Chapter 193: The Zhou Prince

The Zhou Prince Manor, vast in area and grand in scale, occupied nearly half of Kaifeng City. This enormous complex, built on the ruins of the Song and Jin imperial palaces, began construction in the twelfth year of Hongwu and was only basically completed by the fourteenth year of Hongwu.

The entire manor consisted of two concentric city walls. The inner screen wall was "about two zhang high, pressed with centipede wood, and covered with glazed tiles," with a circumference of nine li and thirty paces. "To the south was the Meridian Gate, to the east the Donghua Gate, to the west the Xihua Gate, and to the north the Houzai Gate."

The inner city, namely the Forbidden City (a rather imposing name), had walls five zhang high with crenellations, surrounded by moats on all sides, and had four gates: "the southern gate called Duanli Gate, the northern gate called Chengzhi Gate, the eastern gate called Liren Gate, and the western gate called Zunyi Gate."

Other buildings within the manor included the Chengyun Hall, the Front, Middle, and Rear Halls, the family ancestral temple, the altars to soil and grain and mountains and rivers, the study hall, palace gates, front and rear bedchambers, the laundry room, the washroom, the slaughter pavilion, the ceremonial regalia storehouse, the retreat hall, the heir's residence, the household affairs office, the storehouse, the stables, the household service office with rest quarters, the six bureaus, the salary grain depot, and the grain receiving hall, among others.

The size of Kaifeng City had not changed much from the Tang and Five Dynasties period to the present Great Ming; it remained the largest city in Henan. Kaifeng City had a circumference of twenty li and one hundred ninety paces, while the Zhou Prince Manor's screen wall alone was close to ten li in circumference. Calculated accordingly, the manor's screen wall accounted for roughly half of Kaifeng's city wall, showing the prominent position of the Zhou Prince Manor in Ming-era Kaifeng Prefecture.

Apart from the princely manor itself, Kaifeng City also contained numerous commandery prince residences, general residences, and commandant residences. The construction of these mansions also occupied a great deal of land within the city. Throughout Kaifeng, princely residences lined the streets and alleys, and the descendants, relatives, and servants of the princely houses were countless.

Inside the Silver Peace Hall of the Zhou Prince Manor, the nearly fifty-year-old Zhou Prince Zhu Gongxiao sat upright on the dragon throne, wearing a black gauze winged-goodness crown, a red round-collar daily robe with four coiled dragons, and black leather boots. Seated across from him were Kaifeng Prefect Lu Jun, who had come to pay his respects, and the manor's Senior Steward Sun Sansheng.

Ever since receiving the secret edict that the Emperor intended to attempt abolishing the restrictions on the princely houses, Lu Jun could not help but applaud Zhu Youjian's plan.

In the more than two years since he had assumed office as Prefect of Kaifeng, Lu Jun had been driven to distraction on a daily basis by the tens of thousands of Zhu descendants under his jurisdiction.

Apart from the Zhou Prince himself, the other commandery princes and generals committed countless heinous acts.

Forcibly seizing civilian homes, plotting to take farmland and shops, abducting the wives and daughters of commoners, and causing deaths without just cause—such incidents emerged one after another without end. But because these people were descendants of the dragon, their misdeeds could only be handled by the Imperial Clan Court in the capital; local authorities had no right to imprison or detain them, and in the end everything was dropped.

Over these two years, Lu Jun had suffered endless accusations and abuse from Kaifeng's officials, gentry, and commoners, yet he could not defend himself at all. He could only endure with gritted teeth, hoping that once his three-year term was complete, he could quickly leave this godforsaken place.

Lu Jun's impression of the Zhou Prince Zhu Gongxiao was still fairly decent. Although the two only met on specific occasions, the Zhou Prince had never made things difficult for him as the local chief official. Compared to other Zhu descendants, this Prince Zhou was the more self-disciplined sort. Apart from being somewhat greedy for wealth, his household rarely had rumors of bullying men and women or causing deaths.

He knew that the reason the Emperor had chosen the Zhou Prince as the target of his experiment was because he had heard of the Zhou Prince's reputation for understanding reason, and thus wanted to open a breach from this point.

But he was not familiar with the Zhou Prince. Persuading the Zhou Prince to act according to the Emperor's wishes would likely be very difficult, because it involved giving up enormous interests—who would be willing to part with such things?

After thinking it over, Lu Jun thought of one person. If this person could assist from within, the chances of success would be very high. As long as he could smoothly help the Emperor accomplish such a great matter, his own future would be bright.

Zhu Gongxiao had received word several days earlier that the Kaifeng Prefect wished to meet him. Since his only son, Zhu Shaobao, who was also the heir, had already passed away, and his two grandsons were not yet of age, he could only discuss matters with the manor's Senior Steward Sun Sansheng.

Sun Sansheng was a jinshi of the fourth year of Tianqi. After serving one term as a county magistrate, he returned to the capital and entered the Censorate to become a Censor.

In the fifth year of Chongzhen, the rebel general Li Jiucheng and others captured Dengzhou and imprisoned Sun Yuanhua. A host of Censors submitted memorials impeaching Chief Grand Secretary Zhou Yanru for harming the state, and Sun Sansheng was among them. But all were rejected by Chongzhen, who at the time trusted Zhou Yanru deeply. Zhou Yanru, however, bore a grudge over this. Before long, under the pretext that Sun was upright and outspoken, of good character, and should be appointed according to his strengths, he promoted him several ranks in succession and sent him off to the Zhou Prince Manor to serve as Senior Steward.

The position of manor Senior Steward was nominally a high office of the fifth rank, but in reality, once selected, it meant lifelong confinement—as if abandoned by the court. One's official career was nearly severed.

Since Sun Sansheng had no backing at court, although Zhou Yanru was later driven out of the capital by Wen Tiren, he had long been selectively forgotten by everyone.

During these five years at the manor, Sun Sansheng gradually emerged from his initial indignation and despondency. Coupled with the courteous treatment Zhu Gongxiao showed him, he slowly came to accept this reality.

Out of the habit formed during his years as a Censor, Sun Sansheng often offered remonstrance regarding some of Zhu Gongxiao's actions. The mild-tempered Zhu Gongxiao mostly adopted his admonitions, and thus the friendship between the two gradually deepened. Zhu Gongxiao frequently summoned Sun Sansheng for a few drinks, and after drinking they would discuss the current situation and their own circumstances, always ending in gloom and helpless sighs.

Due to the court's restrictions on princes, the two men's current situation was no different from being imprisoned. Barring unexpected events, they would never leave Kaifeng City for the rest of their lives.

Sun Sansheng was fond of drinking. On days when the Zhou Prince did not summon him for a gathering, he would go to a tavern in the city, order a pot of wine and two small dishes, and drink alone to drown his sorrows.

One day, as dusk was falling, seeing that the Zhou Prince had not summoned him, Sun Sansheng leisurely left the manor and headed straight for his usual tavern.

He went upstairs to his customary seat and sat down. Before long, a waiter arrived at his table, carrying wine in one hand and two dishes he was accustomed to eating in the other. After setting down the wine and food, the waiter smiled, exchanged a few pleasantries, and left.

Sun Sansheng poured himself some wine, raised his cup, and sipped slowly. He had barely drunk two cups when suddenly a middle-aged man in a Confucian robe came to his table. After cupping his hands in salute, the man said in a low voice: "Would you be Senior Steward Sun? My master invites Senior Steward Sun to share a few cups of wine. Might you oblige?"

Sun Sansheng was taken aback. The man seemed somewhat familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen him before. Judging by his Confucian robe, the "master" he spoke of should be someone from officialdom. But his own status was truly peculiar—the officials within Kaifeng City would not deign to associate with him at all. So who on earth could this person be?

Seeing that the man was acting with unusual caution, Sun Sansheng knew that the invitation to drink was merely a pretext—there must be something he wished to discuss.

In any case, he had nothing better to do, so he might as well see who this person was.

With that thought, Sun Sansheng stood up and said: "Lead the way!"

The middle-aged man saluted, then turned and walked toward a room on one side. Sun Sansheng followed leisurely behind him. Arriving at the door of a room in the middle, the man lifted the door curtain with one hand and made a gesture of invitation. Sun Sansheng bowed his head and stepped inside.

There was only one person in the room. Seeing Sun Sansheng enter, the man smiled, slowly rose, and gave a slight bow with cupped hands: "Brother Cunzhi, how carefree you are! Hehe!"

After receiving word that Lu Jun was coming to visit, Zhu Gongxiao hurriedly summoned Sun Sansheng to speculate on what purpose the other party might have.

Because the court explicitly forbade princes from associating with officials, although the two were in the same city, apart from the ceremonial visits on the first and fifteenth of each month, they had no dealings on ordinary days.

As Kaifeng Prefecture was a famous major prefecture of the Great Ming, its prefects had always been promoted and given important posts after their terms ended. So toward a prince like the Zhou Prince, such people always kept their distance, fearing that someone with ulterior motives might use the association as grounds for attack. Why would he suddenly come to visit?

Sun Sansheng naturally knew in his heart why Lu Jun had come.

The person he had seen at the tavern that day was Lu Jun.

After a few exchanges of pleasantries, Lu Jun got straight to the point. He showed the Emperor's secret edict to Sun Sansheng and stated clearly that if he could persuade the Zhou Prince to take the lead in lifting the restrictions on the princely houses, then after the matter was accomplished, he would detail Sun Sansheng's contributions in his personal memorial to the Emperor. As long as Sun Sansheng's name reached the imperial ear directly, the day he left the manor and returned to the court would not be far off.

Those who could pass the jinshi examination were all shrewd characters. Sun Sansheng needed only a moment's thought to know that this matter was beneficial to him and harmless. Once successful, he would escape his desperate situation and return to the world of men.

The two quickly reached a consensus: coordinate from within and without, appeal to reason and emotion, and make every effort to persuade the Zhou Prince to accomplish this great matter that would benefit the state, the people, and themselves.

After the two speculated for a while, Sun Sansheng stated directly that Lu Jun's visit should not be a bad thing. So Zhu Gongxiao had someone reply: the day after tomorrow this Prince will have leisure; please have your office come at a chosen time.

Zhu Gongxiao sized up Lu Jun and asked: "Your term of office is nearly complete, is it not? This Prince often hears of your virtuous reputation within the city, and I am delighted that our Zhu family has such a good official! Could it be that you have come this time to bid farewell?"

In the past, people in officialdom never spoke bluntly. They generally started with a lead-in, then tactfully expressed their meaning.

What the Zhou Prince was really asking was: what exactly have you come here for?

Lu Jun cupped his hands and said: "I am grateful for Your Highness's concern. My term will be complete in the eighth month of the tenth year of Chongzhen. Thus this visit is not for farewell, but rather I have been ordered from above to discuss a matter with Your Highness!"

Zhu Gongxiao knew that the "above" Lu Jun referred to was not the court, because the court had no authority to discuss matters with princes. This "above" could only be the Emperor.

He glanced at Sun Sansheng, cleared his throat, and said: "If you have something to say, please speak plainly. Although this Prince is of the Grand Ancestor's bloodline, I am also a subject of the Great Ming. How can there be talk of 'discussing'?"

Speak plainly, and I'll see what it's about. If it's good, I'll agree; otherwise, forget it. I am, after all, a descendant of the Grand Ancestor—you can't do anything to me.

Lu Jun cupped his hands and smiled: "The Zhou Prince has always had a reputation for understanding reason. Allow me to lay out the matter one by one, and Your Highness should be able to make a choice!"

Zhu Gongxiao laughed: "Speak directly, please. This Prince is indeed not a muddled man. When matters arise, I can naturally discern them clearly!"

Lu Jun nodded and said: "Your Highness, forgive my presumption, but I wish to ask: are you satisfied with the situation of the Great Ming's princes?"