by Eric Flint
Mike squirmed. “Well…I do get paid a salary.… I am owed one, that is.… And there are some gadgets from Grantville that I took with me, to sell if I can get a good enough price.… And eventually there will be more gold field royalties; it’s only a matter of time.”
Liu Rushi was silent for a time, then said, “Don’t do it, Mike. If something goes wrong, you could find yourself a bondservant to Zheng Zhilong. If he wants your services badly enough, he could drag his feet on the development of the gold field just enough so you are trapped.”
“I could refinance the loan with someone else if I had to.…”
She shook her head. “I have been down that slippery slope.… I strongly advise against it. I am so happy you care enough about me to want to do this. But wait until the gold field is in full production, and you can pay the contract off in full without a loan. In the meantime, a much smaller payment to my madam, perhaps a hundred taels, will keep her from hassling me to see other men over the coming year. And perhaps I can help you get a better price for those gadgets than you would on your own. I know many wealthy, influential people.…”
Mike shook his head firmly—almost violently, in fact. “No! I want to settle this, once and for all. I do not like the situation we’re in, and I dislike it more and more as time passes. Please let me do this. Please.”
After some time had passed—in matters like this, Liu Rushi was every bit the hardheaded pragmatic woman of China—she finally smiled. Very broadly.
“Okay,” she said. It was the first time Mike had ever heard her use the American idiom. He took that as a good omen.
Epilogue
Year of the Rat, First Month (February 7–March 6, 1636)
From the Imperial Office of Transmissions, Beijing
Message to Provincial Governor of Nan-Zhili, in Nanjing, and to Prefect of Luoyang:
The will of heaven was manifest in a thunderstorm that was visible over the capital some days ago. A lightning bolt was seen traveling diagonally downward from a small cloud to a larger cloud. This may be compared to the ideogram for the family name of our former Nanjing minister of war, Lu Weiqi, who retired to his home in Luoyang in his grief over the incident at Fengyang. Moreover, this happened just as I was playing the board game Weiqi, which is a homonym for his name, with the Beijing minister of war.
Our interpreters of omens advise that this is a signal that the Jade Emperor favors the restoration of Lu Weiqi to his former rank and position. Make it so.
By order of the Emperor of Lofty Omens
Message to Prefect of Hangzhou:
It has come to my Imperial attention that our servants in Anhai, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Tongcheng, and Wuhan have come into contact with envoys, scholars and merchants from a hitherto unknown land of barbarians, which calls itself the “United States of Europe.” To reach the Celestial Empire, these “star barbarians,” as my servants have named them, have traveled for forty thousand li, across several oceans.
I have been informed that in Nanjing, these barbarians humbly offered for the consideration of our Nanjing Ministry of War certain ingenious contrivances that they thought might prove useful against the northern barbarians and the Japanese pirates, and, while visiting Tongcheng, these barbarians assisted that city in its defense against bandits and rebels. My military commission in Wuhan subsequently inspected the barbarian weapons and reported that while they are of course inferior to those of the Celestial Empire, they are of the opinion that the barbarians’ enthusiasm to assist the Celestial Empire should be rewarded by purchasing some of their devices. The decision as to whether this is in the best interests of the Empire can best be made if these devices are demonstrated to my Beijing Ministry of War, which is more familiar with the needs of our armies on the northern and western frontier.
The barbarians have also represented that they have skill in reading the heavens that exceeds even that of the Jesuits that presently serve in my Bureau of Astronomy. Since the accuracy of the calendar is of importance to the Celestial Empire, it behooves us to bring their astronomers to Beijing, where they can be put to the test.
Consequently, it is ordered these star barbarians be escorted, with due regard to comfort and security, but as soon as practicable, to our capital of Beijing, where they may humbly lay their tribute before our Throne, and where our servants can better consider their claims.
By order of the Emperor of Lofty Omens
Zheng Zhilong’s office
Anhai
Guan the Stork quietly entered the admiral’s office. Zheng Zhilong was reading a long letter, and Guan knew better than to interrupt him. At last, Zhilong motioned for him to speak.
“Excellent,” said Zhilong. “And I have heard from Brother Swallow. The emperor has given permission to the USE embassy to advance to Beijing. Perhaps they are already on their way; I wish I knew.”
“A real coup on your part,” said Guan. Even though he was in the Zheng’s inner sanctum, he lowered his voice. “Do you think they can save the empire from the threats you told me about, the bandits and the Manchu?”
“If they have the courage to admit they are from the future.… And if the idiots in the Ministry of War believe them.… Yes.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Then the Zheng family will build its own empire, a maritime empire,” Zhilong replied. His voice was a soft whisper, in volume, but Guan didn’t miss the steel in the tone.
Glorious Exhibition Hall
Hangzhou
Jim Saluzzo carefully lowered the Traeger pedal generator—this was the demonstration model from the Hall of Lightning in the recently closed Glorious Exhibition—into the wooden box it had been shipped in originally. He tied down the pedals so they wouldn’t move, and put cotton bags over them.
“How’s the packing going?” asked Eric Garlow.
“Slowly but surely. You can help by rolling up banana leaves.” He pointed to a pile of them.
Eric complied, starting a pile of rolled leaves.
“So how do you feel about it?” asked Jim. He picked up several of the rolls and deposited them in the box, using them more or less like twentieth-century packing peanuts.
“About the invitation to Beijing?” Eric smiled. “It’s a big step forward. The Dutch weren’t permitted to send an embassy to Beijing until the Manchu kicked out the Ming, and it was a dud. The Portuguese embassy of 1518 wasn’t permitted to go to Beijing until 1520 and was ordered home, without ever seeing the emperor, after the emperor’s death in 1521. The Jesuit Father Matteo Ricci arrived in Macao in 1582. It wasn’t until 1598 that he was able to visit Nanjing and Beijing, but he was just part of the entourage of a high official, not an imperial emissary. It wasn’t until 1600 that he was treated as a tribute emissary and then he had to finagle the privilege of remaining in the city. Now, of course, the Jesuits have an established foothold, in the Astronomical Bureau.
“Of course, it raises the stakes quite a bit. The Jesuits are going to be a lot more worried about us once we arrive in Beijing. I am not sure quite how much influence they really have in court, but that influence will be arrayed against us.”
“Which is where I come in,” said Jim.
“Yep. Harder for them to challenge an up-timer who’s a Catholic and an astronomer. And we still have our ace-in-the-hole: that four of us are from the future. I just don’t want to play that card until I am confident that they will react favorably, not throw us in jail as tricksters or sorcerers.”
Eric took a deep breath. “Or we have no other choice.”
Jim chuckled. “Well, look on the bright side. Whatever happens to us in Beijing, at least we’ll have plenty of Chinese proverbs to guide us. One man’s disaster is another man’s delight. A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections. A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.”
“You’re not helping, Jim.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think ‘a merry heart goes all the way’
ought to cheer us up—and ‘a good medicine tastes bitter’ brace our spirits in moments of adversity.”
“Cut it out!”
“Not to mention the wisest saying of all: ‘Everything is ready except the east wind.’”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Loosely translated, it means that everything is ready except what’s crucial.”
“Cut. It. Out.”
Cast of Characters
Abbreviations
NUS: New United States
SoTF: State of Thuringia-Franconia
VOC: Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company)
SEAC: Swedish East Asia Company
CPE: Confederated Principalities of Europe
USE: United States of Europe
OTL: Old timeline
NTL: New timeline
CDT: Created Down-Timer
HDT: Historical Down-Timer
Note: All Chinese names are given in the
modern pinyin transliteration system.
Up-timers Going to China
James Victor Saluzzo (1978–), Catholic, as of RoF, college senior with major in physics. Post-RoF, as radio operator in USE army, then science teacher at Grantville HS. For mission, serves as radio expert, head of ground crew for ballooning, science teacher, and would-be court astronomer. Third-in-command of USE mission.
Martina Goss (1977–), Catholic, high school graduate with some college. Jim’s girlfriend and later wife (1634), correspondence secretary for SoTF Consular Service and later for mission.
Eric Garlow (1977–), not a church member, as of RoF, college senior with major in Chinese. Post-RoF, in NUS combat unit, and subsequently in USE military intelligence. Second-in-command of USE mission.
Mike Song (1980–), Taiwan born Christian, as of RoF, college sophomore at CMU. Post-RoF worked as engineering drafting trainee in engineering firm. For mission, serves as chief translator, balloonist, and Jim’s assistant.
Other Up-Timers
Victor Saluzzo, high school principal, Jim’s father.
Vicky Saluzzo, Jim’s twin sister.
Tony Mastroianni, head of high school science department in July 1633.
Lolly Aossey, geology teacher at high school.
Mike Stearns, Prime Minister of CPE and later of USE.
Jason Cheng, Mike Song’s uncle, an engineer.
Jennie Lee Cheng, Mike Song’s aunt, a mathematician.
Jason Cheng Jr., Mike Song’s cousin.
Danny Song, Mike Song’s older brother.
Ashley Baldwin, Danny’s wife.
Larry Mazzare, Catholic priest, later appointed Cardinal Protector of the United States of Europe.
Cora, owner of Cora’s Café in Grantville.
Steve Jennings, bicycle manufacturer.
Down-Timers Going with USE or SEAC mission to China
Johann Alder Salvius (HDT) (1590–), studied medicine, philosophy and law. In Swedish diplomatic service since 1624; general war commissioner (living in Hamburg) 1631–34. Married to much older woman. Head of USE mission.
Anders Hansson (CDT), Salvius’ servant.
Jacob Bartsch (HDT), holds degrees in medicine and mathematics; Johannes Kepler’s assistant in astronomy (and son-in-law), death in 1633 was butterflied by Ring of Fire.
Jacob and Eva Huber (CDTs), brother and sister, from Zwickau mining family, on the geological survey team.
Zacharias Wagenaer (HDT) (1614–OTL 1668), cartographer, also on the survey team.
Colonel David Friedrich von Siegroth (HDT), artillery and mining expert.
Gunner (Sven) and assistant gunner (CDTs).
Doctor Johann Boehlen (CDT), University of Heidelberg, balloonist. Previously appeared in Cooper, “At the Cliff’s Edge,” Grantville Gazette IX.
Maarten Gerritszoon Vries (HDT) (1589–OTL 1647), surveyor, pilot and Asia expert.
Aratun the Armenian (CDT), from New Julfa by way of Venice, expert on silk trade.
Judith Jansdochter Leyster (HDT) (1609–OTL 1660), professional artist.
Doctor Rafael Carvalhal (CDT), Jewish physician, graduate of University of Padua, with emergency medical training in Grantville, and son Carlos.
Peter Minuit (HDT) (158x–OTL 1638), former governor of New Amsterdam. In OTL, became governor of New Sweden (Delaware). In story, the chief merchant of the Swedish East Asia Company (SEAC) delegation to China.
Captain Hamilton (CDT), Scot in Swedish service, captain of the Groen Feniks (formerly Kalmar Nyckel).
Captain Lyell (CDT), Scot in Swedish service, captain of the Rode Draak, an East Indiaman of Dutch design.
Other Down-Timers in Europe
Don Francisco Nasi (CDT), spymaster of New United States and later the United States of Europe.
Father Athanasius Kircher (HDT) (1602-OTL 1680), Jesuit priest and polymath.
David Pieterszoon de Vries (HDT) (1593–OTL 1655), ship captain, former member of the VOC governor-general’s staff, and in NTL, promoter and sometime-governor of USE colony in Suriname. See Cooper, 1636: Seas of Fortune for NTL activities.
Willem Usselincx (HDT) (1567–OTL 1647), Flemish merchant, holding a 1625 Swedish commission to establish a “General Company for Trade to Asia, Africa, America and Magellanica.”
Marcus Koch (HDT), Mint Master of Stockholm (in office OTL 1628–1661).
Gabriel Bengtsson (HDT), Lord High Treasurer of Sweden (in office OTL 1634–1652).
Axel Oxenstierna (HDT) (1583–OTL 1654), chancellor of Sweden.
Karl Karlsson Gyllenhjelm (HDT) (1575–OTL 1650), lord high admiral of Sweden.
Don Fernando (HDT) (1609/10–OTL 1641), Spanish prince and cardinal (hence “cardinal-infante”), later also in NTL, king in the Netherlands.
Admiral Don Antonio de Oquendo (HDT) (1577–OTL 1640), Spanish admiral (captain-general). In NTL, commander of Spanish naval force nominally blockading Amsterdam.
Commodore Henderson (CDT), commander of squadron of timberclads that relieved the siege of Amsterdam.
Chinese High Officials
Zhou Youjian, the Chongzhen Emperor (HDT) (1611–OTL 1644).
Xiong Wencan (HDT) (–OTL 1640), governor of Fujian Province.
Lu Weiqi (HDT) (1587–OTL 1641), minister of war in Nanjing.
Zheng Family and Their Associates
Zheng Zhilong (HDT) (“Zhilong” means “Child-Dragon” and hence his brothers call him “Brother Dragon” [aka Nicholas Iquan]) (1604–OTL 1661). Oldest of the Zheng brothers. Former pirate chieftain, now an admiral and head of a successful overseas trading family. Married to a Huang.
Jelani (CDT), lieutenant in Zhilong’s Black Guard.
Zhilong’s brothers:
Zheng Zhifeng (“Feng the Phoenix”) (HDT) (–OTL 1657), third oldest of the brothers.
Zheng Zhihu (“Hu the Tiger”) (HDT)(–OTL 1635), fifth oldest of the brothers.
Zheng Zhiyan (“Yan the Swallow”) (HDT), fourth oldest of the brothers.
Zheng Zhibao (“Bao the Panther”) (HDT) (–OTL 1661), second oldest of the brothers.
Zheng Zhiguan (“Guan the Stork”) (HDT) (–OTL 1651), seventh oldest of the brothers.
Lin Hong (CDT), captain of war junk under Zhilong’s command.
Huang Menglong (HDT), scholar-official in Fujian Province, linked by marriage to Zheng Zhilong. Helped negotiate Zhilong’s transformation from pirate to naval officer.
“No-Leg” Huang (CDT), Chinese pilot in Batavia.
Zhang Wei (CDT), assistant assigned to Judith Leyster in Fuzhou.
Liu Rushi and Her Associates
Liu Rushi (HDT) (Liu Yin, Liu Shi, Yang Ai) (1618–OTL 1664), courtesan, poet and artist.
Chen Zilong (HDT) (“Wozi”) (1608–OTL 1647), poet from Songjiang, and former lover of Liu Rushi.
Xu Wujing (HDT), friend of Liu Rushi and Chen Zilong.
“Peach” (CDT), Liu Rushi’s maid.
“Big Hands” Yao (CDT), Liu Rushi’s bodyguard.
“Big E
ars” Li (CDT), Liu Rushi’s servant.
Qian Qianyi (HDT) (1582–OTL 1664), in OTL, married Liu Rushi and tutored Big Tree.
FANG Family and Their Associates
Fang Yizhi (HDT) (1611–OTL 1671), student from Tongcheng, sitting for provincial examination of 1633. In OTL, became famous for his interest in Western thought.
Fang Kongzhao (HDT) (1591–OTL 1655), Yizhi’s father, a retired official.
Fang Weiyi (HDT) (1585–OTL 1668), Yizhi’s aunt and foster mother, and a noted poet and artist. A widow.
Fang Mengshi (HDT) (1582–OTL 1639), Yizhi’s other aunt, married to official (Zhang Bingwen) stationed in Jinjiang.
Xudong (CDT), servant to Fang Yizhi.
Yong (CDT), servant of Fang family.
Xun (CDT), ditto.
Zhang Bingyi (HDT), friend of Fang Kongzhao, from Tongcheng.
Sun Lin (HDT), friend of Fang Yizhi, from Tongcheng. Married to Yizhi’s younger sister.
Yang Tingshu (HDT) (1595–OTL 1647), teacher from Suzhou, friend of Fang Yizhi, and fellow member of the Fu She.
Gu Ruopu (HDT) (1592–OTL ca. 1681), native of Hangzhou, female poet-scholar.
Shang Jinglan (HDT) (1604–OTL ca. 1680), from Shaoxing, female poet, married to Qi Biaojia.
Huang Yuanjie (HDT) (ca. 1620–OTL ca. 1669), from Jiaxing, newlywed, female. Known to history as professional artist and writer.
Liang Mengzhao (HDT), from Hangzhou, female dramatist, poet, painter. Married to Mao Nai.
Shen Yixiu (HDT) (“Wanjun”) (1590–OTL 1635), wife of Ye Shaoyuan, lives in Wujiang (Suzhou).
Ye Shaoyuan (HDT) (1589–1648), retired official.
Zhou Qi (HDT), childhood friend of Yizhi.
Yao Defu (CDT), male resident of Tongcheng and belonging to one of the leading scholar class families.
Chinese Bandits and Pirates
Ma Shouying (HDT) (“The Old Muslim”), bandit leader.
Zhang Xianzhong (HDT) (“The Yellow Tiger”) (1606–OTL 1647), bandit leader.