7.
We stand at the harbor of the colony, which House Qiao administrates. It is of a moderate size. Over fifty fishing boats that each carries less than ten people at most, some dozen or so junks, and a single ironclad galley are docked here. Several thousand people are bustling up and down the hill leading from the pier to the town with all sort of crates, wagons and carts. There is a stinking smell of fish and oyster here and it causes me to crinkle our nose. Rather than disgusting Azula however, it just causes her to feel a tinge of hunger. Maybe it's because it smells like blood-in-the-water?
Due to our cold headdress and armored retinue, we are given relatively wide berth. It is just enough that I can see the girls aren't getting knocked into the water. The ship we are taking is actually a junk, which is anything but junk in actuality. There is a sort of flavor to the ship, for its sails to spread to so wide and its color so vibrant. It reminds me of one of the ships I saw in Hong Kong when I first visited as a child.
"Princ—er, Commander? May I have permission to speak freely?" The girl beside me, clad in light scale and soft leather, stutters with a quiver. She is one of the twelve who are accompanying us asks as we board the ship to the Capital. It pleases us that our presence makes her so afraid to speak, but it pleases me more that she
Azula almost replies instinctively before I can stop her, 'No.'
"Granted," I grumble. 'Do you want stupid minions or smart companions? It's not like they even can question you for the sake of hurting you; the most they can do is help you figure out if our plan has any problems.'
"Why are we going back to the Capital? Shouldn't we go to Omashu?" The girl asks almost too naïvely. But then again, she is only sixteen years old.
I turn to the shangdengbing and see her fellows watching on carefully. It feels good to know that they are as intelligent as I thought them to be when I chose them. When I stand in this cesspool of a pier they call a dock and have the ten different scents of urine and feces assail my senses, it is all too easy to forget that they are individually as intelligent as modern day people. Sure, they aren't as well educated and they aren't nearly as developed industrially, but humans are humans no matter how you look at it. In fact, since most high ranking officers in the military (males) choose to promote or train people who are similar (other males), it is easy to see that I have the crème of the crop. Why the Fire Nation, which treats women and men equally in the military, does not crack down on such sexist behaviors is a mystery to me, but who cares, right? I'm benefitting…
Shangdengbing Lin and her eleven troops are actually not anyone spectacular. Of the twelve, only Lin and two others are firebenders. Three others are archers, but the rest are—were—suppose to be regular shield-wall-and-spear troopers. Sneaking a peak at their language and mathematics scores, I lament how wasted their talents are by this (relatively) inefficient Fire Nation bureaucracy. We are choosing to teach them double-entry bookkeeping and other accounting tricks and Azula will teach them basic legalese and legal tricks she learned from Ozai on this boat trip.
In the end of a long discussion between Azula and me, we want to start nurturing an army of accountants and lawyers, auditors and inspectors. The Inquisition has to diversify somehow after the war ends, doesn't it?
"Shangdengbing Lin," We address her professionally. They are small things, recognition and acknowledgement, but Azula's eyes zoom immediately upon how the older girl's shoulders straighten ever so slightly. "I trust Li to teach Sho and Lo to teach Dai, and the reversed as well. We are going to the Capital because we require… additional resources, and knowledge."
'That's a nice way to say we don't trust Li and Lo to plot together.' Azula muses, 'Sparing the sisters was a weak decision, no matter how you look at it.'
I resist an urge to sigh mentally. She hasn't let this go for the past twelve hours. 'They owe us their lives. They know this: we can finish them off at any time. This means we can let them keep Li and Lo on track. Anyway, all four of them are competent enough, however you look at it.'
'Then why not send them to Gaoling?' Azula asks. There is a spark of curiosity in her.
The funny thing about that is that there is a Gaoling in China. That Gaoling is one of the more industrious prefectures of China, though out of the way. It so happens our Gaoling is similar. But what makes this Gaoling so special, aside from it being the residence of Beifong Toph, is that it is a center of commerce for mineral resources, near the mouth of a river and a bay, and it is in a wonderful location for domination of the southern-most hemisphere. Oh, Omashu and some other places are certainly better, but none are as nearly as rich or developed. In the short term, what little infrastructure they have and what little industrial culture they have makes them much more valuable than towns like Kiyoshi Island. That said, I reply to Azula, 'Because Gaoling is only a temporary headquarters. You know that; we're just trying to feel out the location.'
'We're still spreading ourselves out too much,' Azula grinds finally.
I hum noncommittally. She does have a point; we are moving too fast. As with most successful investors will say, there is nothing to fear from moving too slowly.
We just don't have the time for that.
"Hello, Captain Guai," We say as we step onto the ship. "Ready to depart?"
Captain Guai looks more like an onion smuggler than a civilian vessel captain, but I don't judge much by looks. There is an air about him that smells of the sea, even when he is on land. He is curt in that same way, rumbling but gentle. "Depart? Already, milady? The lads haven't had their fill!"
That is the problem with contracting civilian vessels. Sure, three are used; one is for Li and Sho, one is for Lo and Dai, and finally, one is for us. Two are on their way to their destination now, and we are merely here to see them off, while picking up some supplies that are 'gifts to the new company from House Qiao'. It might be a sort of bribe to keep his daughter alive, a way to curry more favor, or something else. I don't know, but it will help sustain the company until we're done. Still, these civilian boats are patriotic enough to offer us discount rates, and we would not hinder the war effort by taking a military vessel, despite our importance.
We are still in home waters, after all, and all military vessels are busy catching Water Tribe scum.
There is little about the Qiao Colony that is great; in fact it is rather droll and quaint. I know I am using my own biases of modern development, but Azula feels the same way as I on this matter. It so happens she spent her life in the most developed city of the Fire Nation, so that might have something to do with it. We just want to leave as quickly as possible. Still… "Fine, we leave at noon then."
Then I step into our cabin below decks, ignoring any of the inconsequential complaints and bickering of the crew authoritatively. 'Yeah, respect my authority.'
Most of the girls do not actually know why we are so focused on Omashu or the Red Omashu Trading Company. They think it's because we're trying to help the company push for domination of the region. After all, if taken, there is but a single bastion left in the Earthen Kingdoms. Oh, there will still be fortresses, towns, and small spreads of rich manors, but there will be no more walled cities to stand before us. So it does not come as a surprise to me when Lin asks, "What resource is at the Capital that is so dire, Commander?"
Azula resists the urge to growl. It is close though, because she has been repressing the urge to tell everyone to shut up for hours now. I answer for her, "Oh, I want to ask my friend Kang Mai to join us."
"I understand," Lin nods.
"No, no you don't," I reply immediately.
"Commander?"
"Her father, Kang Cao, is the largest shareholder and one of the initial seed investors of the Red Omashu Trading Company. He is also a man who wants to climb the marble steps… It stands that we must align our interests," I say at last. It will not do to reveal too much, too soon. Mai's father's ambition is known well enough in the court circles; it is expected someone as well-educated and rich as him will be entering the royal court as a governor or a magistrate sooner than later.
All the gossip we hear says this.
But what side is Mai's father on? And which side will Mai be on?
I find my lips curving as we muse. Maybe it is bad lightning of the lower cabins or the waves rocking the junk, but our dear escorts look like they shivered as they watched and waited for their expected lesson in the art of paperwork. 'Well, let's not keep them waiting.'
