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The Ministry of Rites is in charge of the ritual system of the Five Rites and the method of enlightenment and tribute examination. All rituals, music, imperial examinations, religion, ethnicity and foreign affairs are within the scope of this yamen's authority, but it obviously did not do a good job this time.
At least, the Rites Yamen did not coordinate in advance the issue of envoys from various countries paying tribute to Emperor Deqing.
After the envoys saw Emperor Deqing, some envoys immediately paid homage, while others just stood there and bowed. Dozens of envoys saluted in different ways, which caused some confusion in the scene.
But Zhao Junchen noticed that Qian Tong, as the Jurchen envoy to Jianzhou, did not hesitate to pay homage to Emperor Deqing at this time. His expression when paying homage was very respectful and pious, shouting "I Long live the emperor." You can still vaguely see the tears in the corners of his eyes.
In fact, most of the envoys were drawn by Jianzhou Jurchens, and Qian Tong was also the leader of the envoys. Originally, many envoys did not intend to pay homage, but when they saw Qian Tong's behavior After that, he followed suit and gave a big salute.
Zhao Junchen could see such a situation, and Emperor Deqing was naturally aware of it. He couldn't help but have a lot of affection for Qian Tong in his heart. He only felt that the envoy of Jianzhou Jurchen was very sincere and respectful.
In particular, the phrase "Long live my emperor" shouted by Qian Tong attracted the attention of Emperor Deqing. Logically speaking, although the Jurchens of Jianzhou asked to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, Qian Tong could not be regarded as a minister of Emperor Deqing. This sentence " "Long live my emperor" undoubtedly means that he is in the Cao camp and his heart is in the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, Emperor Deqing couldn't help but take a closer look at Qian Tong. He vaguely felt that Qian Tong's appearance was familiar, but for a while he couldn't remember when he had seen this person.
However, although Emperor Deqing was curious about Qian Tong, he did not talk to Qian Tong immediately. Instead, he waited until the envoys had finished saluting and then asked: "How can the leader of Mongolia's right-wing Ordos tribe Qi Yan now?" exist?"
After seeing the envoys, he took the lead in talking to Qiyan, and took the opportunity to emphasize to the envoys the glorious victory of the Ming Dynasty army over the Ordos tribe and the demonstration of the Ming Dynasty's power as a celestial dynasty. This was something Emperor Deqing had decided long ago. strategy.
As Emperor Deqing opened his mouth to ask, the beggar who had become a prisoner stood up expressionlessly. On the one hand, he felt humiliated, and on the other hand, he did not understand the rules of the Han Dynasty and did not know what to do at this time. Self-proclaimed and pretentious, he simply lowered his head and said nothing.
Emperor Deqing looked at Qi Yan, as if looking at a bereaved dog, with a vague sense of joy in his expression, and said slowly: "Since I came to the throne, the Ordos tribe has repeatedly joined forces with various Mongolian tribes to go south to invade and plunder. I think As for the matter of swordsmanship, it should not be taken lightly, so I have always tolerated your arrogance and offense. I didn't expect that you didn't know how to praise me, and regarded my tolerance as weakness.
This year, I finally had enough patience and decided to fight back! What is the result? How could the various Mongolian tribes be the opponents of Ming Dynasty’s strong army? The Ming Dynasty under my rule is as strong and prosperous as the Taizu period. How can it be compared with the Mongolian tribes like you? Even if you have the Dzungars from the West as strong support this time, you will still be in ruins. Even the Hetao area that you stole from the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years has been completely lost. You yourself have become a prisoner, and your son has become a ghost under the sword. , your subjects have also become homeless dogs, all because of your own humiliation! If I had known about today's tragic situation, why did I bother to do it in the first place? Now, do you have any regrets in your heart? "
Having said this, Emperor Deqing sneered and looked at the beggar's face, wanting to see the humiliation and fear in his expression.
Under the gaze of Emperor Deqing, Qiyan still bowed his head and said nothing, but his expression at this time must be extremely ugly.
But after several pavilion elders heard this, they couldn't help but frown.
Emperor Deqing's words certainly sounded encouraging, and he took the opportunity to promote the Ming Dynasty's strength and illustrious military exploits to the envoys, but at the end of the sentence, it seemed to be a deliberate attempt to humiliate Qi Yan. This deviated from what he had originally agreed upon with the elders.
Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen, for example, were even more vigilant at this moment. They knew very well that there were still many hidden dangers and shortcomings in the Ming Dynasty. It was not as strong and prosperous as Emperor Deqing described. This year's great military exploits were great. To a certain extent, it is just because of a series of coincidences. At this time, trouble must not occur again, and focusing on solving internal problems is the top priority.
Therefore, when Emperor Deqing met with the envoys, he should certainly show a tough stance to instill awe in all countries, but this tough stance must be limited in moderation. If it goes too far and turns into deliberate humiliation, the envoys may be It will also give rise to a feeling of sadness that the rabbit is dead and the fox is dead, which may turn into hostility and backlash.
In particular, Qiyan was once the leader of the Mongolian right wing, and still has a certain influence on the Mongolian right wing tribes. Today, there are also envoys from the Mongolian right wing in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. If Emperor Deqing's humiliation of Qi Yan spread to the Mongolian right wing tribes, , I am afraid that the Hetao area will never have peace in the next few years!
So, seeing that Emperor Deqing wanted to continue talking, Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing looked at each other in a very tacit understanding, and took advantage of Emperor Deqing's words to fall off, and one after another stood up to express their opinions.
Zhao Junchen stood up first, his face full of toughness and coldness, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, you must be clear! The Ordos tribe has repeatedly offended our imperial power for many years, and most of the people in Shaanxi and Gansu have suffered greatly from it, and Qiyan, as the leader of the Ordos tribe, is also the culprit. I request your Majesty to punish this bandit with the punishment of splitting a chariot! Only in this way can the people of the world understand the truth. Anyone who offends my strong will will be punished no matter how far away he is. punish!"
As Zhao Junchen finished speaking, everyone in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was shocked. They felt that Zhao Junchen was crazy, and Qiyan himself couldn't help but tremble.
Soon, Zhou Shangjing also stood up, but he looked like an old man seeking the country, and objected slowly: "Your Majesty is wise! The veteran believes that Zhao Gechen's statement is too radical. The Ordos tribe has repeatedly offended Tianwei for many years, so naturally it is It should be beaten a lot, but after the thunder, there should be rain and dew. This is the way of the sage!
Now that the war has stopped, the Ordos tribe has been torn apart and is no longer able to cause trouble. Qiyan has also expressed his surrender. Your Majesty might as well follow the example of the previous dynasty and give Qiyan a title to reward his obedience, and then give it to him. He is kept in the capital of a farm and house and cannot be left lightly. This not only shows His Majesty's tolerance and kindness, but is also good for the future stability of the Hetao area! "
As a minister, how should he remind the emperor of his mistakes? What Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing did was like a textbook.
There is no need to directly remind the emperor. Doing so will only embarrass the emperor. Instead, he might as well make two completely different suggestions. The first suggestion can be expanded and extended along the emperor's wrong thinking, so that the emperor himself can be aware of this kind of thinking. Wrong, the second suggestion is more prudent and mature. On the surface, it is against the first suggestion, but in fact it is to oppose the emperor's original wrong idea, and also gives the emperor another choice, giving the emperor a step to take. Down.
In fact, this is also a commonly used method in official circles. Whenever subordinates want to influence their boss's decision-making, they often adopt similar methods - for example, they propose three suggestions to their boss, but the first two options It is essentially the same content. As for the content of the third option, it is extremely radical, useless, and completely unacceptable. The boss will only be able to choose one of the first two suggestions, but he still thinks that he has control. He has the final say, but in fact he only has one choice from the beginning.
Emperor Deqing is like this now. After hearing Zhao Junchen's suggestion, he couldn't help but feel shocked. He only felt that Zhao Junchen's attitude was too tough and radical. Then he heard Zhou Shangjing's suggestion and felt that Zhou Shangjing's suggestion was a mature one. The way of the country.
However, Emperor Deqing was good at imperial thinking, and he quickly saw through that Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing were just acting together to remind themselves not to be too tough. However, their clever tactics did not let Deqing The emperor directly refuted Emperor Deqing's statement and embarrassed Emperor Deqing in public, so Emperor Deqing just snorted and said nothing more.
However, Emperor Deqing's subsequent attitude also became milder.
After taking a deep look at Qi Yan, Emperor Deqing no longer continued to humiliate him, but just announced: "Although I have thunderous methods, I am also a merciful king. After all, you were once the overlord of one side, and now you have surrendered to me. , I will naturally not treat you badly. Although I will not let you return to the Hetao freely, I will ensure that you have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life... According to my will, the beggar can be conferred as E Shunbo, with a food of three hundred, and a mansion. One building, but from now on, you cannot leave the capital at will without my permission."
Qi Yan, who had been silent all this time, gave a wry smile and finally spoke his mind. However, he still did not raise his head and just kowtowed: "Thank you, kind emperor."
Emperor Deqing slowly reminded: "Since you have accepted my canonization, you are now my minister. When you see me, you should call yourself a minister, and you should also call me your majesty."
Qiyan had no choice but to kowtow again: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Seeing Qi Yan's complete surrender, Emperor Deqing's expression finally showed a hint of satisfaction.
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At the same time, seeing Qi Yan, a former grassland overlord, groveling in front of Emperor Deqing, all the envoys in the Hall of Supreme Harmony also had mixed emotions. I feel sad about my current situation.
At this time, Emperor Deqing finally turned his attention to the other envoys, especially Qian Tong, the Jurchen envoy to Jianzhou who had just behaved respectfully.
Qian Tong was once a prefect of the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Deqing personally summoned him. However, since Qian Tong joined the Jianzhou Jurchens, he not only wore the clothes of the Jianzhou Jurchens, but also shaved his hair and kept pigtails. In addition, many years have passed, and Qian Tong was just an insignificant person at the beginning, not worthy of Emperor Deqing's careful attention. Therefore, Emperor Deqing only looked at Qian Tong with some familiarity at this time, but could not remember the origin of Qian Tong.
So, after Emperor Deqing looked at Qian Tong carefully for a few times, he asked: "Are you the envoy of Hou Jin? What is your name? Do you have any position in Hou Jin?"
After hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Qian Tong saluted again and said sadly: "The guilty minister Qian Tong...kowtow to Your Majesty!"
After Emperor Deqing heard this answer, he immediately frowned, his expression became gloomy, and asked: "Your name is Qian Tong? Are you Han?"
Qian Tong kowtowed again and said: "The guilty minister is of Han origin, and he once served as the magistrate of Northeast Town, Liaoning!"
After hearing Qian Tong's self-introduction, Emperor Deqing thought for a moment, and soon his face became gloomy, and he said coldly: "I remembered that you were a Jinshi in the fifth year after I ascended the throne. I was still I praised the originality of your articles. Ten years ago, you were recommended by Wen Guanliang and served as the magistrate of Northeast Liaodong Town. I had high hopes for you at that time, hoping that you could assist Liaodong Town in resisting the war. Hou Jin's intrusion, but within a few years I received news that you were attacked by Hou Jin's army when you were out patrolling, and your whereabouts are unknown since then. I thought you died for the country, and I was sad. For a while, I didn’t expect that not only did you not die for the country, but you also surrendered to Hou Jin! Looking at you now, it is obvious that you have been reused by Hou Jin! Ha! I am really pleased!"
After talking about it, Emperor Deqing was already sneering and gritting his teeth.
Although Emperor Deqing was a habitual offender, he always hated the betrayal of his ministers.
In short, "Only I can betray my ministers, and I cannot let my ministers betray me"!
Now, seeing a rebellious minister like Qian Tong standing in front of him and becoming the leader of the Jurchen envoys in Jianzhou, Emperor Deqing was extremely disappointed on a day like this, and naturally he felt extremely resentful.
Next, if Qian Tong's answer does not satisfy Emperor Deqing, Emperor Deqing may be tempted to kill him. Even if he completely turns against the Jianzhou Jurchens, Emperor Deqing will not be able to care anymore.
Obviously, Qian Tong had already anticipated Emperor Deqing's attitude, and had already prepared countermeasures at this time.
After Qian Tong heard Emperor Deqing's sarcasm, his face was filled with shame and anger, and he burst into tears on the spot.
"I am guilty! I deserve to die! I am ashamed of my trust in Your Majesty... But please listen to my explanation, and then I can rest in peace even if I die..."
As the Jurchen envoy of Jianzhou, Qian Tong's performance caught everyone off guard.
Then, just like Zhao Junchen not long ago, Qian Tong also started telling stories.
This story is also a hymn of loyalty!
According to Qian Tong's story, after he was accidentally captured by Hou Jin's army, he originally wanted to die to express his will and never surrender, but then he changed his mind and thought, since he was going to die for his country, why not die a more heroic death? ? Therefore, Qian Tong expressed his intention to meet Aixinjueluo Xuanye, the Great Khan of Jianzhou Jurchen, and wanted to take the opportunity to scold Xuanye, and then happily die for the country, maybe his name would be passed down through the ages and his reputation would be passed down to generations. !
However, when Qian Tong met Xuanye, he found that Xuanye admired Han culture and was in awe of the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Deqing. The Jianzhou Jurchens had repeatedly invaded the Ming Dynasty's territory over the years. In the final analysis, it was because of Jianzhou Jurchen The Jurchen people in the state had no enough food to eat and had no choice but to do so. Moreover, the Jurchen system of founding the state was different from that of the Ming Dynasty. He had a certain degree of autonomy. Although Xuan Ye intended to ease relations with the Ming Dynasty, he was often unable to do so.
After realizing this situation, Qian Tong changed his mind and wanted to take advantage of Xuan Ye's mentality to change Jianzhou Jurchen from within. From now on, he would no longer be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty and completely solve the Ming Dynasty's Liaodong. There was a serious problem, so Qian Tong stayed by Xuan Ye's side. Over the years, he instilled in Xuan Ye almost day and night the wisdom and prowess of Emperor Deqing and the invincibility of the Ming Dynasty. Xuan Ye was gradually moved by Qian Tong's persuasion. He believed that Jianzhou Jurchens and the Ming Dynasty should live in harmony, and came up with the idea of pledging to surrender to Emperor Deqing.
Finally, when the news that the Ming Dynasty army defeated the Mongolian coalition this year reached Jianzhou Jurchen, Qian Tong also took the opportunity to persuade again, and finally made Xuan Ye make up his mind and ask to surrender to Emperor Deqing.
Therefore, although Qian Tong became a minister of the Later Jin Dynasty, his heart was always with Cao Ying and he was in the Han Dynasty. This time the Jianzhou Jurchen took the initiative to surrender, it was all because of Qian Tong's push, which can be said to be taking credit. Greatest!
While telling the story, Qian Tong apologized one by one and sought death one by one, but his loyalty to Emperor Deqing was revealed both inside and outside of his words.
There is no doubt that this is a good story.
It's even better than the story Zhao Junchen just told.
If Zhao Junchen had not seen Qian Tong working loyally and loyally to Xuan Ye before, he might have really believed it at this moment.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen finally understood why Xuan Ye asked Qian Tong to serve as the Jurchen envoy to Jianzhou... because this man was really shameless.
The same was true for Emperor Deqing. He almost believed it, but in the end he was still a little short of it. He still stared at Qian Tong with a cold face without any expression, but he was not as angry as before.
But then, Qian Tong gave Emperor Deqing a big gift!
"This time, the guilty minister also took the initiative to win the mission of Hou Jin's envoy, just to plead guilty to His Majesty in person and let His Majesty deal with it! Your Majesty, even if you kill the guilty minister's entire family, the guilty minister will never say anything! But! , today is your Majesty’s birthday, please allow me to give you the birthday gift I have prepared for many years before you execute me!”
After saying that, Qian Tong took out a gold medal the size of an adult's palm from his arms and held it on his head. There were many words written on the gold medal, including Mongolian, Manchu, and Korean.
Emperor Deqing did not send anyone to take over the gold medal, but asked coldly: "What is this?"
Qian Tong replied: "Before the guilty ministers came to see His Majesty, Houjin, the Monan Mongolian tribes, and North Korea and other countries had already gathered to discuss and jointly recommend Your Majesty as the 'Kundulun Yingming Khan'! And this gold medal is you As proof of the 'Kundulun Yingming Khan', it was forged by the joint efforts of the Hou Jin Dynasty, Monan Mongolian tribes and North Korea!"
Emperor Deqing couldn't help but be stunned.
He was jointly elected as the Great Khan by all the tribes in the surrounding countries. This kind of thing happened only a few times in the dynasties of the Han Dynasty. Every emperor who enjoyed such an honor was famous throughout the ages.
Emperor Deqing's expression was a little tangled. He wanted to maintain his cold expression, but he couldn't help but feel a little excited. He asked, "What does 'Kundulun Yingming Khan' mean?"
Qian Tong replied: "According to the Mongolian language, it means 'the tolerant and generous king'."
Kindness, generosity...
Hearing Qian Tong's answer, Zhao Junchen frowned and suddenly felt that things were not simple.
Therefore, before Emperor Deqing expressed his position, Zhao Junchen suddenly came out and said: "Your Majesty, I think this matter is quite inappropriate!"
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