Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

"Xiyuan?" Zhu Jian murmured to himself.

So the Taoist priest isn't living in the palace anymore, he's gone to the West Garden to refine elixirs... Is it because the West Garden has elixir energy, or is he afraid of fire...?

"Forget the West Garden! Go and decorate Yuanhui Hall, rename it Shengtian Temple! Then go to Baiyun Temple in the capital and invite twenty Taoist priests!"

"Go find me another Taoist robe!"

Wang Dehua grew increasingly bewildered. Was this really about alchemy? What had gotten into the emperor...?

Although that's what he thought, he still respectfully replied, "As you command!"

"I'm giving you three days!"

"yes!"

After Wang Dehua left, Zhu Jian turned around and said, "Let's go to the Wuying Hall!"

After Zhu Jian and Sun Chengzong arrived at the Wuying Hall, Zhu Jian slowly took his seat in the main seat: "You can keep this matter to yourself. The court doesn't need to interfere, and the Ministry of Rites doesn't need to arrange the Jurchen delegation. You can handle that with the people from the Ministry of Rites!"

"Send an imperial edict to Zu Dashou, the General of Jinzhou, ordering him to send troops to escort the Jurchen delegation, without entering any city along the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line, and without stopping, to travel day and night!"

Regardless of Huang Taiji's intentions, even if he wanted to pay tribute, Zhu Jian wouldn't let him have a smooth journey. If he couldn't hold out and two people died along the way, it wouldn't concern him...

"As you command!"

Three days later, Zhu Jian moved into the "Shengtian Temple" as he wished. When Zhu Jian put on the Taoist robe, he looked somewhat like a hermit.

"This humble subject pays his respects to Your Majesty!" the twenty Taoist priests inside the Shengtian Temple said in unison.

"Call me Holy Heavenly True Lord!"

"As you command!"

"Disciples pay homage to the Holy Heavenly True Lord!" the twenty Taoist priests changed their address.

These people looked puzzled, not understanding why they would give up being emperors to become Taoist priests.

Zhu Jian tugged at his Taoist robe, glanced at the twenty Taoists in front of him, and suddenly realized that he did not have a whisk in his hand. Looking around, he saw Wang Chengen holding one in his arms. He stepped forward and took it from him.

Upon seeing this, Wang Chengen panicked: "Your Majesty, just order this servant to clean it up!"

"I'll use this one for now! Go find another one! Also, change your clothes to match theirs before you come back!"

Wang Chengen glanced at the whisk in the Taoist priest's hand, then at the whisk in Zhu Jian's hand, and immediately understood: "Yes!"

Having received the imperial decree, Wang Chengen took two steps back. Just as he left the Shengtian Temple, he took a whisk from the eunuch beside him: "Give this to me, you go find another one!"

"Yes, Godfather!"

After Wang Chengen hurriedly changed into his Taoist robe, he returned to the Shengtian Temple to serve.

Zhu Jian was berating the Taoist priests in front of him: "None of you twenty people know how to refine elixirs?"

"Disciple...disciple doesn't know!" the twenty Taoists said tremblingly.

Since ancient times, the emperor's alchemy has been a major event, and they dared not interfere without authorization. They were having a proper discussion at the Taoist temple in the capital when suddenly a group of eunuchs entered and took away all the temple's managers, claiming it was an imperial decree, and they dared not disobey...

Unexpectedly, upon arriving at the palace, the emperor demanded that they refine elixirs, without even specifying their requirements...

Wang Chengen, standing anxiously to the side, said, "Your Majesty! You mustn't take the elixir!"

Emperor Guangzong, who reigned for only twenty-eight days, died after consuming a pill. Now, seeing that Zhu Jian was going to refine pills, Wang Chengen was extremely anxious, thinking that Zhu Jian was going to consume them!

"I don't eat that stuff! I just want that thing!"

Before Zhu Jian could finish speaking, a Taoist priest, hearing that the emperor refused to eat, stepped forward tremblingly: "If Your Majesty will not eat, this disciple does know some!"

"You're the one! Get me a dozen or so red ones today!"

"A dozen or so?" the Taoist priest exclaimed in surprise. He thought to himself: "Do you think this is some kind of dumpling-making game? You just blurt out a dozen or so..."

"Disciple...disciple...begs True Lord to grant me some more time!"

"how long!"

"Three...three days...!"

"Alright! Three days it is!" Zhu Jian calculated the time; the Jurchen delegation wouldn't arrive in three days, so it wouldn't be a problem!

Zhu Jian slowly walked up to the high platform, sat cross-legged on the octagonal prayer mat, and stood with twenty Taoist priests positioned in eight directions... exuding the air of reclusive sages...

at the same time.

The Jurchen delegation, having received a reply from the Ming court, also arrived outside Jinzhou City.

The deputy general of Jinzhou personally led troops outside the city to meet them. The emperor's decree was that they should not enter the city, but be escorted overnight. Although he was extremely unwilling, he dared not delay.

"Who is the mastermind?" the lieutenant asked.

Xifu stepped forward: "That's me!"

"Please, sir!"

"We are in a hurry to get to our destination. May we enter the city to rest for a while?" Xi Fu asked.

"His Majesty's decree! I am hereby appointed to escort you to the capital tonight! Do not linger!"

After saying this, the lieutenant pulled on the reins and galloped towards the interior of the pass.

"Uncle! The Emperor ordered us to rest in the cities along the way and observe the situation inside. Now they won't let us in. What should we do?" Soni, Xifu's nephew, asked in a low voice.

Like his uncle, Sony was fluent in Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian and other languages ​​and scripts, so he was brought into the mission by Shifu to serve as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty!

Xi Fu shook his head after hearing this: "There's nothing we can do, the Ming army won't let us into the city! Let's go!"

Xifu really had no choice. If they insisted on resting, the Ming army would definitely force them to camp in the wild, which would be the same as not resting at all. It was better to hurry on their way and report back what they had seen and heard along the way, as well as the behavior of the Ming emperor and his ministers.

Sony sighed, nodded, and remained silent...

Several days later, the Jurchen delegation, which had been camping in the wilderness, finally arrived outside the capital! They entered the city through the Chaoyang Gate on the east side...

Upon entering the city, they were met by Sun Chengzong, who was in charge of receiving the delegation, and was waiting not far away with his Shenwu Guard soldiers.

"Where is the mastermind?"

Shifu stepped forward: "I am Shifu, the head of the delegation!"

Sun Chengzong sized up Xifu and said, "I am Sun Chengzong, Minister of Military and Political Affairs. I am here on His Majesty's orders to receive the delegation! Please come with me!"

Xi Fu was taken aback and thought to himself: This man is Sun Chengzong, who once commanded the troops in Liaodong. He couldn't help but take a few more glances at Sun Chengzong, but only out of curiosity!

Before long, Sun Chengzong led the delegation to the Honglu Temple and settled them in!

Upon seeing this, Xifu stepped forward and asked, "When may we be granted an audience with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Tomorrow at 3:45 AM!" Sun Chengzong replied.

"Thank you!" Xifu bowed with his hands clasped in the traditional Han Chinese manners.

After Sun Chengzong left, Xi Fu's nephew stepped forward and said, "The Ming emperors are really strange; they even require a specific time to enter the palace..."

Then, changing the subject, she added, "I've heard that the Ming Dynasty emperors did everything themselves, so they seemed to be quite particular about the timing!"

Xi Fu nodded slightly and reminded him, "Tomorrow, when you enter the palace, pay close attention to the relationship and attitude between the Ming Emperor and his court officials!"

This was also one of their objectives as an envoy: to see if the Ming Dynasty had changed its strategic direction...

In the original historical accounts, Huang Taiji's several attempts to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty were all tests of the Ming court's attitude, aimed at exacerbating internal strife within the Ming court and adjusting his military strategy based on the Ming court's response...

However, things changed after the Ming court's last attempt to negotiate peace was rejected. The Ming emperor's attitude towards Liaodong was ambiguous, as was the attitude within the court. Therefore, Huang Taiji simply repeated the same old tune this time...