Chapter 1447: There Are Betrothal Gifts, So There Must Be a Dowry!

Li Jinxue could never have imagined that a heaven-favored noble like Zhu Ci'en and a bandit woman like Li Yue'e might actually take a liking to each other. How could he know that Zhu Ci'en and Li Yue'e were fundamentally the same kind of people — both utterly reactionary feudal grand aristocrats! Their titles were even about equal: one was a Commandery Prince, the other a Commandery Princess.

Moreover, the education the two had received was also about the same — both had undergone military training, and even the textbooks they had used in their studies were about the same.

Similar education, similar origins — naturally they produced similar sorts of people.

So Zhu Ci'en and Li Yue'e were in fact a very well-matched pair. If there was any gap between them, it was that Li Yue'e's looks were a notch below Zhu Ci'en's.

But a male grand aristocrat of Zhu Ci'en's level did not really care much about his wife's looks. Men like him would never lack for beautiful women; what they needed was a wife who could help advance their aristocratic enterprise.

And Li Yue'e was precisely such a good wife. With Li Yue'e, Zhu Ci'en could form an alliance with Li Dingguo and go together to the Western Regions to carve out a realm.

Once he became king of the Western Regions, would he need to fear lacking some Hani, Dili, or Guli? Impossible!

But Li Jinxue did not understand this reasoning. He had been bullied terribly by that pack of bastard garrison troops of the Shun, and he never regarded the bandit woman Li Yue'e as an aristocrat at all. Nor did he know that a heaven-favored noble like Zhu Ci'en, having been saddled with a supreme leader like Zhu Cilang, had been tormented into developing a "wolfish nature" — the moment he caught the scent of "blood," he would immediately sharpen his claws and lunge to tear and bite. In his view, the unlucky Zhu Ci'en had simply been spotted by the bandit woman Li Yue'e, tied up, and carried back to be her kept husband, and that shameless father-daughter pair Li Dingguo and Li Yue'e had even forced Zhu Ci'en to write letters demanding ransom from the court. It was lawlessness to the extreme.

Therefore, after escaping from Songpan Guard territory, he immediately wrote a report to the Western Sichuan Military Commission, relating the matters of "the Commandery Prince of Luoshan being kidnapped and forced into marriage" and "Li Dingguo and Li Yue'e demanding a ransom of 10 million taels," and he also copied out by hand a copy of the prince's "money-demanding letter" and attached it as well.

Only after the report had been sent off did he travel day and night, carrying Zhu Ci'en's "letter begging for help," toward Nanjing — he was an official Zhu Ci'en had borrowed from the Western Sichuan Military Commission, so in theory he was still Zhu Ci'en's subordinate, and of course he had to complete the task his superior had assigned.

When the Western Sichuan Military Commission received the urgent reports from Li Jinxue and the Diexi Station, they too were dumbfounded! Because Zhu Cilang had previously issued an edict forbidding the Western Sichuan army from encroaching on the territory of the Three Feudatories of the Snowy Region, the Western Sichuan Military Commission had no choice but to move troops toward Long'an Prefecture, Diexi Station, and the northwestern part of Chengdu Prefecture on one hand, while on the other copying Li Jinxue's report twice, appending a memorial, and sending it by 600-li express to the Grand Secretariat and the Grand Marshal's Office — whether to pay money and ransom the man, or to send troops and punish the rebels, was left for the court to decide!

The 600-li express dispatched by the Western Sichuan Military Commission from Chengdu Prefecture traveled without pause and arrived first at the Grand Secretariat offices in Yingtian Prefecture. The man on duty in the Grand Secretariat offices at that time was none other than Chief Grand Secretary Wei Zaode. For all the prime-ministerial composure he had cultivated over many years, when he took up this memorial from the Sichuan Military Commission, he was so shocked that he collapsed into his grand tutor's chair and sat there stupefied for a long while, unable to speak.

Once Grand Chancellor Wei recovered his wits, he immediately flew into a rage, issuing a rapid stream of orders for the Grand Secretariat clerks to copy the memorial and the letter. The copies were to remain in the Grand Secretariat, to be studied slowly at a meeting later; the originals had to be sent at once for Emperor Zhu to preview. He had no time to consult anyone; after sending word to the Grand Marshal's Office, he took the originals and hurried straight to Laoshan Palace.

Li Dingguo's act of tying Zhu Ci'en up and dragging him into the bridal chamber was indeed somewhat excessive — it might well be the fuse that touched off a great war!

By the time Grand Chancellor Wei arrived panting at the Hall of Imperial Supremacy in Laoshan Palace, the Grand Marshal's Office's military strategist Yan Yingyuan and Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Zhu Chunjie had already arrived. But Zhu Cilang had not yet appeared. After lunch today, he had taken Imperial Noble Consort Zheng and Ajige to the Laoshan hunting grounds for recreation. He was probably in a forest cabin right now, experiencing the life of a hunter living in seclusion in the mountains!

Seeing Wei Zaode come in panting, Yan Yingyuan and Zhu Chunjie hurriedly saluted him. Old Wei hastily returned the salute, then, still catching his breath, asked, "Has someone been sent to report it?"

"Already sent," Yan Yingyuan said. "But His Majesty is not at Yanshan Palace; I expect it will be a while before he can come."

Wei Zaode nodded, then asked, "And what do you two make of it?"

Yan Yingyuan and Zhu Chunjie exchanged a glance, both somewhat at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Yan Yingyuan merely shook his head. Zhu Chunjie sighed and said, "After all, Li Dingguo has married his daughter to the Commandery Prince of Luoshan. Here in Yingtian, the Commandery Prince of Luoshan could never have married such a wife."

Li Dingguo had also been enfeoffed with a title: he was the Marquis of Cangtang. Although he lacked the "Overcoming Hardship" designation, he was still a hereditary marquis with perpetual succession — because his Marquis of Cangtang title was not nominal but a substantive enfeoffment, with military command and governance over the people, so of course it was hereditary. Moreover, he was a "forty-thousand-household" military commissioner, with forty thousand military households under his command! Although he could hardly afford to maintain them, his strength was still very formidable.

Among the Three Feudatories of the Snowy Region, Li Dingguo was the absolute leader!

Therefore Li Dingguo's rank was roughly equivalent to a "Grand Duke" here in Yingtian. For the Commandery Prince of Luoshan — an empty-titled commandery prince — to marry the daughter of a "Grand Duke" could not be called marrying above his station, but in practice it was a match he could not have obtained. Zhu Chunjie himself would not marry his daughter to such an "empty-titled commandery prince."

"But this 10 million taels..." Wei Zaode frowned. "Isn't it a bit too much?"

He did not care in the least who had tied up Zhu Ci'en to be a kept husband; what he cared about was the 10 million taels of silver. Who was going to pay this silver?

The Retired Emperor could not possibly pay it, could he? He did not have that much money!

Emperor Zhu could not possibly use the Royal Commercial Company's money to cover it, could he? This was the travel expenses for relocating Li Dingguo's forty thousand households — a matter of state. How could the emperor be expected to pay out of his own pocket?

But to have the Grand Secretariat pay... Wei Zaode's head ached! The Grand Secretariat had a tael of silver for every pit, with little surplus. Paying out 10 million at once was not impossible.

But once this precedent was set, it would be disastrous! The Retired Emperor had more than a hundred sons!

Yan Yingyuan smiled bitterly. "If we are to send a punitive expedition against Li Dingguo, it will take no less than 20 million. If spending 10 million can settle the Three Feudatories of the Snowy Region, it would be worth it!"

The Grand Marshal's Office did not fight wars without profit. Fighting the Three Feudatories of the Snowy Region offered little profit!

Right now, the New World, the Indian Ocean, and that corner of the Northeast were all waiting for war to break out! Where would the Grand Marshal's Office find the time to fight in the Snowy Region?

Besides, Li Dingguo had not rebelled. He had merely let that good-for-nothing prince Zhu Ci'en sleep with his pure and innocent daughter. The matter might violate the Ming dynasty's Criminal Code, but it did not violate the rites between sovereign and subject.

Wei Zaode looked at the attitudes of Yan Yingyuan and Zhu Chunjie and more or less understood — neither of these two was willing to go to war!

"Then this 10 million..." Wei Zaode asked. "Do we give it or not?"

Yan Yingyuan and Zhu Chunjie both shook their heads. This matter required the emperor to decide; they could hardly speak on it!

"Chagu, Ajige, you two tell me — should this 10 million be given or not?"

At that same moment, Emperor Zhu, who had just returned from hunting and was watching Ajige clumsily curing venison in the mountain cabin, had finished reading the memorial and the copy of Zhu Ci'en's letter brought by the palace maids from the Hall of Imperial Supremacy — these were what Yan Yingyuan and Zhu Chunjie had brought to the Hall of Imperial Supremacy.

After receiving the memorial and letter, Zhu Cilang did not hurry back to consult with his ministers. Instead, he cheerfully read them aloud to the two women and even asked for their opinions.

"Ten million! Of course we shouldn't give it. On what grounds should we give it?" The one who answered was Zheng Chagu. She was reclining against a bamboo couch and had taken one of Zhu Cilang's hands and placed it on her belly — she was pregnant again with Emperor Zhu's flesh and blood!

After Zhu Hehao left the Ming, Zhu Cilang had begun favoring her, and with considerable "results."

"Your Majesty, this slave thinks some should be given." Ajige said with a smile. "After all, the Ninth Prince slept with someone's daughter — he ought to give some betrothal gifts, shouldn't he?"

"Betrothal gifts?" Zheng Chagu laughed and glanced at Zhu Cilang. "When I entered the palace, His Majesty gave none, and my father even threw in a dowry on top of it!"

Ajige laughed. "Then let Li Dingguo provide a dowry too! His Majesty gives betrothal gifts, and he gives a dowry."

Zheng Chagu giggled. "Have him give one? Does he have the money?"

Zhu Cilang suddenly spoke up. "He has no money, but he has people — forty thousand households of them!"

(End of Chapter)