Matthew Waite

When Eight Countries gang up to plunder an aging empire, only a fool would get in their way. The Brits called it the Boxer Rebellion, but the 'Boxers' called themselves YiHeQuan; Righteous Fist, and they faced off against the Eight Nation Alliance, their ambitious plan being to rid China of foreigners. It was going to be a bloodbath. Our hero, however, had better things to do; opium, female companionship and some innocuous bribery and corruption.
With any luck he'd be able to sidestep any seismic shift in the tectonic plates of the Orient. But lady luck is fickle, and the 'troubles' catch our hero literally with his pants down.