Chapter 1153: My Prince, Your Chance Has Come!

"My Prince, your debts just keep piling up."

Yao Daqiao, dressed in crimson official robes and wearing a black gauze official's cap, followed behind Zhu Cihuan, walking step by step along the shore of a small lake. Out of the corner of his eye he kept sizing up Hoshina Masateru, who walked to his side and rear carrying a samurai sword. This lad was far too fair-skinned, and his build could only be described as petite; no matter how you looked at him, he seemed like a girl disguised as a man, and the way he clung to the Prince's side all day long was simply not proper!

The Prince, on the other hand, was growing more and more manly. Back in Yingtian Prefecture and Shanghai Prefecture, he had been a slick, powdered dandy. Now, blown by the Pacific sea winds, scorched by the blazing sun, with a full beard grown out and ten thousand li of wandering and hardship behind him, he had somehow been tempered into a man with a murderous, battle-hardened air.

The place where Zhu Cihuan and Yao Daqiao were now strolling was a small island in the middle of America Bay, about sixty li by water from Peninsula City. But those sixty li of water were not a straight line; the route twisted and turned, and one had to thread a passage among several islands and peninsulas.

The terrain of this America Bay was truly beyond words. The huge bay was crammed full of islands and peninsulas. Apart from Great Mountain Island (Vancouver Island), the other islands were all quite level, with fertile soil and dense vegetation. Moreover, this region had no shortage of rain at all; the annual rainfall was greater than in Jiangnan.

So one only had to cut down some of the trees on these islands and one could sow wheat or soybeans. The only real trouble was digging out the tree roots, but even the hardest root was easier to dig out than prying stones from the soil.

Furthermore, the crops harvested on these islands could be transported by water to the entire America Bay region and even the whole west coast of the New Continent.

If the grain produced in America Bay could be used to raise pigs, and then made into cured meat and lard, it could all be shipped back to the Ming homeland in great sailing ships and sold!

So Yao Daqiao, who came from a grain-merchant background, after making a survey and study, used a small portion of the proceeds from selling off the iron, copper, and lead ingots he had brought with him (America Prefecture was preparing for war with all its might, and naturally bought such war materials at high prices, allowing Yao Daqiao to make a tidy profit) to purchase fifteen ordinary United States shares on the Peninsula City market, and then bought Zhu Cihuan's five ordinary United States shares. With these twenty United States shares he exchanged for this island, which covered more than twenty thousand mu, had level terrain, and even possessed a small freshwater lake, and he named it Little Chongqing Island.

Now Zhu Cihuan and his Japanese samurai soldiers were all stationed on this small island, and Yao Daqiao had also hired several hundred stock refugees from Peninsula City. Relying on the labor of these Japanese samurai and stock refugees, by the autumn of the fifteenth year of Hongxing, Little Chongqing Island already had a bit of a settled look. Around a bay on the northern part of the island, a small harbor and rows of connected wooden houses had been built, and some farmland had been cleared. And by the lake in the middle of the island, several rather decent wooden houses had appeared. Those were where Zhu Cihuan's princely residence and Yao Daqiao's Chief Clerk's residence were located — Yao Daqiao was now an official too, a grand Princely Establishment Chief Clerk! Only this office brought no salary at all, and in fact required him to pour his own money in.

The Prince's own expenses, as well as the pay, food, and daily costs of his two thousand Japanese samurai, were all being paid by Yao Daqiao, that "sucker."

No less than ten thousand taels of silver a month!

Although Yao Daqiao now had plenty of money — those iron, copper, and lead ingots alone had sold for over five hundred thousand taels, and after deducting shipping costs, the purchase of United States shares, and the various expenses of developing Little Chongqing Island, he still had no less than four hundred thousand taels on hand, and the annual interest on it deposited in the Bank of the Pacific came to more than twenty thousand taels.

But Zhu Cihuan and his Japanese soldiers could spend one hundred twenty thousand taels of Yao Daqiao's money in a year. Interest alone could not support that!

And the development of Little Chongqing Island still required continued investment!

Cutting trees, digging out roots, leveling land, building canals and ponds, building storehouses and dwellings, purchasing and raising plow horses, buying all sorts of farm tools and seeds — all these expenses added together, without an investment of seventy or eighty thousand taels, the twenty thousand mu of good farmland on Little Chongqing Island could never be opened up.

And even if those twenty thousand mu were developed, they would not yield a net profit of one hundred twenty thousand taels a year.

So Yao Daqiao simply could not afford to keep Zhu Cihuan, that gold-devouring dragon!

The moment he heard Yao Daqiao bring up "debts," Zhu Cihuan let out a sigh.

Wei Zhongcheng, Qi Yuanbi, and Yu Daren — those three were all treacherous ministers who withheld military pay!

The three of them used the excuse that the Commandery Prince's household guard was not subordinate to America Prefecture or the America Army, and therefore they could not bear its daily expenses, and could only negotiate payment before the guard was committed to combat operations — Wei Zhongcheng, Qi Yuanbi, and Yu Daren were in fact acting according to regulations. If Zhu Cihuan were the King of the United States, his guard could of course be paid by America Prefecture.

But he was not the King of the United States, nor even a Commandery Prince of the United States, but a Commandery Prince of the Ming. How could his expenses in America Prefecture be borne by the United States?

So America Prefecture could only hire the princely household guard to enter combat.

Zhu Cihuan turned his head back and looked at the gloomy-faced Yao Daqiao. "Chief Clerk, do you worry that We will not repay Our debts? Is We that sort of person?"

Aren't you just a "debt-dodging prince"? Yao Daqiao thought to himself: And you've latched onto me! My fate is bitter indeed! Exiled all the way to America, and still I couldn't escape you, you unlucky prince. Am I really to be eaten dry and picked clean by you before this is over?

Zhu Cihuan looked at Yao Daqiao's expression and felt a little ashamed — the greatest difference between him and his third brother Zhu Cijiong was that he still had some sense of shame and still thought about repaying his debts. But now the debts were growing more and more, and to say nothing of repaying the principal, he could not even afford the interest!

Moreover, the Japanese samurai who had followed him to America Prefecture had come to seek wealth and a glorious future, not to cut trees and dig roots for Yao Daqiao.

And now nearly three months had passed.

Just as Zhu Cihuan and Yao Daqiao, this pair of "fated companions" (lord and subject on one hand, creditor and debt-slave on the other — far too fated), were sighing in despair, they suddenly heard the sound of hoofbeats. Prince Zhu turned his head and saw that it was one of his own household retainers, a fellow named Takeda Nobunaga, galloping toward them. Only when he reached the lakeside did he swing down from the horse, then dashed over to Zhu Cihuan, dropped to one knee, and reported in stiff Chinese: "Great Prince, Your Highness, Prefect Wei and Regional Commander Qi have come to visit. They have already arrived at Bay Village."

Bay Village was right beside the small bay on the north side of Little Chongqing Island. All boats visiting Little Chongqing Island moored there.

Zhu Cihuan and Yao Daqiao exchanged a glance, and each saw a trace of delight on the other's face.

There was hope here!

Those two fellows were the sort who never came to the temple without a reason — and that was only natural. A Commandery Prince whom Emperor Zhu did not favor had suddenly arrived with troops; the fact that Wei Zhongcheng and Qi Yuanbi had not mobilized troops to arrest him was already extremely courteous. How could they possibly get close to him? Zhu Cihuan was no "tycoon prince"; if one wanted to curry favor, one had to pick the right target!

So after Zhu Cihuan had landed on Little Chongqing Island, those two, along with America Army Chief of Staff Yu Daren, had never once come by.

Their coming today must mean they had something to ask of him!

"My Prince, the envoy of the Shimazu clan has said that they are willing to submit and pledge allegiance to you. If this matter succeeds, we can push south seven or eight hundred li and enter the Satsuma River Valley!"

"And the Satsuma River Valley has been cultivated by the Shimazu clan for two years. It already has more than ten thousand people and one hundred thousand mu of land — enough to garrison at least a great army of ten thousand!"

"My Prince, your chance to win merit has come!"

"My Prince, with this merit, His Majesty will surely no longer hold things against you."

"Yes, yes, and with this matter, America Prefecture can also justifiably put up the silver!"

Wei Zhongcheng and Yu Daren sang back and forth, and in just a few sentences they had stirred Zhu Cihuan's heart to life. Merit! And he could also make an exorbitant demand and extort a large sum from the America Prefecture government.

With merit to his name, that emperor brother of his in Yingtian Prefecture would surely no longer pursue his "father-harming crime." This was atoning for his crimes through meritorious service!

And the silver from America Prefecture was something Zhu Cihuan urgently needed. He could not really skin Yao the Flayer alive; if Yao Daqiao went bankrupt, where would he find silver to keep things running?

Without silver, wouldn't his Japanese soldiers just disband? And then what would he use to dodge his debts?

(End of Chapter)