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Chapter Ten
Negotiations
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Earth -414 IR1. Northern Yuan Empire
4 Ding Wei (24th of May 1431)
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Beijing Main Imperial Palace entry
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Sun was quite adamant.
- Nobody, on our side, wants to get rid of you. Changing the Emperor would be, in the current circumstances, a very bad signal. Especially just after I arrived. My husband's and my father's goal is to stabilize the Empire and, if possible, give to the ruler the means to be more successful. The problem is that what we know about your reign -past and future- doesn't reveal a lot about your value as a ruler. You saw yourself as an artist and whatever you believe about your own artistic gifts, not one of your works survived the end of your Dynasty. So, we can only speculate and decide while looking at the situation you got the Middle Kingdom into! Considering the results, and the fact that we know intimately what is needed to rule the huge beast that is the Middle Kingdom, we believe that what you did for the Empire wasn't enough. We have nothing against artists ruling a country. But since that aspect has been predominant the whole period you've been Son of Heaven it seems important for us to understand what it means for you. The fact that your reign has also been remarkably peaceful speaks in your favor.
- Has been? I'm still present…
- That's true and my presence a few years before you die should hint at the fact that we are very decided to make your reign last longer. The brevity of it clearly was not a chance for the Chinese people. It could be a great chance for the Empire should we be able to draw out said reign long enough to make it count. With a little bit of luck, it could even be long enough to convince you to use your artistic gifts outside of your workshop. Being the wife of an Emperor who has spent the last ten years getting rid of layers after layers of would be insurgents, I know that having a ruler who's interested in the land and the people makes things easier.
- I have a well-functioning administration…
- So did my husband's predecessor and still half of the eunuchs who were working for him didn't survive my husband's first week in office and almost all the rest was rewarded by being sent abroad to spend the rest of their life as diplomats. There can only be one man wielding power in a Palace!
She looked at the Empress.
- Sometimes supported by one or more of his wives. Strangers follow orders, they don't give them!
For once Xuande Emperor did show a hint of anger.
- You too are a stranger…
- Indeed but I am the stranger who has been sent by our common ancestor to help you avoid to die at thirty six years of age. Without me, the world is about to loose a great artist in less than four years. With me said great artist could go on painting for ten times as long. Which means that if you decide to spend only two hours a day to paint and use the rest of your time to rule, you will still produce twice as much masterworks as nowadays…
- You are mocking me…
- I wouldn't dare! I know my place but since I never saw any of your paintings, so, considering that the historians agree on the fact that you were a smart man, I can only admit that what you spend your time producing is worth the time spent by the most important man in the Middle Kingdom…
- You are being sarcastic…
- My husband and sister wives tend to agree with you but, having been raised on a small farm, I never got the right education and even if I do know everything about the Court's protocol, I tend to forget it when I am face to face with the emperor.
Xuande Emperor's anger was short lived and a smile appeared on his lips.
- I suppose that you do know how to use your swords?
- I am even better with them as with the Court Protocol…
- Well then I suppose that I will have to avoid having you arrested for the lèse-majesté crime.
- Which can probably not be applied in this very case. Being myself a Majesty, I mean…
- As aid, we shall avoid taking too harsh measures. Especially since I wouldn't like being at war with another Middle Kingdom who has means I do not.
- It seems that the historian were right, you are a smart man. And I really don't understand why you refuse to let your Kingdom and your people benefit of your imperial intellect.
Xuande Emperor's smile grew a little.
- You should stay at sarcasm. You are awful at ass licking…
- Probably because I never really followed any lesson in that domain. But I still will insist that I'd wish that here like in my Middle Kingdom the ruler remembers his duty and embraces the most important tasks coming with the position: ruling. If you prefer not to rule, there would be no shame to choose one's passion over one's duty. It has happened in the past and it will happen in the future. What must, though, be avoided is a casting error…
- A casting error?
- Having the wrong man with the wrong skill-set in a position where he doesn't belong. It doesn't mean that he is incompetent just that he will do worse than somebody else who has the right skills to do a good job. Or should I say a better job?
- We are the heirs of the Sun, said Xuande Emperor's. How can we not do a good job?
- We are? I'm the daughter of a concubine and a master assassin and I have been raised on a small farm by poor peasants who only survved decently because of what my father provided to my mother before disappearing. I'm very sure that if the Sun is our ancestor, he is the ancestor of every other Han, too.
Both the Emperor and the Empress frowned as one which brought a smile back on Sun's face.
- You do remember that the Ming Dynasty began with a peasant of Haozhou who rebelled against the sitting Emperor, answered Sun who had not only done the usual research before coming over but had also been taught by IT and her sister wife. The founder of the Ming Dynasty was an exceptionally skilled man, and he was perhaps, as I was myself, begotten by a very talented alien creature, but he still was the son of a peasant mother…
Sun made a hand gesture to placate Xuande's reaction.
- And I don't imply that you are a bad Emperor. Just that you are not the man who , de facto, rules the Middle Kingdom.
Xuande was about to protest when Sun insisted.
- I just say that while being an absentee ruler you still were able to let your son take over a good managed Empire. What would it have been had you used your time to do your job?
- I do my job…
- No, you are not. You are making art while letting your eunuchs manage the Empire for you and, for now, since they do a good job, everything's alright and the Empire goes on even with starving peasants. But that doesn't hide the fact of your de facto resignation! You sit on the throne but you do not rule.
- The Empire is a well-oiled machine, it does work without me…
- You mean when you don't look at the five peasant rebellions?
- We got those because of the bad weather not because the Empire was badly managed!
Sun took a pair of seconds to smother her burgeoning anger. The Son of Heaven facing her hasn't been a bad ruler, just an indifferent one. And, as she had seen all over the Multiverse, indifference always gave ambitious people opportunities they should never had obtained.
- Had the Empire be well managed you would have known that the bad weather was overtaxing the peasantry and that adding new taxes would have bad consequences. The problem with a King or an Emperor is, and has always been, the fact that ruler is the only job from which you can't be ousted but by either a coup or a rebellion.
She looked Xuande Emperor in the eyes.
- You should have felt that something was wrong at least at the second Peasant Uprising! Peasants, believe one of them, hate to do things that put their families in danger. They only risk their lives and their families' lives when they are already at the brink of dying! Peasants pay their taxes not because they love their rulers but because in exchange of a reasonable part of their crop said rulers provide them with peace and a chance to reach the next harvest in good health! You failed five times…
- I didn't fail, the curse of bad weather brought starvation…
- Starvation that the building of granaries and the purchase of rice of neighboring countries could have lessened…
Xuande Emperor's frown became even more unfriendly.
His consort's hand on his arm had the desired effect.
- Could your Empire provide us with enough rice to feed a flooded province?
Sun nodded even if she should have asked for more precisions. Thgere were big and small provnces after all. But she needed to convince both the Emperor and his first wife.
- We have granaries and what's even more interesting we have developed technologies to ensure that most foods can be stored for at least a few years. So, yes we have what's needed to help our people to survive floods and droughts. And should an allied Middle Kingdom have needs, we could provide enough foodstuff to easily overcome the hardship of one or two years of bad weather.
She shook her head.
- But I am extrapolating. It is not the right time to negotiate. The time will, hopefully, come and, even more hopefully, we will come to an agreement but until we're there we really need to face the reality of this Middle Kingdom's reality.
- Meaning?
- Meaning that you will be this whole planet's foremost ruler. And what we will ask of you is a full time job, not a side endeavor. For now, the eunuchs who have taken over the Empire's management know that, even if you are uninterested, you still know how the Empire should react and should something bad happen you would notice it and come out of your workshop to inquire what went bad and why it went bad. What would happen if the Emperor was a child? You really believe that said eunuchs would look at the situation with the same apprehension?
- You just said that I wouldn't die as young as your book said…
- Indeed, that's what I said, and I really hope that I am right. But it still would be better for the success of what we could call an association, to see you embrace your role with a little more enthusiasm and dedication.
- I am dedicated…
- To your art, of that I'm sure. To the Middle Kingdom? I'm not so sure. I do know that being the son of Heaven is a very taxing job. I should know I am married to one. But if you have the wrong man at the rudder it will end in a ship wreck.
- I am the right man for the job!
- The problem is that you don't look like being the right man at the right posiiton. There are lots of people around you who believe that they would be better suited than you for the job. Should you decide to quit, I am sure there are at least a score of members of the court who would gladly take over the position. Who wouldn't want a place where you can get everything you crave for without doing anything to earn it?
- Xuande Emperor earns everything he gets, protested the Empress. As you said his reign has been, until now, a reign marked by peace and prosperity. It is a legacy he can be proud of.
- It has also been marked by wrong people getting positions one should never have given them…
- Well, since we are warned now, we should be able to find better shaped positions for those who have been, right now, cast by error?
Sun smiled and nodded.
- We indeed should!
She turned to look into the Emperor's eyes.
- You could, for instance, decide that the Empress, who has great political and social gifts should, from now on, be considered as your true voice. No official title, no fancy crown or symbol of power. Just the Emperor's decision that, when he is not present, her voice is his voice…
- There will be unrest, whispered the Empress. Empresses did have power but never while the Emperor was officially in charge. There are a few Empress dowagers who shone in the past, but no living consort ever shared power with her husband.
- Yonglin Emperor and his first wife are often working together and the Court has no problem to accept that her voice is not different from his. It is perhaps time to bring up some changes that reveal the trust the Emperor has in his spouse. Your eunuchs are perhaps not trustworthy but they are smart and they know that you are a lot sharper than your husband when it comes to make smart management decisions and to see through people's true motivation and zeal.
The Empress looked at her.
- Do you speak for your husband?
- I never utter even a word that is not an official statement that has been prepared by the Master of the Protocol. Everybody knows that I am a part of the Household as a hostage and a spy. Neither the hostage nor the spy has a say. The Public Servants know that I exist and they know that I am dangerous but still it is not my place to comment or order people around. I am only the shadow of my father's might. It is enough for everybody else.
- And still you are here speaking for him.
- I am my husband's and my father's agent. They trust me when it comes to make contacts with other rulers. Especially when we deal with Han Emperors. I do have a working knowledge of the Court Protocol that always comes handy.
- And that's why you are here! To propose a partnership?
- Exactly! I don't see why we couldn't use a talent like yours to bring the Empire to the size we believe necessary.
That last comment brought a frown on Xuande Emperor's brow.
- Size you believe necessary?
Sun took a long breath and nodded.
- Alright, let's speak about the reason we are here doing what we never did before!
She pointed at the ebony box and its content.
- We did hope that the sheer grandiloquence of the message would decide you to come and agree to speak with us. And the container's intrinsic value added to the message drilled into the tablets had to bring out some reaction.
She smiled at the Imperial couple.
- And I am glad we were right. Because our message is more or less a warning that our worlds…
- Our worlds?
- My world and your world are in danger and we think that we are at the brink of an alien invasion.
- Alien invasion?
- Technically I am an alien too, since I'm coming from another world. Know that this world is only one amongst numerous others. Numerous others, we…
Here she pointed at herself.
- …travel and visit. We call these numerous worlds the Multiverse. And it has occurred very recently to us that what we could do others could be doing too. And pushing the thought to its end we have been brought to consider that, very probably, we weren't the only ones traveling the multiverse.
Empress Xiaogongzhang's face showed interest and worry.
- But you haven't met them…
- Not yet and we really hope never to meet them, but we prefer to prepare for the worst than being surprised by it. That's why we have changed our policy to just visit and observe while staying discreet, to privilege a more supporting approach of those Powers we believe the most capable to take over a great part of their world… Hence my presence here in front of the forbidden city while my father is, as we speak, explaining to the Khargar Adai that going on with the current raiding tradition is no longer admitted and has to stop.
Xuande Emperor couldn't help but ask.
- How will Adai react?
- With surprise and, which won't surprise us, with reluctance. But we have the means to get his adhesion to our plans.
Once more it was Empress Xiaogongzhang who spoke first.
- The same means to get ours?
- Not really, we do have lots of means and we are very capable to adapt our offer to the level of civilization of our counterpart. That's why you are speaking with the Seventh wife of Yonglin Emperor while Adai is speaking with Geffraan Khan, a man whose reputation as the best master assassin of the Middle Kingdom could soon be resurrected.
Xuande Emperor nodded once.
- So, your father is a Master Assassin?
- He is a lot more than that but while visiting the Mongols in Karakorum, that title has been judged the best to convince the Mongols to stop playing their little games and to remember the time when they had the clout to believe themselves able to conquer the world.
- With us to be the first to be conquered, said Empress Xiaogongzhang.
Sun shook her head.
- Not if we can avoid it. We are not interested in a lengthy war of conquest ruining the most advanced lands in the world. We don't want Yao conquering Ming and we don't want Ming conquering Yao. We want Yao and Ming growing peacefully and organically together to become the new Qin Empire. And once that is done, we want said Qin Empire to stop being isolationistic and to take the Horde to the seven continents to unite the planet under the rule of the new Qin Dynasty.
- What about my Dynasty, asked Xuande Emperor.
- I said that we had the means to succeed, remember? We have no desire to topple the Ming Dynasty even if it would have been replaced within the next decade, but we won't let procrastination and disloyalty ruin our plans. We are aware that it will take time, probably one or two generations, to create what we believe necessary. But it will be done because we think it's necessary for the survival of Mankind. Working with us to create the Empire this world needs, would be, in my opinion, the smart move…
- There has been a lot of strife between Yao and Ming, whispered the Emperor.
- Brothers always fight to determine who's predominant. Here these fight will no longer be necessary since we will be there to, discreetly, of course, remind everybody of the odds. And should anyone work against the reunification, and show that he is against the new rules, I will personally deal with the authors of any upcoming unrest. And I give you my word that the technique I'll use will never be forgotten by anyone who had either witnessed the punishment or seen the result of it. From an earlier survey we know that a lot of your followers are dedicated and competent. But a very few of them are loyal and respect you. It is time to get them all under the same rules…
- I tried to stay into my father's foot prints, said the Emperor. He was respected and not feared. Reigning by fear, even if it has been a too common situation at the Imperial court, is not what I wanted to create.
- It's not what we want either. But those around you who are not reliable must be removed. If not physically, which still could be done if they try anything, than professionally. We don't want your followers to learn to live in fear. We want them to understand that only those who are trustworthy and loyal will have a chance to climb the tree of power. You have millions of good people within the Empire and a lot of your nobles are worthy followers. We will help you to get the best to rule at your side. Those others who are greedy and power hungry we will weed out.
Empress Xiaogongzhang couldn't help but show her reluctance.
- And you can't be wrong?
We are able to read what people are thinking…
Both consorts having been the target of Fluffy's message their reaction were quite different from one another. Empress Xiaogongzhang's reaction was a simple light frown, Xuande Emperor's was a lot more expressive. Clearly the possibility didn't please him.
- Those facing us are unable to hide any of their true feelings. We have the means to read them like an open book…
- Are you doing it with us, ask Xuande Emperor while frowning at Sun.
- Not quite yet, answered Sun. It would be disrespectful, wouldn't it? And respecting the ruler is very high on our list of things to do.
But let's be very clear that we don't respect declared enemies or blatant opponents. Those are free preys.
- But as said we are here to help, not spy or invade. If you accept our help, we will do what's necessary to give you, your consort and your heirs a secure and safe environment without any foes staying in your immediate vicinity.
- You will meddle…
- Of course, we will meddle. That's why we came. The moment we warned you about your soon to come death we meddled. Remember that the one thing we will always privilege, is stability. The fact that you are a benign ruler is a clear plus but in the name of stability we wouldn't hesitate to support an authoritarian or even despotic ruler. The difference, in the end, would be that we wouldn't help a bad ruler to exceed his normal time in power… A good ruler, on the other side, should we decide that his reign is good for our goals, could win quite a few decades of an interesting life.
- First you threaten and then you offer rewards, said Xuande Emperor.
Once more Sun shrugged.
- Why not? Both are practical tools to reach our goals. And since we have no intention to take over and oust you to take your position, it can only be in your favor.
- You'll try to control us, I'm sure of it…
- We want to avoid giving our enemies easy targets to invade. The stronger and mightier you are, the better. We are quite sure that, if those invaders really exist, their MO will greatly depend on their overall goals. If what they want is badly defended resources, they will privilege easy to overcome preys. Which means, in our opinion, a planet with plenty of small kingdoms they can overcome one after the other…
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Next on Monday