Chapter 43: This Isn't a House Confiscation (Vote with Recommendation Tickets)

These past few days, Tian Hongyu, the Grand Imperial Father-in-Law, has been like an ant on a hot pan — whether at court or sitting in his residence, he can neither sit nor stand. Sigh follows sigh without pause.

Naturally he can't eat with any relish, and even the songs and dances of the pretty concubines he bought from Yangzhou, which he used to love best, now fail to hold his ear or please his eye. This dread and unease nearly matches how he felt two years ago when his precious daughter Noble Consort Tian passed away.

He truly wished he could leave Beijing, this place of trouble, at once — not to the secondary capital Nanjing, but back to his old home in Yangzhou to live out his days as a rich man. So this morning, when he heard the Crown Prince's tutor Chen Rui soliciting donations outside the Meridian Gate, he was quite tempted.

He was not like those old noble houses that had lived in the capital for generations — his rise came through his daughter. Before she became Imperial Noble Consort, he was merely a Battalion Commander in Yangzhou; it was only in the last dozen or so years that he had become prominent. So he had no deep-rooted network of connections in Beijing, and he dared not keep the family fortune he had so painstakingly amassed through graft and bribery all in Beijing... Most of his wealth was in his old home of Yangzhou, mainly land and shops. Here in Beijing, he kept only ready silver for spending — a hundred and some tens of thousands of taels in all — but that was still enough to buy an edict permitting him to leave the city.

Because Wang Zhixin and Cao Huachun had set the example, and because the roving bandits' great army was already at the walls, a good number of officials and nobles chose to believe that Zhu Cilang's "edict to leave the city" was genuine.

Of course, most of the officials and nobles in Beijing did not buy this life-saving edict. Some had no money — not every official in Beijing was rich! Some had estates too vast to bear abandoning. And some, like Tian Hongyu, did not dare go to Zhu Cilang to buy the edict.

Tian Hongyu's fear, however, was not the same as that of Luo Yangxing, Chen Yan, Wei Zaode, and the others. Although he held the title of Guard Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had little real power. Inside the capital, one more of him made no difference, one fewer made none either. After his daughter Noble Consort Tian died, he became a man of no consequence.

But while his daughter was alive, she had vied with Empress Zhou for favor and made an enemy of her. And Zhu Cilang happened to be Empress Zhou's son... Tian Hongyu feared Zhu Cilang would take revenge on his mother's behalf and charge him with corruption and abuse of the law.

Even if he were not charged, once outside the capital's gates, it was lawless territory! His household kept few retainers and fighters — once outside the city, would he not be a fat pig? Would it not be a trivial matter for Zhu Cilang to have the Tian father and son done away with?

So Tian Hongyu could only grit his teeth and hold out in Beijing, living one day at a time.

Yet he was still afraid to die! He was only in his forties, and he lived far more comfortably than the Chongzhen Emperor — of course he had not lived enough.

But if Beijing fell and the roving bandits came pouring in, could he still live? And even if he lived, could he still enjoy wealth and rank?

So today, when the sound of cannon came from the west of the city, it frightened him half to death — he nearly fainted. Fortunately, word came that Li Zicheng had been shelled and the roving bandits had temporarily withdrawn, and only then did Grand Imperial Kinsman Tian come back to life.

Just as he was congratulating himself that his old life was safe for the moment, a messenger suddenly arrived from the residence of Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Chengguo and Commander of the Capital Camps, bearing an invitation to drink at the Duke of Chengguo's mansion.

This Zhu Chunchen had taken part in this afternoon's battle at Fucheng Gate and was said to have won great merit. So Tian Hongyu had to go curry favor with him, and by the way inquire about the battle... There would be no good news, but Tian Hongyu still wanted to hear it.

So Grand Imperial Kinsman Tian at once had his son Tian Dungen accompany him, took along a few antiques and paintings, and set off by sedan chair to the Duke of Chengguo's mansion for the banquet.

The sedan chair swayed once and came to a steady stop. The steward of the Tian household lifted the front curtain and poked his head in: "Master, we've reached Fuxue Hutong. But today is an auspicious day, and there are too many carriages and sedan chairs — the road is blocked. We can't go any farther. Would the master mind getting down here?"

Faced with a traffic jam, Tian Hongyu had no recourse. Not only did he no longer have a noble-consort daughter to back him — even the old imperial kinsman Zhou Kui (Empress Zhou's father) would have to walk himself in such a situation. To make others yield the road, you'd have to be Chief Grand Secretary!

But when Tian Hongyu leaned out of the sedan chair, he did not immediately move forward, because he saw Fuxue Hutong ablaze with lights, and the Crown Prince's procession halted outside the Duke of Chengguo's mansion. Alongside the Crown Prince's procession were over a hundred carts. Some of the carts were already piled with large crates, each sealed with paper strips and bound tight with ropes. Other carts stood empty, and porters were steadily carrying crates out of the ducal mansion and loading them onto the empty carts.

The scene looked rather like a house confiscation...

"Is that Imperial Kinsman Tian?"

Just as Tian Hongyu stood dazed, he suddenly heard someone call him. He turned quickly and saw it was Zhang Shize, Duke of Yingguo.

The Duke of Yingguo and the Duke of Chengguo were neighbors, both living in Fuxue Hutong in the Zhongjiao Ward. He too was now walking toward the Duke of Chengguo's mansion with a few attendants.

Tian Hongyu at once saluted. "Duke of Yingguo! Are you also going to the Chengguo mansion?"

"Yes, let's go together."

"Very well, very well." Tian Hongyu nodded, then pointed at the confiscation scene. "Your Grace, do you know what this is about?"

"I don't know," Zhang Shize shook his head. "I've only just returned home... Another full day of work today, and it continues tomorrow."

"What are you busy with?" Tian Hongyu asked as they walked.

"Blocking gates."

"Whose gates?"

"The gates of Beijing!" Zhang Shize said. "An assignment from His Highness the Thousand Years — six of the nine inner-city gates of Beijing, and all seven gates of the outer city, are to be sealed up."

"All sealed?"

"Yes. Only Chaoyang Gate, Dongzhi Gate, and Zhengyang Gate remain unsealed." Zhang Shize said, "But the sealed gates aren't sealed very solidly yet. We'll continue tomorrow."

"That's a huge project!" Tian Hongyu laughed. "Plenty of profit in it, no?"

"What profit? We're putting in our own money." Zhang Shize sighed. "The Great Ming has come to this — what's the point of talking about money? If the city falls, we imperial kinsmen and nobles will have to die with our whole families!"

Die...

Tian Hongyu felt a chill run down his neck. He said no more, and simply followed the Duke of Yingguo to the gate of the Chengguo mansion.

The gatekeepers of the Chengguo household recognized the Duke of Yingguo — the two ducal houses were on very warm terms, visiting back and forth as freely as if each were their own home, walking right in. So now, without announcing them, they simply invited the Duke of Yingguo and Tian Hongyu inside. They had not walked far past the main gate when the Duke of Yingguo and Tian Hongyu found they could go no farther. They were blocked in the courtyard outside the outer hall of the Chengguo mansion, where a great crowd of nobles and imperial kinsmen who had received invitations from the Chengguo household were packed together.

The courtyard was likewise ablaze with lights, and this crowd of imperial kinsmen and nobles did not even have seats — they were all standing!

"What's going on?" the Duke of Yingguo casually asked.

"His Highness the Thousand Years is here... Oh! It's the Duke of Yingguo! Please, come through, come through..."

There were not many dukes left in Beijing now, so Zhang Shize was naturally esteemed — even among a crowd of nobles, he was a top figure. When people saw him arrive, they naturally made way. Tian Hongyu followed him, pressing forward together, and only when they reached the front did they see that someone was carrying the Duke of Chengguo's silver out, crate after crate!

But it was not a confiscation, because Zhu Chunchen and his several sons stood there beaming, watching their beloved silver being carried away just like that. Beside Zhu Chunchen stood an armchair, and seated upright upon it was Zhu Cilang, Crown Prince of the Great Ming.

What on earth was going on?

It didn't look like a confiscation — if it were, could Zhu Chunchen still be smiling? Yet the Chengguo household's silver really was being carried out crate after crate!

When the silver had been nearly all moved out, and the guests had nearly all arrived, Zhu Cilang cleared his throat, rose from the chair, and looked smilingly at the crowd of stunned nobles and imperial kinsmen.

"Today We have invited you all to the Chengguo mansion to publicly commend the Duke of Chengguo!" Zhu Cilang began to explain. "You should have heard by now that on the battlefield at Fucheng Gate today, the Duke of Chengguo led from the front, slew the traitor Du Xun, shelled the bandit chieftain Li Zicheng, and won the highest merit!

Not only that — the Duke of Chengguo has now donated two hundred fifty thousand taels of silver for military pay... To have such a noble is truly a blessing for our Great Ming! Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Chengguo, is truly a model for all the nobles of our Great Ming!

You should all learn well from the Duke of Chengguo!"

(End of Chapter)