"Ali, is it in the spring of the following year that your Harman Guard sets out every three years to pay tribute to the Divine Emperor of the Great Ming Liaodong Feudal State at Kaiyuan Capital City? Just how long is this tributary journey? And across such a vast and difficult distance, filled with migrating and plundering Wild Man tribes, how will you manage to pass through?... "

"Ancestor Shaman, Liaodong is a ’Military Town’, not a Feudal State. Kaiyuan is not the ’Capital City’ of the Liaodong Governor. The seat of the Liaodong Governor was originally in Liaoyang City but was later moved to the western Guangning City to guard against the Mongolian Duoyan Three Guards. Liaoyang and Guangning are the two crucial strongholds in Liaodong where tens of thousands of troops are stationed! As for the Divine Emperor, he resides in the most magnificent Shuntian Prefecture Capital City, a thousand miles from the Liaodong Town, twenty times larger than Kaiyuan! Typical Envoys of Jurchen tribes do not get to meet the Great Emperor. As for the exact tributary route, it goes like this, and then proceeds like this... "

In the collapsing temple, the Shaman Altar of the Jurchen Tribes is worshipped. The Chief Divine’s emblem, akin to an eagle or bird, is shrouded in the ethereal Divine Smoke. Before the emblem and altar, an ancestral boar-skin map, densely marked, aligns with a newly drawn birch-bark map.

Chief Ali of Harman Chieftain reflected deeply, caressing the ancestral map, observing the abstract yet practical terrain markers, his fingers tracing from the vast Great River all the way southward, crossing garrisons that either exist or have disappeared, to the Liaodong Border Wall six thousand miles away.

"The blood-eyed Chief Divine bears witness! The journey to pay tribute south from Harman Guard is over five thousand miles! The entire route follows the Great River, not by boat, but on horseback. The tribe’s small boats are too slow going upstream, and the spring flooding too dangerous... "

"Our Harman Guard will gather twenty to thirty riders, each ensuring they have one warhorse, plus a pack horse for carrying goods. Tribes nearby wishing to trade may send people to join, but must provide their own horses... "

"Then, dozens of riders will ride along the expansive riverbank southward, with familiar garrisons joining along the way. The whole group will travel together, making the journey safer. For instance, four hundred miles south, Fushan Guard can send twenty to thirty riders to join us. Another four hundred miles south, Hushimen Guard can make up dozens of riders... Ultimately, two to three hundred fully armed cavalry will join, carrying an equal number of pack horses filled with trade goods, journeying from the lower Heilongjiang River to the estuary of the Songhua River, reaching the territory of the Haixi Clans... "

"May the Ancestors protect us! Only by gathering this scale of tribal cavalry can we prevent attacks from Wild Man tribes along the way. The tribute team must move swiftly, covering one to two hundred miles a day is common. In a month’s time, covering over four thousand miles, we can reach the relatively stable mid-upper reaches of the Songhua River, into the heart of the Haixi Clans. Beyond a thousand miles of Haixi Clans lies the Great Ming’s Border Wall Fortresses... "

"The Haixi Clans, recognized by the court, have many established garrisons, dense populations, even having large tribes with thousands of people, settlements, and fort villages! Further south, it’s safer. Our two to three hundred cavalry in the tribute team carry nothing but worthless furs, which the large tribes along the way aren’t interested in—they will only send a small squad of Scouts for surveillance and defense. The Haixi Jurchen are wealthier than the Wild Man tribes, with more ironware and textiles in the villages, unknown if it’s sourced from the South or secretly mined and crafted. They not only won’t have designs on us but will worry about us ’poor Wild Men’, robbing their wealthy villages... "

At this point, Chief Ali of Harman showed a bitter smile. Despite considering themselves loyal ’downstream garrison’ to the Emperor, as ’Hanized Shushu Jurchen’, the incorporated Haixi Clans still view them as ’Barbaric Wild Man Jurchen’, even ’Impersonating Wild Man Tribes’.

"Ali! According to your claims, each ’garrison tribe’ will bring along some familiar surrounding tribes. Along the tributary passage, new ’garrison tribes’ will continually join... So, can our Maha tribe, with a Copper Seal, join using the ’Manjing Guard’ as a name, together with the ’Harman Guard’, participating in the tribute trade next year... Do you think the Great Ming will accept this?"

"Chief Divine protect us! Ancestor Shaman, you mean I can still lead my people south to pay tribute?... "

Hearing Zuwaro’s words, Chief Ali of Harman showed astonishment, his eyes revealing joy. Since there are plans to travel south to pay tribute to the Great Ming and engage in trade, it necessarily requires him, as the long-inherited ’Harman Guard Deputy Commander’, to act as the one leading the way. Thus, not only is his life assured, but there is also hope for restoring his tribe!

"Blood-eyed Chief Divine! Indeed, there are benefits to paying tribute south to the Great Ming, with many gifts and returns! Yet the specific tribute... Ancestor Shaman, although with an additional tribe name for tribute, it means an extra share of court rewards. However, the status of ’Manjing Guard Commander’ remains overly sensitive! This is the key garrison of the locked river, once rivaling Xishen Guard, and one of the most important and largest garrisons downstream! After many years, the restoration of ’Manjing Guard’ in tribute would surely alarm the Liaodong Chief Soldier, the Chief Eunuch in charge of tribute, and even the Liaodong Town governor to verify the identity... "