Chapter 314: Exoneration

How to write this memorial took him a great deal of effort.

He was the absolute number one person responsible for the Kong Youde rebellion. This was something he could not wash his hands of after losing Dengzhou, so the memorial would inevitably have to contain a plea for punishment.

God bless! He had been rescued by the Australian fellow Christians, wiping away the most dangerous charges of “falling into enemy hands” and “colluding with the enemy.” The remaining issues were nothing more than “appointing the wrong people,” “lack of supervision,” and “condoning.” No matter how you put it, these were not very serious crimes—not matters of principle.

However, things were far from that simple. The crime of losing the important military town of Dengzhou was also quite severe. There were civil and military officials who had been held accountable by the court for losing troops and territory and had even lost their heads. How to avoid this fate was something he needed to consider carefully.

Fortunately, the Kong Youde mutiny did not occur in his defense area, not even in Shandong—they had already entered the territory of Zhili. Secondly, at the time of the mutiny, Kong Youde had already been transferred to Jiliao and was not under his command.

Although this was somewhat of a forced argument, it at least provided some room for exoneration. He could make an issue of this.

There was another matter he had to communicate his position on as soon as possible, and that was the Wang family.

On Qimu Island, Lu Yang and Lu Wenyan had explained the entire process of the Kong Youde mutiny to him in detail. This gave Sun Yuanhua a comprehensive and reliable understanding of the entire event for the first time—originally, he only had some scattered and contradictory news. With reliable intelligence, he had the possibility of considering the relationships in the court and adopting different attitudes.

Sun Yuanhua thought to himself that the trigger for the incident, although it was stealing a chicken, was ultimately directly related to the “closing of the gates and markets” in Wuqiao County.

And he was very clear about the reason for the closing of the gates and markets: besides the poor discipline of the soldiers and their repeated harassment of the local area, the lead of the Wuqiao county magistrate, Bi Ziyin, was definitely the main reason. This Magistrate Bi was “not on good terms” with him—the reason was related to the Liaodong affair.

Bi Ziyin had a deep hatred for the Liaodong people. His elder brother, Bi Zisu, had been tied up and beaten by Liaodong soldiers demanding pay during the Ningyuan mutiny in the first year of Chongzhen when he was the governor of Liaodong. As a result, Bi Zisu committed suicide to take the blame afterward.

He had heavily used the Liaodong people in Deng-Lai and had spoken up for them many times, appearing to be a representative of their interests. The Bi brothers had been dissatisfied with him for a long time.

Now that such a major incident had occurred, if it were to be seriously investigated, Bi Ziyin would not be able to escape the charges of “inciting unrest” and “provoking trouble.”

Similarly, there was the Wang family of Xincheng. Sun Yuanhua certainly knew why Kong Youde had to execute a soldier who had stolen a chicken with extreme punishment: firstly, the Wang family was extremely successful in the imperial examinations and was famous at the time.

In the three generations of the Wang family, in the “Guang,” “Zhi,” and “Xiang” generations, a total of fourteen jinshi were produced. Among them, the “Xiang” generation had ten. Wang Xiangchun had served as the Director of the Bureau of Appointments in the Ministry of Personnel in Nanjing. His elder cousin, Wang Xiangqian, had served as the Minister of War twice. In the first year of Chongzhen, he supervised the armies in Xuanfu and Datong with the title of Junior Preceptor and Grand Preceptor of the Crown Prince, Minister of War, and Censor-in-Chief of the Right. He retired in the second year of Chongzhen. Among Wang Xiangchun’s brothers from the same father, many also served as civil and military officials.

Secondly, and most importantly, when Sun Yuanhua passed the provincial examination in the fortieth year of Wanli, his examiner was Wang Xiangchun. Xu Guangqi and Wang Xiangjin were from the same year, and their senior in the same religion, Yang Tingyun, was from the same year as Wang Xiangjie.

From this perspective, although Wang Xiangchun was a member of the Donglin Party and not in the same faction as Sun Yuanhua and Xu Guangqi, their relationship was quite close. Especially relationships like “examiner” and “same year.”

Kong Youde knew about the special relationship between the Wang family and himself, which was why he had dealt with his subordinates so harshly to satisfy the Wang family. On this point, Sun Yuanhua was quite satisfied with Kong Youde and considered him to be “aware of the bigger picture.” From the very beginning of the mutiny, Kong Youde had constantly sent people to deliver letters, explaining his “difficulties.”

The Wang family was also deeply involved in this matter. Sun Yuanhua thought to himself that the Wang family could also be accused of “inciting the mutiny.” The power of the Donglin Party in the court was currently unstable, and many people would definitely use this as ammunition.

Moreover, the Wang family and the Bi family had a long-standing relationship of marriage. It was reasonable for the Wang family to want to clear themselves of the charge of “inciting the mutiny.”

The Wang family might use him as a scapegoat and push the blame onto him. But on careful consideration, this was not very likely. Firstly, by doing so, the Wang family would only push the faction of Xu Guangqi’s bureaucrats to the opposite side—this would not be good for the Donglin Party itself. Secondly, as the governor of Deng-Lai, he obviously had the most say on whether it was “inciting the mutiny.” If he insisted that the Wang family had a major responsibility, the Wang family would not be able to clear their name.

As long as he explained the pros and cons, even if the Wang family did not help, they would not kick him when he was down.

Of course, this matter still required the help of the bigwigs in the court to exonerate him as much as possible—which would inevitably require a lot of spending.

He certainly had money. Sun Yuanhua was not a “clean official” in the traditional Chinese sense. He had the ability to get things done, but he was not incorruptible himself. He entered officialdom through the recommendation of a patron and became a high-ranking official like the governor of Deng-Lai in less than ten years. Besides his own talent, it was firstly the protection of his teacher and in-law, Xu Guangqi, in the court, and secondly, the money he spent on Zhou Yanru.

Sun Yuanhua had done his share of things like running for office and buying official positions. Moreover, in the environment of the court at that time, where politics was driven by bribery, any political proposal or opinion that wanted to be recognized and implemented by the court required a lot of spending. This money certainly did not come from his own private purse—he could not afford it either.

Although the position of governor of Deng-Lai had enriched his coffers, most of the money was lost in the city after the fall of Dengzhou. Now, as soon as his memorial was submitted, he would have to spend a large sum of money on lobbying. Fortunately, he had asked a Shanxi bank to remit a sum of silver to the capital before this. With the silver he had in the capital and at home, it should be enough. Even if it was not enough, the rest could only be raised by his teachers and friends in the capital.

The memorial was written, but it was not formally submitted. Instead, it was sent as a private letter by a special courier to Xu Guangqi’s residence in the capital, asking him to revise it before sending it out. He was currently ignorant of the situation in the court, and he was afraid that if he said something he shouldn’t in the memorial, it would cause trouble for him.

While Sun Yuanhua was busy with his activities, a telegram was sent from the Shandong front command. After receiving the telegram, Xu Ke immediately issued instructions to the intelligence agencies in the capital, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. The intelligence agencies set up in the previous year began to operate. The order from the front command to the Foreign Intelligence Bureau was: try to save Sun Yuanhua’s official position and strive for him to be dismissed but retained in his post; if that is not possible, then try to get Sun Yuanhua dismissed but allowed to serve in the army. In short, try to keep Sun Yuanhua in Shandong.

When Leng Ningyun received the telegram, he was in the study of his bank, wrapped in a thick fur robe, calculating accounts with a calculator.

His current appearance and demeanor, except for the lack of a pigtail, were very much like a Shanxi merchant in a TV series. Including the heated kang under his buttocks—the winter in 17th-century Beijing was no joke. A teapot left in the room at night would be frozen solid by morning.

Fortunately, his thick topknot served as a hat and offset a lot of the cold. Thinking of the “Manchu warriors” with their pigtails living in higher latitudes, Leng Ningyun had to admire their ability to withstand the cold.

“Damn it,” he shivered and picked up the telegram. He thought to himself that he must do some basic construction this spring, get some heating and a bathroom. He was tired of the latrine in the courtyard and bathing with a wooden bucket.

He had been in the capital for more than half a year, opening a shop, finding connections, and various social engagements… He had spent a lot of money, all of which was public funds, and he had to clean it up and report it.

The confidential clerk brought him the telegram, and he read it carefully. This task had actually been assigned a few months ago. Leng Ningyun’s task was to try to get through to the eunuchs through Eunuch Yang. Wang Dehua and Gao Qiqian, these “inner ministers,” were currently very popular. If they came out to say a few words for Sun Yuanhua and secretly helped him, not only would Sun Yuanhua not die an untimely death, but he might even be able to remain in his post in Deng-Lai.

The closer to the end of the dynasty, the easier it was to manipulate things like turning black into white. Leng Ningyun had no doubt about this. What he found difficult was how to effectively get in touch with Wang Dehua and the others—this was a very difficult matter.

Although Eunuch Yang was in charge of the Bell and Drum Office, he was not a direct subordinate of Wang Dehua and the others. He was not a eunuch who had followed the Prince of Xin from his residence. Although he had been re-employed by flattering Wang Dehua, he was still on the periphery of the core power of the court.

His request, in terms of motive, was not surprising—the shopkeepers of the big shops in the capital were almost all “lobbying agents,” and those with high power and position often regarded the big shops as a “firewall” and “introducer” for taking bribes. The key was that Eunuch Yang was very likely to play the trick of “taking money but not doing anything.”

Leng Ningyun knew that even if Eunuch Yang could not help at all in this matter, he would put on a profound and inscrutable expression and shamelessly swallow the silver, and then sigh a few words of “what a pity” after Sun Yuanhua’s head fell.

“Eunuchs are unreliable!” This was the experience Leng Ningyun had summed up after opening a bank in the capital. Similarly, “officials are also unreliable.”

His first task was to confirm whether Eunuch Yang had the ability to help in this matter.

After thinking for a moment, Leng Ningyun called for Wu Kaidi and discussed the matter with him.

“Go and find out if Eunuch Yang can speak to Wang Dehua and if he can ask him for help.”

“I understand,” Wu Kaidi nodded. “Eunuch Wang is very popular recently. Eunuch Yang should be very attentive.”

“Asking him to do things is not as simple as just flattering him well.”

“You are right, Chief,” Wu Kaidi said. “But asking for help is nothing more than a matter of money. As long as the money is spent, there is no need to worry about not getting it done.”

“This matter is not as simple as just spending money—after all, we are going through a third party,” Leng Ningyun said, explaining his worries to Wu Kaidi.