power of blackmail material proved remarkably effective. This group was not particularly reliable; they served the transmigrator group only under duress. Lin Baiguang used them merely as intelligence sources. Genuine intelligence work would still require intelligence personnel dispatched from Lingao.

One concern troubled him: the Brocade Guard personnel in Qiongzhou Prefecture. By custom, the prefectural city housed dispatched agencies of the Brocade Guard, with officers such as Hundred-Household, Trial Hundred-Household, General Banner, and Small Banner. Influenced by films and television, ordinary people naturally feared secret service agencies like the Great Ming's Brocade Guard, Eastern Depot, and Western Depot. Lin Baiguang was no exception.

Yet no Brocade Guard personnel appeared in the Gou family's relationship network. This struck him as strange. The lucrative illicit enterprises the Gou family engaged in—harboring stolen goods, fencing, salt smuggling—should have attracted an agency as powerful as the Brocade Guard, which typically sought opportunities for shakedowns even when nothing was wrong.

In the bribery ledger seized from Gou Er's strongbox, the names of Qiongzhou Prefecture's Brocade Guard Hundred-Household and Trial Hundred-Household appeared only in the gift ledger for the Three Festivals and Two Birthdays. Their names were conspicuously absent from the ledgers containing major bribes.

(End of Chapter)