Chapter 910: Jin Dodo, You're Dreaming Too Much! (Please Subscribe)

"Your subject Yi Hong, King of Joseon, respectfully inquires after the sacred health of the Great Qing Emperor. Long live my emperor, ten thousand, ten thousand—"

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Who is the Great Qing Emperor?"

Inside Hanyang, within Changdeok Palace, Jin Dodo, sitting cross-legged, waved a hand and cut off the words of Yi Hong, King of Joseon, who was kowtowing and declaring himself a subject while tears streamed down his face.

Yi Hong, who had been prostrate and weeping, froze. He raised his head and stared fixedly at Jin Dodo, who looked like a great bear. Jin Dodo was not wearing the everyday robes of a Great Qing emperor, but rather a Ming-dynasty python robe, with a black gauze official's cap perched on his head. He truly did not look like a Great Qing emperor.

Jin Dodo looked at Yi Hong and grinned. "We are not the Great Qing Emperor. We are the Grand Protector of Andong of the Great Ming, Prince Jin. We have sent troops into Joseon to chastise the unfaithful!"

"Unfaithful? Who is unfaithful?" Yi Hong was stunned again and again.

Jin Dodo pointed at Yi Hong and said with a chuckle, "You! You are the unfaithful one!"

"Me? How—how am I unfaithful?" Yi Hong's face was full of wounded innocence.

Jin Dodo said with a smile, "We are a vassal of the Great Ming. And you? Are you a vassal of the Great Ming?"

"I—I—I am a vassal of the Great Ming!" Yi Hong said.

Jin Dodo thrust out a palm. "The treaty, then? Bring it out and let us see it!"

"Treaty? What treaty?" Yi Hong was still dazed.

"The Treaty of Suzerainty and Vassalage proving you are a vassal of the Great Ming!" Jin Dodo asked. "Do you have one?"

"I—I—" Yi Hong was stammering as he spoke. "I truly am a vassal of the Great Ming! This Treaty of Suzerainty and Vassalage is under negotiation—perhaps it has already been signed. I sent Song Siyeol to the Great Ming to negotiate it."

"So you don't have one!" Jin Dodo said with a laugh. "And that old man Song Siyeol could never have negotiated it through. We have heard that he raised territorial demands in Nanjing. How could the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming possibly agree? You can forget about it. Just obediently surrender to Us, and hand over the throne of Joseon to Our nephew Jin Erbo. He will go and sign the Treaty of Suzerainty and Vassalage himself."

Jin Erbo was Dorgon's adopted son, Dodo's fifth son, and also Jin Dongzhu's nominal brother. He was only twelve years old this year—a mere brat—yet he had already been reserved for the throne of Joseon.

"What?" Yi Hong's mouth gaped wide open. He could scarcely believe his own ears.

So this bandit Jin Dodo did not merely want him to declare himself a subject—he wanted to seize Joseon's three thousand li of splendid rivers and mountains!

"This cannot be allowed." Yi Hong shook his head like a rattle-drum. "I do not agree! The yangban nobles of Joseon and the common people of the Eight Provinces will not agree either!"

"You will agree!" Jin Dodo said with a smile. "How could you not agree? Did not Wang Yo, King Gongyang of Goryeo, also hand over the throne to your ancestor Yi Seong-gye? Where in the world is there a dynasty that does not fall? What harm is there in your yielding the throne now to Our nephew?

But you may rest assured: We are a vassal of the Great Ming, a land of rites and propriety, and We are reasonable. So long as you are willing to yield the kingdom, We will send you to the Great Ming to live out your retirement. Then you need not worry about meeting the same fate as King Gongyang and having your life taken.

As for the yangban nobles and the people of the Eight Provinces—We will personally carry out benevolent governance and win the hearts of the people! Oh, We have already thought of several measures. Give Us your counsel.

Once the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming has enfeoffed Jin Erbo as king, We will issue edicts in Jin Erbo's name. First, redistribute land to the yangban and commoners of the Eight Provinces—the yangban receiving a little more, the commoners a little less. Second, yangban and commoners alike shall pay grain taxes. Third, legitimate and illegitimate sons of the yangban shall be equal, and all may sit the civil examinations and enter office as officials. Fourth, abolish the status of the low-born and slaves. Fifth, lift the maritime ban and permit merchants and commoners to go to sea to make a living. Sixth, abolish conscription and switch to volunteer recruitment. What do you think? Is Our nephew not the foremost benevolent ruler since the founding of Haedong?"

Yi Hong's face had turned green. Jin Dodo's "Six New Policies" could be said to sweep away all the accumulated ills of Joseon's two hundred and more years!

Moreover, the beneficiaries of these "Six New Policies" were many, while the only ones harmed were the legitimate-born sons of the yangban nobility. The illegitimate sons born of the same yangban stock were the group that benefited most. These people originally had no right to sit the civil or military examinations; at most they could take the miscellaneous examinations and become petty clerks. Now that they could stand equal with the legitimate yangban lines, how could they not support the Jin dynasty?

Although the legitimate yangban lines, unwilling to lose their privileges, would surely resist, in the face of Jin Dodo's great army their resistance would be no more than eggs dashed against stone.

Who would have thought that this Jin Dodo only appeared coarse and vulgar, yet was in fact full of scheming!

Yi Hong roared, "There is still the Celestial Court, the superior state! The Celestial Court will not agree either!"

Jin Dodo said with a smile, "If you had signed the Treaty of Suzerainty and Vassalage, the superior state certainly would not agree. But you have not signed it. Without a signed treaty, you are an independent kingdom. We, as Grand Protector of Andong of the Great Ming, enter the country and seize the throne—that is expanding territory. Therefore the Celestial Court will certainly enfeoff Jin Erbo. And Jin Erbo's elder sister is a favored consort of the Son of Heaven. How could he not be enfeoffed?"

"You—you are dreaming!" Yi Hong shouted. "The Son of Heaven is besieging Beijing right now. Once Beijing falls, he will turn east on campaign. Then you will not even hold Shenyang, let alone Joseon!"

Jin Dodo burst out laughing. "Shenyang is Shenyang, and Joseon is Joseon. Once the Treaty of Suzerainty and Vassalage is signed, Jin Erbo's throne in Joseon is secure. All the Son of Heaven can take from me is my post of Grand Protector of Andong. But so long as the Jin dynasty faithfully observes the duties of a vassal, Joseon's three thousand li of rivers and mountains cannot be stripped away!"

"You are talking nonsense!" Yi Hong said through gritted teeth. "I don't believe it!"

Jin Dodo waved a hand, and his attendants placed before Yi Hong an already-drafted Edict of Abdication.

"Yi Hong, so long as you sign the 'edict'—once Jin Erbo has concluded the treaty with the Celestial Court, We will release you to Nanjing to enjoy your retirement. Sign it quickly. Don't dawdle!"

Yi Hong snorted. "Sign I shall. The Celestial Court will surely uphold justice for me!"

What Yi Hong, King of Joseon, never imagined was that Jin Dodo had long since sent men to Shanghai to hire the finest litigation master, Jin Ruocai, as his "legal advisor," and had long since thoroughly grasped the Great Ming's current suzerain-vassal legal code—relations between the Great Ming and foreign vassals had to be based on the Treaty of Suzerainty and Vassalage. Without a treaty, no suzerain-vassal relationship existed. And whoever signed the treaty on behalf of the vassal and performed the duties of a vassal would enjoy the rights of a vassal.

The first of the vassal's rights was that the vassal's right to rule his own vassal state was protected by the suzerain!

And Zhu Cilang was famously a man of his word. Either he would not accept the submission of Joseon's Jin dynasty, or he would certainly abide by the provisions of the Treaty of Suzerainty and Vassalage.

Now, the Edict of Abdication signed by Yi Hong and stamped with the royal seal of the King of Joseon was delivered to the army headquarters at Tongzhou by Dodo's eldest son Jin Lanzhu and Su Ganglin of the Suwan clan, Prefect of Shenyang.

Amid the ceaseless roar of cannon fire and explosions, the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming, in his temporary palace, beheld the original of the Edict of Abdication.

"Song Siyeol! Come look—is this the King of Joseon's own hand?" Zhu Cilang summoned the Joseon envoy Song Siyeol before him and had him examine the original edict.

Song Siyeol had originally been in Nanjing negotiating with the Grand Secretariat of the Great Ming. Only after hearing that Dodo had surrounded Namhansanseong did he rush to Tongzhou in a panic, hoping to ask the Great Ming to send troops.

Who could have known that within days of his arrival in Tongzhou, Jin Dodo's envoys would arrive bearing Yi Hong's Edict of Abdication?

The so-called "edict" was the formal name for a royal decree of the King of Joseon.

Song Siyeol hastily took it and examined it, and found that the signature and seal on the edict were both genuine!

"Your Majesty," Song Siyeol said, "the signature on the edict may be genuine, but it was signed by our great king under duress. It cannot count! I beg Your Majesty to uphold justice for our great king!"

Zhu Cilang was rather troubled. How was he supposed to uphold justice? This envoy had gone round and round with Wei Zaode in Nanjing and refused to give up his territorial demands. Now that the kingdom had fallen, he suddenly remembered the Great Ming—was the Great Ming a fool to be taken advantage of?

"Your Majesty," Su Ganglin said, "since ancient times, no one has ever abdicated a kingdom willingly! Being forced to abdicate is still abdication, and it is still a loss of virtue. How can it be said not to count? When the Yi dynasty replaced Goryeo, did it not use force? What the Yi dynasty could do, why can our Jin dynasty not do?"

"Your Jin dynasty is a barbarian caitiff!" Song Siyeol loudly accused.

Su Ganglin said, "Our Jin clan is an inner vassal of the Great Ming. How could we possibly be barbarian caitiffs? An inner vassal of the Great Ming pacifies the unfaithful kingdom of Joseon and is acclaimed king by the Joseon people—what is improper about that!" He kowtowed to Zhu Cilang. "Your Majesty, our Joseon Jin dynasty is willing to sign the Treaty of Suzerainty and Vassalage and be a vassal of the Great Ming for generations. We beg Your Majesty's gracious approval!"

"Hmph!" Zhu Cilang gave a cold snort. "Jin Dodo's wishful thinking is truly something! We... approve it!"

(End of Chapter)