“In the year of Wuzi, the first year of Shaoding, with the Shaoding Emperor on the throne—what was his name again? I can’t quite remember, but he was one of those Zhao family members, that’s for sure.” Ethan Brooks took a big swig of wine, clearly not too interested in the current court.

“I heard our Song country is at war with the north. Is the capital still in Tokyo?” Brian Carter knew nothing about the Shaoding era name, who the Shaoding Emperor was, or even which year the first year of Shaoding corresponded to. He had no real sense of historical timelines in his head, only that the Southern Song started in the early 12th century, so he had to ask.

“That was all a hundred years ago. My ancestors sailed south back then to escape the Jurchens, just like you, planning to make a living by trading goods. But the locals here didn’t accept outsiders, and we couldn’t speak the language, so in the end we had no choice but to join the Tanka people and live off the sea.” Ethan Brooks not only gave Brian Carter a vague answer, but also shared his family background, looking miserable as he tipped back another bowl of wine.

“Oh…” Brian Carter didn’t know how to comfort him, so he just kept quiet, calculating in his mind. The Southern Song had been around for over a hundred years, so this must be the early 13th century. How long until the Southern Song was destroyed by the Mongols? He’d have to work that out. The Ming dynasty was founded in the mid-14th century, and the Yuan lasted just over 90 years—these bits of history Brian Carter could just about recall. Doing a bit of simple subtraction, Brian Carter felt a bit depressed: it seemed there were only a few decades left before the disaster at Yashan. Looks like he’d crossed into a pretty unstable era; living out his life in peace was probably a long shot.

“Don’t fear the northerners! They’re far away. We have boats. As long as there’s the sea, we can survive!” Seeing Brian Carter with his head down, the boatboy patted his shoulder, then the boat’s deck, encouraging Brian Carter in halting Chinese, one word at a time.

“Second Brother is right. The sea is our home—no one can take it from us. Here, let me offer everyone a bowl as well, to thank you all for taking in an outsider like me.” Brian Carter thought about it and realized, yeah, who cares who’s emperor? It had nothing to do with him. With his limited historical knowledge and personality, if he really got thrown into Lin’an, he’d probably get arrested as a spy within days.

His habits, way of speaking, clothes, every move—none of it matched anyone else! You can’t change that in a short time, maybe not even in a lifetime. Now, by accident, he’d ended up among the Tanka people, which was actually a good thing. At least they wouldn’t kill him just for being different. That was worth celebrating, no matter how bad the wine tasted—bottoms up!

“Little brother, even though you’re an outsider, we Ethan Brooks, we Tanka people, won’t trick you. We originally wanted you to join our rowboat crew as a junior, but since you’re educated, joining the Tanka would mean you could never make a living on land again, and you’d lose your chance at official rank, letting down your ancestors. I thought it over, and it’s better not to do this. Tomorrow, when my in-law comes, we’ll scrape together some travel money for you. You should go to Quanzhou and see if there are any big sea ships heading to the South Seas. You can go with them and return home.” Just as everyone’s mood had lifted, Ethan Brooks spoke again.

Originally, Brian Carter had been a bit suspicious about how readily Ethan Brooks took him in. The Tanka were at the bottom of society, barred from many jobs and even from schools—a way for successive governments to keep them under control. Brian Carter knew this well; even in modern Tanka museums, there were exhibits about it. But Ethan Brooks hadn’t mentioned any of this at the time. He probably just wanted to take advantage of him, seeing that he was tall and strong and could work. Who wouldn’t want a strong laborer in the family, especially in ancient times with low productivity? And this laborer only needed food, not wages—way better than hiring a farmhand.

Chapter Six: What Can I Do?

But Brian Carter didn’t mind. He was planning to use the Tanka people to get a foothold anyway—it was mutual benefit. Otherwise, why would they feed him and give him a place to sleep? According to Brian Carter’s plan, he’d first find a place to settle, figure out the era, think through his future path, and then say goodbye to the Tanka. He’d go do his own thing—they couldn’t keep him if they tried. With their small frames, he could take down four or five of them at once. If he really wanted to run, who could catch him? A well-nourished modern man, almost a professional athlete, compared to ancient people in overall fitness—none of them could match him.

But Ethan Brooks’s words surprised and moved Brian Carter. Not only did he not plan to take advantage of him, he even wanted to lend him money to help him return home. Given their economic situation, that money wouldn’t be easy to come by. For someone they’d only known a few hours, to give everything they had—what good people! And as for Brian Carter going home, that was a joke. Even if his home really was in Australia, he couldn’t go back. With the current level of navigation, even sailing from the South China Sea to Southeast Asia was risking your life, let alone from Southeast Asia to Australia. No matter how much money you gave Brian Carter, he wouldn’t go—pure suicide!