The Bund Chronicles - Chapter 46: The Corrupt Official Falls, the Lust for Power is Never Satisfied

In the early morning, the bitter wind howled, and lead-gray clouds hung heavily over the mansion of Lian Tinghuang, casting a depressing gloom over the entire estate.

Lian Tinghuang stood in front of the study window, his brow tightly furrowed, gazing out at the withered trees shivering in the cold wind, his heart weighed down with anxiety.

Today, Wu Jianzhang was coming. This should have been the visit of a distinguished guest, but he could not muster a shred of joy.

Stepping into the study as casually as if he were in his own home, Wu Jianzhang strode over to a chair, flicked the hem of his robe, and sat down with a casual swagger.

Having struggled and climbed through the ranks in the Thirteen Factories for many years, Shopkeeper Wu's eyes revealed shrewdness and worldly sophistication, as if there was nothing in this world that silver could not resolve.

Over the years, he had not only established connections throughout the business community but also wormed his way into the good graces of Liangjiang Governor-General Bichang. It was said that a mere fifty thousand taels of silver could secure the substantive post of the Su-Song-Tai Circuit Intendant.

That was Lian Tinghuang's direct superior; today, Wu Jianzhang held a mere prefect in utter contempt.

Ever since the imperial court signed treaties and indemnities with the foreigners, officialdom had grown increasingly corrupt and foul. The buying and selling of official offices had shifted from behind-the-scenes operations to blatant transactions, practically with fixed price tags.

Yet the inner workings were deeply complex. To get things done, one had to find the right person.

Han Chinese officials could hardly accomplish anything in this matter; one had to turn to the Manchus. This was because the Manchus were connected to the Imperial Household Department, and the vast majority of the silver from selling offices went straight into the imperial treasury.

There was another crucial reason why Wu Jianzhang was so arrogant—he was Lian Tinghuang's financial backer.

Back then, if not for his backstage maneuvering, Lian Tinghuang would not have known how many years he would have to wait to sit in the prefect's chair of Songjiang Prefecture.

"Shopkeeper Wu, I had the person you asked for brought in, but who could have foreseen that he would be rescued halfway?" Lian Tinghuang began slowly, his voice low and tinged with helplessness. "Is that brat truly just a minor clerk in the concession?"

He recounted the whole story from beginning to end. He had thought it a mere trifle—for the prefectural yamen to take a suspect from the county yamen was commonplace. Even if that person had died or vanished after arriving at the prefectural yamen, such matters had always been easily smoothed over in the past.

Yet this time, someone had actually dared to risk the extermination of their entire clan to hijack an official boat, completely defying everyone's expectations.

"Prefect Lian," Wu Jianzhang said, raising his teacup and taking a light sip, a sarcastic smile curling the corner of his mouth, "hasn't the public security of Songjiang Prefecture always been renowned for its excellence? Who would dare run wild in your territory and hijack an official boat without you having the slightest inkling?"

Lian Tinghuang did not fly into a rage; his expression remained calm and his tone steady. "That is precisely why I say this matter reeks of fishiness. If that Chen Lin were truly as simple as you claim, how could he provoke such chaos?"

"Could it be a coincidence?" Wu Jianzhang asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lian Tinghuang shook his head decisively, his tone resolute. "Absolutely not. With such a massive commotion, Qin Shaobo is no slouch; ordinary petty thieves lack the capability to hijack his ship."

Hearing this, Wu Jianzhang could not help but frown.

His reasons for targeting Chen Lin were twofold: first, Chen Lin had rebuffed his pawnshop, causing him to lose face in the business community; second, he had been commissioned by Jardine Matheson.

Currently, the competition between Jardine Matheson and Dent & Co. had entered a white-hot stage, and the emergence of Chen Lin had become an unstable factor.

Mr. Keswick believed that such a person must either be employed for one's own purposes or eliminated entirely, and could never be allowed to develop unchecked.

"Can't your prefectural yamen arrest him again?" Wu Jianzhang pressed.

Lian Tinghuang shook his head once more, a look of helplessness crossing his face. "Does Shopkeeper Wu not realize that we simply cannot enter the concession to make arrests? However, the moment he sets foot outside the concession, my men will take him down immediately."

"Lure him out of the concession..." Wu Jianzhang murmured in a low voice, pondering. "That seems feasible..." He calculated silently in his heart: while Chen Lin hiding inside the concession left outsiders helpless, there were always ways to be found within the concession itself.

Just then, a servant of the prefectural yamen hurried into the study and reported respectfully, "Master, lunch is ready. Will you be dining now?"

"Good, I'm coming right now," Lian Tinghuang replied aloud.

His life had always been strictly regulated; no matter how busy he was, he ate on time, and his daily meals remained virtually unchanged.

"Shopkeeper Wu, why don't you stay and share a simple meal?" He turned to look at Wu Jianzhang with an invitation. The two were fellow townsmen with similar tastes.

Wu Jianzhang waved a hand and stood up. "No need, I must head to the concession. Have your men wait outside the concession, ready to make the arrest at any moment."

"Very well, then I shall not see you out." Lian Tinghuang stood at the doorway, watching Wu Jianzhang leave with a complex look in his eyes.

This financial backer was simply too difficult to please; every interaction left him utterly exhausted.

"Master, the fish sent today is exceptionally fresh, jumping about vividly. The cook had to strike it several times just to stun it," the servant said, following closely behind Lian Tinghuang with a ingratiating smile.

"Mhm," Lian Tinghuang responded. No particular expression could be read on his face, but inwardly he felt deeply troubled.

At lunch, the fish on the table was indeed fresh and tender; the flesh was firm and delicate, melting on the tongue. Perhaps because it was excessively fresh, Lian Tinghuang unconsciously ate a few extra bites.

That night, lying in bed, Lian Tinghuang found himself utterly unable to sleep.

He felt his heart hammering like a drum, as if an unruly rabbit were bouncing around inside his chest.

With no other choice, he called for a bowl of calming soup to be brewed. Only after drinking it did he feel slightly better.

Assuming it was simply the result of recent overwork, he dismissed the matter from his mind.

Over the next few days, Lian Tinghuang continued his life according to routine, sleeping early and rising early each day to handle official duties.

Yet strangely, every night brought a fluttering heart, the symptoms growing increasingly severe and lasting longer each time.

Until the middle of the night, Lian Tinghuang was jolted awake by a violent bout of palpitations, feeling a crushing tightness in his chest and struggling to breathe. Unable to endure it any longer, he hurriedly sent a servant to summon a physician.

Physician Huang was a renowned doctor in Songjiang Prefecture who placed the utmost importance on regimen, routinely retiring early and rising early. Tonight, deep in sweet slumber, he was abruptly startled awake by a frantic pounding on his door.

"Physician Huang, wake up quickly! The Prefect is critically ill, please hurry and take a look!" several yamen runners shouted loudly outside.

Rubbing his sleep-heavy eyes, Physician Huang scrambled up, dressing hastily while running out in the company of the runners. "I haven't grabbed my medicine chest yet!" he suddenly remembered, crying out in haste.

A sharp-witted runner immediately turned back, sprinting to the apothecary to retrieve the chest.

By the time Physician Huang arrived breathlessly at the Prefect's bedchamber, Prefect Lian's eyes were wide open, his pupils dilated, his body rigid, and all signs of life already gone.

"Doctor, I beg you to save our Prefect!" the steward cried, tears streaming down his face as he pleaded with a sob.

People like them depended entirely on the Prefect for their livelihood, so naturally they did not want Lian Tinghuang to die thus.

Physician Huang raised an oil lamp to examine him closely, checked Lian Tinghuang's pulse, and then slowly shook his head, letting out a heavy sigh.

This silent gesture formally proclaimed the death of Lian Tinghuang.

"Oh, Master, how could you just leave us like this..." The old steward's weeping instantly echoed throughout the entire yamen, the mournful sound appearing exceptionally desolate in the quiet night.

For a prefect to die suddenly while in office was no small matter.

Early the next morning, the news was reported to the Governor of Jiangsu and the Governor-General of Liangjiang. Governor-General Bichang issued an order instructing the Su-Song-Tai Circuit Intendant, Gong Mujiu, to proceed and handle the funeral arrangements, and memorialized the throne to posthumously bestow honors upon the late Prefect.

Standing before the coffin of Prefect Lian, Qin Shaobo felt a lingering sense that something was amiss.

Yet Physician Huang had already concluded that the Prefect had died of a heart ailment, and as a subordinate official, it was not his place to request an autopsy.

With the Prefect gone, the official business of the yamen would be temporarily managed by him. However, he was too deeply tied to the late Prefect; if he failed to secure the prefectural post himself, the newly arrived prefect would undoubtedly view him as a thorn in the eye and a nail in the flesh.

Pan Qiliang had been waiting in secret within the prefectural city for news, slipping away quietly only after confirming the death of Lian Tinghuang.

Following this affair, his admiration for Chen Lin reached the point of utter devotion.

Chen Lin's mind was nothing short of brilliant; by comparison, his own brain was worth nothing at all, entirely incapable of devising such an exquisite scheme.

At first, Chen Lin had proposed poisoning the fish.

However, fish always had to be slaughtered and washed; ordinary poison could easily be washed away or bled out by the cook during preparation.

Moreover, Pan Qiliang could not sneak into the prefectural yamen and, rack his brains as he might, could find no way to administer the poison.

At the critical moment, Chen Lin came up with a solution.

He obtained a syringe from Reverend Medhurst, and had Pan Qiliang's men inject the liquid poison directly into the hollow leaves of scallions at a local farmer's home. Scallion leaves were hollow, and to preserve the natural flavor of the scallions, cooks usually did not split the leaves during washing, but simply rinsed the whole stalks and chopped them directly into the pot.

The mucilage inside the scallion leaves conveniently concealed the liquid poison.

And since the Prefect loved braised fish, which required a large amount of scallions to remove the fishy odor, the poison entered Lian Tinghuang's stomach without a sound or trace.

"Let's go. Finally, we can return to report on our mission," Pan Qiliang thought to himself with quiet pride. Eliminating a corrupt and discredited imperial prefect was a feat he could boast about for many years to come.

Upon learning the news of Lian Tinghuang's sudden death, Wu Jianzhang in Yangjing Town flew into a rage, snapping his gold-wrapped tobacco pipe in half with a single squeeze.

To boost Lian Tinghuang into the prefect's seat, he and several Cantonese merchants had spent upwards of a hundred thousand taels of silver back and forth, all of which had now gone down the drain.

It seemed he must plot an official rank for himself as soon as possible; relying on others was inferior to relying on oneself, and power was only truly solid when held in one's own hands.

Additionally, he had heard that the Governor's yamen intended to push forward the establishment of the Jianghai Customs House to alleviate increasingly severe fiscal problems.

Presently, both the imperial court and local authorities were strapped for cash. Massive indemnities had emptied the national treasury, and on top of that, having been defeated by foreigners, the court's prestige had been swept into the dust while rebellions erupted everywhere, suppressing them consuming vast amounts of funds.

The Liangjiang region had always been a vital financial tax hub, so the quotas allocated to it were naturally the largest.

To acquire silver now, the current imperial court cast aside all rules and precedents; as long as funds could be raised, they dared to sell any official post and accept any money.

In Wu Jianzhang's eyes, the Jianghai Customs House was a colossal money-shaking tree.

Once he controlled the Jianghai Customs House, not only could he rake in vast fortunes, but he could also use it to deal with foreigners and elevate his status in their eyes—truly killing two birds with one stone.