The new army was in full force, marching in perfect unison. Their bright armor gleamed with a chilling light in the late spring sunshine. They tightly guarded the area around the Five Dynasties Gate, allowing only civilians to watch from a distance.

The young emperor sat in the center, looking down at the officials kneeling on the ground below, still shouting that they were wronged.

Among them was the famous Zhang Shaohan, who owned several well-known brothels in the capital city of Tokyo. Legend has it that Li Shishi, who had an affair with Emperor Huizong of Song, was one of his people. He deliberately arranged for Li Shishi to meet with Zhao Ji and rose to prominence during Zhao Ji's reign.

People can't help but sigh that with each new emperor comes a new set of officials. Take Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, for example. There are not many of his favorite ministers left in the court. Those who are still alive have already severed ties with the previous emperor's reign.

The emperor roared, “You still dare to cry foul! Do you know that the entire court wants to kill you, and the two prime ministers despise you? If I don’t kill you, how can I answer to the people of the world? How can I answer to the soldiers who died in Hebei and Hedong?”

The prime ministers standing to the side felt uneasy when they heard the emperor include them in the purge. This large-scale purge of officials was likely to cause a nationwide upheaval. The officials below would assume that the prime ministers had jointly petitioned for the executions, and the pressure from below would naturally fall on the prime ministers. The emperor sat high above in the heavens, acting as if he wanted to do this and that. No matter how bitter or tired the prime ministers were, they had to serve him.

Zhang Shaohan cried out, "Your Majesty, do not listen to the slander of petty men!"

The Ministry of War official also cried out, "Your Majesty, we are all innocent!"

"..."

Zhao Huan's eyes flashed with a chilling light as he threw down the token: "Execute them!"

The scene was quite spectacular. The executioner raised his blade and brought down heads one by one outside the Five Dynasties Gate. Blood gathered into streams, turning the grass into puddles.

After Emperor Taizu, the laws of the Song Dynasty became virtually meaningless, which emboldened civil officials to become increasingly unruly. They believed that the law would not punish everyone, and they considered it perfectly acceptable to form cliques, engage in corrupt practices, and take bribes.

Back then, neither Fan Zhongyan's Qingli Reform nor Wang Anshi's reform could shake the people below. The Qingli Reform quickly failed, and Wang Anshi's reform caused chaos. Good ideas were distorted as they were passed down from top to bottom.

This chain of interests was so deeply rooted that it extended even into the two government offices. Even ambitious prime ministers were powerless to change it. Take Wang Anshi, for example; he could only establish his own team to carry out reforms. This created the New Party and the Old Party factions, which backfired.

Zhao Huan believed that it would be better to purge the entire population than to appoint a new person.

How to cleanse it? Naturally, by bringing all the contradictions to the surface!

There's nothing new under the sun. Zhao Huan went north and fought a battle, establishing his prestige in the army. He stationed a large force in the northwest and Yanyun, securing the border there. He closed the gates, dragged the new army to the capital, and killed anyone who dared to make a move. The prime ministers were then responsible for replacing them.

Killing someone is not simply about killing them. Just like in a company team in later generations, firing someone is not just about firing them. It's about setting a standard for the team and telling others that they can't do this or they'll be fired. So you can't hesitate to fire someone, because everyone is watching. If you compromise, they will trample on your bottom line even more!

Therefore, Zhao Huan would not waver in the matter of killing people. If the corrupt officials of the Song Dynasty were not properly eliminated, all the new policies would be in vain!

After the hundreds of officials were beheaded, and heads rolled everywhere, even the prime ministers of the two prefectures turned pale. Only the emperor remained calm and sat high in the center.

Afterwards, the emperor ordered men to send the heads back to their respective prefectures and counties at full speed, where they would be displayed on the city walls and announced to the world as a warning to others.

This was not the end. Before the emperor had overseen the execution of more than 600 officials, the Imperial City Guard had already tortured and interrogated another 300 officials. When the heads of those 600 officials were rolled, the Imperial City Guard had already gone to various places to arrest them.

The emperor then issued an edict to confiscate the property of these more than 600 people and exile all of their families to the Lingnan region.

After the emperor personally oversaw the execution of more than 600 people, the officialdom of the Song Dynasty was in turmoil and people were filled with fear. Within five days, many officials resigned due to illness, and countless documents flew to the two ministries like snowflakes, keeping the prime ministers extremely busy.

In the early Song Dynasty, the number of officials in the court was relatively small, only about 200. Twenty years later, it doubled to more than 400, and another 20 years later it exceeded 1,000.

Twenty years later, the number of officials exceeded ten thousand.

As the number of officials increased while their actual duties and responsibilities remained limited, many of these officials became nominal positions. As described in the "Official Records" section of the History of the Song Dynasty: "Of those who held office, eight or nine out of ten were unaware of their duties."

This means that eight or nine out of ten people hold official positions but have nothing to do all day.

By 1071 AD, 110 years after the founding of the Song Dynasty, the number of officials supported by the imperial court had exceeded 500,000, an increase of 2,500 times.

As the number of civil servants increases, so too does the problem of bureaucratic inefficiency arise.

According to the "Official System" section of the History of the Song Dynasty, the annual expenditure of the central government was approximately 16.96 million strings of cash, 14,870 taels of gold, and 620,000 taels of silver. Even disregarding officials' official expenses, the regular salaries paid to officials alone placed a tremendous burden on the national treasury.

Why did the emperor make the painful decision to kill people?

Why did Zhou Chao advise Wang Boyan to protect himself when he went to Wang Boyan's residence to report the matter? And why didn't either of the two prime ministers stand up and strongly object this time?

Besides their own cowardice, they also knew that there were far too many officials in the Song Dynasty.

Especially during the Zhou Dynasty, he was in charge of finances, and the annual salary payments were so high that even he was afraid. The number of officials was increasing every year, and retired officials still enjoyed various subsidies and salaries. It was simply a bottomless pit.

Not to mention being killed by the Jurchens, the Song Dynasty will soon be dragged down by its own actions.

Therefore, there is a saying: You have no right to speak if you haven't seen the financial statements!

Five days after the execution of more than 600 officials, another 300 officials were brought to the capital. Tang Weilin, who was still alive in the imperial prison, was stunned when he learned of the bloodshed outside. The emperor had really taken action. Even the tyrant Ying Zheng had never killed officials like this!

Of the more than three hundred officials who were brought to the capital, some had already raised troops and resigned, some had even fled back to their hometowns, and others planned to escape to the mountains and fields, but they were all caught and brought back.

In Zhao Huan's words: Not a single one can be missed. The whole world must know that those who bring disaster to the country and its people will be caught and executed by me, even if it means searching high and low! This is the bottom line of the country. Anyone who dares to overstep this line will be executed, and even members of the imperial family are no exception!

So here comes the problem: what to do with Prince Su? According to the emperor's methods, he should be killed, but according to the emperor's thinking, the emperor must not take the initiative to speak.