Chaos of Ming 1628

Sun Chengzong strode into the courtyard, followed by Song Lian.

He glanced at the sword in Shen Junru's hand, his brows furrowing into a deep frown: "Junru, this is ridiculous! Put the sword down!"

Shen Junru bit her lip, flipped her wrist to sheath her sword, and took two steps back.

Sun Chengzong didn't look at her again. He walked up to Sun Qing and stopped. "Sun Qing, shouldn't you give this old man an explanation?"

"His Majesty himself said that you privately repaired the city walls, recruited post station soldiers, and resisted the imperial army. He said that you have wolfish ambitions and are plotting rebellion."

"I simply can't believe my ears."

"Tell me, what's going on here?"

Sun Qing bowed slightly to Sun Chengzong, then turned and glanced at the people in the courtyard.

"Song Lian," he said, his voice low, "close the courtyard gate. No one else is allowed to stay in this courtyard tonight."

Song Lian paused for a moment, then quickly walked over and closed the courtyard gate.

Only a few people who knew the inside story remained in the courtyard.

Sun Qing personally brought over a chair: "Grandfather, please sit down."

"Don't address me like that. My old bones can't bear to be addressed like that by Lord Sun!" Sun Chengzong glanced at Sun Qing coldly, his tone indescribably indifferent.

He added, "My Sun family has never had a person named you, and I, Sun Chengzong, have never had a grandson named Sun Qing."

Shen Junru stood to the side, her expression dimming.

These words, when spoken, are indeed very hurtful.

Sun Qing remained unperturbed, her expression unchanged.

She looked at him with a smile and said slowly, "Grandfather, I had no choice but to do this."

Having said that, he turned to Song Xian and asked, "Lord Song, do you still have the notes I asked you to record during this time?"

It wasn't until this moment that Song Xiancai realized the purpose of what Sun Qing had asked him to record.

His eyes lit up instantly, and he went to get it right away.

Then, with trembling hands, he held up the booklet: "Grand Commander, please take a look at this first!"

Sun Chengzong looked doubtful, but he trusted Song Xian.

He took the booklet and became increasingly alarmed as he read it.

Finally, he exclaimed in surprise, "His Majesty actually ordered the Hejian Prefecture to contribute 100,000 taels of silver?"

Song Xian nodded.

Sun Chengzong remained silent for a long time, clearly also disapproving of this approach.

In the end, all the resentment turned into a sigh: "If you refuse to give money, in His Majesty's eyes, it is treason."

"Sun Qing, even if you have a thousand reasons, even if you have the lives of ten thousand people in your heart, as long as His Majesty issues an edict saying that you have rebelled, then you have rebelled."

"The four words 'loyalty to the emperor and service to the country' cannot tolerate even a single 'but'."

Sun Qing stood in front of him without refuting him.

After a long, long time, he finally spoke, his voice weary: "Grandfather, in these circumstances, who could possibly have so much silver?"

"Even if I didn't have any, and even if I begged Yang Qingqing to use her dowry, what would happen to the Hejian Prefecture?"

"Every penny of silver in Hejian Prefecture has a source, and there are still 30,000 people outside the city waiting to survive. If I were to take out that 100,000 taels, people outside the city would starve to death within a month. I'm not rebelling; I've been forced into this situation."

These words are indeed embarrassing to say.

How shameful it is for a man to use his wife's dowry.

Sun Chengzong looked up at him, his stern gaze unwavering: "Forced to this extent?"

"The emperor is the ruler, and the subjects are the servants. The servants' lives are given by the ruler, and the money in their hands is also given by the ruler."

"If His Majesty tells you to take it, then you should take it. What happens to the soup kitchens and the refugees after you take it is your business. You can't say His Majesty's order is wrong just because you're in a difficult situation."

Finally, Sun Chengzong emphasized, "We must not use this as an excuse to rebel!"

"I did not commit treason!" Sun Qing emphasized.

Sun Chengzong raised his voice: "Is everything Wang Zaijin said a lie? Were you the one who injured him like that?"

"He's only here to take you back to the capital for questioning, why have you rebelled?"

Sun Qing turned to look at Song Lian, who understood and took out another document from his sleeve.

The on-site record was detailed, with neat handwriting, and included the date, time, people, and location without any omissions.

How Wang Zaijin drew his sword, how he killed the old man, and how he forced the soldiers to take action.

Sun Chengzong looked down at a few lines, then his fingers suddenly stopped.

When he looked at Sun Qing again after finishing reading, his eyes were filled with a complex light.

Trembling with rage: "Wang Zaijin, would he dare to lay a knife on a refugee?"

"right!"

Sun Qing's voice was firm and resolute: "I never met him, nor did I even exchange a single word with him. I have no idea why he came here or why he massacred refugees."

"When I left the city, refugees were being slaughtered."

"I was extremely angry at the time, which is why I took action!"

Everything was different from what Sun Chengzong had heard.

But he believed that Song Xian would not lie to him. These detailed records, too, would not lie.

Sun Chengzong clutched the document and paced back and forth in the courtyard.

He stopped, folded the document and stuffed it into his sleeve, then turned to look at Sun Qing: "Wang Zaijin is utterly depraved! If His Majesty knew the truth, he would never tolerate him."

At this point, Sun Chengzong's tone softened considerably: "You will come to the capital with me, and I will personally take you to meet the Emperor. I will present this record to His Majesty in person, so that His Majesty can see what Wang Zaijin has actually done."

He stepped forward, placing his hand on Sun Qing's shoulder with a firm and steady touch: "His Majesty is still honest and upright after all; he has simply been blinded by treacherous people."

"Follow me, and I will speak on your behalf and explain the situation in Hejian Prefecture clearly. Trust me."

Sun Chengzong's voice was very sincere.

Sun Qing looked at it, let out a bitter laugh, and sighed deeply.

"I believe you." Before Sun Chengzong could rejoice, Sun Qing changed the subject: "But I don't believe Zhu Youjian!"

"Stop talking nonsense! How dare you address His Majesty by his given name?"

Sun Chengzong stomped his foot in anger: "Do you know how outrageous this is?"

"Don't you understand?" Sun Qing's tone was full of helplessness: "Hejian Prefecture is too rich; His Majesty wants far more than just 100,000 taels of silver!"

"My life is not enough, but what about the people of Hejian Prefecture? What about the refugees who keep coming to Hejian Prefecture?"

"Is even their last hope about to be extinguished?"

Sun Chengzong's lips moved, but he couldn't speak.

Sun Qing gave him some time to consider before continuing, "Grandfather, you just said that a subject's life is given by the ruler, and the money in a subject's hands is also given by the ruler."

"But the Ming Dynasty's silver is already insufficient. Liaodong owes 740,000 taels of silver in taxes, Shaanxi needs money for disaster relief every year, and the silver saved by cutting the post stations is not even enough to make a splash."

"The imperial court is riddled with holes; it's short of money everywhere, and everyone is waiting for rice to cook. Even if I were to take out the 100,000 taels of silver from Hejian Prefecture, it would be like pouring a bowl of water into a leaky pot."

He paused, looked into Sun Chengzong's eyes, and said in a deeper voice, "This small piece of land in Hejian Prefecture was built from scratch by me. It supports tens of thousands of people, who protect the court from disasters and support the people outside the city."

"All I want to do is leave a place where people can still stand before the ship of the Ming Dynasty sinks."

He paused here, then smiled slightly, a frank and open smile: "I will not lead troops into battle. I will not build fortifications and defend passes in Liaodong like you did, nor will I confront the Later Jin cavalry head-on."

"But I know how to govern the people, how to farm, and how to weave cloth. I can ensure that the people can have a bowl of hot porridge before they starve to death."

"You guard the borders for the Ming Dynasty, while I guard the people for the Ming Dynasty. Without the people, even if the borders are guarded, they are just empty shells."

Sun Chengzong was clearly moved by Sun Qing's words, and his body trembled slightly.

Sun Qing continued, lowering his voice: "Think about yourself. You've guarded Liaodong for so many years, repairing the city walls, training troops, recommending talented generals—wasn't every single one of these things done for the imperial court?"

"But what was the result? The eunuch faction submitted a memorial, and His Majesty dismissed you."

"Did you do something wrong?"

"It's precisely because of your great achievements and high prestige that you've stayed there for so long that His Majesty can't let you go. You are a loyal minister, but sometimes, it's precisely because a loyal minister is too loyal that he makes people afraid."

Sun Chengzong sat with a deep and complex gaze, as if that sentence had drawn a very long line back to the snow-covered city walls of Liaodong many years ago.

After much reflection, he still insisted, "No matter what you say, you must come to the capital with me."

"What if His Majesty insists on killing me?" Sun Qing asked.

After careful consideration, Sun Chengzong said, word by word, "You are a member of the Sun family!"

"If you are wrong, I, Sun Chengzong, will personally take your life. If you are not wrong, unless the entire Sun family is wiped out, no one can harm you in the slightest!"