Chapter 715: Human Hearts, Hidden Intentions

Hastily returning to the governor’s office from Haizhu Island, Zhang Yue found that the officials there were already discussing things in small groups. Since Guangzhou was over seven thousand li away from Beijing, any news would be delayed by at least ten days to half a month, so it was likely that the news had already spread throughout the land. The phrase “offer straightforward advice” seemed simple, but if one could hit the emperor’s heart with just a few words, they would quickly rise to prominence. Thus, everyone racked their brains to come up with suitable responses. After reading the imperial edict, Zhang Yue immediately noticed two prominent figures in it.
In February, there were six earthquakes in Nanjing.
In March, there were seventeen earthquakes.
In later times, people might be surprised by these numbers, but not overly alarmed—after a major earthquake, aftershocks were common. Yet in this era, such frequent earthquakes in Jinling opened up numerous political opportunities. The tone of the edict revealed a hint of impatience, which made Zhang Yue puzzled. Though he wasn’t very clear about the early Ming dynasty, he vaguely remembered that these earthquakes seemed to have occurred during Zhu Gaochi’s reign—so why were they now attributed to the first year of the Xuande era?
The edict required not a private reply but an expression of stance. His top priority now was to find the missing Qin Huaijin. This was not only for justice but also for other reasons. Therefore, he ordered the imperial edict to be properly stored and then went straight to the court. He briefly mentioned the events of the Dragon Boat Festival the previous day; some officials seemed understanding, while others were surprised. He casually instructed that Xu Tao, the left vice governor, would handle today’s affairs, while he would head straight to the military and judicial offices.
In various provinces, the military, administrative, and judicial offices were responsible for military affairs, governance, and justice respectively. In later times, this would have been a model of separation of powers. But like all systems of checks and balances, it also had its flaws— Officials would shirk responsibility and refuse to cooperate. With no central ministers or governors to coordinate in Guangdong, and no governor holding absolute power, Zhang Yue met with both the military commander Li Long and the judicial inspector Yu Liang, but both adopted the same attitude.

The rank matters; they won’t get involved in how to investigate or handle this matter. Li Long was once the military commander in Xining, rising from a lowly soldier during the Jingnan Campaign to his current high position. Rather than attributing it to his merits, it’s more accurate to say he relied on his background to accumulate qualifications, developing a completely indifferent attitude toward matters not concerning him. Yu Liang, who used to be the deputy head of the Imperial Stables, disliked Zhang Yue even more. In his fifties, having resigned as an inspector, he had no hope of returning to the capital’s six ministries or the Censorate and could at most retire at the third rank. Zhang Yue, so young, had reached such a high position only thanks to his family’s influence. Since they were no longer under the same authority, he simply didn’t bother to get involved!

Such attitudes from the military and provincial officials were not surprising. Moreover, Zhang Yue had already made plans for this matter, so upon returning to the provincial government office and discussing it with his advisors, everyone exchanged glances, while he still took the time to reassure them. Seeing his indifference, the others assumed that if anything went wrong, it would be the responsibility of the Guangzhou government, so they dispersed without further discussion.

Liu Da and the others stopped their ship at Huangpu Port under the pretext of seeking shelter from the wind. Faced with a large number of merchants wanting to unload goods, they perfunctorily dealt with them, refusing to agree to any requests under the pretext of imperial decrees. Although Liu Da had now truly become a merchant at sea, he was still most interested in his old business, so he left all matters related to maritime trade to Fang Rui and Xi Er, while he took people to move all the seeds to a separate courtyard prepared in advance by Zhang Yue.

At that moment, he crouched in the large garden, wearing a conical hat, carefully selecting the seeds like a real farmer, examining soil particles on the ground. It took him a while to realize that Zhang Yue was standing beside him.

“These are Javanese rice seeds. Since they can be planted three times a year, they’re called ‘plenty-seed’ rice. These are Siamese rice varieties; I heard the name was given by Eunuch Zheng. However, their taste is quite strange, and only a few people like them. These are Champa rice seeds. Although Champa rice has been widely spread and matures in just 60 days, its taste is rather poor and it’s never considered high-quality. These seeds come from the Champa king’s fields. Taking advantage of the ongoing conflict between Champa and Vietnam, I finally managed to get some. And these are tropical fruits unique to Southeast Asia. Though they taste great, they don’t last long and can only be enjoyed in the south…”

Speaking of his old trade, Liu Da was naturally eloquent, then excitedly recounted his experiences testing farming tools in Java and other places. He then shook his head and sighed, “The land in those places is fertile, and the yields are good, but many people work sporadically, far less diligently than our farmers. Take the farming tools alone—many of them are of poor quality. I got quite a few seeds by exchanging them while making farming tools. Although Fang Rui and Xi Er laugh at me for wasting effort, my trade is making such tools. I’m a farmer after all—how could I forget my roots?”
Zhang Yue had seen many nouveau richs from farming backgrounds who forgot their origins once they became wealthy in his past life, and in this life, he was also accustomed to officials whose parents farmed to support their studies, who became successful but kept their origins hidden. Thus, he naturally felt a deep resonance with Liu Da’s last words and nodded in admiration.
“If everyone in the world were as dedicated as Master Liu, there would be no reason why things couldn’t be accomplished. In that case, you keep these rice seeds and share the key farming techniques. I’ll select a few skilled laborers to plant a few acres around the city. As for fruits, although transportation is inconvenient, turning them into fruit wine might appeal to the women of wealthy families. Besides, there are many wealthy merchants in Guangdong—there’s no shortage of buyers. In any case, giving it a try won’t cost much in terms of labor and time. If it succeeds in the future, it will provide another way for people to support their families.”
The two had worked together on this before in Shandong, so it was no problem at all. They immediately began discussing it intensively in the room. When it came to village cooperation from before, Liu Da suggested implementing it now as well, but Zhang Yue shook his head and said, “The customs and traditions differ between the north and the south. Moreover, I am now a provincial governor, not just in charge of one prefecture. I need to take everything into account carefully before taking bold actions; otherwise, it will be in vain.”
Huangpu Port.
Since no ships had arrived at the port in the past two days, most of the laborers who usually sought work there had gone to the docks along the Pearl River. Only a few men hoping for luck still wandered around the port. Compared to the foreign ships with their various flags, Liu Da’s boat appeared extremely ordinary. Since it was docked, only two sailors were assigned to take turns watching over it, while the rest went to the city to enjoy themselves and drink. Fang Rui and Xi Er would occasionally check on the boat, but it was usually deserted.

It was afternoon, and there was no place on the dock to shield oneself from the sun; the scorching rays poured down relentlessly on the ground. This area was under the jurisdiction of the Maritime Administration, and even merchants were not allowed to enter without permission—only patrol officers walked by. Two sailors in charge of watching the ship didn’t want to stay cooped up aboard, so like the others before them, they set up a tarpaulin shelter in front of the ship and played dice for small sums of money for fun. Although they had been away from home for a year and a half, their employer was generous, and their pockets were now full, so they were in high spirits.

“Big, big! Damn it, it’s already six times ‘small’—can’t we have a bit of luck? Damn it, it’s ‘small’ again!”

“Sheng Lao Si, it’s just a bet of ten copper coins—why care so much? A few days ago, you spent a fortune hiring a prostitute in Guangzhou’s famous brothel for three nights—way more than that bet! I warn you, be careful or your wife will be upset when you get home!”

“Pah, how dare a woman meddle in my affairs?”

Though he said that, Sheng Lao Si nervously touched his pocket, feeling guilty. When the ship arrived in Guangzhou, his employer had paid off all their previous wages, and he had also sold his smuggled goods, which was worth two or three hundred guan in cash. But after spending money in those brothels a few days ago, he only had a thousand new guan left—just over ten guan, far not enough to cover his family’s expenses. His wife was sensible and wouldn’t complain, but what about his three children? How could he face them then?

If he had known it would turn out like this, he wouldn’t have indulged in women. He should have followed his companion’s example and stayed to watch the ship, earning five new guan a day—better than going home with empty hands!

He played a few more rounds absentmindedly. Whether it was because his mood was ruined or his luck was terrible, he lost every round, letting his companion win several hundred wen. In the end, he pushed the remaining few wen across and said irritably, “Let’s play one last round. Bet on ‘small.’ If I lose again, I’m done!”

The short sailor smiled and covered the dice with a porcelain bowl, about to shake them for the final round. Suddenly, he spotted two people walking quickly in the distance. He quickly put away the gambling items and pulled Sheng Lao Si aside. When the people got closer, he realized they weren’t his employer’s men, and he relaxed. Sure enough, the two men approached. The one in front, a young man with a face full of pockmarks who was almost unrecognizable, ignored them and instead looked up at the ship. Then he turned around and asked, “Where is this ship heading?”

Seeing the arrogant tone of the man’s questions, the two sailors grew displeased. In a bad mood, Sheng Lao Si snorted and was about to send him away when he noticed the attendant behind the young man rushing forward and quickly stuffing something into his hand, then doing the same for the other man. Glancing down, he saw a yellowish object in his hand, which made him shiver. He then pinched it anxiously until his fingers hurt before letting go.

Noting that the other man was wearing a straight-jacket robe with intricate patterns of wealth and prosperity in a sky-blue color, along with a tiger-shaped jade pendant of unknown value at his waist, he quickly apologized with a smile, “Sir, our ship set sail from Ningbo earlier and is now returning. We plan to stay for a few more days before heading back to Ningbo.”

“I have urgent business that requires me to set sail. Could your ship take me?” The young man, seeing the two sailors exchanging glances, grew impatient. “As long as you can take me, I’m willing to pay a high price… well, a hundred taels of gold!”

The two sailors instinctively weighed the gold bar in their hands again. Having dealt with gold and silver abroad for years, they could estimate its weight at around two or three taels without a scale. Hearing that someone was offering a hundred taels of gold, they felt their hearts burn with excitement. Especially Sheng Lao Si, who was in need of money, licked his lips and hesitated for a long time before speaking, “Sir, it’s not that my brother and I refuse to help. We’re just sailors; everything depends on our master’s decision…”

“In that case, if you can convince your master to set sail quickly, I’ll give you those hundred taels as payment, plus the usual fare!”

If the initial amount of gold, given like a tip, had already stirred their interest, this offer of a hundred taels of gold left no room for hesitation. The two exchanged a look, and Sheng Lao Si volunteered, “Then I’ll go to the city right away to see our master. But sir, you need to come up with a good reason to persuade him. Our master isn’t an ordinary merchant—he’s very influential in Nanjing, said to make tons of money every day. Since he plans to stay, he definitely won’t set sail unless there’s a compelling reason.”

Sheng Lao Si emphasized the word “influential.” The attendant could tolerate this, but the young man scoffed and laughed, “Just a merchant? What big shots could he possibly know?”

“Our employer isn’t an ordinary merchant!” The short sailor grew somewhat displeased at this, but for the sake of the money he would receive, he patiently explained, “As you can see, this ship represents a huge investment. Besides us sailors and the captain, there are also twenty hired guards on board. Though we don’t know much about our employer, from his tone, it seems he has connections with many nobles in Nanjing. I’ve heard the names of the Duke of Dingguo and Marquis Mu several times already.”
Hearing this, the arrogant young man with the hazy face was momentarily speechless. After thinking for a while, he glanced at his attendant and then nodded stiffly, saying, “In that case, tell your employer that if he takes me along, I have a big deal to offer him—one that will surely be more profitable than his current overseas trip. Now go quickly! I’ll wait for your reply before sunset!”
Since the other party had spoken so firmly, and considering the gold, Sheng Lao Si didn’t bother to consider their true intentions at all. He simply agreed and hurried out. Although the sun was as scorching as usual, his anxious thoughts made him forget his minor displeasure. Since there was still a distance from Huangpu Town to the city, he spent some money to take a carriage. By the time he arrived in the city, it was already the fifth hour of the day. He rushed to the inn in a hurry, only to find that his employer was not there, leaving him extremely anxious.
Seeing him sweating profusely, Xi Er asked, “What’s so urgent? Since my adoptive father isn’t here, I can handle half of it.”
With someone willing to take on the responsibility, Sheng Lao Si didn’t dare delay. He recounted everything to her, hiding only the fact that he had promised them two hundred taels of gold for themselves. Hearing this, even though she had seen much money over the years, Xi Er was still shocked. Fang Rui, on the other hand, remained calm. After Sheng Lao Si finished speaking, he asked further questions before telling them to wait while he and Xi Er discussed it.
Once in the private room, Xi Er immediately asked indignantly, “What’s there to discuss? My adoptive father doesn’t care about money anyway. Besides, paying such a high price surely means they’re not good people!”
“Of course I know that. Since they’re in such a hurry to leave and insist on taking the sea route, there must be reasons why they can’t use land or water routes. Trust me—go inform my adoptive father, while I’ll go check things out at the dock.”