Each with his own hidden agenda
Nian Gengyao never expected that these timid guys would actually do such a thing. This is not timid at all, it is simply so bold and despicable!
Nian Gengyao was both proud and capable, and he wanted to make a difference, but he wasn't one to act recklessly. He still had a lot on his plate. The land tax system was about to get underway, and the first Eight Banners primary school in Guangzhou had just opened. There was still much follow-up work waiting for him.
His policy of equalizing the land tax with the land tax offended many local gentry, and his subsequent implementation of the system of paying taxes as a tax for all duties earned him considerable resentment. Now that he was Governor-General, and the overall political climate favored reform, the gentry dared not make any drastic moves or openly express their discontent. However, there were still many undercurrents. Despite his arrogance, Nian Gengyao had to be cautious. He had to keep a close eye on these people and prevent them from turning against him.
The Eight Banners Elementary School was running smoothly, with sufficient local students and the school building quickly renovated. The literary style of Guangdong and Guangxi was not as strong as that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so there was no need to worry about arranging the remaining staff. However, Nian Gengyao hoped that the elementary school would be run better, so that more students would pass the selection process for official schools, which would also be a political achievement. Education was the responsibility of the educational official, and when it came to the Eight Banners, the situation was different.
Neither of these two things was a simple matter. He also had his own personal affairs to attend to, paving the way for his official career, keeping in touch with all parties in the capital, and making some gray income...
Nian Gengyao's shady income included official tributes and income from less-than-legal businesses, one of which was the Dutch trade issue, which had dragged him into trouble with Orondai. Merchants were profit-driven, but also cunning. With the Dutch withdrawing from Taiwan and retaining Southeast Asia, their lack of familiarity with China didn't hinder their cunning. Even without understanding the precise conditions of this ancient nation, they were able to respond directly.
The country banned trade with them, but if local officials did not strictly enforce it, this place, so far away from the political heartland, could almost ignore the ban. The merchants keenly saw this opportunity and became close friends with Orondai and Nian Gengyao.
Orondai and Nian Gengyao would never come into direct contact with these people. At most, they would find time to meet with the Dutch merchants once a year. After meeting them, they were surprised to find that the people they came to contact were not the red-haired people they had imagined, but the most influential among them were actually Chinese!
When the East India Company was operating in Batavia (present-day Jakarta), it suffered from a labor shortage. The local natives were neither hardworking nor brave, so it sought to recruit Chinese workers. These efforts included overt preferential policies and covert, insidious tactics, all aimed at absorbing as many hardworking and docile Chinese as possible.
Of course, some of these individuals were successful, not only working as local contractors, but also undertaking shipping trade between Batavia and Guangzhou. The mere act of severing trade with the Netherlands had very limited impact on these foreign company employees.
As Nian Gengyao hinted, the country was forbidden from trading with the Dutch, but how could anyone know which country someone was from? And then there were these black-haired, black-eyed, black-skinned compatriots messing with the situation! They'd just claim they were smuggling goods overseas, and there was no way to verify it, right? In an age without intergovernmental cooperation and information networks, enforcing this policy was a major problem.
Nian Gengyao still remembers his first meeting with overseas Chinese, with Orondai acting as the go-between. At the time, Orondai and Nian Gengyao hadn't considered this issue. Seeing the Chinese merchants politely greet each other, a flicker of disdain flashed in their eyes. They asked questions about their ancestral origins and their businesses, leaving the merchants blushing. In that era, abandoning one's hometown and career was considered a waste of time and was despised by others.
They stammered, but most of them were from Guangdong and Fujian. "When I was young, the years were bad, and farming couldn't support my family, so I came out to beg for food. I hope you will have mercy on me."
No matter how hard it is, what you are doing now is not glorious! The two adults didn't say it, but they despised it in their hearts. Orondai looked at Nian Gengyao, and Nian Gengyao nodded. Orondai said, "Last time you caused a big disaster, the emperor was furious and banned trade as punishment," and smiled contemptuously, "The country doesn't lack the money from your tax revenue. But I feel sorry for you. We have been dealing with you for more than a year or two, and I know that you are not always rude. That's why I said something to Lord Nian, you are making meritorious contributions while serving your sentence."
The Chinese businessman who had just gotten up knelt down again: "We thank Master E and Master Nian for their kindness," he continued, "It was you two who gave us a bite to eat. Otherwise, if you hadn't banned the trade, we would have starved to death. Our whole family is grateful to you two masters, and we have already set up longevity tablets for you at home..."
Nian Gengyao was a bit annoyed. These ignorant people! Pretending to be fools! He just couldn't believe that someone with such a large business (as evidenced by Mr. Nian's profits) could really be so clueless. Having a little trick, but being seen through, that was it.
He waved his hand and said, "God is merciful and cannot deny you a way to live. I will give you one more chance. If you don't make any mistakes in the future, you will have a bright future. Now - don't make any noise!"
The Chinese businessman nodded in agreement and also gave a lot of gifts.
Who would have thought that such a docile guy would actually abduct the people under his jurisdiction?
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It wasn't him who discovered the matter; he was too busy with his duties to care about anything. It was someone close to Orondai who discovered it. Compared to Nian Gengyao, Orondai had much less to do. The Eight Banners garrisons in Guangdong and Guangxi didn't have a lot of responsibilities, and they weren't responsible for general bandit suppression. The New Policies had even less to do with them; it was just routine drills. Their biggest job was to count the school-age children and send them to elementary school.
Besides handling his duties, eating, drinking and having fun, Orondai only had time to inquire about business matters. He assigned a few of his idle confidants to keep an eye on the smuggling ship. This was a matter that had to be kept secret for the sake of appearances. It couldn't be made a big deal. If Yunluo and the Dutch were to cause trouble outside Guangzhou, it would be a big trouble.
Orondai's confidants were truly bored. Every time someone from Southeast Asia came, they were treated with such care and courtesy that they had no leverage over him. Guangdong was a coastal province, after all, and the government and military had several patrol ships. Orondai would split his confidants into two groups: one on land, the other at sea, to keep an eye on pirates and prevent them from disrupting his master's business.
The Guangdong coast is not peaceful, and the navy's combat effectiveness is not yet sufficient. Suppressing pirates often ends up in appeasement. Patrolling the coastal waters is still possible to prevent others from discovering that their masters are smuggling.
During this patrol, they accidentally discovered a strange ship, which, in later times, was called a "smuggling" ship. They were not very good at fighting pirates, but they could capture such a ship. Firstly, the ship was carrying too many people and could not move fast. Secondly, because it was close to the Chinese coast, foreigners were not very ostentatious at the time. It was just a slightly modified merchant ship, not a warship, and the armed forces on board were not strong enough.
After a brief resistance, the smuggling boat was captured. When the cabin was opened, many of the people on board were still tied up, which was a great amusement.
The average level of education among soldiers these days was very low, so they were thankful they could write a report, not to bother with the wording. They were more familiar with the safety of kidnapping women and children, so they simply wrote "abduction," and counting the heads, they found that there were actually over 200 laborers.
Not bad, not bad, this time I have done something great.
Orondei took the report and found Nian Gengyao, and Governor Nian was furious!
Far away in the capital, the Empress and the Crown Prince were worried about the population and were looking for other places to accommodate the surplus population. However, Nian Gengyao was eager to gather all the people under his jurisdiction within his own jurisdiction. Population was also a criterion for evaluating political performance. The people abducted were all able-bodied laborers. Wasn't this undermining his own cause?
Moreover, Nian Gengyao felt deeply that his intelligence was being looked down upon when such a thing happened right under his nose. What made him even more angry was that the Nanyang Chinese businessman responded like this: "" accompanied by repeated waving of his hands and a panicked expression.
Nian Gengyao didn't show it on his face, but he was extremely angry in his heart!
If he just let someone kidnap his people, even if they came after him, he'd feel humiliated. Someone challenging his authority, whether successful or not, was a slap in the face! He'd have to beat that guy to a pulp to redeem himself. Damn it! He had to find the mastermind behind this, tie him up, and chop him up! His pride was bruised, and the old governor was furious.
Orondai sneered, "If they couldn't even wipe out a few hundred pirates, how could they?" Orondai knew a lot about military affairs, especially about Guangdong. He was a military officer and had done his homework. He counted off his own disadvantages one by one, "The ship is not good enough, the nautical charts are not detailed enough, and there are not enough sailors..."
China's ancient maritime industry reached its peak in the early Ming Dynasty, but gradually declined thereafter. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was already inferior to its early years. By the Qing Dynasty, it was even inferior to the late Ming Dynasty. The Kangxi Emperor's early years, when he recovered Taiwan, required the use of the navy and some training. Since then, the overall situation has been declining.
Finally, he concluded, "You're just imagining things!" He wasn't one to suffer a loss, but if you want to hit someone, you have to know where they are, right? There's an ocean! The Dutch's lair is even farther away than Taiwan. You're really overthinking it!
Nian Gengyao was enraged. After a long moment of quiet reflection, he smiled sinisterly, "Then let's get ready."
He was no fool. He had to have a reason to raise an army without a reason. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to pass the Qing Dynasty's criticism! The country had already banned trade with the Netherlands, but he was smuggling, which opened the door to kidnapping young men.
At the very least, we need to ascertain the true intentions of those red-haired people and find an excuse for our previous actions. For example, contacting the red-haired people is to clarify the reason for their previous offense against the Celestial Majesty, to prevent the Celestial Empire from misunderstanding them and making the barbarians think that the Celestial Empire is confused or something. The red-haired people are here to do business, so we should "pretend to trade with them, but secretly explore their true intentions."
A case of abducting innocent people to go out to sea has occurred here. I am doing this to solve the case, right?
While he remained calm, he dispatched people to Southeast Asia to investigate the situation. He had sent his own servants, the kind who were expected to be loyal even if they weren't. He also interrogated the "abducted" men and discovered it wasn't an abduction but a kidnapping. The Governor-General's face wore a calm before the storm.
Orondai looked at his face, instinctively closed his mouth, and swallowed his saliva. He only heard Nian Gengyao say softly: "Uncle (the title of this generation), I will lend you a few people."
The Eight Banners had a legacy of slavery, and one of the most obvious examples was household slaves. Household slaves in aristocratic families not only served their masters but also served as part of their own troops. In short, they were small private armies. Although these types of household slaves are becoming increasingly rare, the Tong family, despite being a small household, still had a large number of them.
Orondai perked up: "There are only two hundred people left, but...what are you going to do?"
Nian Gengyao also had serfs, but they weren't as professional as the Tong family, and their numbers were smaller. After some thought, he realized that he couldn't hide this from Orondai, and he didn't particularly trust him. He rolled his eyes and said, "Give them a lesson and strengthen maritime patrols to prevent more people from robbing the people of the Qing Dynasty!" If the red-haired man can come here, why can't I send people over? If he can kidnap people, I can kill them!
This reason was quite legitimate, but…what did he need a servant for? Didn't he have a navy? Orondai tactfully didn't ask any further questions. They were his servants, so they had to obey him. He could scold them. If someone worked for him in the past and he wanted to know some information, he could ask. How could his own servants dare not tell him? If there was any merit, he could also share in the profits. If there was any trouble, he could just say he didn't know. He said that someone had only borrowed a few people from him, and he couldn't refuse the favor.
Each of them had his own agenda and was trying to take advantage of the other.
The author has something to say: Nanyang is not that easy to deal with
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