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

Chen Zhiyuan consulted the Ministry of War archives.

Mao Wenlong's troops numbered only 30,000 to 40,000, and were scattered across the coastal islands, limiting their combat effectiveness.

Whether it can restrain the main force of the Later Jin remains to be seen.

But political struggles don't need the truth, they only need a pretext.

Chen Zhiyuan put down the file and rubbed his aching temples.

For three days and three nights, he read more than two hundred memorials, compared them with dozens of laws, and checked countless archives.

The conclusion is gradually becoming clear.

The Yuan Chonghuan case is complicated not because the facts are unclear, but because the facts are shrouded in layers of factional struggle.

Every memorial, ostensibly an impeachment or defense, actually served the interests of the faction behind it.

The Donglin Party wanted to protect Yuan Chonghuan because he was recommended by Qian Longxi.

If Yuan Chonghuan falls, Qian Longxi will inevitably be implicated.

The Zhejiang and Hubei factions wanted to overthrow Yuan Shikai because they wanted to attack the Donglin Party.

Those who remain neutral are also watching and seeing which way the wind blows.

As for the law? The truth? Those are secondary.

The next day.

Cao Yubian sat behind the desk in the main hall of the Censorate, holding the "Review and Classification of Yuan's Memorials and Questions" presented by Chen Zhiyuan in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the force.

He is 62 years old this year. He passed the imperial examination in the 29th year of the Wanli reign and has been in officialdom for more than 30 years.

He rose from county magistrate to governor, was dismissed from office during the Tianqi era for impeaching Wei Zhongxian, and was reinstated in the first year of the Chongzhen era. Last year, he was promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief.

He thought he had seen enough storms, but at this moment, this memorial still made his temples throb.

The memorial was very thick, totaling twenty-eight pages.

The characters were in a neat, official script, and the writing was clear and logical, but the content made Cao Yubian increasingly alarmed as he read it.

Chen Zhiyuan categorized and organized all 374 memorials related to the Yuan Chonghuan case, listing seven major categories of charges, and then annotated each one.

"Unauthorized execution of Mao Wenlong - 189 memorials mentioned."

"Of the 157 documents, only the phrases 'unauthorized killing' and 'arrogance' were mentioned, without any specific evidence of Mao Wenlong's crimes."

"Thirty-two documents list Mao Wenlong's crimes, but most of them are based on the twelve major crimes listed by Yuan Chonghuan when he killed Mao, and very few have been verified by himself."

"Letting the enemy advance unchecked—103 memorials were mentioned. 91 of them generally stated 'inadequate defense,' while only 12 specifically mentioned the shortcomings in the defense of Jizhou, but the statements were mostly contradictory."

"For example, Censor Gao Jie claimed that all the troops in Jizhou had been transferred to Ningjin, leaving the area vulnerable. However, Supervising Secretary Qian Yunjing said that Jizhou originally had a large army, but Yuan Chonghuan's transfer left the area empty. One of these two claims must be wrong."

"Suspected of treason—87 memorials were mentioned. All of them stated that they 'secretly met with enemy envoys' and 'exchanged letters,' but none of them specified the time, place, people, or content."

"There are no relevant witnesses or physical evidence in the Ministry of Justice's files."

"Five years of pacifying Liaodong deceived the emperor—fifty-four memorials were mentioned..."

Cao Yubian could no longer bear to read this far.

He slammed the memorial down on the table and stared up at Chen Zhiyuan, who was standing below the hall.

Chen Zhiyuan stood ramrod straight, wearing a scarlet official robe and a silver belt.

His face was expressionless, and his eyes were so calm it was infuriating.

"Chen Qianxian," Cao Yubian said, his voice low, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"What do you mean by this?"

Chen Zhiyuan bowed and said, "Reporting to the Chief Justice, I have been ordered to verify the authenticity of the memorials in the Yuan case. This is the preliminary result of my investigation."

"The result?" Cao Yubian sneered, picked up the memorial and shook it.

"You call this a result? You're just making a fool of yourself!"

His voice suddenly rose, echoing in the empty main hall.

"Three hundred and seventy-four memorials, written by officials from the Six Ministries, Thirteen Circuits, and various other ministries and departments!"

"You've been annotating each document, saying this one 'lacks evidence,' that one 'contradicts its claims,' and another 'lacks factual evidence'—Chen Zhiyuan, are you saying the entire court is lying?"

Chen Zhiyuan did not answer immediately.

He waited until Cao Yubian's anger subsided before slowly saying, "This humble official dares not. This humble official is merely compiling the facts."

"According to the facts?"

Cao Yubian stood up, walked around the desk to Chen Zhiyuan, and stared intently at him.

"His Majesty sent you to the Censorate to investigate the Yuan case, not to completely overturn the Censorate, the Six Ministries and Thirteen Circuits, and all the memorials submitted by the court officials!"

He paused, his voice filled with barely suppressed anger.

"Do you know who wrote these memorials?"

"Censor Gao Jie, a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) of the 47th year of the Wanli reign, served in prefectures and counties for twelve years before entering the Censorate!"

"Qian Yunjing, a censor, was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the second year of the Tianqi reign. He served successively as a principal clerk and assistant director in the Ministry of Revenue, and it took him eight years of hard work in financial and criminal matters before he was finally promoted to a higher position in the Censorate!"

"And Shi Kun, Wu Shen, Xu Yuqing... which one of them didn't come from a respectable background? Which one of them didn't go through rigorous examinations to reach their current position?"

"You, a compiler who jumped ship from the Hanlin Academy, are only twenty-one years old. You've never tried a case, interrogated a criminal, or handled any practical matters, yet you dare to speak so arrogantly here, saying that their memorials 'lacked evidence of guilt' and 'contradictory in their statements'?"

Cao Yubian grew angrier as he spoke, his chest heaving.

Chen Zhiyuan waited until he finished speaking before speaking.

"Your Excellency, I am not questioning your qualifications or character."

"Then what are you questioning?"

"What I question is whether the contents of these memorials can withstand scrutiny."

Chen Zhiyuan raised his head, his gaze calm.

"The Censorate is a place of law and order, and the officials of the Censorate report on matters based on hearsay; this is an ancestral system."

"But after hearing rumors, shouldn't they be verified? If the impeachment is true, then naturally a reward should be given. If no evidence is found, shouldn't there still be some regulations?"

"Regulations?" Cao Yubian sneered.

"Chen Zhiyuan, haven't you finished singing your 'responsibility for speech' tune? Now you're bringing it to the Censorate?"

"I am merely stating the facts," Chen Zhiyuan said.

"The case of Yuan Chonghuan remained unresolved for more than half a year, causing endless disputes in the court."

"The impeachers speak with absolute certainty, and the defenders defend themselves with righteous indignation. But who is telling the truth and who is lying? If we judge the case based on these memorials, Yuan Chonghuan should be executed ten times, and pardoned ten times as well."

He paused, then continued, "After reviewing all the memorials, I discovered a strange phenomenon—the more important the accusation, the more ambiguous the evidence."

"Treason and aiding the enemy are heinous crimes punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family, yet not a single memorial listed conclusive witnesses or physical evidence."

"On the contrary, the battle achievements at Guangqumen and Ningjin are recorded in detail, including the time, place, participating generals, and number of kills."

Cao Yubian's face darkened: "What are you trying to say?"

"What I wish to say is," Chen Zhiyuan said, enunciating each word clearly.

"Whether a person is guilty or not should be judged by what he or she did, not by what others impeached him or her."

"Whether Yuan Chonghuan should be executed should be determined by whether he actually committed those crimes, not by how many people impeached him."

The hall fell into a deathly silence.

Cao Yubian stared at Chen Zhiyuan for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

The laughter was cold and mocking.

"Chen Zhiyuan, are you teaching how to work at the Censorate?"

"This humble official dares not."

"You don't dare?"

Cao Yubian walked back to the desk and sat down again.

"Your memorial is filled with accusations that the cases handled by the Censorate in the past were fabricated!"

"They say the reports submitted by the censors based on hearsay are baseless! They say most of these three hundred-plus memorials cannot withstand scrutiny!"

He suddenly raised his voice: "Do you know what this means? It means that the impeachments the Censorate has been conducting for the past three, five, or even ten years could all be overturned by your rhetoric!"

"This means that from now on, officials submitting memorials will have to present witnesses and physical evidence, just like the Ministry of Justice conducts trials!"

"This means that the power of 'reporting matters based on hearsay,' established by Emperor Taizu Gao, is going to be abolished by you, Chen Zhiyuan!"