Chapter 120: The Trial of Yuan (Finally Live — Begging for First Subscriptions)

After hearing Cui Chengxiu's report, Chongzhen found it was basically no different from what he had already guessed.

The reason Yuan Chonghuan had rushed off to Dongjiang in such a hurry was, most likely, on the orders of the Jianzhou barbarian chieftain Hong Taiji, intending to eliminate Mao Wenlong — exactly as had happened in the original history.

Once Mao Wenlong was removed, the Jianzhou barbarians could directly force Joseon into submission, and the pressure on them from the steppe would also greatly diminish.

Unfortunately, neither the Jianzhou barbarians nor Yuan Chonghuan had imagined that We had long since guarded against this move and made arrangements well in advance. Mao Wenlong was no fool either; with this foundation now laid, the Jianzhou barbarians' days ahead were bound to be even harder.

After Cui Chengxiu withdrew from the palace, Chongzhen ordered someone to summon Xu Xianchun directly and headed straight for the Imperial Prison.

Chongzhen was going to see Yuan Chonghuan — that figure endlessly debated by later generations.

Upon arriving at the Imperial Prison, he dismissed everyone else, leaving only Wang Cheng'en, Fang Zhenghua, and Xu Xianchun. Looking at Yuan Chonghuan, who was trussed up and bound to a frame before him, Chongzhen then spoke: "Yuan Chonghuan, have you anything to say?"

Yuan Chonghuan looked at the young Emperor before him, and suddenly the desire he'd had back in Dongjiang to demand an audience and defend himself vanished entirely.

The Emperor might be young, but he wielded the Depot and the Guard with the deftness of the Hongwu Emperor or the Yongle Emperor himself. Every move he made had likely long since been reported to the Chongzhen Emperor's desk — what use was there in further quibbling?

No longer interested in playing the game of self-defense to muddle through, Yuan Chonghuan now sought only a swift death. He spoke at once: "Your Majesty, your servant knows his crime and seeks only a swift death.

I beg Your Majesty's mercy — spare my wife and children at home. They know nothing.

Everything was done by your servant alone, and has nothing to do with others."

Chongzhen, however, laughed coldly: "Their affairs can wait. It is simply that We have a few questions We wish to ask you, Commander Yuan, and We hope you will answer truthfully."

Yuan Chonghuan lowered his head: "So long as Your Majesty is willing to spare the innocents in my household, this guilty servant will speak all he knows, holding nothing back."

Chongzhen said: "In truth, there is not much We need to ask. What We wish to know, and what We do not wish to know — We know it all already.

Every day the secret reports of the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrive; these matters are nothing special. What We are curious about is this: you are a man who understands military affairs — did you truly not know the importance of Mao Wenlong?

Did you not know the consequences of removing him?"

Yuan Chonghuan was blunt enough: "In reply to Your Majesty, this guilty servant of course knew the consequences of removing Mao Wenlong. But without removing him, how was grain from Tongzhou to reach Liaodong?

The Shanhai Pass route was clearly impractical. The sea route had Mao Wenlong.

If this man were not removed, how many people's interests would suffer as a result?"

Chongzhen was on the verge of laughing from sheer fury. This bastard actually had the nerve to justify himself? To amass wealth to this degree — truly no small feat. Chongzhen pressed on: "Tell Us, then — whose interests would suffer?"

Yuan Chonghuan had sold out the Great Ming cleanly enough, and now he sold out his comrades with equal dispatch: "The Kong clan of Shandong, descendants of the Sage.

The wealthy merchants of Fujian and Zhejiang, along with the Li clan of Tongzhou, the sons of former Grand Secretary Li Sancai. With all these people combined, would Your Majesty dare kill them all in one stroke?

I fear before Your Majesty could even act, the realm would be thrown into chaos first!"

This speech left Chongzhen rather at a loss for words. Where did this scoundrel get the nerve to be so certain We wouldn't dare act?

No matter how badly things fell apart, could they be any worse than the whole family committing suicide and then hanging oneself from a southeast branch? If that was the case, what was there left to worry about?

Chongzhen said: "As for that, you need not trouble yourself, Grand Commander Yuan. In any case, you won't be dying anytime soon, and We won't let you die. We want you to see what fate awaits the people you've named, and to let you see what is meant by 'the Son of Heaven's wrath'!"

Yuan Chonghuan, however, laughed softly: "'A common man's wrath splashes blood five paces; the Son of Heaven's wrath makes blood flow like floating pestles.' This guilty servant knows that well enough. But does Your Majesty truly not know the consequences of slaughtering all these people?"

Chongzhen laughed as well: "What if I know? What if I don't? The Great Ming is already rotten to the core. At worst, we tear it all down and start over. With the Depot and the Guard in Our hands, and guard posts across every region, even if chaos erupts, what of it?"

Seeing Yuan Chonghuan speechless, Chongzhen continued: "We have read your service record. You were originally a man of loyalty and reverence. So how did you end up colluding with the Jianzhou barbarians? Did the Great Ming not give you enough? Or could the Jianzhou barbarians offer you more?"

Hearing these words, Yuan Chonghuan, from who knows where, summoned a surge of anger. He raised his head and stared at Chongzhen: "Does Your Majesty truly not know?"

Chongzhen was quite curious: "What should We know? Are you saying you had justification for colluding with the Jianzhou barbarians?"

Yuan Chonghuan burst out laughing: "This guilty servant of course has no justification — I deserve death ten thousand times over. But does Your Majesty know of the hundred thousand common folk of the Thirteen Mountains? What crime did they commit? Did they deserve to die?"

Laughing, laughing, he began to weep. He asked Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, those were a hundred thousand people — a hundred thousand!

Were they loyal? Were they reverent?

And what was the result? What did Wang Xiangqian and Wang Zaijin do?

They watched as a hundred thousand Great Ming subjects died to the very last! A hundred thousand!"

Hearing this, Chongzhen's expression darkened. After all, this matter had indeed already happened. He had not yet crossed over at that time, and a hundred thousand Great Ming subjects had perished so utterly, adding another bloody debt to the Jianzhou barbarians' annals of slaughter.

Collecting his thoughts, Chongzhen said: "The matter of the Thirteen Mountains — We know of it, of course. But what connection does the Thirteen Mountains affair have to your collusion with the Jianzhou barbarians?"

Yuan Chonghuan steadied himself as well, his tears ceasing. Directly and bluntly, he said: "Of course there is a connection.

The hundred thousand common folk of the Thirteen Mountains, through their deaths, made this guilty servant understand one principle: every man for himself, and heaven destroys those who don't look out for themselves.

Originally, this guilty servant was wholeheartedly devoted to restoring the state, supporting and protecting the Great Ming, emulating that Yu Shao Bao. But what was Yu Shao Bao's fate?

And then think of the hundred thousand common folk of the Thirteen Mountains. This guilty servant naturally could not follow them to death."

After hearing this, Chongzhen felt he had ten thousand curses he wanted to hurl. This bastard's argument made such perfect sense that We actually didn't know how to refute him. People, of course, fear death, and of course put their own interests first.

But then, suddenly, Chongzhen recalled matters of the former Song dynasty. He asked Yuan Chonghuan: "You speak very rightly.

We are nearly persuaded. But We are very curious: after Wen Tianxiang of the former Song was captured, why did Diaoyu City not simply surrender outright?

Over ten years of resistance, generation after generation fed into the grinder, yet Diaoyu City would not surrender. How were their bones so hard?

How was it that at Yashan in the former Song, a hundred thousand scholars calmly went to their deaths, yet in your case it became justification for amassing wealth and clinging to life out of cowardice? For this, you dared sell out the Great Ming?

Did the Great Ming treat you shabbily? Did Diaoyu City receive any special treatment?

Did those hundred thousand scholars who threw themselves into the sea receive any special treatment?"

Yuan Chonghuan was, for a moment, left speechless. Chongzhen did not let him off, continuing: "Forget it.

What We were curious about was your reason for colluding with the Jianzhou barbarians, and now We know it. As for the rest, take your time and watch.

We will ensure you set out on the road together with those people you mentioned."

Yuan Chonghuan, however, said: "This guilty servant knows his crime deserves ten thousand deaths. I only beg Your Majesty to spare my wife and young children at home. In the next life, this guilty servant will repay Your Majesty's profound grace by bearing rings and binding grass!"

Hearing this, Chongzhen merely laughed softly. Without paying any further heed to Yuan Chonghuan, he walked straight out of the Imperial Prison cell.

Ever since getting off the plane on Saturday, I've been working overtime writing code, and up to now I've slept less than six hours total. After posting this chapter, I'm going to sleep.

Tomorrow I have an 8:40 flight home, and in the afternoon I'll start updating consecutively. Asking for support, asking for monthly tickets, asking for bookmarks, asking for subscriptions.

Many thanks for everyone's support.

Also a book recommendation: "Three Kingdoms: Hegemony Across the Realm" — a system-transmigration hot-blooded power fantasy, a story of invincibility in the Three Kingdoms!

On the campaign to sweep across the age and run rampant, no famed general or peerless warrior of the realm can last three bouts against him! Galloping across ninety thousand li of rivers and mountains, a name to laugh proudly through the annals of spring and autumn!

(End of Chapter)