"Oh? The reaction of the Great Ming Border Army, could it really be like this? A starving hunting dog, neck tethered, would not forgo juicy meat delivered straight to its mouth? Such a metaphor is indeed apt..."

"Yes, Ancestor Shaman! The Liaodong Border Army is like a hunting dog, and the ’barbarians’ beyond the border wall are the meat in their eyes! The Holy Emperor of the Great Ming is far away in the Forbidden City, generously bestowing us Jurchen tribes as if he truly treated everyone equally, considering us as citizens of the Great Ming... But those who truly hold power among the Great Ming officials will always have clear distinctions in their hearts, seeing our Jurchen tribes as external ’barbarians’, and they make it known explicitly!"

"No matter how dutiful our Shushu Jurchen tribes are in paying tribute, no matter how fluent we are in the Han language, we still can’t transcend our innate ’barbarian’ identity, unable to climb even a step higher within the Great Ming. Even if we are granted the same rank of Deputy Commander as those in the Liaodong Han Lands, by merely being labeled as ’granted barbarians’, we’re worth nothing in the Han Land!..."

"In reality, the officials of Liaodong never considered anything beyond the border wall as part of the Great Ming’s ’King’s Land’. They neither wish to accept our Jurchen tribes nor this unyielding White Mountain Black Water. They are even less willing to bear enormous costs to maintain order beyond the border wall..."

In Yongning Temple, Chief Ali of the Harman Tribe spoke with a sigh, revealing words long hidden in his heart. Though the Harman Tribe had always been loyal, they were ultimately abandoned by the Great Ming. As a Chieftain of tributes from generations of Shushu Jurchens, he believed in the distant "Emperor of Ming" worshiped by various tribes akin to a divine wooden idol. However, he harbored no illusions of kindness towards the Liaodong Border Army and officials he interacted with daily, filled only with caution and fear.

Perhaps only during the Yongle Period did those in power contemplate bringing peace to the vast Inner and Outer Northeast by establishing the Nurgan Metropolitan Authority staffed by Jurchen eunuchs. Yet, in the current Hongzhi Era, the purpose of the Great Ming granting titles to the Jurchen tribes has dwindled to just one aim, which is "no southward disturbances, and prevention of collusion with the Mongols"! 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"May the Chief Divine witness! Since we are the unprotected ’barbarians’, whatever the Great Ming Border Army does can be easily glossed over, easily explained away to the court. Because our Jurchen tribes have no backing, no significant figures left in the court..."

"Every three years’ tribute, our Huntong River tribes laboriously carry furs thousands of miles southward. Ostensibly, it’s a journey for tribute and trade. In reality, it’s about seeking rewards from the court. For impoverished tribes like ours, the Liaodong Border Army has no interest, and the Chief Eunuchs handling affairs are happy to distribute rewards and gain a bit of commission from it..."

"For impoverished yet resilient tribes, the court can give some rewards to keep the peace or maintain dignity. But once such tribes reveal wealth, brandishing a heap of gleaming gold... the drowsy Border Army will suddenly open their greedy eyes, touch their hungry stomachs, and look for an opportunity to pounce!"

"Ancestor Shaman, take my advice! Until we have enough strength, we must be cautious, never revealing too much shiny gold to the Ming Army! Otherwise, what awaits us will be the pursuit of hunting dogs, the thunderous pounce! That ferocious and greedy bite will consume us entirely, leaving nothing behind!"

"...So, that’s how it is! The Great Ming accepts your tribute, bestows official ranks, and returns gifts... but the granted tribal official positions carry no weight within the Great Ming? Even after generations of tribute, even after learning the Ming Tribe’s language, you are not accepted, seen not as ’Gummy People’s brothers’, but as ’barbarians’? Chief of Harman, if a ’Deputy Commander’ like you is seen as a ’barbarian’ by the Great Ming, then what about the Maha Tribe? What about me?"

"...Ancestor Shaman, if you didn’t hold the Copper Seal of the Manjing Guard, or if the Border Army in Liaodong didn’t recognize it... then you’d be a ’Wild Man’, liable to be killed and looted at will by the Ming Army. As for the southward Maha Tribe, it undoubtedly is also ’Wild Men’!"

"...’Wild Men’? Even wilder than the Chichimecs? Then the Wild Men’s national letters, I suppose the Great Ming wouldn’t recognize them either?"

Zuwaro’s gaze flickered, deep in thought. If a Canine Descendant leader from the Sakascat up in the wilderness suddenly appeared with a Heritage Tablet claiming to be a ’brother of the Mexica Alliance’, as part of the ’long lost family from a millennium ago’, it would likely end as a worthy sacrificial offering on the pyramid. Listening to Ali’s description, it seemed the view of the Great Ming towards the Jurchen tribes might be even less favorable than the Alliance and Kingdom’s view of those kin with similar ancestry.

"Oh Chief Divine! The national letter His Majesty gave me, the so-called ’Tai Xia’, the so-called ’Brotherly State’, it seems the Great Ming wouldn’t acknowledge it either! Since that’s the case, it’d be wiser to cloak ourselves as part of the Jurchen Guard Station, blending into the tribute-bound Jurchen caravan, trying to get in touch with the Great Ming’s Liaodong Feudal State. See if there’s a way to get some craftsmen over. If not, there’s always the stable route through Japan..."

"Hmm, the trial inquiry through the tribute of gold to the Great Ming... it seems this Chief Ali of the Harman Tribe has indeed leaned towards the Chief Divine, making him a somewhat reliable leader!"

Clearly, between the unfitting ’Confucianism Good God’ and the resonant ’Evil Chief Divine’, Priest Apprentice Ali chose the latter from the bottom of his heart. Even though the distant Great Ming Sect Master spent six generations trying to instill ’education’ into the surrendered Jurchen tribes. But this ’education’ always remained aloof, always superficial, unable to guide the Jurchen tribes’ semi-agricultural fishing and hunting life, let alone engrain into the hearts of all tribes. Like fallen leaves upon a river, scattered by the surging Heilongjiang River, disappearing without a trace. Realizing this, Zuwaro could finally let down some of his inner guard, seeing Chief Ali of the Harman Tribe as a potential ’Gummy People’s brother’ to develop.