Chapter 801: The Heir of the Zhou Fief

Kaifeng City.

On the day the Yellow River burst its banks, Henan Regional Commander Zhang Renxue was a guest inside the city's Prince of Zhou palace.

He brought his eldest son Zhang Xiangsheng to meet with the Prince of Zhou's heir, Zhu Gongxiao, who was in mourning, to discuss having the Zhou fief fund the reinforcement of Kaifeng's walls.

As Henan Regional Commander, Zhang Renxue oversaw all of Henan's defense and understood the province's unique one-prefecture-one-fief situation very well; these Ming princely fiefs were all potential allies the Ming army could win over in wartime.

This year especially, Henan suffered first drought, then locusts, and it is no exaggeration to say the people everywhere can barely survive — the many princes must be asked to contribute funds to relieve the commoners, support the army, and repair city walls.

In other provinces, such a matter would naturally be difficult beyond measure.

A prince who is not virtuous would of course never contribute military funds, and a virtuous one would be even less daring to do so.

But in Henan, thanks to Zhang Yichuan's entry into the province — the so-called "Zhang Zhi Rebellion," the old affair of breaching Yongning City and killing the Prince of Wan'an — every fief in Henan feels itself in peril, and none oppose this matter.

All that remains to be negotiated is merely the form and amount of the military contribution.

In all of Henan, only the fiefs in the two prefectures of Nanyang and Kaifeng are more troublesome.

The Tang fief in Nanyang Prefecture has no one in charge; the old Prince of Tang, Zhu Yujian, was already seized by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and sent to the high walls of Fengyang for raising troops without authorization.

The court is still selecting a new Prince of Tang, and a result is expected within a month or two; most likely Zhu Yujian's younger brother Zhu Yusi will be enfeoffed as the new Prince of Tang.

No matter how urgent the matter, Zhang Renxue must wait until Zhu Yusi inherits the title before proceeding.

The other troublesome case is the Zhou fief in Kaifeng.

Because the old Prince of Zhou, Zhu Suqin, was over seventy and in poor health, and passed away last year; the next prince of the Zhou fief is the heir Zhu Gongxiao.

But by customary regulation, the Zhou heir must complete a full twenty-seven months of mourning for the late prince before he can inherit the title according to ritual.

Therefore, at this moment, the Zhou fief nominally also has no one in charge.

Only, the Zhou fief differs from the Tang fief, which has violated laws and disrupted order for generations — the Zhou fief has always had virtuous princes, and its people are long-lived.

Zhu Gongxiao is now already past fifty; he was enfeoffed as heir to the Prince of Zhou as early as the seventeenth year of the Wanli reign. He is virtuous, benevolent, and filial, learned in ancient and modern matters, fond of literature and calligraphy, beyond reproach in moral conduct, and in full compliance with clan law — inheriting the fief is only logical.

So while Zhang Renxue sent officials to the other fiefs, for the Zhou fief he came in person to explain the stakes and the urgency to the Zhou heir, aiming to settle the matter before the heir succeeded to the title.

As it happened.

The Zhou heir Zhu Gongxiao had also been wanting to speak with Zhang Renxue about this very matter.

Just a few days earlier, Zhu Gongxiao had obtained a copy of the stele inscription written after Liu Chengzong's victory in the Lingdong campaign.

Among the Ming princely fiefs, each fief has its own character.

For example, the Zheng fief favors music, the Lu fief loves crafting devices, and the people of the Zhou fief love reading books.

This fief's book collection is the finest under heaven, and its printing is also extremely developed, so the imperial clansmen generally delight in reading, writing, and engraving books.

The stele text written by Qian Shisheng was nothing remarkable, and Zhu Gongxiao lacked understanding of warfare; he read the inscription once and thought it was merely trumpeting Liu Chengzong's victory beyond the frontier.

Was Liu Chengzong's victory strange?

Zhu Gongxiao thought it was not strange at all — at most, the battle results proclaimed on the stele might be somewhat exaggerated.

What truly caught his attention was the list of three thousand eight hundred and eighty fallen soldiers on the stele.

In war, dying in battle is perfectly normal.

There is no such thing as Liu Chengzong's army only killing others without suffering deaths itself.

But in Zhu Gongxiao's eyes, the number of people surnamed Zhu on that casualty list was a bit too high.

If it were just that, it would be one thing, but the key point was that many of those Zhu-surnamed officers and soldiers were named using the five-element radical system, which proved they were genuine imperial clansmen.

In truth, by this time, many fief clansmen no longer followed the naming method passed down from their ancestors.

This phenomenon was tolerable elsewhere, but in Zhu Gongxiao's own Zhou fief it was extremely severe.

Because naming a newborn clansman followed fixed rules: when a child was born, the fief reported to the Imperial Clan Court, and the Court would assign a two-character name according to each fief's lineage.

Take Zhu Gongxiao — perhaps the Imperial Clan Court initially assigned the names Zhu Gonghao or Zhu Gongxuan; then, based on the final character, they would consult his fief's lineage, which by rule required the wood radical, and then search among wood-radical characters for one with a meaning close to the original name.

If none could be found, they would create one, and finally set it as the name.

Once a name was given, the child was entered into the imperial clan registry, which likewise meant having a title and a stipend of rice.

At the very lowest, it was still Supporter of the State Commandant.

But as early as the Jiajing reign, clan stipends had become a state problem. The court tried every method, openly delaying and covertly withholding, refusing to issue sufficient stipends to the clansmen. Court officials resented the ever-growing number of clansmen, and the clansmen, living in poverty, were also dissatisfied.

The Imperial Clan Court, caught in the middle, could only suffer abuse from both sides.

So those people in the Imperial Clan Court became the earliest clansmen in the Great Ming to save the nation.

They attempted to solve this problem at its root — by not giving newborns names.

Not that they refused outright, but they delayed and slowed the process: an heir to a prince might be delayed a year or two, an heir to a commandery prince three to five years, an ordinary general five or six years, and even commandants might be delayed eleven or twelve years — such cases happened from time to time.

Without a name, the newborn was not entered into the registry, had no title, and naturally needed no stipend.

This vicious trick deeply afflicted the Zhou fief.

Because among all the imperial clans under heaven, the Zhou fief had the most people.

As early as the Jiajing reign, when the entire nation had only twenty thousand registered and titled clansmen, the Zhou fief, with over five thousand people, already accounted for a quarter of the total clan population.

The Zhou fief had many people, and the gap between rich and poor was vast; the difference between the main line and the impoverished branches was greater than that between a prince and a commoner.

Small problems in other fiefs became major problems in the Zhou fief.

In Zhu Gongxiao's great-great-grandfather's generation, there was a Defender of the State Commandant named Zhu Qinyun, who pursued the local government office for withheld stipends and submitted a memorial to the Jiajing Emperor, reproaching him for indulging in the pursuit of immortality — meaning, "Your relatives are so hungry they have no food, and here you are still cultivating to become an immortal!"

The Jiajing Emperor could not bear to see his relatives go hungry, so he directly charged him with slander, stripped his title, and confined him behind high walls — a swift little combo that sent Zhu Qinyun to Fengyang and solved his problem of having no food.

His son was of the Chao generation; originally the Imperial Clan Court had already granted a name, but because the father had broken the law, no one dared petition for his title, and he was even poorer and had no food. Someone gave him the idea that going to prison was his only way out, so he too submitted a memorial criticizing court politics, asking Jiajing to release his father.

He likewise entered the high walls and picked up an iron rice bowl.

The plight of the Zhou fief's impoverished clansmen can be glimpsed from this.

Precisely for this reason, the heir Zhu Gongxiao feared Liu Chengzong's Great Ming Imperial Clan Army far more than the princes and heirs of other fiefs did.

It meant that with this clan army in existence, no fief could unite as one, from top to bottom, to share a common hatred against Liu Chengzong.

And Liu Chengzong's ambition seemed limitless — attacking Henan was only a matter of time.

So as soon as he heard that Henan Regional Commander Zhang Renxue had arrived in Kaifeng, the Heir Apparent Zhu Gongxiao immediately ordered the state officials to welcome him. Learning that Zhang Renxue wanted the feudal princes to raise donations, he declared on the spot: "Grand Marshal Zhang, speak freely — the entire budget for repairing Kaifeng's city walls shall be borne by the Zhou Prince estate."

Zhang Renxue was overjoyed.

Afterwards, the Zhou Prince estate hosted a banquet. Because Zhu Gongxiao was still in mourning, the feast had no wine and no music.

But having so easily settled the source of funds and grain for Kaifeng's city repairs, the heavy stone weighing on Zhang Renxue's heart fell to the ground — he could have gotten drunk on water alone.

He knew that with Liu Chengzong's victory beyond the frontier, his focus would inevitably shift to the Central Plains. Henan was now the front line directly facing the Marshal's army, and what awaited him next would surely be a storm of violent clashes.

And Henan this year had suffered drought and locust plagues in succession. Its troops were not elite and its grain insufficient. All it could rely on were a few strong cities like Luoyang and Kaifeng.

Kaifeng, through the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, aside from having its walls clad in brick, had changed little. It was still essentially the dimensions of the old Bianliang.

In the Song dynasty it had ten city gates. At the end of the Yuan, as a critical stronghold for suppressing the Red Turban Army, five gates were sealed, leaving only five for easier defense.

Later, the city was breached by Xu Da. On the foundation of the old city, it was renamed Beijing, repaired anew — twenty li and one hundred ninety-five paces in circumference, three zhang five chi high, three zhang one chi wide — and made the capital of the Great Ming.

And at last, the city walls were clad in brick.

But because Kaifeng had suffered wartime destruction, the Hexi and Henan regions in the early Ming were sparsely populated and had no canal access. Ultimately, in the eleventh year of the Hongwu reign, the Beijing designation was revoked, and Prince of Zhou Zhu Su was assigned to garrison it instead.

It remained the largest city in the Central Plains.

In Zhang Renxue's defense system for Henan, these two great cities were especially critical.

Luoyang, having been repaired by the Prince of Fu's estate the previous year — outer walls built and city walls repaired — was now under no pressure to defend itself. The only thing that still worried Zhang Renxue now was the great city of Kaifeng.

Now that he had the Zhou Prince heir's pledge of funding, Zhang Renxue was elated. He immediately presented a plan to raise the city walls to five zhang in height and further widen the three-zhang-one-chi breadth, so that Red Barbarian heavy cannons could be placed upon them, facilitating defense.

A banquet, under the restraint of mourning, where both host and guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Yet, just as the banquet reached its end and everyone was about to rise from their seats, a terrifying boom came from outside Kaifeng city.

The officials in the Zhou Prince's palace instantly fell into chaos. No one knew what had happened; all could only wait in fearful uncertainty for news from outside the city.

Moments later, Sun Chengze, the Magistrate of Xiangfu County which adjoined the prefectural city, stumbled into the palace, his face ashen as earth. His eyes, full of shock and doubt, searched the hall until they found Zhang Renxue, as if he had finally found a pillar of support. He gasped several ragged breaths, swallowed hard, and said: "Marshal Zhang, the great dike has burst!"

With those words, the distant and near clamor from outside the city also reached the palace compound.

Zhang Renxue felt as if struck by lightning and urgently asked: "Where did it breach?"

The people in the palace hall were thrown into turmoil. Some were terrified and worried, but more faces showed only numbness.

The Yellow River had burst its banks again.

A Yellow River breach in this era, in Henan — especially in Kaifeng — was nothing new.

The experienced could even tell, just by hearing which section had breached, which river course it would seize and how many hundreds of li it would inundate along the way.

Because the Yellow River breaching at Kaifeng in Henan was all too common.

In the two thousand years since the Zhou dynasty, the Yellow River had breached over a thousand times, nearly three hundred of those at Kaifeng.

In the one hundred thirty-eight years from the Hongwu to the Hongzhi reign alone, the Kaifeng section breached as many as twenty-six times.

The most recent breach was four years ago at Mengjin. The river turned the land between the Luo and Yi rivers into a vast flooded marsh. The people were displaced until beggars filled the land. In the end, those refugees struggling amid flood and plague followed Zhang Yichuan all the way into Fengyang.

Now, such a terrible scene was about to replay.

And for Zhang Renxue, the most critical issue was that Henan was in danger.

This dike breach meant that Kaifeng would have to divert its limited energy, under natural disaster, to river defense. The progress of repairing the city walls would slow... He did not know whether Liu Chengzong would still give him time to repair the walls.

Hearing Zhang Renxue's question, Xiangfu Magistrate Sun Chengze quickly said: "Reporting to Marshal Zhang, the river breached at Heigangkou. It cannot overflow the great city-protecting dike, so Kaifeng city is safe. I only fear it will follow the old course of the Bian River and inundate Shandong."

Kaifeng city had rich experience in managing the river. Outside the city lay the larger Song city wall, and beyond the Song wall were the great protective dikes on all four sides.

Under normal circumstances, Kaifeng city would not be submerged by a breach.

At that moment, the official Yang Shengwu, seated at the banquet, rose and spoke in a mixed accent of north and south: "The most urgent matter is that I hope Marshal Zhang will lead troops to patrol the dikes and strictly guard against White Lotus Sect demons exploiting the chaos."

Yang Shengwu was a native of Mile in Yunnan, a jinshi of the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign. He had previously served as Inspector of the Hedong Salt Pond Circuit, a capable official skilled in both civil and military affairs.

During his tenure, Hedong had massive salt tax arrears and the people suffered unbearably. He personally led laborers to dredge the salt ponds, increasing brine and salt production, enabling the region to pay off the overdue salt taxes and increase revenue for the court.

At the same time, thanks to Liu Chengzong, he caught the wave of the White Lotus Sect uprising in Shanxi.

With money from managing the salt, he simultaneously provided gruel relief to the people and suppressed the rebellion, killing the White Lotus Sect leaders who had risen up in the Hedong area and dealing a heavy blow to the Three Tribulations Society's expansion in Shanxi.

Precisely because of this, Yang Shengwu had now earned merit and reward, promoted to the post of Regional Inspector of Henan.

The Yellow River's sudden breach deeply unsettled Yang Shengwu. He said: "The various prefectures and counties already have local bandits defending themselves and causing chaos, especially in places like Runing that have seen successive great battles. Now with the Yellow River breach, I fear bandit chieftains everywhere will vie to stir up trouble — we must guard against it."

"Henan has no great general. I must ask Marshal Zhang to transfer Colonel Chen Yongfu to garrison Runing."

To the earlier words, Zhang Renxue nodded repeatedly. After all, Henan had never even had a permanent Regional Commander before, so it inherently lacked great generals. Colonel Chen Yongfu was already the highest-ranking general native to Henan.

But transferring Chen Yongfu to Runing — Zhang Renxue did not agree.

"Local bandits are a motley mob, not worth worrying about. With Chenzhou Guard Commander Chen Ji, Xiping Commandant Liu Hongqi, and Runing Mobile Corps Commander Zhu Rongzu — all are commanders who know warfare. Suppressing bandits in battle is well within their ability."

Zhang Renxue named several officers near Runing Prefecture in quick succession, then immediately said: "What I worry about is Zhang Tianlin, garrisoned at Tongguan. In several engagements, his troops rely on fast horses and long bows. Government troops have never been able to defeat them. At this moment, he may well exploit the opportunity to raid east into Henan. Once past Mount Song, it's all plains. Chen Yongfu must stay to defend Luoyang and cannot be moved lightly."

Yang Shengwu shook his head. Though inwardly he accepted Zhang Renxue's thinking about guarding against the Marshal's Manor, he truly could not take the proposed candidates seriously.

Chen Ji of Chenzhou Guard was the best of a bad lot — honest and steady, but without any outstanding talent.

As for Xiping Commandant Liu Hongqi, he was a local Henan bandit who had built a stockade and gathered men. When Zuo Liangyu was promoted to Reinforcement and Suppression Regional Commander, tasked specifically with bandit suppression in Henan, he conveniently secured this bandit an official post defending Xiping as Commandant.

It was an assignment with no official rank, no salary, and no fixed quota.

Runing's Mobile Corps Commander Zhu Rongzu was an even more classic example of meteoric rise.

Three years ago, he was still a runner and constable. When Zhang Yichuan's hundred-thousand-strong peasant army surged into Fengyang, he chased after them to earn merit, and the constable transformed overnight into a Mobile Corps Commander.

All of them were unorthodox amateurs.

The Zhou Prince Heir Apparent Zhu Gongxiao could see the anxiety of Zhang Renxue and Yang Shengwu.

The floodwaters outside the city were still spreading, yet they were already seeing the flames of war about to blaze across the Central Plains.

"You two need not worry about Kaifeng under the threat of flood. The great enterprise of relieving disaster victims and reorganizing river defenses — Gongxiao lacks the talent and virtue, and is hardly equal to the heavy task. I merely have a rather ample stipend of grain and silver. All required labor costs, funds, and grain, the Zhou Prince estate shall bear alone, troubling no one else."

"For protecting the region and pacifying the people, I can also contribute my share. I must trouble the magistrate of Kaifeng to post notices to reassure the people, and to recruit degree-holders and righteous civilians to form community militia. Train and drill them for defense. Whether roving bandits and local thugs, or the Marshal's soldiers and officers — let them dare come to Kaifeng... For the community militia defending the city, for every rebel killed, a reward of fifty taels of silver!"

Good afternoon!