Chapter 2160: Shizong Chronicles 28: City of Morning Light, the Old White Dragon

Zhao Hui was a city built along the water, with dense harbors and crisscrossing waterways that surrounded countless buildings inside and outside the city with water, some even standing directly upon it. Due to the constraints of the terrain, Zhao Hui City was not regular in appearance; various odd arrangements and designs destroyed the overall coherence and beauty of traditional Han-style architecture, yet when combined with the surrounding environment, it did not seem out of place.

The city's scale was not large—strictly speaking, it was like those small towns in the empire's heartland that one could pass through in a few li, perhaps even smaller—but it was clearly layered. Zhao Hui City, encircled by canals, had six gates divided between water and land, allowing ships to pass directly in and out.

The city was divided into inner and outer sections. The inner city was naturally the royal city, reserved exclusively for the residence and governance of the royal family; the outer city was larger, serving as the living quarters for Wu nobles, officials, and Han people of certain status and property, while the main government offices, institutions, and warehouses were also located in the outer city.

Order prevailed within the city, with strict patrols and tight security. This was also a universal characteristic of Zhao Hui City and of all Han cities and towns throughout the South Seas region—namely, racial segregation. The city was where the Han masters permanently resided.

Under normal circumstances, the native inhabitants were not permitted to enter the city. Of course, certain menial tasks—cleaning the city, hauling night soil, and heavy porterage—still had to be done by the barbarians. At the same time, some naturalized natives of a certain standing could periodically enter the city to make reports.

One could well imagine how vastly different things were inside and outside Zhao Hui City. "Dirty, messy, and poor" would be an apt description, yet it was precisely the port, commerce, land, and the vast settlements of natives outside the city that sustained the cleanliness and order within.

To be fair, the situation in Zhao Hui City did not match the ethos that a newly born nation striving hard and developing upward ought to possess. But considering the practical circumstances—Han sons and brothers crossing the seas to pioneer new lands, a task inherently arduous and fraught with immense sacrifice—should those who survived not enjoy wealth and comfort, and instead share hardships with the local natives?

At the same time, whether for ease of administration or to maintain rule, preserve the exalted status of the Han, and sustain their expansionist desires, a certain degree of exploitation of the natives was quite necessary.

Without exploitation, where would development and prosperity come from? Hard labor and law-abiding conduct, in a certain sense, are themselves a form of exploitation—only in the vast continent of the South Seas could the Han openly shift this exploitation onto the natives. This was the price of accepting civilization, and at the same time a spur and incentive for the natives; they were too lazy, too savage. How could the lazy and the riteless stride toward a bright and beautiful future?

Commoners from the Han heartland who came here, so long as they dared to fight and strive, could quickly become "Han masters" in the eyes of the natives. Of course, this situation existed only in the early days of pioneering; as time passed and the population grew, the threshold for upward advancement among Han immigrant communities kept rising.

Thus, both inside and outside the city, and in the vicinity of Zhao Hui, there were also many Han commoners. Although they enjoyed the same treatment as in the homeland, they did not possess "aristocratic" privileges. And that made sense—if one relied solely on the natives, their productive capacity could never supply so many Han masters. For many Han immigrants, a good life still had to be created with their own two hands.

The State of Gouwu was a place with highly feudal characteristics. Here, "feudal" referred to the enfeoffment of states and establishment of domains. In this country, almost all activities of every stratum, high and low, revolved around serving the nobility.

Its administration, justice, economy, people's livelihood, and even military affairs all carried out the will of the powerful. Compared to the Central Empire, the greed and exploitativeness of the powerful were greatly magnified.

At the same time, beyond the nobility, a new class called the "moneyed elite" had risen—a consequence of geographical factors. All these enfeoffed states in the South Seas possessed a strong commercial character; one could say none could stand without commerce.

Against this backdrop, the rise of merchant powers who had made their fortunes through trade was predictable. Although their voice in state affairs was still far from sufficient, they had already legitimately entered the ruling class, standing alongside the Han plantation owners as part of the upper structure of the enfeoffed states.

The rise of the new merchant class had already formed a tremendous tide throughout the South Seas. Possessing sufficient economic strength, they inevitably desired political status and protections commensurate with it. This was an instinct, and realizing it would still require a long road ahead.

Although the living environment of Han immigrants in the South Seas had changed,

the shackles of traditional concepts from the continent were not so easily broken once and for all—especially with the suppression of a large bloc of powerful nobles, who were the most formidable conservatives.

It was foreseeable that as commerce in the South Seas continued to develop and the strength and influence of the commercial class kept growing, it would eventually impact the ruling structure of the South Seas enfeoffed states.

But for now, they were not yet qualified; they still needed to accumulate. This era was still ruled by the feudal royal authority represented by the powerful. Even in the South Seas states, Confucian scholars and Buddhists held higher status than plantation owners and merchants.

Especially the former—this was the most fundamental guarantee and source of strength for the spread of Han civilization in the South Seas and the Han conquest of the vast continent. No enfeoffed state failed to value it. Since the first Confucian academy was established on Liangping Island during the Kaibao era, in the decades since, Confucian academies and schools of all sizes had sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain across the South Seas. Though their scales varied, the classical teachings of Confucianism were spread through this process, permeating this vast expanse.

Of course, the Confucian teachings that spread to the South Seas had clearly deviated from tradition. The Confucian schools of the empire's heartland, including the emerging regional schools, all heaped contempt upon the Southern Seas Confucian school, for barren lands could hardly produce fine Confucians, and also because Southern Seas Confucianism had become increasingly off-course, even wildly distorted...

"Taking passages out of context, tampering with the classics, and disgracing the sages"—these were the fierce condemnations and accusations leveled by the empire's traditional Confucians against Southern Seas Confucianism. There was far too much that was expansionist and lacking in benevolence, and even money-grubbing merchants could openly enter the propagation of doctrine. How could this not grieve the traditionalists deeply?

But no matter how much criticism came from the homeland, it did not affect the support—even veneration—that the various states gave to Southern Seas Confucianism. After all, none of those Confucian scholars who cursed so fiercely on the continent ever came south to correct things.

Moreover, Confucianism born on the continent, having arrived in the vastly different environment of the South Seas, naturally underwent changes—it was only fitting for the times. And Southern Seas Confucianism, apart from being at odds with the mainland Confucian establishment, also had considerable divergences within the South Seas itself, especially among the various states. Over the decades, it had sparked no small number of intellectual collisions...

But regardless, even as the major enfeoffed states drifted centrifugally from the imperial center, the Han of the South Seas, though culturally inheriting the same lineage as the empire's heartland, had also deviated in their development—by the Jianlong era, this was already especially pronounced.

Within Zhao Hui City stood a great Confucian academy—the state school of Wu—with over three hundred students, all sons of nobles, wealthy merchants, and hostages from naturalized native chieftains and leaders. Every student was a reserve force for Wu's ruling class.

In the settlements outside the city, there were likewise many Han schools, study halls, and private tutors that had developed around the Confucian academy. These were the grassroots forces spreading Han culture, and they too received support from the kingdom in both policy and funding.

Moreover, not just anyone could enroll; the radiance of knowledge, learning, and civilization was not a cheap commodity. Besides the expensive tuition that many Han immigrants were reluctant to invest in their descendants, there was also differential treatment by status. Yet over the decades, quite a few local natives had still discovered this path that could truly change their fate, selling everything they had to learn the advanced culture of the Han.

Such examples already existed in some numbers within Wu. Some clever natives who had been considered base-born even in the Brunei era, by drawing infinitely closer to the Han and through studying and mastering Han culture, had successfully escaped their original slave class to become upper-tier natives attached to and united with the kingdom's system—also serving as important tentacles for the kingdom to deepen its management and control over the indigenous population.

Opposite to Southern Seas Confucianism was the development of Buddhism, which was equally impressive—even more so than Confucianism. Clearly, the native peoples of the South Seas also needed more advanced deities to soothe and even redeem them in matters of faith.

Thus, outside Zhao Hui City, the most conspicuous structure was not the port, the markets, or the towers, but the temple gleaming with gold along the road leading to the city—Jialan Temple. Whenever the weather was clear, one could always see vigorous incense smoke rising in wisps; amid the resounding Buddhist chants, the natives who came to offer incense and bow in reverence outnumbered the Han. And Buddhism's positive role in the kingdom's rule was far more evident than in the empire's heartland.

Zhao Hui was a commercial port city. The docks of the outer harbor could accommodate large vessels drawing two zhang of water. The excellent hydrological conditions were matched by port facilities built and maintained at great cost,

which also attracted a great many merchant ships to call.

Of course, aside from the trade and commerce that relied on the port's advantages, the primary driving force behind Zhao Hui City's development lay in agriculture, fishing, salt production, and small-scale handicrafts.

Salt-making was a tradition here, and immigrants from Huainan (originally specially recruited by Zheng Zhi) had brought the advanced salt-making techniques and experience of eastern Huainan from recent decades, greatly improving output and quality. This allowed Zhao Hui's salt to be sold across islands and countries, reaching East and West Java (Xiyong and Dongyue) and even North and South Jinzhou (Qi and Liang).

The handicraft industry was entirely brought by Han immigrants, especially woodworking. Beyond the various carpentry tasks centered on Han-style architecture, the culture of wood carving and woodblock engraving had also spread noticeably, adding a touch of artistic atmosphere to the city.

By day, the port area inside and out was bustling, but those who labored, apart from the Han operators, were mostly natives at others' command. By contrast, night brought even more prosperity; whether inside or outside the city, the taverns and restaurants hardly closed before deep into the night.

After all, being in a tropical region, the days were scorching hot. Regardless of class, none of the Han noble masters were much inclined to go out; only at night could they feel a hint of coolness, enjoying the comfort of the sea breeze and savoring the fruits of their pioneering.

And at night, besides the brilliance of blazing lights, it also allowed things that could not bear the light to exist and transpire with greater ease and convenience. Under the cover of darkness, a three-masted fuchuan slowly sailed into Zhao Hui's outer harbor, and under the direction of a pilot boat, dropped anchor and came alongside at a berth that had long been cleared.

A row of torches was lit on the wooden pier. In the dim yellow light, several dozen sturdy men stood waiting with weapons in hand, and at their center was an old man with a thick, dense beard.

He appeared quite advanced in years, with a conspicuous scar across his face, but his eyes seemed to radiate sharp light that even the dense night could not conceal, and the awe-inspiring bearing released from within marked his uncommon status.

One might guess that this old man was a man of power in Zhao Hui City—and in fact, he was so throughout the entire state of Wu. His name was Shen Bailong, a viscount of Gouwu, a bona fide noble of the kingdom.

In the kingdom's peerage system, titles were not lightly bestowed. Apart from royal family members, only those who had rendered special and major merits to Wu could receive a title. Even Zheng Zhi, who had been designated the "foremost founding minister," was only an Earl of the Horse Post. From this, one could imagine that Shen Bailong's viscountcy carried no small weight in Wu.

This Shen Bailong was none other than the "Brother White Dragon" who had once been famous at the Shanghai docks, and one of the first batch of reclamation settlers who had led a band of brothers south to Brunei following Zheng Zhi. Back then, with a clever mind, outstanding courage, forceful methods, and the support of sworn brothers in life and death, Shen Bailong had risen meteorically within the reclamation corps.

Shen Bailong, as if he had found his organization, threw himself into his work with exceptional vigor and quickly stood out from the crowd. Under Zheng Zhi's promotion, he became mid-to-senior management in the reclamation corps. He participated in the extermination of several great Brunei families; he led his men sweating profusely, felling trees and breaking new ground to make room for subsequent immigrants; he led his troops to repel countless attacks by native tribes, galloping in all directions to pacify repeated rebellions; he advanced hundreds of li upriver, capturing tens of thousands of natives, livestock, and property; and Wu's navy of only a few dozen ships was also organized and built under Shen Bailong's specific charge...

Had his origins been a bit higher, an earldom would have been unavoidable. But the grant of a kingdom viscountcy was enough to demonstrate the kingdom's recognition and commendation of his achievements. Nearly thirty years had passed; the "Brother White Dragon" of old had become the "Old White Dragon," and he had also withdrawn from the front lines of the kingdom's military and political affairs—yet his power and status within the state had not faded in the least.

Over those thirty years, the formation of the Shen clan with Shen Bailong at its core had been a natural development. Besides his own children, he had also sent people to bring over daring and enterprising members of the Shen clan from his hometown in Zhoushan to bolster the Shen clan's strength in Wu.

Now, Shen Bailong was old, his beard white, his face covered in wrinkles—but old in years, not in spirit. Even past sixty, he still managed the family's business. And given his position in Wu, any business that warranted his personal attention was clearly no ordinary matter...