Chapter 445: Survival and Ruin

On the Lantern Festival of the seventh year of Chongzhen, Lanzhou city was filled with festive lanterns throughout its markets and streets, red gauze adorning every door; the dazzling array of fantastical lanterns made this largest city along the Yellow River seem like a reflection of the starry river overhead.

On the south bank of the Yellow River, a colossal lantern wheel rose, blazing with countless colors; atop the Gonglan Gate at the southern pass, a towering lantern pavilion was built, its light brilliant and resplendent; inside the Xiuchuan Gate at the western pass, servants of the Prince of Su's estate held aloft lantern dragons, winding through the main street with the lion dance troupe.

Countless women, dressed in their finest and traveling in groups according to the "walking away the hundred ills" custom, formed shoulder-to-shoulder processions, following the city wall's base to ascend the dozens of pontoon boats linking the Yellow River's two banks, crossing the bridge to pass through danger, dispelling sickness and praying for blessings.

Even more, young men and women with budding affections for one another ventured out together, carrying lanterns as they chased and played, setting off sky-filling fireworks beyond the city walls.

Lanzhou city was all joyous laughter, gongs, and drums resounding to the heavens; in the grand night banquet at the Prince of Su's estate, the officials and nobles invited raised their cups in celebration, sharing in the same scene of festive joy.

Only atop the Fuyun Tower on the northern wall of the princely city was the atmosphere exceptionally oppressive.

The Prince of Su, Zhu Shihong, invited Lanzhou Mobile Corps Commander Shi Xiang and others from the banquet up to Fuyun Tower, looking down at the surging, torrential Yellow River below the city; the brilliant lamplight of the tower illuminated a face full of deep worry.

Zhu Shihong was exactly thirty years old this year; since succeeding to the title at seventeen, he had reigned for a full thirteen years.

Among the many imperial clans, the Prince of Su's line ranked among the poorest; this outcome was not because their fief was in Lanzhou, but mainly for two reasons: first, they were not adept at managing their estate, and second, their family principles were exceedingly upright.

The Prince of Su's fief was not wealthy, but it possessed horse pastures, so originally it could not be called poor; they had once been the Great Ming Empire's warhorse sponsor, during the Yongle era twice presenting over a thousand warhorses as tribute for state use; this later became almost a fixed custom, granting every request the court made for warhorses.

The Prince of Su's poverty dated back to Zhu Yang in the early Ming; the Hongwu Emperor established the ancestral system, setting the Prince of Su's stipend rice at five hundred dan.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was not unkind to his youngest son; the stipend was small because the Prince of Su's territory was remote, so he allocated many pasturelands and manorial fields; the Prince of Su held over four hundred forty thousand mu of manorial fields across the four regions of Gan, Liang, Lan, and Gu, yielding an annual rent tax equivalent to over twelve thousand dan of grain.

Precisely because of this, the Prince of Su's line could continuously present horses to the court; the Renzong Emperor, Zhu Gaochi, raised the Prince of Su's stipend rice to one thousand dan per year.

However, during the Longqing era, the Prince of Su's finances took a sharp downturn; at that time, the main line died out without an heir, and Zhu Shihong's grandfather, the Bulwark General Zhu Jinkui, requested to succeed the title as a junior branch member of the Prince of Su's line; the court naturally would not miss this opportunity to reclaim fief lands.

Zhu Jinkui's succession came with two conditions: first, he would succeed as Prince of Su but still receive the Bulwark General's stipend of eight hundred dan of rice; second, the Prince of Su's line would return its stipend-substitute manorial fields in Ganzhou, Liangzhou, and Guyuan to the court, to be used as military funds for Gansu and Guyuan commanderies.

Over four hundred thousand mu of manorial fields, handed back more than three hundred thousand mu in one go; from the start of his succession, Zhu Jinkui obsessed over one thing: getting the Prince of Su's manorial fields back from the court.

From the fifth year of Longqing to the sixteenth year of Wanli, Zhu Shihong's grandfather struggled his entire life, reclaiming over a hundred thousand mu from the court; when his father succeeded the title, the Prince of Su's stipend rice was discounted again, nominally eight hundred dan, but in reality only two hundred forty dan arrived each year.

Yet Zhu Shihong's father happened to be a hardcore virtuous prince; during his reign, he presented horses to the court every three years and even proactively memorialized the throne, returning over a hundred thousand qing of manorial fields to the court, which deeply moved the Shenzong Emperor, who specially dispatched officials to build a memorial archway for his father.

By the time Zhu Shihong succeeded the title, his own annual income was merely over two thousand dan, and the combined estate income of the entire princely fief's junior branches barely exceeded twenty thousand dan.

Ever since the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, Zhu Shihong's excellent family upbringing made the already not-extravagant Prince of Su even poorer; he twice donated funds to aid the emperor's military budget, each time one thousand taels of silver.

He also presented horses as tribute three times, but the ancestral spectacle of a thousand tribute horses could not be recreated; even gathering a hundred was a struggle for him, so each time he could only present fifty.

To add frost to snow, the entire Prince of Su estate's manorial income had even been robbed once by Liu Chengzong, who even wrote a letter claiming his subordinates had embezzled, mocking him.

Already in this state, relatives still wrote from a thousand li away to swindle him into ruining his family.

Zhu Shihong received a letter yesterday sent from the Prince of Han's line, saying that General Yang and Commander Ren, dispatched from Yan'an Prefecture to support Lanzhou, had already led their troops into Pingliang territory, and that he had mobilized the Prince of Han's clan relatives to donate three thousand taels to the court for troop provisions.

The young Prince of Han wrote to educate the Prince of Su with the same words Liu Chengzong had used to educate him: if you want to survive, you must look to the people's hearts; come on, let's donate to the military funds together.

This branch of the Prince of Su had absolutely no business sense; Zhu Shihong felt the Prince of Han's reasoning was sound, so taking advantage of the Lantern Festival, he summoned Lanzhou Mobile Corps Commander Shi Xiang to Fuyun Tower and asked, "General Shi, if the bandit Liu comes to attack Lanzhou, what are our odds of victory?"

Odds of victory?

To be honest, Shi Xiang did not want to think about this matter in detail.

At this moment, his own heart was also uneasy; he shook his head and said, "Prince of Su, that depends on whether the Western Army attacks the city before General Yang arrives, or after he arrives."

Originally, Shi Xiang should have been the person in all of Lanzhou least worried about getting beaten; the fall of Zhuanglang Garrison City, a dangerous sign in others' eyes, was a protective talisman for Lanzhou in his view.

To others, with Liu Chengzong advancing troops toward Gansu, Lanzhou city was a stumbling block, but Shi Xiang believed that with himself, a Mobile Corps Commander colluding with the bandits, present, Liu Chengzong might not waste troops on Lanzhou and would likely prioritize concentrating his forces against Gansu.

Yet the news that Yan'an Mobile Corps Commander Yang Yanchang was leading troops here, a message that lifted others' brows in joy, made Shi Xiang exceptionally afraid... the situation had suddenly become extremely perilous for him.

Because his looting accomplices had not yet managed to occupy half of the Lanzhou Battalion's officer corps, he could not control the entire battalion to defect, making the risk of internal strife very high; and once internal strife erupted within Lanzhou city, his probability of being hacked to death by random blades was even greater than the risk of internal strife itself.

Leading his trusted followers to defect was not impossible, but he lacked a deep foundation of mutual trust with Liu Chengzong; he had to have this battalion of troops firmly in his grasp to feel secure in defecting to Liu Chengzong.

For him, this was seeking wealth amidst danger.

So in the time to come, he hoped Liu Chengzong's army would preferably not come this way, or at least not have any intention of launching a forceful assault on Lanzhou city.

The Prince of Su, Zhu Shihong, asked in puzzlement, "What if General Yang has not arrived, and what if he has?"

"If General Yang leads his troops into the city, Lanzhou can hold firm and await reinforcements; if the Marshal's Office attacks the city before General Yang enters, I fear this city cannot be defended."

"Why is that? He did not capture this city last year either."

"My Prince, last year it was not that he could not capture it, but that the Marshal's Office had no intention of breaking the city at all." Shi Xiang reminded the Prince of Su, "But this time, they are very likely to attack Lanzhou before the court's reinforcements arrive."

Zhu Shihong nodded; his accomplishments in calligraphy were very high, but as for military matters, he was utterly ignorant. Even though Shi Xiang had explained quite clearly, he was still muddled, but this did not hinder his desire to do good deeds. He asked, "Then is there any place in Lanzhou city that needs repair? The princely estate can provide funds."

Shi Xiang shook his head and said, "My Prince, you just spent four hundred taels of silver repairing the city walls this autumn; there is nothing on the walls that needs fixing. But defending a city is about defending the people's hearts. Lanzhou's Regional Commander Yang Qi fled to the enemy with his family; the Lanzhou Battalion and Lanzhou Guard are full of his old subordinates. With internal collusion, this city cannot be held."

"People's hearts! Yes, yes, yes, people's hearts!"

Zhu Shihong mused that this was exactly what the Prince of Han had said. He said, "In that case, this Prince will again reward the soldiers with silver, eight— no, one thousand taels, a reward of one thousand taels of silver to provision the troops and aid the military funds!"

Shi Xiang thought to himself, aren't you ruining my plans?

Besides, this prince is even poorer than I am, yet still playing the lavish host here. He furrowed his brow and said, "My Prince, these past few years you have aided the military funds, presented tribute horses, and donated silver; I fear the Prince of Su's estate has little money left."

But Zhu Shihong did not consider himself poor; quite the contrary, he felt he was very wealthy.

Because the last two generations of the Prince of Su's line had no evil habits of bullying men and violating women; their lives were peaceful and comfortable, with few occasions to spend money, so despite earning little, they were exceptionally generous when undertaking matters.

The only great, money-spending achievement these two generations of princes accomplished was delivering the Chunhua Pavilion Model-letters to the world.

The Chunhua Pavilion Model-letters is the earliest collection in Chinese calligraphy history to gather the ink traces of various masters, comprising ten volumes, collecting four hundred twenty works by one hundred three individuals, including emperors, officials, and famous calligraphers, spanning over a thousand years from the pre-Qin era to the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Because it was compiled in the third year of Chunhua under the organization of the Gaoliang River Chariot God, it is called the Chunhua Pavilion Model-letters.

The original copy was already destroyed in a great fire during the Qingli era; folk copies were repeatedly traced and printed, and by now the genuine had been mixed with the fake, their quality varying wildly.

When Zhu Yang was enfeoffed, Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a Song-dynasty copy of the Chunhua Pavilion Model-letters; the first eight volumes were all original tracings from the Northern Song court's engraved blocks, exceptionally precious, and became the heirloom treasure of the Prince of Su's line.

To prevent unworthy descendants from damaging this national treasure, Zhu Yang left an inscription on it, writing an admonition to his sons, forbidding them from giving it to outsiders.

Therefore, for two hundred years, this copy of the Chunhua Pavilion Model-letters was always secretly stored in the princely estate's inner treasury; the Prince of Su's clan descendants were fortunate enough to use it to practice calligraphy, but outsiders had no chance to see it.

It was not until the forty-third year of Wanli that the Right Assistant Administration Commissioner of Shaanxi, Zhang Heming, happened to obtain an incomplete copy of the Chunhua Pavilion Model-letters; hearing that the Prince of Su possessed a complete set, he plucked up his courage to request a visit, hoping to collate his copy against the Song version.

Zhu Shihong's father made a decision that defied his ancestors: not only did he lend the model-letters to Zhang Heming, but also, feeling that the various princely estates had contributed little to the realm, he decided to invite the then-famous metal-and-stone carving masters Wen Ruyu and Zhang Yingzhao to engrave this precious calligraphy album onto stone, allowing scholars across the land to freely make rubbings.

This was an immensely colossal project; the two masters, Wen and Zhang, labored at the stone day and night, like Bodhidharma facing the wall, through winter cold and summer heat for a full seven years. The Prince of Su, Zhu Shenyao, who funded the project, passed away before he could witness the completion of the stone engravings; Zhu Shihong inherited his will, and it was not until the first year of Tianqi that the one hundred forty-four engraved stone blocks were completed.

Apart from this, the two generations of the Prince of Su had no opportunities to spend large sums of money.

Zhu Shihong spread his hands from within the wide sleeves of his python robe and said, "This Prince does not practice usury; what need have I for so much money? When the skin has perished, to what can the fur attach?"

With their bloodline so thin, they could speak with real backbone.

The Su Princedom had only a single son for three generations; it wasn't until the Jiajing reign that they finally managed to have six sons, only for the line to die out again. It passed to Zhu Shihong's grandfather's branch, which was just as sparsely populated — the entire family, young and old combined, numbered fewer than Liu Chengzong's relatives after he got married.

In all of Lanzhou, the imperial clansmen drawing stipends, men and women, young and old, from major and minor branches alike, barely approached two hundred in total.

They truly had nowhere much to spend money.

"My Prince, in this humble officer's view, the princedom should prepare early, in case General Yang's reinforcements do not arrive before the rebel army assaults the city." Shi Xiang thought for a moment, then said, "This humble officer is willing to dispatch men to escort the princely household's clansmen east to Pingliang for refuge, while I remain in the city to hold fast and await relief."

Shi Xiang bore no ill intent — whether he wished to or not, he could not bring harm to the Prince of Su.

Because in recent years, the Prince of Su had not stinted on providing military subsidies. Though the sums spent were not large, the common soldiers truly did receive a few mace of silver, not to mention the occasional wine and meat to reward the troops.

Very often, a few mace of silver could avert a tragedy, could save the lives of an entire family.

Such a pittance was a fool's dream if one expected the army to fight to the death for the realm, but the grace of a single meal was enough to make men of hot blood stake their lives once for Zhu Shihong.

To Shi Xiang, this was a major problem — the Prince of Su had to leave Lanzhou.

He threatened, "Should Lanzhou fall, I fear the princely line may face the peril of extinction."

Yet unexpectedly, Zhu Shihong, though he seemed a modest and courteous gentleman, faced such matters with great calm. He said, "Our ancestors set the generational poem for my Su Princedom: Shan Lu Gong Zhen Bi, Jin Shen Shi Lie Zhong, Xi Hui Ji Fu Yun, Kai Jian Chu Heng Long."

"If the realm's affairs have truly decayed to such a point, and my princedom is the first to be overrun, how could I flee headlong before the city falls, leaving my officers and men to fight to the death within the walls?"

"Tch!"

Shi Xiang knitted his brow and turned his head aside. He caught the unspoken implication in Zhu Shihong's words — it was not a resolve to defend to the death.

To put it plainly, he still did not believe this city would truly be breached. What he was thinking was, if he had to run, he would wait until the city actually fell before running.

"My Prince, once the city falls, there will be no running."

Zhu Shihong waved his hand. "General Shi, you need not persuade me further. We are still in the Lantern Festival; whatever happens, we must at least wait until the festival is over."

In the Ming dynasty, the Lantern Festival holiday, set since the time of the Founding Emperor, lasted ten days.

Zhu Shihong thought to himself, Yang Yanchang has already entered Pingliang territory; in ten days, he will surely lead his troops to Lanzhou.

Just then, a clamor of panicked cries suddenly erupted outside the princely mansion. In Zhu Shihong's pupils, Shi Xiang saw the reflection of a soaring flame.

Turning back, he saw the enormous dragon lantern on the street had been thrown to the ground, flames climbing from bottom to top, licking toward the rearing dragon's head.

Someone burst into the princely city in terror, shouting at the top of his lungs, "The rebel troops press upon the city! The rebel troops press upon the city!"

In that instant, the dance and music within the hall came to an abrupt halt. Amid a chorus of shrieks, porcelain platters shattered, and the birds and beasts of the civil and military ranks filed out in a rush, each and every one utterly distraught.

Zhu Shihong panicked too, his speech no longer coherent. "H-how... how have they come today!"

One of Shi Xiang's trusted guards rushed up, blade in hand, eyes glaring wide with fury. "Commander, what do we do?"

"My Prince, since matters have come to this, please pack your belongings at once and assemble the clansmen to flee east to Pingliang." Having said this, Shi Xiang pointed to the trusted guard who had rushed forward and ordered, "You, escort the princely household's clansmen out of the east gate at once and make for Pingliang."

With that, before the distraught Prince of Su could collect himself, Shi Xiang had already clasped his fists in salute. "My Prince, rest assured — Shi will share Lanzhou's fate, live or die. While I stand, the city stands!"

The trusted guard showed the Prince of Su little courtesy, half dragging, half pulling him away.

Shi Xiang stood atop Fuyun Tower, surveying the multiple fires rising within the city in the panic. His face was calm as he closed his eyes and counted his breaths, until the fine hairs on his face faintly prickled. Only then did he draw a deep breath and descend the tower.

"Have Battalion Commander Li lead troops to fight the fires. Battalion Commander Zhang is to lead his men and remain in camp — no movement."

Returning to the encampment, Shi Xiang issued orders in succession: "The remaining troops, follow me to Xiuchuan Gate. Life or death... is decided today."

－－－－－－Off-topic－－－－－－

Good afternoon!