Chapter 1171: First, Twelve Nations

"Sanmei, Chagu, Xiangyu, Zhen'e, Dongzhu, Erlin, Ajige, Gaomei, Meihui, Marie, Natalia, Sizhen — have all of you clearly understood what We just said? Whoever does not want it, tell Us now."

Tonight, the twelve consorts of Zhu Cilang's inner palace had rarely all gathered together, coming to Zhu Cilang's Yanshan Palace for a banquet. After three rounds of wine and five courses of dishes, the Great Emperor Zhu told everyone about the big business of "investing to found a nation."

The great majority of these women had borne sons for the Zhu Emperor, and several had borne more than one son. Among them, the youngest, Takada Miho and Natalia, were also pregnant. Even if the two of them did not bear sons this time, given their age and the degree of favor they enjoyed, there would still be plenty of chances later. So Zhu Cilang counted the two of them in as well, intending to give each of the twelve consorts one quota for "investing to found a nation" — this was of course a newly granted quota. The previously granted ones — the Ming Crown Prince (son of Wu Sanmei), the King of the United States (son of Zheng Chagu), and the King of Joseon (son of Jin Dongzhu) — did not count against the quota.

In other words, Wu Sanmei, Zheng Chagu, and Jin Dongzhu could each take one extra share.

"Your Majesty, can my child also become a king?" Marie Mancini blinked her large, expressive eyes as she asked the Great Emperor Zhu. But the answer was already written all over her face.

This "royal mistress" of hers naturally wanted to secure a throne for her own son!

"Of course! Henry is also Our son!" Zhu Cilang said with a smile as he looked Mancini over.

This woman was now in her twenties, had borne two children, her figure fully matured, yet her body had not lost its shape — she was at her most enchanting. And she was very good at making use of her natural assets, having charmed Zhu Cilang into a daze these past few years, and thereby amassed a huge fortune for herself.

Unconsciously, Zhu Cilang smiled at Mancini: "Marie, We will not shortchange little Henry. We will certainly prepare a fairly wealthy city-state fief for him, but you must also invest something in this city-state fief."

"All right," Marie Mancini laughed happily. "That is only right — it is only right that I invest for Henry."

It was of course only right for a mother to spend money for her own son. Tonight, the Zhu Emperor's discussion of this matter with his women also carried the intention of drawing investment from them. It was not that Zhu Cilang could not produce the money himself, but he knew that most of these women had their own little schemes. Apart from Wu Sanmei, who presided over the inner palace as mother of the realm, none of them treated the silver of the Royal Merchant Company as their own.

So he had to make them invest a large stake in their sons' nations, because only when they had put in their own money would they know to cherish it!

And when the mothers cherished it, those sons would cherish it too!

"Your Majesty, we twelve sisters, one nation each, that makes twelve nations. Are there really that many? Surely our family cannot take all the benefits for itself?"

Empress Wu Sanmei spoke up after Mancini. She should have been the first to speak, but that Italian fox-spirit had stolen the lead. But she would not lower herself to quibble with the little fox-spirit — the little fox-spirit had no formal status, and the sons she bore were not even named according to the Zhu family's generational character, so no matter how favored she was, she could not threaten Wu Sanmei in the slightest.

"Building great nations like the United States is impossible," Zhu Cilang said with a laugh. "Even a kingdom like the Kingdom of Jiaging, fifteen thousand li square, cannot be built. But city-state duchies are feasible. In truth, building great nations is all burning silver. Though We are wealthy, We still cannot build thirteen money-burning nations at the same time.

So We intend to build for our twelve sons one ten-thousand-li fief each!"

"Ten thousand li?" Tokugawa Takako stuck out her tongue. "That is still very large!"

"Not large, not large," Zhu Cilang shook his head. "By 'ten thousand li' We do not mean ten thousand li in length and breadth, but ten thousand li square — meaning possession of ten thousand li square of fertile land that can be cultivated. Uncultivable mountains, forests, sandy land, and tidal flats are not counted."

"How large is it exactly?" Tokugawa Takako still did not understand.

"About four million mu." Zhu Cilang said, "If rent is collected at five dou per mu, that is two million shi."

"Two million shi!"

Now Tokugawa Takako finally understood. "Then the twelve princes together can obtain twenty-four million shi of land — nearly as large as the country of Japan!"

"Actually it is not that large," Zhu Cilang waved his hand. "Japan is covered with mountains and has little arable land. The nations We intend to build for the twelve princes will be sited on the Malacca Peninsula. Although it is not as large as Japan, it has much flatland, which should be enough to divide into twelve ten-thousand-li-square fiefs. If not enough, then We shall carve out some more territory on the island of Sumatra opposite the Malacca Peninsula.

So We intend to select places there where ports can be opened for trade and build twelve great cities, each great city commanding ten thousand li square of land. Each of the twelve princes you have borne for Us shall receive one great city and a ducal enfeoffment, and at the same time shall hold the title of Prince of the Great Ming!"

Wu Sanmei had seen a world map and knew the size of the Malacca Peninsula. She smiled and said, "Would building twelve duchies in such a narrow place not be a bit crowded?"

Zhu Cilang shook his head: "The place is small, but it is wealthy, and moreover it sits astride the vital passage of the east-west maritime trade route. Even if twelve fiefs cannot be built there, eight or nine is no problem; the remainder can be built on Sumatra. In this way we can firmly control the Strait of Malacca!"

So it turned out that Zhu Cilang wanted to establish twelve city-state duchies for his sons on the Malacca Peninsula and the island of Sumatra.

The reason for building a cluster of city-state duchies rather than one large kingdom was that the Malacca choke point was too vital and too wealthy to be handed over to a single vassal state to rule. Otherwise, once that vassal state grew powerful, it would be very difficult to deal with.

As for placing the Strait of Malacca under a single military governorship, that was likewise inappropriate — if that governorship did not command a navy, it could not control the strait, and there would be no point in establishing it. If it did command a navy, then that governorship's strength would be too great.

And establishing a directly administered province in Malacca was also unworkable. The Malacca Strait region was a place where the three great civilizational spheres of the Celestial Empire, Islam, and Christianity collided. A directly administered province simply could not handle such a heap of troublesome matters; everything would have to be reported to the court, and the court was eight thousand li away — by sea route! How long the journey took depended on the winds. If one went by land, it was at least fifteen thousand li, and there were no relay stations of the Office of Transmission.

After repeated consideration, Zhu Cilang chose the method of twelve duchies each managing its own patch to govern the land territory of the Malacca Strait — these twelve city-state duchies could adopt the method of "joint Han-Japanese governance," with Ming merchant-gentry officials governing the cities and suburbs, and Japanese samurai families suppressing the countryside, firmly controlling the land of the Malacca Strait.

At the same time, a naval Malacca Station Fleet (of the Great Ming Navy) would be established to control the strait passage. Thus the Malacca Strait would be turned into the southwestern gateway of the Celestial civilizational sphere!

Zheng Chagu was comparatively knowledgeable about the Southern Seas. After hearing what Zhu Cilang said, she immediately furrowed her delicate brows: "Your Majesty, Malacca is currently Dutch territory! If we are to move south..."

"Of course there will be conflict with the Dutch!" Zhu Cilang laughed. "Reports from the America Office say that peace talks are underway with the Kingdom of New Spain, and there is hope of reaching an armistice treaty this year! Once we have an armistice with Spain, we can free our hands to deal with the Dutch."

"But once we go to war with the Dutch, will Spain tear up the peace treaty?" Zheng Chagu actually had some international perspective — truly not easy!

Zhu Cilang smiled: "Spain will not break the treaty, because Philip IV does not have long to live. As soon as he dies, his son-in-law Louis XIV will move against the Spanish Netherlands. At that point the Spanish will have to devote all their strength to resisting France, and perhaps the Dutch will also be drawn into the war!

And once the Dutch are drawn in, England will inevitably join the French side and enter the war. For Spain, this war is a matter of life and death, so Don Juan José will have no energy left to oppose us."

(End of Chapter)