Chapter 9: The Birth of the Illegitimate Child

  Tan Zhonglin's approach opened Tan Yanjin's eyes wide, and being a political survivor isn't just about avoiding punishment. One has to do their homework ahead of time, or else they'll be caught off guard when the situation arises. Tan Zhonglin relied on meticulous planning to control his own destiny, taking calculated risks while keeping them within his tolerance. He prepared thoroughly beforehand, waiting for the right moment to act - a far cry from reckless gambling. Even Feng Wenyu, who had previously been close to Tan Yanjin, had heard stories of people risking everything to achieve success, but now he realized that those people had carefully calculated all the risks before taking the plunge. As long as fate didn't play a cruel trick on them, success was almost guaranteed.

  However, when Tang Zhonglin mentioned Empress Dowager Cixi's garden being built for Weng Tonghe, Tan Yankai felt a heavy heart - the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 was approaching, but he couldn't do anything about it. Although he knew what the final outcome would be and that with his own weight, he could not do anything, but in his heart, he was very depressed.

  Tan Yanqing had thought about providing financial support to Weng Tonghe, allowing him to minimize offending Empress Dowager Cixi and continue as Minister of Revenue. However, history showed that Yan Jingming was removed from the position, and his successor Weng Tonghe also lost power due to criticism from Cixi over the renovation funds for the Summer Palace. The next minister tried to please Cixi by using the already limited naval budget. Tan had also considered directly giving money to Li Hongzhang to ensure the North Sea Fleet's ammunition and training... But he was well aware of his current identity and the darkness of China's officialdom at that time. Would sending money really allow the North Sea Fleet to operate normally? Who could guarantee that the money wouldn't be embezzled? As for spending money on Cixi's garden, that was something he would never do... In a few years, the Eight-Nation Alliance would invade China, and the fate of the Summer Palace would only be slightly better than the Yuanmingyuan, which was looted. The most important thing was that he didn't have that much money; perhaps his morphine pills would bring him unimaginable wealth in the future, but he didn't want to spend it... unless he controlled the North Sea Fleet, which was impossible.

  "Since the prohibition of opium smoking, it has spread its poison throughout China. Those who smoke it waste their food and lose their jobs, ruining their bodies and families. For decades, they have become increasingly weak and poor... Recently, I heard that among my colleagues, there are still many who secretly indulge in this habit. Some openly advocate for quitting, but in reality, they have not completely eliminated the addiction; some have already become ill, but cleverly cover it up on the surface; others brazenly continue to smoke as before... My humble son has received guidance from a wise person and created an anti-opium pill. After verifying its effectiveness, I confirm that it can effectively eliminate opium addiction without harming human life during the quitting process. I humbly believe that it can be used by the imperial court..."

  At this time, Empress Dowager Cixi was reclining comfortably on a delicate rattan chair, with only a few palace maids serving her. The person reading the letter was an elderly eunuch, Tan Yankai might not have known him if he were here, but he must have heard of him - the chief eunuch in charge of internal affairs, Li Lianying.

  Li Lianying was reading the letter when Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly waved her hand to interrupt him. Li Lianying immediately stepped forward, bowed and asked: "What orders does Your Old Majesty have?"

  "Is it true that Tang Wenqing gave Shangshu Weng Shuping 50,000 taels of silver to repair the garden for special use?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked casually.

  "The Old Buddha, it's true. The Ministry of Revenue transferred the 50,000 taels of silver to the account just two days ago!" Li Lianying replied softly, as if Empress Dowager Cixi in front of him would melt from the wind blown by his words.

  The Empress Dowager nodded and smiled slightly: "There's no need to read this letter again. It's just Tan Wenqing being afraid that someone in the court will take revenge because their financial route has been cut off, so he's blowing wind ahead of time. Have someone write a reply, telling Tan Wenqing not to worry, nothing is going on, and he's lucky to have such an intelligent son. If he can avoid causing trouble like Lin Zexu did and manage to quit opium, that would be a great virtuous deed!"

  Li Lianying's face seemed to bloom with a smile as she half-knelt and said: "I understand, Your Majesty!"

  "Wait a minute, Tang Wenqing's son can't really be only fifteen years old as the foreign newspapers say?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked again.

  Perhaps Tan Yankai did not expect that, in addition to Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang having a special translation department at their service, Empress Dowager Cixi, the number one conservative in his mind, also had a large-scale translation team by her side, specializing in summarizing and translating foreign newspapers every day. Empress Dowager Cixi also made decisions based on some evaluations of China in foreigners' newspapers, especially those from local officials.

  "Old Buddha, the foreign newspaper said that it was Zhou's birthday. I heard that last year he had just passed the imperial examination as a child and became a Xiucai after passing the test in Changsha Prefecture, and then followed Governor Tan to Fuzhou."

  Just as Tan Zhonglin said, without waiting for a few days, they received a letter from Empress Dowager Cixi, who highly praised Tan Zhonglin in the letter. The Minister of Revenue, Yan Jingming, also sent a letter, symbolically ordering 10,000 taels of silver to buy anti-opium pills - this was strongly demanded by Yan Jingming, to be used for opium prohibition offices in Beijing. He also called on governors and viceroys across the country to order anti-opium pills and carry out opium prohibition actions in their respective jurisdictions. The Ministry of Revenue is currently preparing for Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday, and silver money is extremely tight. Yan Jingming has received warnings from Empress Dowager Cixi many times, and 10,000 taels may seem a bit stingy to ordinary people, but it was not easy for him to come up with 10,000 taels of silver to buy anti-opium pills at this time!

  Not long after, Liu Kunyi, Governor of the Two Rivers, Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Hubei and Hunan, Li Hongzhang, Governor of Zhili, and Li Hanfang, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, all sent special envoys to the Fujian-Zhejiang Governor's Office to negotiate the purchase of anti-opium pills. Among these people, Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong were very famous in later generations, while Liu Kunyi was little known, and as for Li Hanfang, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, even Feng Wengu, who had been possessed by Tan Yankai in his previous life, had never heard of him. However, Li Hanfang was actually the elder brother of Li Hongzhang, with Li Hongzhang being the second son at home, and only these two brothers in the family could hold the position of Governor.

  Regarding the detoxification pills, Tan Zhonglin handed over all management to Tan Yankei. Most importantly, as a feudal aristocratic family, Tan Yankei gained a second source of income outside of "Qiang Xue Wen Zhai", independent from the family and unrelated to his brothers - this was personally approved by Tan Zhonglin at home! Of course, whether it's "Qiang Xue Wen Zhai" or detoxification pills, these are all very sensitive things. "Qiang Xue Wen Zhai" can take a marginal route, subtly promoting revolutionary and democratic ideas; while the widespread use of detoxification pills is even more far-reaching. Both of these were carried out under Tan Zhonglin's name as Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, and Tan Yankei was very young, so the family kept a close eye on both industries, especially Jianmin Pharmaceutical.

  Tan Zhonglin had five sons, each born to one of his three wives. Chen's wife gave birth to Baozhen, Yan's wife gave birth to Baofu, and Li's wife gave birth to Yankui, Enkui, and Zekui. Tan Yankui's mother, Li, came from a family without power or influence. She lost her parents at a young age and relied on her younger brother for survival. Twenty years ago, Tan Zhonglin was appointed as the governor of Shaanxi Province, but his first wife, Chen, was ill and could not accompany him to his new post. He then married Li, who was known for her intelligence and kindness. Until last year, when Tan Zhonglin left Beijing to take up his new position as Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces, he passed through Changxin Village on the outskirts of Beijing, where Li's family lived. It was only then that Tan Yankui met his maternal uncle for the first time and learned that his mother's family was from Changxin Village.

  Before Tan Yanqing was possessed by Feng Wenyu, although Tan Yanqing was the third son of Governor Tan Zhonglin, he was not called "Third Master" or "Third Adult", but "Little Old Three". This is how his elders referred to him intentionally or unintentionally. Additionally, it should be mentioned that Tan Zhonglin had four brothers, and Tan Yanqing ranked third among them. However, the first, second, and fourth brothers all died young and did not grow up, so the so-called "elders" were actually Tan Zhonglin's first wife, Madame Chen, and his concubine, Madame Yan. Of course, apart from these two, Tan Zhonglin also had four other concubines who did not have children.

  Tan Yanqing took the imperial examination in Hunan Province and entered the government school as a student. This was an extraordinary event, as it was rare for someone to become a scholar at the age of 15. The title "Third Master" was only recently used, starting from a few months ago.

  As for "Third Adult", this was because there was an iron tree in Tan Zhonglin's study, which bloomed when Tan Zhonglin was appointed as the Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu Province, signifying good fortune. This time, Tan Yanqing entered the government school at a young age, and the iron tree bloomed again, indicating that he had a bright future ahead of him. Therefore, people started calling him "Third Adult". This was also because Tan Yanqing almost became the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang Province in less than half a year, earning even more respect from others.

  Tan Yanxian's mother, although she had given birth to three sons for Tan Zhonglin, was herself a member of the late Qing nobility. The old-fashioned hierarchical concept of etiquette was very strict, not only did women have different status as family members, but even children were divided into legitimate and illegitimate: on ordinary days, wives could sit at the table, while concubines could only eat standing up. If there were no childbearing concubines, they could only dine in the miscellaneous hall. Tan Yanxian's mother was Tan Zhonglin's small wife, and for a long time, she had not been able to obtain the right to sit at the same table as her father-in-law. Tan Yanxian obtained his Xiucai degree at the age of 15, much earlier than his two older brothers. Therefore, after Tan Yanxian returned to Fuzhou, Tan Zhonglin announced to the whole family: "Mrs. Li can enter the main hall and sit down for a meal."

  This is obviously "the mother is honored through the son", Tan Zhonglin has relaxed the standards of ritual and law, which is also a great shock to Tan Yanqian. After all, the "person" in this body now is Feng Wenyu who came from China 100 years later, he had heard of so-called "rites and laws" but did not expect it to be so strict.

  Tan Yanxin has now "grown up" and the benefits of the two industries in his hands can be guessed with his toes - as many people in China smoke opium, there are just as many people coming to buy detoxification pills; even the current "Strong Learning Digest", with an income of 3,000 silver taels per month, is also making some people in the family jealous. Tan Zhonglin naturally understands what's going on inside the family, but he also knows what Tan Yanxin means to the whole family. He doesn't want his son to be hindered by trivial matters at home, distracting him and dispersing his energy, so he simply ignores everyone else's thoughts in the family and transfers the two industries to Tan Yanxin's name - when he passes away one day, Tan Yanxin will be the head of this family. Without his protection, this family will disperse in a very short period of time. As for Tan Yanxin's two older brothers, their children are almost as old as Tan Yanxin, and they're not even jinshi (a high-ranking scholar-official), so can they take over Tan Zhonglin's legacy as a prominent official?!

  Tan Yanxin knew that the roots of the Tan family were not in Fujian, and Jianmin Pharmaceutical was established in Fuzhou, but this was not an ideal location. So he sent his uncle back to Hunan, where he bought a piece of land in Changsha to build a factory - the foundation of Jianmin Pharmaceutical should be in Hunan, which is his territory.

  After the four most prominent governors in China placed orders for Detox Pills, mass production began. Hunan Jianmin Pharmaceutical employed a total of 300 people, while Fuzhou had over 100 people working overtime. A course of treatment consisted of 15 pills, costing 8 cents in silver, and sold to the four governors at a price of 1 tael and 3 cents in silver; the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang ordered them at a price of 1 tael; non-official orders were priced at 1.5 taels per pill. All deliveries of Detox Pills had to be completed within Jianmin Pharmaceutical, with no responsibility for shipping; local governors had to dispatch troops to escort the goods back to their original location - this was also to prevent local gangs from threatening Jianmin Pharmaceutical.

  For such an arrangement, the four governors had no objection - Tan Zhonglin's price was not black, and he could have sold the detoxification pills at a higher price. Compared to an opium ghost who only needs one course of detoxification pills, which costs only one or two more silver coins, it is very cost-effective. Moreover, they are not selling themselves, except for the necessary free detoxification, all others are sold through local pharmacies, Tan Zhonglin's offer implicitly stipulated "wholesale price" and "retail price".

  However, the order can be seen on the high and low of the four governors - Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang are the most, with a prepayment of 100,000 taels of silver; Liu Kunyin has 80,000 taels; The least is the richest Beiyang minister and Governor of Zhili, Li Hongzhang, who only has 50,000 taels. Tan Zhonglin's near water tower first got the moon, and Fujian and Zhejiang provinces are also severely affected by opium, more severe than his hometown in Hunan, so the governor's office of Fujian and Zhejiang ordered 150,000 taels at once. Each county in Fujian and Zhejiang province either allocated funds from the county government or collected donations from local wealthy merchants to guarantee the establishment of at least one rehabilitation center. Important cities like Hangzhou, Fuzhou, and Jinhua must have four rehabilitation centers, aiming to cure 100,000 people of their addiction within a year.

  "This is a massive anti-opium campaign, unlike the one in Humen, Guangdong, China fifty years ago. The two are at opposite extremes, but it can be predicted that this time Chinese officials' approach will be far more strategic than Lin Zexu's fifty years ago. It can be foreseen that this anti-opium campaign will not lead to war, but will truly free this ancient and mysterious country with thousands of years of civilization from the troubles of opium." - Henri Borel, correspondent for De Telegraaf in Amsterdam, Netherlands

  "It is rumored that Li Hongzhang, the Bismarck of China and Viceroy of the North, has given the smallest order for the anti-opium pills among the five most powerful Viceroys in China..." - Thomas Millard, Special Correspondent of The New York Times.

  …………

  "In the 18th year of Guangxu, 1892 AD, 'Detox Pill' became the word with the highest frequency of appearance in China and even the world. Before that, when foreigners thought of China, the first word that came to mind was 'opium'. No one could have imagined that the inventor of Detox Pill, Mr. Tan Yanqing himself did not expect to have such a profound impact, his name was also known for the first time by the outside world along with Detox Pill. Decades later, when people evaluated Mr. Tan Yanqing, his complex historical experience made it impossible to make a definitive judgment on his merits and demerits. However, no matter what, Tan Yanqing's position in China's anti-drug history is closely linked with Lin Zexu, the first Chinese anti-drug hero, and is widely praised by later generations..." - Shen Jing, "The Years That Have Passed", Qiangxue Book Society, published in 1932.

  "Don't be afraid of the big cannon, only a few people die from hundreds of shots. Don't be afraid of rockets burning, they only burn two or three miles in one night. What I know is opium smoke, it kills countless millions!" - "Essays on Strength", June 1892 (Guangxu 18th year), Tan Yankai.

  …………

  Perhaps due to the sharp report of American Thomas, Li Hongzhang, who was revered as the "Bismarck of the East", felt somewhat embarrassed and in July, the Zhili Governor's Office added 50,000 taels of silver for the purchase of anti-opium medicine. Although Li Hongzhang was not as enthusiastic about the purchase of anti-opium medicine as his elder brother, he was more interested in the Strong Learning Society, and in August, he sent someone to deliver 5,000 taels of silver to support the publication of "Strong Learning Digest" and invited Tang Yanqiu to establish a branch of the Strong Learning Society in Tianjin. In order to enable "Strong Learning Digest" to be published as soon as possible and at a time close to that of Fuzhou, Li Hongzhang also arranged for his subordinate Sheng Xuanhuai, who was then in charge of China's telegraph industry, to provide convenience through the use of telegraphs, steamships, etc., to establish a branch society and publish "Strong Learning Digest" in Tianjin. These were all provided by Li Hongzhang using the power of his position as Governor of Zhili, but the 5,000 taels of silver was paid out of his own pocket.

  《Strong Learning Digest》 had already made a profit, and whether Li Hongzhang donated money or not was irrelevant. However, in Tan Yanqin's view, this was a political gesture. Although he might be just an unknown minor figure in Li Hongzhang's eyes, he absolutely could not ignore Tan Zhonglin standing behind him. But this time, Tan Yanqin was wrong. The person Li Hongzhang cared about was actually himself. Not long after, Li Hongzhang even wrote a handwritten letter, hoping that he could go north to establish an anti-opium pill production workshop in the Zhili area, which made Tan Yanqin feel extremely surprised.

  Although Tang Yankei did not lack the money to support the Strong Learning Society, he also did not refuse Li Hongzhang. In later years, Feng Wengu remembered that there was a rumor that after signing the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Li Hongzhang fell silent for a period of time, but after seeing some remarks by Kang Youwei, he became very interested and sent someone to donate 5,000 taels of silver to the Strong Learning Society founded by Kang Youwei and others. Kang Youwei and others were disdainful of accepting money from the "traitor" Li Hongzhang, so they returned the money and also made some sarcastic remarks. It was precisely because of this that Li Hongzhang secretly sabotaged the Strong Learning Society.