The Ming Dynasty: Starting with Emperor Chongzhen's crackdown on factionalism

Chen Zhiyuan stood with his hands at his sides outside the Meridian Gate.

The chilly spring wind swept across the palace walls, carrying sand and dust, causing the hem of his blue official robe to flutter loudly.

The faint sounds of court discussions could be heard from the distant platform; though indistinct, they carried a tense and somber atmosphere.

The voices on the platform suddenly rose, as if there was a heated argument.

Two quarters of an hour later, a young eunuch rushed out from the Meridian Gate, shouting in a shrill voice, "Summon—Chen Zhiyuan, compiler of the Hanlin Academy, to the platform to see the Emperor!"

Chen Zhiyuan straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and followed the little eunuch into the Meridian Gate.

The atmosphere on the platform was more somber than he had imagined.

Dozens of officials stood on both sides, with more than ten people kneeling in the middle.

Zhu Youjian stood before the throne, his face ashen.

All eyes followed his every step, and those eyes held scrutiny, hostility, schadenfreude, and a barely perceptible sympathy.

Chen Zhiyuan walked to the center of the platform.

"Your subject, Chen Zhiyuan, Compiler of the Hanlin Academy, pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Zhu Youjian did not immediately ask him to get up.

Silence spread across the platform, with only the sound of the wind whistling past.

After a long silence, Zhu Youjian finally spoke, his voice as cold as ice.

"Chen Zhiyuan, I have read your memorial."

Chen Zhiyuan bowed his head: "Your Majesty, I am filled with trepidation."

"Fearful?" Zhu Youjian sneered. "When I read your memorials, you weren't fearful at all."

He picked up the "Memorial on Liaodong Border Affairs and the Yuan Case" from the imperial desk and slammed it down in front of Chen Zhiyuan.

"You say that Shanxi merchants Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, and others smuggled sulfur, saltpeter, and pig iron out of the country, aiding the enemy and committing treason. Do you have any evidence to support this?"

Chen Zhiyuan raised his head and met Zhu Youjian's gaze.

"When I was secretly visiting the border market at Shanhaiguan, I personally saw the cargo boxes of the Fan family's caravan."

"Although the box was labeled as a tea cloth, the deep ruts indicated it was not a light or flimsy item."

"I managed to get close and smelled the sulfurous odor, and also saw iron filings leaking from the seams of the box."

"You saw it with your own eyes?" Zhu Youjian stared at him.

Do you have any physical evidence? Do you have any witnesses?

"At the time, I was alone and dared not make any noise, so I was unable to obtain any physical evidence."

Chen Zhiyuan frankly said, "But I have inquired with the guards at the pass, and they all know that the Shanxi merchants' caravans come and go frequently, and the officers and soldiers guarding the pass are quite polite to them, so the inspections are often just a formality."

"In other words, you have no evidence." Zhu Youjian's voice grew even colder.

"Based entirely on conjecture, how dare you accuse a virtuous merchant, praised by the court, of treason in a memorial to the throne?"

Zheng Sanjun, who was kneeling on the left, immediately responded.

"Your Majesty, please be wise! Chen Zhiyuan has slandered loyal officials without any evidence. This trend must not be allowed to continue!"

Zhang Jimeng also raised his head, his voice filled with grief and indignation.

"I am a native of Shanxi and I am well aware of the loyalty and righteousness of the Fan and Wang families! Chen Zhiyuan's words not only slander Shanxi merchants but also the people of Shanxi! I beg Your Majesty to severely punish such a person who speaks such nonsense!"

Hou Xun did not look up, but his voice was clear.

"Your Majesty, border trade is crucial to the supply of provisions for the nine border regions. If we investigate Shanxi merchants based on unfounded rumors, leading to a decline in border markets and a halt to trade, then the transport of grain and provisions will be difficult, and the border troops may even rebel. Who will be to blame then?"

One voice after another rose and fell, their words fierce.

Chen Zhiyuan knelt there, motionless.

As Zhu Youjian looked at his profile, the anger of being mocked burned even brighter.

This Chen Zhiyuan talks eloquently on the platform, talking about "research" and "the truth," but what's the result?

These are just hearsay and baseless speculations!

He recalled his struggle in the Qianqing Palace last night, the shock and anger that the memorial brought him, and how he almost believed this man's lies!

ridiculous!

How ridiculous!

Zhu Youjian's fingers clenched tightly inside his sleeve, his nails digging into his palms.

He has been on the throne for three years and has been let down far too many times.

Yuan Chonghuan betrayed him, those ministers betrayed him, and now even this seemingly different Chen Zhiyuan is betraying him!

Is it really true that there isn't a single trustworthy person among all the civil and military officials in the court?

"Chen Zhiyuan," Zhu Youjian's voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth.

"All the officials say you have slandered loyal and virtuous officials. Do you have anything to say about that?"

Chen Zhiyuan finally made a move.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the kneeling officials, over the ministers standing on both sides watching coldly, and finally back to Zhu Youjian's face.

His gaze was calm, so calm that it sent a chill down Zhu Youjian's spine.

This calm is not a calm of resignation, nor a calm of fear, but a calm of acceptance.

It was as if he had anticipated this moment, as if he had prepared what he was going to say.

"Your Majesty," Chen Zhiyuan began, his voice not loud, but clearly audible on the quiet platform.

"I have three questions I would like to ask you, Your Excellencies."

Zheng Sanjun sneered, "You're about to die, and you still want to argue?"

Chen Zhiyuan ignored him and looked at Zhu Youjian: "Your Majesty, please allow me to ask a question."

Zhu Youjian stared at him intently for a long time before finally saying, "Ask."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Chen Zhiyuan turned to Zheng Sanjun.

"Just now, Lord Zheng said that Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku and others are loyal and good people, but only because they donated grain and silver."

"May I ask Lord Zheng: If someone donates money to repair a temple today, and then commits murder and robbery tomorrow, can the merit of repairing the temple offset the crime of murder and robbery?"

Zheng Sanjun was taken aback, then angrily retorted, "This is sophistry! When did the Fan and Wang families commit murder and robbery?"

"I was just giving an example," Chen Zhiyuan said calmly.

"When determining guilt under the Ming Dynasty Code, is it based on deeds or intentions? Is it based on how much silver and grain he donated, or on what actual deeds he performed?"

"Of course we must look at the facts!" Zhang Jimeng interjected. "The Fan family has run border trade for three generations, bridging the gap between the Mongols and the Han Chinese, and has contributed greatly to the country! The Wang family donated silver to support the army, saving tens of thousands of lives—these are all facts!"

"Very well." Chen Zhiyuan nodded. "My second question is: Have you gentlemen considered where the silver and grain they donated came from?"

There was a moment of silence on the platform.

Chen Zhiyuan continued, "It's true that the Fan family's tea-horse trade yields tenfold profits."

"But even though the profits from tea and cloth were substantial, how could Fan Yongdou have donated 5,000 shi of grain in one go during the severe drought in Shanxi in the first year of the Chongzhen reign?"

"How could Wang Dengku donate 30,000 taels of silver?"

"Do you gentlemen know how much silver five thousand shi of grain is worth?"

"Thirty thousand taels of silver, how many cartloads of tea cloth would it take to exchange for that?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"Lord Hou of the Ministry of Revenue should know that in Shanxi Province, the number of legitimate tea permits is no more than a thousand per year. Each permit contains a hundred catties of tea, and a thousand permits contain a hundred thousand catties of tea."

"Even if the Fan and Wang families were to run the entire business, after deducting costs and taxes, how much would they earn in a year?"

"How could they so readily donate such a huge sum of money during a year of famine?"

Hou Xun frowned.

He was an official in the Ministry of Revenue, and was most sensitive to figures on money and grain.

Chen Zhiyuan's words did indeed point out a problem he had been ignoring.

Everyone knows that Shanxi merchants are wealthy.

But being this rich is indeed somewhat unusual.

Seeing that no one answered, Chen Zhiyuan asked the third and most important question.

"When I was in Shanhaiguan, I carefully examined the border market records of the past three years."

"From October of the first year of the Chongzhen reign to August of the second year, the Fan family's merchant caravans crossed the border a total of 47 times, the Wang family's 39 times, and the Jin family's 32 times..."

"On average, these major caravans cross the border more than ten times a month."

His voice gradually rose.

"Each time they crossed the border, the convoy consisted of at least twenty or thirty vehicles, and sometimes fifty or sixty. According to the customs clearance documents, the vehicles carried tea, cloth, porcelain, and medicinal herbs."

"But I have secretly observed that when these caravans return, their vehicles are often much lighter."

"The tea cloth and porcelain are all physical items; if they are sold, the vehicle will return empty."

"When the Fan family's convoy returned, the vehicles were still loaded with goods, which were covered tightly with tarpaulins."

Chen Zhiyuan looked at Zhu Youjian and said, word by word.

"Your Majesty, I managed to peek under the oilcloth and found that beneath it were pearls, sable fur, ginseng... and even swords and bows."

"boom--"

The platform erupted in chaos.

"Nonsense!" Zhang Jimeng shouted sternly.