Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 394 Panchen Lama and U-Tsang

The Ming Dynasty’s support for Ligdan Khan was naturally more than just weapons.

This time, Kong Zhenyun also brought a special person with him——

The Dalai Lama's teacher, the Panchen Lama.

The title of Panchen Lama was conferred by Zhu Youjian some time ago.

When trying to pacify Ligdan Khan last year, because of the dispute between the Yellow Sect and the Red Sect, Zhu Youjian decided to invite high monks from the Dalai Lama to resolve the sectarian disputes on the grassland.

The Fifth Dalai Lama was still young, only twelve years old. His teacher was ordered to come to the Ming Dynasty for pilgrimage. After nearly a year, he finally arrived in the capital.

After learning that he was the teacher of the Dalai Lama and was born in Tibet, Zhu Youjian quickly realized that this person was most likely the Panchen Lama based on his knowledge of later generations.

The Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama regard each other's elder as their teacher, so the Dalai Lama's teacher is naturally the Panchen Lama.

So he conferred the title of Panchen Lama on this person, and re-conferred the title of Daci Dharma King that was previously conferred on the Gelug sect.

This made the Panchen Lama very happy, because the Gelugpa sect, now known as the Yellow Sect, was in urgent need of the support of the Ming Dynasty.

Unlike its widespread spread in the grasslands, Yellow Sect has not yet achieved a dominant position in the U-Tsang region.

The Tsangpa Khanate believed more in the Kagyu sect, also known as the White Sect, and did not like the Yellow Sect very much.

It was under such circumstances that the Panchen Lama withstood the pressure and went from the western Tibet to the central Tibet to serve as the abbot of the Drepung and Sera Monasteries, taking on the important task of reviving the Yellow Sect.

Therefore, he was recognized by the entire Yellow Sect, presided over the ceremonies of finding, ordaining, and enthroning the Fifth Dalai Lama, and became the Dalai Lama's teacher.

It was from him that the Panchen Lama gained a status equal to that of the Dalai Lama, and they regarded the elder as their teacher.

After Zhu Youjian learned this, he knew he had found the right person. Such a smart and tenacious Panchen Lama was very suitable to go to the grassland to bridge the sectarian disputes.

So after he conferred the title of the Great Compassionate Dharma King upon him, he said to the Panchen Lama:

"The Ming Dynasty is now fully focused on dealing with the Jianlu and has no energy to take care of U-Tsang."

"So, regarding the Snow District, I can only send ministers to mediate. You will need to solve the rest on your own."

"Since the White Sect's Great Treasure Dharma King and others have not paid tribute for many years."

"I allow the Master to recruit soldiers from the grasslands and migrate the tribes that support the Yellow Sect into U-Tsang."

"As long as you pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty in the future, I will confer a title on you and give you the same rewards."

The Panchen Lama was extremely pleased with this, knowing that this was the right thing to do.

Before coming to the Ming Dynasty, he did not hold much hope, because the Ming Dynasty's influence in U-Tsang has never been strong enough, and is now even weaker than that of the Mongols.

The reason why he responded to the imperial edict and went to the capital was that he wanted to go to the grassland through the Ming Dynasty and get help from the King of Shunyi.

After all, the title of Dalai Lama was conferred by Altan Khan. The third Dalai Lama also passed away on the grassland and was reincarnated as the fourth Dalai Lama, the great-grandson of Altan Khan.

Although the current Fifth Dalai Lama has no kinship with the line of Shunyi King, he is his reincarnation after all, and there is still some ties of worship between them.

The Panchen Lama's plan was to get help from the King of Shunyi.

After getting permission from the Ming Emperor, his confidence grew stronger, especially after learning that the Ming Emperor had performed miracles and was a living true God.

Now, he has been canonized by this true god and regained the title of the Great Compassionate Dharma King canonized by the Ming Emperor to the Gelug Sect. Compared with this generation of White Sect Living Buddhas who have not paid tribute for a long time and have not been officially canonized as the Great Treasure Dharma King, he seems more orthodox.

This made him more confident when facing the White Church.

So he agreed without hesitation to the conditions set by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, such as the reincarnation being presided over by the minister stationed in Tibet and the golden urn drawing in case of disputes. He also accepted the order of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and came to the grassland to bridge the sectarian conflict.

When Lin Danhan saw that Kong Zhenyun had brought a Yellow Sect lama, who was also the Panchen Lama's teacher, he almost turned hostile on the spot and wanted to kick this person out.

Actually, he had a good relationship with the Yellow Sect in the beginning. When he was young, he accepted the title of Hutuktu Khan conferred by the Fourth Dalai Lama, who was called Huduntuhan in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the Dalai Lama showed little respect to him. It was not enough for him to be crowned the Great Khan, but he also conferred the title of Khan on the Taijis, both big and small, who believed in the Yellow Sect.

Now there were many khans on the grassland, so naturally the respect he received as the most legitimate khan was reduced. He was even mocked by the Jianlu and called "Chahar Khan".

So after meeting Sharba Hutuktu, the successor of Ba Siba, Lin Danhan thought of the great deeds of his ancestors Kublai Khan and Ba Siba, and chose to convert to the Red Sect.

Because of this incident, he became increasingly estranged from the Yellow Sect tribe and was deserted by his friends and relatives.

Thinking of these things, Lin Danhan was extremely angry with the Yellow Sect. If Kong Zhenyun had not just said that he would support him, he would have kicked him out.

But even so, he still said with a straight face: "Mr. Kong, I respect you as the envoy of the Ming Dynasty."

"But what is your intention in bringing the Yellow Cult people here?"

"Does this Khan need to convert to the Yellow Sect and recognize other Khans?"

Kong Zhenyun did not speak, and the Panchen Lama said:

"Khan, you are wrong!"

"I came here this time on the orders of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to confirm the Khanship with the Khan."

"From now on, the Khanship conferred by the Yellow Sect will be conferred by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

"The emperor has great respect for the Khan, and he specially ordered me to come here to let the Khan determine the positions of the various tribes."

"These khans were clearly defined by the emperor as minor khans, below the great khan."

"Hutuktu Khan is still the only Great Khan of the grassland!"

This statement surprised Lin Dan Khan. He did not expect that the Yellow Sect had so much respect for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, he also felt very comfortable because with the support of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he really became the only Khan on the grassland.

Although there are many independent khans under this great khan who may ignore him, Lin Danhan, who loves fame, is still very happy.

He was very fond of this gift from the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

As a result, his attitude toward the Panchen Lama improved a lot, and he thought he was much better than the Fourth Dalai Lama.

Thinking about the affairs of the Khorchin tribe, he said:
"Can the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the Yellow Sect deprive someone of his Khanship?"

"The Khorchin tribe was enfeoffed as Tushetu Khan by Nurhaci. Can he deprive it of his title?"

The Panchen Lama said without hesitation:

"The Khanship of the Khorchin tribe was not conferred by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty or the Yellow Sect, so there is no question of it being taken away."

"But the Yellow Church has informed the various tribes on the grassland that they do not recognize his Khanship."

"From now on, all the khans on the grassland will accept the title conferred by the Ming Dynasty and become dukes and marquises of the Ming Dynasty."

This made Lin Danhan even happier, because the title of duke was obviously lower than that of prince.

At the same time, he was also a little wary, worrying that the Ming Dynasty would sell weapons to other tribes just as it supported him.

This made him determined to get the armor as soon as possible to restore his strength, and to conquer the Khorchin tribe and re-establish his prestige on the grassland.

He wanted to let the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty know that he was the only Khan who could confront the Jianlu.

Thinking about the future, Lindan Khan invited the nobles and herdsmen in the tribe and told them the good news.

At the same time, he announced that as Hutuktu Khan, he would no longer be an enemy of the Yellow Sect.

This decision made the Yellow Sect believers in the Chahan tribe cheer.

Although Sharba Hutuktu was somewhat displeased, he could only endure it temporarily after thinking of the decree brought by Kong Zhenyun to confer the title of Mahayana Dharma King, as well as the promises of building temples and reincarnation.

After all, his biggest supporter now is Ligdan Khan, followed by the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty needs his Red Sect to check the Yellow Sect on the grassland, and at the same time use sectarian disputes to prevent Ligdan Khan from winning over everyone.

Therefore, Sharba Hutuktu was not worried about being abandoned. What he needed to do most was to hold on to Ligdan Khan tightly.

The Panchen Lama knew of Sharba Hutuktu's existence, but he chose to ignore it.

After all, the most important thing for the Yellow Sect now is to preserve its foundation in U-Tsang.

At the request of the Ming emperor, he held several ceremonies in the Chahan tribe and used his influence to resolve the internal disputes of the Chahan tribe. He also agreed with Ligdan Khan on the titles of the various khans and re-ennobled them after the approval of the Ming emperor. The Ming also sent envoys to confer titles of dukes and marquises on these minor khans.

After re-establishing his prestige in the tribe, Lin Danhan used the iron armor of the Ming Dynasty to quickly recover his strength and rekindle his will to fight against the Jianlu. He planned to return to his hometown in Xing'an Mountains and cooperate with the Ming Dynasty to fight against the Khorchin tribe and the Jianlu together.

After completing all this, the Panchen Lama quickly went to Shunyi Wangbu and other tribes and recruited people from these Yellow Sect tribes to enter U-Tsang.

After learning about the promise of nobility and weapons support from the Ming emperor, some restless tribes responded and followed the Panchen Lama into the U-Tsang region according to the route drawn by the Ming.

The Ming Dynasty began to re-establish its influence in U-Tsang. (End of this chapter)

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