Chapter 1611: Let's Discuss Another Grand Charter!

After hearing his granddaughter Maria Theresa finish describing Henry's life ambitions, Zhu Cilang nodded with emotion, then swept his gaze over the Turkmen Khan and the Black Prince of the Sultanate of Sulu, and said with a smile: "You are fine sons as well... all of you have carved out new territory ten thousand li beyond the Ming homeland! With such fine descendants as you, the Great Ming can surely endure for ten thousand generations and never be dimmed by dust. Later, We shall enfeoff each of you as a Commandery Prince with perpetual inheritance. From this day forward, you and your descendants shall be Commandery Princes of the Great Ming at home, and kings of foreign realms abroad!"

A Commandery Prince with perpetual inheritance was indeed exceedingly noble, but it was exactly what the Turkmen Khan and the Black Prince deserved!

Zhu Hetu and Zhu Helan were overjoyed at these words, and both rose to bow and give thanks to the great Zhu Emperor.

Zhu Cilang smiled and waved his hand, motioning for them to dispense with ceremony and be seated.

Once the two were seated, the Zhu Emperor turned to Zhu Cizhao and said: "Fourth Brother, in your memorial you said you would not return to the south again?"

"No, I will not go back," Zhu Cizhao shook his head. "Yijin is grown now, and with cinchona bark to safeguard his health, I have nothing to worry about. Now I simply wish to go to Jingzhou to live out my retirement."

"To Jingzhou?" Zhu Cilang was briefly taken aback, then immediately understood Zhu Cizhao's thoughts. He laughed. "I never imagined that you, Fourth Brother, still could not forget her after all... When it comes to constancy of affection, you far surpass me, Third Brother, and Fifth Brother!"

Zhu Cizhao shook his head and smiled bitterly. "How could I compare with Eldest Brother and Third Brother? Even Fifth Brother is better than me... I no longer think of other matters; I just want to retire in peace."

Zhu Cilang laughed. "All of us brothers have done well enough. It is because we brothers of the Great Ming have been of one heart that we have today's flourishing situation. Third Brother and I are older, and we did not fall into the rebels' hands, so we caught the tide of the Ming restoration.

You had Consort Zuo to aid you, gathered up a remnant of Zuo Liangyu's troops, and with them pacified Annam, destroyed Champa, subdued Chenla, and rescued Siam. Later you commanded the various forces of the Southern Seas to sweep through Malacca and Sumatra... You opened new territory for our Great Ming and brought vassal ministers into submission — your achievements are towering!"

Zhu Cizhao actually had no great abilities; compared with his brothers Zhu Cilang and Zhu Cijiong, he was far inferior. But with the assistance of Zuo Mengmei, Zhang Yong, and others, and with Zhu Cilang's support, he too became a formidable figure who opened up ten thousand li of territory — in later history books, he was truly impressive! He bound up his hair and joined the army, campaigned west and south, fought across ten thousand li, from Yunnan all the way to Sumatra... Anyone who reads the *Biography of Prince Luowu* in the *History of the Ming* would surely think that if such a brilliant commander had been born twenty years earlier, the Ming's mid-dynasty decline and chaos would never have happened.

What Jianzhou barbarians and eastern caitiffs, what roving bandits and Roving King rebels — once Prince Luo appeared, would they not all have been utterly finished?

Of course, if Zhu Cilang and Zhu Cijiong had also been born twenty years earlier, there probably would have been no Prince Luowu at all... The Ming's mid-dynasty decline and chaos came about precisely because Zhu Cilang, Zhu Cijiong, Zhu Cizhao, and also Zhu Cihuan were all born too late.

By the way, that Zhu Cihuan also looked very formidable!

He was no Minamoto no Yoritomo... His fate was harder than Minamoto no Yoritomo's; after outliving Shimazu Nokichi, he turned the tables and became master, and now he is a genuine King of the Qing Kingdom.

Moreover, this King of the Qing Kingdom had a very long lifespan and would live for many more years, so he would still stir up many great events in the New World worthy of being recorded in the histories!

Thus Zhu Cihuan, in later history, was also elevated to a status on par with Zhu Cilang, Zhu Cijiong, and Zhu Cizhao, and together they were called the "Four Men of the Ming Restoration" or the "Four Princes of the Ming Restoration."

And at the end of the fifty-second year of Hongxing, the Four Princes of the Ming Restoration had all gathered in Yingtian Prefecture... At last they could discuss together the future of the Celestial Alliance!

The Zhu Emperor said with a smile to Zhu Cizhao: "Fifth Brother... don't be so downcast. Though we brothers are all old and could retire, our bodies are still in good shape. We can still properly arrange and deliberate upon the world of our Great Ming!

Fifth Brother, tonight Third Brother and Fourth Brother will both come to the Red Fort. Let the four of us brothers have a good gathering!"

Zhu Cizhao nodded and said: "Very well... It has been so many years since we last met; we ought to have a proper reunion!"

Because Zhu Cilang, Zhu Cijiong, Zhu Cizhao, and Zhu Cihuan were all acknowledged filial sons, and all were now in mourning, they could not indulge in wine, women, and song... Therefore tonight's banquet at the Red Fort was very plain. There was no alcohol, and no song or dance for entertainment. They simply had a dozen or so dishes prepared, mostly vegetarian and very light.

Yet the person attending upon them at the banquet was truly extraordinary... It was actually Zhu A'nu, the Empress Dowager of the Dzungar Kingdom! She was nominally a granddaughter of the Chongzhen Emperor, so of course she had to return to Yingtian for the funeral. After arriving in Yingtian, she had firmly requested to enter the palace and attend upon Zhu Cilang for a few days. Zhu Cilang could not bear to refuse, so he allowed her into the palace to take turns with the aging Ajige in personal attendance.

To call it attendance was really just for show — she simply stayed by the Zhu Emperor's side. Zhu Cilang and she were nominally master and servant, but in truth their bond was like that of father and daughter.

The reason Zhu A'nu was brought in today was actually because Zhu A'nu was also the representative of a great power within the Celestial circle — she was, after all, the Empress Dowager of the Dzungar Kingdom!

"A'nu," Zhu Cilang looked at his goddaughter and said with a smile, "You speak first... What are the Dzungars thinking?"

Dzungaria was not a princely vassal, but its military strength was still very formidable! Over the past twenty-odd years, together with Western Chu, they had been on the front line of confrontation with Russia, the Kazakh horde, and the Uzbeks. Wars and conflicts had been incessant, and their military strength had naturally been constantly tempered.

"Imperial Father," said Zhu A'nu, now in her forties and having cultivated the imposing air of one long accustomed to ruling over others. She furrowed her brow and said thoughtfully, "The Dzungars are not of our race; their hearts must differ! However, your daughter can still keep them subdued. As long as your daughter lives, the Dzungar state can be of use to the Celestial Court... But if your daughter is gone, the Dzungar state will surely fear our might without cherishing our virtue!"

"No need to fear..." Zhu Cijiong said lightly, "With the Republic of Western Chu present, Dzungaria cannot overturn the heavens..."

Zhu Cilang looked at Zhu Cijiong, then glanced at Zhu A'nu. "Then who shall be the lesser hegemon of the Western Regions? Western Chu or Dzungaria?"

"Western Chu, of course!" Zhu Cijiong said. "The Republic of Western Chu is a princely vassal; Dzungaria is a foreign race."

Zhu A'nu shook her head. "Third Uncle is mistaken. Western Chu is not a monarchy; sovereignty rests with the people. How can there be any talk of a princely vassal?"

Zhu Cilang smiled. "How about this: the lesser hegemon of the Western Regions shall be held in rotation by Dzungaria and Western Chu!"

Both Dzungaria and Western Chu were ambitious! If one of them were allowed to become the sole hegemon of the Western Regions, controlling them would no longer be easy.

Therefore the Ming's Western Regions policy had to be to maintain the balance between the two states... while also preventing their merger. And the fact that Western Chu was a Huaxia state while Dzungaria was a Mongol state in its national composition would prevent the two from merging in the future!

A'nu smiled. "With this arrangement from Imperial Father, your daughter can pacify the Dzungar nobles."

Zhu Cijiong understood Zhu Cilang's intent, so he also nodded and said nothing more.

"Fifth Brother," Zhu Cilang then looked at his fifth brother Zhu Cihuan, "who should be the lesser hegemon of the New Continent?"

"The United States, of course!" Zhu Cihuan answered with a smile. "How could the Qing Kingdom compare with the United States? We are content just to follow behind and sip a little broth."

The relationship between the Qing Kingdom and the United States was, in fact, a replica of that between Dzungaria and Western Chu!

The foundation of the Qing Kingdom was, after all, the Japanese samurai!

While the foundation of the United States was the gun-toting armed commoners from the Great Ming.

Both groups were quite capable in a fight, but they were difficult to merge... This was also the reason Zhu Cilang had always permitted large numbers of Japanese samurai to immigrate to the Qing Kingdom.

Zhu Cilang did not wish the United States and the Qing Kingdom to merge into a single state in the future... And by turning the elites of the United States and the elites of the Qing Kingdom into two completely different kinds of people, he could naturally prevent the two states from developing too much friendship.

"Very well then, the lesser hegemon of the New Continent shall be the tycoon!" Zhu Cilang thought for a moment. "In the north, military preparations rely mainly on the several military governorships; no lesser hegemon can emerge there... Now it seems the only remaining lesser hegemon without a candidate is in the south. Fourth Brother, tell us — who would be suitable?"