They either collude with the officials or expose their crimes.

The official gazette of the Song Dynasty is now the least popular among local officials.

Shi Xun even suspected that this incident in Jiangling Prefecture also reflected this underlying reason.

After Shi Xun left, Zhao Huan thought about it for a long time.

Relying solely on internal reforms within the imperial court is far from sufficient. It is an extremely difficult task for the central court to break down the stubborn forces that have been rooted in the localities for thousands of years.

It would take too long, and the risks involved would be too great.

We still need to rely on the power of the people!

However, the people of the Song Dynasty did not have a sense of autonomy, which easily led to unrest among the people and was exploited by those with ulterior motives, causing the situation to collapse to the point that the court could not control it.

After much deliberation, Zhao Huan still felt that it was unwise to act too hastily.

Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish; it requires slow and careful preparation.

Each period has its own problems to solve, and the methods used are also different.

Corrupt officials and local bullies cannot take advantage of the backward transportation and information in ancient times. Once the transportation network is established and the central organization is sound, these problems will be easily solved.

The most important thing right now is to crush the local power in Jiangling Prefecture, which can also serve as a warning to others.

As for the overall situation, we should prioritize ensuring tax revenue and people's income.

well……

Zhao Huan couldn't help but sigh; he had been in the Song Dynasty for five years.

My feelings now are definitely completely different from when I first arrived.

In the past five years, I have experienced so much, and my impatient personality has gradually been tempered, and I have become more composed and calm.

Being an emperor is not as easy as it seems; no wonder so many emperors in history died young.

However, Zhao Huan's nature could not be changed.

Adventure! Impatience!

A few days later, Hanlin Academician Shi Xun and the Court of Judicial Review submitted their investigation results to the imperial court regarding the Jiangling Prefecture case.

The result is that the instigator was the Jiangling Prefecture shipping gang!

This result dominated the headlines of the Song Dynasty's official gazette for the next two weeks.

The history of the Grand Canal Gang has been unearthed by those who make a living by writing.

The canal gangs grew by taking advantage of the imperial canal transport system. They existed in places where canal transport was developed, but they were all independent of each other.

The court announced that the massacre of the entire family was directly instigated by the Grand Canal Gang.

The people in charge of the Imperial Gazette of the Song Dynasty discovered the mastermind behind it all, so they were killed to silence them and the prefect was framed.

This immediately caused a sensation in the Song Dynasty.

Subsequently, the imperial court dealt with the canal gang in Jiangling Prefecture with swift and decisive measures. Almost all the gang leaders were executed on the spot, and their families were exiled to the frontier.

Anyone associated with the Grand Canal Gang will be punished, and the Grand Canal Gang will no longer be allowed to exist.

After that, the canal transport was contracted out to regular trading companies.

It is said that more than a thousand people died in the canal gang incident in Jiangling Prefecture!

The entire canal gang along Jinghu Road was uprooted.

Subsequently, the Song Dynasty official gazette received a political task: to publish the punishment of corrupt officials and the downfall of local tyrants on the front page of the gazette for three consecutive months.

Furthermore, the Political Propaganda Department under the Control Yuan also received a political task: every village wall must be plastered with the words "Punish corrupt officials and overthrow local tyrants."

The Political Propaganda Department must have an office in every village!

Every day, they had to spread the core ideas of the imperial court in the village.

In September of the fifth year of the Jingkang era, during the wheat harvest season, the Song Dynasty launched a vigorous campaign to extend imperial power to the countryside.