Day of Rebellion (12 page)

B
eijing was a city on the move. As they approached on their motorbikes, they passed lines of refugees streaming away from the centre. Men, women and children flooded past with their goods and chattels piled high on carts.

“What's happening?” Jack called over to Shu-fei riding beside him.

“Your British friends, Jack, they must be close to the city by now,” she said, turning back to her father for confirmation.

Lai looked down. “Yes. Eleven thousand British and Sikhs under General Grant and seven thousand French under General Cousin-Montauban. They have sailed in a great fleet in their iron ships from Hong Kong. They have taken the Taku forts and Tienstin and now they approach Beijing.”

Jack's heart gave a little jump. He felt suddenly uplifted that his countrymen were so close. “But why are they here?”

“To force the terms of the trade treaty. They say that the Imperial government has not kept its promises to open up more Chinese ports to western countries for trade…” Lai said sadly. “We try to resist. But your western friends are too strong – they have better guns, better weapons. We think we are a great Empire, the centre of the world, but in fact we are not. We fight Britain
and France from outside. We fight the Taiping on the inside.”

They wound their way on through the dusty Beijing suburbs. There were people everywhere. Lai looked across at Jack as he continued, “That is why we need you, my friend. Your ‘Seeing Engine' will make us strong again. I sent word ahead and our friends here at court in Beijing know we have it safely with us and there is great excitement. They are waiting for us.” Lai smiled. “You will have an audience with the Emperor of China himself, Jack. It is an honour unheard of for any other westerner.”

At last they turned into a vast square. Ahead was an enormous gate built into a towering wall.

“The Imperial palace…” Shu-fei told them, proudly.

They were outside the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which led to the Forbidden City, the centre of the Chinese Empire. Inside, the emperor lived and ruled, served by thousands of officials, eunuchs and concubines. Lai waved them to stop, and they waited. An entourage of cavalry guards were approaching from the gate and in seconds they were surrounded. Lai had told them that the senior court officials were excitedly awaiting their arrival. The mystical Babbage ‘Seeing Engine' was to be delivered right into their hands here in the heart of the Chinese empire. But the mob of guards surrounding them seemed like a very unusual welcoming party. Jack caught a flash of concern on Lai's face – this was not what he was expecting. Something was wrong.

“Sushun,” Lai muttered in disgust.

“Who's Sushun?” Jack said.

Shu-fei nodded as a man was escorted through the guards. He wore heavily-embroidered robes. He had a slim, angular face
and a thin wispy, moustache. Jack thought he looked a bit like a rodent.

“That's Sushun. He is very close to the emperor – and leads one of the court factions. But he and my father hate each other.”

Jack couldn't understand the exchange which now followed between Sushun and Lai, but it became increasingly heated and Lai's big face coloured with anger. Shu-fei looked on with agitation. Suddenly, one of the guards took a swipe at Lai with the flat of his sword. The blow caught Lai unawares and he was thrown from the back of his bike, and landed sprawling, across the dusty square. Shu-fei gasped, but Jack and Angus had no time to act. Jack was pulled from the bike and he kicked out desperately. But the guards were too strong for him; a heavy blow hit the back of his head and everything went dark.

When Jack woke up he had a dull ache in the back of his head. He was lying down and as he tried to pull himself up the stabbing pain in his head increased. He tried touching the back of his head to identify the extent of his injury, but he couldn't – he was manacled to some sort of bench, but at least the hood had been removed.

“Easy my lad…” an English voice spoke up from nearby.

“Are you OK, Jack?” Angus was also close.

Jack tried to focus. They were in a small, gloomy room. There was a little light, but Jack was not sure where it was coming from because he could see no windows. Angus was next to him and he counted three men all chained up beside them. There was no sign of Lai or Shu-fei. As Jack tried to make out his
surroundings and remember what had happened in the square, his eye was drawn to a strange figure hanging by a chain from the ceiling in the centre of the room. Initially, it looked like he had no hands or legs, but then Jack realised that his feet and hands were bound tightly into the small of his back. His head lolled and occasionally he gave a low groan.

“Don't look, son, it will just make you feel worse,” said the Englishman next to him. Jack could focus now and he saw that the man was balding and had enormous bushy sideburns.

“How's the head? I think you took a bit of a blow, but they seemed to have done you the service of fixing you up. These Imps are a strange lot.”

“What is this place? A dungeon?” Jack croaked.

“It's called the Board of Punishments,” the Englishman answered.

“Are they going to kill us?” asked Angus.

“Not if Elgin and Grant have their way, son,” a second man, sitting beside the first, muttered in a gruff Scottish accent. “They'll be positioning the British guns right at the gates of Beijing as we speak. Touch a hair on our heads and our boys will massacre every living thing in the city.”

The two men spoke confidently, but judging by the state of the prisoner hanging from the rafters, their confidence was badly misplaced.

“Who are you?” Jack asked.

“Could ask you two gentlemen the exact same thing… not army, for sure, judging by those clothes… and you look a trifle young to be behind enemy lines.”

“It's a long story…” Jack felt too tired to even begin an explanation.

“Well, we've got plenty of time. I would shake your hand, but as you can see we are all somewhat immobilised. I'm Sir Harry Smith Parkes – British Commissioner of Canton, but here as Lord Elgin's interpreter. Or was – until we were kidnapped.”

“And I am Henry Loch – attaché to Elgin. Delighted to make your acquaintance.”

“Are you part of the British army?” asked Jack.

“Yes – we are part of the joint British and French force that have marched on Beijing. The army is here to ensure the Chinese to accept their obligations in the treaty. We formed an advanced negotiating party. But we were taken prisoner by the Imperialists. They have made a dreadful error of judgement,” Parkes said. “The emperor thinks that he can use us and the other prisoners here as bargaining chips with the British and French – so we don't attack Beijing to punish the Imperialists for breaking the treaty. But what they don't realise is that they have already tried Elgin and Grant's patience too far…”

Parkes looked them up and down, “And what is your story, gentlemen?”

Angus looked to Jack, expectantly, waiting to see what story he would conjure up this time.

Jack took a deep breath, “Our family are traders in Shanghai…”

“Shanghai indeed? That's a long way from here,” Loch said. “News is that the Taiping rebels have taken it. The irony is that our lot have been helping the Imperialists defend Shanghai from
the Taiping rebels so we can evacuate our people. Meanwhile up here in Beijing we're about to attack their capital city. A real old mess. We'll soon have to decide who is going to win and rule China – the Taiping or the Imperialists. But please, carry on with your story.”

“When the Taiping took Shanghai, it all happened very quickly. We were split up from our father… and captured by the Taiping rebels. I think it was a bit like you said… the Taiping thought we could be used to bargain with the British. There was a missionary leading them – Josiah Backhouse.”

Parkes gasped, “Backhouse! You have met Backhouse? Extraordinary! He's a wanted man, you know. The Cambridge Philosophical Society would love to hear what you know about him and the Taiping.”

“He's wanted for passing military secrets from the British government to the Taiping,” Loch continued. “When we get hold of him, he'll be charged with treason. But how on earth did you get from Shanghai to Beijing? That's a mighty long way.”

“Well, the Taiping were taking us south, but then there was an Imperialist raid when we were on the river and we got caught up in the middle of it. The Imperialists caught us and brought us all the way here…”

“What do you think'll happen to us?” Angus asked, nervously.

“We wait for the political game to play out. The Imps know they are in a weak position,” Loch said.

Parkes continued, “And as Henry says, the British are going to have to decide which horse to back in China. The reality is that
the Taiping are on the rise. Thanks to Backhouse their military organisation and weapons are superior to the Imperialists'. There are many in the CPS and in the government back home who think the Taiping are a better bet than the Imperialists too. They are Christian, in a manner of speaking, and at least they are willing to talk to us and learn from the west. The Imperialists think that everyone from outside their world is inferior. We are the ‘
long-nosed
barbarians' – so what do we have to offer them?”

“And there's another thing,” continued Loch. “The Imperialists are riddled with all sorts of factions. Endless plotting… it makes them weak. The emperor is ill, he might die, so they're all vying for favour, trying to second-guess who will take over. One of the factions is led by Prince Sushun and another by the emperor's favourite concubine – Yi. She is the mother of his only child. I tell you, Beijing is a vipers' nest.”

Just then, the door to the dungeon swung open and light flooded in, blinding the inmates for a second. At the door stood two large, armed bannermen and between them a smaller man in a round hat with a long, embroidered robe. He pointed at Jack and Angus and issued an order in a high, squeaky voice. They were dragged from the dungeon, bundled upstairs and along a series of passageways. They passed through a gallery with a polished marble floor fringed with statues of dragons with enormous eyes and then out into the open into an expansive courtyard. Ahead a huge double-roofed pavilion rested on a multi-layered terrace. They were jostled on past this building, through a side gate and into a series of passageways and courtyards beyond.

Finally, they arrived in a great hall the size of a cathedral, with a gleaming floor, lit by great wax lanterns which gave off a strong flowery perfume. Directly ahead, there was a dais and a throne, upon which was seated a figure in golden robes. Jack knew at once that they were in the presence of the Emperor of China, the Son of Heaven. He was flanked on both sides by about a dozen figures. Jack recognised the man to the immediate right of the emperor: it was Sushun – the man who had argued with Lai outside the palace and had flung them into prison. There was a tremendous crashing of gongs as they reached the steps below the throne. Jack felt someone forcing him to his knees and then knocking his head to the marble floor. It didn't make his head feel any better. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Angus get the same treatment.

There was another great roll of drums and a crashing of gongs, and off to his right, Jack saw someone carry forward a low table and place it near the throne. Jack felt his head dragged up by the hair so that he was now looking directly at the emperor. The great man was quite young and pasty-faced. Jack felt fearful of what might happen next, but the young man enthroned before him seemed rather bored by the proceedings. It was all strangely reminiscent of the brief audience with Backhouse and the Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping, back in Nanjing.

One of the eunuchs flanking the throne called out in good English, “The prince Sushun has done the empire a great service by bringing us a Babbage ‘Seeing Engine'…” Jack saw Sushun smirk, and then the eunuch commanded Jack directly,
“The emperor now wishes you to reveal the secrets of this magical engine…”

Out of the corner of his eye Jack noticed a small procession of robed eunuchs. The front one held out a purple velvet cushion upon which the VIGIL device was placed. An assistant, walking next to him, carried a parasol over the cushion, shading the device. It was a bizarre sight. The device must have been taken from Lai in the fracas outside the palace. Now it had been presented to the emperor, who wanted Jack and Angus to reveal its secrets. Jack felt a sharp poke in his back as he was bundled forward towards the table where the device now lay. It looked ridiculous sitting on its velvet cushion, shaded by a little parasol, in the vast cathedral-like hall.

Jack looked around and felt twenty pairs of eyes boring into him. But he wasn't quite sure what he was expected to do. Which of its secrets was he supposed to reveal? Depending on which app you had loaded, the device accessed endless information on history, culture and, most importantly, on technology – military technology, in particular. But even if he was to look up, say, ‘aeroplane', there was a vast chasm between showing the emperor images of powered flight and the reality of actually building an aeroplane. You would need the right materials – a whole supply chain – scientists, engineers, factories… Jack knew that science and technology, like art and literature – or history itself – were built on what had gone before. It was a carefully constructed layering process. Through time, ideas and technology were developed, tried and tested, discarded or modified and refined. You couldn't just show someone a picture of a rocket and expect
them to build one the following day. In nineteenth-century Britain, with its head start in the industrial revolution, you might have a better chance… Babbage and the CPS had something to work with. But here in China, even though some of the new science had seeped through, it would be much harder. Jack also knew that if he was unable to give these people what they wanted… well, he had seen the man trussed up in the dungeon. He knew what he could expect.