There was a silence. Then Robb said, knowing how his brother’s mind worked, “Do we know all the conditions that Jin-qua imposed?”
“Nay.”
“What are the rest?”
“I’ll tell you after you’ve sworn. You can trust me or na, just as you like.”
“That’s not very fair.”
“This bullion is na very fair, Robb. I have to be sure. This is nae game for children. And I’m na thinking of either of you as kin at this moment. We’re playing with a hundred years. Two hundred years.” Struan’s eyes were a luminous green in the half-light of the swaying lantern, “I’m committing The Noble House to Chinese time. With or without the both of you.”
The air seemed to thicken perceptibly. Robb felt the wetness on his shoulders and neck. Culum stared at his father, astounded.
Robb said, “What does ‘commit the company totally to the support of Hong Kong’ mean to you?”
“To back it, guard it, make it a permanent base for trade. And trade means to open up China. All China. To bring China into the family of nations.”
“That’s impossible,” Robb said. “Impossible!”
“Aye, maybe. But that’s what The Noble House is going to try to do.”
“You mean, help China become a world power?” Culum asked.
“Aye.”
“That’s dangerous!” Robb snapped. “That’s madness! There’s enough trouble on earth without helping that heathen mass of humanity! They’ll swamp us. All of us. All Europe!”
“Every fourth person on earth’s Chinese now, Robb. We’ve the great chance to help them now. To learn our ways. British ways. Law and order and justice. Christianity. They’ll swarm out one day, on their own. I say we’ve got to show them our way.”
“It’s impossible. You’ll never change them. Never. It’s futile.”
“Those are the conditions. In five months you’re Tai-Pan. Culum follows you in time—if he’s worthy.”
“Christ in heaven!” Robb exploded. “Is this what you’ve been striving for all these years?”
“Aye.”
“I’ve always known you had dreams, Dirk. But this—this is too much. I don’t know whether it’s monstrous or marvelous. It’s beyond me.”
“Maybe,” Struan said, his voice hard. “But it’s a condition for your survival, Robbie, and your family’s and their future. You’re Tai-Pan in five months. For at least one year.”
“I’ve told you before, I think that’s another unwise decision,” Robb flared, his face contorted. “I’ve not the knowledge or the cunning to deal with Longstaff or to keep The Noble House at the forefront of all this war intrigue. Or to cope with the Chinese.”
“I know. And I know the risk I take. But Hong Kong’s ours now. The war will be over as quickly as the last one.” Struan waved a hand at the bullion. “All this is a rock which canna be dissipated easily. From now on it’s a matter of trade. You’re a good trader.”
“It’s not just trading. There’s ships to be sailed, pirates to be fought, Brock to be dealt with, and a thousand other things.”
“Five months will clean up the important ones. The rest are your problem.”
“Are they?”
“Aye. Because of all this bullion we’re worth more than three million. When I leave I take one. And twenty per cent of the profit for my lifetime. You do the same.” He glanced at Culum. “At the end of your term we will be worth ten million because I’ll protect you and The Noble House from Parliament and make her rich beyond your dreams. We’ll nae longer have to rely on Sir Charles Crosse, Donald MacDonald, McFee, Smythe, Ross or all the others we support to do our bidding—I’ll do it mysel’. And I’ll come back and forth to Hong Kong, so both of you have nae need to worry.”
“I want only enough wealth to let me dream quietly and wake up peacefully,” Robb said, “in Scotland. Not in the Orient. I don’t want to die here. I’m off by the next boat.”
“A year and five months is na much to ask.”
“It’s a demand, not an ask, Dirk.”
“I’m forcing nothing on you. A month ago, Robb, you were prepared to accept fifty thousand and leave. Very well. That offer still holds. If you want what is rightfully yours—more than a million—you’ll get it within two years.” Struan turned to Culum. “From you, lad, I want two years of your life. If you become Tai-Pan, a further three years. Five years in all.”
“If I don’t agree to the conditions, then I have to leave?” Culum asked, his mouth parched, heart hurting.
“Nay. You’re still a partner, albeit a junior one. But you’ll never be Tai-Pan. Never. I’ll have to find and train someone else. A year’s as much as it’s fair to ask—to demand—from Robb. He’s already been eleven years abuilding.” He picked up one of the bricks. “You’ll have to prove yoursel’, Culum, even if you agree now. You’ll be heir apparent, that’s all. You’ll na wax fat on my sweat, or Robb’s. That’s clan law and a good law of life. Every man has to stand on his own feet. Of course I’ll help you all I can—as long as I’m alive—but it’s up to you to prove your worth. Only a real man has the right to stand at the pinnacle.”
Culum flushed.
Robb was staring at Struan, detesting him. “You don’t want a Tai-Pan in five months, Dirk. Just a nursemaid for a year, isn’t that it?”
“Guarantee to take over five years and you choose whom you wish.”
“I can eliminate Culum right now, in return for a promise of five years?”
“Aye,” Struan said at once. “I think it would be a waste, but that’d be your decision. Aye.”
“You see what power does to a man, Culum?” Robb said, his voice strained.
“This version of The Noble House is dead without this bullion,” Struan said without rancor. “I’ve told you my conditions. Make up your own minds.”
“I understand why you’re hated throughout these seas,” Culum said.
“Do you, lad?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll never know that, truly know that, until your five years are up.”
“Then I’ve no option, Father. It’s five years or nothing?”
“It’s nothing or everything, Culum. If you’re prepared to be second-best, go topside now. What I’m trying to make you understand is that to be
the Tai-Pan of The Noble House you have to be prepared to exist alone, to be hated, to have some aim of immortal value, and to be ready to sacrifice anyone you’re na sure of. Because you’re my son I’m offering you today, untried, a chance at supreme power in Asia. Thus a power to do almost anything on earth. I dinna offer that lightly. I
know what it means to be
the Tai-Pan. Choose, by God!”
Culum’s eyes were transfixed by the Bible. And the bullion. I don’t want to be second-best, he told himself. I know that now. Second-best can never do worthwhile things. There’s all the time in the world to worry about conditions and Jin-qua and the Chinese and about the problems of the world. Perhaps I won’t have to worry about being Tai-Pan; perhaps Robb won’t think I’m good enough. Oh God, let me prove myself to become Tai-Pan so that I can use the power for good. Let this be a means to Thy ends. The Charter must come to pass. It is the only way.
Sweat pocked his forehead. He picked up the Bible. “I swear by the Lord God to abide by these conditions. If and when I become Tai-Pan. So help me God.” His fingers were trembling as he replaced the Bible.