By then their base will still collapse.

Thinking of this, Wang Zeng’s head was buzzing for a moment and he didn’t know what to do.

Now their relationship with Zhao Jun and the emperor is in a very special situation.

Because according to Zhao Jun, historically this group of people will be replaced within the next two years.

The reason why it can still stay in the phase well is that Zhao Jun is maintaining it in the middle.

As they are insiders, the government will not allow them to wander outside or leave this central area.

So it is precisely because of Zhao Jun's existence that they can still exist.

If something happened to Zhao Jun, no one knew what the government would do.

Therefore, from this perspective, they cannot do anything to Zhao Jun.

Even if Zhao Jun caused a huge disturbance, they could only be forced to tolerate it, or seek help from the government, or do some other small actions behind the scenes.

But given the current situation, can they really persuade the emperor? Can they stop Zhao Jun by making small moves?

The more they persuaded the emperor, the more Zhao Jun persuaded the emperor. Compared with their own descendants and the Song Empire, the scholar-official class itself was unimportant.

"What do you want to do?"

Wang Zeng pondered for a moment and then asked, "The emperor has tried to persuade him, but he still succumbed to Zhao Jun's advice. Can the Imperial City Administration's authority be taken back?"

"So I ask you, are we doing it wrong from the beginning?"

Lu Yijian said, "If we had fully supported Zhao Jun from the beginning, he wouldn't have become what he is now."

"Then who originally said that Zhao Jun was still young and needed experience, and let him enter the officialdom?"

“I’m not wrong, but isn’t that the truth?”

"Do you remember what we said at the beginning? He needs experience and still needs our assistance."

"you mean?"

"I would like to petition the emperor again to have Zhao Jun come to the Council of State. This way, by keeping him with us, he won't have the energy to do anything else."

"You're overthinking it. Zhao Jun won't stay in the Political Affairs Hall. Now look at his methods. He's decisive and ruthless in killing. He swept through Kaifeng Prefecture with lightning speed. Do you think he still needs experience?"

"Are you scared, after all?"

Wang Zeng sneered, "Is it because your Lu family has a shady background and you're afraid Zhao Jun will find out?"

"No matter what you say, I am doing this for the Song Dynasty."

Lu Yijian lowered his head and glanced at the official documents at hand. "Speaking of which, it seems like it's been a long time since we listened to new things from Zhao Jun like we used to. We've read the old stuff over and over again, and we've pretty much understood it. We always worried about the Han people being enslaved, but now it seems that we're actually enslaving ourselves."

It was an official document announcing another rebellion in Jiangxi Province. Zhang Jian, a resident of Shicheng, led his people in an uprising because he was dissatisfied with the heavy taxes.

Although this uprising was quickly put down, like a ripple among the countless uprisings in the Song Dynasty, it did not cause any waves and was not even mentioned in history books.

But at least it also gave Lu Yijian another signal - if they did nothing, history would still follow its trajectory.

So Lu Yijian did feel a little regretful. He regretted that he should not have plotted against Zhao Jun. He should have fully supported him and made a good relationship with him. Who knows, would the other party let his descendants go?

"What? Are you trying to show some goodwill to Zhao Jun? It seems that Lu Gong really regrets it."

Wang Zeng said with a hint of sarcasm: "I wonder if Lu Gong is regretting that he shouldn't have let Zhao Jun leave the palace, or regretting that Zhao Jun didn't follow Lu Gong's wishes, causing Lu Gong to lose two nephews."

"Both."

Lu Yijian did not deny that if Zhao Jun had been given enough respect from the beginning, perhaps the two nephews of the Ma family would not have suffered such a disaster.

"Then are you willing to give up so many of your Lu family's descendants who have entered the government through family connections?"

Wang Zeng asked back.

You should know that Zhao Jun said before his eyesight recovered that the problems of the Song Dynasty were difficult to solve, and solving the three redundancies problem was only the first step.

And just this first step had already made Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others feel fear.

Didn’t the three ministers and three advisers, including Yan Shu, all support Zhao Jun’s entry into the imperial examinations and be assimilated by them?

Isn’t it because every family has a large number of children who have entered officialdom through family connections?

If Zhao Jun supports Fan Zhongyan's reforms and stirs up huge waves, wouldn't the children of their family be hard to escape?

So everyone has his or her own little thoughts.

But now Lu Yijian already felt a sense of conflict in his heart.

They were worried that Zhao Jun's control of power would threaten the literati, and they were also afraid of the future demise of the Song Dynasty.

It is true that I have selfish motives.

But Lu Yijian knew that if he continued to let this selfishness fill his head, the distance between him and the government would become increasingly greater.

He said, "Do you think Zhao Jun can really purge all the literati? But don't you feel that the relationship between the emperor and us has become increasingly distant? Is the emperor no longer the emperor he once was?"

Wang Zeng frowned and said, "What exactly do you want to say?"

Lü Yijian shook his head and said with a wry smile, "It's true that we want to protect the literati, but think about it, what does the government want?"

"The Song Dynasty will not be destroyed."

Wang Zeng said without hesitation.

Because Zhao Jun had long said that the first concern of anyone in power is always the security of the regime.

Lü Yijian sighed, "Indeed, so every day Zhao Jun exaggerates the Song Dynasty's crisis to the emperor, the emperor's fear grows. And if we want to resolve the crisis, we must carry out a large-scale overhaul of the civil service. And if I want to protect the literati, I will inevitably end up on the opposite side of the emperor."

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!