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

The next morning, as the sun rose, the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City shimmered with golden light.

The chief envoy of the Jurchen delegation, Xi Fu, handed the gift list he had brought to Sun Chengzong, who had come to escort them to the palace: "Lord Sun! This is the gift list of the delegation! Please forward it to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

Sun Chengzong nodded slightly, acknowledging his agreement: "Select a few people to accompany me to meet His Majesty!"

Upon hearing this, Xifu turned and looked around: "Sony, Sahacha, Aolitu, Wobai! The four of you will come with me to see the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Yes, sir!" the four responded in unison.

These four men were all Manchus, skilled at reading people and observing their surroundings. They spent their journey observing and recording the situation in the Ming Dynasty, but without much success...

The only thing of value was that the welcoming party wasn't composed of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but rather other military units... In their view, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had already fallen out of favor and been excluded from the Ming Dynasty's military system!

Sun Chengzong, accompanied by five members of the Jurchen delegation and escorted by the Shenwu Guards, arrived at Donghua Gate, turned onto a small path inside the palace, and came to the front of Shengtian Temple.

The five men stared in surprise at the gate bearing the plaque of the Shengtian Temple: "Lord Sun, weren't you supposed to be seeing the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty? Why are you here at this Taoist temple?"

They assumed that today must be a Ming Dynasty court assembly, with the Ming emperor sitting high on the dragon throne and civil and military officials standing on both sides below. After the peace talks were discussed, the court officials began to argue incessantly, and finally the emperor had no choice but to announce the adjournment of the court... So what is the meaning of coming to this Taoist temple now?

Sun Chengzong said mysteriously, "Outside the temple, you may address him as His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming! But once inside, you must address him as the Holy Heavenly True Lord!"

"Huh?" The five people looked at each other, all seeing confusion in each other's eyes. What was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty going to do?

Although she didn't understand why, she nodded and agreed...

When Sun Chengzong led the five members of the Jurchen delegation into the temple, the first thing they saw was the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) banner, followed by four people dressed in blue and white Taoist robes, holding whisks, standing on both sides of the temple entrance.

"Disciple Sun Chengzong, leading a five-member Jurchen delegation, requests an audience with the Holy Heavenly True Lord!" Sun Chengzong made a Taoist hand gesture.

"Disciple???" Xifu and Sony muttered to themselves.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Three sounds of iron chimes echoed from inside the hall!

The four Taoist priests at the gate then parted to make way for the temple entrance, saying, "The True Lord invites you!"

"Huh?" The five people were increasingly confused, almost forgetting why they had come here in the first place...

The hall doors slowly opened, and the five people stepped inside one after another. Inside, there was a three-tiered platform in the shape of an octagonal trigram, upon which rested an octagonal futon. On the outermost edge of the platform, at each of the eight cardinal directions, stood two Taoist priests, all facing outwards with their backs to the futon in the center of the octagon. They held whisks in their hands, made Taoist hand gestures, and kept their eyes closed, chanting something unintelligible...

Upon seeing this, the five people stared wide-eyed at the Bagua platform in the hall. If they didn't know they were meeting the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, they would have thought they had wandered into the wrong place, into a Taoist temple's ritual...

"Lord Sun... Lord Sun..." Xi Fu turned his head blankly to look at Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong then made a shushing gesture.

Just then, from behind the screen behind the Bagua Platform, came a chanting voice:

"Having cultivated a physique resembling that of a crane, one can sit beneath a thousand pine trees and recite two volumes of scriptures."

"I came to ask the question, but there was nothing more to say; the clouds are in the blue sky, and the water is in the bottle."

Before the words had even faded, Zhu Jian, dressed in a Taoist robe and holding a whisk, slowly emerged from behind the screen.

The two people standing to the east stepped aside slightly, making way for Prosecutor Zhu to ascend the platform.

The five Jurchen envoys were stunned by this sight... The Ming emperor was a Taoist priest? They were all completely baffled by Zhu Jian's poem...

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Oh no!"

Xi Fu suddenly remembered Sun Chengzong's instructions and quickly changed his address, saying, "Holy Heavenly True Lord! We are here on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty to discuss peace!"

He then held up a letter written by Huang Taiji himself to show his sincerity.

A moment later, the two Taoist priests in front of the delegation stepped forward together, dragged up the handwritten letter, bowed and came to the high platform. Zhu Jian held his whisk and tapped the handwritten letter three times before slowly taking it!

The group exchanged bewildered glances, momentarily forgetting their original purpose for being there...

"I agree to the peace negotiations!"

"Holy Heavenly True Lord, please issue an edict to the front lines in Jinzhou regarding the cessation of trade and military action, so that both sides can make peace and cease further harassment!" Xi Fu said.

"I believe that water is the mother of all things, and things in water can be transported!" Zhu Jian said meaningfully.

Hearing Zhu Jian's incoherent words, the group exchanged bewildered glances. They should have brought a Han Chinese with them; they hadn't grasped the meaning of the Ming Emperor's words...

Then Zhu Jian shook his whisk three times, and Wang Chengen, dressed in a Taoist robe, slowly brought over a deep red wooden box, walked slowly to the messenger, held the bottom of the box with one hand, and opened the lid with the other.

The group looked closely and saw seven red pills neatly arranged on a bright yellow silk, lying quietly in the box.

Zhu Jian squinted and said in a deep voice, "This humble Taoist has refined seven elixirs over forty-nine days! They can prolong life! I will give them to your Khan!"

"Thank you, Holy Heavenly Lord!" Xifu then stepped forward and took the wooden box.

Then he picked up the hammer and struck the iron slab three times...

Upon hearing this, Sun Chengzong stepped forward and gestured for the five people to proceed.

Seeing this, the group, led by Sun Chengzong, silently withdrew from the hall.

Upon leaving the Shengtian Temple, the impetuous young Sony could no longer contain his doubts and stepped forward to ask, "Lord Sun! What did the Ming Emperor mean by saying that water is the mother of all things, and that things in water can be used for purification?"

Sun Chengzong smiled politely: "His Majesty means that we can trade salt with you for warhorses!"

Sony was taken aback. His surprise wasn't that the Ming Dynasty traded salt for warhorses, but rather that he couldn't understand how this statement could be connected to salt and warhorses...

"Where did the Ming emperor ever say that salt was traded for warhorses?" Sony pressed.

Sun Chengzong replied with a serious expression, "Isn't the substance in water just salt? It can be used for passage, and passage means passage, which represents warhorses, right?"

"This!" Sony was momentarily speechless! In Sony's view, the water contained not only salt, but also fish...

"What about the rest of the grain, cloth, and ironware?" Xi Fu asked, stepping forward. He thought the Ming emperor was utterly incompetent; it was no wonder the empire had perished in his hands... He couldn't even speak properly; if someone asked him east, he'd say west; if someone said dog, he'd chase chickens! If someone asked if he was hungry, he'd say he wasn't thirsty...

"His Majesty has not given any instructions. Why don't you ask again in seven days?"

"Why seven days?" Xifu felt these matters needed to be settled as soon as possible so he could return to Liaodong!

"Your Majesty, do not see the same person within seven days!"

"The Taoist priest in that room?" Xifu pressed.

"That is the Tao, not man..."

Upon hearing this, Xifu shook his head. It was best to leave; staying any longer was pointless. The Ming emperor had said he agreed to the peace talks, but it seemed like nothing had actually been agreed upon. Trade only involved exchanging salt for warhorses; the other, most crucial supplies were still undecided. He'd deal with the rest through correspondence…

All I got from this trip was seven red 'elixirs'...

If the box Wang Chengen found hadn't been a bit too small, Zhu Jian could have put twelve in it... because the Taoist priest only managed to make twelve....