Chapter 108: Diverting the Flood Eastward

The sky grew brighter and brighter, with a hint of sweltering heat creeping in.

Zhu Xu set down the blanket and the watermelon in his hand, walked to the steps, and did some simple stretches to loosen his muscles and bones.

"Mm, today is a fine day!"

Zhu Xu gazed at the streak of red in the east, and his mood lifted even further.

"Dong dong dong—"

From the direction of Qianqing Palace came a dull yet crisp bell toll. Hearing the sound, Zhu Xu's smile widened.

"Your Highness, would you like something to eat?" Yao Qingqing stepped over the threshold and walked up to Zhu Xu, speaking softly.

Zhu Xu waved his hand and said loudly, "No more eating—time to sleep!" With that, he turned and headed into the bedroom.

Yao Qingqing felt that His Highness the Prince of Hui was acting a bit strange today. She pursed her lips and followed him inside.

As Zhu Xu slept, time slipped by bit by bit. The sun grew fiercer, hanging high over the capital, scorching everything beneath it.

Zhu Xu was tormented by the heat, tossing and turning on the silk brocade bedding. Because ice blocks had been placed in the room, the air felt damp and clammy—most uncomfortable.

After what felt to Zhu Xu like an eternity, he barely managed to defeat his reluctance to rise. He opened his eyes and staggered out of the room.

Yao Qingqing was in the outer chamber making his favorite cold noodles. The moment she saw Zhu Xu up, she hastily wiped her hands and came over to greet him: "Your Highness, please wash your face first and wake yourself up."

Zhu Xu nodded blankly, walked over to the reclining chair, and slumped into it half-lying, utterly listless.

"Can't sleep at night, can't sleep well by day—those bad habits I picked up before are back again..." Zhu Xu sighed, his mind hazy and muddled.

Yao Qingqing smiled with pursed lips, carrying the basin of water over. "It's mainly the heat. Wanting to sleep is only natural."

Zhu Xu looked at the spirited Yao Qingqing—she was no comfort at all. He reached his hand into the water and immediately jolted with a start: there was ice in the basin.

He sat up and splashed the cold water on his face. Feeling the chill seeping into his skin, he finally sobered up a few degrees.

"Did Little Cao come looking for me?" Zhu Xu finished wiping his face and looked up toward the outside.

Yao Qingqing carried the basin away as she replied, "Eunuch Cao did come by. When he learned Your Highness was asleep, he left again."

Zhu Xu gave an "mm" and said thoughtfully, "Then it's about what I expected."

Based on his previous understanding, no matter how major the matter—even if the sky were falling—the first thing the court would do was square off, squabble for days, and only then get around to handling the problem. Naturally, even during the handling they would keep arguing, for the arguments decided the benefits—whoever shouted loudest and made the biggest show would grab the most spoils.

Before long, Cao Huachun arrived. Entering, he said at once, "Your Highness, just as you predicted, the court is locked in fierce debate over the grain transport matter. Quite a few believe it is of grave importance and should be dealt with promptly, but more hold that it involves too much and should not be acted on rashly."

Zhu Xu smiled and said, "In the end, His Imperial Majesty suppressed it and ordered the Ministry of Revenue to deliberate further?"

Cao Huachun nodded. "Yes. However, the Ministry of Revenue has no authority over grain transport, so it will likely still have to go before a full court assembly for a decision."

Zhu Xu nodded. The Governor-General of Grain Transport was a second-rank official, and the Minister of Revenue was also second-rank. Though grain transport had once been under the Ministry of Revenue, over time it had become a relatively independent office—even the Grand Secretariat could not easily interfere.

"Let them fight," Zhu Xu said without urgency, smiling. "The fiercer they quarrel and the longer they contend, the more benefits lie within—and the more we'll get to split when the time comes."

Cao Huachun murmured agreement, then hesitated a moment before saying carefully, "Your Highness, there's something else. I heard that at today's court assembly, someone brought up Your Highness's workshop east of the city."

Zhu Xu's brows shot up at once, his expression turning grave. "Who raised it, and what did they say?"

Cao Huachun replied, "It was a memorial from a Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel. It claimed Your Highness's workshop sells at low prices and disrupts prices in the capital, stirring popular resentment, and that it should be confiscated to supply the Nine Border Garrisons. The Ministry of War seems inclined to act on it."

"A Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel?"

Zhu Xu narrowed his eyes. **Xing is the Minister of Personnel—was this instigated by him? What is his aim? Trying to divert the court's attention?

He tapped his right hand on the edge of the chair, his mind beginning to calculate.

His workshop used puffing techniques—even a single steamed bun cost less than half the market price to produce, and with most of it mixed with sweet potatoes and corn, the cost was even lower.

In other words, where a normal shop earned thirty wen on a hundred buns, he could earn seventy wen—or even more!

Shanhai Pass wasn't far from the capital either. If they truly wanted to supply the Ministry of War, it wasn't entirely out of the question. But it would work only for a short while; over a longer stretch, it would be like asking a tiger for its skin—more loss than gain.

"Your Highness."

Just as Zhu Xu was thinking, Cao Wenzhao came rushing in from outside, breathless.

Zhu Xu looked up at his urgent expression and asked, slightly startled, "What's happened?"

Anger showed on Cao Wenzhao's face. "Your Highness, a batch of sweet potatoes being shipped into the city was just seized by the Right Guard's patrol battalion. I sent men to negotiate, but they won't release them."

Zhu Xu tilted his head slightly, then the corner of his mouth twitched. His eyes held a mocking glint. "Striking from two directions at once... This Lord Zhao truly intends to use me as his scapegoat?"

Earlier, Zhu Xu had only thought **Xing was trying to muddy the waters and confuse the court's deliberations—buying time to clean up the problems Li Jinyan had exposed, so as not to be caught too flat-footed.

But now Zhu Xu understood: this Lord Zhao clearly meant to blow up the matter of his workshop and divert the flood of trouble eastward—onto him!

Cao Wenzhao saw the strange look on Zhu Xu's face and added, "Your Highness, what should we do? Should we pressure the Right Guard?"

Zhu Xu waved his hand. "Don't rush. Let me think."

Earlier, he had raided the storehouses of the Six Ministries and several offices under the Shuntian Prefecture, letting a few off the hook—and one of those was the Right Guard!

This was not an office one could touch casually. Without an imperial edict, no one dared act against it—and besides, they were strong and well-armed; neither the Embroidered Uniform Guard nor the imperial palace guards could match them. As for the pressure Cao Wenzhao mentioned, Zhu Xu naturally didn't think it feasible. **Xing might be able to lean on his prestige to get them to do things, but this young prince of his had no such pull.

Cao Huachun watched Zhu Xu's pensive expression, shifted his position, and quietly recounted the court matters to Cao Wenzhao.

Cao Wenzhao mulled it over briefly, then his face changed slightly. He looked up at Zhu Xu and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, this matter must be dealt with as soon as possible—cut off their schemes at the root. If it blows up, it will be extremely troublesome!"

Zhu Xu nodded. He knew this too, but he had to come up with a good method first.

Now that his workshop had been raised in court, it would draw attention. Even if he dodged this time, there would surely be a next. Those grand officials at court would never let such a fat piece of meat go—they would surely move against it in the name of "benefiting the state and the people."

As for **Xing, he had been able to raid the Ministry of Personnel's storehouse by catching them off guard before, and because they had dirt on them, they couldn't come after him with a clear conscience afterward. But in a true head-on confrontation, Zhu Xu truly didn't have much strength to contend with him—after all, the man was a titan of the literary world, the sitting Minister of Personnel, one of the leaders of the Donglin faction, with disciples and former subordinates spread across the realm.

"Tell me—was I wrong not to set foot in court politics?" Zhu Xu suddenly looked up at the two of them and asked.

Both men's faces changed at once. Cao Huachun in particular looked at Zhu Xu with terror in his eyes, and with a thud he knelt to the ground. "Your Highness, this servant dares to speak plainly—please, please do not entertain such a thought!"

Cao Wenzhao also stepped forward with a grave expression. "Your Highness, this subordinate shares the same view. If you set foot in it, one misstep and you would be plunged into irredeemable ruin! Neither the Empress nor His Majesty could protect you!"

Zhu Xu smiled faintly. "Enough. I know better than you do. I was just speaking offhand."

Cao Wenzhao and Cao Huachun exchanged a glance, unease churning in their hearts. Though His Highness the Prince of Hui said it was "offhand," they couldn't shake the feeling that this was an omen that Zhu Xu was about to wade into factional strife.

Their minds were in turmoil, their eyes shifting rapidly.

The Great Ming court had seen princes involve themselves in court politics before, and princes who rebelled too—but aside from that one Emperor Taizong, every single one had failed, and their fates had been utterly miserable!

Zhu Xu, however, said no more. Tapping his fingers on the chair, he said, "Little Cao, notify Li Deyong. Have him tell the head of the Huimin Merchant Association everything about the sweet potato matter. Then have that head go to the Deputy Magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, and accompany him to see Minister of War Sun Chengzong. Say that we can supply fifty percent to the Ministry of War. But there must be advance payment and limited supply. Mm... don't rush to see Sun Chengzong yet—wait until I give the word."

"Your Highness, what if the Ministry of War disagrees?" Cao Wenzhao said after a moment of thoughtful consideration.

Zhu Xu gave a faint laugh and said, "If they won't agree, there's nothing to be done. But if **Xing truly wants to use me as a scapegoat, I'll let him know just how heavy this scapegoat of mine is—heavy enough to crush however many people it falls on!"

Both Cao Huachun and Cao Wenzhao knew that Zhu Xu had never been one to put on airs. Whenever he said the words 'this prince,' it meant either he was putting on a show, or he was pleased, or... he was very angry!

"Yes, Your Highness. I'll see to it at once."

Cao Huachun rose and said respectfully to Zhu Xu.

Zhu Xu waved his hand to dismiss him, then lay back in the reclining chair, feeling somewhat irritated. Even as an outsider, he was constantly being dragged into the factional strife—which showed just how treacherous the court truly was.

Cao Wenzhao, seeing Zhu Xu's look of annoyance, stepped closer and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, I have an idea, though I'm not sure whether I should voice it."

Zhu Xu, resting his head on his clasped hands, looked at him and said, "Let's hear it."

Cao Wenzhao hesitated for a moment, then said, "What if we taught the Ministry of War the seeds of sweet potatoes and corn, along with the methods of cultivation? Liaodong has vast land but sparse population—very suitable for planting. Moreover, it would not only benefit the frontier, but they would also stop pestering us."

Zhu Xu let out a snicker and sat up, saying, "Don't even think about that one. Once we hand it over—never mind that the Jin would get it too—I'm afraid the prices in this capital, even across the whole Great Ming, would rise rather than fall. Some people would grow richer, and the poor would grow poorer."

Cao Wenzhao thought it over in light of the current situation and felt it was indeed so, so he said, "This subordinate was thinking too simply."

Just as Zhu Xu had predicted, over the next two days, memorials concerning his workshops east of the city grew more and more numerous, threatening to overshadow the grain transport incident.