The Interlude: Digging for Gold in San Francisco

August 27, 1837, the seventeenth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign.

Xiangxing Bay, Linggu Temple, Xiachuan Town, Taishan County.

Wen Bucai boarded a steamship bound for the ocean. The sun had just risen above the horizon, and the sea breeze carried a salty, fishy smell. Fishermen depended on the weather for their livelihood, and they all said that the layered clouds in the sky were a sign of an approaching typhoon. They had to stock up on enough food before the typhoon hit, as they couldn't go out to sea for the next few days.

In recent days, more and more government officials and soldiers have been coming from the county seat to arrest people in the villages and towns. It seems that a new governor has been appointed. Everyone says that a new official makes a big splash when he takes office, and he wants to arrest the river bandits.

Wen Bucai was a river bandit; he had to escape.

There was also a priest on the steamship, a missionary from America. His children were all businessmen; in his early years, this priest had traded with merchants from the Wuyi region, doing all sorts of things.

--Sell Chinese silk, ceramics, and tobacco to the United States.

Later, as the priest grew older, he joined the Order of Charity, and handed over his family's property to his children to manage.

Wen Bucai originally wanted to ask the abbot of Linggu Temple for help, as he wanted to become a monk to avoid the government's search. However, Buddhism doesn't help the poor. He had no choice but to seek help from foreigners. By chance, he caught this steamship and escaped to the Americas with the priest, thinking about his future.

The priest's name was Kevin Richard, an old American whose family had settled in Columbia after Washington founded the nation. He Wen Bucai, a young man with a strong learning ability who had learned English in less than two weeks and could barely communicate in English.

On the day of departure, as soon as the ship left the port, Kevin pulled Wen Bucai to the deck, deliberately avoiding his children.

He believed this was an important test, that God had sent this young man to his side, and that there must be some mission for him to accomplish.

So old man Kevin asked.

"Were you a robber before?"

Wen Bucai replied with a grin, "That was before, that was before, Uncle. Can we not talk about that anymore?"

Kevin: "The monks at Linggu Temple are unwilling to help you, but I am, as long as you behave and don't use violence to harm others."

Wen Bucai: "Okay, okay! Of course, of course!"

Kevin: "Kevin, can you tell me why? Why did you become a robber?"

What reason could there be? I hardly remember these things Wen Bucai, I can't remember them very clearly, I only have some fragmented memories.

Although these things happened only six months ago, he still couldn't quite figure out the whole story. He had been lucid for far too long, and the memory areas of his cerebral cortex had reached their limit, so he could only recall some unforgettable and important events.

At this moment, his mind had returned to that of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old, and he looked just like that.

"Oh, Uncle Kevin, let me think about it carefully first!"

Wen Bucai spoke, he began to try hard to recall the cause and course of events.

"Around the beginning of the year, a young man came from Guangzhou. At that time, I was a peddler, traveling over mountains and valleys between counties and towns, delivering seafood to Taishan and bringing back black beans and shrimp from Taishan."

Kevin said thoughtfully, "That must have been very dangerous."

Wen Bucai immediately replied, "There's no such thing as danger or danger; it's all about making a living."

Kevin: "What's wrong with this young man?"

Wen Bucai: "This brother is from Guangzhou. He failed the prefectural examination and didn't pass. He doesn't have much money left and wants to travel back to his hometown of Huaxian by water, but he can't afford the fare, so he plans to hitch a ride as he goes."

As he said this, Wen Bucai asked Father Kevin for some tobacco and skillfully rolled a cigarette.

"This young man was traveling alone in the heavy rain. I met him in a dilapidated temple beside the main road. That temple was my usual inn where I would take shelter from the rain and spend the night. Occasionally, traveling carriages would also come to me to buy things."

"He had caught a cold and seemed quite ill. I used to be a barefoot doctor in the village. He was fair-skinned and looked like a scholar. He liked to grow a beard, and it was even well-groomed and quite handsome. I figured he wasn't some kind of robber or bandit, so I stayed with him all night."

Kevin: "God will surely reward you; this is the most virtuous and beautiful thing."

"Hey!" Wen Bucai exhaled a cloud of smoke, both amused and exasperated, and quickly waved his hand. "Don't mention any reward, Uncle. Something bad happened in the middle of the night."

"By the fourth watch of the night, the rain was pouring down harder and harder, and the dilapidated temple was still leaking. It looked like it was going to flood, so I climbed onto the roof to fix it. I picked a few bunches of large lotus leaves from the nearby White Dragon Creek and brought them back. My raincoat was starting to smell bad, and it was covered in sweat and mud."

"At first I didn't notice anything strange. After I repaired the roof, the rainwater flowed down the leaves into the shack, where my little donkey was tied up. But I couldn't hear the donkey's voice anymore."

"The thunder was so loud that my donkey got frightened and should have been braying all night; it's very lively."

"But I couldn't hear anything anymore, so I finally became alert, moved a few steps closer to the shack, and hid next to the window of the dilapidated temple, where half of the ceiling had collapsed."

"I hid behind the wooden carvings in the caisson ceiling; it drooped over, and I could glimpse the shack through the openwork painting of the Subduing Dragon Arhat."

At this point, Wen Bucai asked Kevin for some tobacco leaves and then rolled a cigarette.

"Good heavens, I saw a Pallas's Cat clinging to my donkey, sucking its blood!"

Father Kevin seemed not to understand. "Pallas's Cat? What's that?"

"It looks like a cat, but it's not a cat!" Wen Bucai said, describing his nervousness, "I was terrified; my heart was practically in my throat."

Kevin laughed, "You can be scared by a Little Kitty?"

"No, no, no! No, no, no, no, no! Uncle Kevin!" Wen Bucai described in a serious tone, "That Pallas's Cat was five zhang long and eight chi tall. My donkey could carry it in its mouth just like I could carry this cigarette—the Pallas's Cat's mouth was strangely shaped; when fully open, it could swallow half a hut. It had a thick tail, a chubby face, and shiny, oily fur; it looked fierce and menacing."

"Ah!" Kevin exclaimed in surprise, "It's a demon from hell! My God!"

"Yes!" Wen Bucai said fiercely, "I made a wasted trip! I was angry at the time! But I was also scared—I hid under the caisson ceiling, afraid that the smell would reach the Pallas's Pallas's Cat's nose. I was also relieved."

"This rain saved me! If the rain hadn't washed away the scent, I would have been eaten by the Pallas's Cat!"

"But I was still angry. I heard a strange creaking sound coming from the other end of the shed, and I thought the Pallas's Cat was chewing on a donkey's bone."

"I looked up again and was so angry my hair stood on end. This beast not only eats meat! It even tries to eat my cargo bins!"

Kevin, embarrassed and somewhat skeptical, said, "This demon really isn't picky about food."

"Who could tolerate this?" Wen Bucai explained with a wink, "I won't earn much money on this trip. After brewing medicine for the scholars who failed the exam, I'll have to go back to the pharmacy to restock. In the end, I'll be working for free for almost half a month."

Kevin: "You rushed out?"

Wen Bucai immediately backed down. "No way, I wouldn't dare."

Kevin: "And then?"

"I'll wait, I'll grit my teeth and wait." Wen Bucai pursed his lips, taking the opportunity to scoop tobacco leaves from the old priest's cigarette case, continuing to freeload. "I waited for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before I remembered that the small coal stove still had water on it!"

"I was so frightened that my soul almost left my body. The medicine was still simmering in the earthenware pot. If that monster smelled it, both the scholar and I would die. So I immediately went to put out the fire!"

"But once the fire goes out, the cold wind from outside the dilapidated temple will rush into the house, and that will be terrible! Something terribly wrong!"

"The scholar was lying across the Buddha shrine, but he seemed to feel cold. He coughed twice, turned over, and I immediately ran to the ceiling to check. The Pallas's Cat was gone! I don't know where that monster ran off to?"

Wen Bucai's eyes widened in terror.

"I've thought about it for a long, long time, but it's only a matter of a moment, I'm afraid it'll be too late!"

"I had originally patched the roof with lotus leaves, but it started leaking again. So I carried the scholar towards the gate, looking back as I went. I saw green eyes peering down from the roof at the Buddha shrine. They had already spotted us!"

"I ran frantically, grabbing my companion and fleeing for my life, trying to reach a large elm tree north of White Dragon Creek. That elm tree was so tall; perhaps this Pallas's Cat, unlike a tiger, wasn't so fat that it couldn't climb a tree."

"Luckily I ran fast!"

Wen Bucai clapped his hands, almost dropping the cigarette from his mouth. He straightened it and continued speaking.

"When we reached White Dragon Creek, I grabbed the boy and hid among the lotus leaves. I heard the sound of water behind me, and the Pallas's Cat was chasing after us relentlessly, its gaping maw bulging forward, its fluffy fur soaked with water, as if it couldn't run anymore."

"It stepped into the mud and let out a deafening howl, making my head buzz. The thunder and the beast's roar were driving me crazy."

"It was almost dawn when I carried the scholar up the tree, which startled away several Horse-Faced Monkey. I don't know if those monkeys were afraid of me or that monster."

"The rain shows no sign of stopping, but the sky is just beginning to lighten in the northeast. I wonder if it's almost over? That monster must be afraid of the sun too, right?"

"It wasn't fully light around us yet, and we couldn't see what was happening under the tree. The scholar was still asleep, sleeping like a log."

"I heard the sounds of carriages and horses, and the sound of steel swords being drawn from their sheaths under the trees—"

Even with his limited abilities, Wen Bucai remained tense.

"--Someone is shouting. It's the constables from the Northern Bay Yamen in Bianzhou. They want me to come down."

Father Kevin exclaimed in surprise, "Someone's here? You're saved?"

"No way!" Wen Bucai cursed, "White Dragon Creek only has one official road! What constable would drive a carriage or horse across this muddy road! I travel this road every day! Do you think I don't know how bad it is? Are you expecting the officials to run out into the wilderness at dawn to rescue people? That's utterly ridiculous!"

"Back then, I didn't trust the person under the tree at all. That guy was either a mountain bandit or a river pirate!"

"He insulted me, pressured me, and even knew my name! He knew I did business in Xiangxing Bay!"

"That's when it dawned on me! This is clearly a monster!"

"This Pallas's Pallas's Cat recognizes the ledger in the cargo container! It can read! It can talk! It's going to trick me down from the tree and eat me!"

"It was probably past midnight, and the world seemed to be completely white. I could finally vaguely make out a large, bright red pot under the tree! It was covered with steel knives!"

Wen Bucai described it with trembling fear.

"Only after looking closely did I realize that it wasn't a pot at all! It was Pallas's Cat's snout! It looked like a big sack! It had been waiting for me under the tree all along!"

"If it insults me, I'll insult it back!"

"It couldn't out-argue me! So I burst out laughing! I said you should eat a couple more scholars! Scholars are ruthless when they curse!"

"It tried to negotiate with me, wanting the scholar in my arms—"

"--Of course I wouldn't agree. I was hoping this scholar could help me get rich, after all, he saved my life!"

Wen Bucai rummaged through Kevin's cigarette case and found the last bit of stock. The steamship had already sailed far away, his hometown was getting further and further away, and the road ahead was becoming more and more uncertain.

"It was bragging to me again, saying it was a ferocious beast! A Taotie demon that devours the heavens and the earth!"

He lit the fire, Wen Bucai's face was full of disdain.

"--I cursed it, saying that a five-zhang-tall creature couldn't even climb a single tree. What kind of great demon was it! It was nothing but a monster stuck in the mud!"

Kevin chuckled and said, "That demon must have been afraid of you and got scared away by your scolding?"

"No, not exactly." Wen Bucai pursed his lips, a strange look in his eyes. "Two squads of soldiers did come looking for someone."

"Upon hearing the soldiers sound the gong to clear the way, the Pallas's Cat immediately ran off at breakneck speed, its large, furry tail carving a furrow in the wild before disappearing from sight."

Kevin: "Oh"

"That's how it is," Wen Bucai cursed viciously. "These soldiers are looking for two missing yamen runners from Yuan County. They say they were killed by river bandits—I think that's utter nonsense, complete rubbish."

"Only after I saw the token did I climb down from the tree with the scholar in my arms, and then follow them back to the dilapidated temple. These ten or so men tied us both up, and the scholar still didn't wake up."

"I shouted, 'I'm the one who's in trouble! I'm not a thief! I've done nothing wrong!'"

"The head constable didn't say much. I heard from some experienced veterans from the county that if they were to chop off my head, they should just treat me as a river bandit so they could report back. The scholar next to me was fair-skinned and had a neatly trimmed beard; he didn't seem like a robber. If he didn't have any money to pay for my life, he would be chopped off too."

"At that moment, I was enraged, so I broke free of the ropes and went to grab a knife to kill him."

At this point, Wen Bucai's eyes reddened, and his expression was quite frightening.

Father Kevin sighed, "God will punish them."

"What kind of bullshit gods! The bodhisattva in this dilapidated temple has never shown any power!" Wen Bucai cursed. "I hacked and slashed, killing the slow ones. The fast ones were about to mount their horses when I picked up stones and threw them, hitting the horses in the eyes. These cowardly foals scattered. Some crashed into trees, killing their owners, while others charged at me. The last one ran towards Shiliupu, but I knew how to get there. I took a shortcut, jumped onto the horse's back, and smashed the beast's skull."

Father Kevin immediately fell silent.

"When I came to my senses again, I wondered if I should kill the scholar to silence him." Wen Bucai looked troubled, and Father Kevin's cigarette case was empty.

During this break, the old priest's daughter, who understood both Cantonese and Hokkien, listened in. She was too frightened to utter a sound. She had initially taken Wen Bucai's story as a joke, but then she thought—what if it were true?

So the younger daughter ran to the steamship's cargo hold and brought her father a new cigarette case.

Wen Bucai cigarettes, seemed less agitated.

"I can't bring myself to do it. The scholar did nothing wrong. Heaven's justice is clear, and retribution will surely come."

"I rescued this kid from the clutches of demons and from the blades of villains and scumbags."

"So I brewed him medicine again, and he didn't wake up until noon. When he saw the corpses all over the dilapidated temple, he was almost driven mad with fright."

"After I explained the whole story to him, he still couldn't believe it. But this scholar calmed down and told me this—"

"--My benefactor, it is fate that brought us together, and this calamity I have suffered is also predestined."

"The current state of affairs is dire; the court is corrupt, and soldiers are worse than bandits—all because of one word: greed. Pallas's Cat dare to use the fearsome name of the Taotie beast to commit evil and devour people."

"After today, neither of us will be free. There is no way we can escape or wash away the sins of these seventeen lives."

"The Binzhou government says we're river bandits, so we have no choice but to be river bandits."

Father Kevin asked cautiously, "And then?"

"Later, that scholar told me," Wen Bucai frowned, his face full of disgust, "That last night, he dreamed of the Heavenly Mother, Heavenly Sister-in-law, Heavenly Brother, Heavenly Sister, and the God. The God even bestowed upon him a sword and a seal, sending him down to earth to slay demons, eliminate evil, and restore order—to be appointed by Heaven to save people."

"I just think this scholar has been infected with some kind of evil spirit and is out of his mind. He wants to discuss a major rebellion with me, but I'm just a peddler!"

"Without a second thought, I knocked the hysterical mustachioed man unconscious and ran away!"

Father Kevin seemed thoughtful, and guessed—

"--Wen, your story is so bizarre that no one would believe it. That young man probably doesn't believe it either. He's afraid you might kill him too if you're ruthless, which is why he went on and on with all these strange and unusual stories."

"That's not impossible!" Wen Bucai kept smoking, trying to use nicotine to clear his mind. "This kid said I'm crazy, I said he's crazy too, I said all the soldiers I killed were crazy, so in the end they all went crazy."

After a while, Wen Bucai finally stopped smoking. He leaned against the railing, looking at the distant thunderstorm, and finally realized that this journey was not easy, and he didn't know how dangerous the waterway to America was.

"Uncle Kevin, I am now a newborn, and I need to be reborn and start anew."

"Going back would only make me a bandit, killing my fellow villagers and robbing my elders. I can't do such a thing; my conscience is still intact."

"Please, Father, give me a religious name or a Buddhist name?"

"Ah," Kevin had heard of the meanings of Buddhist and Daoist names. He figured Wen Bucai probably wanted Kevin's help in coming up with another name so that the merchants across the ocean could make a living in Chinatown. "Then I'll call you Vincent."

Wen Bucai: "Done."

As the wind and rain intensified, Wen Bucai and Kevin both took shelter in the cabin below deck.

At this point, Wen Bucai inquired again about his future livelihood.

Where am I going? What am I going to do?

Father Kevin knew that Wen Bucai capable and planned to recommend him to the Chamber of Commerce as a translator.

"Chief Black Hawk has surrendered to the US government, so the last piece of Native American territory will also belong to the United States. For it to become a thriving nation, it first needs transportation routes connecting all the cities—I'll take you to Washington first, and then back to San Francisco. You'll help bring in young laborers from the Five Counties to work here."

Wen Bucai giving it much thought, Wen Bucai innocently asked, "What kind of work?"

Father Kevin made the sign of the cross, saying that even when doing the worst things, one should recite the most virtuous prayers and ask God for forgiveness.

"Dig for gold."

Meanwhile, on another steamship.

On his way to Monroeburg, at the port of Washington, George Joshua had just finished a meeting.

He was dashing and promising young, and he and his colleagues came to the capital to meet President Jackson, where he also made a connection with the artist Charles Bird King.

Joshua and Charles were having a pleasant conversation at a beard grooming salon.

"The Indians have surrendered, Mr. Charles."

Charles replied, "I know about this. I was drawing a portrait of the Black Hawk tribe chief this morning; it was at the president's request."

Two beard groomers came to the hero's side and tidied up George Joshua's appearance.

George Joshua continued, "Hey, these prisoners are the embodiment of evil! They're so ugly! How could such monsters be born in this world?"

"Heh heh," Charles chuckled, "As we travel eastward, Black Hawk and Rolling Thunder (Black Hawk Chieftain's son), along with Nia Pap and Wabogi Hillco (other Indian chieftains), will be paraded through the streets."

"The soldiers were exhausted, but these natives seemed quite happy when they came to me after signing the surrender agreement."

George Joshua was puzzled. "Oh?"

Charles explained, "People on the East Coast feel sorry for the Native Americans who surrendered; they thought they prevented a more brutal war and were heroes. They treat these prisoners as spoils of war, like little pets. But if you ask me, in Detroit, these bastards would have been skinned and gutted."

George: "Are they happy?"

Charles: "Yes, it's their first time in civilized society! I drew their portraits, and it seems these not-so-bright natives haven't realized what the future holds."

George: "Oh"

"A great nation is about to rise! Land is the source of wealth! The coming era belongs to industry, to electricity, to railways, to advanced civilized society!" Charles excitedly straightened up, only to be pushed back down by the beautician.

He composed himself and said to Joshua, "Anyway, hahahahaha! George Joshua! You'd better get ready!"

George Joshua said, "Wasn't it a bold idea for me and President Jackson to propose building a transcontinental railroad?"

Charles: "Who will do this?"

George Joshua: "Let's get this Stanford billionaire to endorse us and strike the starting bell with a golden nail! We say San Francisco has gold! Just build the railroad westward! Everyone can become a millionaire!"

Charles: "Great idea!"

George Joshua: "Arrest all the convicts from Australia, bring in slaves from Asia, and have those colored bastards build the railroad. There's always a way. This railroad will become the lifeblood of America; it will carry the heartbeat of Washington to every corner of the land."

Charles: "The factory owners in the North want to see it, but the plantation owners in the South may not."

George asked in a low voice, "Do you think there will be a war in the future?"

"True gold is refined by fire, Mr. Joshua. Let me arrange a date for you! West Point is full of talented people, let's not think about the future! Let's have a social gathering. You've finally returned to New York State, being with young people will bring you vitality."

"To build a railway, you need money, power, and connections."

"I know quite a few people, and this kid is perfect for the job."

A photograph was sent to George Joshua.

That is a black and white photograph of Jack Martin Lee Enfield.

Charles makes the introduction--

"--This is the son of a gunsmith lord from London. He's come to America seeking new ways to make money. His title isn't hereditary, and he's so poor he only has money left. You old American, you're bound to spark something with him."

Next came another business card.

"This is a priest on the East Asian trade route, quite respected among the Chinese community. He's a representative of the Secret Order of Charity. If you need a translator or to introduce laborers to San Francisco to mine for gold, he's the one to go with. If you want Black people as slave laborers, go to Kansas; I'm not familiar with that place."

"The new railway can be put into trial operation for a period of time. Once citizens, legislators, and business owners throughout the state have tasted the benefits, they will definitely promote it vigorously."

At this point, Mr. Charles patted George Joshua's hand, his expression ambiguous.

"But whether there will be war in the next ten years or so is hard to say, really hard to say."

"This should have been a good thing: territorial expansion, the surrender of the natives, everything would have been fine."

"But can this railway awaken America? Can it surpass England and France? Can it bring Europe to our knees?"

"Greed, the most important thing is greed. Greed will destroy everything, and greed will make everything possible."

George Joshua was deeply grateful. "Mr. Charles, you value me so highly, what can I do for you?"

Charles whispered in George's ear.

Come to my room tonight.