Chapter 76
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: First Strike, Fatal Mistake (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
When a person experiences a completely unexpected accident, their vision narrows and their judgment becomes impaired.
If such incidents occur in succession, it is only natural to fall into a state of panic.
Even for a man like Lin Zexu, this was no exception.
On the way back to Guangzhou, having hastily boarded a ship in what was almost an escape.
As he slowly regained his senses, Lin Zexu felt an intense, inexplicable sense of unease.
‘…What is this? How did things end up this way?’
He hadn't expected to be able to confiscate the opium during this meeting, and he couldn't deny Killian's指摘 that he had other ulterior motives.
From the beginning, he knew that the amount of opium stored on Lintin Island was immense, though he didn't know the exact quantity.
It might have been possible in Guangzhou, but on an island under Britain's effective control, they had no power to confiscate their goods.
Crucially, what nation would hand over such a vast amount of merchandise just because they were told to, unless they had a gun to their head?
It was all money, after all.
To begin with, the justification wasn't very strong. If the opium had entered Qing territory, it could be concluded that there was a clear intent to distribute it there.
But the goods stored on Lintin Island had not yet been transported anywhere.
Of course, it was as clear as day that it would all eventually enter the Qing Dynasty, but who would be convinced if you said, "You're going to commit a crime, so I'll kill you in advance"?
Thus, Lin Zexu's true objective was to pretend to negotiate about the opium while confirming whether Britain had some sort of relationship with Joseon or Japan.
But he had never, not even in his wildest dreams, expected something like this to happen.
"You morons! Do you have any idea what you've done! I clearly told you to only investigate secretly, yet you kill British merchants and set fire to their ship? What you've done is an act of declaring war on Britain!"
To murder merchants and burn their ships while negotiating on their territory?
This was an outrage that would leave them speechless even if the other side brought an army to attack them immediately.
"G-Governor! We've been framed!"
"Framed? What do you mean, framed! The evidence is too clear!"
"We only searched their ships secretly, as you commanded, Governor! But then a fire suddenly erupted on the ship, and we just fled in a panic. But murder!"
"What nonsense are you spouting! Are you saying the British set fire to their own ship and reported their merchants missing?"
Just as he was about to unleash a torrent of rebukes, Lin Zexu suddenly realized the source of the unease he had felt earlier and stopped talking.
What if the British side had seen through their intentions and staged the whole thing to pin the blame on them?
They had been demanding evidence of trade with Joseon or Japan for some time, so it wouldn't have been difficult to guess their intentions.
Since Qing ships were no match for British merchant vessels at sea, the only time to investigate was when they were docked in a port.
But they wouldn't have evidence on them while docked in Guangzhou, so the only option was to strike them at their home base on this island.
What if they had anticipated that, set a trap in reverse, and his side had fallen for it perfectly?
It wasn't impossible.
No, in fact, it made sense.
No matter how reckless his subordinates were, would they really go as far as killing merchants and setting fire to a ship?
"If you truly didn't kill them… No, it's meaningless anyway. Now that the evidence is out, no matter what we say, it will just look like we're making excuses."
"But we are truly innocent!"
This is driving me mad. My head is genuinely throbbing.
Should I really conclude that it was a setup?
But there was no proof of that, only plenty of evidence that his subordinates had caused the incident. Would it be wise to make such a claim?
In fact, considering it calmly, the possibility that his subordinates had messed up and were now trying to cover their tracks wasn't low either.
He could drag things out by claiming he would conduct a thorough investigation, but if it was revealed that his men were lying, the problem wouldn't end with them.
Lin Zexu himself would inevitably be finished as well.
‘What should I do? Should I push the narrative that we were genuinely framed? No, perhaps there's a way to be more assertive?’
It might be better to take a hardline stance rather than making clumsy denials and getting beaten down for it.
In any case, the Son of Heaven had told him not to hesitate to use force if necessary. So even if his subordinates did burn the British merchant ship, it would be the result of obeying the Son of Heaven's command.
—It is an objective fact that they were sailing to Joseon or Japan, but they kept denying it, so we investigated, and they resisted, leading to a fight.
If he framed it like that, wouldn't Beijing be unable to hold him responsible?
He had merely been faithfully following orders.
No matter how he racked his brain, this seemed to be the right course of action.
‘Yes, rather than making clumsy excuses, it would be safer to push the narrative that it was the result of following His Majesty's command.’
Considering only the burned merchant ship, one might think it was a British setup. However, there was still an unresolved puzzle that made it too risky to jump to conclusions.
It was possible that someone other than the subordinates who received his orders had killed the British merchants and burned the ship.
Otherwise, the fact that all the opium was burned to a crisp made no sense.
One could argue the burning of the merchant ship was a setup, but why would the British burn their own opium?
It might have been believable if only a portion of the opium had been burned, but it was clear that almost all the opium stored on Lintin Island had been rendered useless.
The financial losses suffered by the British merchants from this would be astronomical.
If the goal was simply to create a pretext for declaring war, the deaths of the merchants and the burning of the ship would have been sufficient.
Meaning, there was no need to burn the opium as well.
The fact that it happened anyway suggested that the likelihood of it being a setup was not very high.
In Lin Zexu's common sense, neither the British merchants nor the British government had any reason to ruin the opium traders.
The very people who had been enthusiastically selling opium and throwing a fit when told they couldn't were now burning it?
Even a simple consideration showed it didn't add up.
"Could it be that His Majesty gave a secret order to someone other than me?"
As the situation became clearer, the general outline seemed to be taking shape.
If what the Son of Heaven truly desired was war.
If, no matter what he did, war was inevitable, then as a loyal subject, his only duty was to better serve the emperor's will.
The chaos in his mind subsided, but instead of relief, a colossal pressure weighed down on his chest.
As he gazed at the land that was once again coming into view in the distance, Lin Zexu's eyes sank heavily with worry.
***
If you've come to the 19th century, the best way to avoid going insane is to live with a 19th-century sensibility.
Looking at this place with modern emotions and morals, it appeared as nothing more than a den of demons teeming with psychos and sociopaths, making it hard to maintain one's sanity.
It was better for both myself and those around me to compromise where necessary, but there were still areas that I could never physiologically accept.
For me, drugs were one of those areas.
Without even needing to attach a moral reason, drugs are something that can never be perfectly controlled.
For now, they were only being sold to other countries, but who could say there was no chance of this stuff being sold in Britain in large quantities if things went wrong?
That didn't happen in the original history, but with the butterfly effect, one never knew what might occur. I couldn't treat this issue with the naive optimism that everything would be fine.
And as a result.
William Jardine, who had not only lost his fortune but was now saddled with immense debt, sat before me, his face a vacant mask, his soul seemingly gone.
I could well imagine how it felt to be thrown into the abyss overnight, but that was that, and this was this.
I questioned the man who stared at me with the hollow eyes of a zombie.
"What is the extent of the damage from the fire?"
"…It's all burned. All of it… At most, we might be able to recover a few dozen chests."
If only a few dozen could be salvaged out of thirty thousand chests, that was less than one percent remaining. It was safe to say it was all gone.
Other merchants had also suffered greatly, but Jardine had possessed a uniquely large quantity of opium, so his losses must have been beyond imagination.
"I never imagined the Qing Dynasty would resort to something like this. The governor keeps denying he ever gave such an order, though."
"Those bastards loaded our opium onto their ships—everyone saw it, so what is this nonsense! And what about our merchant ship that was burned and the men who went missing! You must send warships at once, level their port, and demand reparations! What is your duty as a minister! You must guarantee the interests and safety of your citizens!"
"Ah, yes, of course we will. That's why I called you here. At this point, war is unavoidable, but it will take years to conclude. Considering the process of receiving reparations, it could take a minimum of three to four years, don't you think? My concern is whether you can all hold out until then. I understand you've incurred considerable debt to the East India Company to purchase that opium."
"That… well…"
At the mention of debt, Jardine's face, which had been contorted in a shouting rage, instantly turned ashen.
It was tragic that the Qing had burned all the opium, but would the East India Company, which had extended them credit, say, ‘Oh, that’s a shame, don’t worry about paying us back for four years’?
The East India Company, already struggling with declining performance after losing its trade monopoly, was hell-bent on turning a profit any way it could.
"Th-This is the government's failure to protect us, so the government should protect us until the reparations come in…"
"I wonder. If you had suffered damages during legitimate trade, perhaps. But in this case, you were attacked while trading an item that is strictly forbidden in the Qing Dynasty, are you not? We would have to examine the legalities, wouldn't we?"
They brought this upon themselves by trading illegal goods, so would pleading with the government to cover their losses get them anywhere?
As Jardine slowly regained his senses, his eyes began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Th-Then what am I supposed to do? If I can't make the payment, it's not just a matter of bankruptcy."
Considering how viciously the opium cartel and the East India Company collected their debts, the moment Jardine lost all his opium, he was already a dead man walking.
If he returned to Britain, he'd be found floating in the Thames with a bullet in his head before a month was out, vanishing without a trace.
"Hmm, this is truly weighing on my mind as well. If only I had known those Qing bastards were so unhinged, I could have taken precautions."
"M-Minister. If I go back like this, I'm a dead man. Please, somehow…"
"Actually, as you said, my overconfidence in the Qing was a contributing factor, so it seems only right that I take some responsibility."
"Really? Thank you! Thank you, Minister!"
"To do that, there are a few things I need to know."
Just squeezing the local merchants wouldn't be enough to damage the opium cartel's main body back in the home country.
Of course, if the local business collapsed, they would go down with it, but who knew if those bastards, in their desperation, might just bring the opium back to Britain and sell it there.
If I was going to crush them, it had to be completely. And I needed to ensnare the politicians who were backing them as well.
"Tell me who the merchants have been dealing with until now, what connections they've made back home, and the details of their lobbying with the cabinet and Parliament. If you do, I will take responsibility for your life, no matter who comes for you."
"…What? B-But that's…"
"I'm not asking for this for no reason. I need to know who might be after your life to be able to do anything about it. Whether it's a merchant or a member of Parliament in Westminster, how can I protect you if I don't even know who the enemy is?"
Don't want to cough up the information? Then go ahead and run from your creditors until they catch you and kill you.
Even if war broke out, victory itself was already a given.
Therefore, I had to consider what would happen after the war ended.
It would be foolish to be optimistic, thinking that since it would ultimately bring enormous profit to the home country, I was set for a string of successes. I'd be liable to get stabbed in the back.
The opium-related parties, the only ones who lost out in this war, were highly likely to view me unfavorably.
Many of them had likely agreed to send me to solve the opium problem, but separate from the immense profits Britain would gain from the war, the opium business itself would suffer a massive deficit.
Those types would, nine times out of ten, attack me for my "diplomatic failure" and pressure me to step down.
Since I had no intention of tolerating the opium cartel from the start, I had no desire to improve relations with them.
My British Empire had no need for drugs in the first place.
"Will I… truly survive if I provide you with the information?"
"Of course. It will be difficult to get back into the opium business, but I hear there are plenty of business opportunities in the New World. I will see to it that you can make a new start there."
At the point where he had lost everything and was left only with debt, Jardine's answer was already decided.
He didn't deliberate for long before finally letting out a ragged breath and nodding his head.
At last, from his lips began to spill the dirty traces of collusion, which would become a useful weapon for me to wield after the war was over.