Chapter 1446: This Prince Is Angry, and the Consequences Will Be Severe

Zhu Ci'en, Commandery Prince of Luoshan of the Great Ming, had entered the bridal chamber — though he had not tied up Li Yue'e, Miss Li. He had no taste for that sort of thing, and Zhu Ci'en also knew the principle that a wise prince does not suffer a loss right before his eyes!

Besides, when it came to entering the bridal chamber, Zhu Ci'en was not the one taking a loss — he was no callow young virgin.

He was no poverty-stricken loser; he was a genuine Ming prince! Although he had never taken a wife before, with his rank as Commandery Prince, his "Vajra Handsome Man" looks, and his tens of thousands of taels in annual rent income, how could he possibly never have slept with a woman? Among the beauties of the Qinhuai River, any who had not been in this "Eight-Faced Vajra Prince's" bed could only say that she herself was not of sufficient standing.

Miss Li, however, was a maiden. How high were her standards! How many men here at Songpan Guard could catch her eye? Even if one were handsome and gallant, was his birth noble enough? Was his martial skill outstanding enough? Was his literary talent elegant enough?

In Zhu Ci'en's eyes, this Miss Li was just a female roving bandit — but in her own view, she was a princess!

Her father Li Dingguo was the Shun's Deliberative Prince of Jin — if she was not a princess, who was? On the Shun side, she even held a formal title: the Shun's Qingyuan Commandery Princess. Moreover, she had her own estate and household retainers — a true feudal commandery princess, far more imposing than a bare-title Commandery Prince like Zhu Ci'en.

If the Shun had not lost Sichuan, Li Yue'e would most likely now be the daughter-in-law of some Deliberative Prince. So here at Songpan Guard, no one was worthy of her, and she looked down on them all. The feudal hierarchy in her head was far more rigid than Zhu Ci'en's.

After all, Yingtian Prefecture, where Zhu Ci'en lived, had already gone down the point of no return of capitalism — a place where even princely titles and princely shares could be openly traded. How noble could nobles really be there?

But the Shun dynasty in which Li Yue'e had grown up possessed a strict feudal hierarchy!

Standing at the top of that hierarchy, how many men could Li Yue'e find worthy of her?

Of course, the "Eight-Faced Vajra Prince" was certainly one she could find worthy — and one she liked very much. High-end, grand, classy, and a proper match in social standing.

The old Zhu family's ancestors had been Red Turban rebels, and the old Li family's ancestors had been roving bandits. Both were bandits — what a perfect match!

Just as Miss Li was basking in delight, creak — the sound of a door being pushed open rang out, followed by soft footsteps.

"Is that the Prince?" Miss Li, sitting on the edge of the bed, was not shy at all. Unable to see through her bridal veil, she simply asked.

"It is We!" Zhu Ci'en answered in a deep voice.

His face was set in a stern expression, the very picture of "This Prince is angry, and the consequences will be severe."

"Angry, are you?" Miss Li giggled twice, lifted her veil herself, and by candlelight studied the "Eight-Faced Vajra Prince's" fury-filled face. The more she looked, the more she liked it!

"Aiyo, my Prince, angry, are you? Do you want to beat me to vent your anger?" Li Yue'e stared unblinkingly at the Eight-Faced Vajra Prince. "If you want to hit me, hit me. I'm not afraid. I've trained in martial arts since childhood — I'm sturdy and can take a beating! And don't worry about my father getting angry. I've already bowed to Heaven and Earth with you and drunk the wedding cup. I'm yours now — beat me or scold me as you like, my father can't interfere!"

It had to be said, this Li Yue'e's attitude of admitting fault was quite good!

With her attitude so good, Zhu Ci'en's anger subsided considerably. He was not a brainless man — his life was still in Li Dingguo's hands! If he really beat the man's daughter badly, he might well die of "illness"! And as for a light beating — well, this woman truly did not seem afraid of that!

Just as he was thinking this, Li Yue'e beckoned to Zhu Ci'en. "Husband, come over. Sit beside me. I'll tell you something, and after I've told you, you can beat me to vent your anger."

Zhu Ci'en gave a snort, strode over in two or three steps, and plopped himself down beside Li Yue'e.

"Husband," Li Yue'e said, looking at Zhu Ci'en's still-serious face, still smiling happily, "actually, you and I are the truly well-matched pair. Let me put it to you this way — I have the men, you have the money. As long as we join forces, we can be like the Prince of Dai, Prince Luo (Zhu Cizhao), the King of the United States, and the King of Jiaging — we can make ourselves rulers of our own country too!"

"But I have no money!" Zhu Ci'en sighed. "If I had money, would I have been sent running around by my Imperial Brother, only to end up in your hands?"

"No, no, you do have money!" Li Yue'e said with a smile. "Once you marry me, you'll have money!"

Zhu Ci'en burst out laughing. "You can conjure wealth?"

Li Yue'e nodded and said with a smile, "Husband, don't believe me? Try it. Write a letter to His Majesty the Emperor. Tell him you've married Li Dingguo's daughter, and that you're preparing to take Li Dingguo's two hundred thousand troops to the Western Regions to help your third brother — that you'll all carve out new territory together! The only thing missing is a few million taels for travel expenses. Tell him to send the money at once."

Could that really work? Would that elder brother who only knew how to swindle his younger brothers actually be willing to pay?

Zhu Ci'en was dubious. "My eldest brother would be willing to pay?"

Li Yue'e laughed. "Why wouldn't he? If he sent troops to subdue us, it would cost him no less than twenty million! And if he defeated us and then exiled us to the Western Regions, he'd have to add at least another ten million. Now, if he gives us a few million and we're willing to leave, would he begrudge it?"

That was true enough. The Ming Emperor was a businessman — his abacus was shrewd indeed! Why hadn't he sent troops to exterminate Li Dingguo and his lot? Wasn't it precisely because he feared losing money?

What kind of territory was the Snowy Region's Three Feudatories, after all?

Barren mountains and treacherous waters, with terrible transport. In history, the wealthy Qianlong had spent seventy million taels in military expenses just to subdue Greater and Lesser Jinchuan on the Sichuan-Tibet border. And that silver was not all embezzled — at least half of it must have been spent on actual operations. The current Snowy Region's Three Feudatories were surely stronger than Greater and Lesser Jinchuan, weren't they? To destroy them, how could less than twenty million taels possibly suffice?

And after the fighting was done, the Snowy Region's Three Feudatories still had so many followers — kill them all? That wouldn't do either. If they were to be exiled to the Western Regions, another ten million would not be enough.

Now, if these people took a few million and left, going to the Western Regions to conquer territory together with the Third Crown Prince Zhu — what a fine thing that would be! Would Zhu Cilang begrudge spending this small sum?

Moreover, stuffing Li Dingguo's forces into the Western Regions had another benefit: it would restrain the Dzungar Khanate!

The Dzungar Khanate was certainly useful, but at the same time it was a ticking bomb. If not properly controlled, sooner or later it would blow the Great Ming's face into the dirt.

Of course, dismantling this ticking bomb wouldn't do either. Remove the Dzungars, and the Western Regions would turn into a sea of green. So the only option was to find ways to restrain the Dzungars.

Wasn't that exactly why Zhu Cilang had sent the Third Crown Prince Zhu over there? But the Third Crown Prince Zhu had fallen into the great pit of war with Russia, which had completely blocked his Shanxi merchant route.

Li Yue'e continued, "And besides, life up in the mountains is truly too hard for us. If he doesn't give us travel money to leave, he'll have to spend several times that to kill us all. Now that you've married me and won over our two hundred thousand people, what a fine way out for him! From now on we'll be a Ming imperial feudatory. Is a few million too much to ask?"

That did seem to make sense!

Zhu Ci'en gritted his teeth. "We can't ask for just a few million. That's too little! I've solved such a huge problem for him — we need more money! At least ten million taels!"

Li Yue'e nodded emphatically, her eyes sparkling with delight. "Right! We need more money! At least ten million!"

Zhu Ci'en finally smiled. Looking at his "wealth-conjuring wife," he truly could not say how much he liked her!

"It's getting late," Zhu Ci'en said with a smile. "My lady, why don't we retire for the night?"

"Retire?" Li Yue'e said with a smile. "Husband, are you going to beat me to vent your anger?"

The "Eight-Faced Vajra Prince" had indeed been corrupted by a roving-bandit princess — he now knew how to extort silver from his good elder brother Zhu Cilang. But the Prince was newly married and blissful, so of course he could not run back to Nanjing to demand money right away. That meant Li Jinxue, who had ridden to Songpan Guard lying flat on horseback, was in for a miserable time. His backside had not even stopped hurting before Zhu Ci'en assigned him another bitter errand — to take the Prince's personal letter to Nanjing and demand the money!

And it was an outrageous demand: ten million taels. This was truly unheard of!

Li Jinxue did not even know what to say. A genuine Ming prince, actually dragged into a bridal chamber by roving bandits to serve as a bandit-lair husband — and now demanding ten million taels in "ransom"!

If no great army was sent to punish this, would the state not cease to be a state? So Li Jinxue, ignoring the pain in his backside, left Songpan Guard City wounded and traveled day and night, heading straight for Nanjing.

(End of Chapter)