Chapter 2785: The Capital (Part 141)

"Enough chatter—I'll give you three wen today!" the middle-aged scholar bellowed. Strangely, his voice now rang with full vigor, entirely sweeping away the listless fatigue he'd displayed while reading the newspaper. "Open your eyes and look properly. These three coins are Gold Back Big Coins, quality four-fire brass—worth far more than your wretched tea soup!" With that, he tossed the copper coins onto the table, snatched up his book satchel and wide-brimmed hat, and strode out with his head held high.

About a shichen later, the young Tribute Student finished copying the newspaper, settled his bill, and departed from the tea house. The snow had stopped. The afternoon sun pierced through the dense lead-colored clouds, casting a few stray beams of light upon the city. He untied the mule tethered beside the shop entrance, mounted it, and made his way along the muddy street churning with slush toward the book market outside Great Ming Gate. After wandering through numerous bookshops for a while, he turned toward the Southern City, proceeding all the way to Damochang Street and pausing occasionally to browse various bookshops and antique dealers. Finally, he stopped beside a paper shop called "Pine and Bamboo Studio," tied his mule at the entrance, and walked inside.

The shop's frontage was modest. Its windows, following the fashion of certain wealthy households and prominent business firms in the Capital, featured wooden lattices inlaid with small panes of glass. Natural light streamed through, illuminating the calligraphy and paintings hung upon the four walls. Paper stationery, account ledgers, and scholarly implements arranged within the glass counter all appeared quite elegant. A shop assistant promptly came forward to greet him: "Does the gentleman require paper? Might I ask whether it's for painting or calligraphy practice? Our humble shop carries Kaihua Rattan Paper, Jingxian Lian-Si Paper, and Songjiang Tan Stationery. For correspondence, we also have Xue Tao Stationery and Suzhou Gold-Flecked Paper. Should you wish to copy scriptures, we produce our own Magnetic Blue Paper. Though perhaps not quite equal to Xuande Sheep Brain Stationery, it comes remarkably close..."

"I sent a painting here for mounting last month," the young man said. "Is it finished?"

"Ah, it's Young Master Li! Please forgive my poor eyesight—how disrespectful of me." The assistant lifted the curtain covering the back doorway. "The painting has naturally been mounted to perfection. Please, follow me to the back hall to inspect it."

The rear portion of the shop opened onto a flower hall for receiving honored guests, also fitted with glass-paned windows, bright and elegantly appointed. Yet the assistant did not stop here. Instead, he led "Young Master Li" through a winding corridor along the side wall, proceeding straight to the back. The second courtyard had been converted into a workshop where craftsmen mounted calligraphy and paintings, bound antique books, and printed and dyed paper stationery. Workers came and went in constant activity. But upon reaching the third courtyard, all grew quiet and deserted. Unlike the buildings at the front, every window of the houses here was sealed tight with black felt paper, allowing not a sliver of light to escape. Two guards stood before the door where the corridor led into this third courtyard. The assistant halted. "Li Ya has arrived."

One guard turned and went inside to report. Soon he returned and led "Young Master Li" into a study in the rear building. Against one wall stood an Australian-style cast iron fireplace. The glow from the coal fire in its hearth, combined with the kerosene lamp on the desk, illuminated a man seated there reading a roll of documents. He wore a Three-Shuttle Fine Cloth Taoist robe and a hairnet.

Even had Lin Baiguang entered this room, he would have struggled to recognize his first disciple immediately. Years of clandestine life within Great Ming's jurisdiction had "Great Ming-ified" Gao Di—at least in his clothing, appearance, and mannerisms. The Leng Ningyun incident had thoroughly compromised Delong's cover identity as the Capital Intelligence Station, partially exposing He Lian Sheng Bodyguard Agency as well. Faced with the danger of intelligence operations in the Capital becoming completely paralyzed, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau undertook a drastic restructuring of the local network. Firms like He Lian Sheng and Delong withdrew entirely from intelligence work, tasked only with "making money" and providing "support" when necessary. All intelligence collection was transferred to a specialized network.

The backup Capital intelligence point activated within this network was none other than the "Pine and Bamboo Studio" paper shop. Following the Leng Ningyun incident, the Senate determined that stationing Senators in Beijing posed unacceptably high risks for negligible gain. Nevertheless, intelligence from the Capital remained vital and required oversight by at least a high-ranking naturalized citizen cadre. Thus Gao Di was transferred to Beijing to oversee Pine and Bamboo Studio, becoming the general director of the entire underground network in the Capital.

Although Gao Di was Cantonese, his long service in the intelligence department and professional training enabled him to speak quite standard Mandarin. As for his slight Cantonese accent, it posed little problem. The Capital itself was a place where people from all directions mingled, and a considerable number of Cantonese served locally as officials, scholars, or merchants.

The new Capital Station employed two methods for gathering intelligence. One involved continuing to develop underground informants. The other utilized Pine and Bamboo Studio's paper trade to establish connections with eunuchs in the Inner Court, acquiring waste paper from the Forbidden City. Among these discarded materials were no small number of copies and transcripts of memorials and edicts. Intelligence personnel had to pan "gold" from this pile of "sand." What Gao Di was currently perusing were two pieces of "gold" freshly extracted. One was a copy of an Imperial Edict ordering Zheng Hongkui—also known as Zheng Zhifeng, who had been granted the hereditary title of Jinyiwei Thousand Households and was a Military Jinshi of the Dingchou Year—to enter the Palace for questioning. The other was a placard issued in early February to the Ministers of the Six Ministries and the Supervising Secretaries of the Six Offices of Scrutiny, announcing preparations to hold a court conference on the matter of sending troops to punish the Kun. Yet panning for gold in sand was inherently unpredictable. Records of the questioning, the proceedings and conclusions of the court conference—not a single word could be found among the waste paper. Just as Gao Di was deliberating over this predicament, Li Ya arrived.

He took the Peking Gazette from Li Ya's hand, leafed through it briefly, and extracted several pages of paper tucked inside. But he was in no hurry to unfold and read them. Instead, he asked: "You met with 'Qingcheng.' Any developments?"

Li Ya's Fujian-accented Mandarin transformed into authentic Australian New Language. He gave a brief account of the morning's contact: "'Qingcheng' hinted at the end that he wants an increase in his allowance."

"How much does he want?"

"Another ten taels per month. He wants payment in Shanxi bank drafts."

Gao Di's eyebrows rose slightly. This fellow certainly had nerve, demanding like a lion! Clerks in the Six Ministries earned only three or four taels monthly, including salary and food allowance. And here he was, asking for an additional ten taels outright!

"Thinking rather highly of himself. That depends on how valuable the intelligence he provides actually is."

Li Ya hesitated for a moment but decided to share his observations with his superior: "Based on what I've noticed, 'Qingcheng' appears to be drinking some kind of medicinal wine. The smell and color closely resemble the Energy Agent I saw during joint training with the Political Security Bureau. Whatever channel he used to obtain it, it must have cost him a considerable sum. I suspect his sudden demand for more money is mostly connected to this."

"That's possible," Gao Di said. "You understand 'Qingcheng's background, don't you? He's a Juren from Shuntian Prefecture who failed the Metropolitan Examination for years. Eventually he was recruited as a Drafter of the Central Secretariat. Though it's a position of high status and leisure, there's absolutely no opportunity for illicit profit. And lacking a Jinshi background, he has no hope of promotion or transfer. So he often harbors feelings of depression and resentment. Such men tend to seek novel pleasures to anesthetize themselves. Next time you contact him, if the timing seems right, try to inquire about the medicinal wine. Be careful not to appear too deliberate—don't arouse his suspicions."

After seeing Li Ya out, Gao Di unfolded the paper pages, which were densely covered with small regular script like fly heads. By the kerosene lamp's glow, he couldn't help reading aloud softly: "Minister of Revenue Cheng Guoxiang et al respectfully submit, regarding the conference of the Ministry of War on suppressing the Kun and raising provisions..." He read it through several times, then picked up another sheet: "Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief, Vice Minister of War Xie Wenjin respectfully publishes regarding discussion of suppressing the Kun..."

He twisted the mustache he had gradually grown in recent years as he read, slowly sinking into deep contemplation.

Since "Daoist Lushi" and "Daoist Mushi" had successively fallen into the net, the Shi Weng group had suffered a heavy blow. Although Gao Di didn't know how much useful intelligence the Political Security Bureau might extract from them, Wang Yehao would no longer rank as the Senate's foremost enemy going forward.

Yet Wang Yehao himself appeared not to have suffered too greatly. Judging from intelligence arriving through various channels, although he had been panic-stricken and briefly despondent after the incident, he had soon resumed his frequent activities.

It was simply that the main focus of his activities now had nothing to do with the Kun. Instead, he was actively seeking a transfer.

Capital officials seeking external posts was nothing unusual, but the position he sought was in Shandong.

Governor of Shandong was certainly a "Big Official," yet at present it could hardly be called a "lucrative assignment." Setting aside that Shandong was never a wealthy province to begin with, even the word "Peace" could scarcely be mentioned there now. Large and small roving bandits and local brigands rose in succession within its borders; drought and locusts persisted; folk religious sects like the White Lotus Society were itching to stir up trouble... and there was the duty of coordinating with Deng-Lai to support Liaodong. One might say the position integrated complexity, difficulty, exhaustion, and conflict all in one. Gao Di couldn't help but suspect Wang Yehao's true aim was the Shandong Station in the Deng-Lai area.

When he considered it further, judging from the direction of recent court discussions, there did indeed seem to be a possibility of "punishing the Kun." Once a punitive expedition commenced, the New Army trained by Governor Sun Yuanhua of Deng-Lai—which had recently distinguished itself in battle repeatedly—would inevitably be among the forces transferred south. It was not impossible that Wang Yehao, with his extensive anti-Kun experience, intended to insert himself into this.

However, the intelligence collected by the network contained quite a few contradictions. Information from the Inner Court suggested the Emperor harbored considerable interest in peace negotiations, yet the Outer Court rang with bellicose cries for "suppression." The Court had also issued multiple successive decrees for war preparation. No matter how one looked at it, there appeared to be genuine intent to "suppress."

Combined with the secret struggle between the Restoration Society and Wen Tiren that had emerged recently, the entire court situation was thoroughly chaotic.

Finally, he shook the bell to summon the guard outside, instructing him to call He Chun—the nominal proprietress of Pine and Bamboo Studio and a cadre on loan to the Foreign Intelligence Bureau from the Political Security Bureau.

Gao Di picked up the intelligence Li Ya had delivered: "These materials must be sent to Lingao today."

"The full text?" He Chun flipped through the pages. "There's quite a lot of content; decoding will take considerable time. How about this—I'll go assist the telegraph operator, Little Wang. We'll strive to finish transmitting everything before dawn."

"Thank you for your effort. Also, starting next month, raise 'Qingcheng's allowance to fifty taels. This needs to be recorded in the accounts."

"For outer line operations, that's your decision," He Chun said.

"There's another matter of great importance. Go verify the quantity of Energy Agent in storage, and also the Anesthetic in the infirmary." Seeing He Chun's eyes widen, Gao Di waved his hand to forestall her surprise. "Of course I trust my own comrades. But reports from several different sources now indicate that various anesthetics are circulating in the Capital area. Some may closely resemble the controlled substances produced by the Senate. Combined with the Ming Court's current military movements, I suspect someone plans to supply drugs to the Ming Army to counter the Senate's firearm advantage. In short—a war is about to be fought."

(End of Chapter)