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

But Nio shook his head. “It is not I whom the Heavenly King wishes to deliver the message. It is you.”

“Me?” Whiteparish stared at him in astonishment.

“Yes. The Heavenly King cannot come himself. He must remain in Nanjing. Nor can his cousin, whom you call Daniel, be spared. But Daniel has told the Heavenly King that he trusts you entirely. The British respect you. No one would doubt your word. And you know Lord Elgin personally. You are the perfect person to explain to Lord Elgin what we ask and what we offer. The only reason the Heavenly King sent me was because I know you. I am to tell you everything, then leave. All our lives depend on you.”

“Oh,” said Cecil.

“I am to reveal to you the Taiping strategy and battle plan.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be secret?”

“We trust you.”

Whiteparish considered. “You understand I cannot hide anything from Lord Elgin?”

“I understand.”

“You may tell me, then,” said Whiteparish.

“The emperor’s forces have almost surrounded Nanjing. They hope to throttle us.”

“Can they?”

“Maybe. If they don’t give up. And as long as they keep getting supplied.”

“Where do the supplies come from?”

“Through Hangzhou city, from the coast at Zhapu.”

“Have you forces outside who can relieve you?”

“No need. We have General Li.” Nio smiled. “The only Taiping leader who wears spectacles. Looks like a schoolmaster. But the men worship him. Very cunning.”

“What is his plan?”

“We break out. A few thousand men, very fast. Attack Hangzhou, maybe Zhapu. The emperor’s army will chase us, leaving not so many troops around Nanjing. We double back and the whole Taiping force attacks the emperor’s men left at Nanjing.”

“Split the enemy and then smash the divided parts. You think it will work?”

“Yes.” Nio nodded. “General Li is very good at this.”

“And then?”

“Another breakout. This one strikes north, up the Grand Canal. But not far. Just enough to protect our flank. Then cut across to the coast at Shanghai. Two days’ march.”

“You want to take Shanghai?”

“We want the harbor. The Chinese defenses at Shanghai are nothing. Easy to take.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something? Shanghai’s not an old fort and a fishing village anymore. It’s the one treaty port that’s really open, and it’s grown. There are foreign concessions outside the fort now, not just merchant factories, but whole communities—British, French, American. What are you going to do about them?”

“We only want the fort. Not the concessions. This is the message for Lord Elgin: Tell the Western communities to fly a yellow flag over every building—house, church, store. Our troops will know: Touch any foreigner under a yellow flag and you’ll be executed. Tell your people: Just stay indoors until the fighting’s over. It won’t take long.”

“And then?”

“Business as usual.”

Whiteparish wondered: Was this the whole story?

“What else do the Taiping want from us?” he asked.

“Only what I’ve said.”

“You mean, don’t interfere between the Taiping and the emperor. Remain neutral, as we call it.”

“Of course.”

On the face of it, the message made sense. When Lord Elgin came, it would be to settle the relationship with the emperor of China and open up trade. Cecil didn’t imagine Elgin would wish to involve his troops in a sideshow battle between the emperor and the Taiping.

“What about arms?” Once or twice he’d heard rumors of British merchants discreetly running arms up to Nanjing for the Taiping.

“You can always buy arms,” Nio answered. He smiled. “When it comes to selling arms, there are no nations on the high seas.”

“So that’s everything?”

“No. Did you notice, when you spoke of Lord Elgin, that I already knew it was he who would come?”

“Yes. But it made no sense.”

“I will tell you why. Some time ago, the Heavenly King had a vision, in which he was told that God was sending a great man to help him. After praying further, the Heavenly King was certain that this great man is Lord Elgin.”

“I see. How curious.” Cecil frowned. “We’ll have to see, won’t we?”

“So this is the further message from the Heavenly King to Lord Elgin. The Taiping are friends of the British. We share the same religion. The old Manchu dynasty is corrupt and crumbling. It is God’s will that we should replace it with a Christian kingdom, where the British and other Christian people will be welcome to send missionaries—for we know what good people you are—and also to trade freely. We shall open the doors of the new kingdom to you.”

“It is a powerful message.”

“Daniel told me to say to you that you may trust this message.”

“We can have consuls in the ports? An ambassador in Beijing?”

“Why not?”

“And the trade will be free? Our merchants can go up the Yangtze River and sell cotton?”

“Of course. The only items the Heavenly King cannot approve are alcohol and tobacco. He believes they are bad.”

“I don’t think that would be a problem.”

“And opium, of course. But all the Christian missionaries are against the wicked opium trade. Daniel was able to assure the Heavenly King about that.”

“Ah,” said Whiteparish, and fell silent. “We must go step by step,” he said at last.

“That is all my message,” said Nio. “Will you deliver it?”

“I promise,” said Cecil. “How long will you stay?”

“One day at the mission with Daniel’s family. Then I have another duty to perform.”

“What’s that?”

“I am going to see my Big Sister.”

—

It was not until his children were tucked up in bed that night, and he and Minnie were dining quietly together, that Cecil was able to share his thoughts.

“You know, my dear,” he said after telling her everything that Nio had proposed, “Nio may be deluding himself. The Taiping king may be using him cynically. But if the message is genuine, the implications of all this could be very great. The prospect of our missions having free access to the whole of China…it’s what we’ve always dreamed of.”

Minnie was a little tired. Her back was hurting. “If it’s God’s will,” she said quietly.

“There are some,” he mused, “who believe that a Christian China is prophesied in the Book of Isaiah. The prophet