San Francisco.
A two-story Chinese restaurant in the center of Chinatown.
This restaurant was opened by Dum Gai's cousin, and it had closed its doors to other guests this afternoon.
In a private booth on the second floor, sandalwood incense curled into the air.
Intendant Li sat in the seat of honor, with two attendants standing by his side.
Dum Gai sat in the guest seat below him.
"Foreman Dum. I have observed that you seem to have quite a lot of face in this port. Even those blond-haired, blue-eyed Westerners are very polite to you."
Intendant Li picked up his teacup and gently brushed away the floating foam.
"This is somewhat unexpected for me. The Imperial Court had heard previously that Chinese laborers were subject to much bullying in America."
Dum Gai smiled and picked up his own teacup.
"In response to your Excellency, in the past, we were indeed treated worse than pigs or dogs. White miners and local thugs in California would beat, smash, rob, and burn us if they didn't like the look of us. The government's police were also biased toward them."
Dum Gai set down his teacup, a hint of reverence showing in his eyes.
"But it's different now. Our group works for the Metropolitan Trading Company. The company's boss set down rules. As long as the workers show up on time, the company provides protection. Those guards in the security team with guns don't care if you're white or black. Anyone who dares to touch the company's docks or workers is shot dead on the spot."
Intendant Li frowned, somewhat puzzled.
"This Metropolitan Trading Company... could it be the Imperial Merchant of the American court? To possess such power over life and death?"
In Intendant Li's understanding, only an Imperial Envoy holding the Emperor's decree or a Royal Business could possess private armed forces and ignore local government.
"It's not the government's; it's a private foreign firm."
Dum Gai shook his head.
"A private foreign firm?!" Intendant Li was greatly shocked.
"A mere merchant dares to use firearms in the port? Does the local Governor not intervene?"
Dum Gai let out a bitter smile with a hint of mockery.
"Your Excellency, you have just arrived in America; you may not yet understand the rules here," Dum Gai explained patiently.
"Here, the Governor's official seal is sometimes not as effective as the company boss's checkbook."
Intendant Li set down his teacup and said solemnly, "Foreman Dum. To be honest, I have been ordered here this time to purchase a batch of the highest quality steel smelting furnace equipment for the Imperial Court's Beiyang Fleet and the Tianjin Machine Bureau. I also need to purchase steel rails for building railroads and copper wire for laying telegraph lines."
Intendant Li looked at Dum Gai.
"Our original plan was to pay a visit to the Governor of California. We would ask the American government to step in and contact those foreign factories for us. Purchasing in the name of one nation to another would show the majesty of the Great Qing."
After hearing this, Dum Gai waved his hands repeatedly.
"You mustn't, Excellency, you absolutely mustn't."
Dum Gai leaned closer to the table.
"If you go to the Governor of California, he will only treat you as a fat sheep to be fleeced. He'll introduce some second-rate factories to you and take a massive kickback in the middle. Moreover, for those truly top-tier pieces of equipment, the government has no say at all."
"How so?" Intendant Li was confused.
Dum Gai cleared his throat and began to analyze the true power structure of this continent for the Qing official.
"Your Excellency, those giant steam cranes you saw on the docks just now. The rails you saw when you took the train, even the electric lights we use for illumination in the city at night. These things... in more than half of California, even the entire several Western states..."
Dum Gai reached out and drew a large circle in the air.
"All of these belong to a single family."
"The Argyle Family."
Dum Gai spoke the surname in a tone of awe.
Intendant Li's face was full of disbelief.
"A single family? How is that possible? Are there no other merchants in the American West?"
"There are, but they are very small. And basically, they all have to listen to them."
Dum Gai began to list them one by one.
"For instance, if you want to buy goods from foreign firms, the Metropolitan Trading Company controls sixty percent of California's import and export throughput. Most of the goods on ships and trains are theirs."
"If you want to buy steel rails and smelting furnaces, Lex Steel under the Argyle Family is the largest steel plant in all of America. Even the government has to buy their steel to build railroads."
"Then there's the newspaper news. The California Daily, the San Francisco Chronicle, and so on sold on the streets of San Francisco... most of them are owned by a single boss called the News Media Company. That is also an industry of the Argyle Family. Whatever they want the newspapers to write, the common people can only read."
Dum Gai took a sip of tea and continued to bombard Intendant Li's understanding.
"Then there's the telegraph wire you want to buy. The Western Union Telegraph Company has spread copper wires across the entire America. Even when the Governor sends a telegram to the President in Washington, it has to go through their poles. There are also dozens of large ranches and metallurgical plants in the interior, all under their name."
A deathly silence fell over the private booth on the second floor.
Intendant Li and his two attendants were as stunned as if they were listening to a fairy tale.
One must know that in their Great Qing,
Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants were the lowliest class.
Even someone like Hu Xueyan, who had a red-topped hat, had to refer to himself as a humble subordinate before Li Hongzhang.
No matter how much wealth a merchant had, a single official document from the Imperial Court could lead to the confiscation of their property and the extermination of their clan.
But in this Western nation that claimed to be democratic and free,
A private family actually controlled trade, steel, public opinion, communications, and land.
How was this a merchant?
This was clearly an Emperor who did not need to ascend a throne!
This kind of monster, whose wealth rivaled a nation and who even held sway over the government, had completely exceeded the understanding of these feudal bureaucrats.
"Foreman Dum..."
Intendant Li swallowed hard.
"Is there truly no exaggeration in what you have said?"
"Every word is true." Dum Gai's expression was serious.
"Your Excellency. Here, the US dollar is the Emperor. The Argyle Family controls the most dollars and factories; they are the true masters of this land. Even the Governor has to act according to their whims."
Intendant Li took a deep breath, trying to calm the stormy waves in his heart.
He was a man who got things done.
Since the Governor was useless, he had to find the person who was useful.
The Imperial Court's Westernization Movement could not wait; he had to bring back the best machinery and technology.
Since there was a true 'King' in this land, they had to go and seek an audience with this King.
"Foreman Dum."
Intendant Li stood up and straightened his official robes.
His gaze became extremely solemn, even carrying the seriousness of seeking an audience with a high official of a superior state.
"May I ask where the head of this Argyle Family currently resides?"
"In New York on the East Coast, there is a tall building called the Empire State Building. I heard it is their family headquarters," Dum Gai replied.
Intendant Li nodded.
He turned his head to look at the two attendants who were also in a state of shock.
"Immediately go and book train tickets to cross the continent," Intendant Li issued his decision.
He turned back to look at Dum Gai.
"Since this place is ruled by this Mr. Argyle, then we shall not go to the Governor of California's yamen."
Intendant Li flicked his horseshoe sleeves.
"Then please lead us to pay a visit to this helmsman of the Argyle Family. Let us see just what kind of personage this Western Emperor who wears no dragon robe truly is."
The sandalwood incense in the second-floor private booth was still burning slowly.
When Dum Gai heard Intendant Li's words—"Then please take us to pay our respects to the helmsman of the Argyle Family"—his hand jerked violently.
Scalding tea splashed onto the tabletop, dripping down the wood grain and onto the floor.
Ignoring the mess, he stood up directly from his chair, waving his hands frantically.
"That won't do, My Lord! That absolutely won't do!"
Dum Gai's face turned pale, his voice laced with undisguised panic.
Intendant Li frowned.
Secretary Zhang, the aide sitting beside him, gave a cold snort.
"Foreman Dum, what is the meaning of this? My Lord is a dignified Fourth-rank Intendant of the Great Qing Empire, traveling abroad by imperial decree. Could it be that visiting a mere American merchant is beneath him?"
Secretary Zhang's tone was unfriendly.
"My Lord, you misunderstand."
Dum Gai stomped his feet in anxiety and hurried to explain.
"It's not that it's beneath him; it's that I simply cannot see him. My Lord, you think too simply of the Metropolitan Trading Company."
Dum Gai extended a finger, tracing the hierarchy on the tabletop.
"I, Dum Gai, am just a shift foreman at San Francisco's Deepwater Pier No. 7. I manage a few hundred stevedores. Above me is the pier supervisor. Above him is the dispatcher for the San Francisco branch. Further up is the manager of the entire Western Subsidiary. And the Western Subsidiary is merely a branch sent by the New York headquarters to manage Pacific coast operations."
Dum Gai swallowed hard.
"The helmsman of the Argyle Family you mentioned is on the top floor of the Empire State Building in New York, thousands of miles away. Forget me—even the Mayor of San Francisco or the Governor of California wouldn't be able to enter that building without an appointment and permission from the headquarters."
"If I were to beat my chest and promise to take you to see him, I would be lying. In their eyes, I don't even count as an ant."
After hearing this, the displeasure in Intendant Li's eyes slowly dissipated, replaced by deeper contemplation.
He was well-versed in the ways of the Great Qing officialdom.
As soon as Dum Gai broke it down like this, he immediately understood the inner workings.
"I understand," Intendant Li nodded.
"The gatekeeper of a Prime Minister is himself a seventh-rank official. This Argyle Family is seemingly already the uncrowned king of America. The hierarchy under him appears even more rigid than the Six Boards and Nine Ministers of the Imperial Court."
Intendant Li picked up his teacup.
"Since we cannot see the principal, how then shall we discuss business?"
"My Lord, we cannot see the principal, but I can help introduce you to our 'Frontier Official' here."
Dum Gai immediately offered a strategy.
"Mr. Witt O'Neill, the manager of the Metropolitan Trading Company's Western Subsidiary. He is the person in charge of the entire West Coast."
Dum Gai patted his chest.
"Although Mr. O'Neill is only a subsidiary manager, his power in California is staggering. The assemblymen in the State Legislature have to be polite when they see him. Port taxes, railway freight permits—he can settle it all with a single word. If you want to buy things, finding him will definitely work."
Secretary Zhang interjected from the side, somewhat skeptical.
"Can a mere branch manager make decisions on the procurement of heavy military equipment?"
"He can," Dum Gai said with certainty.
"The Metropolitan Trading Company doesn't just sell grain, cloth, and kerosene. They have channels for guns, cannons, machinery, and steel. As long as the amount is large enough, Mr. O'Neill will naturally send an urgent telegram to the New York headquarters for instructions. It's much better than us running around like headless flies."
Intendant Li pondered for a moment.
"A local official is better than a distant superior; it should be so. Then I shall trouble Foreman Dum to introduce us to this Mr. O'Neill tomorrow."
With the official business settled, the atmosphere in the private booth relaxed.
Outside the window, the clamor of San Francisco's Chinatown drifted up.
The cries of street vendors and the sound of carriage wheels rolling over stone slabs mingled together.
Intendant Li looked out the window at his compatriots, who wore queues and walked in a hurry.
"Foreman Dum, observing your speech and mannerisms, you seem quite knowledgeable. You do not seem like an ordinary coolie," Intendant Li began to ask about the issues he cared about.
"What is the situation in America really like? Are all the subjects of our Great Qing living and working in peace and contentment here as you are?"
The smile on Dum Gai's face faded.
He sat back in his chair and sighed.
"My Lord, I am knowledgeable because I learned the foreign language in the company organization here and read the newspapers every day. In our Metropolitan Trading Company's breakroom, the San Francisco Daily and telegram news from New York are placed there every day."
"This place, America, is a man-eating meat grinder, but also a dream-making money tree."
Dum Gai began to tell this group of Great Qing officials about the America he saw in the newspapers and experienced personally.
"The prosperity you see at the port is just the tip of the iceberg. The newspapers say that in New York on the East Coast, they've already started planning ten-story buildings with steel skeletons. And the telephone—it allows people to speak directly across a dozen miles, just like being face-to-face."
"Their railway network has already begun to cover the entire country densely. One can cross from east to west in just a few days."
Intendant Li and his two aides listened, dumbfounded.
"Speaking across a dozen miles? Isn't that like having 'Favorable Wind Ears'?"
Interpreter Wang couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
"It's absolutely true; one is installed right in Mr. O'Neill's office," Dum Gai nodded in confirmation.
Then, his tone became heavy.
"As for the lives of us Chinese... My Lord... except for those of us following the Metropolitan Trading Company, the others live worse than dogs."
A flash of grief and indignation crossed Dum Gai's eyes.
"Back when the Pacific Railroad was being built, tens of thousands of Chinese workers were recruited. On the cliffs of those Nevada Mountains, some foreign foremen forced our people to blast rocks with gunpowder. How many died? Not even a number was left. When the railway was completed, the foreign bosses were in the photos opening champagne. Our people didn't even have a place to stand."
"Now that the railway is finished, those of us who can't go back have flooded into the cities. The white workers think we've stolen their livelihoods. There's a fellow in California named Denis Kearney who gives speeches on the sandlots every day, inciting anti-Chinese sentiment."
Dum Gai clenched his fists.
"They smash our laundries and burn our restaurants. If they encounter a lone Chinese person on the street, they beat or curse them. The local government doesn't care at all, or even secretly condones it. Because those white people have votes in their hands, and we don't."
The private booth fell into a dead silence.
Intendant Li's hand gripped the armrest of the chair tightly, the wood making a slight creaking sound.
"Then you..." Secretary Zhang looked at Dum Gai.
"We are lucky."
Dum Gai relaxed his fists.
"Although Mr. O'Neill is also white, he is of Irish descent. I heard the big boss gave an order forbidding the Irish from participating in actions against us Chinese. The Metropolitan Trading Company only wants people who can work. We are willing to endure hardship and don't cause trouble. The company gives us guns and lets us protect the docks ourselves. With the Vanguard Security sign hanging, the San Francisco police and gangs don't dare touch the blocks where we are."
Dum Gai looked directly at Intendant Li.
"My Lord. Here, what protects us is not the Dragon Flag of the Great Qing. It is the company's rifles and payroll."
Intendant Li remained speechless for a long time.
He picked up the tea, which had long since turned cold, and drank it in one gulp.
The gap was too large.
It wasn't just the gap in machinery and guns.
This way of operating—perfectly combining capital, violence, and order—completely overturned his understanding.
He stood up.
"Foreman Dum, thank you for your heartfelt words today."
Intendant Li's voice was somewhat low.
"I shall trouble you to lead the way tomorrow. I truly wish to see what kind of grand sight this foreign firm—which can shield the subjects of our Great Qing and possesses wealth equivalent to a nation—actually presents."