Chapter 580: They Are Watching
Shi Kefa had brought in a team of clerks from the government-run Celestial Fertilizer store. They began loading and unloading, moving all the sacks of Celestial Fertilizer into the shop and stacking them in the back warehouse. This was no small commotion; dozens of carts moved back and forth, in and out.
The surrounding residents were also stirred, gathering around. Seeing the Celestial Fertilizer store receive another shipment, they couldn't help but chatter: “Master Shi has brought in more Celestial Fertilizer.”
“The Prince of Qin's residence will probably come to seize it again in a couple of days, won't they?”
“Oh, dear! What a mess this is...”
“A nasty dogfight, both sides ending up with fur in their mouths.”
“You can't really say that. Master Shi and Master Wu genuinely want the people to have good fertilizer so they can grow more crops.”
As the townsfolk murmured, Li Daoxuan strolled in front of the shop, a birdcage in his left hand and a folding fan in his right, swaying back and forth. He quietly instructed, “Padi Tu, Zheng Gouzi, I'm leaving this place in your hands.”
The two quickly bowed deeply.
Li Daoxuan chuckled, “I'm off for a stroll.”
Shaanxi had been ravaged by drought for five years. Xi'an remained bustling, yet its vibrancy was tinged with a pervasive decay. In every street and alley, hunched refugees could be seen huddled together.
These were not local residents; they were refugees who, due to the drought, could no longer survive in their hometowns and had come to the city to make a living. However, the city offered them few opportunities, and most were left to wander the streets, begging.
With nowhere to sleep at night, they could only huddle together in alleys, under shop awnings, seeking shelter from the cold. While summer might have offered some respite, it was now winter, with rain and snow, making life incredibly harsh for these refugees.
Li Daoxuan observed silently, but Xi'an was still a hundred li beyond his field of view, preventing him from directly reaching out to help. Though he had now extended a hand into Xi'an through the celestial fertilizer team, how much that hand could truly assist them remained uncertain.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of silver fragments, and placed them on the ground near the group of refugees, before continuing his leisurely stroll with the birdcage.
Xi'an City, Northeast Sector, The Prince of Qin's Residence.
The Prince of Qin's residence was renowned as the “foremost princely fief under heaven.” It boasted its own walls and moats, with a solemn and orderly interior layout, grand and exquisite architecture, and picturesque gardens. Together with the Xi'an Ming Dynasty city walls, it formed a unique “city within a city” dual-fortification structure.
Despite the widespread rebel activity during the late Ming, the Prince of Qin's residence wasn't captured by Li Zicheng until the Chongzhen 16th year, a testament to its formidable self-preservation capabilities in tumultuous times.
In the rear garden of the Prince of Qin's residence, a corpulent man reclined with his head on a young woman's lap, idly munching on fruit.
This stout individual was Zhu Cunji, the Prince of Qin's heir, aged thirty-seven.
Zhu Cunji was a man plagued by ill fortune. The previous Prince of Qin, Zhu Yihuan, had passed away in the Wanli 46th year (1618 CE), yet now, in the winter of Chongzhen 4th year (1631 CE), no new Prince of Qin had been formally appointed.
This left him, the Prince of Qin's heir, deeply frustrated!
From the day he became the heir, he had longed to be granted the title of Prince, but year after year, he remained merely the heir.
The longer the matter dragged on, the more he felt the Emperor and the civil officials owed him.
Such is human nature: the more one believes others owe them, the more entitled they feel to take what belongs to others.
“That was always rightfully mine!”
Zhu Cunji fumed at his beloved concubine, “The Prince of Qin's position should be mine, and all the fertile lands around Xi'an, too! Those civil officials stubbornly refuse to grant them; it's absolutely outrageous. We took a little bit of their Celestial Fertilizer, and they caused such a fuss, even running to the Emperor to impeach this heir!”
Just as he spoke, a house servant rushed in from outside. “Report! Another shipment of Celestial Fertilizer has arrived.”
“Oh?” Zhu Cunji murmured, his eyes narrowing. “More?”
The house servant whispered, “Your Highness, should we seize it again? Last time we took some Celestial Fertilizer, it stirred up a city-wide storm, and the memorials of impeachment are still on their way.”
Zhu Cunji rolled his eyes. “Seize it, why wouldn't we? If I don't stir up trouble and show those civil officials a thing or two, how will they ever relent and grant me the princely title?”
Zhu Cunji firmly believed in the principles of “the loudest bird gets the worm” and “the crying child gets the candy.” If he didn't make a fuss, the Emperor might assume he had no ambition for the Prince of Qin's position. The more trouble he stirred, the more attention he would garner from the capital, and only then would the position of Prince of Qin, rightfully his, be placed in his hands.
Zhu Cunji declared, “Shi Kefa is from the Jinyiwei, and Wu Shen is an Imperial Censor. Both of them can write memorials that reach the Emperor's ears directly. This is perfect; let the Emperor see my name every day, lest he forget there's a distant relative in Xi'an who still hasn't received what's due to him.”
The house servant reported, “This time, Wu Shen and Shi Kefa apparently aren't planning to use local yamen runners or clerks to manage the Celestial Fertilizer store. They went all the way to Chengcheng County and invited a local gentry member to return with them.”
“Oh? What kind of gentry member?” Zhu Cunji asked.
The house servant replied, “I heard he's a descendant of the Tang imperial family, the Li clan, and seems quite influential. It also appears this Celestial Fertilizer is produced by his family.”
Zhu Cunji sneered, “So what if he's a Tang imperial descendant? I'm a goddamn Ming imperial clan member! This is the era of the Great Ming, not his Great Tang.”
“Naturally, Your Highness,” the house servant quickly agreed. “No matter how powerful this gentry member is, he's still just that—a gentry member, without even an official post. He's not worth Your Highness's concern.”
Zhu Cunji commanded, “Just take a few men and empty out that Celestial Fertilizer store for me.”
“At once, Your Highness!” the house servant responded.
Zhu Cunji burst into laughter, then pulled his beloved concubine closer by her slender waist. “My dearest, forget about those trivial matters. Let's continue to enjoy ourselves...”
After some tidying up, the Celestial Fertilizer store finally reopened.
The damaged tables and chairs had been repaired and arranged neatly. Wang Tang, a squad leader from the logistics unit, stood behind the counter dressed in a simple long gown. He was delicate in appearance and well-mannered, looking entirely unlike a soldier, and not quite like a shopkeeper either. He seemed conspicuously out of place.
Padi Tu couldn't help but burst into laughter. “Xiao Tang, you don't look the part at all.”
Wang Tang merely smiled, offering no defense.
Just then, the Heavenly Lord, Test Subject 01, walked in from outside, chuckling. “The notion that merchants must carry a mercenary air is misguided. In the new era, merchants should shed the vulgarity of commerce, becoming refined and respectable, setting the standard for a new age.”
Padi Tu stuck out his tongue, not daring to make fun of the Heavenly Lord.
However, he was bold enough to criticize others. “Our shop is open, the sign and price list are back up, and we've even beaten the gongs, but not a single customer has walked in.”
Li Daoxuan smiled. “That's normal. As long as the conflict between us and the Prince of Qin's residence remains unresolved, the local people won't dare to enter. They're waiting for a resolution, waiting to see who emerges victorious before they make a move.”
“Such cowards,” Padi Tu scoffed.
Li Daoxuan replied, “They are timid because they are truly weak. To provoke the Prince of Qin's residence would be a death sentence for them. When living under another's roof, one must bow one's head. However, when rulers believe the common people are spineless and can be arbitrarily bullied, the common people always find a way to make those rulers realize their mistake.”
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