Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 196 Fengguo
after that……

Zhao Xin also proposed in the court that the laws regarding corruption and bribery should be revised, because the previous laws were obviously outdated.

Zhao Zhen agreed to all of these.

Liang Jian was still unwilling to give up, so he stepped forward and said, "Sir, what about the treatment of Yan Shu..."

Zhao Zhen said directly: "Cut it off!"

Everyone: "..."

Even Liang Jian was stunned there.

Zhao Zhen then said, "Isn't this what you want to see?"

Liang Jian immediately realized something was wrong.

If this were really chopped off, all the scholars and officials would probably despise him in the future.

Although in fact, he had been despised by others many times before.

But Yan Shu really died because of him, which had a huge impact.

Who would be willing to be friends with him in the future?
He quickly said: "I just hope that the state laws can be fulfilled. This..."

Zhao Zhen also said: "That's it!"

In fact, Zhao Zhen didn't want to kill Yan Shu.

But if we don't kill them, we won't be able to intimidate these people.

Liang Jian wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Actually...it could be changed to demoting him to a commoner and then exiling him."

I don’t know what Fan Zhongyan was thinking.

At this time, he jumped out and supported Liang Jian's words: "Sir, I also think that this is more appropriate."

For a while...

It is hard to understand which side he is on.

The relationships in this court are really complicated.

If his name was not Fan Zhongyan, it would be even more difficult for Zhao Xin to tell what kind of person he was.

But then again, people change.

Who knows if the Fan Zhongyan today is still the same Fan Zhongyan in the book.

Zhao Xin then just listened to them and didn't say anything else.

At last……

After some bargaining between the king and his ministers, they decided to let the killing go.

It would be better to change it to official exile.

this day……

Zhao Zhen immediately changed his usual kind and tolerant appearance.

It also shocked the ministers.

Even Zhao Zhen himself was a little scared after returning to the harem.

after all……

Doing something like this is completely different from his behavior in the past forty years.

of course!

Things have come to that point. If he suddenly backs down, it would seem that he wants to protect Yan Shu too much.

at this time……

He could only take a gamble that someone would stand up and help Yan Shu.

afterwards……

Fan Zhongyan criticized Liang Jian in public, asking how could Liang Jian hand the knife directly into the official's hand!
As for why the emperor had such a change, the expressions of the people in the court did not seem like they were acting, so naturally, everyone had different opinions.

Some say that the government finally could no longer tolerate the corruption in the officialdom.

Some people also said that it was the emperor's revenge on Yan Shu for not telling him directly about his biological mother.

But this is all old news from many years ago.

It shouldn’t have erupted just now!
Only a few insiders knew that it was actually because Madam Zhang wanted to bribe His Royal Highness Prince Yu but failed, and then the emperor became angry.

When Madam Zhang heard that the emperor was going to kill even Yan Shu, she became as obedient as a rabbit in the harem.

She even stopped talking about promoting her uncle.

This was something Zhao Zhen had not expected.

It felt so sudden, and by the way, it also restored the husband's authority.

Zhao Xin, on his part, had no time for these things.

Zhao Xin had to work with Bao Zheng to re-formulate the rules for punishing corruption.

For example, if the amount of corruption is considered serious, shouldn’t we set a certain amount?

But it seems that setting only one amount is too mechanical.

Some other conditions must be added.

For example...

Whether it has caused serious impact on people's lives.

Whether it has an extremely bad impact on the integrity of the officialdom. In addition to making laws, they also have to accept the illegal gains from corrupt officials.

this……

In fact, it’s a bit difficult to operate.

Because it is not something that can be done by swiping a bank card, but it is possible to move out boxes of things.

How can we receive this money without affecting the future reputation of these people?
If you fail to do this, all you'll end up shooting down are just some small flies.

There can't be any big tigers.

of course!

During the following period of time, Zhao Xin received quite a few letters from people he had bribed.

With the help of these letters, we can dig out those who want to hide.

A few days later, after attending court, Zhao Xin stated the incident in front of everyone, and then asked his father to impose martial law at night and not allow people to go out.

By the time……

The money was transported out of their house under the cover of night.

Although the literati of the Song Dynasty were usually very united, when the time came to behead them, many of them became obedient in an instant.

Bao Zheng once said that nowadays five to six out of ten officials in the country are corrupt.

Fortunately, it is still only about 50 to 60 percent. If it had reached about 80 to 90 percent, this group of scholars and officials would probably have fought to the death.

of course!

This is also related to the fact that the current prime ministers are relatively honest.

Wen Yanbo once gave Madam Zhang a lantern brocade from Shu, and he also told her the truth.

Zhao Xin even asked his father to praise him for this.

It can also be considered to comfort some people.

even……

The key is that Wen Yanbo can continue to serve as prime minister!

If the officials knew that if they confessed, they would no longer be able to serve as officials, they would definitely insist on their actions to the end.

It is not completely impossible that they could even join forces with others to plot a rebellion.

of course!

There would definitely be censors who would say that Wen Yanbo had poor moral character and should no longer be the prime minister, so Wen Yanbo also asked to be sent to another post.

But for the sake of the overall situation.

Zhao Xin still spoke up and kept the other person.

After all, it was originally a problem of official atmosphere. Since we have decided to let bygones be bygones, this matter should not be pursued further.

Two months later...

Looking at the mountains of treasury.

In any case, the disaster in Hebei and the court's lack of funds can be greatly alleviated.

There is no need to use Zhao Zhen’s own small treasury anymore.

Two months later.

New measures to punish corruption have also been introduced, and opinions from all parties have been sought.

There's no rush to decide.

after all……

This discussion process is actually quite scary.

Ouyang Xiu, the big mouth, took two sips of wine and started bragging, saying that in this way, the officialdom of the Song Dynasty would be completely renewed.

Fortunately, he did not mention Zhao Xin's name.

Otherwise... I don’t know how much hatred Zhao Xin would attract.

Now most people still assume that this is the work of the government.

And Zhao Xin was just the executor.

of course!

The flames of this anti-corruption war could not fail to affect Zhao Xin himself.

For example, his spice and timber businesses in Quanzhou were a bit unclear.

In order to patch this up, Zhao Zhen then directly proposed to grant Zhao Xin a fiefdom, adopt the "one country, two systems" policy, and give the fiefdom various policy preferential treatments.

can only say……

The matter of 'training the prince' was taken to the extreme.

natural!

All the ministers were silent.

I have never heard of letting a prince govern a country, which means giving him a country directly. Your Excellency, this is the biggest corruption, right?
Of course!
The Song Dynasty originally belonged to the emperor, so the officials naturally had no say in who the emperor wanted to divide it up.

only……

Wouldn't this be too much?

(End of this chapter)