Chapter 239: Dragon Tiger Mountain, the Zhang Celestial Master (For Big Boss Penguin)

Dragon Tiger Mountain, Shangqing Town.

Fei Yinggong led five hundred soldiers to the Celestial Master Residence to offer New Year greetings.

The fifty-second-generation Celestial Master, Zhang Yingjing, brought many Daoist priests out to welcome the guest. He had no choice — Fei Yinggong had been stationed there for days, and the peasant association had already begun redistributing land outside the town.

"General, please enter!" Zhang Yingjing said with a bow.

Fei Yinggong ordered his soldiers to stand guard outside and walked in alone. Once inside, he looked around and chuckled: "This Celestial Master Residence is magnificently built!"

How could it not be magnificent?

Ming dynasty emperors had funded renovations three times, especially the Jiajing Emperor, who poured silver into building the Celestial Master Residence like a madman.

Zhang Yingjing's paternal grandmother was the daughter of the Jiajing Emperor's younger sister. Zhang Yingjing's father's name was personally chosen by the Wanli Emperor.

By seniority, Zhang Yingjing could be considered Chongzhen's cousin-uncle!

The Ming-dynasty Celestial Master Residence had a five-bay main hall, five-bay east and west Admonishment Halls, and six-bay east and west colonnades.

Passing through the front hall, Fei Yinggong was invited into the Celestial Master Zhang's private quarters and seated in one of the main parlors to drink tea.

Fei Yinggong savored his tea without speaking, only smiling as he looked at Zhang Yingjing.

Zhang Yingjing was truly unlucky — his father had been extremely long-lived and only ascended to immortality the year before. At his advanced age, Zhang Yingjing had inherited the Celestial Master title for barely a year, his seat not even warm, when he ran into rebels.

Historically, just over two years later, Chongzhen would be at his wits' end and summon his cousin-uncle Celestial Master Zhang to the capital to pray for rain.

Zhang Yingjing's rain-praying achieved little, but he did perform a ritual that cured an imperial prince's illness. On his return journey to Jiangxi, he ascended to immortality at the Jade Flower Temple in Yangzhou — clearly he did not have many years left to live anyway.

Sitting beside him was a man named Zhang Hongren, Zhang Yingjing's eldest son, twenty-one years old this year.

The three sat in silence for a long while. Zhang Yingjing, no matter how profound his cultivation, could not help but ask: "General, would you be willing to withdraw your troops and order the peasant association to stop redistributing the land?"

Fei Yinggong smiled and asked: "And if I do not stop?"

As the Chongzhen Emperor's distant younger cousin, Zhang Hongren asked: "Does Mr. Zhao mean that he will only desist if the Celestial Master Residence submits to him?"

"Then is the Celestial Master Residence willing to submit?" Fei Yinggong countered.

Zhang Hongren looked at his father; he dared not make the decision himself.

Zhang Yingjing sighed inwardly. Without stating clearly whether he would join the rebels, he only said: "I beseech the General to halt. After the New Year, this humble Daoist will certainly lead his disciples to Ji'an Prefecture in person."

Fei Yinggong said: "If the Celestial Master is willing to go to Ji'an Prefecture, Mr. Zhao will naturally welcome it. But this land redistribution cannot stop. Moreover, all Daoist priests of the Celestial Master Residence, the Orthodox Unity Temple, and the Supreme Clarity Temple who lack ordination certificates must return to lay life!"

Father and son were both startled — this was meant to strike at the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Residence.

Even the Zhang Celestial Masters of Dragon Tiger Mountain could not keep Daoist priests at will, and the court's control was especially strict.

Except for the Hongzhi, Jiajing, and Wanli Emperors, all other emperors were stingy with ordination certificates. Every time the Celestial Master Residence petitioned for a number of certificates, they haggled and granted only half; sometimes they gave not a single one.

The Longqing Emperor, in particular, suppressed the Celestial Master Residence brutally. He directly stripped the Zhang Celestial Master of the Orthodox Unity Realized Immortal title, changed it to Superintendent of the Supreme Clarity Palace, demoting him from upper second rank (treated as first rank) to a minor fifth-rank official — even the seal was changed from gold to copper.

It was a pity the Longqing Emperor died young. After the Wanli Emperor succeeded the throne, he actually married his own cousin-aunt to the Zhang Celestial Master.

Chongzhen would not indulge Dragon Tiger Mountain. The Celestial Master Residence, the Orthodox Unity Temple, and the Supreme Clarity Temple together now had only two to three hundred legally recognized Daoist priests. The younger generation of priests were all illegally ordained!

Fei Yinggong smiled and cupped his hands: "Celestial Master Zhang, please identify and dismiss all the Daoist priests without ordination certificates. Dragon Tiger Mountain is a thousand-year Daoist court; I truly cannot bear to use force here."

"Can it not wait until this humble Daoist has gone to Ji'an Prefecture to discuss it?" Zhang Yingjing asked.

Fei Yinggong smiled: "Mr. Zhao has said: if the land is not redistributed and the Daoist priests are not purged, then there is no need for Celestial Master Zhang to make the trip to Ji'an Prefecture at all."

"Ah!"

Zhang Yingjing finally could not hold back a sigh.

He was the Chongzhen Emperor's cousin-uncle. That the rebels had not simply cut him down with a blade already counted as the rebels showing respect for Dragon Tiger Mountain. Apart from complying, what choice did he have? Could he summon the Daoist priests to fight a battle?

Under Fei Yinggong's supervision, Zhang Yingjing began checking ordination certificates, dismissing over two thousand four hundred Daoist priests in one sweep.

By the time these matters were settled, several days had passed.

Fei Yinggong then said: "The household servants of the Celestial Master Residence must also have their indenture contracts returned. Those willing to stay will sign short-term employment documents instead. Those unwilling to stay, I will take with me. Furthermore, from now on, no mistreatment of hired servants!"

Zhang Yingjing said: "We who cultivate the Dao, how could we commit acts of mistreatment?"

"That's not necessarily certain," Fei Yinggong said with a cold laugh.

Zhang Yingjing's old face flushed red, and he ordered his son to assemble the servants.

The forty-sixth-generation Celestial Master, Zhang Yuanji, had once seized men as servants and women as maids, extorted money and goods, set up a private jail in his home, killed over forty people in succession, and even exterminated entire families.

At the time, he nearly had his property confiscated and clan exterminated. The Minister of Justice, Lu Yu, recommended stripping him of the Realized Immortal title and never again bestowing the Celestial Master title.

It was a pity too many people interceded. The murderous Celestial Master Zhang Yuanji only spent two years in prison, received one hundred strokes of the heavy rod, and was banished to Suzhou for military exile.

Just think of the filthy affairs of the Kong mansion in Shandong, and you will know how dirty the Zhang family of Dragon Tiger Mountain was. The tens of thousands of mu of land around Shangqing Town were all controlled by the Celestial Master Residence — so much so that Fei Yinggong had to bring five hundred regular troops to oversee the land redistribution!

Fei Yinggong did not leave; he stayed right at the Celestial Master Residence for the New Year.

On the sixth day of the New Year, Zhang Yingjing, bringing his eldest son Zhang Hongren and a dozen or so Daoist priests, set out with Fei Yinggong for Ji'an.

They traveled by boat the whole way, making very rapid progress.

Inside the cabin, Zhang Yingjing and his son Zhang Hongren sighed in despair. The foundation of Dragon Tiger Mountain was lost beyond saving. Of tens of thousands of mu of land, only a little over nine hundred mu remained after the redistribution, kept strictly according to the number of legally recognized Daoist priests.

What were they to do from now on?

In truth, they ought to thank Zhao Han. Otherwise, during the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, the Celestial Master Residence would have been burned to the ground by Geng Jingzhong's rebel troops, and all the valuables inside looted and plundered.

"Father, let us simply surrender to that rebel Zhao," Zhang Hongren said. He no longer cared about his cousin Chongzhen.

Zhang Yingjing sighed: "If we surrender, will we get the land back?"

Zhang Hongren said: "Urge him to take the throne!"

Zhang Yingjing's eyelid twitched, and he cursed in a low voice: "Are you muddled? If one day the rebel Zhao is destroyed, since we were coerced into joining the rebels, there is still room to maneuver. If the Celestial Master Residence urges him to take the throne, we are bound to the rebel Zhao, and we may face calamity beyond redemption!"

"All of Jiangxi is gone. I hear the northern and southern provinces are all in disaster — roving bandits within, Tartar rebels without. How can this Great Ming still be saved?" Zhang Hongren said. "If we urge him to take the throne, we only offend the court. No matter who unifies the realm in the future, as long as it is not the Great Ming, the Celestial Master Residence will be fine."

"Let me think on it further," Zhang Yingjing said, his brow tightly furrowed.

Zhang Hongren urged: "There is no need to think further. Do not let the merit of urging the throne slip away. Once it succeeds, the Celestial Master Residence can flourish anew under the new dynasty!"

Zhang Yingjing pondered back and forth and decided on a prudent course: that is, to speak ambiguously, as if urging him to take the throne, yet not quite urging him.

This group of Daoist priests was brought to Ji'an Prefecture, left cooling their heels for several days, and finally granted an audience with Zhao Han.

The instant Zhang Yingjing laid eyes on Zhao Han, he was stunned by the man's youth. Then, riding that shock, he put on an even more exaggerated look of astonishment and murmured to himself, "How can this be? It truly is so!"

Zhao Han asked with a smile, "What is the Celestial Master saying?"

Zhang Yingjing cupped his hands and bowed. "Several years ago, the Dao lineage of Dragon Tiger Mountain transformed into qi and fled. The day before yesterday, when this old Daoist first arrived in Ji'an, I saw above the city a dragon-tiger qi, in five-colored form — this is the qi of the Son of Heaven!"

"It is actually so?" Zhao Han exclaimed in surprise.

Zhang Yingjing bowed and said, "Truly so!"

Zhao Han said, "In that case, I shall immediately submit a memorial to the court, relaying the words of Celestial Master Zhang, and request that the Chongzhen Son of Heaven move the capital to Ji'an. Perhaps the national fortune of the Great Ming may yet be prolonged."

"Er..."

Zhang Yingjing was instantly choked speechless. His son, Zhang Hongren, also had no idea how to respond.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Zhao Han suddenly burst into loud laughter. "Celestial Master, do not be alarmed. It was merely a jest."

That one jest left Zhang Yingjing utterly deflated. Even more cautiously, he said, "Regional Commander Zhao radiates heroic vigor. This old Daoist, awed by your authority, was therefore tongue-tied. I beg your forgiveness."

Zhao Han looked toward Zhang Hongren and asked, "How old is your esteemed son?"

"In reply to the Regional Commander, this humble Daoist is twenty-two," Zhang Hongren said, bowing respectfully.

Zhao Han asked, "Has he taken a wife? Does he have any children?"

Zhang Hongren answered, "I have been devoted to the Dao since childhood. I have not taken a wife, and have no children."

"Then you shall remain in Ji'an," Zhao Han said offhandedly. "From now on, you must not only study the Daoist Canon, but also learn the Datong Collection. If you can study Mathematics and Geometry as well, so much the better."

Was this taking a hostage?

But was there any need? Who would keep a Daoist priest as a hostage?

Zhang Yingjing could find no opening now. His original plan had been to tell Zhao Han that he possessed the qi of the Son of Heaven. Whether Zhao Han believed it or not, he had assumed the man would be delighted — what rebel did not like hearing such words?

Once Zhao Han was pleased, he could continue the contact, and continue coaxing Zhao Han into good humor.

Then, he would seize the chance to request that Zhao Han bestow land, and perhaps grant various valuables as well. If Zhao Han were annihilated by the court, the Zhang family could slip away; if Zhao Han seized the realm, the Zhang family could soar to glory.

But this scheme had barely begun before Zhao Han blocked it and sent it right back.

What was he supposed to say now?

Zhang Yingjing composed his words and said respectfully, "Regional Commander, your benevolence toward the common people has already won you the hearts of all Jiangxi. Though this old Daoist cultivates in the mountains, I have long heard of your mighty name. Now that I meet you, you are indeed extraordinary — even from afar, one can discern the august bearing of a sovereign."

Zhao Han said with a smile, "Shangqing Town is not in the mountains, is it? The transport links there are convenient, and the land is fairly fertile too."

Who is discussing where Shangqing Town is? The point is the second half of the sentence!

Zhang Yingjing now understood completely — Zhao Han simply would not swallow this bait. He could only bow and say, "Regional Commander, how do you wish to deal with the Celestial Master Residence? Please give your instructions, and this old Daoist will certainly comply."

Zhao Han's smile faded. "From this day forward, the Celestial Master Residence, the Shangqing Abbey, and the Zhengyi Abbey shall be fixed at their current number of Daoist priests. That number may decrease but not increase, nor may you seize the lands of the people. Any violation, and the honored title of Celestial Master shall be stripped away!"

Zhang Yingjing's face turned ashen. The vast Celestial Master Residence, plus two Daoist abbeys — how was he supposed to manage with just over two hundred priests?

The Zhengyi Abbey was the very ancestral temple of the Zhengyi Dao!

Zhao Han then pointed at Zhang Hongren. "You will remain in Ji'an and learn more new subjects. Only after you have mastered Mathematics and Geometry may you return to Dragon Tiger Mountain."

Zhang Hongren was speechless. His mind went completely blank; he had no idea what Zhao Han was after.

(End of Chapter)