Alexandra’s bow was precisely equal to Caihong’s, and she said, “Many thanks, Sister. I am in your debt for what you have done to influence your father, the mandarin, in my behalf.”
This time Caihong took Alexandra directly to Wáng Wen Sheng’s office. He was dressed in a black western suit, white shirt and tie, and his almost knee length white hair was combed out all the way. She cast a questioning glance at Caihong, who whispered,
“It is our custom that the man never cuts his hair after age ten.”
The mandarin concluded his conversation with the two other men in his office before turning to Alexandra.
“My dear Alexandra, it is so good of you to come again on such short notice. I wish to introduce you to two of my seafaring friends. Liu Chang and Zhang Jiao-long, this is my daughter, Alexandra Yusupov. Alexandra, it is my pleasure to have you meet Liu Chang and Zhang Jiao-long, who are business friends and members of the Wáng Family Tong. They direct the ocean business from here to Hong-Kong and the other cities of Australasia. I believe you good friends and family can be of help to one another.”
Mr. Liu was dressed in rough but clean sailors’ clothing, appropriate for the business at hand, Alexandra thought. He appeared to be the more forward of the two visitors despite his smaller stature. He had a moon shaped Han face, thick lips, and bad teeth—a common look one saw on the streets of Chinatown. To Alexandra, it was as if a complicated deal had been consummated, and all that was left was for her to learn what her role was to be.
She bowed, placed her two hands in front of her chest and bowed, “It is a great pleasure to meet you, gentlemen. May I ask, what is your family relationship to the mandarin?”
“Of course,” Chang replied with a barely suppressed laugh, “we are cousins.”
Alexandra laughed heartily, and the three men all joined her. It was a standard Chinese joke that anyone less close than a sibling, spouse, or parent was a cousin by default. She was pleased that they laughed. Men seldom laugh with anyone but well-trusted family members. She took it as good joss and a positive harbinger of things to come.
The mandarin said to Alexandra, “We have done some research on you, Daughter. You are known as an able sailor, an excellent fighter and leader of men. You had your captain’s papers when you were still a girl. You have done successful business with the East India Company and with Jardine-Matheson. It is said that you are on friendly terms with the taipan. For that reason, I and these friends of mine believe we can do business with each other which will bring profit to all and will benefit our family tong.”
“I would be most privileged to be considered part of the Wáng Family Tong. I look forward to proving myself. I also seek to put my money in safe places and to earn profit from my investments. I trust that I can work with you to benefit each of us.”
She was now less the demure younger sister and more the business woman who would not settle for disrespect. She approached the subject adroitly and with a degree of circumlocution, but she was determined to be treated with respect and to make a profit equal to her efforts, just as was expected by every man in the room.
“You do yourself credit by your candor,” the mandarin said. “We agree to the principles you describe. It is time for us to become specific. Mr. Zhang is best acquainted with maritime business. He will present the proposal.”
Mr. Zhang was tall for a Chinese, and his dress was the most western of the three men in the room. He had adopted the western custom of shaving his face and keeping his dark hair short and neatly combed. He had on a suit that would be stylish in New York, London, Shanghai, or Tokyo. It was gray with faint pin stripes and no cuffs, a very new—even avant-guard look—which made him stand out in a group. He had wide set eyes, a large nose, and a cleft dimple in his chin. He appeared to be rich and wise, a good appearance to have among Chinese men.
“We propose,” he said, “that you invest your money to buy two of our ships. Both are sturdy cargo vessels well tried at sea. The ownership will be registered in Hong Kong, where there is no law against the ownership of property by women. Perhaps you remember the famous lady pirate Zheng Shi?”
“I have had dealings with her personally.”
“So, we hear. We learned of your exploits from a handsome American navy officer by the name of Captain Oliver MacTavish.”
Alexandra’s eyes lit up when Oliver’s name was mentioned. It embarrassed her that the observant Chinese men did not fail to register the emotional nuance.
“Sadly, you cannot make the ownership here in Australia. We can make the purchase for you, do the work of getting the documents in order, and find reliable crews—all in Hong Kong. I hardly need tell you that we have men of Wáng Family Tong who will serve as officers. We guarantee their character and competence. You will put up the initial funds in full. After that, we will share the profits and costs on a sixty-five to thirty-five percent basis favoring us, because we shall do the majority of the work.”
Alexandra waited for a few moments with bowed head.
“Sixty to forty favoring me, because I will be taking the most risk.”
The men looked soberly at each other. None of them had ever haggled with a woman, especially not with a formidable one like this young Russian woman. Thoughts flashed through each of the men’s minds during this disconcerting confrontation: Zhang’s thought harked back to Confucian writings, “The Book of Articles and Words Explanation tells us that the meaning of woman comes from the word ‘submission’. Does she not know her place?”
Mr. Liu considered Alexandra’s proposal to be impertinent, “The father is the god in the eyes of the son, so is the husband in the eyes of the wife”. Has no one taught her? Mandarin Wáng fretted in his mind, “perhaps I have been hasty in being so generous to this round-eye girl. She seems not to have had drummed into her head the moral code for women–the ‘Three Obediences and Four Virtues’. On the other hand, I must admit to myself that if she cannot negotiate with strength with we men who favor her, can we expect her to prevail in the open market?”
Wáng Caihong struggled to keep her thoughts and feelings from showing on her face or in her mannerisms. “I care for her as a sister, but Alexandra appears to be going down a road that leads away from tradition and may cause ill will in the family if she does not soon see the error of her ways. If she is to be accepted even as a visitor, she must outwardly show the three obediences; she must indicate that she can comply with the time-honored traditional role of women—“Be obedient to your father before marriage, your husband after marriage, and your son when the husband dies.” That takes time in a well-run family, and she has been reared by barbarians. She continues this haggling at her peril.”
Alexandra sat placidly with her hands in her lap. It was for the men to make the next move in this nuanced emotional chess game. Much was at stake.
Zhang blinked first, “Perhaps as a demonstration of our good family will, we could offer an arrangement of fifty:fifty. That seems more than fair, does it not, lovely lady?”
Alexandra pondered briefly, “when I first met with you I felt a strong duty to myself as a mere woman to hold out for sixty or even sixty-five percent because it is my true belief that my life’s work and savings are under threat in these difficult times. I have been to sea, and I have been in combat at sea. I know first-hand the risks. But…I also know the value of family and of long-time relationships which even out the profits and losses and the apparent greater compromises made by one side or another.”
The mandarin thought, “she is weakening and will go for Zhang’s fifty-fifty. I had thought she would hold out longer.”
“I will settle here and now for fifty-five for me and forty-five for you gentlemen because you and I both know that is more than fair. I am sure you would feel guilt and loss of face if you looked into the mirror and saw a man who bullied his weak and defenseless sister. Consider that my family members; it is my final offer.”
Caihong’s face was tranquil and expressionless. She kept
her eyes down as a good woman should do, but the steel in her spine was evident to each of the three hardened businessmen and the daughter of the mandarin who had sat through innumerable such negotiations over the decades since her girlhood. In the back reaches of her mind, she secretly rooted for Alexandra, but also feared that contention might be the result.
The mandarin, Zhang, and Liu looked to each other. None of them gave a positive or a negative nod. On a day of such things, Mandarin Wáng broke tradition and shocked everyone in the room by asking his faithful and wise daughter what she thought.
Caihong’s heart skipped a beat…then another. She gathered her courage. She had never been asked to give her opinion except in very private business meetings with her esteemed father. She struggled to find the right words.
“Venerable Father, Lady, and Gentlemen, we are living in a changing time. Girls go to school. Unmarried women work without supervision by a man from the family. Married women go so far as to obtain professional degrees to become doctors, solicitors, and business owners. It is not so great a stretch in these unusual times to accept that a very intelligent and capable young woman could succeed in a man’s world. I believe the time has come to test the hypothesis. Give Alexandra what she wants and let her prove herself. I would wager that it will be profitable not only for her but for the tong in the days to come.”
She bowed low and let her hair fall forward to hide her face. She worked to control her breathing.
The three men looked soberly at one another, then, as with one accord, they stood up from their chairs and walked to where Alexandra was sitting. She stood and waited expectantly. The mandarin gave a small quick bow and extended his right hand. Alexandra took it and gave it a firm squeeze and a shake. Then she placed her left hand over her right. The formal ceremony of agreement was repeated with the two other men and with Caihong.
“Done,” said Mandarin Wáng.
Three weeks later, the three men called on Alexandra at the Grand Hotel. They all climbed into Mr. Zhang’s modern large Berlin carriage and drove through the crowded streets to the harbor. Alexandra helped Mandarin Wáng out of the large four wheeled carriage.
“Mind your head, Esteemed Father,” she urged him with filial gentleness as he alighted; so, he would not catch his head on the frame of the hood.
“You are worse than a nagging wife, Dear New Daughter,” he said and both of them smiled broadly at each other.
The four business and family tong members walked slowly up the gang plank and onto the first steam commercial vessel owned by the new association, The Sydney Cargo Express. For the record, the tong was the owner; the mandarin the CEO; Alexandra, Liu Chang; and Zhang Jiao-long vice-presidents and Wáng Caihong the secretary. The ship–like the nearly identical vessel owned by the tong–The Wáng Family Tong Transfer Vessel was listed with the Hong Kong ship registration system. There were no nationality requirements for officers and crew who serve on Hong Kong registered ships, and nearly every civilized nation in the world accepted the registry. Ownership, registry, and certification of officers did not discriminate against national origin, ethnicity, gender, or religion. Alexandra was legally listed as the captain of the Sydney Cargo Express and Messrs Liu and Zhang were listed as co-captains of The Wáng Family Tong Transfer Vessel.
Alexandra beamed with pleasure as she set foot on The Express—the ship she owned and captained as a matter of public record. That fact gave her the most security of any financial transaction she had entered into in the past five years. The group’s tour was the picture of efficiency. Alexandra demonstrated her command of sailing every step of the way. The Chinese crew in their crisp white uniforms and queues shampooed and oiled stood at rigid attention to meet their new captain. The teak decks were polished to mirror brightness; the ship’s sails were fully unfurled and were obviously bright new canvass; and the officers and crew bowed as Alexandra reviewed them. To the surprise of everyone, she walked to the rear of the gathered crew, pointed at the youngest man on the back row and directed him to step forward.
He was almost trembling with anxiety.
“What is your name, Sailor?” she asked crisply but gently.
“Chou Yu-en,” he answered.
She handed him a short coil of hemp rope, “Yu-en, please tie a bowline on a bight for me,” she ordered.
He fumbled for a minute or two but finally accomplished the task. She took back the rope, untied the rope’s knot, then tied another bowline on a bight in seven seconds—so quickly that the observers could not separate the movements of her nimble fingers. She then tied a reef knot and an anchor bend with the same remarkable facility.
“You did well, Yu-en. You have been well-schooled by your seniors. Continue to practice and seek to teach others to become excellent sailors as you strive to be.”
He bowed low, an expression of wonder on his face. There was no doubt about the skill and knowledge of the round-eye woman, and she won the respect of the entire crew.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
AN AUSTRALIAN MARRIAGE
Marriage is like a walk in the park—Jurassic Park
—Anonymous
“A good marriage is one where each partner secretly suspects they got the better deal.”
—Anonymous
National Archives of Australia, Victorian Archives Centre, 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, November 22, 2014
It seemed to Sister Durrell that she and the other service missionaries had been doing more playing and partying than doing their duties to the Lord and the people of Victoria lately. She thought she was the worst of the bunch because she had been spending so much—too much—time trying to find out all there was to know about the mysterious Alexandra Tarasova-Yusupov. Admittedly, what she had found was significant; she was able add an additional name to Alexandra—Bradshaw. She and Sister Wright almost simultaneously found a record in the archives of a marriage. There was no license or evidence that there was anything of a celebration. The newspapers were all silent. Anyway, their mystery girl was married to Kyle Dewit Herman Bradshaw on June 2nd, 1898. This was recorded in the Records of Proceedings of the Victoria Courts.
The two sister missionaries reported their discovery to the rest of their co-workers: “We have the date- June 2nd, 1898, the place-the Victoria Court House, and the names of the couple–Kyle Dewit Herman Bradshaw and Alexandra Tarasova-Yusupov. We could not find another thing about the marriage, but we are going to look for any issue.”
“Sounds like bodily fluids,” said Elder Gabler, the group’s unofficial joker.
“Oh, silly. That means progeny,” said Sister Gabler, always trying to cover for any gaffes committed by her dry-wit joking husband.
“Oh,” he said innocently.
It was P-day, and it had to be a brief one because of the evening’s plans. The group of sturdy seniors marched to their next walking tour site—the Parliament Gardens and a guided visit to the State Houses of Parliament that they had missed on their first try. One of the church members had offered to show them things they had missed on their previous walks. The first stop with her was into the Royal Arcade to see the statues of Gog and Magog that toll once an hour by the side of Guant’s Clock. It was fun–a bit of whimsy–otherwise not prominent in their careful lives. They saw things they missed at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, including the statue of Irish patriot Daniel O’Connell standing in the courtyard to honor all the Irish who were so numerous among Australia’s early immigrants. They ended their brief tour with a relaxing on-your-own-walk-around in Southgate development with its upscale atmosphere so reminiscent of downtown Salt Lake City or the embarcadero area of San Francisco.
That evening was a farewell party for the Durrells and the Smedleys at the Conservatory Restaurant. The Durrells had completed their eighteen months, and the Smedley’s had to return to the states for health reasons. The mood was convivial, something of a bitter-sweet note with a couple going back after a successful mission, a couple returning for serio
us medical tests, and the remainder left behind not even certain that replacements would be sent. Katherine was anxious that the effort to solve the growing mysteries of Alexandra would simply wither on the vine for lack of encouraging little successes and declining interest.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
FINANCIAL SECURITY
I’m focusing on me. I’m focusing on my family’s security, my family’s financial security, so that’s all I can do.
—Conor McGregor
I need nothing from my companion. No money, no financial security, no emotional support, nothing. All I want is the freedom to be myself.
—Kangana Ranaut
Offices of Jardine, Matheson & Co., 20 Pedder Street, at the corner of Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong, China, November 18, 1899
Although historians were not likely to make much out of the meeting that Alexandra was about to attend in the Jardine, Matheson offices that day, it was going to represent a sea change for the peoples of the south and east China coastal cities. Business in the region would never be the same. The meeting was to be held in the strictest of secrecy among men and women for whom business privacy and secrecy was an existential way of life. In the future, Alexandra would never make reference to the Meeting; but the change in the way she did business was enough to cause people who knew her to presume that something dramatic had occurred making this, her last commercial voyage.
Simply seeing the people attending the meeting would alert intelligent observers that something was afoot. No one outside the secretive cabal could have fathomed the reasons why these dedicated enemies and cutthroat competitors were about to meet in collegial harmony. Besides Alexandra Tarasova-Yusupov, Mandarin Wáng Wen Sheng, and Wáng Caihong, his daughter of the Wáng Family Tong, others included Hou Eadric of the criminal enterprise Three Families Tong, Harvey M. Dent of Dent & Co., Patrick Queensbury, representative of the East India Company, Walter David Russell, chief executive of Russell & Co., Wǔ Guóyíng of the Ewo Hong, a Qing dynasty business conglomerate [co-hong] established in Canton—which served as the quasi-Qing government representative, Abram Tarasova representing the Tarasova-Yusupov Co., and Taipan James Matheson of the Jardine-Matheson Co.
The Mysterious Alexandra Tarasova-Yusupov Page 38