Chapter 895: My Homeland (Grand Finale)

In the fifth month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the steppe was covered in green.

It was the most beautiful season beyond the frontier. The meadows were like a green ocean — blue sky and white clouds, blooming flowers and sunlight, warming the whole body.

The hillsides were thick with pine, juniper, cypress, and birch. At the foot of the mountain lay a manor, and before it stretched the emerald-washed meadow, extending like a green carpet all the way to the base of the distant high mountains, beside the vast broadleaf forest.

On the soft grass before the manor, the Chongzhen Emperor reclined contentedly in a rocking chair, holding a newspaper. He wore spectacles on his nose, and fragrant tea rested on the small side table — the very image of an intellectual and the leisurely life of the middle class.

He savored his fragrant tea and perused the newspaper's contents at a leisurely pace.

Suddenly his gaze sharpened, and he straightened his posture. The results of the deliberation were out. The newspaper published his posthumous title: Shaotian Yidao Gangming Kejian Kuiwen Fenwu Dunren Maoxiao Lie Emperor.

Then his temple name: Yizong.

The Chongzhen Emperor savored it carefully, a trace of gratification flashing in his eyes. Yizong Lie Emperor — this was the greatest affirmation of him.

In his heart he sighed: "I wronged him."

There was also Wang Chengen, posthumously titled Zhongmin, which greatly satisfied the Chongzhen Emperor.

He examined the newspaper closely. Below was a series of further posthumous honors and titles.

Yang Guozhu, posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Ji, with a temple erected for his worship.

Cao Bianjiao, posthumously enfeoffed as Marquis of Jingnan, with a temple erected for his worship.

Wang Tingchen, posthumously enfeoffed as Marquis of Ningnan, with a temple erected for his worship.

Liu Zhaoji, posthumously enfeoffed as Marquis of Dongping, with a temple erected for his worship.

Fu Yingchong, posthumously enfeoffed as Marquis of Dingcheng, with a temple erected for his worship.

Li Banghua, posthumously granted Grand Guardian and Minister of Personnel, titled Zhongwen, with a temple erected for his worship.

Zhu Zhifeng, posthumously granted Minister of War, titled Zhongzhuang, with a temple erected for his worship.

Wei Jingyuan, posthumously granted Minister of War, titled Zhongyi, with a temple erected for his worship.

Cai Maode, posthumously granted Minister of War, titled Zhongxiang, with a temple erected for his worship.

Qiu Minyang, posthumously granted Minister of War, titled Zhongjie, with a temple erected for his worship.

The list of posthumous titles and honors was extremely long. There were also those who died for their principles when the capital fell to the roving bandits: Grand Secretary and concurrent Minister of Works Fan Jingwen, Minister of Revenue and concurrent Reader-in-Waiting Ni Yuanlu, Vice Minister of War Wang Jiayan, Vice Minister of Justice Meng Zhaoxiang, Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief Shi Bangyao, Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Ling Yiqu, Embroidered Uniform Guard Regional Commander Wang Guoxing, Marquis of Xinle Liu Wenbing, and Left Junior Mentor Liu Lishun, among others — all received posthumous titles, rites, and burials.

Amidst this there was a minor controversy: after the capital fell, those who did not die for their principles at the time but were killed during the bandits' pursuit of loot and military funds, as well as civil and military officers killed when the bandits marched out of the capital to fight — should they receive posthumous honors and titles? The debate was intense, and even among the common people opinions were divided.

In the end, the Grand Commander, Lifetime Marshal, Prince of the East and King of the Great Eastern Kingdom, Wang Dou, spoke: "If those who died for their principles and those who surrendered are treated the same, then what use are loyal ministers and righteous men?"

His single word settled the matter. Thus these unlucky victims were not granted posthumous honors or titles.

The Chongzhen Emperor gazed at the list in a daze. He had originally thought that only Wang Chengen had died for principle at the time; he never imagined there were so many loyal ministers who died for righteousness, and spread across the entire realm. Then there were the various ennobled officials and grand ministers who surrendered after the bandits entered the capital. Seeing their fates, he should have felt satisfaction, yet he only sighed.

He unfolded the newspaper. Next came the announcement of the disposition of the captured leaders and commanders of the roving bandits and slave rebels.

The number of the two kinds of rebels captured this time was not small. The list spread out, one could say it was densely packed.

In the handling of this, the trial verdicts: the bandit chieftain Li Zicheng and the slave chieftain Dorgon were sentenced to death by lingchi.

Sentenced to lingchi along with them were the bandit general Liu Zongmin, and the slave generals Dodo and Abatai.

Wu Sangui, for killing the Marquis of Dongping, Liu Zhaoji, and for leading the Qing troops through the pass — his crimes were monstrous and heinous — was likewise sentenced to death by lingchi.

The bandit officials Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Gu Junen, Song Qijiao, Zhang Linran, and others were sentenced to flaying and grass-stuffing.

The slave officials Fan Wencheng, Ning Wanwo, Namutai, Ye Keshu, Basihan, Meng Qiaofang, and others were sentenced to flaying and grass-stuffing.

Guang Shiheng, who obstructed the southern relocation, causing the sovereign to die at the altars of state, yet himself surrendered to the roving bandits and even took a false post — his crimes were monstrous and heinous — was likewise sentenced to flaying and grass-stuffing.

Fang Guangchen, who offered the plan of borrowing the caitiffs to suppress the bandits and incited Wu Sangui to defect to the enemy, and was also one of the chief culprits leading to Liu Zhaoji's death — his crimes were monstrous and heinous — was sentenced to flaying and grass-stuffing.

Yang Shaofan, sentenced to waist-cutting before the tomb of the Marquis of Jingnan, Cao Bianjiao.

Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, Wu Sanfu, Dang Shousu, Gu Kecheng, Zu Dabi, Zu Dale, Zu Dacheng, Yang Shen, Guo Yunlong, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, Ma Guangyuan, Jin Li, Buyandai, Yibai, Enggetu, and others were sentenced to waist-cutting.

All officers of the Wu ancestral army were beheaded and their bodies displayed in the marketplace. All retainers of the Wu ancestral army were executed by beheading.

The captured veteran camp soldiers of the roving bandits and the captured Manchu soldiers of the slave rebels were all executed by beheading.

Among the captured outer camp soldiers of the roving bandits, the high-ranking officers, the army ruffians, and those with records of evil deeds were all executed by beheading. The remainder were sentenced to hard labor ranging from ten to fifty years. Those willing to be exiled overseas could have their years halved.

Among the captured Mongol Eight Banners, Korean Eight Banners, and Japanese Eight Banner soldiers, one in every three men was selected and killed. Among the Han Eight Banners and Outer Vassal Mongol soldiers, one in every five men was selected and killed. The remainder were sentenced to hard labor ranging from ten to fifty years. Those willing to be exiled overseas could have their years halved.

When the great army attacked into Liaodong, among the captured men, women, old, and young of the slave rebels, all adult males of the Manchu Eight Banners were beheaded. The women, the elderly, and those not yet of age were all sentenced to hard labor ranging from twenty to fifty years. Those willing to be exiled overseas could have their years halved.

When the great army attacked into bandit territory, among the captured family dependents of the roving bandits, the women, the elderly, and those not yet of age were all sentenced to hard labor ranging from ten to fifty years. Those willing to be exiled overseas could have their years halved.

The above could also, depending on the effectiveness of their reformation, be separately organized into Loyalty and Righteousness Battalions and Newly Attached Battalions to render service to the state.

Furthermore, the more than one hundred officials who surrendered to the roving bandits and took false posts were all beheaded and their bodies displayed in the marketplace.

Also, led by the Supervisory Department of the Anbei Protectorate, a universal tribunal was convened to judge and sentence the crimes of the surrendered officials according to law. However, as the capital was currently suffering an extreme shortage of officials, all capital officials were first demoted three grades and charged with redeeming themselves through meritorious service, to restore order and government function.

A complex expression appeared in the Chongzhen Emperor's eyes. On the twenty-second day of the fourth month, the Crown Prince entered the capital and soon after ascended the throne as Emperor, changing the reign title to Longwu. The following year would be the first year of Longwu.

The Longwu Emperor, Zhu Cilang, appointed the Duke Who Pacifies the State, Grand Commander Wang Dou, as Prince of the East, enfeoffed him as King of the Great Eastern Kingdom, Lifetime Marshal, still bearing the seal of the General Who Subdues the Caitiffs, Regional Commander of All Military Affairs at Home and Abroad, exempt from hastening at court, permitted to wear his sword and shoes when ascending the hall, and his name not to be announced during obeisance.

The Longwu Emperor also wished for the Prince of the East to be granted the Nine Bestowments, but Wang Dou firmly refused.

Subsequently, Wang Dou appointed Han Chao as General Who Subdues the East, and Zhong Susu and Gao Shiyin as General Who Subdues the South and General Who Subdues the West, to thoroughly pursue and annihilate the two rebels.

The Battle of Tangjialing on the twentieth day of the fourth month shook the realm. Two hundred thousand troops of the Border Pacification Army fought a great battle against one million roving bandits and slave rebels, routing them utterly. The remnant bandit forces fled south in panic under the leadership of Resolute General Tian Hu, Resolute General Bai Jiube, and others.

When they fled to Hejian Prefecture, they were dealt a fierce blow on the flank by Zhong Susu, who had been waiting for a long time in Zhending Prefecture. The last remnants of their veteran camp soldiers were nearly wiped out.

Then Zhong Susu joined forces with Gao Shiyin, who was pursuing southward, and they pressed straight into Shandong.

The great victory at Tangjialing spread thunderously across the realm. Soldiers and civilians alike were roused and elated. Learning of the bandits' defeat, the fallen prefectures and counties rose up in a roar. Everywhere, people killed and expelled the false officials, raised the banner of righteousness to drive out the false defense commissioners, magistrates, and county heads, and welcomed the royal army. The whole realm rose up to punish them.

The latest news: all of Shandong was recovered. Zhong Susu and Gao Shiyin, with Shouzhou Regional Commander Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Luzhou Regional Commander Huang Degong, and others as the vanguard, crossed the Yellow River to advance west and south, destroying the bandit Bai Wang's forces in Henan, Huguang, and Jiangnan.

On the eastern front, the remnant slave rebel forces fled east in panic. As they neared Shanhai Pass, Yang Guozhu, inside Qian'an city, suddenly burst out of the city and struck them, slaying the slave rebel beile, Bolo, the third son of Abatai, and others on the spot, and recovering Shanhai Pass.

However, Yang Guozhu was already severely wounded. This final strike aggravated his wounds beyond treatment, and he passed away with a smile.

Han Chao's pursuing army and the Jizhou Garrison forces combined outside Shanhai Pass to kill and wound the last remaining Manchu soldiers of the slave rebels to near extinction, then marched out of the pass.

The latest news: the remaining slave rebel forces in Liaodong fled north in panic under the leadership of the Prince of Ceremonies, Daišan. All of Liaodong was recovered.

The situation was excellent on all fronts. The complete annihilation of the roving bandits and the barbarian caitiffs was just a matter of days.

The Chongzhen Emperor sighed. After ascending the throne he had toiled with painstaking devotion, yet the capital was breached by roving bandits, and several times the slave raiders drove their armies to the city walls, slaughtering and plundering for thousands of li. Yet such a ferocious enemy had been wiped out by the Jingbian Army in half a day, and now those two bandit forces were about to be utterly destroyed.

What kind of power was this?

He recalled the time not long ago when he had gone to Xuanfu Garrison.

His movements were not restricted; he could come and go freely, except that a squad of armored soldiers always escorted him around the estate.

After leaving the capital, he had visited Xuanfu Garrison several times. Every visit brought a sigh — even the Great Ming of his dreams had not looked like this.

That last time he was sighing again in the city, and then beside him, along the canal bank, someone else let out an identical sigh.

He looked over, curious, and saw a graceful young scholar who gave his surname as Li. The two attendants with him were rather odd — they did not seem like permanent servants, more like official escorts guarding a convict. Yet they wore no official uniforms, and the scholar bore no shackles or chains, so although Chongzhen found it strange, he did not dwell on it.

The two exchanged a few words. The scholar said he had long heard of Xuanfu Garrison’s reputation and wanted to see it for himself; next he planned to travel to Guihua City for a look around.

When the Chongzhen Emperor departed, the scholar was still standing by the canal bank in a daze, his gaze distant and unfocused.

It was only a minor interlude; Chongzhen merely recalled it in passing. He simply marveled — all that Xuanfu Garrison had become, how had Wang Dou accomplished it?

……

Another page of the newspaper covered internal administration. After entering the capital, Wang Dou’s subordinates had taken many posts both in the capital and in the provinces, yet quite a few official positions were still left for the various ministers and functionaries, even illustrious posts such as Minister and Vice Minister.

The officials all praised Grand Viceroy Wang Dou’s virtue in not hoarding power, and then launched bloody struggles over those posts. Even officials from the south and west — men like Shi Kefa, Ma Shiying, Ruan Dacheng, Wang Duo, Zhang Shenyan, Liu Zongzhou, and others — came surging toward the capital, ready to seize an office.

Those who considered themselves qualified to enter the Grand Secretariat whipped their horses even harder on the road to the capital.

The struggle over Grand Secretariat seats was even more brutal. No one objected to Chen Xinjia becoming Senior Grand Secretary, and moreover the Longwu court’s Senior Grand Secretary would adopt a new system: a term-limit system.

One term lasted five years, with a maximum of two terms; beyond that no further appointment was allowed. Even the Emperor could not dismiss the holder at will. This drew a broad tide of acclaim.

There was also a governance-observation system: after appointment, every official must undergo training at the Xuanfu Garrison Military Academy and Civil Affairs Academy, then gain experience at the grassroots level. Only those who passed governance observation could be sent out across the Great Ming to serve as civil or military officials.

Many other new systems were being brewed and introduced, such as a new imperial examination system and so on. Regrettably, the detailed rules were not spelled out in the newspaper, leaving the Chongzhen Emperor with a feeling of unsatisfied curiosity.

In particular, the term-limit system and the new examination system made Chongzhen mull them over repeatedly, wondering how Wang Dou would carry them out when the time came.

There was also the land-expansion system that Wang Dou seemed to be rolling out with special fanfare.

Wang Dou proclaimed in the newspaper that the roving-bandit chaos was partly caused by insufficient land, and therefore territory must be opened up. To this end he led by example, personally assuming the position of Sovereign of the Great Eastern State, precisely so that in days to come he could expand into the wilds. Moreover, to mobilize the people’s initiative, he would establish protectorates and institute a fief-lord system to encourage the people to expand outward.

Wang Dou stated that not only he, but in the future most of his subordinates would be enfeoffed overseas, establishing a multitude of duchies, marquisates, and counties, encircling and protecting the Great Ming, providing financial resources, and diverting surplus population, so that the Great Ming would forever remain the center of the Celestial Empire.

The Chongzhen Emperor felt a sudden dawning realization. No wonder that after Wang Dou was enfeoffed as Prince of the East, the title was followed by “Sovereign of the Great Eastern State.” At the time he had found it exceedingly strange; now it seemed this was the result of private discussions between Wang Dou and the new Emperor.

He stared blankly at the newspaper: “Will Wang Dou truly go overseas in the future?”

The Chongzhen Emperor could not understand why Wang Dou was so interested in the savage wilderness and so dismissive of the dazzling world of the Central Plains. The officials, too, seemed to have considerable debate, arguing that the Eastern Prince’s fief lay far off in the wilds, that this act slighted meritorious officials, and especially mistreated a meritorious official like Wang Dou.

Yet it seemed Wang Dou’s resolve was set. Word came from the Grand Viceroy’s residence that under the land-expansion system, no more land within the Divine Continent would be enfeoffed; expansion enfiefments would only occur beyond the Divine Continent.

As the one introducing the system, Wang Dou himself must lead by example.

Chongzhen pondered for a long while but could never quite fathom Wang Dou’s thinking. He shook his head and read on to the content below in the newspaper.

After Wang Dou and the others entered the capital, the first thing they did was open up the grain-transport route. They ordered Lu Zhenfei, the Provincial Governor of Huaiyang and Viceroy of Grain Transport, to speedily deliver to the capital the four million shi of tribute grain that had been held up at Huaian. At the same time, he also shipped grain from Xuanfu Garrison and the Anbei Protectorate to relieve the populace.

At the same time, they used work-relief, launching large-scale construction of post roads and bridges across the realm.

Wang Dou stated in the newspaper: to get rich, first build roads. Next they would launch large-scale infrastructure construction — for example, building roads from Guihua City to the capital, and from the capital to Nanjing, and would also invest vast sums of money and grain into water-conservancy projects on the Yellow River and the Grand Canal.

In this process, at least a million commoners would be hired to take part in the construction — not as unpaid corvée labor, but paid wages. The work-food silver they earned would be enough to support their families.

This made the common people extremely eager and enthusiastic; everyone looked forward to the new policies.

Nor did they worry that Grand Viceroy Wang Dou would fail to pay. First, Wang Dou’s credibility was extremely high, as could be seen from the enthusiastic migration to the protectorates from all over. And Wang Dou had plenty of money; rumor had it that after the Jingbian Army defeated the roving bandits, the silver Wang Dou obtained amounted to at least over one hundred million taels.

A folk rhyme went: The roving bandits fell, Wang Dou ate his fill.

There was no way he could fail to pay wages.

So in the days to come, everyone might be like the people of Xuanfu Garrison — everyone would have work to do, everyone would have food to eat.

Wang Dou and Chen Xinjia and others also announced that henceforth the post stations would abolish the function of “receiving and escorting traveling envoys,” switching instead to a travel-expense system, and would permit each post station to operate autonomously, just like those in Xuanfu Garrison. However, how much of the proceeds should be remitted upward, and how the local and central authorities would split the accounts, was still under discussion.

Yet numerous merchants, especially those from Xuanfu Garrison, had already moved at the first whiff of news, buying and leasing land around the post stations along the routes from Guihua City to the capital and from the capital to Nanjing, opening wine shops, horse firms, and the like, leading a surge of excitement and ferment in commercial circles.

They also announced the abolition of the three military surtaxes and the exemption of all corvée labor across the realm for three years, temporarily adopting a hiring system, with further deliberation after three years.

These various measures sent wave after wave of shock through the realm, and a vigorous, vibrant atmosphere sprang vividly to life.

The Chongzhen Emperor sighed again. When he had been on the throne, when had there ever been such an atmosphere?

Wang Dou had been in the capital for only a short time, yet the mood among the common people already seemed utterly transformed.

He read on in the newspaper his favorite column, “Beloved Jin Ping Mei,” and its commentary on these matters, savoring it again and again, his heart itching with interest.

He thought: “One of these days I too shall submit a piece.”

……

At last the Chongzhen Emperor set down the newspaper with satisfaction and stood up.

He lit a Cloud Cigarette and paced slowly across the grass. The sky seemed vast, the wilds boundless; in the distance, herds of cattle and sheep filled the eye, making one’s heart feel much more open and expansive.

Around his estate there were a few other estates, as well as some fortified villages and hamlets. Han people and subjugated barbarians lived intermingled; the villagers were all simple and honest, with a flavor of being aloof from worldly strife. Sometimes when he strolled nearby, the surrounding barbarians would call out to him in stiff Chinese: “Zhu Must Descend.”

Although he had only just moved here, the Chongzhen Emperor had already become widely known in the area, because he counted as a high-level intellectual, and the people here held anyone who could read in great respect. From time to time people came to his door asking for calligraphy. One day he casually gave a barbarian child a name, and that family made a special trip over carrying a little lamb to thank him.

All the past seemed to be fading away. The Chongzhen Emperor was slowly growing accustomed to his present life. With a life of leisure and a relaxed state of mind, his complexion grew better and better, and his hair showed a gradual trend of turning from white back to black.

His estate kept some sheep and horses, and several vegetable plots had been opened up around it. Now that it was May, in his idle moments he would also plant some vegetables.

Clear, ringing laughter drifted over continuously. The Chongzhen Emperor looked and saw several of his sons and daughters frolicking. They were riding a few small ponies, circling around over there, with Princess Zhaoren chasing after them on foot, calling: “Brother, brother, I want a turn too.”

And there was Wang Desheng’s shouting and yelling: “Aiyo, my little masters, be careful — don’t fall off now.”

Chongzhen shook his head. They had all turned into wild girls and rowdy boys.

Just then footsteps sounded not far away: it was Empress Zhou accompanying Empress Dowager Yi’an, returning from picking vegetables in the garden.

Watching the laughing, frolicking scene over there, Empress Dowager Yi’an sighed: “I never imagined that I would live to see the day when I could walk out of the deep palace and behold this magnificent land of rivers and mountains.”

The Chongzhen Emperor was about to go over and pay his respects to his imperial sister-in-law when a horse-drawn carriage came traveling toward the estate.

……

Wen Daxing emerged from the carriage, and Princess Kunxing, Zhu Meichuo, came running over at a quick trot. Her pretty face was flushed, and she was as pure as a young fawn.

She asked hopefully, "Lord Wen has come? Is the Marquis well?"

Wen Daxing hurriedly said, "Very well, only state affairs are so busy he cannot get away. When he has a little leisure, the Grand General will certainly come to pay his respects to the Princess and Your Majesty."

Princess Kunxing dipped her head lightly, giving a shy murmur of assent.

Wen Daxing smiled and nodded toward Princess Kunxing, then walked on toward the Chongzhen Emperor.

The two walked and talked on the grass. After a long while, the Chongzhen Emperor sighed, "We did wrongly blame Wang Dou. We are ashamed."

Wen Daxing paused, then said, "Do not blame His Majesty. The Grand General once said that whoever sits in that position cannot help themselves."

Past events vivid in his mind, the Chongzhen Emperor finally sighed, "The Great Ming is fortunate that Heaven sent down a figure like Wang Dou."

Wen Daxing also grew quiet. He said, "The Grand General once said that the Exalted Emperor showed great kindness to the Central Land, and therefore... but the worms gnawing at the state must be rooted out. He also said he will permit no one to obstruct his great path or hinder his orthodox lineage."

The Chongzhen Emperor pondered Wen Daxing's words. He mused in silence for a long time, nodded, and said, "I read in the newspapers that the Eastern King intends to go overseas in the future?"

Wen Daxing said, "Yes, the Grand General has said that after twenty years, once he has trained a successor, he will retire and travel the world."

The Chongzhen Emperor said curiously, "Is he truly willing to leave the Central Plains, and are you all willing to follow him overseas?"

Wen Daxing laughed, "Why not? Is actual enfiefment of territory possible in the Central Plains? But overseas, land is everywhere. As long as you seize it, it is yours."

He said with yearning, "Who knows, my old Wen family might even produce a sovereign."

The Chongzhen Emperor said incredulously, "Barbaric wilderness..."

Wen Daxing laughed, "Barbaric? As long as it is well managed, where is not a blissful paradise? Take Xuanfu Garrison — its land was not fertile either, and how is it now? Moreover, overseas lands are not all barren and desolate. In many places in the Southern Seas, for example, yields can reach three or four shi per mu. How many lands in our Great Ming can achieve such output?"

The Chongzhen Emperor was taken aback. Wen Daxing continued, "To found a state and be enfeoffed as king, as a duchy or a county, to establish one's own patrimony — the Grand General has given us this weighty fortune. To remain in the Great Ming enjoying ordinary wealth, only for our descendants, dukes and marquises, to be slaughtered like pigs — as happened when the bandits entered the capital this time... or to build merit, establish a career, and open up our own realms? We will all make our choice."

A look of yearning appeared in Wen Daxing's eyes as he recalled the many futures the Grand General had spoken of with the various commanders in days past.

Yes, throughout the dynasties, actual enfiefment was impossible in the traditional Central Plains, and after the realm was settled, most warhorses were released on the southern hills and the crafty hares were killed and the hounds boiled. They, these great generals, would have had no choice but to pass their lives in terror and on sickbeds. But now a new era had come.

They could openly and righteously establish their own realms, obtain their own fiefs, and pass them down to their descendants for generations.

How weighty was this patrimony and fortune? So why not? They were all very supportive.

In the future, their collective spokesman would still be Wang Dou, coordinating the economic and cultural relations between fiefs and the state, and between the state and the fiefs.

Wen Daxing continued, "Consider also this calamity of the roving bandits — it too stems from the scarcity of land. The Grand General says the world under heaven is so vast, so why fight within the nest? Broaden your horizons, go out and seek living space."

The Chongzhen Emperor said, "The world?"

Wen Daxing smiled slightly, "Yes, the Grand General has said that though the Great Ming is large, the world is larger. The Great Ming is merely one corner under heaven."

The Chongzhen Emperor listened in a daze and thought, "So this is Wang Dou's method to satisfy both sides? His Zhu family need not worry about the throne being seized, and Wang Dou need not worry about future troubles like those of Huo and Zhang, opening the best retreat for his family and his subordinate generals. Yet without embracing the world in one's heart, looking only at this tiny patch of land that is the Great Ming, one could never find such a fine solution."

He pondered deeply for a long time and sighed, "Our vision was indeed too low."

He said, "But in the future, what will the relationship be between the various fiefs, the enfeoffed states, and the central court?"

Wen Daxing said, "The Grand General has designed systems of ritual officials, pilgrimage systems, and so forth. But he also said that matters of the future are hard to predict. In a hundred or two hundred years, things may change. Yet no matter how the future changes, the people on all these lands will belong to one common name: the Great Han."

Wen Daxing finally said, "The Grand General says the thing he is proudest of is being able to personally guard this civilization."

Long after Wen Daxing had left, the Chongzhen Emperor still murmured, "Civilization?"

At that moment, Empress Zhou walked over and said, "What is Your Majesty discussing?"

The Chongzhen Emperor shook his head, "Nothing."

He looked at Empress Zhou and said, "These years We have been busy with state affairs and have neglected you. In the days to come, you will also have to suffer alongside Us."

Empress Zhou shook her head, "Compared to the deep palace, I actually prefer it here. Look at Zhuo'er and the others — how much happier they are than when they were in the deep palace?"

The two looked over and saw Princess Zhaoren chasing after her elder sister Princess Kunxing like a little bird, their clear laughter ringing across the grassland.

The two watched for a while, both smiling. The imperial household was not without affection after all.

Then a tenderness rose in Empress Zhou's eyes, and she smiled faintly, "What is more, as long as I can stay by Your Majesty's side, where is not a peaceful paradise?"

She chanted softly, "Returning from ten thousand li, one grows younger each year, smiling, always carrying the fragrance of the ridge's plum blossoms. Should one ask if Lingnan is not well? I reply: wherever the heart finds peace is my home."

(The End!) (~^~)