My Splendid Concubine (74 page)

Prince Kung
’s face froze as he stared at Robert for a moment. Then he nodded. “But you do not have an army.”

“
I will not go unarmed. I will have my pistol.”

Kung raised an eyebrow.
“I can see that you are determined.”

“
If I cannot establish the system that you and the council have approved through the name of the emperor, I will not be able to raise the money you expect.”

“
I see,” Kung replied. “Then you will be accompanied by a dozen bannermen. I will have General Jung Lu pick them himself. Their lives will depend on seeing that Our Hart returns still breathing.”

In early November, before Robert set out on his journey to the river port of Hankow in Hupeh Province, he had no idea what he was going to face.

“
How dangerous can a journey upriver be?” he asked. He was in his office talking to his assistant, Henry. “Surely, you exaggerate. It can’t be that dangerous. Since I arrived in China, I have survived pirates, Taipings, assassins, kidnapers, mercenaries, and a rebel rocket that almost hit me in Canton during the Arrow War. I will survive this too. Besides, I’m going to travel from Shanghai by water. That is less risk than going overland.”

“
I still don’t like it, Inspector General,” Henry replied. “It will be risky.”

“
I’m not worried. Why should you be?”

“
The Taipings control much of the Yangtze,” Henry said. “We can’t afford to lose you. Send me instead.”

“
No, Kuan-wen won’t listen to anyone else. We already have agents there. They are afraid for their lives and are in hiding. We are getting nowhere. If there is to be progress, governor Kuan-wen must cooperate. I don’t see how he can refuse. After all, I serve the emperor the same as he does. I am the Acting Inspector General of Chinese Maritime Customs. The governor must hear me out.”

“
Just because you serve the emperor, doesn’t mean Kuan-wen does. I believe he serves his interests first.”

“
No matter. If he proves disloyal to the new emperor, he may lose his head.”

“
The emperor would have to send an army to replace him. To get there, they would have to fight through the Taipings first, since they are between Hankow and Shanghai.”

“
I am going anyway. We cannot have progress without risk.”

“
The price might not be worth it.”

“
Enough,” Robert said. “I’ll hear no more protests.”

That night, Robert wrote a last will and testament leaving half of his money in the care of Guan-jiah with instructions to support Ayaou and Anna. The other half was to go to his family in Ireland. He was confident that he could depend on Guan-jiah.

“Henry,” he said the following morning. “If something happens to me, I trust that I can depend on you to see that my wishes are carried out.” He handed the papers to his assistant.

“
That will not happen, Inspector General.”

“
But if it does—”

“
I will see that it is done.”

It took a week to make the arrangements. Robert used his Chinese friend Wang Dewie to find boats with captains he could depend on. The merchant owned the house off Greengrocer Street where Robert had witnessed Su Shun’s execution, and the captain of the first boat was his cousin.

After departing Shanghai, Robert sailed through a zone co
ntrolled by the Taipings. While passing Nanking, a large group of rebels, at least a hundred, came alongside and demanded that the boat stop for an inspection.

The captain hid Robert and his guards in a cabin below the wate
rline. It was stuffy in that oven of a room. Robert handed the captain a purse filled with yuan to help pay a bribe if needed.

If the Taipings discovered him and his bodyguards in that cramped cab
in, they would be slaughtered, and the captain could lose his head. There would be no way to defend themselves in that cramped, coffin shaped space. He remembered that time in Ningpo when the Cantonese pirates set fire to that lorcha filled with Portuguese pirates. He slipped his hand into his pocket resolved that if that happened, he’d shoot himself before the fire reached him.

His guards s
tood between him and the door and all were willing to die. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. The air grew thicker and was difficult to breathe. Robert sweated rivers and his clothing was soaked. He saw that his escort was in the same condition. Nevertheless, they stayed alert with hands on weapons watching the door.

At one point, the Taipings were outside the cabin in the na
rrow hall. Robert pressed his ear to the bulkhead to hear. With his heart beating like a loud drum, he listened to them talking to the boat’s captain.

The Taipings would pay handsomely for Robert
’s head. He hoped this cousin of merchant Wang could be trusted. He felt sorry for his friend. If he died because of Wang’s cousin, the merchant would feel responsible and be riddled with guilt. He might take his life due to the loss of face.

Robert sighed in relief when the voices moved away. An hour la
ter, the boat was underway again. He did not ask for the yuan back. The captain offered, but Robert refused.

“
Your family needs this more than I do. Besides, you risked your life for me today.”

“
It is an honor to serve you, Inspector General. The Longhaired Bandits are not China. They are a plague on all our houses.”

Kuan-wen received Robert in the audience hall inside his palace compound. The room was large and voices echoed. The floor was white marble. The structure was wood. The roof was tile. Heavily armed Chinese soldiers in battle armor stood along the walls. It was a show meant to intimidate.

When Robert started to speak in perfect Mandarin, the gove
rnor’s face showed surprise.

Kuan-wen replied,
“If your regulations of trade are implemented along the Yangtze, you will ruin me and every governor in China. We have done business this way for centuries, and you cannot change that.”

“
I’m not doing this for me or for any of the foreign powers,” Robert replied. “I’m doing this for China. The Dynasty needs those duties from trade to survive. You will have to adjust your life accordingly. I have looked at the numbers. You will survive.”

The governor dismissed him.

Robert and his bannermen were assigned a small house built against the city’s wall. Each day, surrounded by his guards, he went daily to request an audience. The governor refused to meet again.

It was tense when the governor
’s soldiers came to evict Robert from the city. The confrontation took place in the courtyard in front of the small, dusty house in a corner of the city. After Robert refused to leave, Chinese soldiers on the wall started throwing their trash on the house and pissing on it. The urine stench was strong. The servants that had been there when he arrived fled. Each morning, the twelve bannermen cleaned the mess. Prince Kung had ordered them to stay glued to him. They even watched him shit, which was something Robert didn’t enjoy.

Prince Kung had been adamant.
“Do not let him out of your sight.” Robert knew the price. If he died, these men were to die with him. For a moment, he regretted his decision to confront Kuan-wen.

Several days later, the Chinese soldiers returned. This time Kuan-wen was with them. The governor
’s men crowded into the small courtyard and surrounded Robert’s small troop.

It was an impasse. The pale yellow uniforms of the Manchu ba
nnermen were like an impenetrable shield surrounding him.

Kuan-wen yelled at his general to drive Robert and his guards from the city.
“Do what I have ordered or I will have you beheaded?”

The Manchu officer
in charge of Robert’s guards glanced at him and saw the determination on his face. Then he marched over and stood in front of Robert. Bracing his legs, he rested a hand on the hilt of his sword and glared at the Chinese general as if he were daring him to make the first move. It was a tense moment. Robert knew that the Manchu bannermen had a higher status than the city’s Chinese garrison did. However, would it be enough?

The Chinese general demanded that Robert and his guards leave the city.

The Manchu officer did not budge.

The Chinese general glanced at the governor. The look on the general
’s face said, “What do I do now?”

The governor threatened to have his
soldiers attack. Robert feared that this was going to end in a slaughter. The governor would have the bodies tossed into the river and lie about how they died. He’d say it had been a gang of robbers.

Robert had to do something. He pushed his way between his guards and confronted the governor. He lowered his voice so only Kuan-wen could hear.
“Do you want this trouble that will threaten the existence of your family? I’m here on the imperial court’s behalf to open an office in your city and collect duties from foreign merchants. If you insist on making a problem, I’ll have no choice but to report to Prince Kung.”

“
Prince Kung is not the emperor,” the governor replied. “He cannot tell me what to do. The emperor appointed me. He is who I answer to.”

“
You are correct. Prince Kung does not rule the emperor. However, until Emperor Tung-Chih comes of age, Prince Kung and the Dowager Empresses rule China in Tung-Chih’s name.”

The expression on Kuan-wen
’s face froze. “Tung-Chih is not the emperor,” he said. His voice faltered. “Emperor Hsien Feng is.”

“
You haven’t heard?” Robert replied, shocked. He then realized the truth. Of course, he hadn’t. Kuan-wen’s province was nearly cut off from the rest of China by Taiping armies.

“
Emperor Hsien Feng is dead,” Robert said, “and Prime Minister Su Shun has lost his head.”

The muscles in Kuan-wen
’s face turned to putty. “Emperor Hsien Feng is dead!” he said, “and Su Shun lost his head.” He looked dazed.

Robert mentally kicked himself. He knew that Su Shun had a
ppointed Kuan-wen. If he had been aware that Kuan-wen hadn’t known of Su Shun’s death, this affair might have been concluded days ago. “Yes,” he said, “and Hsien Feng’s six-year-old son, Tung-Chih, sits on the throne. His regents hold the power.”

Kuan-
wen deflated like a balloon and appeared to age as Robert watched.

“
Open your office,” the governor said. He turned and walked away muttering to himself. “I did not know. I did not know.”

“
And you will not collect duties from the foreign merchants,” Robert said to the governor’s back. “You understand that, don’t you?”

Kuan-wen turned.
“I do,” he said. Obviously, this man had just lost a lot of face, and having so many of his Chinese soldiers witness his loss made it worse.

Robert
’s agents came out of hiding, and the office opened that week.

Robert met with little resistance during the remainder of his trip. He took the boat east toward the ocean and changed to a ship to sail along the coast.

A few weeks later, as he rode with his bodyguards into sight of the city walls of Fuzhou, the capital of the Fujian province, a small, slight man dressed in a bri
lliant blue and green silk robe wearing his official headgear with its tassel and feather stood alone in the open city gate. Robert dismounted and nodded to the governor of Fujian, who nodded deeper to honor Hart.

That was a big change considering that at Su Shun
’s orders a few years earlier, this governor had refused to open his center gate to receive Britain’s ambassador.

By the end of December, Robert established offices in five of China
’s major ports. In January, he sailed north. During the voyage, he wrote detailed plans to open offices in five more ports.

Robert had traveled thousands of miles and was exhausted. When he stopped in Shanghai for a few days to rest, he stayed at the Imperial Maritime Customs building. It had been built in 1857, and looked like a Chinese temple. He hadn
’t heard from Guan-jiah or Ayaou for weeks. He wondered when they would be moving to Shanghai and hoped there would be mail waiting when he reached Peking.

A few days later, a pack of English merchants arrived and d
emanded that Robert see them. He had been expecting something like this and wasn’t surprised. “Show them in,” he said to his clerk.

“
We believe you should grant us favors and special treatment,” the spokesperson said. The rest mumbled support as they stood on one side of his desk glaring at him.               Robert remained seated. “We will do nothing of the sort,” he replied. “My people have been directed to tax everyone the same.”

“
You cannot do this, Hart.” The leader of the group almost shouted. He was a fat man with a red, puffy face, and his stomach strained the buttons on his jacket. As his chest swelled in anger, one of the buttons popped off and rolled across the floor. The more anger that he displayed, the calmer Robert became.

“
You are British,” the merchant said. “How can you do this to us? We have families to care for. We expect you to cooperate.”

Robert replied,
“Every merchant from every country that trades in China will be treated the same. That includes merchants from Britain. If you do not like that, I suggest you take your demands to Peking or London.”

These fat merchants were not going to be allowed to become wealthier by cheating the Chinese of what little they had left. Co
mpared to the average Chinese, these men would still be wealthy. They just wouldn’t get rich as fast. He hated greedy people and resolved not to give an inch.

They departed his office in a huff.
“You will hear from us again, Hart. We will ruin you.”

It would take months to resolve the fiasco with the English merchants, who banded together and went to court in England to put pressure on Robert to give them special dispensations over other nations.

Robert refused and
used every contact he had developed in England to state his case. In the end, he won. The English merchants had to pay like every nation that traded in China. Robert was sure that when these English merchants were in a pub, they would be throwing darts at his effigy.