Chapter 294: Setting Sights on the Duke of Chengguo, Zhu Chunchen

Chen Hong felt that his master's appetite had grown considerably—not only did he favor two consorts in a single night, but he now even ate breakfast twice.

If Zhu Youxiao knew what Chen Hong was thinking, he would certainly kick him in the backside and then tell Chen Hong with righteous indignation:

This wasn't eating at all—it was a proper business meal.

Just like going out for business meals in his previous life—either eat a bit beforehand, or have something extra afterward.

The morning meal was soon brought up—simple white congee, plain steamed buns, four small dishes of pickled vegetables, and two boiled eggs.

"Uncle, sit." Zhu Youxiao pulled the awkwardly standing Zhu Changxun down to sit.

Zhu Youxiao ate with great relish.

But for Zhu Changxun, this meal was anything but pleasant—it could be said to be extremely uneasy, his backside feeling as if it had grown thorns.

Although his imperial nephew showed him an appearance of concern, Zhu Changxun was still afraid.

Yesterday he had accompanied his imperial nephew watching plays for an entire afternoon, then eaten an evening meal, and as a result he had been roped into coughing up two million taels.

After this morning meal, who knew what would happen—surely he wouldn't have to fork over another two million taels?

Zhu Youxiao paid no heed to Zhu Changxun's thoughts, only doing his best to display concern and respect toward him. "Uncle, do you find the meal a bit simple?"

"In response to Your Majesty, not at all. Your subject merely feels this is quite healthy. Another day, your subject shall also eat this way." Zhu Changxun's attitude was extremely deferential.

Those words were only to be heard, not taken to heart. As for what Zhu Changxun truly thought, Zhu Youxiao didn't care—he was just a tool.

After finishing the morning meal, Zhu Youxiao began pulling Zhu Changxun into tea and conversation.

Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Uncle, rice is expensive in the capital, and you have no property here—that won't do. Life will be hard for you in the days ahead. So, I shall bestow upon you an imperial estate."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Zhu Changxun was stunned.

Why would he bestow an imperial estate on him?

He knew full well that was his imperial nephew's personal property, containing a great deal of land. Though land in the capital wasn't as valuable as in Jiangnan, it was still property—and the price was hardly low. How could he bear to part with it?

This made Zhu Changxun hesitate.

Why?

How could this be?

But Zhu Youxiao paid no attention to what Zhu Changxun was thinking, instead speaking in a very gentle tone: "Uncle, we are all one family. From now on, live well in the capital, and come to the palace often to walk around."

"Your subject thanks Your Majesty." Zhu Changxun said hurriedly.

After shelling out two million taels, he had been badly hurt financially. With this imperial estate, at least his household could live a bit more comfortably.

Though Zhu Changxun harbored suspicions about why his imperial nephew was doing this, the other party clearly left him no room to refuse, so Zhu Changxun chose to accept it.

Seeing that Zhu Changxun had accepted the imperial estate he had given him, Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction and said: "Alright, then I won't keep you, Uncle. You didn't return all night—the prince's residence must be worried."

"Then your subject takes his leave." Zhu Changxun hurriedly bowed and said.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Hong and said: "See my uncle out for me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong promptly acknowledged, then respectfully escorted Zhu Changxun out.

After both of them had left, Zhu Youxiao leaned back in his chair, the smile on his face slowly fading as he began to ponder—one Zhu Changxun wasn't enough; he needed other people too.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao's meaning was simple: he wanted to rake in a sum of money. And a large-scale sum of money at that. This money could let him do many things, because he was simply too short of funds.

The southwest was at war now, and that was also an expense. Though he didn't know how the fighting was going, winning shouldn't be too difficult—and when that time came, the rewards for the soldiers would be a sum of money, one that couldn't be skimped on.

Then there was the reorganization of the southwest and postwar reconstruction—all of that required money.

Beyond that, next year had many matters as well. In such troubled times, having money in hand brought peace of mind. Zhu Youxiao had long wanted to find a place to obtain a large sum of money.

The Imperial Household Department's shops selling glass had brought in some income, more or less, but that money couldn't be touched—it still needed to keep expanding outward, with channels slowly spreading across the whole country.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't cut off the Imperial Household Department's funds at this time; he needed a more stable method that brought in more money.

Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment, then fixed his gaze upon a group of the wealthiest people in the Great Ming.

This group was in the capital, easy to handle. Even more crucial—if anything happened near the capital, losses could be cut in time.

Since transmigrating all this time, Zhu Youxiao had been circling within the capital, circling within the court. It wasn't that he didn't want to reach out—it was that he couldn't.

Given the Great Ming's current situation, if he issued a decree to be enforced nationwide, in the end it would probably all become evil laws.

Even in later ages with such developed information, this kind of situation couldn't be avoided—let alone in the Great Ming?

Local officials couldn't be relied upon—poor execution, severe corruption, officials with self-interest but no country in their hearts. Even his good policies would be botched by them, and would instead provoke popular unrest.

So Zhu Youxiao had never done anything, only secretly laying his plans to clean up the court.

Judging from the current situation, at least Shuntian Prefecture could be set in motion now.

Zhu Youxiao planned to extract money from Shuntian Prefecture. Zhu Changxun was only the first target, but that wasn't enough—he needed a second person.

Just as Zhu Youxiao was pondering, Chen Hong walked back in from outside.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Hong and said: "You've seen my uncle off?"

"He has already left the palace." Chen Hong promptly acknowledged and said.

Nodding lightly, Zhu Youxiao said: "Spread the word—say that I am very pleased with the old Prince of Fu's conduct, and so I bestowed an imperial estate upon him."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong said respectfully.

Zhu Youxiao stood up, paced a few steps within the great hall, and said: "Have the people in the palace make preparations. Tomorrow I want to watch a play. Invite the Duke of Chengguo into the palace for me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong promptly nodded in acknowledgment.

Though he didn't know why His Majesty wanted to invite the Duke of Chengguo, Chen Hong also knew that something was probably about to happen, so he became extremely cautious.

After this period of time together, Chen Hong had come to understand Zhu Youxiao somewhat.

His master couldn't be called diligent in governance—in fact, he couldn't even be remotely associated with diligence. His favorite thing every day was sitting in a rocking chair soaking up the sun, or else playing with the Empress, perfectly content to be idle all day.

But whenever his master became very diligent about wanting to do something, or very diligent about arranging people, that proved his master was about to stir up trouble—and it was often no small matter.

So Chen Hong didn't dare say a single extra word.

The matter had already involved the old Prince of Fu, and now a Duke of Chengguo had been brought in—this matter was certainly no small thing.

Chen Hong felt it was best to keep his distance—lest something happen and he get splattered with blood.

Zhu Youxiao had no favorable impression of the Duke of Chengguo.

The Duke of Chengguo was named Zhu Chunchen. His ancestor was Zhu Neng, a famed general of the Jingnan Campaign who fought across the realm and earned countless merits, enfeoffed as Duke of Chengguo, and posthumously honored as Prince of Dongping after his death.

When Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, the Chongzhen Emperor wrote an edict ordering Imperial Son-in-law Zhu Chunchen to command all armies and assist Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.

It could be said that Zhu Chunchen was a minister deeply trusted by the Chongzhen Emperor—or rather, a noble deeply trusted by the Chongzhen Emperor.

Only, Zhu Chunchen did not enter the palace to see the Chongzhen Emperor. Instead, he turned around and surrendered the Qihua Gate (i. e., Chaoyang Gate) to Li Zicheng, and together with Chen Yan submitted a memorial urging Li Zicheng to take the throne—for which Li Zicheng later executed him.

As a hereditary noble of the Ming dynasty, he could be said to have received the state's grace for generations. Yet here was a noble who had received the state's grace for generations—not only did he not fight Li Zicheng to the death, he instead surrendered on the spot, submitted a memorial urging him to ascend the throne, putting on a full display of readiness to support Li Zicheng's enthronement.

If Zhu Youxiao could think well of a man like that, ghosts would be dancing.

Still, every person has their use. This man happened to be just right for a particular purpose, so Zhu Youxiao very decisively arranged for him to enter the palace. This matter absolutely had to be accomplished.

"Make proper arrangements. Watch a play in the afternoon, have dinner together in the evening." Zhu Youxiao looked at Chen Hong and said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong acknowledged with a reply.

At the same time, the war in the southwest had also entered a critical moment.

After making contact with the forces at Chongqing, Sun Chuanting began his deployments. With the cooperation of Xu Keqiu, the Governor of Chongqing, he began mobilizing troops and successively recovered Suiyang, Meitan, Tongzi, and Wujiang (all now part of Guizhou Province) and other places.

At the same time, he established contact with Chengdu, and the great armies joined into one force, directly presenting a strangling posture against the rebels within Sichuan's borders.

The situation was excellent across the board—She Chongming's rebel forces were retreating very rapidly.

Qin Liangyu led Qin Minping to seize Erlang Pass, while Regional Commander Du Wenhuan broke through Futu Pass.

She Chongming gathered his troops and fought the Ming army at Jianwu (west of Daba and south of Xingwen in present-day Sichuan), Changning (east of Gong County in present-day Sichuan), Gong County, Yibin, and other places, engaging in segmented operations—both sides had their wins and losses.

Yet everyone knew the great decisive battle was about to arrive.

Meanwhile, within Guizhou.

An Bangyan's rebellion had been extinguished by Yuan Keli before it even got off the ground.

Subsequently, Yuan Keli advanced steadily and surely, pursuing and intercepting An Bangyan, directly cornering him back to Longchang in Shuixi. The fighting had reached its final moment.

At the same time, a routine memorial from Yuan Keli also entered the capital.

This routine memorial was naturally a report of victory. Though the rebellion had not yet been fully pacified, there were finally some achievements to show.

The routine memorial was quickly delivered into the imperial palace and placed into Zhu Youxiao's hands.

In truth, this routine memorial stirred no great waves in the capital, because the officials there looked down on the southwestern campaign entirely, thinking it was nothing more than a few native chieftains rebelling—just send some troops to pacify them and be done with it.

Only Zhu Youxiao knew in his heart that people would rebel there again in the coming years. The hearts of those in the southwest were already unsettled—they had already come to believe the Great Ming dynasty was finished.

This time, the court's swift pacification of the rebellion could also quiet some people down. Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with this—it was also a foundation.

Now was not the time to contend with them.

You just wait—once I've cleaned up the north, just watch whether I clean up all of you!

Whether it was those native chieftains in the southwest or the places further south, all of them would be dealt with!

Only by that time, it would no longer be just by land—the Great Ming could dispatch warships.

But right now he was a poor emperor. Building a navy of his own was out of the question.

A poor man has no ambition; a skinny horse grows long hair.

An emperor without money is just as helpless.