Chapter 1146: Self-Deporting Exiles

"Aftermath? What aftermath?" Zhu Cihuan held the United States stock in his hand, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at Luo Zhichen. "With debts that huge, what aftermath can there be? Unless—unless His Majesty is willing to help pay them off."

You idiot prince! You actually expect the Emperor to cover your losses?

Luo Zhichen thought to himself: You think a debt has to be repaid in full, principal and interest? Don't you know you can default on part of it and repay part of it? Do you know how your third brother went from "Debt Prince" to "Richest Prince"? How much of his mountain of debt has he actually repaid?

Of course you don't have your third brother's skill—defaulting on his debts while sleeping with his creditor's daughter!

But as long as you skip town, your creditors won't be able to find you, and they'll just have to recover whatever they can. Settling things won't be that hard—out of a million in debt, a hundred thousand will clear it.

At that thought, Luo Zhichen sighed and shook his head. "Your Highness, don't count on that kind of luck. If you don't want to sit in the Imperial Clan Court's prison, pack up and run—now!"

"There happen to be several Pacific sailing ships on the Wusong River right now, preparing to sail for the Americas Prefecture. A northwest wind came up today, so they can put to sea. I've already notified the customs tax officer to detain one of the ships, but it can't be held for long—you need to hurry."

"Do I really have to go?" Tears streamed down Zhu Cihuan's face. "But my Imperial Father, he—he—"

Luo Zhichen shook his head. "Your Highness! His Majesty has nearly a hundred sons—he won't miss one. And right now, the person he least wants to see is probably you! His retirement money was all swindled away by you."

Your crime of fleecing your own father is a serious one!

"Stop, stop—I am an unfilial son." Zhu Cihuan wiped his tears. "I'll have the household pack at once!"

Luo Zhichen let out a breath. "The things you'll need for the Americas Prefecture—I've already had them sent to the dock. Your Highness just needs to have the household pack some valuables. By the way, is the seal of the Commandery Prince of Chongqing here at the Shanghai residence?"

"Yes, it's here!" Zhu Cihuan said. "Those guarantees were all stamped with that seal."

And you still have the nerve to say it!

"Bring it too!" Luo Zhichen said. "Your commandery princedom isn't worth much in Yingtian Prefecture or Shanghai Prefecture, but once you reach the New World, it'll be something formidable!"

Really? Zhu Cihuan thought: How formidable can it be in the New World? Does it mean I can default on my debts?

He thought it, but was too embarrassed to ask aloud. He could only heave a long sigh and tell the household to pack.

His household already knew things were bad. One of his two concubines had slipped away with some valuables a couple of days earlier, and more than half the servants had scattered. Now only one wife and one concubine remained, watching over a few children, plus three old widowed maidservants who had nowhere to go.

When they heard they were going to the Americas Prefecture, they immediately burst into a chorus of weeping.

Zhu Cihuan, irritated by the sight, roared at them, and only then did they stop crying and go pack the valuables. Zhu Cihuan, this Commandery Prince of Chongqing, was pitiful—he had always lived hand to mouth, and there were hardly any valuables in the house. Though he had been flush for a while later on, he never broke his habit of living frugally. So in less than the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, everything was packed.

Outside the courtyard where Zhu Cihuan lived, three four-wheeled carriages were already waiting—carriages bearing the insignia of the Tax Bureau, prepared by Luo Zhichen for Zhu Cihuan's family.

The house the Prince of Chongqing rented was not in a busy district, but on a quiet little lane, with small single-family courtyards on both sides. Most of the people living there were merchants of some means, and the sight of Tax Bureau officials naturally made them keep their distance.

So Luo Zhichen had posted a few tax clerks at both ends of the lane, and the lane emptied out completely.

Zhu Cihuan's wife, concubine, children, and the old maidservants boarded the two rear carriages, while Zhu Cihuan and Luo Zhichen boarded the lead carriage.

Then the three carriages rumbled into motion and headed for the Wusong River dock.

As it happened—and what a coincidence it was—the Pacific sailing ship that Luo Zhichen had ordered detained was the very ship Yao Daqiao and his family were traveling on. The pretext for the detention was, of course, tax evasion!

"Tax evasion? Tell me how much, and I'll pay the difference—isn't that enough? I'm waiting to set sail! What? I have to wait for the Deputy Chief Accountant to come appraise it? Are you joking? How busy do you think the Deputy Chief Accountant is? Would he bother with this? Besides, the iron and copper on board all have invoices, and the export tax was paid on every lot. The silver coins were counted and taxed too. All that's left is some silk, porcelain, tea, and assorted daily goods—those all have duty-free allowances. How much of that is actually loaded on this ship? How could it possibly exceed the allowance? And even if it did, the tax would be trivial! I'll give you a thousand taels—is that enough?"

"What? You can't accept it—it must be appraised? Then—then I don't want them, I'll give them all up. That should settle it, right? What? Still no—it must be appraised? Even to throw them overboard, they must be appraised? You—you—"

Yao Daqiao had been a merchant for half his life, and this was the first time he had ever met such an unreasonable tax clerk. A fine, back taxes, a bribe—Yao Daqiao would have accepted any of them without complaint!

But the man wanted none of those. All he wanted was to wait for some Deputy Chief Accountant to appraise the small amount of silk, tea, and porcelain loaded on the ship. The whole lot wasn't worth a thousand taels, and by regulation it was exempt. Even if taxed, the duty would be one or two taels at most. How could that possibly warrant the Deputy Chief Accountant? Why not just say you'll have the Minister of Revenue come do the appraisal?

Fine—Boss Yao would simply abandon the goods. That should settle it, right? But no—still not allowed!

Just as the argument was at an impasse, someone had already come aboard, and then a voice rang out that shattered Yao Daqiao's courage: "Hey, aren't you Yao Daqiao?"

It was the voice of Zhu Cihuan, Commandery Prince of Chongqing!

"I—I—I—" Yao Daqiao stared at Zhu Cihuan, his heart frozen solid. Truly, the thing he feared most had come to pass!

Zhu Cihuan sighed. "Daqiao, I never thought you'd have lost everything too and be fleeing. We really are a pair of miserable wretches!"

Fleeing? Yao Daqiao's eyes went wide. You're a commandery prince, and you're running away to dodge your debts? Has your father given up on you?

Luo Zhichen was not surprised by Zhu Cihuan's words. Lately, plenty of people from the Shanghai stock circle had been heading to the Americas Prefecture—he figured Zhu Cihuan would run into quite a few acquaintances once he reached the other shore.

So he smiled and said to Yao Daqiao, "You're from the stock crowd too? Don't worry—once you reach the Americas Prefecture, you'll be fine. If they hauled you back, the worst sentence would be exile. You've already gone there on your own—would the government really send men to drag you back?"

Right—it's just defaulting on debts, not murder or arson. No one's chopping heads off. At worst, it's exile. And since they've gone there voluntarily, why would the government bother? Arrest them and send them back? All that back-and-forth is a hassle—and it costs money besides!

Zhu Cihuan and Yao Daqiao looked at each other, and both let out a long sigh.

The two of them together were, in effect, "self-deporting exiles"—no need to trouble the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review. They were exiling themselves to the New World of their own accord!

"Your Majesty, my son has written. He says the Prince of Chongqing is well and has now put to sea in flight."

Yingtian Prefecture, Old Mountain Palace. Luo Dagong had stayed behind after the midday court session and informed Emperor Zhu that Zhu Cihuan had already left the country.

Zhu Cilang sighed too, with some feeling. "When people play the stock market, someone always has to lose money."

"That's true," Luo Dagong said with a smile. "If everyone made money at it, who would farm the fields, who would haul loads, who would open up new territory for the Great Ming?"

Zhu Cilang nodded. That was the truth of it.

"Quite a few people have run off to the Americas Prefecture these days, haven't they?" Emperor Zhu asked.

"Quite a few," Luo Dagong said. "Twenty or thirty thousand have left from Shanghai alone. I never imagined this business would actually promote colonization."

"Neither did We!" Zhu Cilang said with a wry smile.

Luo Dagong continued, "Your Majesty need not grieve for the Prince of Chongqing. A tree moved may die, but a man moved lives. The Commandery Prince of Chongqing was nothing in Nanjing, but once he went to Shanghai he stirred up a great commotion. If he goes to the Americas Prefecture, who knows how far he might go!"

"Well said!" Zhu Cilang laughed. "In Yingtian Prefecture, dragon sons and dragon grandsons are as common as cartloads of grain—he doesn't count for much. But now that he's gone overseas, he's one of a kind! Perhaps by now he's already regretting that he didn't leave sooner."

(End of Chapter)