Mandarin-Gold (38 page)

Of course, Lin was only a peasant who had secured his promotion by the immense effort of passing countless examinations. He had not been born to wealth and ease, and the room reflected his spartan, simple character. Kishen would have to alter this; it would need complete redecoration. He would set the work in hand just as soon as he had dealt with this tedious matter regarding the Barbarians.

The Emperor was as remote from all realities as the sun is estranged from the moon, so he would send him soothing messages, assuring him that the trouble at Canton was not worthy of the briefest of his Holy Glances. It was entirely a matter between the Red-Bristled Barbarians and corrupt and inefficient Chinese officials of the lowest and most insignificant class. It would all be dealt with speedily, as such unimportant altercations were always resolved when men of the high traditions and ancient lineage of Manchu turned their attentions to them.

This Barbarian Elliot, for example, was thousands of miles away from his own Government; and possibly his rulers were as ignorant of the true facts as the Emperor. Kishen would cajole and praise and flatter him, and somehow undertakings that would last at least long enough to see Kishen put of Canton and back on his vast ancestral estates, would be agreed.

He accepted the supremacy of British firepower and their troops, and those black soldiers from India in their outlandish uniforms, who would doggedly advance on a heavily defended fort and put to the bayonet or musket all its defenders, without regard to their own casualties.

Life was full of problems, and like a chess game, with real people as pawns, each possessed its own exhilaration. Problems, after all, only existed to be solved, as rivers existed to be bridged.

But in those comfortable and, soothing thoughts, Kishen, plump, rich, infinitely soft, a connoisseur of women with small pointed breasts, of mature rice wines and scented, spiced meals, completely miscalculated the dogged, earnest character of Captain Elliot.

Sitting in his. room overlooking the Praya in Macao, Elliot, received deputation after deputation from Kishen promising discussions, talks, anything but action. Finally, unable to accept any further procrastinations, and mindful of the approach of the rainy season; when all military activity would slow down, Elliot gave permission for British troops to seize two forts at the mouth of the Bogue which commanded the approach to Canton.

This was intended as an indication of what would follow if Kishen did not come to terms, and the main merit of the engagement was that it was short. The dying January afternoon ended with Chinese soldiers throwing away their bows and arrows and scattering across the paddy fields to escape the terror of British cannon.

Within an hour, both forts were taken and the Union Jack fluttered from the highest pinnacle. The advancing troops counted five hundred-Chinese dead and three hundred lying wounded. On the British side, there were no casualties whatever.

The way was now open to seize Canton, and at the same time; and at the other extremity of the Kingdom, to storm the ramparts of Peking. Kishen was astonished at the rapidity and success of the attack on the forts. Immediately, he sent out emissaries to secure an end to the fighting. The terms Elliot offered him were harsh, but he had no alternative but to accept. They included an indemnity of six million dollars, to be paid at the rate of a million a year over six years, to recompense the merchants for the opium they had surrendered; Hong Kong would go to the British Crown; trade would reopen again at Canton, and also at four other ports, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai.

All this was exactly as Jardine had proposed to Lord Palmerston in London, with the exception of Hong Kong. He had favoured the larger island of Chusan, but he was more familiar with that than with Hong Kong.

Elliot sat back in his cane chair in his office, justifiably pleased with what he had extracted from a shambles of indecision and no decision from London. Hong Kong, he knew from his own experience, possessed one of the best harbours in the world. He preferred it to Chusan for this reason, and because the natives on the island were friendly towards those Westerners already living there.

The British companies could build new warehouses, on Hong Kong Island and carry on their trade secure from all Chinese interference. The bribery of the Hong merchants would thus be a thing of the past. Opium could be stored on the island by the ton, and distributed with far greater ease than from the rotting, floating hulks off Lintin. The indemnity of six million, dollars would pay for the cost of the military expedition.

Kishen also allowed himself some congratulations. With no cards to play, either military or political, he had ended an invasion before it had properly begun, and saved his country from collapse. Hong Kong, so far as he was concerned, was only an island of scrub and swamp and serpents, with wretched peasants digging for clams or fishing. Such an unimportant island was a little price to pay for freedom from complete .subjection by Barbarians.

By agreeing to Elliot's terms, Kishen also secured the release of a considerable town, Ting-hai, on the road to the capital. From this, Nanking, China's second city, could have been threatened, and the vast Yangtze River blockaded. The Barbarians had apparently not appreciated the strategic value of Ting-hai,. and had willingly withdrawn.

The indemnity of six million dollars Kishen would easily extract from the Hong merchants, each of whom were individually worth two or three times as much. So what could have been a war of swift annihilation had ended with honour to both sides.

The Emperor would have to allow foreign ambassadors across his frontiers and trading from four ports instead of one, but this was bound to happen eventually in any case. Otherwise, life in China would continue as it had continued for centuries. In all the unhappy circumstances, Kishen felt convinced that no other negotiator could have secured such fortunate terms for his Emperor.

So, some time after this agreement had been reached, Kishen allowed himself a small celebration with a few friends, and rice wine and music and tumblers and jugglers; just as Elliot gave a dinner party to which he invited those colleagues most closely involved as his personal guests. Both men were glad to relax, for both had extracted from other people's errors very considerable gains for their two countries.

But both received — ironically, almost at the same time — news from their masters, which shattered their satisfaction and their dreams.

Elliot was called to the door of his house to accept a sealed envelope from the hand of a messenger who had sailed in one of Gunn's fast clippers, just landed from Calcutta. He read it, cigar in hand, under the flickering flames of the candles in his hall, and could barely believe the words on the page.

The letter was a personal communication from Lord Palmerston, who began bluntly: 'You have disobeyed and neglected your Instructions.

'You have deliberately abstained from employing the Force placed at your disposal; and you have without sufficient necessity accepted Terms which fall far short of those you were instructed to obtain.

'You were instructed to demand full compensation for the opium which you took upon you two years ago to deliver up. To ask Parliament to pay the money was out of the question. You have accepted a sum much smaller than the amount due to the opium holders. You were told to demand payment of the expenses of the expedition, and payment of Hong debts. You do not appear to have done one or the other.

'You were told to retain Chusan until the whole, of the pecuniary Compensation should be paid, but you have agreed to evacuate the island immediately. You have obtained the cession of Hong Kong, a barren Island with hardly a House upon it. Now it seems obvious that Hong Kong will not be a Mart of Trade, any more than Macao is so. However, it is possible I may be mistaken in this matter.

'But you still will have failed in obtaining that which was a Capital point in our view: an additional opening for our Trade to the Northward. You will, no doubt, by the time you have read thus far, have antici • pated that I could not conclude this letter without saying that under these circumstances it is impossible that you should continue to hold your appointment in China.'

So Elliot was dismissed. With glazed eyes he read his instructions about handing over his title and authority to a successor; and then details of his new posting. This was as far away from England and the East as his Government could locate: a position as British Consul in North America.

He read this news of virtual exile to a former colony with a mounting sense of irony and sadness. He had worked since his arrival for an understanding between Britain and China. Against all those who advocated war, he had hoped for peace until the very end. Now, he would have his wish; peace undisturbed in a diplomatic backwater.

Almost at the same hour, another messenger, red with dust from his long journey across the mountains, delivered a Scroll from the Emperor into Kishen's hand. He dismissed the man and read the Scroll with equal disbelief and horror.

'The Celestial Empire treats the Outer Barbarians with favour and compassion,' the Emperor began with a calm statement of fact.

'When they are obedient, We never omit to show them friendliness and goodwill, for We strive for universal peace. The English Barbarians, however, knew not to repent, but daily increased their insolent violence. It would not have been difficult for Us to call forth Our troops and annihilate them utterly. But we gave consideration to the fact that the said Barbarians presented addresses in which they asked for redress of certain grievances.

'To insure fairness for all, We delegated bur Grand Secretary, Kishen, to proceed to Canton and there examine the matter. On arrival he explained everything to the Barbarians, but they still dared to make excessive demands. We had declared them long ago to be fickle of temperament. Wherefore We have instructed the best provincial troops to hasten to Canton and there to extirpate them.'

He read on, the background of chatter and laughter from the inner room where his guests were gathered, now as totally unreal as the impossible orders he was being given.

The Barbarian Elliot was to be subdued immediately and brought in chains to Peking. The Emperor clearly knew nothing of the hard realities of the situation, for he wrote of moving armies that did not exist, of manoeuvring a navy that was already beaten like wheat beneath a thresher, of a situation that had been so misrepresented to him that it bore as little resemblance to reality as a devil mask bears to a human face.

But, of course, in his reply, Kishen could not mention these gross delusions. He would have to use guile, and humility and hope he might thus succeed in avoiding the Holy Anger.

Immediately, he called his secretary and began to dictate a reply to be carried back to Peking.

'After I, your slave, have perused the Sainted Words commanding me to wage war rather than follow diplomacy, I have this to submit.

'Whatsoever concessions I promised the Barbarians were made with the understanding that I should on their behalf petition for their grant. But Oh! I am ignorant and what I have done will not meet with the approval of Your Majesty. I tremble more than words can describe. As I, your slave, thought over the situation, I concluded that what happens to me can only be insignificant, but what affects the whole nation is of tremendous importance.

‘I, your slave, have actually abandoned all food and sleep, so deeply concerned am I by the situation. But the Barbarians have pledged themselves to return all they have captured. I beseech the Heavenly Face to take the lives of the masses into consideration, and grant, to us poor mortals extraordinary favour. The work of extirpation can be carried out later. I, your slave, have throughout acted for the general welfare. There is not a shred or sign of timidity in me.'

As the secretary finished the last ideograph on the ' scroll and carried it away to dry, one of the Hong merchants came out to find what was keeping Kishen from his guests. Usually, Kishen would have given some easy answer, but tonight his fear showed on his face. He explained the horror of the Emperor's message.

'What will happen to me?' he asked in an extremity of apprehension. The merchant was both rich and wise: he had survived the disgrace of Lu and Lin, and their predecessor who had failed to subdue, the Golden Dragon King. He would still be here after Kishen's departure.

'You will be taken to Peking in chains,' the Hong merchant replied immediately, his voice showing neither sympathy nor concern. 'Your property will then be confiscated, and you will be sent to some remote part of the Kingdom, which is forever drenched with rain or white with mist. There you will rot out your days, dreaming of what might have been.'

'You lie!' shouted Kishen, furious at the man's presumption. It was idiotic of him to have sought the opinion of one who had no long lineage, who was only a merchant, a usurer.

But even as Kishen spoke, he knew he was deluding himself. The Hong merchant was right; this was what would happen. Kishen leaned against the wall, eyes shut, trying to focus his scattered, terrible thoughts, to reassemble the detritus of his dreams, while all the time, out of sight, flutes wailed and gongs beat and his guests demanded more wine. Truly, his efforts to carry out his Emperor's orders had ended with strange results.

He had found peace and lost his career. He had achieved victory and won defeat.

MacPherson poured himself a pint of claret and took his usual chair in the corner of'the room.

'I hear Elliot's going,' he said to Gunn. 'In disgrace, poor fellow. It's a dam' shame, a total misunderstanding, for he, of all people, tried to secure an honourable agreement without bloodshed. And look what's happened to him! He's going to be sent as British Consul to Texas in North America. That's equivalent to exile in the far frontiers of the Celestial Kingdom — which is what is going to happen to his Chinese counterpart, this man Kishen.

'First, Viceroy Lu. Then Viceroy Lin. And now plenipotentiary Kisheh. It makes me thankful I am not a politician. As a merchant, I may go bankrupt — but at least I will never be banished.'