Chapter 47: The Confiscation List

Before dawn, Chu Yan woke up.

The heated brick bed in the inner chamber of the warm pavilion was not large, so it only had enough room for him, Imperial Noble Consort Wu, and Noble Lady Zhou. The two dancing girls slept on the outer side. When Chu Yan woke up, they were still fast asleep, their snow-white, tender arms wrapped around him.

A moment later, a palace maid knocked on the door. Chu Yan gently removed their arms, got out of bed, and instructed the maid to bring in hot water.

The door to the warm pavilion was pushed open. The four beauties from the previous night had yet to wake up. The palace maids stole a couple of glances inside; the room was in utter disarray, a testament to the intensity of the night before.

Once Chu Yan finished bathing, he looked at the Xie and Song dancing girls, who were kneeling obediently on the bed, and said to them, "When I ascend the throne, I will confer upon you the title of Beauty and move you into the inner palace."

"Ah!"

Both dancing girls lifted their heads, overwhelmed with excitement. Having had their status confirmed by the Prince of Qian's gaze, they immediately pressed their bodies low and kowtowed on the brick bed, "This humble servant kowtows to thank Your Highness for your boundless grace!"

Noble Lady, Talent, and Beauty were ranks without formal imperial consort titles, yet they were still vastly superior to the many palace maids and female scribes who never even attained the rank of Beauty after attending to the ruler's bedchamber.

There were countless women who entered the palace in their teens as scribes or selected attendants, only to watch their youth fade away without ever having been summoned to the ruler's bedchamber even once.

Chu Yan smiled slightly and said, "You shall remain as lead dancers. The dancing last night was exceptionally pleasing."

Their faces flushed with embarrassment. They had practically nearly broken their waists twisting and turning the night before, but fortunately, the Prince liked it, and in one stroke, they had been elevated to half-consorts.

"As for you two," Chu Yan said to the two in the inner chamber, "Qiu'er, your status is restored to your original Noble Lady rank. Xinmei, you may go and claim a reward yourself."

With that, ignoring their reactions, he walked out of the warm pavilion.

The ranks of imperial consorts and concubines varied wildly across dynasties. Often, the founding emperor would establish the number of consorts, only for subsequent emperors to introduce various new titles. Chu Yan had no time to deal with these intricacies for the moment, so he decided to temporarily follow the old institutions of the former Shun Dynasty.

Upon arriving at the Linjing Hall, Chu Ming and the others were already waiting. Before the morning court session, Chu Yan intended to confer with them first.

"Your Highness."

Chu Ming handed a document over to the eunuch and said, "Last night, my colleagues and I deliberated with several officials of the former Shun Dynasty to finalize the list of those to be spared. Please review it, Your Highness."

Chu Yan opened the document, and the very first name on it was Prince Zhongshun. As the representative of the capitulation faction, he had earned the qualification to retain a certain degree of wealth and glory.

The so-called list enumerated individuals whose estates would not be directly confiscated, allowing them to surrender a specified amount of their personal wealth instead.

"Have those Shun Dynasty officials agreed?"

Chu Yan asked as he read through the document, noticing several familiar names among them: Wang Ziteng, Prince Beijing Shui Rong, and Zhuang Jin of the Grand Council.

The Jia family was not on the list.

All Shun Dynasty officials of the third rank and above were stripped of their posts, but their influence remained immense. Take Zhuang Jin, for instance—he had been a member of the pro-war faction, but confiscating his estate outright could easily ignite the fury of other pro-war hardliners.

The previous night, Chu Ming and Zhuang Jin had engaged in a heated debate, which was effectively a negotiation.

"Yes," Xu Zhiyi replied. "They are willing to surrender all their agricultural lands, shops, and houses, retaining only their ancestral family homes in their native places, and hand over half of their family's gold and silver jewelry in exchange for Your Highness sparing their lives and acknowledging the new dynasty!"

To quickly pacify the realm, securing the support of the former dynasty's officials was indispensable.

Yet, Chu Yan was unwilling to let them off lightly. After all, where else would the rewards for his two hundred thousand soldiers come from?

The imperial treasury's silver and grain had other uses and could not be touched.

Anyone with substantial influence, high renown, or close relatives serving as border-defending generals would be spared direct confiscation by Chu Yan, permitted instead to voluntarily surrender half of their family fortunes.

"Hmm, and we are supposed to hand silver over to these two?"

Flipping further down the list, Chu Yan saw that Xu Zhiyi had written down two names: Han Mujiejie, Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate; and Song Rui, Right Junior Administrator of the Court of Judicial Review.

Chu Ming chuckled. "Both of these men are renowned upright officials. Tomorrow, when we send men to confiscate properties, we can pretend to be unaware of their status, enter their homes, and then leave behind a hundred taels of silver as we depart—to create the impression that those whose homes we looted were nothing but a pack of corrupt officials!"

Chu Yan burst into laughter and said, "If they truly are upright officials, they won't touch that hundred taels of silver. My guess is they won't even attend this morning's court session."

"Indeed. Neither of them went to the city gates to welcome Your Highness into the city, but nonetheless, they should prove useful to Your Highness!"

Chu Yan nodded and skipped past the two names. After finishing the document, he asked, "Where is the list for the confiscations?"

At that, Xu Zhiyi presented another document.

Chu Yan scanned it. The names listed here were far more numerous: princes, commandery princes, imperial sons-in-law, dukes, marquises, and earls were almost entirely included. Next to a few names was written "demoted to commoners," while the rest were slated to have their properties confiscated, their male household members drafted into corvée labor, and their female family members consigned to the imperial seraglio.

Chu Ming explained, "As for the Shun imperial clan, we have already spared the emperor and the retired emperor, in addition to granting Prince Zhongshun the title of a count. As for the rest—regardless of whether they surrendered or advocated for war—not a single one is spared; they are either imprisoned in foot shackles or reduced to commoners."

"Hmm."

Chu Yan nodded, noticing that the Jia family was on this confiscation list, with no note indicating they should be demoted to commoners.

"The Jia and Shi families require separate arrangements. As for the Xue family, issue the confiscation decree for them, but do not send men."

"The Xue family?" Chu Ming and the others looked puzzled.

Xue Baochai's family didn't even merit inclusion on the list; though the Xia family, fellow imperial merchants, were indeed listed among the prominent merchants of the capital.

"The Xue family is residing temporarily within the Jia family estate."

Chu Yan had already dispatched his personal guards to surround the Jia family compound. Even if he had forgotten the matter, the confiscation squads wouldn't be able to break in anyway.

He intended to wait until after his ascension to the throne before slowly disposing of the various golden hairpin beauties of the Jia family.

After further discussion, Chu Yan finalized the specific lists, handed them to Chu Ming for arrangement, and ordered the confiscations to begin the next day.

Once they withdrew, Prince Zhongshun, Prince Beijing, and several other officials of the Shun Dynasty entered and fell to their knees in unison, kowtowing.

"State your former official posts and titles."

Chu Yan commanded.

Without the Prince of Qian's permission, they dared not stand. Prince Zhongshun smiled ingratiatingly and spoke first, "Reporting to Your Highness the Prince of Qian, this humble subject is Chen Ruiqing, formerly the Prince Zhongshun of the previous dynasty!"

The rest followed suit, announcing their names and former posts one by one: Zhuang Jin, Grand Councilor and Minister of War; Pang En, Grand Tutor; Ni Rui, Junior Vice Minister of Personnel; the Minister of Works, and so forth.

There were members of both the capitulation and resistance factions among them, and some stubbornly refused to submit even at this juncture.

Chu Yan said coldly, "You are all guilty officials of the former dynasty. Ordinarily, you should be purged to cleanse the court, but your networks are deeply intertwined. Keeping you alive is far more useful than killing you. Take you, for instance, Shui Rong—your uncle defends the borders, and you took the initiative to negotiate with me previously, which is why your life is spared."

"This humble subject Shui Rong kowtows to thank His Highness!"

Prince Beijing Shui Rong respectfully kowtowed in salute, and the others followed suit, bowing once more.

Chu Yan continued, "However, your households possess fortunes numbering in the millions. Even after retaining thirty percent, it remains a vast sum. Reduce your retention to thirty percent!"

Prince Zhongshun turned pale with fright and hastily raised his head to argue, "Your Highness, the majority of our assets consist of title deeds for agricultural lands and commercial shops, which have already been entirely confiscated. The gold and silver remaining in our homes is truly scarce; keeping only thirty percent will make it difficult even to feed our families!"

Chu Yan countered, "How many wives and concubines do you have in your household? How many maids and servants?"

"Uh..."

He dared not answer.

Chu Yan sneered, "Dismiss the majority of your concubines and maids, or marry them off to unmarried soldiers in my army. What, do you expect to maintain a thousand palace women?"

Prince Zhongshun still dared not reply.

Chu Yan's tone softened slightly. "I allow you to retain forty percent of the gold and silver jewelry in your households. Do not conceal any family wealth; otherwise, your assets will be entirely seized and you will face penal charges. Begone."

After kowtowing in gratitude, the group withdrew and turned toward the Hall of Supreme Harmony to prepare for today's morning court session.

Guilty officials of the former dynasty remained officials nonetheless. Retaining their official status left open the possibility of a political resurrection in the future.

Chu Yan received a few more batches of visitors and was preparing to head to court to retrieve the former dynasty's ancestral spirit tablets from the Imperial Ancestral Temple when Xia Shouzhong hurried in to report, "Your Highness, Dai Wei, the commander of the guards you sent to surround the Jia family, requests an audience."

"Let him enter."

Chu Yan sat back down. His interest in the Jia family—or more precisely, the Twelve Beauties of Jinling—remained undiminished.

"Your Highness!" Dai Wei strode in clad in armor and bowed with cupped hands.

"Dai Wei, what brings you here to see me?"

Chu Yan smiled.

Remembering his subordinates' names was an effective method to secure their loyalty.

"Reporting to Your Highness, Jia Zheng, the master of the Jia family, attempted to leave the house this morning to attend the morning court, but I turned him back."

"Oh." Chu Yan was unconcerned. Jia Zheng held a minor post, so his presence was irrelevant, and since he was already on the confiscation list, he was no longer a fifth-rank official anyway.

Dai Wei added, "Jia Lian entrusted me to deliver a letter to Your Highness, stating that the Jia family is willing to present their young ladies into the palace."

Chu Yan took the letter, glanced over it briefly, and said, "Go back and tell him I have no time to deal with... No, just tell him this: the Prince of Qian acknowledges receipt."

Let the Jia family stew in suspense for a bit so they wouldn't assume sending their daughters into the palace would exempt them from confiscation.

Confiscate them he must, or else gathering all the Twelve Beauties of Jinling into the palace would prove difficult.

Figures like Li Wan, Wang Xifeng, and Qin Keqing were already married; the Jia family could never send them into the palace voluntarily. By confiscating the Jia family and demoting them into the imperial seraglio, everything would become much easier to manage.