Chapter 1154: He Just Wants to Be an Angel King

Little Chongqing Island, the Commandery Prince's residence.

It was called a Commandery Prince's residence, but in truth it was just a few rough wooden huts built of undried white timber. Because the wood had not been seasoned, once the sun hit the huts they leaked light and wind everywhere, and had to be constantly patched with mud and plaster, leaving clumps of mud smeared all over the walls, which looked especially unsightly.

To be perfectly honest, the place where Zhu Cihuan now lived was worse than a cell in the Imperial Clan Court prison — he was, after all, a Commandery Prince, and the Emperor's own younger brother. Even if he had been locked up for the crime of "screwing over his father," he would have been a special-class criminal, and his cell would have been properly fitted out.

Apart from his lodgings being worse than an Imperial Clan Court cell, Zhu Cilang's daily necessities were also inferior to those in the Yingtian Imperial Clan Court prison — all of them crude, shoddy things. It was not that Yao Daqiao was stingy; rather, the handicraft base here in the America Prefecture was too poor to produce anything good. And the immigrants or refugees (stock refugees) living here had no demands either — as long as things worked, that was enough. So everything shipped over from the other side of the Pacific was of the rough-and-durable type, simply not comparable to the high-grade goods in the Imperial Clan Court prison.

Moreover, the Imperial Clan Court prison was free — Zhu Cihuan could stay there as long as he liked without paying a single cash, and living there meant never having to worry about money. But here on Little Chongqing Island, he had to spend ten thousand taels a month, so he had to find a way to make money!

Inside the big wooden hall of the princely residence, the debt-ridden Zhu Cihuan was at this moment all smiles as he talked business with someone. But this time the business was not stocks — it was a war!

If you botch stocks, the worst that happens is you lose everything; but if you lose a war, you lose your life. Yet this prince could still laugh about it. His Chief Clerk Yao Daqiao had already sensed something was wrong — his face had gone white!

What Wei Zhongcheng and Qi Yuanbi, those two treacherous ministers, were proposing was clearly a trap no matter how you looked at it!

Shimazu Mitsuhisa was feigning surrender! Feigned surrender — do you understand? This was a trap, meant to lure the Ming army to that so-called Satsuma river valley and destroy it there.

Wei Zhongcheng and Qi Yuanbi looked shrewd enough, yet they had both fallen for it — and they even wanted the Prince to go south in person to accept Shimazu Mitsuhisa's submission!

If anything happened to the Prince, they would be guilty of the crime of "entrapping a prince"!

No, this wasn't entrapping a prince — entrapping the "tycoon prince" Zhu Hehao to his death would be entrapping a prince. But this fellow Zhu Cihuan wasn't the King of the United States; he never should have come to the America Prefecture at all, much less raised a 2,000-man guard.

A reckless prince like Zhu Cihuan was bound to make treacherous ministers like Wei Zhongcheng, Qi Yuanbi, and Yu Daren very uncomfortable!

They couldn't arrest him, and they couldn't enshrine him either. After much deliberation, arranging an opportunity for him to lay down his life for the country seemed most fitting!

If he did lay down his life for the country, the Emperor would shed a couple of tears, and the Retired Emperor wouldn't make much of it either. With more than a hundred sons, losing one was no great matter, was it?

Prince, be careful! The treacherous ministers want to harm you!

Whatever Yao Daqiao thought in his heart, he dared not say aloud — he had served the Fourth Prince Zhu Cizhao, and knew all too well when to be uncannily prescient and when to play dumb.

Now was the time to play dumb.

Yao Daqiao played dumb, but Zhu Cihuan was genuinely clueless. He never gave a thought to any feigned surrender. The Ming's elite troops were invincible, the heavenly soldiers unmatched — how would Shimazu, a dog who had lost his home, dare oppose the heavenly soldiers? Now that he had a chance to submit to the Celestial Dynasty, of course he would seize it firmly. And if he seized the opportunity well, what was there to fear about getting three to five million koku in some place called Mexi-something?

Besides, Zhu Cihuan had already fallen completely into the money pit.

His monthly expenses were ten thousand taels! And that didn't even count the interest on his debts!

Right now everything was being propped up by burning through the money of that sucker Yao Daqiao. If he didn't find a way to get money soon, and really burned Yao Daqiao to death, then this prince would truly have no choice but to go back and beg forgiveness from the Retired Emperor.

"If We garrison troops in the Satsuma river valley, how much can the America Prefecture pay per month?"

The Prince opened his mouth and it was all about money!

"Your Highness," Wei Zhongcheng said with a smile, "this subject knows you have 2,000 elite troops. The America Prefecture will not ask about these men's ranks; they will all be paid uniformly at the rank of Captain, with a monthly salary of 5 taels — that is 10,000 taels a month. Each man will also be issued 5 dou of grain per month, likewise converted to cash at 5 qian of silver, plus 5 qian for food allowance, making another 1 tael in total. Thus we can pay 12,000 taels a month. This sum is paid monthly, but when Your Highness marches out, three months can be paid in one lump sum.

In addition, before the troops set out, there is a sum of marching-equipment silver to be issued — 15 taels per man, which comes to 30,000 taels."

In other words, he could get 66,000 taels in one go!

When Zhu Cihuan heard that figure, his heart was already blooming with joy. If this had been in the past, he would certainly have nodded and agreed. But now he had matured considerably and knew how to do business.

"No, no, too little — it doesn't cover my costs!" The Prince shook his head repeatedly. "More money must be added. At least 20,000 a month, and at least 50,000 for marching-equipment silver."

Wei Zhongcheng frowned slightly. "20,000 a month, three months paid at once would be 60,000, plus 50,000 in marching-equipment silver — that's 110,000 taels. That's a bit much."

Zhu Cihuan shook his head. "Not much, not much. For anything less than that, We will absolutely not take a single step off Little Chongqing Island."

Wei Zhongcheng glanced at Yu Daren, and the latter said, "Your Highness, please reduce it a little. Keep the marching-equipment fee at 30,000, and calculate the monthly silver at 20,000. Then the first payment would be 90,000!"

"Round it up — make it 100,000 taels!" Zhu Cihuan held up both hands. "One cash less and it's no deal!"

Wei Zhongcheng wore a pained expression, and after a moment finally nodded. "Fine, 100,000 it is. Your Highness, when shall we sign the contract?"

The Great Ming of today honored the spirit of contract — mainly because Zhu Cilang had set such a good example!

"Sign what?" The Prince shook his head. "We haven't finished negotiating!"

"What else is there to discuss?" Wei Zhongcheng asked.

"Land!" the Prince said. "If Shimazu submits to Us, then can all this land of California belong to the United States?"

"Right, right." Qi Yuanbi smiled. "The Executive Government of the United States has long wanted to establish a California Prefecture. It's only because these seven or eight hundred li of mountains and hills are so hard to cross that it has been delayed. If Shimazu submits, the great army can pass through these seven or eight hundred li of mountain forest and enter the Satsuma river valley. And from the Satsuma river valley, it will be easy to reach San Francisco, Angel Castle, and San Diego."

Seven or eight hundred li doesn't look far, but the problem is there are no roads to travel — one must cut through mountain forest the whole way, so forget about wagons. It would be good enough if pack horses could get through. And how much grain and fodder can pack horses carry?

Without enough grain and fodder, how long could the Ming army hold out after going south into the Satsuma river valley?

And to go by sea, the Golden Gate Strait could not be passed — the Presidio fortress was not so easy to take! As for finding a suitable harbor elsewhere, that was not so easy either. How would the Ming navy's exploration ships dare to cruise along the California coast?

So Shimazu's surrender gave the Ming army a golden opportunity to seize California.

As long as the Ming army could gain a firm foothold in the Satsuma river valley, it could break through the Presidio fortress by land and control the Golden Gate Strait. Then the Ming would possess a natural deep-water harbor in California, and the America Prefecture's grain and troops could be shipped continuously to the California Prefecture.

Wei Zhongcheng thought for a moment and said, "San Francisco is to be the seat of the California Prefecture. Perhaps Your Highness could enclose a piece of land in the Satsuma river valley."

"We do not want the Satsuma river valley," Zhu Cihuan said, shaking his head. "We know that place floods in the north and suffers drought in the south, and transport is inconvenient. We don't want it!"

"Then where do you want?"

"We want Angel City!" Zhu Cihuan said. "From now on, We shall be the Angel Commandery Prince!"

So now he wanted to be an Angel King.

Wei Zhongcheng and Qi Yuanbi exchanged glances, thinking: Had this prince made inquiries about which part of California was better? How else could he have picked Angel City on the first try?

Wei Zhongcheng considered for a moment, then said, "Your Highness, if you wish to station yourself in Angel City, this official can agree. But your title of Angel Commandery Prince must be requested from His Majesty!"

Zhu Cihuan laughed. "Do you think We don't know the rules? We will naturally submit a memorial to His Majesty asking to be made an Angel King!"

Qi Yuanbi smiled. "Your Highness, then let us now discuss your march south to the Satsuma river valley!"

(End of Chapter)