Chapter 606 - Landu's Mission
"Can you mark all the harbor facilities clearly?"
"I can mark the areas I was allowed into, but a large portion of the harbor I and my men couldn't access." Li Huamei said with some regret. "Their monitoring of me is very strict—it used to be the Australians themselves standing guard, which was actually more relaxed. Now they've switched to Ming people recruited from the mainland, and it's become much tighter."
"So you've started losing your appeal to them," Li Siya joked. "Your charm is declining."
"No, I think they like me quite a bit, especially among the naval officers," Li Huamei said. "But among the Australians, there's a certain group of people—extremely vigilant, suspicious of everyone—including their own people. Considering they're actually in a weak position, doing this isn't unreasonable."
"Can you estimate their strength?"
"I can't estimate that precisely, but in the harbor, you can always see roughly two companies of infantry, very well-trained—completely European-style training, very well-equipped. Gunners and sailors aren't counted. If the sailors were fully armed, you could organize at least twenty companies. These sailors are equally well-trained. The Australians have many firearms and plenty of ammunition."
"So you think the Dutch have no chance of attacking Lingao."
"Absolutely none. How many ships can the Dutch deploy? Fifteen? Sixteen? When they attacked Penghu, they could only muster fourteen ships." Li Huamei said. "Back then, they launched their entire force and even dragged the English along, yet they still couldn't take Macau. Now attacking Lingao, ten times harder to crack than Macau, they probably couldn't even enter the harbor. They'd just come away with bloody noses."
"So they're willing to pay five thousand guilders," Li Siya said.
"Our relationship with the Australians is quite good. The Goa trade is very profitable. Why get involved in this for the Dutch?" Li Huamei's meaning was clear: they were doing well with the Australians, so why bother stirring up trouble?
"This isn't as simple as five thousand guilders." Li Siya lifted a corner of the window curtain and gazed at the fountain trickling in the courtyard. "You said yourself: over these three years, the Australians' power has been growing day by day. When they become strong enough to ignore all the powers of the South China Sea, will there still be good days for us sisters?"
"That's still a long way off. Zheng Zhilong..."
"Zheng Zhilong is also a threat." Li Siya said. "The Australians in Lingao are more dangerous than Zheng Zhilong—no one knows what they're planning. They still have many cards they haven't revealed."
Li Siya believed: a battle between the Dutch and the Australians would do them no harm whatsoever. Since the Dutch couldn't possibly destroy the Australians—they'd just be badly beaten and retreat in defeat—their interests in Lingao wouldn't be affected at all. Having the Dutch as a threatening enemy would only make the Australians court their existing partners more. Li Huamei could extract even more benefits from this.
Overall, if used well, this opportunity could result in "double loss" for both parties while the Li sisters achieved "double win."
"We need to let the Australians taste some bitterness," Li Siya said. "That way they'll treat you even better. In any case, these seas need to stay chaotic."
"The Dutch can't make the Australians taste bitterness. They don't have the capability."
"That's where we come in." She said. "Giving the Dutch a helping hand."
Li Huamei remained expressionless: "What do you have in mind?"
"There's a person I'm planning to use."
"Aragon? His circumstances are poor, but he's not very useful."
"Him? He has some use. But the person I want to use is this one: Weiss Landu."
So she dispatched her most trusted black slave woman, who often handled her secret affairs, to meet with Landu. This woman not only spoke excellent Portuguese but was also a cold-blooded killer when necessary. She was skilled at concocting poisons and administering them, having quietly eliminated quite a few enemies and people Li Siya found annoying.
Li Siya, with her keen instincts and omnipresent spies—she maintained a large group of dregs from all nationalities in Macau as eyes and ears—had her finger on the pulse of the city.
When Weiss Landu first appeared in Macau, he hadn't attracted much of her interest. Just another European failure common in the Far East—relying on brute strength and skill with weapons to eke out an advantage. Even on the Countess of Scarborough, she hadn't paid him much attention. Except for his strangely accented Italian and his manner that stood out from everyone around him.
Later, she'd seen him multiple times on the streets, in taverns, and in churches. She'd never given him much thought. Then once, one of her subordinates brought her something strange.
It was a rectangular piece of paper, exquisitely printed, with a circular portrait of a European man. As for the text on it, she didn't recognize it—it should be some European language. Besides that, there was the Arabic numeral 10.
The source of this paper was the landlady of the small inn where Landu lodged. He'd gotten drunk and tried to pay his bill with this paper. When refused, he'd thrown a drunken tantrum and stuffed it into the landlady's bodice.
Li Siya had sent someone to give the landlady one real to buy this paper. It reminded her of similar printed materials she'd found on Treasurer Wen's person back then. Though Treasurer Wen's had been red, with the Arabic numeral 100. The portrait had been of an Asian man. And the text on it had been Chinese.
So Weiss Landu was an Australian! At least he had extremely deep connections with the Australians! Li Siya felt like she'd discovered a new continent. Thinking back, when Aragon had gone to raid Lingao, it had been walking right into a trap! Needless to say, this man had been sent to Macau by the other side for her.
She immediately had someone watch this Australian closely—but after more than a year, Landu not only hadn't returned to Lingao once, he'd never even visited Huang Shunlong's shop. He had no contact with the outside world at all. Except for occasional errands for the Jesuits, he spent almost every day in Macau living in a drunken stupor.
By any measure, he didn't seem like a spy.
She'd made inquiries through her inside sources in the Jesuits about everything regarding this person. Landu had been received from Ming officials. The Ming officials had captured him in a small coastal county called "Lingao" where some fishermen had rescued him and sent him to the county seat.
Her insider told her: Landu served the Jesuits very faithfully. Lord Jeranzani was very satisfied with him—except regarding money.
After prolonged observation and probing, Li Siya confirmed one thing: Landu was an Australian, but Landu and the Australians in Lingao weren't on the same side.
If they were, he absolutely wouldn't have gone more than two years without any contact with the Australians in Lingao. And he hadn't done anything in service of the Australians either—except possibly leaking news of the night raid on Bopu.
Additionally, she'd learned from a servant close to Jeranzani that Landu had said several times to the Bishop: "They're genuine Chinese, though not Ming people."
Though the Bishop probably didn't understand his meaning, Li Siya understood perfectly: Landu knew very well the background of the Australians in Lingao. As for why he specifically emphasized they were "Chinese, not Ming people"—there must be other reasons.
If this were an ordinary person, Li Siya would have long since had him secretly kidnapped and interrogated until she got to the bottom of things. But Landu served the Jesuits in Macau. She wasn't yet arrogant enough to offend the Jesuits.
Now was a good opportunity. Li Siya pondered for several days and reached this conclusion.
The Dutch wanted to probe Lingao's secrets. She could have Landu go. If Landu was an Australian spy, he absolutely wouldn't tell her any of Lingao's key defensive measures. But Landu didn't know Li Huamei was her person. A simple comparison would reveal the truth. Conversely, if Landu wasn't a spy, his intelligence on the Australians would be much more detailed than what her foster sister could provide.
If that were the case, Landu would be an invaluable asset! Li Siya thought. The Australians were bound to become a major power in the South China Sea in the future. Having someone who knew their background in her hands—the benefits were incalculable.
Landu still didn't know he'd already been outsmarted by Li Siya. Since he'd accepted the money, he decided to personally visit Lingao. He'd see with his own eyes what the Chinese were doing in Lingao, and assess whether he could defect to them. From his perspective, no army of this time-space could possibly be a match for Chinese armed with modern weapons. If the Chinese somehow managed to lose to people of this time-space, he might as well abandon any thought of defecting to them.
But a European face going to Lingao would be too conspicuous. The Chinese would keep tabs on him the moment he arrived. Pretending to be a merchant was impossible—he didn't look like a merchant, knew nothing about local trade, and couldn't stand up to questioning. Landu thought it over and decided to pose as a priest's attendant. The Jesuits were recently sending two priests to Lingao. Lu Ruohua's letters requesting more priests had arrived, and the Jesuits had subsequently dispatched three more. But Lingao's demand for priests kept growing. Recently, a priest had "been called to the Lord" while preaching in the Li region. Per the Lingao church's request, the Jesuits decided to send two more priests to missionize there.
Landu went to request Father Komahe, simply saying he was curious about Lingao and hoped to join the group and take a look. His request was immediately approved. So Landu became a member of the Jesuit delegation.
Spring sunlight filtered through the gaps in the bamboo and tree foliage outside the window, casting dappled shadows on the brick floor. Light breezes stirred the emerald bamboo, and a curtain of fragmentary shadows flowed back and forth like a stream.
The bamboo had completely returned to green. The withered yellow leaves of winter were shedding one by one. The courtyard was full of vitality.
The study's furnishings were extremely simple—hard to imagine this was the private study of Wang Zunde, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.
Wang Zunde was now reading a letter with his head bowed. His dress was very plain, almost indistinguishable from a poor scholar. Wang Zunde was known for his frugality, wearing plain cotton clothes and eating simple meals daily. He had quite a reputation for incorruptibility in officialdom.
This was a letter brought back by one of his protégés from the capital. With his status and position, having the province's courier officials carry his private mail was both convenient and fast. But Wang Zunde never troubled them—who knew whether the Eastern Depot inspected the private letters these courier officials carried back to their provinces?
An ordinary private letter contained nothing but family gossip, various news, and trends at court. Ordinarily it would be unremarkable, but he feared those meddling Eastern Depot eunuchs might find something "improper" in it. Then he'd be in trouble.
The letter was from a fellow examination-year colleague serving in the capital. This letter left him feeling a vague unease. What caused his unease were several "side letters" enclosed with it.
According to late Ming official customs, when people wrote letters, besides the main letter, there were so-called "side letters." Side letters were unsigned letters, used for requesting favors or discussing confidential matters.
Now Wang Zunde held three side letters.
The main letter was the usual polite pleasantries about health and well-being. Wang Zunde skimmed through it. The first side letter discussed news from the capital. He roughly read it over—it discussed recent court developments: Yuan Chonghuan's prospects didn't look good. More than a month ago, the court had dispatched people to Guangxi to arrest Yuan Yuansu's family in Teng County and bring them to the capital.
This once highly-favored official probably couldn't escape execution. Though Yuan Yuansu had no connection to him and wouldn't implicate him, watching him go from favor to arrest, Wang Zunde couldn't help feeling that old sentiment about the death of the hare and the grief of the fox. He picked up the second side letter.
This one contained news about the court's battles with the Jurchen and the bandits. The eastern front had temporarily quieted after the court recovered Zunhua. But in the northwest, the bandit situation was growing day by day, showing signs of spreading. Moreover, among them, Shaanxi garrison soldiers, frontier troops, and military households "joining the bandits were quite numerous."
Reading this, Wang Zunde couldn't help but snort coldly. In his heart, he thought this was entirely to be expected. The frontier troops had been in arrears for years now. As for disbanding the courier stations—that was an even worse move. Shaanxi and the northwest were harsh, cold lands. Unlike the fertile regions of Jiangnan and Guangdong, where even begging could barely keep one alive. Originally, people there barely scraped by, half-starved. Now that they'd been dismissed, if they didn't rebel, where would they find a way to live?
This kind of chaos probably couldn't be suppressed without seven or eight years.
He set down this side letter and picked up the next one.
This one was very brief but quite important. It mainly said that since Xiong Wenhan had subdued Zheng Zhilong, the situation in the southeastern seas had somewhat stabilized. The Emperor seemed satisfied with this. He was urging Xiong Wenhan to "clear the seas" as quickly as possible.
"Hmph." Wang Zunde grunted. Xiong Wenhan's trick was just using one bandit to suppress another, hoping both sides would wear each other down while he reaped the benefits. But this matter probably wasn't as simple as he imagined.
Guangdong's side didn't deal much with Zheng Zhilong, but they knew quite a bit about him. Most information came from the Portuguese, including Zheng Zhilong's history and his special connections in Japan. Wang Zunde was well aware that Zheng Zhilong was no ordinary character. He wasn't someone who would be satisfied with an empty military title like "Commander."
After receiving pacification, Zheng Zhilong had refused to leave Zuosuowei and squatted on Jinxia Island. His purpose was simply to use this as a port for trade with Japan. Twice a year, the Portuguese came to Guangzhou to trade. From their mouths, Wang Zunde had learned much useful information. For example, compared to Yuegang, Zuosuowei was more ideal as a trading port. Zheng Zhilong had repeatedly attacked Yuegang not to plunder, but to force merchants to stop trading there...
"Zheng the Brigand has a wolf's heart and wild ambitions. He absolutely hasn't truly surrendered to the court!" This was Gao Shuncheng's comment at the time when he heard Zheng Zhilong had been pacified—privately, of course.
But Xiong Wenhan didn't see it that way. Over the past year and more, he'd continuously supplied ships and heavy cannons to Zheng Zhilong. He'd even given away quite a few of the red barbarian cannons that Wang Zunde had cast for Fujian. In Fujian, Zheng Zhilong practically got whatever he wanted. His purchases of property were extensive. He'd even extended his reach into Guangdong, buying up many estates and properties. He had purchased farmland on the outskirts of Guangzhou city. Simply outrageous!
But as long as Xiong Wenhan kept reporting victory after victory, any impeachment would be useless. At court, there was considerable support for Xiong Wenhan's approach. The political wind was quite favorable to him. There was even the possibility of promotion.
If Xiong Wenhan was promoted, the most likely scenario was coming to take over his own position—Guangdong also had pirates, and their momentum was no less than Fujian's. With Xiong Wenhan's reputation as a "capable official for pacifying the seas," he would most likely come to Guangdong. He was already Governor of Fujian. Given his great achievements, he surely couldn't be merely transferred laterally to Governor of Guangdong. If he wasn't that, then he—Wang Zunde—would have to vacate his Governor-General seat.
If he couldn't quickly open up a new situation and achieve a few victories at sea, this Governor-General position might soon be lost.
Only that controlling the pirates on Guangdong waters wasn't easy. The biggest gang was Liu Xiang. This man had long prowled near the Pearl River estuary, constantly raiding and plundering villages and ships. He blocked overseas trade. The Portuguese in Macau had approached him three or four times, hoping to jointly suppress him.
The Portuguese had great warships and red barbarian cannons. Their fighting power was considerable. But the Ming couldn't send forces to match them. To launch a campaign required military pay. The entire provincial treasury kept crying poverty, saying there was no silver available. The costs that the Ministry of Works had authorized for casting cannons still hadn't been seen.
Still, Guangdong had many sources of revenue. If they really wanted to fight, scraping together funds from somewhere was still possible. It just wasn't worth it.
Moreover, Guangdong officialdom knew nothing about Liu Xiang's actual situation—they knew even less than the Portuguese. Without guides, trying to find Liu Xiang's fleet on the vast sea and among countless small islands was pure fantasy. In the end, they'd just suffer defeat after defeat. The court could lose before, but now it couldn't afford to lose anymore. Losing one battle meant never recovering.
Thinking of this, he felt quite troubled.
(End of Chapter)