Sorry about the crashout last 2 chapters, but the china glazing was over the top
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As night fell.
Because no candles had been lit in the side courtyard's rooms, only the pale moonlight shone in through the paper windows.
The five girls were arranged together on a large communal bed.
This was Nanny Li's rule, meant to facilitate surveillance and break down their original social boundaries, making them realize they were all in the same boat.
The room was filled with the heavy scent of safflower oil and various blood-circulating medicinal herbs.
The training during the day could only be described as torture.
Nanny Li did not treat them as human beings at all.
To make their waists more supple, Nanny Li had sturdy servant women force them to bend backward and stretch their hips.
To get them accustomed to the corsets worn by Western women, Nanny Li used strips of coarse cloth to bind their ribs tightly, almost suffocating Su Ying.
Su Ying curled up in the innermost corner of the communal bed.
She bit the corner of the quilt, her shoulders shaking violently as she let out suppressed sobs.
"Stop crying."
Wanqing sat on the bed, holding a bottle of medicinal wine as she massaged her bruised calves. Her voice sounded calm in the dark night.
"You'll cry your eyes blind. Once we reach the other side of the ocean, you won't even be qualified to serve anyone." Wanqing tightened the cap on the medicinal wine.
Su Ying lifted her head, her face covered in tear stains.
"Sister Wanqing. I'm scared... I heard my father say before that those foreigners are savages who drink blood and eat raw meat. They are covered in red hair and are as strong as oxen. I've heard that if they are slightly displeased, they will torture women to death. If we go there, will we even have a way to survive?"
Amur leaned against the wall and let out a cold laugh.
"Heh, it's as if you'd have a way to survive if you stayed in the capital? Your father was a disgraced official, and you were sent to the Music Bureau. If not for this opportunity, you would have to serve a dozen drunken brutes every night. Compared to that, going to serve a high-ranking foreigner actually seems like a good job."
As she spoke, Amur couldn't help but touch her arm, where Nanny Li had struck her with a rattan cane through her clothes during the day.
"I heard that in that place called America, there is no emperor, and everyone is equal. As long as you have money, you are a king. Since that Argyle person is the richest man there, then this is just like entering the palace to become a concubine. What is there to be afraid of?"
"You're talking nonsense."
Yun Yan held her twin sister, Yun Meng, tightly.
"How could there be concubines in a foreigner's land? Nanny Li said we are just playthings being sent over; we won't even have a status."
Yun Meng buried her face in her sister's embrace and sobbed softly.
Wanqing sighed.
Although she came from a salt merchant family, she was more worldly than these young ladies from sheltered backgrounds.
"Things like status are only for those who manage to survive." Wanqing looked at the moonlight on the window.
"Didn't the interpreter who taught us Western languages during the day tell us from behind the curtain? That Mr. Argyle is only in his twenties and is planning to build a steel skyscraper in New York that reaches the clouds. His factories stretch for dozens of miles, and his fleet is even larger than the Great Qing Empire's navy."
Wanqing turned her head to look at the other four.
"Perhaps that Princess was right; we aren't being sent to our deaths, we are being sent as bargaining chips. After all, the Great Qing Empire needs his machines. As long as we can make him happy, we can do whatever we want in that country. Even if we don't have a status, who would dare bully a woman of Mr. Argyle?"
Su Ying stopped crying and stared blankly at Wanqing.
"But... but the things Nanny Li taught us... they were too shameless..."
Remembering the blush-inducing bedroom arts training from the day, Su Ying's cheeks were still burning.
"Shameless?" Amur snorted coldly.
"When a blade is at your throat, what is there to talk about regarding shame? In the Western Regions, women will do anything to survive. You Han ladies just have too many rigid rules in your heads."
Wanqing shifted her body.
"Amur is right. Su Ying, Yun Yan, Yun Meng, listen to me."
Wanqing's gaze became extremely serious.
"When we five arrive there, we will have no relatives or friends, and we will be surrounded by foreigners who speak foreign languages. If we cannot band together, we will soon be eaten alive—not even leaving our bones—by that man's other mistresses or his business rivals."
Wanqing reached out her hand.
"We must form an alliance. Regardless of who is favored or who is neglected, we must support each other. We not only need to survive, but we must also gain a foothold in that place called New York."
Amur was the first to reach out and hold Wanqing's hand.
"You have a brain; I will listen to you. As long as I can survive, I can do anything."
Su Ying hesitated for a moment, then placed her hand on top.
Finally, it was Yun Yan and Yun Meng.
Five scarred, medicinal-smelling hands were stacked tightly together in the lightless, dark room.
Using this most primal method, they attempted to find a sliver of faint security.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this half-month.
They were spoon-fed Western etiquette, how to use knives and forks, and how to speak basic English greetings.
More importantly, Nanny Li had completely stripped away their haughty reserve.
One deep night, half a month later.
The door to the side courtyard was pushed open.
Several sturdy matrons walked in, carrying black cloaks in their hands.
"Get up, everyone, and put on your outfits."
Nanny Li's voice remained cold and cruel.
The five of them did not speak.
They skillfully put on the finest silk padded jackets of the Great Qing Empire, then covered themselves with the large black cloaks, completely obscuring their faces.
They were led out of the side courtyard.
In the back alley of the prince's mansion, five completely enclosed carriages, with even the windows nailed shut, were waiting.
A hundred soldiers on horseback surrounded the carriages.
There were no farewells or instructions.
The five of them were shoved into the five separate carriages.
Horse whips cracked against the horses' backs.
The carriage wheels rolled over the bluestone streets of the capital, making a dull, heavy sound.
They would travel through the night to Tianjin Port.
There, an ocean-going freighter had already lit its furnaces.
They would be sent onto the ship along with those bronze tripods and mutton-fat jade seals.
Then they would be delivered into Felix's hands.
...
Meanwhile, half a month earlier, when the five women were being trained.
Far away in the British Empire in Europe, at 22 Broad Street, London.
In the study's fireplace, oak logs were crackling as they burned.
Old Morgan stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, his back to the desk. In his hand, he clutched a coded telegram that had just been dispatched from Philadelphia.
The edges of the telegram paper were curling slightly from the force of his fingers.
The old butler, Oliver Sterling, stood by the desk, holding his breath.
He could feel that the head of the household in the study was extremely angry.
"Bang!"
Morgan turned and slammed the telegram onto his desk.
"Fool, arrogant fool!"
"What on earth does this fellow Cavendish think he's doing? Has he been bought off by Argyle? To commit such a blunder!"
Morgan's voice echoed in the study like an enraged Old Lion.
"Sir, please don't be so angry. The doctor said you've been staying up too late recently and shouldn't get upset. As for Mr. Cavendish, I believe it's impossible for him to betray you; after all, his family's assets are still in London."
"He explained the reason in the telegram: he simply wanted to take advantage of Carnegie's capital shortfall to complete a full acquisition."
"The intention wasn't wrong, but unfortunately, he didn't expect Carnegie to swallow his pride and run to New York to seek help from Argyle."
Sterling offered cautious advice, trying to calm the patriarch's fury.
"Didn't expect?"
Morgan sneered at the words, walked behind his desk, and stared at Sterling.
"What did I tell him? Oliver. Tell me, what were my exact words in the telegram I sent him?"
Sterling swallowed hard but recited accurately.
"You said to let Lex Steel continue to squeeze Carnegie. When Carnegie goes into bankruptcy liquidation, intervene in the name of debt restructuring. Leave him a portion of the shares."
"See? That's the problem!" Morgan straightened up abruptly.
"I'm not angry about losing the Carnegie Steel Works. That company is full of leaks; if Argyle wants to fill that bottomless pit, let him!"
Morgan's eyes became extremely cold and dangerous.
"But that idiot Cavendish dared to defy my orders. Does he think that having six million pounds in cash in Philadelphia makes him the master of North America?"
"He has a mindset problem!"
Morgan paced back and forth in the study.
"On the battlefield of capital, an insubordinate general is more terrifying than a powerful enemy. By showing his hand early, he didn't just drive Carnegie away. More importantly, he let Felix see our hole card—that we have a large amount of cash in Philadelphia. Our funds have been exposed from the shadows into the light."
Morgan walked up to Sterling, his face grim.
"Go to the telegraph room immediately and get me the private line to Philadelphia," Morgan ordered.
"Take this down. Tell Cavendish this is my final warning. If he dares to change my strategic deployment without authorization again, I will immediately cut off all fund authorizations in Philadelphia. I'll have him begging on the streets of America just like Nathaniel!"
Sterling immediately took out his notebook and recorded quickly.
"Tell him to put the matter of the steel plant aside for now. The most important task now is to keep a close eye on the Westinghouse Electric laboratory in Pittsburgh."
Morgan's speech quickened, his thoughts extremely clear.
"Have Cavendish go see George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison. Tell them if they want copper wire, give them copper wire; if they want rubber, give them rubber. If they need funding, let them fill out the checkbook however they like."
"I don't care how many Transformers they burn through."
"As long as I see a practical transmission model for high-voltage Alternating Current before this winter ends! Even just a little bit!"
"Once Alternating Current is successful, Argyle's Direct Current grid will be nothing but a pile of scrap metal buried under Manhattan!"
Morgan took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.
He knew now was not the time for just throwing a tantrum; he had to mount a full-scale resistance against the expansion of the Argyle's Empire.
After all, if the other party was truly allowed to run rampant in America without a rival, then the overseas markets would inevitably expand as well.
He must not let Argyle be so comfortable.
Old Morgan walked to the wall where a full map of America hung.
"Does Argyle think he's invincible in the steel industry just because he took down Carnegie?" Morgan sneered.
"Oliver, send a coded telegram to our agents in Boston and Chicago."
Morgan tapped his finger on the map a few times.
"In Pennsylvania and Ohio, find three or four medium-sized independent steel plants that are currently being squeezed by Lex Steel. Try to buy them all."
"Then merge these steel plants and restructure them into the Federal Steel Company. Use capital to ramp up production capacity. Use an all-out price war to snatch railway orders from Lex Steel. I want Argyle to know that he isn't the only one in America with a vault."
Sterling rapidly recorded this massive merger plan.
"And..."
Morgan turned around, his eyes reflecting a sinister calculation.
"What business has the Argyle Family been expanding into lately? Besides heavy industry."
Sterling flipped through the intelligence memo in his hand.
"To answer you, sir."
"Their Universal Department Store is penetrating the Midwest, and their News Media Company is frantically acquiring paper mills."
"Also... I heard that Umbrella Pharmaceutical Company intends to try and promote their battlefield medical supplies overseas, especially in the Far East."
"They have the top market share domestically, but they've recently been hit by generic drug competition from the 'Sterling Chemical Brotherhood' in Boston."
"Sterling Chemical Brotherhood?"
Hearing this name, Old Morgan's eyes lit up.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Old Morgan walked back to his desk and sat down.
"Have that fool Cavendish send someone to contact this Boston chemical brotherhood and offer investment. Not only must we help them with patent lawsuits, but we must also help them set up chemical production lines."
Morgan picked up the fountain pen on the desk and drew a cross on the paper.
"Then have them crush the profit margins of Umbrella Pharmaceutical Company through pricing. I want Argyle's partner, that woman named Katherine, to be jumping with anxiety in the company."
"As for food and military industry..." Morgan continued his layout.
"Find slaughterhouse owners and gunsmith workshops in various regions. As long as they are in competition with the Argyle Family, we will invest in all of them."
Morgan tossed the pen onto the desk.
"Remember, try to set up a troublesome opponent for Argyle on every important commercial front in America. Use a vast ocean of capital to consume his energy and slow down the pace of his expansion."
Sterling closed his notebook.
He looked at this financial oligarch issuing orders from London.
It seemed a capital siege, sweeping across the entire North American continent and covering all major industrial sectors, had already begun.
"I'll see to it immediately, sir. All orders will be sent to America tonight."
Sterling bowed and withdrew.
Only Morgan remained in the study.
He watched the flickering flames in the fireplace.
"Argyle, you are indeed a rare genius."
Morgan picked up the cold black tea beside him.
"But your power has expanded too quickly, and your front is stretched too thin. When you encounter snipers on every front, will you still be able to withstand this all-around bloodletting?"