A renowned financial scholar who lived in Hangzhou once said: "Any institutional reform is not a matter of wishful thinking, but the result of a multi-party game."

The underlying meaning of this statement is that innovative systems are not something that one person can imagine out of thin air. In the end, what can be pushed forward is the result of intense clashes between multiple parties and a compromise among all forces.

Zhao Huan also fully recognized the correctness of this statement. For example, when he wanted to abolish corvée labor in one fell swoop, the southern gentry were already restless before the imperial court had even officially issued a document announcing it to the whole country.

If this matter were carried out immediately, the consequence would be that the south would catch fire, and the new army would have to march south to put out the fire.

The new army is certainly formidable in combat, but the south is the granary of the Song Dynasty. Jiangzhe Road and Jinghu Road are the two places with the highest tax revenue in the Song Dynasty. Once the Wang army goes to war with these two places, the gentry in Shu might also seize the opportunity to make a move.

These places are relatively far from the capital and difficult to control. Even if the new army wins the battle, it will be a loss for the Song Dynasty itself.

The North has just experienced war, and the South must not be allowed to directly use force again.

Zhao Huan hadn't slept for a day and a night. Finally, in the early morning of early June, before the dew had dried, he drank a cup of calming tea, which soothed his emotions, and he slowly fell asleep, sleeping until the afternoon.

Just as Zhao Huan finished his meal, Hanlin Academician Yang Shi rushed over with a group of old men from the Hanlin Academy to meet the emperor. Zhao Huan thought for a moment and then slipped away through the back door. He didn't want to be surrounded by a group of old men who would talk to him at length about the ways of the sages.

The scholars of the Hanlin Academy waited for a long time, but the eunuch dismissed them, saying that His Majesty the Emperor was not in the palace.

The Hanlin Academy is now in a state of utter despair. To put it in the words of the old scholars of the Hanlin Academy, Shi Xun is running rampant in the Hanlin Academy, showing no respect for his elders. Every day, the comments published in the Song Dynasty Gazette are all about cursing the emperor.

These official reports were distributed to Tokyo, causing a great stir within the city.

Because the official gazette had become more accessible to the common people, and these common people were not all believers in Confucianism, they found it very satisfying to read such articles. In particular, there were craftsmen who were so moved by the sight of the gazette criticizing Confucian scholars and praising Gongshu's mechanical arts that they were almost moved to tears.

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For some reason, even the storytellers in the taverns seemed to be leaning towards anti-Confucianism. However, a very small number of observant people noticed that these storytellers had all been invited to the Imperial City Guard's office for tea. On the day of the tea, a young man also entered the Imperial City Guard's office. The affairs of the Imperial City Guard were top secret, and ordinary spies could not find out anything, so they could only make wild guesses.

It would have been better if we hadn't speculated. But once we started speculating, all sides became restless again. The new policy had barely been introduced when academic debates arose once more.

Moreover, the development of the Imperial Gazette was quite rapid. In just a few days, newspaper offices of the Imperial Gazette opened one after another on Jingxi Road and Jingdong Road. It is said that the original officials of the Imperial Gazette were all investigated by the Censorate for corruption and were thrown into prison.

The newly formed team quickly occupied various prefectures, states, and counties from Tokyo to the eastern and western parts of Beijing. The next step was even to penetrate deep into the villages, where all the local gazettes were provided free of charge.

Next, the official gazette began to infiltrate Hebei, Hedong, and Yanyun.

At the same time, subtle personnel changes also occurred in the two ministries. Due to the complexity of the military and political reforms, the emperor used the excuse of transferring Zhang Shuye, the Minister of Rites, to the Privy Council, where he was appointed as a signatory to the Privy Council and worked with Zhong Shidao and Li Gang to reform the military.

The day after Zhang Shuye was transferred, the Imperial City Guard arrested Liu Tongzhi, the Vice Minister of Rites, in a brothel in Tokyo and imprisoned him in the Imperial Prison on charges of seizing fertile land and evading taxes. On the same day, Chen Yang, the former Vice Minister of Rites who had been demoted for "speaking out on the profits of salt and iron," arrived in the capital and took over the position of Vice Minister of Rites, temporarily managing the Ministry of Rites.

At the same time, the power to administer the imperial examinations and establish schools was separated from the Ministry of Rites and transferred to the Hanlin Academy.

These changes went unnoticed by the general public, but they foreshadowed a storm of reforms to the Song Dynasty's education system.

The Hanlin Academy was originally the emperor's advisory group. Now that the imperial examination and the Zhenghe School have been established and placed under the jurisdiction of the Hanlin Academy, it is as if the emperor has directly taken control of it, which can be said to be a further stripping of some power from the Eastern Palace.

In addition, a new department was created and temporarily attached to the Hanlin Academy. This department was called the Lingzheng Division, which was filled with famous actors of the time. These people were given political missions and began to perform plays in the areas where the new policies were implemented.

These dramas primarily focus on the invasion of the Jin invaders, the heroic resistance of the Song army under the leadership of a wise and powerful emperor, and the successful recovery of Yan and Yun. They also focus on Prince Su's encroachment on fertile land and oppression of the people, leading to the emperor's fury and his order to execute Prince Su.

There is also a play called "The Washerwoman", which tells the story of a beautiful girl named Luo Sang who often washes clothes by the river in a small village under the jurisdiction of Longde Prefecture in Hebei. She is spotted by the young master of the Zhang family, a local bully, who forcibly takes her as his concubine. When Luo Sang's beloved Zhou Ze finds out, he goes to the Zhang family to reason with them but is beaten to death with sticks. Luo Sang then throws herself into the river and commits suicide.

Such tragic stories suddenly became popular in the countryside, and the Lingzheng Division quickly recruited people to compile these stories and spread them throughout the villages.

At the same time, an Imperial Propaganda Officer was added to each level of administration, whether it was a prefecture, state, military, supervisory commission, or county, or even a village. This Imperial Propaganda Officer was coordinated by the Censorate and was specifically responsible for educating and promoting loyalty to the emperor and patriotism among the military and civilians in each state and county.

While everyone was still reeling from the shock, a major case occurred on Jingdong Road and Jingxi Road. From the prefect to the county magistrate, more than thirty people were found to have committed crimes such as embezzlement, bribery, and murder within half a month, and were all brought to the capital by the Imperial City Guard.

The old officials had just been arrested when the new ones were already on their way and would soon take office. Upon taking office, they would begin a thorough investigation into the past of the prefecture. This caused a stir among the powerful families in various places, who faced suppression from the new officials and resistance from ordinary people.

This situation soon began to erupt. On June 20th, in the Hedong region, a seemingly minor murder occurred: Li Xiaoer, a farmer in Qufu who worked for the Kong family, was beaten to death.

Who killed him? According to the investigation, he was killed by a local bully named Wang Jinlong. If this had happened in the past, it wouldn't have caused a ripple. But now, not only are several prefectures in Hedong talking about it, but even Dongjing City has started to discuss it.

All because of a line of large characters in the official gazette: "We ask the two prefects, when will the tyrants who oppress the people cease?"

Throughout the founding of the Song Dynasty and previous dynasties, there had never been a case of a commoner being beaten to death in the public discourse of the prefectures and the capital. Yet, this incident occurred in the current dynasty.

And for some reason, this incident immediately sparked a wide debate, with two factions emerging. One side believed that the commoner must have stolen the item, while the other side believed that the perpetrator was a notorious local bully who colluded with local officials and acted as their henchmen, and that the imperial court should completely eradicate him!