Chapter 86: The Kunlun People

Sandbank Telecom's Village Net Access currently has only a few dozen users, but customer engagement is generally very high. Overnight, everyone seemed to return to the familiar life they once had — WeChat, selfies, forums, all enjoyed with great relish — and public satisfaction shot straight up.

The facts proved: within a familiar framework, most people are still rational. Once they saw the stickied post, everyone quickly grasped the underlying message — whether it was a certain Chairman personally stickying it, or a group of high-level figures instantly boosting it, this kind of "ventriloquism" was something the Transmigrators were familiar with and could accept. The conflict was thereby successfully kept within a smooth curve and resolved without incident.

Just imagine: everyone suddenly summoned to a meeting resembling a struggle session, the people on stage spraying spittle as they drone on endlessly, while below, the mass of losers — most of whom had never been qualified to attend political infighting meetings and couldn't read the hidden expressions and gestures — stare dumbfounded… The effect of such a meeting certainly wouldn't be very good.

From the very moment of its formation, the Transmigration Company was a standard political-economic bloc. The term "Company" was merely a front; all decisions and meetings were, from their point of departure, entirely political.

After the storm had passed for a few days and he saw that the Company's order had been restored to a satisfactory degree, Xia put up another stickied post: Soliciting brief descriptions of our faction's origins (contributors receive one pack of Yellow Crane Tower).

While grumbling that this old goods really put on airs, already starting to rule the village by tweet, people racked their brains to write skits — Yellow Crane Tower had long since reached the status of a maiden in Dayuan, this couldn't be passed up.

The early Transmigrators had basically all brought their own luggage. As numbers grew and cabin space tightened, many of the later Transmigrators didn't bring personal luggage. But this was very unfair — one part of the group had to just watch others smoke? So during the Hangzhou period, luggage was reissued once: each person was limited to half a cubic meter, and future Transmigrators would be handled the same way.

One person exploited a huge loophole in this — who? Xia Beggar.

Xia Beggar was the very first to Cross Over, a naked Crossing Over with nothing brought. However, before the second wave of Transmigrators arrived in Hangzhou, the supermarket sundries Cao Chuan casually bought in the Tangzhuang backyard had no accounts. So when the Company did its first inventory, Xia Beggar, with great foresight, pointed out: an entire wall of sundries was his, General Manager Xia's, personal property…

The reason Xia Beggar can still casually pull out a pack of Yellow Crane Tower to run a prize quiz, when the nicotine fiends of Dayuan are now scrounging smokes everywhere with zero dignity — this has its origins.

Of course, Yellow Crane Tower wasn't so easy to earn. This topic had requirements: it had to make people outside the Ming state, such as Japan, believe the Transmigrators were noble figures from the Great Ming. At this stage, this was the best cover. And then this explanation also had to feel plausible yet not quite right to genuine Ming People, convenient for shirking responsibility when Turning Hostile later.

Half a month after the fall of Shang Hall, Johannes van der Hagen finally walked once more into the familiar Governor's Residence. The period of house arrest had not left him overly haggard; this Commercial Agent of the Dutch East India Company, a native of Zeeland Town, possessed an acute power of observation befitting his professional requirements.

There may have been some panic in the first two days of captivity, but after a few days of free observation, Van der Hagen could already be certain that he would one day return to his old home of Zeeland — the occupiers of Shang Hall were not barbarians.

A few senior VOC staff were permitted to live inside Shang Hall and were exempt from labor. As long as sunlight allowed, sunning themselves on the drill ground at the gate drew no obstruction. The occupiers were usually very busy, the two sides had no common language, and Cai, the only one Responsible For communicating with them, rarely appeared.

After being led to the entrance of the Governor's Residence by a tall Soldier carrying a strange firearm, Van der Hagen knew that the negotiation he had long awaited had arrived.

The familiar Governor's Residence was already completely transformed. Now, several sets of tables and chairs were placed inside, making it feel cramped and chaotic. Some strange objects were laid out on the wooden tables: including palm-sized rectangular pieces of Glass with Iron Plates mounted on the back; and slightly larger folding Iron Plates, coated with beautiful purplish-red or silvery-white lacquer, were also placed on the tabletops.

These strange objects, along with the large, Blue Glass panels that had been installed on the Roof a few days earlier and shocked everyone, gave Van der Hagen a much clearer understanding of this mysterious faction: they must have glass factories and possess glass production technology far surpassing Europe.

Amid his wild thoughts, he had already reached the far end of the Governor's Residence, and as expected, he saw Cai beckoning to him from a corner. Van der Hagen approached, removed his hat, and bowed in salute. Cai Feiming nodded in acknowledgment and gestured for the Dutchman to sit.

This corner had once held a wooden cabinet containing firearms and belts; now those things were nowhere to be seen. The corner had been transformed into a small conversation nook with a circle of chairs.

"Van." Cai Feiming offered a Cigarette as he spoke: "I've been authorized, starting today, to engage in a certain degree of 'exchange' with you."

"Before that, might I have the honor of knowing which faction the gentleman I am speaking with Belongs To?" Van der Hagen politely declined the offered tobacco: "This question has troubled me for a long time."

"Hehehe." Cai Feiming smiled, the smoke slowly exhaled from his mouth making his face appear somewhat hazy: "On the remote northwestern border of the Ming state, there is a land occupied by high mountains. The name of this land is 'Kunlun,' and we come from there. From now on, you may call us the 'Kunlun People.'"

"Wow, although that sounds very… 'fantastical,' but, very well, may I take it that you are subjects subordinate to the Ming Emperor?"

"A faction with Inheritance Rights to the Empire." Cai Feiming flicked away his cigarette ash, then said with grave formality: "Our King is the heir of an ancient faction that possesses indisputable Inheritance Rights to the Ming Empire, although at certain times, the current Imperial Government will make ambiguous treatment of this point."

"I believe I have understood." — Van der Hagen had once again figured things out.

A group of fallen Nobility exiled to the borderlands during a dynastic change. Back then, they must have had a prince of dubious bloodline, perhaps a bastard son: this could easily be guessed from Cai's constantly emphasized declarations of Inheritance Rights.

Now their descendants, for some reason, had migrated and occupied Dayuan. These so-called "Kunlun People" must be rebels! They concealed their bone-deep hatred for the Ming Emperor, they pretended not to care, but in truth, they were extremely eager to reach agreements with all external forces, so as to construct their commercial network and use rolling gold coins to support their great cause of restoring the kingdom! Yes, it must be so, Van der Hagen thought, stroking his chin.

"So, Cai, our formal topic today should be negotiating the return of the great East India Company's property in Dayuan and the compensation for losses, correct?" Having clarified the situation, Van der Hagen's Blue eyes glittered as he fixed his gaze on Cai Feiming and spoke slowly.