Chapter 276: The Audience

After Zhu Gongxiao requested to enter the capital for an audience, Zhu Youjian, to show his regard, immediately dispatched his personal eunuch Li Erxi to Kaifeng to receive and accompany him, demonstrating courtesy toward this Prince. He had assumed he would see this cousin, who enjoyed a reputation for virtue in later ages, within a month at most, but Li Erxi's journey ended up taking several full months.

With countless matters large and small demanding his attention every day, Zhu Youjian gradually set the matter aside. Only a few days ago, when he received a report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard that the Prince of Zhou had arrived in the capital's outskirts and had again submitted a memorial requesting an audience, did he remember this affair.

After officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial received the Prince of Zhou and settled him in the guest residence, Zhu Youjian found time a few days later to summon Zhu Gongxiao.

After Zhu Gongxiao performed the grand ceremony of one kneel and one kowtow, Zhu Youjian warmly instructed that a seat be provided for his cousin. Zhu Gongxiao demurred briefly before respectfully seating himself on the brocade stool.

"My royal brother has traveled a thousand li from Kaifeng to the capital—the journey must have been truly arduous. I observe that although my brother has passed the age of knowing Heaven's mandate, his complexion is quite good indeed. I have been on the throne for over ten years now, occupied day and night with affairs of state. Though I have longed for the kinship of the princes, ancestral regulations have always prevented us from meeting. Today, finally meeting my royal brother, one of my concerns is at last resolved. Since my brother has entered the capital, you should stay for a good while—whatever you need, speak freely. I will have the relevant offices attend to you, and my brother may take advantage of this season between summer's end and autumn's beginning to enjoy the sights of the capital!"

Zhu Youjian said to Zhu Gongxiao with a smile.

"I am grateful for Your Majesty's concern. Your servant's health is still passable—I am merely advancing in years. When I am idle, I often reflect: since Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have governed with vigor, purified the court, swept away the host of villains, and treated the people with kindness. Our August Ming at last shows signs of revival, and our Zhu ancestors, knowing this beneath the Nine Springs, must surely be smiling! I observe Your Majesty's deeds in recent years—truly they display a great breadth of vision and great boldness of spirit. The achievements you will establish in the future shall surely far surpass those of the Grand Progenitor and Grand Ancestor! As a descendant of the Grand Progenitor's line, I feel immense pride and consolation! That I am able to see our sovereign this time is because Your Majesty, in your grace, set aside the outdated customs of ancestral regulations, allowing your servant to behold the world beyond the walls of my princely seat within my lifetime. This act breaks new ground in the two hundred and some years of our August Ming—I am moved to tears within, and feel that I shall die without regret!"

After finishing his speech, Zhu Gongxiao rose and bowed deeply toward Zhu Youjian on the dragon throne.

His words were half flattery, half sincerity. No matter how long the Zhu family's realm might endure, this matter had little to do with him personally. But for a man equivalent to one sentenced to life imprisonment who, after many years of confinement, suddenly received a general amnesty—finally stepping out of the cramped space where he had been trapped for decades—the excitement of regained freedom was something ordinary people could not understand.

On this point, Zhu Gongxiao was genuinely grateful and admiring toward Zhu Youjian. Altering ancestral regulations was not something just anyone dared to do—especially for an emperor who guarded against the princes as if they were thieves, making the decision to permit princes to leave their fiefs truly required immense breadth of mind and force of will.

"My royal brother, please sit at once. I have always believed that the bonds of blood cannot be casually severed; where opportunity exists, they should be strengthened. The regulations of our ancestors were also established according to the circumstances of their time. Have we not heard that as the world changes, so must its ways? Though regulations are many, they too must advance with the times—if we followed ancestral rules entirely, how could people of this age enjoy what earlier generations could not? Moreover, our dynasty's ancestral regulations once granted the princes ten thousand mu of fine land—but how much land do the princes hold today? From this it is clear that retaining what is good in ancestral regulations while reforming what is bad has become an imperative, lest calamity be passed down to our descendants! I am but thirty years of age, still in my years of vigor. While I still have strength to spare, I should promote benefit and eliminate harm, so that the countless millions of our August Ming may live and work in peace, and so that our Great Ming's rivers and mountains may endure. If my royal brother and the other princes act in ways beneficial to the court, I will not be stingy in rewarding them! Companion, pour more tea for my royal brother!"

After much talk of pleasantries, the two sides finally came to the main matter.

"Since your servant requested an audience with Your Majesty, I naturally already understood Your Majesty's intent. With your permission, I speak frankly: on this journey to the capital, I passed through dozens of prefectures and counties, and encountered no small number of displaced refugees along the way. The sight moved me deeply and gave me some understanding of the plight of the common people beyond the princely walls. In recent years, several provinces of our Great Ming have suffered the depredations of the roving bandits, and the heavens have occasionally been unseasonable—hence some disorder has arisen. Witnessing so many common folk living day to day without enough to eat, barely clinging to life, I felt compassion arise within me. Reflecting on my own life of bell-ringing and cauldron-feasting, I came to realize how hard-won such comforts are, and to better understand the difficulty of Your Majesty's deliberations on state affairs! After much thought, I have steeled my resolve: I voluntarily offer a portion of the land under my name to Your Majesty, to slightly ease Your Majesty's burden of nurturing the myriad people, and to fulfill my duty as your servant! I humbly beg Your Majesty to accept your servant's offering, that I may repay the realm!"

After speaking, Zhu Gongxiao rose and bowed.

This speech and conduct were the expected part of the script—otherwise why would Zhu Youjian have let him leave his fief at all? As for exactly how much land Zhu Gongxiao would offer, even Li Erxi's constant probing over the days had failed to uncover the figure.

"Excellent! My royal brother is indeed a minister of great righteousness! This act fills me with admiration! If all the princes of the realm were as reasonable and worldly-wise as my brother, what could possibly trouble me? The blood of our Zhu family is truly exceptional—my brother's act sets an example for all the princes! So then, how much land does my brother wish to offer? I imagine it is no small amount! I await it with great anticipation! If my brother proves as generous as I expect, then I shall certainly not be petty—whatever my brother requests, speak it freely; so long as it is reasonable, I will not refuse!"

Not knowing the Prince of Zhou's target figure, Zhu Youjian did not commit himself fully—after all, he could hardly agree to all conditions if the man only offered a few tens of thousands of mu.

"Before your servant set out for the capital, I had the eunuch steward of my princely household bring out the registers of the household's lands and shops for my inspection. From the time my ancestor was enfeoffed at Kaifeng down to myself, it has been eleven generations. Over more than two hundred years, we have accumulated grants of land totaling sixty-four thousand-plus qing, and more than forty shops and taverns in great cities such as Kaifeng, Luoyang, Xiangyang, Nanjing, and Jinan. Your servant is willing to offer two-tenths of the land and five-tenths of the shops to Your Majesty. I have but one son, and he died young; I am left with only two grandsons. After I pass, the title will naturally pass to my eldest grandson, but my youngest grandson is also much beloved by me. I wish to request a Prince's title for him—a remote fief would be acceptable. I wonder if Your Majesty's will permits this?"

After speaking, Zhu Gongxiao looked at Zhu Youjian with eager eyes, hoping the Emperor would agree at once. At this moment, his heart ached as if cut by a knife.

More than ten generations of accumulation, and with a single sentence he was giving away nearly half—all to exchange for so-called freedom and a Prince's title for his youngest grandson. The price was too steep. Thinking of this, Zhu Gongxiao suddenly felt a pang of regret. Was this really worth it?

What Zhu Gongxiao said basically matched what the Embroidered Uniform Guard had secretly investigated. The Prince of Zhou's household indeed held nearly seven hundred thousand mu of land—yet this fellow wanted to offer only two-tenths to buy his freedom, and on top of that demanded a Prince's title as well. Truly, no one in the Zhu family was easy to deal with.

Zhu Youjian had no interest whatsoever in the shops. The Four Seas Trading Company lacked many things, but shops were not one of them. No matter how many establishments you had in those prosperous cities, if the Four Seas Trading Company, with the cooperation of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, resorted to some underhanded tricks, crushing your shops would be simple enough. Could you even report it to the authorities? Even if you did, do you think the local officials would side with a Prince or lean toward the imperial house? Not to mention the wolf-like Embroidered Uniform Guard standing behind them.

"My royal brother, does the Prince of Zhou's household have ten thousand mouths to feed? According to ancestral regulations, a Prince's household may retain no more than one hundred retainers and servants. Even if I count two hundred people in your household, the annual grain needed would be no more than five hundred-odd shi. If there were other needs, a thousand shi would suffice. Yet your household currently holds nearly seven hundred thousand mu of land. At an annual yield of one shi per mu, that would produce seven hundred thousand shi of grain per year. If worked by tenant farmers at a five-tenths rent, that still comes to over three hundred thousand shi. Surely the Prince of Zhou does not have some enormous population unknown to the court that must be fed?"

By the last few sentences, Zhu Youjian had dropped his smile, his tone turning hard and cold, and "my royal brother" had become "the Prince of Zhou."

Zhu Gongxiao broke out in a cold sweat of fright.

"An enormous population to feed"—wasn't that nearly equivalent to openly accusing him of maintaining private troops?

If the Emperor pinned such a crime on him, forget offering two-tenths of his land—he might well be stripped of his title and have his household confiscated outright.

The Emperor seemed gentle, with an affable and approachable manner, and spoke reasonably enough—but all of that was an illusion. He was, after all, the Emperor. This realm was his family's, not the entire Zhu clan's.

"Truly, no one surnamed Zhu is easy to deal with!" Zhu Gongxiao lamented inwardly.

"Your servant is wronged! My princely household numbers only a few hundred souls, and all of them are people without the strength to truss a chicken. As for the lands under my name, the greater part of their yield is sold through my grain shops across the provinces; the lesser part is used for my own household and stored in granaries. There is absolutely no matter of privately supporting extra population! I beg Your Majesty to investigate clearly! Your servant is willing to offer five-tenths of both lands and shops to Your Majesty—I humbly beg Your Majesty to accept it no matter what!"

Zhu Gongxiao abruptly rose and knelt. The chill emanating from the ice basins in the great hall seemed to pierce to the bone, and his heart turned icy cold—yet sweat poured down his spine and forehead in streams.

"Heh heh heh—my royal brother, please rise at once. What I said just now was merely a jest; my brother must not take it to heart! Since my brother is so sincere, then I shall reluctantly accept! My brother may rest assured—when your youngest grandson comes of age, I shall certainly grant him a Prince's title! Companion, order the meal brought in. I wish to share a cup of wine with my royal brother, to renew the kinship of the imperial house!"

More than ten days later, Zhu Gongxiao departed the capital under the escort of two hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard soldiers, traveling south by boat to Nanjing to pay homage at the Xiaoling Mausoleum. Afterward, he would tour Jiangnan for a time before returning to Kaifeng via Fengyang.

In accordance with the agreement reached beforehand, the members of the Prince of Zhou's household were free to travel throughout the territory of the Great Ming, no different from ordinary people.

Sun Sansheng, the steward of the Prince of Zhou's household, was promoted by the Ministry of Personnel to the post of Prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture for his meritorious counsel.