Chapter 662: Let's Go Demand Payment from the Emperor!

"Wu Sangui?" Zhu Cilang smiled. "What is there to worry about? Is it not just some usurious debt? More debt, fewer worries — besides, he is a great hero of his region, and no one can press him for repayment."

Wu Sanmei smiled bitterly. "Your Majesty, I too once held the regency seal. How could I know nothing of military and political affairs? My second brother now enjoys outward glory, but in truth he is being roasted over a fire, and I fear every day passes like a year for him!

Your Majesty, why not strip him of his fief, summon him to the capital, and enfeoff him as a wealthy Duke?"

Stripping fiefs was the favorite pastime of ordinary Central Plains emperors. But Zhu Cilang happened to be just such an unordinary emperor. Had it been any other fief, he might have considered it — but the fiefs of Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong, he would never strip no matter what.

Because those two were not fiefs at all, but two bottomless black holes. Were not the roving bandits now swarming into Sichuan all streaming out of Gansu and Shaanxi?

Was not the Dzungar tribe, which plagued the Qing for over a hundred years in history, also from that northwestern region?

This was no longer the Sui or Tang era — there was simply no possibility of holding the passes and ruling the realm! Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong being planted in Shaanxi and Gansu was in fact plugging the black holes for the Great Ming.

If their fiefs were stripped, there would be two consequences: either the Zhu emperor's Nanjing court would have to fill those black holes itself, or the Qing or the roving bandits would seize Shaanxi and Gansu once more.

Whichever the consequence, neither was as good as letting Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong keep plugging the black holes of Gansu and Shaanxi!

Thinking this far, Zhu Cilang smiled and said to Wu Sanmei, "Sanmei, right now Sangui and the Prince of Dai are like the military governors of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras!"

"They are no An Lushan or Shi Siming!" Wu Sanmei at once spoke in Wu Sangui's defense.

How is your second brother not an An Lushan? Zhu Cilang thought to himself: how did the Revolt of the Three Feudatories break out? But We are no Emperor Ming of Tang, nor the Kangxi Emperor.

"Changbo is of course no An Lushan or Shi Siming. Moreover, Shaanxi and Gansu today are too barren and hard-pressed, beset by enemies on all sides. Without strong garrisons, they cannot be held!" Zhu Cilang assured Wu Sanmei. "As for their financial troubles, We will think of something for them."

Wu Sanmei sighed softly. Think of something — but not shoulder the debts for them. Her second brother would have to rack his brains!

That same night, in the West Garden detached palace within Nanjing, the Chongzhen Retired Emperor and Empress Zhou, the retired empress, were likewise unable to sleep.

Their son owed several million in usurious debt and could not repay it. If they as parents could still snore away, would their hearts not be far too large?

At today's family banquet, the Chongzhen Retired Emperor had probed several times, trying to feel out Zhu Cilang's position. But Zhu Cilang gave no response at all, as if the matter of converting the debt for the Prince of Dai simply did not exist.

"That unfilial son must know about Gao Yushun's affair. That unfilial son has raised the Embroidered Uniform Guard to be everywhere, seeping into every crack!"

"Retired Emperor, you go on all day about 'unfilial son, unfilial son' — are you not afraid Chun'ge will hear of it?"

"We — We are not afraid. We are the Retired Emperor now. What is there left to fear?"

Empress Zhou looked at her husband, full of vigor in the candlelight, and could only smile bitterly. Could a Retired Emperor not advance further? A Retired Emperor could still become a Late Emperor!

"He would not dare!" the Chongzhen Emperor snorted. "We still have the Prince of Dai, and the Prince of Yunnan. If Chun'ge dared to act recklessly, they would surely raise troops!"

Empress Zhou only shook her head. "Sange and Sige are both in poor straits. They are entirely dependent on Chun'ge for silver!"

It turned out that not only was the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong, in hard times — Zhu Cizhao, whom Zhu Cilang had dispatched to Yunnan, was likewise running at a loss. Sha Dingzhou had been defeated but not killed, Mu Tianbo was deeply entrenched, and Zhu Cizhao and Zuo Mengmei as a couple were spending beyond their means, on the verge of losing control of the situation.

And an even more terrifying situation lay ahead. The four kings of the Xi joint rule had already entered Sichuan, and no one knew when they would drive Ma Shiying and his men out of Chengdu.

Would Yunnan become the next target of these roving bandits? What would Zhu Cizhao and his people do then?

So not long ago, Zhu Cizhao had also written to Chongzhen begging for help!

The moment he thought of how Zhu Cijiong and Zhu Cizhao were both losing their shirts, the Chongzhen Retired Emperor felt somewhat dejected. He had originally counted on these two filial sons to back him up — but how was it that their skill at managing money fell so far short of that unfilial son's?

Now they were all depending on the unfilial son's money, and the unfilial son absolutely refused to relent. If this went on, what was to be done?

Shaanxi, Yulin — drought, no rain.

Late at night, the Great Ming Prince of Debt, Zhu Cijiong, also could not sleep. He stood in the courtyard of his princely residence, hands behind his back, gazing at the moon.

A bright moon hung in the sky, stars dotted everywhere — another fine, clear night!

The drought in Yulin, Yan'an, and Ningxia, it seemed, would not improve much.

The usurious debts incurred on Mount Lüliang had not yet been repaid, and now drought had struck northern Shaanxi and Ningxia.

Although drought had long been commonplace in Shaanxi and Gansu, could Heaven not spare them a single meal? Even if it had to be dry again next year?

The military system Zhu Cijiong now practiced was much the same as Wu Sangui's and Li Guo's — land-for-military-service! But it was not called the Chiliarch system, nor the fubing system; it was the military household system handed down from the old Zhu family. However, these military households no longer had land allotted to guards and battalions, but directly to each household.

The soldiers who had followed him down from Mount Lüliang were all allotted land in Yulin and Yan'an Prefecture, while the forces of Wang Yongqiang and others who had submitted to him were allotted land in Ningxia.

Having received land, they naturally had to farm it well! This year also happened to see a Ming-Qing ceasefire, so Zhu Cijiong had kept only a small number of troops and sent most of his men to manage their own estates. But who could have expected a drought to arrive right on schedule?

After a great drought, farming naturally ran at a loss. And farming at a loss would greatly weaken the fighting strength of the Prince of Debt's army!

To cover his subordinates' losses, Zhu Cijiong would probably have to borrow even more. Such debt could not be sustained on the Prince of Debt's credit alone — it would have to be guaranteed by Zhu Cilang. And just at that moment, Gao Yushun's letter arrived.

Soft footsteps sounded, reaching Zhu Cijiong's ears.

"Companion Tian?" Zhu Cijiong asked in a low voice.

"Your Highness, it is this old servant."

The arrival was none other than Tian Cunzhi, who had followed Zhu Cijiong for many years.

"You have read it?" Zhu Cijiong asked.

"I have. It is indeed Gao Yushun's own hand."

"What do you make of it?" Zhu Cijiong asked.

"Your Highness, Gao Yushun is truly loyal," Tian Cunzhi said.

"I am asking about the Retired Emperor — he..."

"The Retired Emperor," Tian Cunzhi smiled bitterly, "is indeed a man unwilling to remain idle."

"Then there is no mistake! But what is to be done?" Zhu Cijiong was so anxious he had nearly lost his wits.

"Your Highness," Tian Cunzhi said, frowning, "we must at least bring the Fifth Prince and Noble Consort Yuan here."

It turned out Song Xiance had played his trump card. Just before the battle of Chengdu was to begin, he was preparing to release Zhu Cihuan and Gao Yushun. But he would not send them to Nanjing — he would send them to the Prince of Dai.

In Shaanxi and Gansu there were two great powers: the Prince of Dai and Wu Sangui. If they were on good terms, they might join forces and march into Sichuan — and for the Shun, which had just formed the "Eight Kings, One Lord Joint-Rule Alliance," that would be a fatal crisis.

So Li Guo had ordered Song Xiance to find a way to drive a wedge between the two. And Zhu Cijiong had clearly already fallen for it.

He sighed. "Fifth Brother is, after all, my own blood brother. How can I let him wander outside? And Imperial Father — how can he still be thinking of restoration at a time like this, and entrust such an important matter to Fifth Brother, a mere child? What is he thinking?"

"Your Highness," Tian Cunzhi lowered his voice, "this is also an opportunity to make your loyalties clear!"

Zhu Cijiong turned his head and looked at the great eunuch Tian in the hazy moonlight. The great eunuch's features were all swallowed up in the night, hard to make out — but one could well imagine how twisted an expression he wore now.

"The Retired Emperor has no chance. You must not choose the wrong side," Tian Cunzhi said. "The Fifth Prince's arrival is perfect. You can send men to escort them to Nanjing! With that merit, His Majesty will surely be willing to shoulder several million in debt for you. Perhaps he might even point out a way forward for us!"

"Can Fifth Brother survive this?" Zhu Cijiong hesitated.

"He should survive," Tian Cunzhi said. "Exile him to an island, then? Your Highness, please don't trouble yourself over him any further."

"Alas, that's all we can do," Prince Dai, Zhu Cijiong, said with a long sigh.