Chongzhen sat meditating in a small room trying to escape for a few minutes of the day the bustle of his imperial court and the heavy, stressful demands placed upon the emperor who had to put up so many appearances. Outside, his eunuchs were waiting undoubtedly peeking in through the window shutters as it was their duty to keep track of the emperor at all times.
Finally rising serenely, the emperor quit his break and headed in the direction of the Outer Court accompanied by his entire entourage of dozens of eunuchs who always accompanied him everywhere he went publicly inside his own palace. He was due for an audience of the utmost seriousness today, as General Yuan Chonghuan was publicly accused by many of treason, not to mention the emperor had serious questions about his competence and dual loyalties.
On the dragon throne, the still teenaged Chongzhen hoped his appearance looked dignified and magnificent enough as general Yuan approached and prostrated himself on the floor before him before proceeding to plead with him in the most pathetic terms while eunuchs around tut-tutted.
"All the evidence against me your majesty is spurious! I have faithfully and competently led the defence of the empire against the Jurchens."
"Explain your latest catastrophe, allowing the enemy within days march of the capital!"
The desperate man kowtowed again sweating profusely. "It was my mistake for I did not know the defences of the Great Wall were in such a state, but I was only governor of Liaodong, I did not have command of the garrisons to the west of the Shanhai Pass!"
"I should have you executed for incompetence alone. For failing to coordinate with the garrison commanders who while not under your jurisdiction, were extremely close to you. Certainly many people in this court wish you dead, but I believe that some of the worst charges made against you were fabricated by partisans." The emperor did not inform anyone how he came to have this knowledge, but it had come from a few of his jesuit advisors who had managed to sway him not to act too hastily.
General Yuan nodded eagerly and bowed low again.
"However your military incompetence knows no bounds. Hence I cannot trust you with the defence of the sensitive northeast border anymore. To prove your loyalty as well as competence, I am sending you west with only a small force as Viceroy of Shaanxi. There has been widespread unrest in the region and I expect you to control the situation and improve upon it. This will be the last chance I am giving you, do you understand?"
General Yuan nodded, a trace of bitter resentment on his face that the emperor ignored and pretended not to see. It was after all probably the best to spare the lives of his generals where the wrongdoing was not so clear and to merely demote them, and allow them to rise again if they proved to be competent. Well in Yuan Chonghuan's case it was officially a promotion, but everyone knew that there was much less prestige involved in dealing with bandits compared to commanding 200,000 troops in Liaodong.
"Also I want you to continue collaborating with the Jesuits to make more and better cannon for the army as soon as possible. I am sending a few with you to Xi'an. I expect results, and finer quality cannon to arrive at the capital yearly."
"Understood."
"Dismissed."
With that, General Yuan departed with a low bow while the faces of the eunuchs seemed displeased. The emperor wiped sweat from his brow when he thought no one was looking and sat silently contemplating his decision.