Dark of the Sun Read Online Free PDF

region—”
    Zangi-Ragozh held up his hand. “No. I may choose to order my Captains to continue—at their discretion—but I will not attempt to influence the Chinese. First and foremost, they would not listen to me. Second, if any mishap occurred, I would be held responsible. That could lead to ruin and prison if their ships came to harm on what they deemed to be my account. As you are well-aware,” he added with a stern look.
    “They wouldn’t hold you responsible,” said Lampong-Chelai.
    “Wouldn’t they.” Zangi-Ragozh shook his head, recalling an incident from his past when precisely that had occurred. “I am not prepared to gamble on that.”
    “Well, at least you can keep such cautions to yourself,” Lampong-Chelai said, doing his utmost to recover himself; he had seen something in Zangi-Ragozh that had shocked him, an implacability he had not realized the foreigner possessed.
    “I would be a fool to do that,” said Zangi-Ragozh calmly; his eyes were intent.
    “But you can help us—all merchants must be willing to stand with other merchants, or we will all be the tools of the tax collectors and the customs agents. You are one of the most successful of us foreigners, and we must act—” Taken aback at his lapse in conduct, he went to the table where the teapot stood, and he poured the last of the tea into his cup while struggling to restore his composure. “I thank you for hearing me out. You have been most gracious. I fully comprehend your reservations.”
    “I have not promised to continue to order my ships to visit the ports in question,” Zangi-Ragozh pointed out, his dark eyes still unfathomably grim. “I have said only that I will recommend that my Captains do so unless in immediate peril. I will defer to their judgment in matters of safety. They are the ones braving the oceans, not I, and they will have to face the dangers when they arise.” He looked away, his discomfort at the thought of so much water making him queasy.
    “Yes. I understand. I still thank you. Not many will even do me the courtesy of listening to me.” Lampong-Chelai drank the tea and smiled.
    Zangi-Ragozh inclined his head. “Very well. So long as we understand each other.”
    “We do,” said Lampong-Chelai, setting the cup down with care, and attempting to conceal the nervousness that had taken hold of him. “You have many beautiful things, foreigner. I have rarely seen so many.”
    “I have gathered them for many, many years,” Zangi-Ragozh said, not mentioning that the many years were counted in centuries.
    “Obviously you have the favor of the God of Fortune. May he continue to guide you.” Lampong-Chelai fitted his hands together. “I won’t trespass on your good nature any longer.” With that, he started toward the door. “Your steward may see me out.”
    “He could. Nevertheless, I will have the pleasure of saying farewell to you at the front door,” said Zangi-Ragozh, preparing to follow his visitor out into the hallway, and all the while wondering how dire things were in Sumatra and Java that a Champa merchant from Vijaya should come to plead for them.
     
    Text of a writ of manumission from Zangi-Ragozh, presented to Dei-Na, and recorded in the office of the Magistrate’s Archives of Yang-Chau:
     
    Be it known throughout the city of Yang-Chau and all the Middle Kingdom, that the twenty five-year-old concubine Dei-Na is herewith granted her freedom by the foreign merchant Zangi-Ragozh, who purchased her from her father; the wheelwright Ma Fan-Long, on the ninth day of the fortnight of the Frost Kings in Dei-Na’s eighteenth year, for the sum of four gold bars and two unpolished emeralds, is now and perpetually a free woman, with no bonds or other considerations mitigating her freedom.
    This Dei-Na has been a most devoted concubine, and her devotion deserves every emolument to which she may be entitled under the rule of the Magistrate and the will of the Emperor. Any attempt to lessen what I