Chapter 67: Thanking You on Behalf of the Great Ming (Seeking Recommendation Tickets)

Watching the fake Wu Sangui lead more than a thousand showy-but-useless counterfeit household retainers out through Chaoyang Gate, Zhu Cilang drew a deep breath, then went with Wu Sanmei to find the Chongzhen Emperor, Empress Zhou, and Empress Zhang.

The cannon fire from Zhengyang Gate was already rumbling over. The fake Chongzhen should be up on the arrow tower by now. The spectacle was sure to hold Li Zicheng's attention... If they didn't run now, when would they?

The Chongzhen Emperor was at that moment dressed like an old peasant, sitting on a firewood plank stool, staring blankly in the direction of Zhengyang Gate.

The sound of cannon fire and wave after wave of "Long live His Majesty" cries was coming from over there. Wasn't the Ming's "His Majesty" himself? Held captive by his own son, dressed as a peasant, abandoning the enterprise of his ancestors, preparing to slink away in defeat... Naturally no one was cheering for him!

So over at Zhengyang Gate, it must be the roving bandit army cheering?

The roving bandits... had broken in after all!

Just as Chongzhen was sunk in grief, the sound of quarreling reached his ears — a woman arguing with someone. Her voice sounded familiar. Was it the Empress?

He turned his head and saw Empress Zhou, dressed as a commoner woman, scolding a fat old gentleman.

"... Chun-ge said there are no carts for you! Either throw away your gold and silver, or stay in Beijing and keep them company!"

Empress Zhou's tone carried resentment; from her words, it seemed to be about money. Chongzhen sighed, and suddenly thought of a line of Tang poetry: "For a poor couple, everything is sorrow." He had always thought his family was the richest under heaven, with nothing to do with poverty. But now that he thought about it, the first family under heaven had the expenses of the first family; money was never enough — wasn't that poverty?

"How can there be no carts and horses? There are so many carts and horses here — just lend my family a few and that will be enough..." The fat old gentleman was still arguing with Empress Zhou.

Empress Zhou gave a cold laugh. "Go and tell Chun-ge yourself, and see if he doesn't cut you down with one stroke of his sword! The day before yesterday he killed more than forty people in one go outside the Meridian Gate, and personally cut the throat of Supervisor Xiang..."

"Th-this, this, this... it won't come to that. After all, I am his maternal grandfather!"

This fat old gentleman was none other than Empress Zhou's own father, Zhou Kui — the richest man among the imperial relatives, with a family fortune of a million, and no less than three hundred thousand taels of silver hidden away in Beijing alone.

Yet when the Chongzhen Emperor had recently begged him to contribute military funds, he had stubbornly refused to part with a single hair. Empress Zhou had no choice but to sell off some of her own gold and silver jewelry, scrape together five thousand taels of silver, and have Zhou Kui donate it to the court in his own name, to set an example. But this Imperial Father-in-Law had gone and skimmed two thousand taels off that five thousand, donating only three thousand. Then he led the way in pretending poverty — making the bricks and tiles on his house crooked and disorderly, hiding away everything valuable inside, posting a sign on his door saying the house was for sale cheap, and deliberately wearing his shabbiest clothes to court, not even taking a sedan chair but walking instead.

With him leading the way, the other imperial relatives, officials, and ennobled families naturally followed suit. The Chongzhen Emperor bustled about for half a day and only scraped together a little over two hundred thousand — less than what Zhu Cilang had squeezed out of Wang Zhixin alone!

Probably because there was too much money in the family and he couldn't bear to donate a bit to Zhu Cilang, when Zhu Cilang "sold exit permits" on the seventeenth, he still wouldn't part with a single hair, and missed his chance.

And after receiving his daughter's notice to prepare for flight, he still couldn't bear to spend a large sum on carts and horses. So when it came time to flee today, he actually didn't have enough vehicles to load his silver. Left with no choice, he had come to beg his daughter and son-in-law for help.

Just as Empress Zhou and her father were arguing, Zhu Cilang arrived, hand in hand with Wu Sanmei, smiling as he came up to pay his respects to the Chongzhen Emperor. Chongzhen ignored him, but Zhu Cilang wasn't angry; he went on cheerfully to greet his mother. Seeing the plump Old Master Zhou, and remembering that this was his maternal grandfather, he said with a smile, "Grandfather, you've come? Where are my cousins? Why don't I see them?"

Zhou Kui was no longer young, but he kept himself extremely well; his beard and hair were jet-black and glossy, his eyes bright and spirited, so that he looked about the same age as his son-in-law Chongzhen.

He knew this grandson of his had turned somewhat ruthless, but he still screwed up his courage and made his request — he wanted to borrow a hundred or so carts to load silver...

Zhu Cilang did have quite a few carts and mule wagons on hand, but weren't those vehicles mostly being used to load his own silver?

Lending them to Zhou Kui — wasn't that the same as telling Zhu Cilang to throw away his own silver and use the carts to haul the Zhou family's silver?

"All right!" Zhu Cilang nodded with a smile. "Grandfather, how much money does your family have? Is it boxed up? Why not have the porters carry it to Chaoyang Gate first?"

Hearing this, the Chongzhen Emperor and Empress Zhou, who had just been angry at Zhou Kui, suddenly both felt a twinge of sympathy for him.

This miser was about to be taken in! He might well be swindled out of his entire fortune by that scoundrel Zhu Cilang!

Zhou Kui was merely stingy, not particularly cunning or treacherous. If he had been truly crafty, he wouldn't have clung to his money even with death at the door. His money wasn't deposited in some foreign bank; it was all hidden in the cellars of his house. Once Li Zicheng arrived, wouldn't it all belong to him anyway? Better to bring it out and let his son-in-law use it to raise troops and save their lives!

How could such an honest miser withstand Zhu Cilang's smooth talk? He was immediately delighted, and had his steward follow Zhu Chunjie, dispatched by Zhu Cilang, with soldiers and a hundred and several dozen porters to his house to carry out the silver.

Three hundred thousand-plus taels of silver was about twenty thousand jin; with the weight of the chests, it came to over twenty thousand jin. If porters were to carry it, a hundred-some men would be enough. But porters couldn't go far or fast. Who could carry over a hundred jin of silver all the way to Dagu? Getting it to Tongzhou would already be doing well.

Although Tongzhou was a canal dock and there might be grain barges available, there was no guarantee. Even if there were, grain barges were slow and easy for the enemy to catch.

Besides, porters walked slowly too — they couldn't compare with carts, horses, or camels. So if Zhou Kui couldn't find enough carts, hiring porters would never get all that silver away.

But having porters carry the silver from the Earl of Jiading's mansion to Chaoyang Gate was no problem. The Zhou family residence wasn't far from Chaoyang Gate; it would be there in no time.

Just as the Zhou family's silver and household members were being brought over in a steady stream, Wu Xiang and Johann Adam Schall von Bell also arrived in disguise, having walked along the city wall from Zhengyang Gate to Chaoyang Gate.

The two of them arriving together meant the great retreat was about to begin!

"Old Father-in-Law, how goes it?" Zhu Cilang asked Wu Xiang the moment he saw him, immediately inquiring about the situation at Zhengyang Gate.

"The bandit rebels have been bluffed," Wu Xiang said with a touch of pride. "They're shifting from the Temple of Heaven toward Yongding Gate! I reckon they won't begin the assault until after dawn... Morale on our side is still high too — after all, the Son of Heaven is personally leading the campaign, and rewards have been handed out."

"Good!" Zhu Cilang clapped his hands. "Old Father-in-Law, Director Schall, go together with my Imperial Father, Imperial Mother, and Empress Zhang... You go first!"

"Thousand Years, are you not coming along?" Schall asked hurriedly.

"We still have a bit of business," Zhu Cilang said. "Once it's done, We'll catch up with you... Our horse is fast; We'll catch up."

With that, Zhu Cilang turned to Wu Sanmei and said, "Sanmei, you go with Old Father-in-Law too."

"I'm staying with Thousand Years!" Wu Sanmei shook her head and pressed a little closer to Zhu Cilang. "I will protect Thousand Years!"

Quite loyal!

Zhu Cilang looked at Wu Xiang. Wu Xiang said to his daughter, "Sanmei, you must follow Thousand Years well!"

"Mm, your daughter will surely protect Thousand Years!"

Wu Xiang said to Zhu Cilang with a smile, "Thousand Years, this daughter of mine has trained in martial arts since childhood. She may not have any great ability, but following you she will never be a hindrance."

"Good, let Sanmei come along."

"This old man will go on ahead!" Wu Xiang did not dally. He immediately took a squad of Eastern Palace guards and escorted the carriages carrying the Chongzhen Emperor, Empress Zhou, Empress Zhang, and the others toward Chaoyang Gate.

Seeing his daughter and son-in-law leave, Zhou Kui also wanted to get on the road at once, so he asked Zhu Cilang, "Chun-ge, where are the carts you're giving me?"

Zhu Cilang smiled, and directly ordered Zhu Chunjie, "Have the porters carry the silver out beyond Chaoyang Gate and pile it beside the stone bridge over the moat!"

What did that mean?

Zhou Kui was stunned. "Chun-ge, what is this..."

Zhu Cilang smiled, clasped his hands toward Zhou Kui, and said, "Grandfather, on behalf of the Great Ming, your grandson thanks you!"

(End of Chapter)