Chapter 1040: Your Majesty, You Have Broken Faith and Violated the Treaty (Seeking Subscriptions)

Dorgon's son Duo'erbo and Bakdu swaggered into the main hall of the Incheon Military Governor's yamen, followed by a long train of yangban officials, packing a hall that was not large at all to the brim! Well, actually, it was packed to three-quarters full — the remaining quarter of the hall held only two people, one of whom was Princess Dong'e.

The other was a Bureau Secretary of the Court of Colonial Affairs' Bureau of Proclamations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, named Liu Hao. Liu Hao, courtesy name Wenye, was a top graduate of the Imperial Academy, majoring in philosophy and law. Only twenty-five this year, he was a man of striking appearance and vast learning — and, of course, exceedingly arrogant. He was a notorious thorn in the side of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; even Luo Dagong got a headache at the sight of him. But the man held an Imperial Academy bachelor's diploma, his graduation thesis "On the Laws and Institutions of the Suzerain-Vassal System" had won praise from the Zhu Emperor himself, and he was the prized disciple of Ji Kun — "Ji the King of Hell" — the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, who also taught part-time at the Imperial Academy. So Luo Dagong dared not use underhanded tricks against him, and simply transferred him to the Bureau of Proclamations of the Court of Colonial Affairs, which frequently required travel abroad. The Bureau of Proclamations functioned much like the Office of Transmission within the Ming court itself: it was used to deliver imperial edicts to vassal states and to Ming missions stationed in those states, and it was also responsible for transmitting memorials on behalf of vassal states and resident missions. (Vassal states could also submit memorials through the Memorial Presentation Office established in Yingtian Prefecture.)

And Princess Dong'e's visit to her family in Joseon was in fact also a diplomatic activity between suzerain and vassal, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Court of Colonial Affairs naturally had to take part.

Moreover, at the same time as Princess Dong'e's family visit to Joseon, the Zhu Emperor had also issued two imperial edicts through the Grand Secretariat to the vassal state of Joseon. One commanded the vassal state of Joseon to immediately sever all relations with the Andong vassal state, and to send Duo'erbo's eldest son E'erbo (whose Chinese name was Jin E) to Yingtian as a hostage prince.

The other edict commanded the vassal state of Joseon to cooperate with the Great Ming in besieging the rebel forces of the Andong vassal state — the Ming court ordered the vassal state of Joseon to provide the ports, barracks, artillery platforms, and such land as the Ming side required at Jiulongpo and Wonsan for the use of the Ming expeditionary army!

The Ming court was not making arbitrary demands — these were reasonable requests based on the contents of the "Suzerain-Vassal Treaty" signed between the Great Ming and Joseon. And acting in accordance with these two edicts was an obligation that the vassal state of Joseon was bound to fulfill.

If the vassal state of Joseon refused to fulfill the obligations stipulated in the "Suzerain-Vassal Treaty," then the Ming court had the right to impose sanctions according to the provisions of the treaty.

And the highest sanction was to depose the current King of Joseon, Jin Erbo, and install a new king.

However, the selection of the new king was also a matter of careful rules — one could not simply appoint anyone at will; the choice had to be made from among Jin Erbo's close relatives. Who counted as a close relative and who as a distant one was also governed by standards: first came sons and grandsons, next brothers, then nephews or grandnephews, then paternal cousins, after that cousins' sons, and finally sisters.

That is to say, if Jin Erbo were deposed, the first eligible to succeed would be his son Jin E, and then Jin Erbo's paternal cousins — though not all paternal cousins were qualified to inherit; only those who met the conditions agreed upon in advance could take the throne. This was not proposed by Zhu Cilang, but by Dodo.

Dodo had agreed with the Ming court that only his own sons (who were nominally Duo'erbo's paternal cousins) could take the throne — without this provision, the sons of all of Dorgon's brothers would have been eligible to succeed.

And the inheritance rights of sisters had been proposed by Zhu Cilang — among the sisters who met the conditions there was only one, namely Jin Dongzhu.

At first glance, Jin Dongzhu's place in the order of succession was quite far back — it could never be her turn. But Zhu Cilang himself was half a legal expert (by Ming standards he could rank as a first-rate legal talent), and within his Grand Secretariat, the Royal Chamber of Commerce, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate there were even more legal experts, so of course traps had been set in advance for Dodo and Duo'erbo to fall into.

And the conditions used to exclude Duo'erbo's sons and full brothers were: "The newly installed king must guarantee compliance with and fulfillment of the treaty," "The newly installed king must be able to send a son as hostage," and "If the newly installed king is unable to govern, there must be a regent or regent prince capable of governing in his place and fulfilling the treaty."

These few clauses were not to be underestimated — all of Dodo's sons and Duo'erbo's sons had already been excluded.

First, Dodo's several older sons were all senior generals of the Andong army — how could they possibly guarantee to fulfill the treaty in Duo'erbo's place? Even they themselves probably did not believe such a guarantee.

Second, Duo'erbo's son E'erbo was still a small child, so he could not send a son as hostage.

Third, in the event that E'erbo was unable to govern, no regent or regent prince capable of fulfilling the treaty would appear — who would dare?

Therefore, as long as Duo'erbo rejected the two edicts that Liu Hao had brought, Jin Dongzhu would have the pretext to depose him from the throne.

And once Duo'erbo was deposed, Jin Dongzhu would become the sole heir!

What palace coups, what threats and inducements, what cleverly laid traps — all of that was nonsense made up in unofficial histories. The truth was simply that behind Duo'erbo stood a crowd of people, most of them big, burly experts at cutting people down.

Every one of them had a murderous air — they did not look like people to be trifled with!

And on Jin Dongzhu's side there were only two people — herself and Liu Hao. Liu Hao, for his part, was so frightened his face had gone white, and his calf muscles were starting to cramp.

Jin Dongzhu turned her head to glance at him and said with a smile, "Do not be afraid, Bureau Secretary Liu. Their numbers are useless, because the greatest thing under heaven is reason! We have reason on our side!"

Liu Hao swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and in his heart he had already cursed all eighteen generations of Luo Dagong's ancestors. This mission to proclaim the imperial will to a vassal state was nothing short of certain death!

But in his heart he truly admired Jin Dongzhu — how could she not be the least bit afraid, seeing so many savage-looking barbarians?

No, a real man, a true man, could not let himself be outdone by a woman.

With that thought, he cleared his throat, took out the two imperial edicts, and shouted, "The King of Joseon, receive the imperial proclamation!"

A so-called proclamation was an imperial edict issued to the king of a vassal state. According to Ming ritual, it had to be received on one's knees.

But Duo'erbo did not immediately order his men to set out an incense table and kneeling cushion to prepare to receive the edict. Instead, he shot a glance at the Chief State Councillor, He Luohui.

He Luohui asked, "May I ask what matter the Celestial Court's Emperor wishes to proclaim to our state?"

One was permitted to ask questions before kneeling to receive the edict!

This was a new rule of Zhu Cilang's — if he did not set the rule, people would ask anyway, so the Zhu Emperor simply allowed everyone to ask questions first and kneel afterward.

Liu Hao said, "The Son of Heaven requires the vassal state of Joseon to sever all contact with the Andong army, to send the king's eldest son to the imperial court as a hostage, and further requires the lease of the two ports of Wonsan and Jiulongpo in Joseon for the future campaign against the Andong rebels!"

"What?" Bakdu flew into a rage at these words, and with a clang he drew his saber!

The sight of the blade made Liu Hao's heart seize up. "You — what are you doing? To see the edict is to see the sovereign! Who are you, to dare such insolence?"

"Hmph! I am Bakdu, Commandant of the Andong army that your Ming court wants to suppress!"

"Bakdu!" Princess Dong'e had already spoken up with a smile. "The court is merely making preparations to suppress the Andong army; it has not yet begun to send troops. The matter has not yet reached the point of no return — do not be hasty. Put your blade away!"

Then she turned to Duo'erbo. "Duo'erbo, have someone prepare the incense table and receive the edict at once!"

Receive the edict?

Could he receive it?

Duo'erbo was suddenly at a loss, so he looked left and right, seeking the opinions of his ministers. The ministers were all shaking their heads!

The heads of the four all-powerful regent ministers — He Luohui, Bo'erhui, Wu Bai, and Su Bai — were shaking like rattle-drums, and every one of them had knitted brows, glaring eyes, and hands gripping sword hilts, looking ready at any moment to rush forward and hack Princess Dong'e and that Ming official into mincemeat.

"Don't receive the edict! Receive my ass!" Bakdu bellowed. "Right now it's the Andong army, and when that's finished it will certainly be Joseon's turn. Old Five, you must not fall for this!"

Right! He must not fall for it!

Duo'erbo did not dare fall for it either!

Everyone around him was steeled in their resolve to resist the Ming — how could he alone play the capitulationist?

"This king cannot obey the edict!" Duo'erbo roared.

"You — say that again!" Liu Hao said.

"This king will not obey the edict!" Duo'erbo said loudly. "This king stands with the Andong army, and will absolutely not obey the edict!"

Dong'e looked at Duo'erbo and said with a smile, "Duo'erbo, to refuse the edict is to break faith and violate the treaty. Do you know the consequences?"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Duo'erbo laughed loudly. "What consequences? Sister, you had better take a good look at where you are!"

His words had barely faded when someone beside him suddenly spoke up, and the words nearly scared Duo'erbo's soul right out of him.

"Your Majesty, you have broken faith and violated the treaty!"

(End of Chapter)