Chapter 1448: Li Dingguo's Inheritance (Please Subscribe)

Old Mountain Palace, the Hall of Imperial Supremacy.

Zhu Cilang had already come over from the cabin in the woods, and not only he — the Chongzhen Retired Emperor, and Consort Hu, Zhu Ci'en's birth mother, had all come to the Hall of Imperial Supremacy together. In addition, Minister of Revenue Zheng Sen and Minister of War Li Yan had also received notice from the Grand Secretariat and hurried over.

By the time everyone had gathered it was already late, so Zhu Cilang ordered Ajige to have a meal brought in, and everyone ate while they talked.

As dish after dish of wine and food was carried into the west warming chamber of the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, Zhu Cilang sipped his tea and, with a faint smile, surveyed the expressions of Chongzhen, Consort Hu, Wei Zaode, Yan Yingyuan, Zhu Chunjie, Zheng Sen, Li Yan, and the rest.

Every single one of them looked extremely grave! And no wonder — a Commandery Prince of the great Ming dynasty had been carried off up a mountain to be a bandit stronghold's son-in-law. How could they not put on deeply worried faces?

Emperor Zhu's gaze finally settled on the face of the Chongzhen Retired Emperor. The Chongzhen Retired Emperor wore an expression of pure heartache — probably worried that he was about to be asked for money. But that was your own son!

"Imperial Father," Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "Old Nine has slept with Li Dingguo's daughter. This matter ought to be a good thing! We should be giving some betrothal gifts, shouldn't we?"

"We, We don't have—"

Chongzhen had not finished speaking when Consort Hu burst into tears. "Wuwu, why is my fate so bitter!"

Zhu Cilang looked at this stepmother of his — a mixed-blood beauty! Though already pushing forty, she was very well preserved, and her figure was especially graceful. It seemed the advantages of mixed blood were quite outstanding! He would have to have Old Three introduce one later.

Chongzhen, seeing his beloved consort weeping, felt his heart shatter, and could only grit his teeth and say: "Then, then sell Old Nine's West Garden, and We will add a bit more from Our own purse to make up one million. Any more than that and there is none!"

Zhu Cilang, who knew the true state of Chongzhen's finances, said nothing more, but turned his head to look at Wei Zaode and Zheng Sen.

Wei Zaode frowned. "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue's books could indeed produce a few million in idle funds (in truth it was more than that figure, but the present 'Zhuge Chancellor' of the Ming does not know the accounts very well), but... the betrothal gifts for a prince's marriage ought not to be paid by the Ministry of Revenue!"

The Ming's state finances and imperial household finances were now separate, and the marriages of princes and retired emperors' sons could not draw money from the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhu Cilang smiled. "This is spending money to ward off disaster! Li Dingguo's forty thousand households are stuck in that poor mountain hollow of Songpan Guard, and sooner or later they will come down and fight us to the death. We could beat them, but western Sichuan would be smashed to pieces! And to defeat Li Dingguo's tens of thousands of crack troops, how many soldiers would we have to send?"

This question was directed at Yan Yingyuan.

"Your Majesty," Yan Yingyuan said, "forty thousand households of roving-bandit fubing, if they fight to the death, can field at least eighty thousand troops. If the court were to send a punitive expedition against Li Dingguo, sending one hundred thousand troops should secure victory... but the time required is hard to say."

The Ming army had fought Li Dingguo for so many years that they knew each other thoroughly, so the figure of one hundred thousand given by Yan Yingyuan should be credible.

"How much would it cost to send one hundred thousand troops?" Zhu Cilang asked again.

Minister of War Li Yan replied: "It depends on how long the fighting lasts. For one hundred thousand troops sent far away to Sichuan, the extra pay and rewards alone would come to two hundred thousand taels a month. Add in armor, weapons, gunpowder, provisions, and miscellaneous expenses, and a month would burn through four to five hundred thousand taels. If the campaign lasted six months, at least three to four million in military funds would have to be prepared in advance.

Furthermore, Songpan and Duogan are both unpleasant places — high mountains, deep ravines, barren land, and vast in extent. Defeating Li Dingguo's forces there is easy, but completely rooting them out is not. If one hundred thousand troops become bogged down in a protracted war in Songpan and Duogan, the cost is impossible to predict."

Zhu Cilang laughed. "A protracted war is certain. Li Dingguo has fought us for so many years in southern Shaanxi and northern Sichuan — how troublesome he is, is that not obvious? If we can truly buy the lands of Songpan and Duogan for a few million taels and avert a war, what is wrong with that?

As for the label on the spending — heh, who would really treat this silver as betrothal gifts? To put it plainly, this money is simply the moving expenses for the Duogan army's westward relocation."

Zhu Cilang's eyes slowly roamed, clearly mulling over some new scheme.

Beside him, the Chongzhen Retired Emperor wore an expression of deep regret — he should not have agreed to give one million taels just now! This was the collective relocation and resettlement cost of an entire military garrison. How could there be any reason for him, a Retired Emperor so poor he could barely keep the pot boiling, to pay for it?

Just as the Chongzhen Retired Emperor was wondering whether to go back on his word, Zhu Cilang spoke again: "But we cannot easily hand over these millions or tens of millions in moving expenses. We must first make Li Dingguo divide up his inheritance!"

"Inheritance? Is an inheritance not divided among descendants only after death?" Chongzhen frowned. "Could it be that Li Dingguo is about to die..."

He got this far and himself sensed something was off. The several people in the west warming chamber were all looking at him with strange expressions.

Zhu Cilang laughed. "Imperial Father, an inheritance can also be divided among descendants ahead of time. Did your throne not pass to your son early?"

"What?" The Chongzhen Retired Emperor stared at his son. "That throne — We passed it to you?"

"Yes!" Zhu Cilang nodded very earnestly. "The Veritable Records of Chongzhen and the Precious Instructions of Chongzhen both say so. There can be no mistake!"

He glanced around. The ministers all nodded repeatedly — this was the truth!

The Veritable Records of Chongzhen and the Precious Instructions of Chongzhen had both been compiled by the Ming dynasty's most famous screenwriter, Ruan Dacheng — how could they be wrong? The Veritable Records of Chongzhen and the Precious Instructions of Chongzhen clearly recorded the Chongzhen Emperor's "three refusals of the throne": the first before fleeing Beijing during the Jiashen calamity; the second after arriving in Nanjing and quelling the eunuch faction's rebellion; and the third, in the twentieth year of Chongzhen, when he formally abdicated the throne to his son Zhu Cilang.

With the Veritable Records of Chongzhen and the Precious Instructions of Chongzhen as evidence, the Chongzhen Retired Emperor had no way to deny it, and could only sit there fuming in silence.

Zhu Cilang then asked: "Zhu Chunjie, how many sons does Li Dingguo have?"

Zhu Chunjie replied: "He has four sons: the eldest Li Puxing, the second Li Sixing, the third Li Runxing, and an adopted son, Li Yuan."

Zhu Cilang laughed. "Then his inheritance is the forty thousand fubing military households, divided into five parts! Li Yue'e takes twelve thousand households, Li Puxing takes eight thousand, Li Sixing takes seven thousand five hundred, Li Runxing takes seven thousand five hundred, and Li Yuan, being an adopted son, takes a little less — five thousand households."

This inheritance distribution scheme could be called extremely cunning! Li Yue'e, a daughter, actually took the largest share — twelve thousand households! Li Dingguo's three biological sons each got only seven or eight thousand households, totaling just twenty-three thousand among them. And Li Dingguo's adopted son Li Yuan got five thousand households. This scheme clearly treated Li Yue'e as Li Dingguo's heir! At the same time, it weakened Li Dingguo's three biological sons to a certain degree, and gave a boost to Li Dingguo's adopted son.

But Li Dingguo, Li Puxing, Li Sixing, and Li Runxing could still accept it — after all, they retained twenty-three thousand households. And they could leave the dead end of Songpan Guard and Duogan Command, and go to the vast and fertile Western Regions, to Greater Yuzi and Middle Yuzi, to live well — once they reached the Western Regions, it would be a wide-open world with boundless opportunities!

Zhu Cilang had other demands as well!

He continued: "Furthermore, since We have appointed Li Dingguo as Military Governor of Chongqing... he must go! His children may go to the Western Regions to build their careers, but he himself is advanced in years, and should still go to Chongqing Prefecture to serve one term as Military Governor, and then come to Nanjing to enjoy his retirement!"

This was to detain Li Dingguo as a hostage!

"Your Majesty," asked Minister of War Li Yan, "once Li Dingguo leaves, who will command the Li family army?"

"Li Yue'e, of course!" Zhu Cilang laughed. "Li Yue'e has twelve thousand fubing households, and she is also the consort of the Prince of Luoshan. Naturally she will be the leader of the Li family army after Li Dingguo departs."

Li Yan frowned. "Your Majesty, do you think Li Dingguo can agree to this?"

Zhu Cilang gave a cold laugh. "If We give the Li family army eight million taels, and the Retired Emperor adds another one million, he will have no choice but to agree!"

Indeed — Li Yue'e had slept with Zhu Ci'en and produced nine million taels of silver. If she did not become the boss of the Li family army, who would?

(End of Chapter)