China by Edward Rutherfurd (historical books to read TXT) 📕

not like a fort. We can’t knock down and storm those walls. Besides, there may be a million people in there. If it came to house-to-house fighting, we’d just be swallowed up.”

“I didn’t say I wished to take the city. And I certainly wouldn’t destroy it, even if I could. We came here to trade with Canton, not ruin it. I just want them to surrender.”

“How will you do it?”

“Look over there.” He pointed. “Do you see that small hill a few miles away, with a pagoda on it? It’s right on the city’s northern wall. If I could get some cannon up there, they’d command the entire city. We could easily hit the governor’s yamen, for instance. And an impressive body of troops as well. Enough to frighten the Chinese. My guess is that if we’re bombarding from here, to the south, and they see us about to bombard and attack with a first-rate regiment on their north as well, they’ll offer terms in no time.”

“But how will you get the cannon to their destination? You can’t drag them for miles across the marshes, surely?”

“No. I need to bring the cannon and the troops up close to that hill by ship.” He looked towards Nio. “Ask him if it can be done. Are there inlets, water channels we could use? I’ll wager he knows.”

So Whiteparish asked Nio. And Nio remained silent for a time, apparently thinking, then shook his head.

“Tell him there’ll be a big reward,” said Elliot.

But still Nio sadly shook his head. “I don’t know those channels,” he replied.

“I think he’s lying,” said Elliot. “He’s always been helpful in the past. Why has he clammed up now? I could have him flogged, I suppose, if I must.”

Whiteparish gazed at Nio. “Let me talk to him,” he said, and took Nio to one side. “You think we’re going to kill many people, don’t you?” he murmured. “Like we did at that fort. Ordinary Chinese. Your people.”

Nio said nothing.

So Whiteparish explained that Elliot had no intention of killing the people or destroying the city. “It’s just a blockade. We might shoot at the governor’s yamen. Something like that. But when the defenders see our cannon and our troops, they’ll give up. We’ve proved it many times. This is Elliot’s plan. Nothing else.”

And at last Nio said, “I know you are a good man. Do you promise me this is true?”

Whiteparish paused for only an instant. After all, he’d said nothing that wasn’t true. This was Elliot’s plan. “Yes,” said the missionary earnestly, “I do.”

“I will be your pilot, then,” said Nio, “and show you the way to the pagoda hill.” He seemed sad. He didn’t ask the price.

—

Whiteparish could only thank God that the siege of Canton had been over in just a few days. People had lost their lives, of course, but there was no great massacre. Once the cannon began pounding the governor’s yamen from the top of the pagoda hill, the governor soon gave in.

Thank God that so many innocent Chinese lives had thus been saved. That was the main thing. But there was something else as well.

He’d given his word to Nio that his people would not be destroyed. And Nio had trusted him.

And what was Nio? A poor Hakka boy. A spy for hire. A drug smuggler. Probably a pirate, too. But he was not without honor. He’d initially refused to take them to the pagoda hill in order to save his people. If I’d betrayed his trust, Whiteparish reflected, I’d never have forgiven myself. Indeed, he realized, I probably care more for his good opinion than I do for that of my own cousin John Trader.

The deal that Elliot had agreed with the governor was very simple. “I’ve stopped the bombardment,” he told Cecil, “and agreed to withdraw all our warships and troops from Canton. In return, Canton will pay us six million silver dollars. At once.”

“So Canton is paying the opium compensation?”

“Certainly not. The emperor has forbidden that. The money is being paid by the city on condition that we cease hostilities and remove our troops. It’s an old Chinese practice, you know, paying tiresome barbarians to make them go away.”

“But it’s the same amount of money the British demanded for the opium.”

“Mere coincidence.”

“The British merchants will get the money, though.”

“Oh, I daresay. But the point is—from the Chinese point of view—that the emperor’s orders have been obeyed. He has not lost face.”

“So our warships and troops will all return home?”

“Oh no. I still have many demands that have not been addressed. I expect to attack up the coast again shortly. But that is not the concern of Canton.”

“What about the opium trade?”

“It was not mentioned at all.”

“It will continue?”

“Nobody has said that it will not.”

Whiteparish thought for a few moments. “So where does this leave us?”

“It leaves Canton exactly where it was before Lin came to confiscate the opium.” Elliot gave him a seraphic smile. “Where it leaves China is quite another matter. By the way, I have something for you. For Nio.” He handed Whiteparish a small bag of coins. “Tell him it’s my thanks for showing us the way to the pagoda hill.”

—

Emptiness. Nio felt only emptiness now. When he’d first run away from home, it had seemed an adventure, a life of freedom with the smugglers in the gulf, a chance to make money. And now he had money, well over a hundred silver dollars. So why should he be depressed?

He was older and wiser. Perhaps that was all. It had been one thing, as a boy, to resent the distant Manchu rulers in Beijing; but it had still been a shock to discover that China’s mighty empire could be humiliated by a handful of barbarians. He had only contempt for the Manchu emperor now. And the Han Chinese, and the mandarins like Shi-Rong, were scarcely better.

It seemed to Nio that the best Chinese man he’d met in the gulf was Sea Dragon. A pirate, of course,