Chapter 918: A New Beginning, New Troubles (Please Subscribe)

At the end of the eleventh month of the eighth year of Hongxing in the Great Ming, in Joseon, at Hanyang.

The capital of the Joseon kingdom, which had undergone a "change of surname," had now recovered its former vitality and prosperity. The streets were bustling and crowded, filled everywhere with Joseon scholars in Daoist robes and Confucian caps, along with their attendants and servants.

After changing masters, this Joseon royal capital not only lacked any sense of a fallen kingdom's desolation, it had actually become a paradise for Joseon's scholars and talents.

It turned out that the yangban scholars of Joseon's eight provinces had been making their way to the royal capital of Hanyang in a steady stream since the start of winter — they were coming to the capital to sit the examinations!

According to the second edict formally issued by the Great King of Joseon's Jin dynasty, Jin Erbo, after his enthronement, beginning in the eighth year of Hongxing, the sons of concubines among the yangban would enjoy the same treatment as sons of principal wives on the path to heaven through official appointment by examination!

In addition, the Great King Jin announced in this edict that a grand examination would be held in the second month of the ninth year of Hongxing. All talents of the eight provinces, so long as they were of yangban origin, whether born of principal wives or concubines, could participate, and all would be treated equally, with officials selected solely on merit.

To ensure the fairness of this grand examination, the Great King Jin would also invite officials from the Great Ming, the father state, to come to Hanyang to grade the papers — the father state's officials would not know anything about the Andong Kim clan or the Jeonju Yi clan; they would only know good writing from bad and strong martial skill from weak (Joseon examinations were divided into civil and military branches).

Therefore, yangban sons of high ability, regardless of family standing, regardless of principal or concubine birth, would all have the chance to ascend to Injeongjeon Hall in Changdeokgung Palace and become the pride of the Joseon kingdom!

Moreover, in his third edict, the Great King Jin announced that, apart from the local officials of the three capitals — the royal capital Hanyang, the central capital Kaesong, and the western capital Pyongyang — all local officials throughout the rest of Joseon's eight provinces would be selected exclusively through the examinations. All officials belonging to the State Council, from the ministers of the Six Boards downward, would likewise be selected exclusively through the examinations.

In other words, the first grand examination of Joseon's Jin dynasty, to be held in the spring of the ninth year of Hongxing, would produce most of the officials of the State Council and the eight provinces' local administrations — Joseon might be only a tributary state of the Celestial Court, but though the sparrow is small, it has all five organs; the officials under the Six Boards and eight provinces numbered in the tens of thousands! All those offices were to be filled by a single examination.

How high the "success rate" would be!

For those sons of concubines among the yangban of Joseon's eight provinces, who could never hold their heads up before the sons of principal wives, the grand examination of the ninth year of Hongxing was the beginning of their journey of life's reversal!

Anyone who did not go to Hanyang to sit the examination would truly be a fool; if they missed this chance, getting an official post afterward would not be so easy.

As for the dynastic change from Yi to Kim — well, this was the fall of a state, not the fall of the world! The last king of the Yi dynasty had issued an "Edict of Abdication," and the Great King of the Jin dynasty had been formally invested by the Celestial Court above. This was a dynastic change with all procedures complete — what did it have to do with the yangban concubine sons whom the Yi dynasty had never favored? So the examinations still had to be sat!

And the Great King Jin had said in his edict that discriminating against concubine sons was not in accord with Confucian rules, because the ancient sage Confucius himself was born of a concubine. This was not nonsense — it had been confirmed by consulting the Duke of Yansheng's mansion in the Celestial Court.

See how wise the Great King of the Jin dynasty was! At a glance, one could tell he was a benevolent and righteous enlightened ruler thoroughly versed in the Confucian classics!

So by the end of the eleventh month of the eighth year of Hongxing, the small city of Hanyang was already packed full of Joseon scholars waiting to pass the examinations and take office.

On the streets of this "city of scholars," mounted warriors occasionally passed by. The warriors on horseback were all dressed in the manner of Ming cavalry, usually without hats, so that the Joseon people on Hanyang's streets could clearly see the topknots on their heads.

But today the attire of these mounted warriors was somewhat unusual — every one of them was dressed in mourning hemp, and their horses moved faster than usual! The urgent jangling of the horses' bridle bells rang out, and the Joseon commoners and scholars on the streets had no choice but to dodge in panic. Fortunately, no one was hurt by the galloping horses.

Watching the mourning-clad riders gallop toward Changdeokgung Palace, everyone was full of questions.

Were they rushing off to attend a funeral? Who had died? Would it affect next spring's examination?

Changdeokgung Palace, Seonjeongjeon Hall.

The moment one entered Seonjeong Gate, while still in the courtyard, one could hear weeping like thunder.

It was Dodo and his good brother, the great monk Ajige, weeping in each other's arms!

How heartbroken they wept! Back when Nurhaci died, the two brothers had not cried like this!

Both brothers had put on mourning clothes and sat cross-legged before a spirit tablet, weeping. On the spirit tablet were just four characters: "The Great Deceased Emperor." The so-called Great Deceased Emperor was the title for an emperor after death and before a posthumous name was established. In theory, within the present realm of the Great Ming, for such a spirit tablet to appear could only mean that Zhu Cilang was dead!

But this spirit tablet was certainly not prepared for Zhu Cilang, because Zhu Cilang was alive and well, healthy in body, eating with great appetite — he had no need of a spirit tablet at all.

Besides, if Zhu Cilang really were gone, Dodo and Ajige would not be able to weep!

So this Great Deceased Emperor was not Zhu Cilang, but rather Shunzhi, who had "escaped by fire." The news of Shunzhi's death and the complete end of the Great Qing state had been brought three days earlier by the great monk Ajige.

Ajige had not followed Dodo out through the pass; instead, he had remained at Jieshi Mountain to continue guarding Dorgon's tomb — before taking Beijing, Emperor Zhu's army had not advanced toward Shanhai Pass, and Dodo's forces had withdrawn completely, so Jieshi Mountain was a vacuum zone.

After the news of Beijing's fall and Shunzhi's reduction to ashes reached Jieshi Mountain, Ajige knew he could no longer remain there chanting sutras for Dorgon, so he had no choice but to have Dorgon's coffin dug up and bring it by water route to Joseon — Dorgon was the ruthless man who had "dug up the Confucian Grove" (Dorgon was wronged!), so how could Ajige dare leave his coffin at Jieshi Mountain?

Apart from Dorgon's coffin, what Ajige brought to the Joseon royal capital was the grievous news that the Great Qing state had gone completely cold and Shunzhi had turned to flying ash.

Dodo certainly would not shed tears for Shunzhi, but the complete loss of the Great Qing state truly grieved him!

What a fine Great Qing it was! How could it just be gone? Not even a scrap left. No, there were still scraps! Dodo himself was a very large scrap of the Great Qing!

With the Great Qing inside the pass gone, could Dodo's power outside the pass last long?

Just thinking about it made him want to weep!

When the remnants of the Great Qing inside and outside Hanyang got the news, they all came dressed in mourning hemp. Those of lower status knelt outside Seonjeongjeon Hall weeping, while those of higher status entered the "small hall" to weep alongside Dodo and Ajige.

When Dodo saw that the mourners were all assembled, he let out a long sigh and stopped weeping.

Once he stopped, the others also gradually stopped, all watching him with anxious hearts — this Prince Jin must not get hot-headed and try to inherit the Great Qing imperial throne!

At this moment Dodo spoke: "Gentlemen, the Great Qing is gone, completely gone, and likely will never exist again! But the matter between us and the Ming is not yet finished!"

Not yet finished?

The Great Qing remnants present all felt a chill in their hearts, yet none could say anything, because everyone knew the Great Ming would not tolerate the fertile lands outside the pass being controlled long-term by the remnants of the Great Qing state.

So the struggle between the two sides was not yet over!

It was just that this was no longer a struggle between Ming and Qing for the central authority of the Celestial Court, but a struggle between the Great Ming court and the Andong military governorate.

Dodo exhaled and spoke again: "There will still be a few years of peace. After all, we carry the signboard of a military governorate, and in Sichuan there is still a Son of Heaven of the Shun! The Zhu Ming will most likely deal with Sichuan first, and the outside-the-pass region later. As for Joseon's three thousand li of rivers and mountains, if we manage it well, we can probably pass it down."

"My Prince, relying only on the two territories outside the pass and Joseon will not withstand the court's great army! And now the Great Ming is at the height of its momentum, so we cannot openly oppose the Celestial Court! The best plan now is to use the three Khalkha Mongol tribes to draw the Great Ming's attention and win breathing room for ourselves."

Dodo looked up and saw that the one making the suggestion was Prince Wu Keshan of Khorchin. The Khorchin tribe of the Mongols had surrendered to Nurhaci very early and served as the Great Qing's guide party on the steppe, harming both the Great Ming and the legitimate Mongol Chahar, and likewise greatly displeasing the three Khalkha Mongol tribes. So at this moment when the Great Qing had formally closed its doors, Wu Keshan still followed Dodo closely without wavering.

(End of Chapter)