Chapter 722: The Five Ministers Go Abroad

The Great Qing of today is not pursuing a closed-door policy; rather, to a certain extent it has been sealed off by the Southern Ming. It has been shut in, not shut itself in of its own accord, and so a siege mentality has set in — it desperately wants to get out and see the world.

Besides, their dealings with the English (actually Dutchmen posing as English) and the Spanish have not put them at a disadvantage either. They have brought in quite a few foreign guns, foreign cannon, and foreign officers, and using them against the Mongols has been devastatingly effective!

Under these circumstances, Dorgon, Fan Wencheng, and even the little Shunzhi Emperor sitting beside Bumbutai all wanted to learn more about the outside world. Oh, the little Shunzhi Emperor would soon change his mind. Because Princess Dongguo, who was about to arrive at the detached palace on Laoshan outside Nanjing, would before long send Shunzhi a copy of Elementary French.

Not yet knowing that he would soon have to study French — and that he could not afford to do worse at it than his poet brother Gaosai — Shunzhi could not help interjecting this time: "Why are they all men from the two Green Banners? Are the other banners sending no one?"

"Emperor!" Bumbutai snapped.

Shunzhi promptly shut his mouth and, like a child who had done something wrong, looked timidly at Dorgon.

"He has a point," Dorgon said, feeling that Shunzhi's words were not without merit. "Then add three more. All three shall be old Manchus — one recommended by the two Red Banners, one by the Bordered Blue Banner, and one sent by the two Yellow Banners. That rounds it out nicely. This will be the Five Ministers Going Abroad!"

As for the two White Banners and the Plain Blue Banner, they were the territory of Dorgon and his two brothers, and Fan Yongdou of the Bordered Green Banner (the Bordered Green also belonged to Dorgon) was enough to represent them.

Bumbutai raised no objection, only asking, "Who exactly is to be sent?"

"We will discuss that at tomorrow's Deliberative Council of Princes." Dorgon was already somewhat weary, and waved a hand at Fan Wencheng and Ning Wanwo. "The two of you will have to put in some effort and prepare a plan for the mission abroad. It will be needed at tomorrow's Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers."

The Great Qing was still under the regency of the Imperial Ama plus a joint council of nine banners (the Bordered Green Banner did not take part in the council), so the Deliberative Princes and Ministers qualified to participate in the council numbered eight (Dorgon himself representing the Plain White Banner). At their head was Jirgalang, banner lord of the Bordered Blue Banner. He had originally been a co-regent Prince alongside Dorgon, but Dorgon had now been elevated to Imperial Ama, while he had been demoted to Deliberative Prince — though he remained first among the eight Deliberative Princes.

Besides ranking first among the eight Deliberative Princes, his Bordered Blue Banner had also been granted a "fief" — the yamen of the Bordered Blue Banner garrison's Angbang Zhangjing at Kaifeng Prefecture! This yamen administered not only military affairs but also the civilian population. Kaifeng Prefecture had no Prefect; the garrison Angbang Zhangjing was the Prefect!

The Great Qing now also appointed no Governors, and the provinces had been hollowed out into mere geographical names with no corresponding yamens. The prefectures and departments within the Pass were of two kinds: first, directly administered prefectures and departments, that is, those under the direct control of the Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers; and second, banner-affiliated prefectures and departments, that is, those under the jurisdiction of the nine banners' garrison Angbang Zhangjing yamens.

The directly administered prefectures and departments were concentrated mainly in the former Northern Metropolitan Region, forming the "heartland" of the Great Qing, while the banner-affiliated prefectures and departments stood at the frontier.

The Bordered Blue Banner received Kaifeng Prefecture; the Plain Blue Banner received Henan Prefecture; the Plain White Banner received Pingyang Prefecture; the Bordered White Banner received Taiyuan Prefecture; the Plain Red Banner received Ruzhou; the Bordered Red Banner received Daming Prefecture; the Plain Yellow Banner received Zhangde Prefecture; the Bordered Yellow Banner received Weihui Prefecture; the Plain Green Banner received Jibei (administering Jinan Prefecture north of the Daqing River), the Eastern Depot (administering the areas west of the Grand Canal and north of the Daqing River in the Eastern Depot and Yanzhou Prefectures), and Guide — three prefectures in all; and the Bordered Green Banner received Datong Prefecture.

The territory within the Pass still directly administered by the Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers now consisted only of Shuntian Prefecture, Yongping Prefecture, Xuanfu, Baoding Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, Zhending Prefecture, Shunde Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, Lu'an Prefecture, Liaozhou, Fenzhou, Qinzhou, and Zezhou — nine prefectures and four departments. Moreover, within these nine prefectures and four departments there were still 20 million mu of banner land. After subtracting the banner land under the management of the Eight Banners' Gushan Ejen yamens (all land belonging to the old Eight Banners), the remaining roughly 25 million mu was the land that paid taxes to the Qing court. The land tax had now risen to six fen of flour per mu, and 25 million mu could yield roughly 1.5 million shi of flour.

The Bordered Green Banner, which occupied Datong Prefecture, was exempt from military service and therefore had to pay exemption money and grain, roughly 180,000 shi of flour a year, which also counted as revenue for the Qing court.

The nine great imperial merchants all had to pay tax farming dues to the Qing court; the salt tax from the Xiezhou salt fields in Pingyang Prefecture also belonged to the Qing court; the customs revenue from the Jinzhou border market beyond the Pass likewise belonged to the Great Qing; and the directly administered nine prefectures and four departments also produced some commercial tax revenue. All told, the annual income came to about 1.5 million taels of silver.

In addition, the various banners of the Mongols beyond the Pass, in Monan, and among the Khalkha (not affiliated with the ten banners) all had to pay tribute to the Qing court in cattle, sheep, horses, furs, eastern pearls, ginseng, and the like.

These tribute goods had originally been worth little and could only be exported in small quantities through the Jinzhou border market, but now there was suddenly a new outlet for export to Spain — and one that could be exchanged for the guns and cannon the Great Qing urgently needed. This got all eight Deliberative Princes excited.

"Imperial Ama, since the furs from beyond the Pass can be traded for cannon and muskets, we absolutely must cultivate good relations with this Spain. We cannot afford to lose such a great customer."

Prince Zheng, Jirgalang, first among the eight princes, was the first to state his position. "My Bordered Blue Banner can send Minister of Works Lan Bai on this trip. He is thoroughly familiar with the affairs of the Solon people and should prove useful."

Tunggiya Lan Bai was a veteran general of the Bordered Blue Banner. During Hong Taiji's reign he had been ordered to campaign against the Solon tribes and had stormed the fortress of Yaksa.

"Prince Li, whom do your two Red Banners recommend?" Dorgon then asked Prince Li, Mandahai, who had just inherited Daishan's title.

Daishan had died the previous winter, and his seventh son Mandahai had inherited the princely title and the position of Plain Red Banner lord. The Bordered Red Banner lord, Commandery Prince Duoluo Pingbi, Luokeduo, was Daishan's great-grandson, two generations below Mandahai, and naturally had to obey Mandahai. So Dorgon did not bother asking Luokeduo, who was also a Deliberative Prince, but asked Mandahai directly.

"Imperial Ama, let Duke Feng'en Zhenguo, Dulan, make the trip!" Mandahai said. "It is about time he went out to gain some experience and see the world."

Dulan was Daishan's grandson and Mandahai's nephew. His elder brother Lekedehun was a fierce general of the Plain Red Banner and had been enfeoffed as Commandery Prince Shuncheng, but Dulan himself was the sort who just muddled along waiting to die.

"Very well," Dorgon said, having no objection. "Let Dulan make the trip. As for the two Yellow Banners, shall we send Sonin?"

The banner lord of the two Yellow Banners was the little emperor Shunzhi, who was currently teaching himself New Mathematics and had no time to discuss affairs of state, so the Imperial Ama Dorgon made the decision for him.

He said with a smile, "Sonin is proficient in four languages — Manchu, Chinese, Mongol, and Tibetan — which shows he has a quick mind and is good at learning foreign tongues. That skill will be put to good use. Let him study Japanese (the Spanish language) during the mission, and by the time he reaches Europe he will be able to converse with the people there."

Sonin was in for some serious studying! A trip to Europe took only half a year to a year, and he would have to learn Spanish in that time!

Dorgon then continued, "Lan Bai, Dulan, Sonin, Fan Yongdou, and one Shang Ke'ai — five in all. All shall be Imperial Commissioners and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Western Ocean. This is the Five Ministers Going Abroad!

If none of you has any objection, the matter is settled! If there is nothing else, today's Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers is adjourned."

"Imperial Ama!" Bolo, son of Abatai, was the Deliberative Prince representing the Plain Blue Banner and also Minister of War. "Early this morning the Ministry of War received a report from the Shengjing General's office, saying that a clash with the Japanese had occurred on Sakhalin Island."

"What? Sakhalin? Japanese?" Dorgon was taken aback. "How did that happen? We just concluded a big deal with them — how did it come to a clash?"

"Oh, Imperial Ama, these Japanese are not those Japanese — not the Westerners, but people of the country of Japan," Bolo said. "The Shengjing General's office reports that when the Nurgan Meiren Zhangjing yamen on the lower Heilong River sent men to Sakhalin to collect sable pelts, the natives of Sakhalin reported that Japanese had built a fort in the southern part of the island. Cavalry were sent to investigate, and they discovered a stockade built by the Japanese. A clash with the Japanese ensued, and several men were killed."

Recommending a new book: Paper Tiger's Imperial Son-in-law, Please Stop. Wanli Year Ten, the famed minister Zhang Juzheng is dying but not yet dead, the great commander Qi, whose might awed the ages, is already in his twilight, and the young Son of Heaven, frustrated for twenty years, is just about to make his mark!

(End of Chapter)