Chapter 1104: Worthy and Virtuous Lamas (Please Subscribe)

Among the lamas of Chuhe City whom Zhu Cilang had mentioned, the one most qualified to become a Worthy and Virtuous Lama of the nation was, without question, the Mingzhu Lama, who had come from Mount Wutai to Chuhe to spread the Dharma.

This Mingzhu Lama was no ordinary lama — he was a lama with a background! His Dharma name, Mingzhu, was taken from his lay name, Nalan Mingzhu. Nalan Mingzhu's surname was Yehe Nara, and his full name was Yehe Nara Nalan Mingzhu — a descendant of a loyal martyr of the Great Ming!

What? Nalan Mingzhu was a descendant of a Ming loyal martyr? That's right — Nalan Mingzhu's grandfather was a Beile of the Yehe tribe named Gintaisi. He had once organized a coalition of nine tribes to crusade against Nurhaci, only to be disastrously defeated by Nurhaci.

And after the Battle of Sarhu, Gintaisi still remained loyal to the Great Ming, and for that he came under fierce attack from Nurhaci. In the end he was defeated at Yehe City, captured by the Jianzhou army, and hanged. It is said that before his death he uttered a curse: "Even if but one woman of my descendants remains, she shall surely bring down the Manchu!"

See? A great loyal martyr indeed!

Moreover, the Wanli Emperor also considered him a loyal martyr. After the Yehe tribe was destroyed, he even sent men beyond the passes to search for Gintaisi's descendants — that is, Nalan Mingzhu — intending to bring him back and give him a high office. Unfortunately, they never found him. Otherwise, Nalan Mingzhu might well have become a meritorious founding official of the Great Ming by now.

Although Nalan Mingzhu never became a meritorious official, the spirit tablet of Yehe Nara Gintaisi is still enshrined to this day in the Loyal Martyrs' Shrine in Yingtian Prefecture.

Gintaisi was a loyal martyr who became a sage through death!

And Nalan Mingzhu had no idea that he had missed the chance to become a meritorious founding official, because his youth had gone rather well over in the Qing state. After the Yehe tribe's destruction, his father Niyaha had been taken into Nurhaci's service (Nurhaci also needed to win over the hearts of the Yehe people), and before Gintaisi had fallen out with Nurhaci, he had married his younger sister to Nurhaci, and she had borne a son named Hong Taiji!

With that connection, Nalan Mingzhu naturally did quite well for himself. He first married Ajige's daughter, then became a guard to Shunzhi, and even worked his way into becoming Shunzhi's trusted confidant. A brilliant future was just within reach — who could have known the Qing would collapse just like that!

And before the Qing was completely finished, Nalan Mingzhu and Songgotu, the son of Sonin, together led a band of the most loyal guards, escorting the deposed Empress Mengguqing, who had slipped out of Beijing, and carrying the wealth that the Qing court had extorted from a group of unlucky Han traitor imperial merchants, up to Mount Wutai.

Arrangements had long been made on Mount Wutai. A Yellow Temple deep in the mountains had been seized by guards dispatched by Sonin; every lama inside and out had been hacked to pieces and replaced with Shunzhi's trusted men. After settling Mengguqing in, Nalan Mingzhu and Songgotu made another trip to Shuntian Prefecture, where they received Shunzhi, Sonin, and the others who had slipped out of Beijing. Then they went back up Mount Wutai.

At that point, one could say things were actually quite satisfactory.

Zhu Cilang would not worry about anyone rising to restore the Ming and revive the Qing, so he would not endlessly pursue Shunzhi's whereabouts.

And Shunzhi had money on hand. The Yellow Temple where he lived was remote to begin with, and amid the chaos of war no one paid it any attention. Once the realm was at peace, they could simply register, pass themselves off as Mongol lamas, and be more or less secure — Zhu Cilang restricted the number of Han Buddhist monks and Daoist priests, but he did not restrict Mongols from becoming lamas, and Shunzhi and his men all spoke Mongolian, so passing as Mongol lamas was no problem. As long as they fooled the Ming monk officials, nothing would come of it.

But Shunzhi simply had to stir up trouble — if not for his meddling, Dorgon might still be alive today!

Even if he were gone, they could have made Dodo the Imperial Ama, and after Dodo's death made Ajige the Imperial Ama, and the Qing would probably still be limping along half-dead by now!

He had stirred a Qing that large into oblivion — how could a tiny Yellow Temple keep Shunzhi settled?

So Nalan Mingzhu and Songgotu, the pair of them, could no longer chant sutras in peace either. They were both dispatched to Chuhe City to pose as eminent monks.

Nalan Mingzhu became the Mingzhu Lama, and Songgotu took the name Sanbao Lama — very auspicious Dharma names indeed!

The two lamas entered Sengge's service and both received important posts, because Sengge's Beiting Protectorate regime had always suffered from the problem of strong martial governance but weak civil governance.

What civil governance could the Dzungar tribe possibly have? A nomadic tribe has no need for civil governance!

But the Beiting Protectorate needed it, and Chuhe City needed it too!

To transform the Dzungar tribe into the Dzungar Khanate made civil governance all the more indispensable.

And what caliber of men were Nalan Mingzhu and Songgotu? The situation in Chuhe City was, to them, a mere trifle.

And these two great lamas, who had helped Sengge govern Chuhe City in perfect order, had set out from Chuhe half a month ago on Sengge's orders, traveling together to the border between the Land of the Seven Rivers and the Dzungar steppe to welcome Galdan, who was coming from afar.

Today, the two of them finally met that "Ultimate Chuunibyou" of the Old Mountain School in a newly completed lama temple.

"I hear you two are lamas from Mount Wutai?" In a monk's cell, Galdan — who had traveled for two or three months yet showed not the slightest trace of fatigue — inquired in stiff, halting Mongolian.

He had learned the names of the Mingzhu Lama and the Sanbao Lama from Sengge's letter, and he knew that the two of them were extremely capable — not only able to help govern Chuhe City, but even able to deal with Russia. That was truly remarkable!

"We also spent some time in Beijing," Songgotu replied with a smile.

"You must be acquainted with quite a few notables among the eastern barbarians?" Galdan fixed his bright, piercing gaze on Songgotu and Mingzhu, as if trying to see straight through them.

But Songgotu and Mingzhu both remained perfectly composed.

Mingzhu smiled. "The notables of the eastern barbarians all believe in lamas. Especially after Dorgon dug up Confucius's grave, lamas became very popular in Beijing."

Well, of course — if even a man as tough-fated as Dorgon could be cursed, how could the other Qing notables rest easy? Who wouldn't keep a few lamas around for protection?

Galdan asked again: "I hear from my fifth brother that you two also understand Confucian learning and the way of governing a state?"

Songgotu smiled. "This humble monk has been in Beijing a long time — since before the jiashen year. I became acquainted with some Confucian scholars. The three teachings are one family, after all!"

"Well said!" Galdan laughed. "The three teachings are indeed one family, all under the Heavenly Principle."

Songgotu and Mingzhu were both taken aback. What was this Galdan talking about?

Galdan said: "I won't hide it from you two — when I was in the Hexi Corridor, I received a letter and some books sent by fast courier from the Son of Heaven. In the letter, the Son of Heaven told me that he plans to promote the unity of the three teachings, and that he will enfeoff several great lamas of Chuhe City as Worthy and Virtuous Lamas. So tell me, you two — are you worthy? Are you virtuous?"

That was direct enough.

"We two—" Mingzhu was about to be modest, but Songgotu beside him had seen that Galdan was a straightforward man, so he answered with a smile: "We two are the worthies and virtuous ones of Chuhe! Elsewhere, hard to say — but in Chuhe, the Khutuktu will know once he arrives."

"Khutuktu," Mingzhu asked, "what benefits does this Worthy and Virtuous Lama bring?"

"Imperially enfeoffed worthies and virtuous ones," Galdan said. "What do you think — are there benefits?" He blinked. "The great lama of the Snowy Plateau sent his disciple Sangye Gyatso by way of Qinghai to the Central Plains, to pay court to the Great Emperor, and he met me in Shaanxi. Sangye Gyatso told me that the great lama has already agreed to the Great Emperor's terms: henceforth, the search for the reincarnated living Buddha will be conducted under the supervision of ministers dispatched by the Great Emperor, and the reincarnation can only be finally confirmed with the Great Emperor's imperial approval. Furthermore, all living Buddhas must study for several years in the Yellow Temples of Mount Wutai, become familiar with the culture and rites of the Central Plains, and read the Confucian Classics before they may go to the Snowy Plateau to spread the Dharma. Do you two know what this means?"

Although Songgotu and Mingzhu were not real lamas, they were extremely knowledgeable about affairs on the Snowy Plateau, and of course they knew what this signified. If even the selection of the great lama had to pass through the hands of the Zhu Emperor, then small lamas like themselves would have no choice but to loyally support the Zhu Emperor, wouldn't they?

As he spoke, Galdan produced two copies of the Confucian Classics and handed them to Songgotu and Mingzhu. "You two can read Chinese characters, can't you?"

"I can."

"Of course I can."

Galdan said: "Good. Then take them and have a look. If you want to become Worthy and Virtuous Lamas, you must thoroughly study the Confucian Classics. From now on, the Yellow Temples of Chuhe will also have to teach people a bit of Chinese — use the Confucian Classics as the textbook."

(End of Chapter)