The prince is more stable

Chapter 874 Executing a High-Ranking Official
It is unclear when exactly, but Zhen Qing seems to have become Zhao Xiaoqian's trusted confidant.

Perhaps position determines status. The Imperial City Guard is a sharp sword in Zhao Xiaoqian's hands, and Zhen Qing, as the head of the Imperial City Guard, is the sharpest part of this sword.

Having spent many years infiltrating the Liao Kingdom and having fought alongside Zhao Xiaoqian, Zhen Qing's loyalty and ability are beyond question. In particular, when Zhao Xiaoqian decided to seize the throne, Zhen Qing chose to follow him without hesitation, which is one of the reasons why Zhao Xiaoqian trusted him.

Zhao Xiaoqian had a clear understanding of the role of the Imperial City Guard.

The Imperial City Guard was a secret service agency directly under the emperor, but it differed from the Ming Dynasty's secret police.

The Imperial City Guard currently does not have the authority to directly arrest or interrogate.

Yes, in recent years Zhao Xiaoqian has ordered the Imperial City Guard to arrest many people. Liu Dan, that pervert from Bingjingwu, is also an expert in interrogation and torture. However, legally speaking, the Imperial City Guard does not have the power to arrest or interrogate.

According to normal procedures, the people arrested by the Imperial City Guard must be arrested by order of the emperor himself, and after being arrested, they must be sent to the Three Judicial Offices for interrogation. The role of the Imperial City Guard in this process is nothing more than investigation, tracking, and evidence collection.

However, legal principles are one thing, but in a world where the rule of law outweighs the rule of man, many clearly defined terms and boundaries are actually somewhat ambiguous.

To put it simply, the Imperial City Guard was a lowly organization that did dirty work for the emperor.

The court officials had objections, but they could only grit their teeth and acquiesce to its existence.

This has led to the current situation of the Imperial City Guard. They can bypass the Three Judicial Offices and directly arrest and interrogate people. However, the laws of the Song Dynasty do not recognize the actions of the Imperial City Guard, yet they continue to do so.

However, the Imperial City Guard's work was all done by imperial decree, and the cases they handled were all rather sensitive and taboo, so the court officials couldn't say anything.

Zhao Xiaoqian, the former head of the Imperial City Guard and now the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, does not intend to grant the Imperial City Guard greater power. Otherwise, it would become as lawless as the Ming Dynasty's secret police, incurring the wrath of the court and causing chaos, which would not be good for the country.

From now on, the authority of the Imperial City Guard will still be limited to interrogation, tracking and evidence collection. Of course, one more thing can be added: to supervise all officials, collect rumors from the court and the public, and monitor local powerful and wealthy landowners, etc.

"Your Majesty, Zhu Zhen, the Deputy Commissioner of the Salt and Iron Bureau, has confessed," Zhen Qing said after stretching his legs.

Zhao Xiaoqian hummed in agreement: "What did that pervert Liu Dan do to Zhu Zhen?"

“Uh, I used a little trick…” Zhen Qing said cautiously, “Your Majesty, you used to be an official in the Imperial City Guard, so you should be familiar with Liu Dan’s style of doing things…”

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded again and said, "I naturally understand Liu Dan. Zhu Zhen's death is not a pity. But what I am concerned about is whether Zhu Zhen's confession is true. Confessions obtained through torture cannot stand up to scrutiny and will only give others grounds for criticism."

Zhen Qing hurriedly said, "Your subject can guarantee that every word of Zhu Zhen's confession is true. Liu Dan has interrogated him carefully and there was no forced confession."

Zhao Xiaoqian slowly said, "Zhu Zhen incited more than two hundred court officials to kneel at the palace gate. Who was behind him who gave him the idea?"

"The Hall of State Affairs, Li Shao, Vice Minister of State Affairs, and Hong Tao, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

Zhao Xiaoqian frowned. The names of these two people were unfamiliar. To be honest, he didn't remember having these two people in the Political Affairs Hall.

The Council of State Affairs was actually a rather large government agency. In addition to the Left and Right Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, there were also the Left and Right Assistant Ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, the Vice Minister of State Affairs, the Vice Minister of the Secretariat, the Vice Minister of the Chancellery, and so on. There were many official positions and officials.

After all, the Council of State Affairs was the power center of the Song Dynasty. In such a vast country, it was not something that the emperor and a few prime ministers could manage to keep the central and local governments functioning properly.

With so many people in the Hall of State Affairs, it was impossible for Zhao Xiaoqian to remember everyone. At least, he genuinely had no recollection of the two people Zhen Qing mentioned.

"Is the evidence conclusive?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked.

Zhen Qing nodded: "Indeed, the Imperial City Guard not only obtained Zhu Zhen's handwritten confession, but also found some evidence in his study, which can prove that Zhu Zhen has been acting under the instructions of these two people and has done a lot of embezzlement and abuse of power in the past."

"The day before yesterday, Zhu Zhen led more than two hundred court officials to kneel at the palace gate to petition, which was also at the instigation of Li Shao, the Vice Minister of State Affairs, and Hong Tao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

"These two men were particularly vehement in their opposition to the establishment of the Censorate by the government. They probably had done a lot of bad things in the past, and they were worried that if the Censorate were established, their old grievances would be brought up again. So they were determined to ruin it."

"So they instructed Zhu Zhen to lead the incitement of court officials to kneel at the palace gate, attempting to use their numbers to force the emperor to compromise and abandon the establishment of the Censorate."

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed and said, "Very well, it seems we really should start by taking action against the Council of State Affairs..."

"Zhen Qing, convey my decree: the Imperial City Guard is to prepare to arrest the person."

"The minister obeys the order!"

…………

The atmosphere inside the Hall of State Affairs has been somewhat oppressive these past few days.

The prime ministers were vying with the emperor, which was no easy task. Everyone was under considerable pressure, especially Zhang Dun, who was particularly uneasy.

The Emperor's recent series of actions, seemingly dealing with isolated incidents, are in fact all aimed at putting pressure on the Council of State Affairs. Moreover, the Emperor has controlled the pace of events and held the initiative.

In this covert power struggle between the emperor and his ministers, the Council of State Affairs has been completely on the defensive.

Yes, the emperor and his ministers are currently maintaining a facade of harmony and rapport. Court assemblies are proceeding as usual, and Zhang Dun is presenting his reports. The memorials submitted to the Funing Hall by the Council of State Affairs are being reviewed by Zhao Xiaoqian as normal. Everything is calm and peaceful; the Song Dynasty court remains a united and progressive leadership team…

Privately, however, Zhao Xiaoqian had already refused Zhang Dun's audience and never mentioned the establishment of the Censorate again, as if it were just something Zhao Xiaoqian had mentioned casually and then forgotten about.

In the imperial court and officialdom, the more silent you are, the bigger the trouble becomes.

Zhang Dun was not naive enough to think that the Emperor had truly forgotten about this matter.

Look at what has happened in the last few days: more than two hundred court officials have been dismissed, Zhu Zhen was arrested and questioned by Bingjingwu, and three officials who used the most foul language were sent to the Dali Temple...

So, is the imperial court truly calm and peaceful?
It was clearly a storm brewing.

Zhang Dun grew increasingly uneasy. This official was too domineering; once he set his mind on something, he was determined to get it done, brooking no opposition and never compromising.

Knowing his personality, was it really necessary for the prime minister to create such an unpleasant situation with the emperor? In the end, who is the winner and who is the loser?

Even if Zhang Dun is the ultimate winner and the emperor is forced to compromise, so what?
The power and interests of officials across the land may have been preserved, but Zhang Dun's name is now on the judge's register of life and death.

So, for whom is he fighting? Is it really necessary for him, as prime minister, to risk his life and fortune to fight the government to the end for the power and interests of all the officials in the country?
With a deep sigh, Zhang Dun knew he was wavering. He had started to waver after his conversation with Su Zhe yesterday.

Su Zhe was right about one thing: from the perspective of the Song Dynasty, was the establishment of the Censorate really a mistake? In fact, anyone with discernment knows that this was beneficial to the Song Dynasty; its emergence would make the new policies easier to implement.

The desk was piled high with memorials to the emperor.

These memorials were sent to the capital by local officials of the Song Dynasty, and Zhang Dun found them somewhat daunting.

The news that the emperor wanted to establish a supervisory office had spread throughout the Song Dynasty. Local officials were anxious, as if their ancestral graves had been dug up. Their opposition was even more vehement than that of the officials in Bianjing (Kaifeng). They were so angry that they could be described as "furious."

As a result, people from all over the country submitted memorials to the emperor, urging him to rescind his decree. Of course, the reasons given were still "ancestral rules," "mistreatment of scholars," and "violation of etiquette," etc. Each of them spoke with righteous indignation, as if they were representatives of those who acted on behalf of Heaven and were dedicated to the people.

Only now does Zhang Dun seem to realize that there are so many hypocrites in this world, and that the vast majority of them have actually become officials…

What's even more embarrassing is that Zhang Dun was the head of all officials, and he also vehemently opposed the establishment of the Censorate. His reasons were as righteous as those of all the other officials, but in reality, Zhang Dun himself felt ashamed when he thought about his own shameful thoughts.

How ironic.

The hall was unusually quiet; you could hear a pin drop.

Zhang Dun sighed and looked away from the memorials. He no longer wanted to read them; every word and sentence was filled with the baseness and ugliness of human nature.

With a casual glance, Zhang Dun's gaze suddenly lingered briefly on the two people.

Li Shao, Vice Minister of State Affairs, and Hong Tao, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Since the day before yesterday, the two men had seemed somewhat restless, appearing absent-minded and uneasy in the Hall of State Affairs.

Zhang Dun had been restless these past two days and hadn't paid much attention to them, but seeing their current appearance, he couldn't help but feel strange.

The two men's expressions were so identical, as if they had both lost everything. Their disheveled and distraught appearances showed no trace of the demeanor of a vice prime minister. Instead, they looked more like two thugs being chased to their doom by soldiers.

Out of curiosity, Zhang Dun couldn't help but ask, "Counselor Li, Vice Minister Hong, are you both feeling unwell? If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, you can go home and rest for a few days. It's alright."

When Zhang Dun called their names, the two were immediately startled. Li Shao hurriedly forced an awkward smile and said, "It's alright, it's alright. I didn't sleep well last night. I'll just take a short nap."

Zhang Dun gave them a deep look, and was about to continue persuading them to go home and rest, when suddenly a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the government hall.

A large group of people appeared outside the Hall of State Affairs, and Zhang Dun recognized all three of them.

Zhen Qing, the official in charge of the Imperial City Bureau, Han Zhongyan, the inspector who has not yet taken office, and Lü Huiqing, the left inspector.

Behind the three men was a group of Imperial Guards with unfriendly faces and stern expressions. They held knives in their hands, and some of them also carried wooden shackles and chains.

Zhang Dun frowned, his expression showing displeasure, and said in a deep voice, "This is the central and important location of the Council of State Affairs. How can you enter so easily?"

Zhen Qing stepped forward, smiled and bowed to Zhang Dun, saying, "Please don't be offended, Minister Zhang. We are acting under imperial orders and have no choice but to come to the Hall of State Affairs."

Zhang Dun grew increasingly dissatisfied: "What orders did you receive?"

Zhen Qing smiled and looked around at the prime ministers in the Hall of State Affairs, then his gaze fell on two of them.

When Li Shao, the Vice Chancellor, and Hong Tao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, saw Zhen Qing's smiling but actually sinister gaze fall on them, they immediately trembled, their faces turning pale visibly, revealing fear and terror in their eyes.

Zhen Qing chuckled, shifting his gaze from the two men, and said, "Please forgive me, Minister Zhang. By order of the Emperor, the Imperial City Guard and the Censorate have arrested Li Shao, the Vice Minister of State Affairs, and Hong Tao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Please do me a favor."

(End of this chapter)