Chapter 1421: The Real and the False Fulin

Even the Third Prince Zhu has his miscalculations!

He never imagined that the genuine, unmistakable Fulin had been living in his princely residence all these days — and had been treated as an honored guest, eating and taking as he pleased, already having raked in quite a bit. Although the Third Prince Zhu himself did not believe in the Yellow Hat sect, his residence housed many Mongol women from the Tumed Khanate and the Chahar Khanate, all of them from the Golden Family. These women were easy to fool, and Fulin had already swindled several thousand taels out of them...

To be honest, this Third Prince Zhu's power in the north far exceeded that of the old Prince of Yan, Zhu Di. He not only held Anbei Garrison (with his eldest son Zhu Hebao as its military governor), Beiting Garrison (with his second son Zhu Hejian as its military governor), and the Dai Principality, but also to a certain extent controlled the Tumed Khanate and the Chahar Khanate!

These two Mongol khanates had followed him in the first place, and only thus had been able to defeat the three Khalkha tribes and the Khorchin tribe, becoming the two overlords of the Khalkha.

In the process by which the Tumed Khanate and the Chahar Khanate carved up Khalkha Mongolia, Zhu Cijiong had also infiltrated the two states economically, politically, and militarily. He could not claim to control them completely, but he could exert enormous influence over them — at the very least, his word counted for half.

So the beauties of the two khanates' ruling houses were often sent as gifts to Zhu Cijiong's princely residence. And these women all believed in the Yellow Hat sect, so Lama Fulin had already collected a good deal of incense money from them.

Of course, no matter how strong Zhu Cijiong's power on the steppe was, he could not possibly contend with Zhu Cilang. Even if Zhu Cilang were gone, Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying could still pin him down firmly — he was the Third Prince Zhu who would "live to a hundred," and Zhu Cilang would most likely not outlive him!

But the times had changed. The military force of the steppe was utterly incapable of standing before aristocratic officers raised from youth and the imperial guard.

And the wealth and military-industrial productivity of the Great Ming court, with Yingtian as its capital, was something no steppe regime could contend with — how could a steppe regime possibly usurp a capitalist world empire?

So the Third Prince Zhu, having long since seen the situation clearly, had set his sights on the throne of overlord of Central Asia, preparing to spend the rest of his life carving out a great realm for his descendants in Central Asia.

But the wisdom of this Third Prince Zhu, who was preparing to expand his descendants' territory, was still limited. Fulin was not only right under his nose, but had also gone, accompanied by the Third Prince Zhu's spymaster, Zhang Xixian, the Provost of the Beiting Army — the very man who had been the White Lotus leader of northern Shanxi who had submitted back in the Lüliang Mountains days, and who was also a Shanxi merchant — to the guest lodge where Jin Boguo and Jin Xuanye were staying.

Although this Zhang Xixian was the leader of the White Lotus sect of northern Shanxi, he was a firm believer in lamas. This sounds strange, but once one understands the history of the White Lotus sect in northern Shanxi, it is no longer surprising. In the early Wanli years of the Ming, Altan Khan of the Tumed Mongols opened fields and built a city on the Tumed plain, constructing Guihua City (called Küke Khota in Mongolian), and recruited some 100,000 Han Chinese to farm and trade there. Most of these Han were White Lotus believers from Shanxi. Later Guihua City was taken by Ligdan Khan and then by Hong Taiji in succession, and most of the local White Lotus believers were killed or carried off, while some fled back south of the Great Wall — among them Zhang Xixian. At that time he was still a boy in his teens, and because he had lived on Mongol territory since childhood, he too believed in Lamaism. Later, although he fled back to the interior and succeeded his father as leader of the White Lotus sect, he still believed firmly in the lamas. Still later he submitted to the Third Prince Zhu and became an official of the Great Ming, so naturally he could no longer practice White Lotus teachings, and thus could only believe in the lamas.

The lama-believing Provost Zhang Xixian had in fact long been acquainted with Sanbao Lama and Fute Lama — he was a spymaster, after all! Of course he had to operate in Chuhe City, and the monk-minister Sanbao and the monk-minister Mingzhu were both his work contacts, so after coming and going a few times they had become familiar.

After Fute Lama arrived in Chuhe Prefecture as the junior fellow-disciple of Sanbao Lama and Mingzhu Lama, he too became a target of Zhang Xixian's cultivation.

And this afternoon, when Fute Lama sought out Zhang Xixian and proposed going to beg alms from the Great Ming's Prince Gong and Marquis of Yan'en, Zhang Xixian had not the slightest suspicion — the Buddha ferries the rich, after all! A prince and a marquis from Yingtian Prefecture were bound to be wealthy, and it was perfectly normal for Fute Lama to want to get a little something.

Moreover, he never imagined that this lama he was so familiar with was none other than the Shunzhi Emperor. How could that be possible?

How could the Shunzhi Emperor possibly come to Yining City to walk into a trap? Why would he not go strolling down Embroidered Uniform Guard Avenue in Yingtian Prefecture? And even if he had come to Yining, he could not possibly be living in the Third Prince Zhu's residence, calling the Third Prince Zhu's Provost Zhang Xixian his brother!

Would that not be madness?

Great Provost Zhang, who had never suspected that "the Third Prince Zhu's mortal enemy" was right beside him, still remembered to warn Fute Lama, on arriving at the guest lodge, to keep his distance from Jin Boguo and Jin Xuanye, those two "dead men walking."

"Your Eminence, you must not get too close to those two remnants... it is not safe!"

"How could it not be safe?" Fulin said with a laugh. "Could they kill me?"

"Of course they would not kill Your Eminence, but they cannot even save themselves!" Zhang Xixian said with a smile. "His Highness will not let them return to Yingtian Prefecture whole and intact..."

"How could that be?" Fulin said without changing expression. "They were sent by His Majesty."

"Heh heh," Zhang Xixian said with a cold laugh. "Perhaps His Majesty wants my prince to strike!"

"Surely not..."

Zhang Xixian said with a smile, "Your Eminence, a gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall... a little caution can do no great harm, can it?"

"Well said," Fulin said, pressing his palms together. "This humble monk thanks you."

"A trifle, a trifle," Zhang Xixian said. "You are His Highness's honored guest. If you were truly dragged into it, it would be troublesome for me as well!"

After seeing Fute Lama to his destination, Zhang Xixian returned to his Provost office. He had barely arrived when he saw two princely residence guards waiting there.

The guards brought the Third Prince Zhu's order for him to enter the residence at once for an audience.

Zhang Xixian did not dare delay, and immediately followed the guards to the residence, where in the residence's study he met the Third Prince Zhu, Zhu Cijiong.

"Let me ask you something," the Third Prince Zhu said with a smile. "Any news of Fulin lately?"

"Fulin? No." Zhang Xixian shook his head. "Your Highness, why do you think of him?"

"It is not I who think of him, but my imperial brother the Emperor." The Third Prince Zhu said, "He wants to use Fulin's appearance in the northwest to fabricate a treason case, and sweep in all the Manchu Qing remnants in Heilongjiang and Andong, catching them all in one net!"

"But how could Fulin appear in the northwest?"

"If the Emperor thinks he will, then he will!" the Third Prince Zhu said with a smile. "The Emperor believes that the Zunghar Khanate and the Khoshut Khanate in the northwest absorbed many remnants of the Eight Banners Mongols and Khorchin Mongols in their early years, and that among them there must still be Manchu remnants... The recent unrest in the northwest must be connected to them, and Fulin is very likely in the northwest, secretly pulling the strings.

Of course, all of this is nonsense! But you still have to find a Shunzhi for the Emperor!"

The Third Prince Zhu knew that all this was Zhu Cilang's fantasy — because the one stirring up trouble in the northwest was himself! Fulin had nothing to do with it at all; how could Fulin possibly be in the northwest?

As for the matter of Manchu Qing remnants fleeing to the northwest to join the Mongols, the Third Prince Zhu knew of it too. But he did not think those people could stir up much of a fuss.

Because the great power of the two Mongol kingdoms, Zunghar and Khoshut, was firmly held in the hands of the khan families.

"Your Highness, you know yourself that it is nonsense," Zhang Xixian said. "Then where do you expect this humble officer to find a Shunzhi?"

"That is easy," the Third Prince Zhu said with a smile. "Just find a condemned prisoner in the Provost prison to fill the role. A bandit, horse thief, or rapist will do... give him some settlement money for his family, have him confess to being Shunzhi, and it is done."

Zhang Xixian said with a smile, "Your Highness is wise indeed. This humble officer will arrange it at once."

The Third Prince Zhu instructed, "Remember, give enough silver to buy his life... he must not recant once he reaches Yingtian Prefecture!"

(End of Chapter)