by Tom Anderson
But it was at this point that things went quite wrong for the Guangzhong Emperor, for it transpired that the would-be executioner was not just any Russian, but a Don Cossack named Kondraty Astakhov who had served under Captain Lebedev on his first, failed expedition to Japan back in the 1770s. As a young sailor, Astakhov had thought their mission doomed several times, when they had faced the terrifying wave known as the tsunami by the Yapontsi, yet Lebedev had got them through and saved them all. Afterwards, while Lebedev had been pleading his case in St Petersburg for further missions, Astakhov had been holding the fort (literally) in the Amur valley and had been taken captive by the Chinese, along with several others among Lebedev’s old crew. Not a few of them had risen to positions alongside him in the Imperial Guard, and until now they had not had any reason not to be loyal to the man who had elevated them to such.
Until now.
The Guangzhong Emperor’s body, along with those of fifteen of his guards not of Russian descent, was discovered by an Imperial chamberlain early the next morning. Chaos reigned in Beijing as it became apparent that Lebedev and many more of the captives had been broken out of prison. Yet the Russians would not enjoy another miracle like the one that had taken Benyovsky out of Yapontsi captivity; General Yu, still in the city, led his troops and intercepted the fleeing refugees and treacherous guardsmen at Miyun, slaying them to the last man. Predictably, the probable heir Baoli went with him. Most of the captives still in the city were also killed out of hand by mobs as the people mourned their murdered emperor.
Yet even as Lebedev and Astakhov were cut down, even as the authorities struggled to quell the chaos caused by news of Guangzhong’s death, it became obvious that the succession would have to be decided quickly lest a civil war be risked. Therefore, Zeng Xiang went to the Forbidden City and removed the tablet from its appointed place, withdrawing the papers from behind.
He read it, once, twice, three times, and then with ashen features presented it to the other senior ministers at court.
The papers were old, dusty, musty, fading. They had not been updated or changed for a very long time. Not since the 1780s.
Baoyu, long dead by suicide, was named heir. Guangzhong must have been so consumed by grief, so indecisive over which of his surviving sons to name heir, so paranoid about the idea of being disrespectful to the son whose death he had inadvertently engineered, to bring himself to draw up a new paper.
And that indecision now plunged China into the fire. The War of the Three Emperors had begun.
Interlude #9: The Hamiltonian Operation
From: “Bravery: A Portrait of Philip Hamilton” by Ngune Thomas (1990)—
History has looked upon General Philip Hamilton quite favourably. He is now seen a hero in West African, American and Natalian history. But the General was an incredibly polarising figure in his time; he was despised by many in the Empire, but also was a saviour for more. Many accounts have been made of his personality and his achievements; some portray him in a very negative light while many display him as a messiah. Nevertheless, his true nature has been somewhat corrupted by the bias of those in history and this book seeks to correct the rumours and provide an account of his life with as much clarity as I, an admitted admirer, can give.
In order to properly examine this man’s long and storied career, we must begin in New York City in 1782, where Philip Hamilton was born to Lord Alexander Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton, and Angelica Schuyler Hamilton.[123] Philip’s father was one of the Empire of North America’s most promising politicians and was the leader of the newly codified Patriot Party. He adored his new son and took him under his wing. Alexander wanted to mould his offspring for the highest reaches of fame. This was something he had chased his whole life and he wanted his son to do the same.
This of course is not fame in the sense we know it today; according to Francis Bacon, the famous philosopher and organiser of knowledge, fame was inextricably linked with honour and a special kind of achievement. Winning fame, Bacon maintained, meant winning the praise of persons of judgement and quality. In Bacon’s Essays, which Hamilton as well as many of his contemporaries studied heavily, there is a five stage classification of fame. On the bottom rung were the fathers of the country, who ‘reign justly and make good times wherein they live’. Next came the champions of Empire, leaders who enlarge their country through conquest or defend her against invaders. Third came saviours of Empire, who deliver their country from the miseries of tyrants or chaos of civil wars. Fourth came the great lawgivers, such as Solon, Lycurgus and Justinian, who create great laws which govern their Empire well. Finally, at the summit, were founders of Empires, such as Cyrus of Persia and Julius Caesar. In the Baconian view these stellar Heroes were both great generals and wise legislators.
In teaching the young Philip of the deeds of these great men, Alexander also invoked a sense of the ENA’s British heritage and a duty to the King of Great Britain and Emperor of North America. Alexander taught him of the fame many of his compatriots had achieved. He taught him of the great victories achieved in India by Sir Eyre Coote, in crushing Siraj ud-Daulah in the heart of India, making Bengal fully British. As the young Philip would be put into bed at night, Alexander would tell him great swashbuckling stories of General Wolfe and his conquest of Canada, as well as the stories of King Arthur in ancient Britain. For Alexander and also for his son, these men achieved what few others had, great fame in the eyes of Britain. Alexander was thoroughly intoxicated by the idea of becoming an arbiter of destiny for the Empire of North America and he bestowed that duty to King and Empire onto his son.
The love of Empire suited Hamilton’s location well as the entire city of New York began to grow immensely, from around 25,000 souls in 1780 to over 70,000 in 1800. As a result of a reference in Lord Washington’s letter to his good friend King George III, the people of New York fashioned their home as the "Empire City". The spirit of victory and imperialism consumed New York City as it became one of the ENA's largest commercial ports.[124] Philip Hamilton grew up in the middle of this array of commercial and societal growth beneath the Jack and George. People from all around the world came to New York to settle and it became a massive mixture of different languages, nationalities and experiences. Europeans would marvel at the (relatively) egalitarian city where racial and cultural differences seemed to take a backseat to commercial and societal needs. Hamilton, unlike many leaders of his time (especially the Linnaean influenced), saw little wrong with living among multitudinous peoples and races – but that did not dampen his American patriotism; rather, it reinforced it to know that here was one of the few places where such society was possible.
Alexander also began to teach Philip about the road to his own fame. Philip often envisioned and idealised his own father’s romanticised account of his life as a young boy. His father was born from nothing on the warm tropical sands of Nevis, sent to the City of New York with a hope that he could be successful even with the odds set against him. He enrolled first in a preparatory school and then King’s College on a grant. He excelled at his studies with a propensity towards law, eventually making the bar of New York. He married the beautiful daughter of a rich aristocratic New York family and they bore a son. He would temporarily leave his new wife and child because of a call to arms. The cries of liberty were emanating from South America and Hamilton and his brethren in North America would heed that call. The stories of epic battles on the plains of the Platinean lands against the decadent papists in the French and Spanish armies were exhilarating and made his father into an idol. He fought alongside the greatest hero of America, George Washington, and together they achieved victory after victory for liberty. Alexander Hamilton returned to New York a favourite son, a war hero and possessing a barony. The part that his father always emphasised in his story was that he was the child in the story. He was the direct descendant of this narrative, which gave Philip quite a sizeable pair of shoes to fill.
Philip was thirteen years old when his father firs
t ascended to the post of Lord President of the Empire. His father’s career had already been meteoric and now he was one of the youngest heads of government in the world. He reveled in teaching his son about being a statesman as he furthered the independent agenda of the Empire of North America. Unfortunately, Alexander could no longer spend all of his time in New York, but had to move permanently to Fredericksburg. Philip had to say goodbye to the place where he grew up and move to the central beating heart of the Empire.
His father had barely been in office for two months when news of the murder of Thomas Jefferson came pouring in and the outrage was immediate. Philip, as a youngster reaching adolescence, saw the fire in his father’s eyes igniting as the impetus for war was called and at once, he ordered new regiments to be raised and deployed. Philip was thrilled at the sheer drive and inner workings of the parliamentary process. The frantic pace and martial obsessiveness that his father pursued in this war would ultimately influence how Philip would act in his own administrative duties. His father introduced him to the greatest minds in America at this juncture in its history: Benjamin Rush, James Madison and William Franklin.
Philip, who was seventeen by 1799, began attending King’s College. It was his father’s alma mater and it seemed his future within the Confederation of New York was quite bright. But the Hamilton name and political reputation preceded the young man and naturally the Constitutionalist-sympathising students there would give him no end to criticism and argument, especially as the election heated up. While at the school, reports began to surface that Philip would argue and break into physical fights with political opponents who would antagonise him on the campus. In this respect, Philip acted just as his father would. Alexander, who nevertheless understood Philip’s sentiment, knew the boy would not have much of a future in the University if the kept up with that sort of behavior.
Ultimately, Alexander decided that if Philip really wanted to become a man, he would have to learn how to fight, explore and run a business. Recently, his political victories regarding the (gradual) abolition of slavery in New York had endeared him to several high ranking members of the Royal Africa Company. He admired their commercial and scientific achievements and knew that it would provide his son with valuable experience and an appreciation for the far-reaching possessions of the Crown that he could never truly see if he only stayed in America. While he had not consulted Philip on the matter, the elder Hamilton decided it would be best for his son to accept a position as an agent for the Royal Africa Company.
When his father informed him that he would be leaving for Dakar, Philip was incensed. In his mind, he was needed now more than ever. His father needed all the help that he could get in the rough election coming up and Patriots needed to organise to defeat those detestable Constitutionalists. But Alexander knew better. His son’s brash and argumentative nature would become more and more of a liability in his public persona. He realised that his son could use a break from this charged political atmosphere. This move however did not help him very much at all, as the Constitutionalists claimed that he cared more about the companies ultimately run from London than what America needed. But alas, his choice was final. Although there was quite a family spat and some residual anger, Philip left on a ship headed for West Africa to begin his new career.
He arrived in Dakar as the nineteenth century dawned, as the RAC was opening new offices and augmenting its fleet. Hamilton took no time acquainting himself with the highest leaders of the RAC and he enjoyed somewhat of a celebrity status there even early on. Arthur Filling and Thomas Space, the founders of the Company, took a liking to the young man and worked with him considerably. He would stay up into the early hours of the morning talking to Space of the merits of Hobbes and Locke, Socrates and Aristotle. They viewed the Foxite ministry’s accomplishments with great pride as their home country began to sow the seeds of liberty and heal the divisions of the past, unaware of the monumental events that would take place merely seven years later and what Fox’s appeasement would do to bring that about.
Filling taught Hamilton about the fundamentals of business and allowed him to organise trading expeditions to several native civilisations in the still mysterious interior. During his first few years working in the RAC, he traveled along the coast with Filling and his merchant ships, taking in exports. Ivory, gold dust and other valuable luxury items were traded at optimal prices and ultimately it was Hamilton’s skillful trade agreements and sometimes unscrupulous but effective market practices that flooded the RAC coffers with gold and kept the stockholders fat and happy. Hamilton’s economic genius, a product of his father’s teachings, made him one of Filling’s favorite junior lieutenants.
He also stayed for a while in Liberty City and met with Olaudah Equiano. In his first assignment in 1803, he had been appointed the liaison for defense of former New York and Pennsylvanian slaves settling in Freedonia. He tended to his job quite well there as he helped these fledgling communities of former possessions of New Yorkers found their new settlements and their new lives. His views on race were mixed at best by modern standards but quite forward-thinking by the standards of the time. While he respected and worked with the “civilised” blacks (ones who accepted British culture), he detested the native cultures in West Africa. While he was cordial in his official diplomatic state, he could be quite xenophobic at times by today’s standards.
In 1804 he was appointed to one of the Junior Lieutenancies to the Gold Coast region of West Africa and immediately took up residence in the British trading base at Cape Coast Castle. He was one of the youngest to take one of these positions in the company and no doubt his relationship with Filling and his name got him the job. Nevertheless, the administrative duties of trade and diplomatic duties suited Hamilton and it reminded him of his father’s term as he facilitated the transfer of goods to the RAC fleet from the hinterland and dealing with the natives in the Ashanti Empire. He reformed Cape Coast Castle from a beaten down and neglected slave castle to a well organised and powerful outpost of the Royal Africa Company.
Of all the men in West Africa that he became close to, by far his best friendship was with a young man named James Wayne, who was the second son of General Isaac Wayne II. They met in 1804 while in Cape Coast and immediately both of their stories fascinated each other. Wayne had sent his son to be tutored in surveying by their chief scout, Daniel Houghton. Hamilton and Wayne would share stories about their fathers’ accomplishments from the Second Platinean War. Houghton liked them both and ultimately they both became his pupils in the difficult skill of scouting and exploration. Before long, they made plans to explore the depths of West Africa.
But soon events would prove to change both Philip and James’ plans. Word of the Cherry Massacre had reached Dakar as well the American and British declarations of war against the UPSA. To the two young men, this was their chance to prove their worth on the battlefield. The stories of his father’s victories with General Washington there came rushing back into his mind and immediately he wanted to go and fight. He traveled with Wayne to Cape Coast where Admiral Sir William Byng’s combined fleet was stationed before traveling to Falkland’s Islands and going to war with the Meridians.
This certainly was different from the stories his father had told him of fighting alongside the Meridians. Yet with all of the recent events in the UPSA, Hamilton was certain they were not to be trusted. The radicals under President-General Castelli were a far cry from the liberty seeking men that had once fought alongside his father, at least in his mind. After all, one of the declarations of war came from his own father’s hand, so that was as direct of a blessing as there ever was one. The Meridians’ tacit support of the Jacobin French regime and their seemingly bloodthirsty pirate-like fleet, as the Cherry Massacre showed, made up Hamilton’s mind. He would go and fight.
Hamilton was never a navy man but after those several years of organising coastal defense forces and training native jagun [sepoy] regiments in the Gold Coast, he was perfectly prepared
to become a first sergeant and command a Royal Marine unit. Though Hamilton immediately transferred to the newly promoted American Admiral Perry’s flagship, it was during this trip that he really began to get a scope for how massive the British Crown’s possessions really were. In letters he wrote to his sisters back in New York, he mentioned how the regiment adjacent to his unit was made up mostly of men mainly from Yorkshire and Kent, while his own regiment had men from every confederation and province in the Empire from Newfoundland to the Floridas. He also grew closer to Wayne, who was going on this expedition for similar reasons.
The first true battle that Hamilton distinguished himself in was the Battle of Valdes in June 1806. Admiral Byng had a small Meridian flotilla surrounded and was punishing them into submission, but a small frigate escaped and Hamilton told Admiral Perry to follow him. While they kept pace with the Meridian’s escape, it looked unlikely that the admiral’s ship would be able to engage them on the broadside and the rest of the fleet was otherwise occupied. Hamilton and his contingent of Royal Marines decided to do something daring and when they were close enough, boarded the Meridian ship. Hamilton and his thirty Royal Marines proceeded to battle the entire crew and Hamilton personally slew several Meridians before putting a bullet in the captain’s brain with the early revolving pistol his father had given him. He had become quite adept at using it and a half dozen Meridian sailors were now dead because of his newfound skill. He returned to Perry’s ship to accolades from all of the crew and the American Admiral took note of the daring and courageous young son of the leader of the Empire of North America.
