Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 278 The Ming envoy is too arrogant!

He Heli didn't understand what this meant. Tao Chongdao just watched Gong Zhenglu explaining to Nurhaci's eldest son-in-law in Jurchen.

After a while, He Heli looked at Tao Chongdao and asked in stiff Chinese: "Does our tribe need to prepare more gifts?"

There was some dissatisfaction in his tone.

Tao Chongdao snorted impatiently and said, "If you want to be canonized as a consort, there must be a royal decree! The grace of heaven is great, and this matter should be decided by your lord. Can you make the decision for him? If you don't understand how great a grace this is, don't make a mistake! This imperial envoy has stayed here for more than a month, and I want to return to the court as soon as possible to report the decree!"

He Heli's face changed: This Ming envoy is so arrogant!
Gong Zhenglu hurriedly asked He Heli to step aside and whispered, "Since His Majesty has issued this order, it means that he has understood what the king wants. The king has agreed! There is no need to stop the war against the Ula tribe. You should send someone to report to the king first. Only the princess of the country who has been canonized can enter the palace as a concubine. Do you understand, my husband?"

"……really?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"But there is no paperwork..."

Gong Zhenglu said anxiously, "It must be that the Ming emperor and his ministers understood the king's intention. Since there is this oral order, I am afraid that the Ming will publicize this matter widely. If the Yehe tribe heard about this, how could they not be anxious? Prince Consort, the Ming Dynasty wants the king to bring all the imperial edicts. I am afraid that this concubine position will either be given to our Jianzhou tribe or to Dong Ge of the Yehe tribe! Now it is not the Ming Dynasty that is begging us. Of course, we should prepare the gifts first and present the request as a mask, and then His Majesty the Emperor can issue an order!"

"If there is a fraud..."

"An oral order is also an order! The emperor has spoken the truth. Your Majesty only requested to present her as a maid, and His Majesty is willing to confer her the title of consort. If you still delay, it will be a crime of disrespect! Prince Consort, this is the King of the Ming Dynasty who has unified the Jurchen tribes and established a country and is the king! If you confer her the title of consort, he may send troops to help us destroy the tribes. Can't see Your Majesty show his loyalty again? Doesn't His Majesty need this concubine? Now, there should be no delay, and you should not offend the imperial envoy at all! How can Prince Consort bear the consequences if you delay His Majesty's plan?"

He Heli looked at Gong Zhenglu in doubt, thought for a moment, then walked up to Tao Chongdao and smiled awkwardly, "I don't know the etiquette, please don't blame me, the imperial envoy. I'll go and arrange the report right away, Mr. Gong, you should entertain the imperial envoy well."

"Don't worry, Prince Consort."

Tao Chongdao watched He Heli leave silently, then looked at Gong Zhenglu and said, "You are really dedicated to working for them."

"…You are joking, my lord. Although I have only studied for a few days, I know how to write the words loyalty and righteousness. The court sent Mr. Tao as an envoy, so I think they also know that Mr. Gong is here."

The reason why He Heli found his accent strange was because he spoke with his local accent.

Like him, Tao Chongdao was from Shaoxing Prefecture and became a Jinshi in the fourth year of Taichang.

After Gong Zhenglu said these words, Tao Chongdao nodded and said, "That's true. Minister Fang and Doctor Wang chose me for this reason. I will write to my clan about what you asked me to do when I return."

Gong Zhenglu's eyes were slightly red, he stood up and bowed solemnly: "Thank you very much. The Taoyan Tao family is well-known in Jiangnan. With your help, I will have no regrets even if I die right now."

The fact that Shaoxing Prefecture produces so many legal advisors shows its cultural and educational strength.

Wang Shouren was from Yuyao, Shaoxing. He may be just an exception, but the prosperity of the imperial examinations in Shaoxing Prefecture is world-famous. Take the fifteen joint examinations during the Jiajing reign as an example. Shaoxing Prefecture had a total of 222 Jinshi candidates, ranking first in Zhejiang, a province with a strong cultural and educational foundation.

Among the many scholarly families in Shaoxing Prefecture, there was one family that could be called a miracle in the imperial examinations. That was the Tao family, which was descended from Tao Chongdao as Gong Zhenglu mentioned.

Since the first year of Chenghua, the Tao family of Taoyan produced its first juren, and this family has been unstoppable.

After the first Jinshi was born in the third year of Hongzhi, the Tao family of Taoyan had produced twelve Jinshi and even more Juren in five generations.

Thanks to the special examination and the newly established examination at the Imperial College, Tao Chongdao passed the examination in the fourth year of Taichang at the age of 25.

Although he was only at the bottom of the top three, he was still a Jinshi.

After observing the government affairs in the Ministry of Rites, he officially became the head of the Ministry of Guests and Guests last year. He did not expect to receive this imperial envoy this year because a fellow villager from the Jianzhou Jurchen tribe was here.

"...I am a lowly official, so I can't help you with other matters. But I did not expect that you are still alive today. You have expressed your loyalty to the chieftain, and you can speak my native dialect. Aren't you afraid that he will be suspicious?"

Tao Chongdao asked him meaningfully, and also recalled the advice given to him by Right Vice Minister Fang Congzhe before he set out, among which Gong Zhenglu was mentioned.

The existence of Gong Zhenglu was learned from Korea when the Korean army was aiding Korea in the fight against Japanese invaders. The Jurchens also had exchanges with Korea, and even exchanged "state letters", which were written by Gong Zhenglu.

At that time, a Ming general who was helping to train troops in Korea also sent staff to assist the Korean envoys to discuss trade with the Jianzhou Jurchens, which brought them into direct contact with Gong Zhenglu.

Gong Zhenglu had stayed in Jianzhou for such a long time, and he was very eager to know the news of his wife and children who were left in Shaoxing Prefecture before he was abducted. At that time, Gong Zhenglu tried to introduce the situation of Jianzhou Jurchens to the staff of the Ming guerrilla general in exchange for his help, but there was no news of Gong Zhenglu since then.

If Fang Congzhe had not been very careful to look up these records from the old files, he would not have sent Tao Chongdao here.

I thought he might have been discovered and suspected by the captive chieftain and then executed, but I didn't expect that he was still alive.

When Tao Chongdao came here and learned that he was the Han Chinese teacher of many of Nurhaci's sons and the sons of many leaders of the Jianzhou Jurchen tribe, he became much more active.

Now that Gong Zhenglu was obviously having a "secret conversation" with him, Tao Chongdao had this doubt.

"I just have a clear conscience. If I can make this happen, it will be a blessing for the two tribes on the border. Since Your Majesty has bestowed His Majesty's grace, I don't need to persuade you. The court also has ways to make the Jurchen tribes loyal to the imperial court from now on." Gong Zhenglu smiled, "My lord has been suspicious of me for a long time. I'm afraid that the imperial envoy will laugh at me. I have been imprisoned for several years. Although my knowledge is shallow and far less profound than that of the imperial envoy, I also understand some principles."

He sighed, "In the Ming Dynasty, I am not qualified to be a teacher even if I want to. Since my master trusted me and treated me well in the early years, I also want to repay the favor. My master has great talent and strategy, and the court must agree with this. In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty officials, such people are considered to be the chieftains of the barbarians, so the two sides will naturally be suspicious of each other. I have always hoped that my master would be loyal to the king, and I have spared no effort to teach his sons, hoping that they would be knowledgeable and polite. In my humble opinion, the loyalty and obedience of the Jurchen tribes is the only way out. If they can establish a country like Korea and become a loyal vassal forever, they will be loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, when I asked General Hu for help with the Jurchen situation, I did not think it was collusion with the enemy. In my mind, the Ming Dynasty is not an enemy of the Jurchens, and I have not forgotten my origins."

Tao Chongdao was moved when he heard this: "Although you have no achievements, your knowledge is extraordinary. I wonder if the chieftain can tolerate your efforts."

"I am nearly 70 years old, and I have no worries, except for this regret." Gong Zhenglu said helplessly, "If I am not trusted and do not want to disappoint the kindness of my humble master over the years, I might as well return to my hometown. Unfortunately..."

After that, he stopped talking about this topic and asked with great interest: "I have been away from home for many years. I wonder what the situation is like in Shaoxing Prefecture and Jiangnan now?"

Tao Chongdao was puzzled for a moment and hesitated whether to tell him about the changes in Jiangnan over the years.

To be honest, with so many scholars, juren and jinshi among the Tao family, the influence was huge.

Moreover, this guy was captured by the enemy chieftain, yet he kept saying that he was grateful and would repay a favor. Tao Chongdao was really unsure about this guy's concept of loyalty.

I just feel deeply moved by the strangeness of his fate.

"Shaoxing Prefecture..." So he just talked about some interesting things that happened in Shaoxing Prefecture in the past ten or twenty years as a topic of conversation.

Apart from anything else, Gong Zhenglu respected him very much and was even more respectful of his status as the imperial envoy of the Ming Dynasty.

The arrangements made during this period of time... Tao Chongdao suddenly thought that if the Jianzhou Jurchen tribe had established a country legitimately, the standards would probably have been higher.

The new news spread from Hetuala City to the northeast, and under Xiong Tingbi's deliberate arrangement, the news that the Jianzhou Jurchens were willing to offer their own daughters as maids due to the pressure of the emperor sending envoys to bring imperial edicts to the pilgrimage had spread.

At the same time, the officers and soldiers at Fushun Pass suddenly began to practice acting as ceremonial guards and dispatched a large number of bright and festive ceremonial guards, which was also noticed by the merchants passing by.

This doesn't seem like the standard for just a palace maid!

It was already May, and the Northeast had begun to enter the warm season, making travel more convenient and so was news.

Nalinbulu, the Beile of the Yehe tribe, who was about to set off, was shocked upon hearing the news. In disbelief, he asked the Ming envoy to inquire about the situation.

"…This, I, the imperial envoy, do not know."

"Since the superior country wants to form an alliance with the Jianzhou Jurchens, is it that by asking us to come to the court, they are not scolding Nurhaci, but are preparing to take advantage of the opportunity to kill us?"

The Ming envoy saw him like this and just frowned: "This imperial envoy is here to announce the imperial decree. If the governor is unwilling to obey the order and go to the pilgrimage, this imperial envoy will set off to return to the capital to report the order!"

The higher-ups have issued an order, it’s up to you whether to go or not!

The Ming envoy was too arrogant, and Nalinbulu looked shocked and angry.

The envoy to the Yehe tribe then added: "With the power of the Ming Dynasty, why would we have to use such means to kill you? You are the vassal officials granted by the Ming Dynasty, you should learn some etiquette, but you know nothing at all! Seeing that you are fighting endlessly and bringing disaster to the Liaodong border people of the Ming Dynasty, His Majesty has issued an imperial decree to investigate. After all, the Jurchen tribes are all under the 420 guards of the Nurgan Commandery of the Ming Dynasty! Perhaps the Jianzhou Jurchens are afraid of the majesty of heaven, and they are asking His Majesty to punish them leniently?"

Nalinbulu took over the conversation and asked in disbelief: "A lighter punishment? Just because you are willing to offer your own daughter to the palace? His Majesty the Emperor... wants this?"

(End of this chapter)