Chapter 663: Want to Run? No Way Out!

Truly, the imperial family is the most heartless of all!

To fill a mere few million in usurious debt, Zhu Cijiong, the Loan Prince of the Great Ming, actually thought of selling out his own blood brother!

Unfortunately for him, the Great Ming has not only the Loan Prince Zhu Cijiong, who cares nothing for brotherly bonds, but also a loyal third-time turncoat, Wu Sangui.

Wu Sangui's days are far harder than Zhu Cijiong's right now. Zhu Cijiong may be up to his neck in hellish debts, but he is still the Prince of Dai of the Great Ming, the full blood brother of the Hongxing Emperor by the same father and mother. Although Zhu Cilang now has a son, which sharply discounted Zhu Cijiong's right of succession, his princely title remains intact.

But what about Wu Sangui?

In the Great Qing he was the banner lord prince of the Bordered Green Banner, Prince Who Pacifies the West, and Generalissimo Who Pacifies the West. Poor as he was then, he still held the formal mandate to rule Gansu and Shaanxi. Ama Dorgon was utterly overwhelmed in the east and had no mind to bother with Gansu and Shaanxi, so naturally Wu Sangui could do as he pleased there.

And back then Wu Sangui had not borrowed nearly so much at usurious rates!

But now, although Wu Sangui has advanced from a twice-turncoat to a thrice-turncoat, his mandate to rule the northwest has still not been issued. Zhu Cilang only enfeoffed him as Duke of Jin — and that dukedom was one Zhu Cilang had granted in the name of the Army-Supervising Crown Prince before Wu Sangui defected to the Manchu Qing. In other words, it merely restored his original title; it did not enfeoff him with the Shaanxi-Gansu territory he actually occupies.

So whether Wu Sangui can continue as King of the Northwest is still unknown!

And to placate the Chiliarchs under him who had lost their shirts at Heshangyuan, before betraying the Qing and returning to the Ming, Wu Sangui had borrowed more than two million taels at usurious rates from the Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants under Zhu Cijiong's protection! Added to his earlier usurious loans, the principal alone was over two million taels, at three percent interest per month — roughly seventy thousand taels — meaning the interest he had to repay every single day came to more than two thousand taels of silver.

Every day Wu Sangui opened his eyes, another two thousand-plus taels of hellish debt had piled onto his back! How could he not be worried sick?

What if Zhu Cilang refused to let him be King of the Northwest, and refused to recognize the hellish debts he had incurred? What then?

These past days, Old Wu has been nearly frantic with anxiety!

Just as he and his trusted men of Guanning Army origin were spinning in circles every day, someone suddenly delivered an anonymous letter of accusation to Wu Sangui's Duke of Jin residence, reporting a shocking case — the Fifth Prince Zhu Cihuan, who was plotting sedition, and the eunuch-faction ringleader Gao Yushun were about to pass through Xi'an Prefecture on their way to Yan'an to join the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong... Wu Sangui had of course never received the secret letter Gao Yushun had sent, but his younger brother Wu Sanfu had been investigating the matter and had learned that Gao Yushun was preparing to escort Zhu Cihuan and Noble Consort Yuan to join the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong. So he sent word in secret to Wu Sangui, telling him to watch for them and intercept them.

This presented Wu Sangui with an enormous dilemma.

Was the Retired Emperor Chongzhen behind this Zhu Cihuan and Gao Yushun? Had they colluded with His Highness the Prince of Dai? Were they going to join him on the Retired Emperor's orders? If he arrested them, would it mean war with the Prince of Dai?

"My Lord Duke, since someone has already reported this matter, we cannot ignore it."

"Indeed, my Lord Duke, paper cannot wrap fire... and the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the court is formidable. If we turn a blind eye, His Majesty will learn of it sooner or later."

"Changbo, if it truly comes to that, Sanmei will find it very hard to keep her footing before His Majesty..."

Inside the Duke of Jin's residence in the city of Xi'an Prefecture, Wu Sangui's trusted men were all of one mind: move and arrest them!

Arrest Zhu Cihuan and Gao Yushun, and they could demonstrate their loyalty to Zhu Cilang in Nanjing! Once loyalty was shown, he should be able to become King of the Northwest, and the mountain of usurious debt would most likely find some resolution as well...

Seeing that his trusted men were all of one mind, Wu Sangui turned his gaze to Liu Sheng.

Liu Sheng abruptly rose to his feet and saluted Wu Sangui: "My Lord Duke, allow this subordinate to lead troops and seize them!"

Wu Sangui nodded: "I leave it to you... Remember, under no circumstances may the Fifth Prince, Noble Consort Yuan, or Gao Yushun be harmed. Especially Gao Yushun! The Fifth Prince is still young, and Noble Consort Yuan is a woman — the only one who can explain this matter clearly is Eunuch Gao!"

"This subordinate understands." Liu Sheng nodded heavily.

Understanding was one thing, but seizing Eunuch Gao would not be so easy! Because Gao Yushun was still in Chongqing Prefecture! Where was Liu Sheng supposed to go to arrest him?

Zhu Cihuan and Noble Consort Yuan, for their part, had left Chongqing under the escort of Song Xiance's son Song Qingtian, traveled through Hanzhong into Guanzhong, entered Fengxiang Prefecture, and then rented an inn in Fengxiang Prefecture to stay. Only after settling Noble Consort Yuan and Zhu Cihuan did Song Qingtian go to Xi'an to deliver the letter.

So the ones Liu Sheng seized were Noble Consort Yuan and Zhu Cihuan, whom the other side had deliberately arranged for him to arrest — it turned out that the Zhu Emperor's Embroidered Uniform Guard might indeed be formidable in the southeast, but on Wu Sangui's northwestern turf, they had no real foundation.

And it was precisely this gap that Song Xiance had spotted, giving Zhu Cilang, Zhu Cijiong, Wu Sangui, and the Retired Emperor Chongzhen a thorough dose of eye medicine.

After seizing — no, rather, after inviting the utterly ignorant Zhu Cihuan and the terrified Noble Consort Yuan to Xi'an Prefecture, Wu Sangui placed the two under house arrest while having their portraits painted, and together with the tokens they carried — including the edict Zhu Cilang had issued to Noble Consort Yuan that day — had Liu Sheng travel day and night to Nanjing to show them to Zhu Cilang.

Arriving in Nanjing almost at the same time as Liu Sheng was Luo Xiushen, whom Zhu Cilang had planted beside the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong — Zhu Cijiong's eyes and ears in Xi'an were better informed than the Embroidered Uniform Guard, for many Shaanxi merchants had debt dealings with the Prince of Dai's household and naturally served as his informants.

So the news that Wu Sangui had captured the Fifth Prince, Noble Consort Yuan, and Gao Yushun reached them almost immediately... Yes, in the news they received, Gao Yushun had been arrested!

This time Zhu Cijiong and the people around him could not sit still. Tian Cunzhi set out at once for Xi'an, wanting to meet with Gao Yushun — he had to get to the bottom of the matter!

The problem was that Wu Sangui did not have Gao Yushun in his hands... But if he said he did not, would Tian Cunzhi believe him? Would the Prince of Dai, Zhu Cijiong, believe him?

What fine brothers they all were, of the imperial family!

"The Duke of Jin truly does not have Eunuch Gao in his hands... This subject asked in person. Eunuch Gao was the advance party and had left Chongqing Prefecture first! Perhaps, perhaps he went to the Prince of Dai..."

"Liu Sheng, do not talk nonsense. The Prince of Dai has never met any Gao Yushun... There is no such thing at all!"

In the Eastern Warm Pavilion of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, Liu Sheng and Luo Xiushen were arguing loudly in the presence of Zhu Cilang.

These two had originally both been the Zhu Emperor's men, but were they still? They had followed Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong for more than four years, nearly five — they had surely received no small measure of favor and obligation. By now they ought to be speaking for Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong...

Which is to say, on the question of Gao Yushun's whereabouts, neither man's word could be fully trusted... Of course, the greatest likelihood was still that Gao Yushun remained detained by the Shun army!

"How are relations between the Duke of Jin and the Prince of Dai?" Zhu Cilang's voice deepened. "Is there any chance they could join forces? Governor-General Ma Shiying of Sichuan has sent an urgent appeal — Chengdu is about to fall. Although We have dispatched troops advancing along the Yangtze and the Han River, neither route is a convenient road into Sichuan. Since ancient times, taking Ba-Shu has always been easier from north to south!"

Liu Sheng shook his head: "Your Majesty, the Duke of Jin suffered too heavily at Heshangyuan and had to borrow at usurious rates just to placate the three hundred-odd Chiliarchs under him... To get the Chiliarchs below him to send troops against Sichuan now, without two or three million it likely cannot be done."

Indeed, they had all been beaten into terror by Zhang Xianzhong's four sons!

Moreover, this year Guanzhong suffered a great drought, grain output fell severely, every Chiliarch's domain was internally unstable, and the common people in the territories they garrisoned were restless too!

"The Prince of Dai cannot send troops either... The Prince of Dai's debts are even greater. These past few years he has survived in the Lüliang Mountains entirely on borrowing." Luo Xiushen said, "Borrow and repay, and borrowing again is not hard..."

What fine brothers indeed!

The Zhu Emperor thought to himself: They cannot even settle a few million in usurious debt on their own and still have to come to Us, their elder brother... This Third Prince Zhu is unworthy of his name!

"Then there will be no need to send troops," Zhu Cilang sighed. "Let the roving bandits enjoy Sichuan for a few years. Fortunately, Sichuan has never been the home of an imperial house... As for the debts of the Prince of Dai and the Duke of Jin, have them bring their creditors to Wuhan and wait. We shall resolve it for them Ourselves."