Chapter 54 Zhu Yunwen's Domain Reduction Team

However, Zhu Yunwen’s inner circle consisted almost entirely of civil officials, lacking any reliable military commanders. Naturally, this was far from sufficient.

Consequently, Zhu Yunwen approached his close cousin, Li Jinglong, and brought him into the fold.

Yet, given their limited capabilities, these individuals brainstormed for a while and came up with numerous whimsical ideas, but failed to formulate a single feasible plan.

What was even worse was that after participating for a short period, Li Jinglong suddenly betrayed them. Not only did he refuse to help, but he also turned around and reported Zhu Yunwen, exposing the entire conspiracy.

Upon learning of this, Zhu Yunwen was panic-stricken.

In later times, various accounts of this incident circulated widely, and young Master Zhu himself remained rather bewildered by it. Guo Kang also suspected that at the very beginning, Crown Prince Zhu Biao hadn't taken the matter very seriously and perhaps never intended to treat it as a major offense. Because even Guo Kang himself, when later listening to Zhu Yunwen recount his "plan," felt that the whole affair was essentially nothing more than a farce.

However, an unexpected incident occurred that very night.

Zhu Yunwen’s fourth uncle, Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, happened to be visiting Nanjing at the time to report on his duties to his eldest brother, Zhu Biao. The two conversed for a long time, and Zhu Biao even hosted a banquet for him in the palace, lasting until late into the evening.

Zhu Di’s entourage, along with the guards and ceremonial processions dispatched by Zhu Biao, emerged grandly from the palace and were spotted by Zhu Yunwen’s subordinates. Seeing a large imperial contingent heading in their direction, the group immediately rushed to report it to Zhu Yunwen.

Already acting like frightened birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, Zhu Yunwen and his companions were scared out of their wits upon receiving the news. Zhu Yunwen instantly concluded that Nanjing was no longer safe and that he had to flee immediately!

The only comforting aspect was that Zhu Yunwen possessed a remarkably high proficiency in making a getaway. He hastily packed some valuables, took his family and confidants, set fire to the princely residence, and amidst the general chaos, escaped the city along a secret tunnel reportedly left over from the era of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Since the entire realm fell within the territories of the Great Ming, leaving no secure place to hide, Zhu Yunwen boldly decided to set sail. Through his grandfather’s former connections, he contacted several Jiangnan aristocratic clans who had fled to the Nanyang region years before. With their assistance, he escaped to Java to seek refuge.

Life in the Nanyang region, however, was not entirely satisfactory for Zhu Yunwen. He struggled to maintain a good relationship with the Javanese court and constantly worried that pursuers might catch up with him, prompting him to continue his flight westward. The Javanese merchants did not attempt to detain him; instead, they introduced him to the Far West, ultimately bringing him to the thriving trading hub of Khanbaliq.

The Purple Tent Khanate was immensely surprised by his arrival, viewing him as an esteemed guest who deserved to be welcomed with proper etiquette. The ministers considered him a visitor from the Seres lands and suggested that the Han hereditary marquises should go and fraternize with him. The Han marquises, however, felt somewhat self-conscious, believing their own cultural attainments were not quite up to the task.

In the end, they deliberately sought out Elder Huang, the father-in-law of the heroic Guo, and asked him to preside over the reception.

Elder Huang hosted a banquet to welcome Zhu Yunwen and his entourage. During the feast, Zhu Yunwen drank too much and poured out his bitter grievances.

He claimed that simply because his mother had not yet become the legitimate primary wife when he was born, he had been stripped of his status as the eldest legitimate son and denied the right to inherit the state. This, he argued, was precisely the same predicament faced by the ancient sage Weizi of Song, whereas Zhu Yunxun clearly played the role of the tyrannical King Zhou of Shang.

Nevertheless, Zhu Yunwen declared that his team was brimming with talent. Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, who had fled alongside him, were loyal subjects comparable to Bi Gan. Sooner or later, they would still accomplish great things.

He suggested that the Purple Tent Khanate, situated in the western periphery, should emulate King Wen of Zhou and Weizi of Song by showing a deep affinity for him. Once the grand enterprise succeeded, he promised to appoint Khan Basa as the Marquis of the Western March, permanently guarding the western borders of the Great Ming.

Elder Huang managed to placate him and dismiss him politely. As soon as the banquet concluded, Elder Huang reported to the Khanate that this man seemed rather unreliable, spouting inappropriate and disjointed allusions. Furthermore, his identity was far too sensitive, making him a hot potato; he advised neither keeping nor detaining him, but rather sending him away as quickly as possible to avoid inviting unnecessary trouble.

At that time, France was allied with the Purple Tent and maintained fairly good relations, so Khan Basa decided to pack him off to France.

Zhu Yunwen expressed his willingness to give it a try over there, but pointed out that the journey ahead would be bumpy and arduous, and requested that his family be settled here in a safe place.

Finding it difficult to refuse, the Purple Tent authorities took in Princess Consort Ma, the heir apparent Zhu Wenkui, and several attendants. Temporarily free from worries about his family, Zhu Yunwen readily set off with core team members like Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, crossing the seas under the escort of the Purple Tent to visit France.

Khan Basa penned an exceptionally enthusiastic letter of introduction, dispatching Prime Minister Wang Wentong and Minister of Rites John Palaiologos to escort them personally. This delegation caused a sensation in France.

Western Europe at that time held a mystical, almost obsessive adoration for the East—even as late as the seventeenth century, an impostor pretending to be a "Chinese princess" could effortlessly hoodwink French nobility, let alone someone verified by Rome as a genuine imperial prince.

Before long, all of Paris was aware that an imperial crown prince of the Seres had arrived.

At that moment, stirred up by the guilds, the citizens were preparing to chase the king out once again. However, because the news was of such magnitude, everyone rushed off to catch a glimpse of the Seres crown prince, forcing the uprising to be postponed.

The reigning monarch of France at the time was Charles VI, affectionately known as "the Beloved." This man was clinically insane, his condition far more severe than that of Emperor Hui of Jin; consequently, affairs of state were actually administered by the king's uncle, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his younger brother, Louis, Duke of Orléans.

Zhu Yunwen proclaimed that his grandfather was the "Restorer of the World," the Hongwu Emperor who had defeated all the Mongols, and that he himself held a formidable claim to the Seres Ming Empire and harbored a grand mission. The lords of France needed only to offer their full assistance, and once the enterprise succeeded, everyone would become high-ranking officials.

Hearing his promises, the governing council warmly welcomed Zhu Yunwen, and nobles flocked from their fiefdoms just to have an audience with him. Immensely pleased with himself, Zhu Yunwen began interacting with the upper echelons of the French royal family to accumulate his own sphere of influence.

Yet, by this time, France was far from a monolithic entity. On the contrary, following the death of the capable old king and owing to Charles VI’s mental illness, the nobility had already begun to fracture.

Queen Isabeau and the Duke of Orléans, hostile toward the Duke of Burgundy, sought to edge him out, and the latter appeared to harbor identical intentions. Consequently, the Queen and her faction preemptively courted Zhu Yunwen, hoping he could devise a solution for them.

This Duke of Burgundy was the fourth uncle of the current French king, having been enfeoffed as a regional lord by the former king, and now he was attempting to meddle in national politics. Upon seeing this, Zhu Yunwen was reminded of his own fourth uncle who allegedly sought to capture him. Filled with righteous indignation, he resolved to uphold justice and help the king and queen restore their authority.

Although he had virtually no experience in European politics, his team was exceptionally brilliant. He immediately announced that he could render assistance and introduced his accompanying key pillars:

——Mr. Qi Tai, top scorer in the provincial imperial examinations, personally bestowed with his name by the Hongwu Emperor;

——Mr. Huang Zicheng, ranked first in the metropolitan examinations and third in the palace examinations. Roughly speaking, he was the third most cultured scholar in the entire realm at the time, and a truly heavyweight figure.

Aided by such heavyweight members, Zhu Yunwen analyzed the situation in France and quickly reached a conclusion: France possessed exceptional natural conditions and an inherent foundation for hegemony. The reason it was currently plagued by internal troubles and external threats was simply because the sovereign was weak and the imperial court's power was in decline. If this trend could be reversed, becoming the true Western Roman Empire would be just around the corner.

Presently, however, vassal lords led by the Fourth Uncle of Burgundy relied on the military might of their fiefdoms to contend with the royal family, which was the root cause of factional strife within the court. To resolve the Queen's predicament, one had to tackle the root cause.

Therefore, the supreme strategy of the hour—the policy to revitalize France—lay in the curtailment of the feudal vassals.

Whether the Queen and the Duke of Orléans fully understood or not, Zhu Yunwen dispatched Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, and others to lobby them in turn, until they were utterly captivated and moved by the proposal.

In the end, the Queen decided that to solidify her alliance with Zhu Yunwen and leverage the external strength of the exiled government of the Prince of Wu, she would give him her daughter in marriage.

Delighted, Zhu Yunwen felt he had finally secured an ally with actual territory. He accepted the proposal and immediately began plotting the grand strategy of curtailing the feudal lords.