People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 284 Killing to Protect Life

Almost as soon as Wang Anshi traveled eight hundred miles to send the news back, Ma Zhengju was at home in Bianliang, and he was also feeling gloomy at this time.

By the afternoon, the moderate rain outside the house had turned to light rain, and there was a sound of raindrops.

Several people were not in the previous pavilion, but in the house. The slaves were kicked out, and they were all drinking wine.

Yang Rende poured himself a glass of wine, drank it hard, and said with a sad smile: "It's over, everything is over, my Yang family has been completely defeated in my hands."

The news of Wang Anshi's assassination spread in the military camp, and the assassins sent out at that time had a person who prepared horses for support outside the camp, and witnessed the whole process of their failed assassination outside the camp.

Therefore, Wang Anshi's side sent someone eight hundred miles away to deliver the letter as soon as possible the next morning, while Yang Rende's people hurried all night, galloping through the starry night, and delivered the letter in about the same time this morning.

In this way, Yang Rende also knew that he was dead. The captured man was a dead soldier. Whether he would be sold was another matter. However, the court would definitely continue to dig deeper. Following the clues, he had the most motive. Sooner or later, Will be found out.

"Wang Shilong, I was killed by you!"

Yang Rende suddenly threw the wine glass, rushed towards Wang Shilong, pinched his neck, and shouted with red eyes: "Look what bad idea you have come up with!"

"Lao Yang, Lao Yang!"

The others hurriedly pulled him away.

Wang Shilong got up from the ground, patted his butt and sneered: "Yang Rende, tell yourself, can you blame me for this? None of you know, even if I didn't come up with this idea, how long would everyone here be alive? ?”

He took a breath and continued: "Someone went to bribe the envoy this morning, but what happened? Instead, he was accused, and Dali Temple and the Court of Justice have already gone to arrest him."

Yang Rende gasped, took several steps back, and sat down on the ground, not knowing what to say.

The generals and nobles have recently noticed that Zhao Jun is a bit ungrateful. After they rejected the court's proposal, they actually sent people directly to check the situation of the army. Wouldn't this cost them their lives?

So someone has already started taking action.

Some people ask for help in the hope of interceding.

Someone's crime was not that serious, so they quickly found the Cao family and expressed their willingness to accept the court's conditions.

Some people simply prepared a lot of money and gifts to bribe the envoys who were investigating, hoping that the envoys would conceal the bad things they did in the army.

However, let alone the fact that the envoys sent by the imperial court were accompanied by soldiers from the local Yushi Department and the Imperial City Department when handling cases, it was difficult for them to accept bribes.

To put it simply, these people sent out are often new Jinshi scholars in recent years, who have not been stained by the officialdom, and have political achievements.

Once the errand is successfully completed, it will be recorded in the credit book, and it will be convenient for promotion in the future.

There is really no need to pay money for the honor of the sect, even if it is a lot, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, you can't end your career in front of the censor and the Imperial City Guards.

Therefore, when encountering bribes, those envoys immediately responded by reporting, and they received another piece of credit, which was simply flattering.

In the past few days, some generals who controlled Gyeonggi Road and Bianliang Tokyo Camp have been dismissed.

Mainly, it was Zhao Jun who gave the Ministry of War the power to act expediently.

In addition, the Dali Temple, the Criminal Court and the Imperial City Department all intervened. They didn't even report to the Constitutional Yuan, and the people below had already started to take people.

In the past two days, Bianliang General Men Xungui has become upset.

"Die, let everyone die."

Yang Rende seemed to have given up completely, laughed miserably, lay on the ground and said, "No one among us brothers can escape anyway."

"Ugh."

Han Yunsheng, Ma Zhengju, and Zhao Kaiji also looked ashen and sighed.

Although the assassin they sent out has not yet responded, but thinking about it carefully, this still seems to be a stupid move.

If it succeeds, the court will definitely be furious and investigate thoroughly.

Even if it fails, we will still investigate strictly to the end.

In the end, I still couldn't run away.

But at that time, they really had no choice but to make this decision.

Who would take risks if they have a good idea?

"Not really."

Wang Shilong suddenly shook his head and said, "Is there one last way?"

"Don't come up with your bad ideas."

Yang Rende sneered: "Isn't it bad enough to hurt us?"

"It's going to be a dead end anyway, why don't we talk about it?"

Ma Zhengju and the others looked at him.

Wang Shilong looked at the three of them and showed a strange smile: "Whoever asks us to die, we will not let them live. Only when they die can we live!"

"what do you want to say in the end?"

Han Yunsheng frowned and said, "Now the court wants us dead, the officials want us dead, and the Constitutional Yuan wants us dead. Can you still kill them?"

"Yes, that's right!"

Wang Shilong said: "Only if Your Majesty and Zhao Jun die, will we have a chance of survival."

"You want to rebel?"

Everyone was shocked.

Wang Shilong said: "Who said I want to rebel? Do we have soldiers on hand?"

"How is this different from rebellion?"

"The difference is huge. Those who rebel will definitely die, but we only need them to die."

"Haha, I don't even know what you are talking about. Every time Zhao Jun goes on patrol, he is surrounded by dozens of guards and hundreds of Imperial City secret agents. It is easier to kill the prime minister than him."

Zhao Kaiji shook his head: "As for the official family, how many guards are there in the palace? I thought you just had a bad idea before, but I didn't expect you to go crazy. It's better to let Yang Rende beat you up and wake up." "

"I'm not crazy."

"Then what nonsense are you talking about?"

"This is not nonsense, it is the last way to save us."

"It's not nonsense. Even if it succeeds, and the emperor's eldest son inherits the throne, even if he is only seven years old, and the queen is in charge of the government, will she let us go?"

"Then what if the new emperor pardons us after he ascends the throne?"

"What do you mean?"

Ma Zhengju and others opened their eyes wide.

Wang Shilong said calmly: "Your Majesty, Zhao Jun, the emperor's eldest son, and the emperor's second son died in palace chaos. Who do you think should inherit the throne?"

Zhao Zhen's eldest son, Zhao Fang, was born to Queen Cao in the fourth year of Jingyou, half a year after he exercised and quit sex.

After that, he slowly recuperated his body and no longer indulged in women as before, and he only gave birth to cubs with adult mothers. Therefore, before the first year of Kangding, Zhao Zhen only gave birth to the eldest son Zhao Fang and the eldest princess Zhao Qinghan.

But in the first year of Kangding, that is, 1040 AD, Concubine Yu De was already 19 years old.

So in that year, Zhao Zhen and Concubine Yu De worked hard to cultivate the land, and in the first year of Qingli, they gave birth to the emperor's second son, Zhao Xin.

In other words, Zhao Zhen now has two sons and one daughter.

Under normal circumstances, if Zhao Zhen died, it would be Zhao Fang who ascended the throne, Empress Cao came to the court to listen to the government, and Zhao Jun, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and other political institutions assisted in political affairs.

But if they are all dead, then...

Everyone looked at each other, and a name that was almost forgotten flashed through their minds: Son of Da Zongzheng!

"Could it be!"

Their eyes widened.

"I didn't say anything. If you think that's the case, just do it."

Wang Shilong smiled.

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Some people have even considered whether to report it.

However, the next second, Wang Shilong said calmly: "Don't think about reporting me. Attacking an angel is a crime of conspiracy. If you report me, everyone will die."

"Have you been plotting against us for a long time?"

Han Yunsheng was shocked and said: "Let us attack the angels and leave us with no way to retreat?"

Only then did everyone understand why Wang Shilong encouraged them to send killers to kill the envoys who were sent to the local areas to investigate the case.

It turned out to be a plot against them.

Because if Wang Shilong had discussed with them to assassinate the emperor's family from the very beginning, he would have been betrayed by his four "good brothers".

After all, a dead Taoist friend will never die a poor Taoist.

To betray a case of murdering the emperor and even implicating Da Zongzheng would be a huge achievement.

You can't say that the bad things you did in the past will be offset by the merits and demerits, and there may be rewards in the end.

But betraying the case of murdering the envoy would be too small a credit.

The most people involved were Wang Shilong, a little shrimp who was already dead. How could the court let them go?

Therefore, after weighing the balance, they could only choose to fight to the death.

As a result, I never expected that this would play into Wang Shilong's plan.

Wang Shilong wanted to raise their charges step by step and drag them into the water together.

The initial charge was a capital crime, and the assassination of the messenger was already considered treason. If you wanted to report it, it would probably be too late.

just now.

They could only be forced to walk into Zhao Yunrang's ship.

"Haha." Wang Shilong sneered and said: "How can you say that I am plotting against you brothers? It should be said that I am looking for a way to survive for everyone. Do you have any other way to survive other than this method of putting yourself to death?"

Now everyone was silent again.

Whether before or after assassinating the envoy, they really had no other way to survive.

Each of them has a family and has lived in a good life for many years. It is difficult for them to disguise themselves, sneak some money and escape from Bianliang secretly.

Not to mention where they could escape, their access didn't support them from escaping further.

To put it simply, in this era, if there were no guards to protect you, and you only had money and a wife and children, you would probably be eaten up and wiped clean before you went very far.

There are car bandits and road bullies in some places, there are bandits in the mountains, and in some places, there are even entire villages that are not good people.

Especially in some remote mountainous areas, it is common for people from a village to ambush in the mountain roads, do farm work during the day, and go out to kill people and buy goods at night. It is difficult for ordinary people to travel long distances.

It is safer not to take the remote trails, but to take the canal or the official road where people come and go. But there are so many government tax inspectors along the route. Once a wanted order is issued, can you run away?

So it is very difficult to abscond with money.

"What exactly do you want from us?"

After a long silence, Zhao Kaiji finally figured it out and was the first to say: "There must be a plan to plot against us."

"Yes, I really need your help."

Wang Shilong nodded.

Ma Zhengju said: "How can we help? Besides, we are afraid that we won't even be able to enter the palace, and His Majesty will die before he even gets close to his face."

Wang Shilong showed a strange smile and said: "Yes, it is indeed like this on the surface, but what if"

"What if?"

"What if there are people from us in the palace?"

"What do you mean?"

Han Yunsheng was puzzled.

Wang Shilong smiled and said: "What I mean is very simple, that is, someone in the palace will naturally help. If we succeed, everything will be fine. Even if we fail, it doesn't matter. Someone will help us kill the assassin and find no trace!"

"What's the use? If we fail, won't we die?"

Yang Rende said.

"So only success is allowed, no failure is allowed."

Wang Shilong said to them: "This is also the reason why I came to you."

Everyone was silent.

Everyone is already a grasshopper on a rope, no one can escape!

.

.

In Chongzheng Hall, the rain became less and less in the afternoon.

It's just that the sky is cloudy, and it's obviously going to rain in the next two days.

Zhao Zhen put on a new pair of shoes and then stepped into the palace.

He now lives in Houyuan. When he just came from Houyuan, he accidentally stepped into a puddle and his shoes got wet.

"See Your Majesty."

When Zhao Zhen came in, everyone stood up and saluted.

"I'm late. I was taking the two princes in the back garden just now. I heard something happened, so I hurried over. Unexpectedly, I stepped on a puddle and my socks got wet."

Zhao Zhen apologized repeatedly. In fact, he wanted to come directly at first, because of his personality.

But Wang Shouzhong tried his best to dissuade him, but there was nothing he could do.

"The official dragon body is important."

Lu Yijian said quickly: "It doesn't matter if I wait a little longer."

"Ah."

Zhao Zhen responded, then sat behind the desk and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The envoy sent by the imperial court to check the military status was assassinated."

Zhao Jun sat on the chair and looked at Zhao Zhen and said: "The eight-hundred-mile urgent document written by Wang Anshi, the assassin is quite tough. He interrogated it all night and didn't reveal the person behind it. He should be a dead soldier, but I suspect that it is related to Yang Rende." There’s a family connection.”

"Is there any solid evidence?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"Not yet."

Zhao Jun shook his head.

The dead man didn't say anything. This was a problem.

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "Then how to deal with it."

"Murdering an envoy is like treason. Regardless of whether it has anything to do with them or not, I think we should arrest him first."

Zhao Jun said.

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and then asked: "How did the military registration check go this time?"

"Not optimistic."

Wang Zeng sighed: "The army in Jingji Road and Bianliang has been destroyed in large areas. It is full of corruption from top to bottom. Military discipline is lax. There are many deserters, short-term quotas, ordnance sales, and some even cause death."

"What should we do with these?"

"kill!"

Zhao Jun said viciously: "It's time to kill."

"How many people are going to be killed?"

Zhao Zhen was a little frightened.

"I don't know. We are still investigating. There may be tens of thousands of people."

Zhao Jun shook his head.

Although there are only a few dozen families involved in the incident, there are countless descendants from dozens of families.

Although not everyone is full of evil, there is still no problem in gathering two to three thousand villains who deserve to be killed among these tens of thousands of noble disciples.

In addition to these people, there are many corrupt elements in the army, including officers at all levels and even middle- and higher-level generals.

The entire army was in a mess, as if there were countless silverfish in power, and there were countless evils mixed into it.

So at least for now, Zhao Jun is expected to kill so many people.

However, from Zhao Jun's perspective, even if the huge and bloated army is an insurmountable mountain, we must work hard to tear apart its obsolescence and reform it with the new.

But from Zhao Zhen's point of view, in an army of more than one million people, an unprecedented purge involves so many people. Countless people have their wives and children separated, their families destroyed, and it may even cause huge turmoil.

For a moment, he said in horror: "Do you really want to kill so many people? Why do you have to kill so many people? Wouldn't it be better to just deal with some of the culprits?"

"Brother."

Seeing that Zhao Zhen was frightened, Zhao Jun advised: "You don't know how much they went too far, how many sergeants were oppressed by them, and some even simply killed the remaining soldiers to take away their housing and burial expenses. It is not a pity for these people to die, so why should I care?"

"This"

Zhao Zhen said bitterly: "These are all human lives."

"Aren't the people they killed human lives? They resold the Song Dynasty's weapons and grain, deducted wages, cloth and grain, and let the lower-level soldiers starve and freeze. Is that what they should do?"

Zhao Jun said angrily: "Brother, what's the matter with you? You are kind to them, but you are unkind to the soldiers at the bottom. Compared with millions of soldiers, what's wrong with killing these silverfish? What's more, they blocked the reform of the Song Dynasty today. Do you think that the Song Dynasty's army will always be so dilapidated?"

"I"

Zhao Zhen opened his mouth, but in the end he could only say dejectedly: "Stop causing more killings, and it would be better to be exiled."

"Okay, I can kill fewer people at my discretion and exile them to Taiwan."

Zhao Jun finally said: "But I hope you can understand, brother, that the Song Dynasty is taking a correct path now, and it must go on firmly. You must not stop when you think it is good enough. That will only Let all our efforts be in vain!"

"And those who block our way must be eliminated. Even everyone here, including Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Cai Qi, Song Shou, and Sheng Du!"

Every time he called someone's name, that person raised his eyebrows unnaturally.

At the end, he even pointed at himself and said: "Including myself and you, brother, if one day I block the way of the Song Dynasty, I will start with our ancestors and grandchildren and kill them first. Our two lives will be with the Song Dynasty." Compared with the destiny of the country, it is nothing! This is the supremacy of the country, this is the foundation of the country!"

"I understand."

Zhao Zhen took a long breath, and finally could only shake his head with a wry smile and said: "I understand that the national interests of the Song Dynasty come first. If I can make the Song Dynasty prosperous for a thousand years, why would I regret dying?"

"call."

Zhao Jun also took a long breath, nodded with relief and said: "Brother, it's good if you can understand these principles. I actually know that you understand everything, but you have a soft ear and a soft heart. But killing is to protect living beings, kill these People protect more people, this is true benevolence!"

"Ah."

Zhao Zhen said: "Well, let's leave it to you, Dasun. But the Queen's birthday will be in three days, you see."

"Okay, let's start again in three days."

Zhao Jun nodded.

Just collect a little more evidence and catch them all!

Also give me some time to explore that matter.

(End of this chapter)