Chapter 1768: Even the Fu Prince Has Grown Thin

In the first year of Chongzhen, in the twelfth month, at the Fu Prince's residence in Luoyang.

Zhu Changxun had just put on a newly made prince's informal robe and stood before a large bronze mirror, looking at the man in the mirror, unable to suppress a sigh.

What appeared in the mirror was a middle-aged man of slender build and refined features, his three strands of beard neatly trimmed. On closer inspection, he was quite a handsome man!

This handsome man was of course the current Son of Heaven's own uncle, His Highness the Fu Prince, Zhu Changxun, enfeoffed at Luoyang!

Hard as it was to believe, the Fu Prince Zhu Changxun, who had been fat from his mother's womb and stayed fat for over forty years, had actually succeeded in losing weight in the first year of Chongzhen — and in only six short months. Six months ago he had still been a great fat man of more than two hundred jin, standing before the bronze mirror like a door plank, his fat face so crowded with flesh there was no room left, looking much like a fat pig.

But now he weighed at most a hundred and forty jin or so, and his figure was far more balanced. His face had also slimmed down considerably, and once the face slimmed down, Zhu Changxun discovered with astonishment that he, who had never had any shape to speak of since childhood, was actually a handsome man!

That the fat Fu Prince could actually slim down into a refined and handsome man — this fact was so shocking that even the Fu Prince Zhu Changxun himself had to sigh!

"My Prince, the Divine Physician Li just said that your pulse is steady and strong, and your complexion is fair with a healthy flush. There should be nothing seriously wrong, and your constitution is even better than when you were fat, so do not worry."

The one speaking at the Fu Prince's side was a white-haired old eunuch, looking at the now-handsome Fu Prince with a face full of fondness, like a father watching his son grow stronger day by day. This old eunuch was surnamed Wang, named Wang Changchun. He had originally been a eunuch in the service of the Fu Prince's birth mother, Noble Consort Zheng, and later had been put in charge of caring for the Fu Prince Zhu Changxun, raising him from infancy through every hardship into a fat man of more than two hundred jin. Who would have thought that once this fat man slimmed down, he would actually resemble Noble Consort Zheng so closely — both so good-looking!

As if seeing his former mistress again, Wang Changchun's eyes grew moist!

But the Fu Prince Zhu Changxun only sighed: "How could there be no illness? I have lost so much weight. We must be gravely ill! Companion Wang, you are not just comforting Us, are you?"

When Wang Changchun heard the Fu Prince speak like this, tears of grief fell — the Fu Prince was not afraid of being gravely ill; he was hoping to be gravely ill!

But a gravely ill person losing weight was not the same thing at all — a thousand pieces of gold cannot buy weight loss in old age! The reason this fat Fu Prince had slimmed down was that since mid-June he had lost all appetite for food and drink, often had nightmares in his sleep, and paced round and round his palace every day. He ate little and moved his legs, so of course he slimmed down. What illness could there be! If one insisted there was an illness, it was an illness of the heart!

And the Fu Prince's illness of the heart came from two letters that his mother, Consort Dowager Zheng, had sent by messenger in mid-June.

The two letters had arrived in Luoyang one after the other. In the first letter, Consort Dowager Zheng told her son that the young emperor Zhu Youjian, who had been on the throne less than a year, had very likely "perished."

The boy had not informed the court before taking some ten thousand imperial household retainers to lead the campaign in person, and at Datong had run into the Khutugtu Khan of the Chakhar Mongols, fallen into a trap, and might well have ended up like the Ying Temple ancestor — or might already have passed away!

So now Beijing was in chaos, and the court officials were fighting over the succession to the throne, with most of them supporting the Fu Prince to become emperor — which was only natural!

According to the order of seniority, if a successor were to be chosen from among the Chongzhen Emperor's uncles, then the Fu Prince should be emperor, for he was the eldest!

If a successor were to be chosen from among Chongzhen's brothers, then the Fu Prince's son Zhu Yousong should be emperor, for he was the eldest of his generation!

If a successor were to be chosen from among Chongzhen's sons — among the close branches of the imperial clan there simply were none!

If the wealthiest man among the close branches of the imperial clan were to be chosen as emperor, then it was still Zhu Changxun — the Wanli Emperor had given him more than half of the Inner Transport Treasury, so of course he was the wealthiest of all the princes.

If his money were brought out, it would be enough to relieve the Ming court's financial crisis. If the throne were not given to him, to whom else could it be given?

When Zhu Changxun received this news, he was of course overjoyed beyond measure!

That very night he held a great banquet in the princely residence to celebrate, and even had Wang Changchun and his son Zhu Yousong pack up all the gold, silver, and treasures in the residence into chests, ready to take back to Beijing to spend at leisure.

But a few days later, Consort Dowager Zheng sent him another letter, and when Zhu Changxun read it, half his life was frightened out of him — the earlier news of the emperor's disappearance had been a false report, spread recklessly by the Prince of Dai, who had abandoned his fief and fled from Datong, along with several Commandery Princes of the Dai line!

This truly frightened the Fu Prince Zhu Changxun out of his wits. Truly, a man sits in Luoyang, and disaster comes from Datong!

The Prince of Dai's family was far too unreliable. How could they joke about such a matter?

A few days later, even more terrifying news arrived!

The young emperor Zhu Youjian was actually a ruthless man, brave as Lü Bu and wise as Zhuge Liang, who had utterly routed the hundred-thousand-strong army of the Chakhar tribe that had invaded Datong!

Now the Fu Prince was so frightened that he could not even swallow the delicacies of land and sea he usually loved. If such a ruthless man ever learned that someone had wanted to raise him to the throne, would he not put to death this pig-fat Fu Prince?

Although the princes of the Great Ming had always been treated generously, and generally even some faults went unpunished, that was on the premise that the princes kept to their place, did not covet the throne, and did not meddle in power. Once a prince broke the rules and involved himself in struggles over imperial power, he placed himself in grave danger.

And although the Fu Prince himself had not actively stepped forward to contend for the throne, he had still been touted by many officials as the leading candidate for the succession, and had moreover been placed in opposition to the candidate supported by Empress Zhou and Empress Zhang.

For that alone, Zhu Youjian could put him to death with full justification!

Knowing the danger of his situation, the Fu Prince had not been quite normal since late June, going on hunger strikes every few days, refusing food and drink, and even when not on hunger strike he had little appetite. He kept hoping to contract a terminal illness, thinking that as long as he was afflicted with an incurable disease, the young emperor Zhu Youjian would let him off.

But the problem was, a terminal illness was not something you could get just by wishing for it!

When Zhu Changxun was fat at over two hundred jin, if modern medicine had examined him, perhaps he might have had the "three highs" or something of the sort. Now that several dozen jin of fat had been shed, everything was normal, and he even looked somewhat like he had the bearing of an emperor!

"My Prince, do not worry. The matter of raising you to the throne was stirred up by the court officials. If blame is to be assigned, they cannot escape either!"

Wang Changchun was still trying to console him when a young eunuch came running into the Fu Prince's study in a panic, shouting as he ran: "My Prince! Bad news! Terrible news!"

Wang Changchun quickly turned his head to look — it was one of his adopted grandsons, a young eunuch named Wang Quan.

"Quan'er, what on earth has happened?" Wang Changchun was also somewhat alarmed — he knew, of course, that the young emperor would not easily let the Fu Prince off. How could he possibly let him off? The old Wanli Emperor had given the Fu Prince so much gold, silver, and treasure, and also twenty thousand qing of land, and also the silver from the Sichuan salt wells and tea monopoly, and also the miscellaneous taxes from the reed islets along the river from Jiangdu to Taiping, and also an annual grant of thirteen hundred yin of Huai salt.

"His Grace the Duke of Ying has come from Beijing, and has brought with him the Northern Provost of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Vice Director of the Eastern Depot, along with one or two hundred mounted Embroidered Uniform Guard riders. They say they have come by imperial command to invite Your Highness to Beijing. They are already outside the main gate of the residence, asking Your Highness to come receive the edict!"

When Zhu Changxun heard this, his calves trembled, his vision went black, and his whole body went limp as he collapsed to the ground, sitting down hard on the floor.

Fan Yongdou of the old Fan family firm of Zhangjiakou was in his mule-litter, leaning by the window and quietly reading a letter written in Mongolian script by the sunlight.

The letter was written in the own hand of the Grand Princess of the Uriankhai — the old Fan family firm of Zhangjiakou had not built its fortune trading with the Jianzhou Jurchen; the Chakhar tribe and the Tumed tribe were their old customers. The Grand Princess of the Uriankhai had earlier administered the central ten-thousand-household unit of the Chakhar khan's ordo, and had always had business dealings with the Fan family of Zhangjiakou. Fan Yongdou had even gone to Chakhar Hot (Ligdan Batur's capital) to pay his respects to this Grand Princess, and had exchanged letters with her, so he could recognize the Grand Princess's handwriting.

And as soon as Fan Yongdou received the Grand Princess of the Uriankhai's letter, he had immediately left Zhangjiakou to pay a visit to the Grand Princess at Xinghe, where her ten-thousand-household ordo was encamped — he knew, of course, that this Grand Princess was now the woman of the young Ming emperor. This was a rare opportunity!

Not long before, he had also kowtowed before the Tiancong Khan at the Later Jin army camp below Mount Mamen!

Ha! He had now made connections with great figures of all three states — Northern Yuan, Later Jin, and Southern Ming! Fan Yongdou was thoroughly pleased with himself. It seemed the Fan family of Zhangjiakou was going to flourish greatly in his hands.

(End of chapter)