Everyone was silent.

We are all on the same boat, no one can escape!

.

.

Inside Chongzheng Hall, the rain became lighter and lighter by the afternoon.

But the sky is overcast, and it is obvious that it may still rain in the next two days.

Zhao Zhen changed into a new pair of shoes before stepping into the hall.

He now lives in the back garden. Just now when he came from the back garden, he accidentally stepped into a puddle and his shoes got wet.

"Your Majesty."

When Zhao Zhen came in, everyone stood up and saluted.

"I'm late. I was just taking care of the two princes in the back garden. When I heard something was wrong, I hurried over. I didn't expect to step into a puddle and my socks got wet."

Zhao Zhen apologized repeatedly. In fact, he wanted to come over directly at first. That was just the kind of person he was.

But Wang Shouzhong tried his best to dissuade him, but there was nothing he could do.

"The official's dragon body is important."

Lu Yijian quickly said, "It's okay for me to wait a little longer."

"Um."

Zhao Zhen responded, then sat down behind the desk and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The envoy sent by the imperial court to check the military records was assassinated."

Zhao Jun sat on the chair and looked at Zhao Zhen. He said, "The assassin in Wang Anshi's 800-mile express document is quite resolute. He interrogated him all night but still didn't reveal the mastermind. He must be a murderer. However, I suspect he has a connection with Yang Rende's family."

"Is there any solid evidence?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"Not yet."

Zhao Jun shook his head.

The assassins didn't say anything, which was a problem.

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "Then how should we deal with it?"

"Murdering the messenger is like treason. Regardless of whether it has anything to do with them or not, I think we should arrest him first."

Zhao Jun said.

Zhao Zhen thought for a moment, then asked, "How's the military registration check going?"

“It’s not optimistic.”

Wang Zeng sighed, "The armies of Jingji Road and Bianliang alone are rotten. Corruption is rampant, and military discipline is lax. There are many deserters, soldiers who take up empty quotas, and soldiers who sell military equipment. There are even some who have died."

“What should be done with these?”

"kill!"

Zhao Jun said viciously: "He deserves to be killed."

“How many people will this kill?”

Zhao Zhen was a little frightened.

"I don't know. We're still investigating. There might be tens of thousands of people."

Zhao Jun shook his head.

Even though there are only dozens of military families involved, there are countless children under them.

Although not all of them were evil, it would not be a problem to gather two or three thousand of these tens of thousands of noble sons and daughters who were evildoers who deserved to be killed.

In addition to these people, there are many corrupt officials in the army, including officers at all levels and even corrupt middle and senior generals.

The entire army was in a rotten state, as if there were countless termites in its ranks and countless evils mixed in.

So at least for now, Zhao Jun probably expected to kill so many people.

However, from Zhao Jun's perspective, even if the huge and bloated army is an insurmountable mountain, we must strive to tear apart its oldness and reform it for the new.

But from Zhao Zhen's perspective, an unprecedented purge in an army of more than one million would involve so many people, and countless people would be separated from their wives and children, their families would be destroyed, and it might even cause great turmoil.

For a moment, he was a little horrified and said, "Do we really have to kill so many people? Why do we have to kill so many people? Wouldn't it be better to just deal with the main culprits?"

"Brother."

Seeing Zhao Zhen frightened, Zhao Jun advised, "You don't know how far they've gone. Countless soldiers have been oppressed by them, and some have even killed the remaining soldiers to steal their resettlement and burial expenses. Their deaths are not worth regretting, brother. Why should you care?"

"this"

Zhao Zhen said bitterly, "These are all human lives."

"Are the lives they killed no longer human? They resold Song Dynasty weapons and grain, withheld salaries, cloth, and food, and left the lower-class soldiers starving and freezing. Is that what they should do?"

Zhao Jun angrily said, "Brother, what's wrong with you? You're kind to them, but you're not kind to the lower-ranking soldiers. Compared to the millions of soldiers, what's wrong with killing these termites? What's more, they're blocking the path of reform for the Great Song Dynasty today. Do you want the Great Song army to remain in this dilapidated state forever?"

"I"

Zhao Zhen opened his mouth, but in the end he could only say dejectedly: "Less killing, exile would be better."

"Okay, I can kill fewer people and exile them to Taiwan."

Zhao Jun finally said, "But I hope you understand, brother. The Song Dynasty is now on the right path, and we must continue on this path with determination. We must not stop just because we think we're good enough. Doing so will only bring ruin to all our efforts!"

"And those who block our path must be eliminated. Even those present here, including Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng, Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Cai Qi, Song Shou, and Sheng Du!"

Every time he called someone's name, that person raised his eyebrows unnaturally.

At the end, he even pointed at himself and said, "Including myself and you, brother. If one day I stand in the way of the Great Song Dynasty, I will start by killing us two. Compared with the fate of the Great Song Dynasty, our two lives are nothing! This is the supremacy of the country, this is the foundation of the country!"

"I understand."

Zhao Zhen heaved a long sigh, then finally smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "I understand. The national interests of the Song Dynasty are paramount. If I can help the Song Dynasty prosper for a thousand years, why would I care about dying?"

"call."

Zhao Jun also let out a long sigh, nodded in relief, and said, "Brother, it's good that you understand these principles. I know you understand everything, but you're just soft-hearted. But killing to protect life, killing these people, and protecting more people, that's true benevolence and righteousness!"

"Um."

Zhao Zhen said: "Well, I'll leave it to you, my eldest grandson. But the Queen's birthday is in three days, you see..."

"Okay, let's do it in three days."

Zhao Jun nodded.

Just collect some more evidence and catch them all in one fell swoop!

Also give some time to explore that matter.