Tang Weilin is right. Zhao Huan killing a few ministers was actually useless. It's like some companies in later generations that keep hiring senior executives, but the company still doesn't improve. It's like having a fixed lower-level employee but a constantly changing senior executive. Such companies either die miserably or are slowly dying.

If a company's business is having problems, then the whole system must be faulty. If simply replacing senior executives could solve the problem, that would be far too easy, and it wouldn't be the case that so many companies are collapsing one after another.

Similarly, how many high-ranking officials in the Song Dynasty have been replaced?

Although being a prime minister is the highest position a person can hold, it's definitely not an easy job. Countless eyes are watching you. What does it mean to be lonely at the top? This is it!

Therefore, Zhao Huan's actions this time were not limited to mobilizing officials in the two capitals; from the capital to the lowest-ranking officials, anyone who had committed a crime was to be dragged out.

This time, everything in Tokyo remained the same, but some high-ranking officials in the court became restless and began to tremble.

Regarding the case of the salary silver, the reason why some scholar-officials dared to take it was because this chain of interests was large enough and involved a wide range of officials. Even if the emperor knew about it, considering the overall situation, he would definitely not take any rash actions.

Not to mention the current dynasty, even the former Tang dynasty did not have any major incidents of violence against officials. Perhaps only Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty killed the most ministers, but that also brought terrible aftereffects to the Han dynasty. After Emperor Wu's death, a power vacuum appeared in the Han dynasty, which almost caused the administration to collapse.

Therefore, when Song Dynasty officials received the money allocated by the capital, they would usually sit and chat while drinking tea, or drink wine while embracing beautiful women, and take the money.

No one's transporting the grain? There's definitely enough grain in Hebei, don't worry! What? Worried about the emperor's wrath? Even if he does, we can find a few scapegoats to take the blame, don't worry, nothing will happen.

This emperor is a complete idiot! He actually abolished corvée labor! Isn't that just opening up the national treasury and handing us money? Why not take this money? What? National defense? Don't worry, the Jin army can't get through. We're south of the Yangtze River, protected by its natural barrier. Those in Bianjing, hurry up and escape here!

What? The lives of ordinary people? What do I care!

The main problem is that this emperor is brain-dead. Anyway, the world belongs to him, and the people belong to him. We are just herding the people on his behalf. If his empire is gone, we can turn around and seek refuge with the Jin Dynasty. The Jin Dynasty needs officials, right? We are so familiar with managing the people, who else would the Jin Dynasty turn to if not us?

After interrogating Tang Weilin, Zhao Huan went to see Li Gang, Wang Boyan, and others at the agreed time.

Wang Boyan had long heard that the emperor had arrested Tang Weilin, the prefect of Jiangling, and brought him to the capital. He pondered in his heart that, just as he had expected, the emperor had finally taken action against the embezzlement of military funds. However, this matter was extremely difficult, and the emperor could only find a few scapegoats to kill as a warning to others.

Fortunately, Wang Boyan didn't dare to take it this time; otherwise, given the emperor's personality, he would have tested the waters on the prime minister first.

Those who came to see the emperor included Li Gang, the Privy Councilor; Zhong Shidao, the Associate Privy Councilor; Wang Yanbo, the Junior Chancellor; Zhou Chao, the Minister of Revenue and concurrently the Commissioner of the Three Departments; Tang Ke, the Vice Chancellor; Xu Churen, the Grand Chancellor; He, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel; Wu Min, the Signatory Privy Councilor; He Ye, the Vice Censor-in-Chief; and Liu Yanzong, who had not yet been granted a specific official position.

"Your humble servant pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"Gentlemen, please excuse the formalities. Prince Kang has sent some Longjing tea from Hangzhou. I have invited you all here for a cup of tea. This is not a meeting of the court or the public, so please do not be so formal."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Since the emperor himself said it was no longer a meeting of state affairs, the title was changed to "Your Majesty".

During the Song Dynasty, ministers addressed the emperor as "Guanjia" only in private. Even when discussing matters with the emperor, they had to address him as "Your Majesty." This was especially true in the imperial court.

The officials of the two prefectures savored the tea bestowed by the emperor, but each had mixed feelings.

Take Liu Yanzong for example. He felt that his future career was now inextricably linked to Zhao Huan. He was a minister of Liao and Jin, and the reason he was still alive in Song and sitting alongside the ministers was because Zhao Huan needed him. Therefore, he had to always obey Zhao Huan's orders, no matter what.

But this emperor was too restless. He had a premonition that, given Zhao Huan's personality, after arresting Tang Weilin, the prefect of Jiangling, he would definitely not just find a few scapegoats. After all, the emperor wanted to start making changes to the official system of the Song Dynasty.

Wang Boyan and Zhou Chao were both relieved, since neither of them had been involved in the grain and silver transport case. As for Tang Ke, he had only recently been transferred to the position of Vice Chancellor and was still getting used to it.

"What do you gentlemen think of our Great Song Dynasty now?"

The emperor suddenly asked this question as if nothing had happened. The ministers thought to themselves at the same time: See, he's here. How could it be just a simple matter of drinking tea and admiring flowers!

"Speak freely, all of you. I will not punish you for your words today!"

Holy crap! Your Majesty, have you lost your mind? According to your personality, shouldn't you be sternly questioning the prime ministers about the case of Tang Weilin, the prefect of Jiangling, embezzling grain and military funds? Why are you suddenly asking such a digressive question?

Wang Boyan said, "The emperor is wise and sagacious. He has recovered Yan and Yun, fulfilling the last wishes of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong. He will surely be remembered for all time!"

Li Gang said, “I believe that although we have driven the Jin invaders out of the Song Dynasty’s borders and recovered Yan and Yun, corruption is rampant in the current dynasty. Take, for example, the case of Tang Weilin, the prefect of Jiangling, who embezzled grain and military supplies. This has already reflected the increasingly serious problems of bureaucracy in the current dynasty. Therefore, I believe that the most important thing is to solve the problem of bureaucratic corruption.”

Wang Boyan, Zhou Chao, and the others cursed Li Gang inwardly for his stupidity; wasn't he just undermining their own efforts?

What do you want?! Do you want to become the next Wang Anshi?!

The emperor kept drinking tea, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He had the same attitude towards Li Gang's words and Wang Boyan's words. Everyone couldn't help but sigh that the emperor had actually become much more shrewd after being away fighting for several months.

Zhou Chao said, "Your Majesty, the total amount of compensation for the soldiers who died in this Northern Expedition is three million strings of cash, which has been disbursed in installments as Your Majesty instructed. However, the matter of granting titles to the upper-class households who donated during the war still needs Your Majesty's personal decision."

Tang Ke, the Vice Chancellor, added: "Regarding the matter of granting titles to upper-class households through donations, I believe that the corresponding titles can be determined based on the amount of the donation."

Wang Boyan said, "I'm afraid this is not appropriate. Titles should not be given to others lightly. If this is done, a new group of nobles will emerge in the Song Dynasty. These new nobles have only donated some supplies. I am worried that the old nobles will not be satisfied."

Dissatisfied? What do the old nobles have to offer me in terms of their dissatisfaction? The meager achievements of their ancestors have provided them with good food and drink for generations in the Song Dynasty. These people are raised like pigs, born and raised without doing anything, yet they have no worries about food and clothing, while those who truly work hard suffer poverty!

Tell me, what right do they have to disobey?

I'll see which damned bastard dares to disobey me!

Whether it was a misperception or not, a cold glint flashed in the emperor's otherwise calm eyes.

Seeing that the ministers' distributing of their materials had little to do with what he was going to say today, Zhao Huan did not expect them to continue distributing anything of value.

"I have a few points to make, and we can all discuss them together. Let's treat it as a discussion, my lords. What do you think?"