The imperial family was a very special group in the Song Dynasty.
The main branches of the Song Dynasty imperial family were located in three places: Tokyo, Luoyang, and Yingtian Prefecture.
The imperial clan in Tokyo belonged to the lineage of Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi, the imperial clan in Luoyang belonged to the lineage of Prince Wei Zhao Kuangmei, and the imperial clan in Yingtianfu belonged to the lineage of Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.
After Emperor Renzong, the number of members of the imperial clan increased dramatically, so the court established the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs to manage them.
Members of the imperial clan could participate in the imperial examinations and become officials, but the imperial court would regularly allocate funds to support them.
A small number of members of the imperial clan also served as officials in the court.
For example, Zhao Shi (niao), a descendant of Emperor Taizong, is, in a sense, Zhao Huan's uncle and currently serves as the Zhengzhou Inspector.
This official position wasn't obtained through back channels by Zhao Huan; it was arranged by the Council of State based on a rigorous evaluation of his performance.
For example, Zhao Zisong, a descendant of Emperor Taizu, served as the prefect of Huaining. His official position was also arranged by the Council of State Affairs based on his political achievements.
However, this is only a very small part; most members of the imperial family are supported by the court.
These noble families, born into wealth and privilege, never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of their lives.
The lineage of Emperor Taizong, in particular, is even closer to the current emperor, so they basically live a life of luxury.
Many powerful people or wealthy merchants wanted to establish connections with the royal family to make themselves appear more prestigious.
However, this also led to a decadent and corrupt lifestyle among the imperial clan, which, as their numbers increased, further burdened the imperial court.
According to the latest population report given by Grand Secretary Zhao Zhongzong last year, the total population of the imperial clan has exceeded 50,000.
The amount of money demanded by the Grand Court of Imperial Sacrifices has been increasing year by year, reaching 10 million guan last year.
Zhao Huan would rather use this money to reward those who make inventions and creations.
They preferred to reward the soldiers on the frontier, and even giving the reward to officials with good political achievements was a good thing.
Yet he had to give it to the royal family members who ate and drank for free and caused him endless trouble.
No matter how Zhao Huan calculated it, he felt he was at a disadvantage.
What's more, now that the imperial clansmen are causing trouble, they're not satisfied with taking so much money from him every year, and they've even extended their reach to the imperial grain transport, specifically the most lucrative part of it.
If someone commits a crime, they must be punished!
To preserve the dignity of the imperial family, such punishments cannot be announced to the world, otherwise the imperial family's reputation will be ruined and the emperor's prestige will be damaged.
But they must be punished so that future members of the royal family will not dare to act so recklessly!
Furthermore, Zhao Huan also wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate the problem of the imperial clan members receiving government stipends.
As someone who has traveled through time, from the perspective of modern management, every employee in a company is a potential asset, and a large proportion of the reason why employees are wasted is due to problems with the company's system.
Similarly, the reason why the royal family was abolished was not because they were born with defective genes, but because the environment influenced them.
Let's change our environment!
This will also serve as a pioneer for the widespread dissemination of education in the future Song Dynasty!
The day after Zhao Huan received Luo Cong's memorial, the Council of State Affairs finally delivered Luo Cong's report on the imperial grain case in Jiangling Prefecture.
This incident instantly shocked all the officials in the Council of State Affairs.
Unlike the Yue Fei case, in this matter, all the officials of the Council of State chose to collectively turn a deaf ear, and no one was willing to interfere in the internal affairs of the royal family.
But everyone was watching to see how the emperor would handle the matter.
If the emperor only punishes officials like He Yuanshan while protecting members of the imperial family, it will naturally cause discontent among the people.
If the emperor were to deal with the imperial clan, and this matter involved members of the imperial clan in all three regions, how should it be handled?
Zhao Zhongcong, the Grand Secretary, was sweating profusely. He rushed to the inner palace and knelt down as soon as he entered the emperor's study: "This sinful subject pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
The emperor's face was frighteningly grim: "What crime have you committed!"
What I fear most is this: there is already irrefutable evidence, and you have been summoned to be questioned, but you still won't say anything. Instead, they deliberately ask you what crime you committed, forcing you to honestly confess everything yourself.
"It is permissible to discipline a criminal subject, but to instigate the corruption of the imperial clan and bring chaos to the nation is a capital offense! A capital offense!"
"I ask you, are you aware of the matter concerning the Duke of Lu and the Duke of Wei?"
"This humble subject was unaware. If I were to learn of any overstepping of their authority, I would immediately report it to Your Majesty!"
To say that you didn't know is to lie through your teeth.
But what's important now isn't whether Zhao Zhongcong knows about it or not, but that he needs to get things done.
What are you doing?
It's about murder, of course!
With such a major incident, of course someone has to die.
In order to be a good emperor as much as possible, the task of killing members of the imperial clan was naturally entrusted to Zhao Zhongcong.
Zhao Huan stood up, picked up his imperial sword, and drew the precious blade from its sheath.
This is a straight sword, very handsome in appearance, and with an aggressive killing intent. It is somewhat like the Tang sword of the early Tang Dynasty. It was the imperial sword of Emperor Zhao Huan, which was made by the Military Equipment Bureau. It is as tough as iron and blood. Ordinary swords are like paper when they encounter this sword.
Zhao Huan took a handkerchief and gently wiped his beloved sword. He frowned, his sharply defined face etched with a chilling killing intent.
"I entrusted the imperial clan to your management, and such a major incident has occurred, and you were unaware of it?"
"This traitor deserves to die! This traitor deserves to die!"
The emperor remained silent, and Zhao Zhongcong knelt on the ground, not daring to move. He felt as if a huge mountain was pressing down on his heart.
Time seemed to pass very slowly, and large patches of cold sweat poured down Zhao Zhongcong's forehead, soaking his clothes.
"Tell me, how should we handle this?"
Every word the emperor spoke weighed heavily on Zhao Zhongcong's heart, making it hard for him to breathe.
"Your Majesty, I believe... he should be executed!"
Zhao Zhongcong spoke with the spirit of "better to die for my fellow Daoists than for myself."
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