Di Ming

Chapter 354 "Gillian's mother, I've finally seen you again."

Having urinated all over his adoptive father, Mr. Zhihu, the historical Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty suddenly grinned and kicked his little legs vigorously.

"Haha! My Zhu Yi (son)!" Zhu Yin was amused. "As soon as Gu Chu Ama (godfather) hugs you, you pee on Gu Chu Ama. We father and son are truly destined for each other."

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

It was only then that Zhu Yin noticed a familiar jade pendant hanging around Hong Taiji's neck. It was the gift he had given to Nurhaci for Hong Taiji: the Green Bat Jade.

Legend has it that this jade pendant belonged to Yuan Tiangang, the Grand Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty, and was bestowed upon him by Emperor Taizong. It is indeed a fine piece.

Zhu Yin seemed to really like the Imperial Red Taiji. He held the child high and said, "This is a blessed child. Mother Buddha and Laozi will protect you."

Then Zhu Yin said to Kangxi, "Kangxi, please give the gifts I have prepared to the young men and women here, and the ladies will also receive some."

"Yes!" Kangxi immediately took the gifts that had been prepared in advance from the carriage, including pearl flowers, brocade, embroidered shoes, milk candy, milk powder and other rare and good things.

Among them, the gifts given to Dongguo and Hong Taiji were particularly valuable, because Zhu Yin was their adoptive father, so it was natural to show that they were different.

Next, Zhu Yin and the others entered the Prince's Mansion to attend the welcoming banquet hosted by the Jurchens.

Zhu Yin had just entered the Prince's residence when Eidu, looking excited, returned in high spirits.

“Ezhen, I like you, Beile. Wangjia City has been captured, and the Wanyan tribe has been taken! This servant has returned ahead of time to report the good news. He Heli has led his army back with several thousand prisoners from the Wanyan tribe.”

Nurhaci laughed and said, "Today is indeed a good day for Jianzhou. Not only have the Little Tiger Brothers arrived, but Wangjia City has also been captured."

At this time, although Nurhaci was the governor of Jianzhou, he had not yet completely unified Jianzhou, only five of the eight tribes. In recent years, although he had been attacking the Wanyan tribe, he had not been able to completely annex it due to the constraints imposed by the Haixi Jurchens (the four Hulun tribes).

The Wanyan tribe was originally the strongest of the eight Jianzhou tribes, but it has been fragmented over the years and was eventually brought to power by Nurhaci.

Nurhaci's plan to send troops to Korea this time was, of course, to completely annihilate the Wanyan tribe, so that they would not be allowed to threaten his homeland. Therefore, as soon as he returned to Jianzhou some time ago, he ordered Heheli and Eidu to lead troops to attack Wangjia City, the main city of the Wanyan tribe.

After half a month of attack, the remaining forces of the Wanyan tribe were wiped out, their leader was killed, and the tribe was captured.

When Mehe and Niman, the Jurchen guards who followed Zhu Yin, heard about the destruction of the Wanyan tribe, they became somewhat anxious.

Although they were from the Wanyan tribe, they didn't care about the life or death of the tribal chief; what they cared about were the Wanyan family members.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yin immediately asked with concern, "Near Qiji City of the Wanyan tribe, there is a place called Maldun Village. The family there is a friend of mine. I wonder how they are doing?"

In recent years, Zhu Yin had sent people there to deliver gifts to Bo Luoli, Jilan, and others.

Eidu said, "I like you, Prince. Rest assured, the Jurchen population is small and precious. The warriors won't kill indiscriminately; they are all Jianzhou people. They should have been captured. We'll find out once Heheli leads his army back."

Zhu Yin, Meh, Niman, and the others were finally relieved.

Ning Qingchen didn't understand much Jurchen, but she seemed to sense something and couldn't help but ask, "Little Tiger, ask them if Jilan's mother and her family are alright?"

Zhu Yin said, "Don't be in a hurry, you'll know soon enough."

Nurhaci suddenly said, "Little Tiger Brother, we are about to launch an attack, and I have just captured the entire Wanyan tribe. We should hold a grand ceremony. Tomorrow, I would like to invite Little Tiger Brother to preside over the ceremony."

Zhu Yin immediately nodded: "Okay!"

He originally intended to go to the temple to worship Mother Buddha and Master Cuohazhan.

His goal was simple: to win over the hearts of the Jianzhou people, solidify their goodwill towards him, and reinforce the image of "I like the Prince" in their minds. Of course, besides the sacrificial ceremony, he also wanted to bestow favors upon the Jianzhou Jurchens this time, making them even more willing to fight for him.

When Nurhaci offered to invite him to preside over the sacrificial ceremony, it was exactly what he wanted to do, so how could he refuse?
It's not surprising that Zhu Yin presided over the Jurchen's sacrificial ceremony. He was not only a benefactor and patron of the Jianzhou Jurchens, but also considered one of their own, and a high-ranking imperial envoy representing the Ming Dynasty.

...

Early the next morning, the Jianzhou Jurchen army outside the city began to assemble.

Zhu Yin and Nurhaci led a large number of Jurchen nobles to the Tangzi Temple in the western part of the Beile Mansion, and more and more people followed behind.

Interestingly, because the Jurchens loved dogs and enjoyed walking them, the city's dogs also came, numbering over a thousand, leaping and bounding about in a spectacular display. For a time, the barking of dogs was deafening.

The temple in Faara was very large and was dedicated to many deities, with Mother Phodow and Lord Cuohaja as the chief deities.

Zhu Yin knew that at this time, the Jurchen tribes had not yet established a state, and their temples did not worship the celestial god 'Abukaenduli (Azure Sky)', which symbolized imperial power. Historically, the practice of using the celestial god as the highest deity in temples would not have occurred until Yezhupi established the Later Jin dynasty.

At this time, only the Sologanzi worshipped the gods, not the Tangzi.

Therefore, at present, Buddha Mother and Cuoha Zhanye are the highest deities worshipped in Tangzi Temple.

When the high priestess, whose face was covered by deerskin, saw Zhu Yin, she immediately began to perform a 'dance ritual' while shaking her ritual implements, and Zhu Yin also bowed to the shamaness.

As soon as the shaman lady started dancing, the young shamans immediately burned incense and mugwort.

Today, in the solemn and dignified hall, one can see many statues of gods on the west wall. The largest one is riding a chestnut horse, wearing armor, with silkworm eyebrows, phoenix eyes, and a red face. He holds a green dragon crescent blade and is none other than the war god worshipped by the Jurchen people: Cuoha Zhanye.

The shaman lady, shaking her sacred drum and performing a sacred dance, stepped forward, raised a bronze mirror, and said:
"I love you, Prince, for your pure and devout heart is like the snow on the white mountain. But please accept my baptism of light and prepare to preside over the ceremony."

Zhu Yin nodded, stood still, spread his arms, and chanted in the Jurchen language:
"Wives of the shaman, who are blessed with divine knowledge and deeply trusted by people both in the forest and by the water, please cleanse me of my dust and filth."

So the shaman lady shook a sacred drum in one hand and held a bronze mirror in the other, dancing around the chief priest Zhu Yin. As she danced, she used the bronze mirror to reflect Zhu Yin's entire body from head to toe.

He was muttering incantations, his eyes were blank, and with the smoke of mugwort swirling around him, he looked very mysterious.

She stopped abruptly when she was sweating profusely from jumping, shuddering, and said, "Alright, sir, you are as pure as an infant. Please come in."

Immediately afterwards, several Jurchen men carried a live black pig, fresh deer antlers, ginseng with soil and leaves, brocade from the Central Plains, and blue and white porcelain.

Indeed, among these offerings, there must now be brocade and porcelain from the Ming Dynasty. This is the so-called "offering no brocade to Heaven will surely incur divine retribution."

Besides these offerings, there were also straw figures and straw horses, which served as substitutes for human sacrifices. A hundred years ago, large-scale Jurchen sacrifices required the use of living people and horses, but because it was too barbaric and cruel, it was abolished by the Ming Dynasty. After that, straw figures and straw horses, as well as wooden figures and wooden horses, were used instead.

Zhu Yin washed his hands in a copper basin outside the hall, took the nine willow branches from the young priest, and placed them on the altar. He then took nine plates of rice cakes and nine jugs of pheasant blood wine, arranging them neatly.

Nurhaci and Shurhaci also served as deputy chief priests, one on the left and one on the right. The two of them personally went to the black pig whose four hooves were bound and carried it to the altar.

This part showcases the strength of the two men. The black pig, weighing two to three hundred pounds, was still struggling and squealing, yet the two brothers easily lifted it onto the altar. According to the customs of the Jianzhou Jurchens, anyone who couldn't lift a black pig onto the altar was not qualified to be a tribal leader.

From this perspective, Nurhaci and Shurhaci were clearly qualified, worthy of being the two great beile of the Jianzhou tribe.

Next came the "bleeding," which was essentially the slaughter of the animal. Meanwhile, firewood was lit beneath three large iron pots outside the main hall.

The shaman's wife held a water ladle, scooped up a ladle of water, and poured it into the black pig's ear. The large black pig immediately trembled. According to custom, if a pig's ear trembles, it is considered auspicious, indicating that the gods are pleased.

The question is, if you pour water into a pig's ears, won't the pig tremble?
The shaman's wife then presented a "divine knife" specifically used for bloodletting and said to Zhu Yin, "Priest, please perform the bloodletting."

Zhu Yin took the heavy butcher's knife, feeling a sense of disillusionment. He was a Han Chinese, yet today he was presiding over a Jurchen sacrificial ceremony and personally slaughtering a pig. Such treatment was a privilege reserved for nobles during the Spring and Autumn Period in the Central Plains.

Even more bizarrely, Wild Boar Skin and Little Wild Boar Skin were holding down a black pig, waiting for him, a man surnamed Zhu, to come and kill it.

At this moment, the square outside the hall was crowded with Jurchen people from the city, all looking solemnly at the hall.

Zhu Yin, holding the divine sword, walked to the large black pig that Nurhaci's brothers were holding down. The pig was squealing desperately, its voice extremely piercing. A Jurchen woman nearby said happily, "Listen to how joyfully the sacrifice is squealing! With such a loud voice, the gods will surely be pleased."

That's right, the louder the pig squeals, the more it signifies "divine pleasure".

Zhu Yin was a ruthless character who had killed many people, so why would he hesitate to kill a pig? His martial arts skills honed over the years hadn't been in vain; with a flick of his wrist, he plunged a knife into the black pig's throat. Not only was his killing swift and clean, but his movements were also graceful; he killed the pig as if he were killing an enemy.

"Pfft—" Hot pig's blood shot out from the blade and into the wooden bucket. The big black pig's high-pitched scream was abruptly cut off, and it stared at its four hooves, snorting.

Zhu Yin slaughtered the black pig with a single stroke, without a single drop of blood splattering on his body. Not only was the kill beautiful, but it was also clean.

"Good! I like how you arranged it, Prince!"

"Excellent tactic! Well executed!"

The Jurchens in the square immediately cheered. Because it was a sacrificial ceremony, they couldn't say "kill," they could only say "release."

The slaughtered black pig was immediately carried off the altar and its belly was disemboweled and cleaned.

Soon, the cleaned black pig was cut into chunks weighing several kilograms each and thrown into three large iron pots filled with boiling water.

The shaved black pig bristles were bundled together and placed on the altar. The removed pig bones and entrails were placed around the Solomon's pole to feed the divine messengers, such as ravens and magpies.

After being boiled for only 15 minutes, the pork was not even fully cooked when it was taken out, placed on a large plate, and offered before the long altar.

Next came the "distribution of sacrificial meat," which is similar to the sacrificial rites of the Central Plains.

Zhu Yin was the chief officiant, so naturally he presided over the distribution of the sacrificial meat. Holding the divine knife, he symbolically made a few cuts before ordering the meat to be distributed.

The best cuts of meat were given to the dignitaries present. For example, only Zhu Yin and Nurhaci's brothers could share the pig's head. The pig's hock was given to generals such as Eidu and Feiyangu, while the rest of the meat was distributed to ordinary people.

Next came the shamanic invocation ceremony, which lasted until Mrs. Sama danced until she fainted, then woke up to convey the divine will, and only then did the ceremony end.

The shaman lady said in a mystical tone, "Go! Nurhaci! Go, warriors of Jianzhou! Victory awaits you! Good fortune has arrived!"

...

The sacrificial ceremony had just ended when a Jurchen nobleman in his early thirties strode in and shouted:
"Your son-in-law, He Heli, is late. Please forgive me, Father Guchu!"

He approached Zhu Yin and promptly performed a curt salute, the sleeves flapping loudly, "Greetings to Father Gu Chu!"

This Jurchen man had a purplish-red face, a high and narrow nose, and two thin braids tied with brocade ribbons at the back of his head. Several pearls adorned his face, and a very old wild boar tusk hung on his left ear.

Dongguo Gege quickly introduced, "Guchu Ama (godfather), this is my husband He Heli,"

Zhu Yin already knew He Heli; there was no need for Dong Guo to introduce him. He Heli was among the intelligence targets of the Tiger Fang agents. He was a powerful figure from the Jianzhou tribe, second only to Nurhaci's brothers, the leader of the Dong'e tribe, and one of the five ministers in the history of the Later Jin dynasty.

He Heli played a crucial role in unifying the Jurchen tribes. Even now, of the 20,000 troops that the entire Jianzhou tribe could muster, 5,000 were He Heli's men.

Moreover, He Heli listened to Dongguo very much, and Nurhaci was able to firmly control the five thousand soldiers of Dong'e tribe by means of his daughter's influence.

At this moment, He Heli said loudly, "He Heli has long heard of Gu Chu Ama's great name. Now that I have met him, I understand why Dongguo often talks about him!"

Zhu Yin chuckled and said, "I am also very happy that Dongguo married a Jurchen hero like you."

He Heli was deeply grateful to Zhu Yin. It was Zhu Yin who had saved Dongguo's life years ago. Saving Dongguo was tantamount to saving himself; Zhu Yin was a benefactor of the Dong'e tribe.

He Heli said, "The reason we are a little late is because we had to escort a group of prisoners back."

Zhu Yin said, "He Heli, you've come at the right time. Where are the prisoners you brought back? Perhaps some of them are my friends..."

After hearing the names and address Zhu Yin gave, He Heli immediately turned and walked out. "Don't worry, Father Guchu, they're all here. I'll go and bring them in!"

Zhu Yin stood up and said, "No! I'll go with you!"

Then, the group left the Prince's mansion and went to the prisoner-of-war outside the city.

Although there were several thousand prisoners, the group quickly located the people of Maldun Village.

"Jilan Ama!" Ning Qingchen couldn't help but call out when he saw a familiar Jurchen woman, his face beaming with joy.

She took out the wild boar tusk that Jilan had given her years ago, "It's my duck, Qingchen!"

Upon hearing the call, Jilan searched for Ning Qingchen with her eyes. She was initially puzzled, but soon her expression turned to surprise and delight.

"Is that Princess Qingchen?! She's grown so much!"

Ning Qingchen quickly ran over and hugged the haggard-looking Jilan tightly. "Jilan, I'm so glad to see you again!"

Jilan couldn't understand Ning Qingchen's Mandarin, but she couldn't hold back her tears and hugged Ning Qingchen, saying:
"My child, I am so happy."

P.S.: I'm not feeling well today, so this is all I can update for now. Please give me your monthly votes and write reviews! Thank you, goodnight!

(End of this chapter)