"I, Hui, am unworthy, though I lack the governing talent of Minister Wang. Yet I know that as subjects, we should be loyal to the emperor and love our country. Embezzling grain and military supplies is like cutting flesh from Your Majesty's body, disregarding the lives of millions of common people, and causing the deaths of millions of soldiers. Such wicked and heinous villains must be executed. If the order of our Great Song Dynasty is not restored, the country will surely perish! Therefore, I risk my life to remonstrate with Your Majesty, requesting that you execute all the officials involved to restore order to the court!"
Qin Hui spoke with such righteous indignation that even Zhao Huan almost thought that the person present was not Qin Hui, but Wei Zheng from the Tang Taizong era.
Holy crap, there's a rumor that Qin Hui killed Yue Fei to take the blame for Zhao Gou, and it seems that such rumors are true.
In fact, Zhao Huan had met with Qin Hui two days earlier. In a moment of impulsiveness, Zhao Huan originally intended to kill Qin Hui immediately. Fortunately, he asked others what Qin Hui was doing now before meeting him and learned that the man was now a minor official, the Left Censor. Zhao Huan then became suspicious.
How could a notorious villain like Qin Hui be a remonstrating official? Why have I never heard He Ye mention that before? Then it dawned on me: Qin Hui became famous in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty, he was just a minor official of the seventh rank, an insignificant nobody.
Moreover, it is said that when Zhao Huan had just ascended the throne, this fellow wrote a strategic document advocating war, but was reprimanded that very night by the Grand Chancellor Li Bangyan, who then intercepted the document. The next day, Li Bangyan was sentenced to death by the emperor.
Zhao Huan then realized that Qin Hui was actually a passionate official in his early years, a staunch advocate of war, and relentless in his pursuit of justice!
Therefore, Qin Hui was of great use.
And so, a good show unfolded, with Qin Hui making his debut as the character who confronted the prime minister to death.
Qin Hui's words left Wang Boyan speechless. His face flushed red, and he shouted angrily, "This is a matter of national importance! You, a mere Left Censor, only see a tiny part of it. How can you judge such a major national affair? Get out of here immediately!"
"Your Excellency Wang is mistaken. The court's execution of corrupt officials is not merely a punishment of the officials themselves, but a way to set an example for the entire nation, letting everyone know that the Holy Emperor will never tolerate corrupt officials and is thus rectifying the foundation of the country! This is the great way, and Your Excellency Wang, as the Prime Minister and the ruler of the Song Dynasty, should know this!"
Grand Chancellor Xu Churen had long been enjoying the show. The government office had many chancellors, and the Grand Chancellor and Junior Chancellor were there to check and balance each other. Now that the Junior Chancellor was being attacked, he, as the Grand Chancellor, was naturally happy to see it.
"snort!"
Wang Boyan didn't want to say anything more. He was worried that if he said too much, the emperor would think he was against the execution, and that scoundrel He Ye would accuse him of also being involved in corruption, which would only make things worse for him. So he simply kept quiet.
When the other officials saw that it was just a mere Left Censor, they all found a reason for themselves: it's not worth arguing with a lowly Left Censor.
The ministers all looked at the emperor, expecting him to give a direct answer, but the emperor asked, "What do you gentlemen think?"
Holy crap! You son of a bitch, why did you kick it back again?!
Seeing that the ministers remained silent, Zhao Huan looked at Wang Boyan and said, "Minister Wang, you haven't finished speaking yet."
Damn it! Emperor, you deliberately sent Qin Hui, this little bastard, to annoy us, didn't you?!
Wang Boyan said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I will follow Your Majesty's lead!"
"Then what use are you to me!"
Wang Boyan was so frightened that he quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, but I believe he should be executed!"
Zhao Huan continued, "The reason?"
"As Qin Hui said, this is to rectify the foundation of the nation!"
"What about the others? If they have any different opinions, they can raise them. Killing so many officials is naturally not something I can decide alone. I still need to discuss it with you all. But let me make this clear from the beginning: the foundation of the country must be restored!"
Wow! Your Majesty, you've already said it all out in advance, what are we supposed to say?! You're deliberately forcing us to speak, aren't you?! Then you'll tell the world that all the court officials have petitioned the Emperor to execute all corrupt officials to rectify the foundation of the nation!
Just as one of the officials who had submitted a memorial of remonstrance the previous night was about to voice his objection, the Imperial Censor He Ye rushed out. He spoke very quickly and loudly: "Your Majesty is wise. In my humble opinion, anyone who still tries to defend corrupt officials at this time should be punished for bringing disaster to the country and the people, and should be executed!"
Brother He is a tough guy who doesn't talk much. He either doesn't say anything at all, or when he does, he can shut down his subordinates!
He Ye's words alone were clearly not enough to have any deterrent effect, so Liu Yanzong immediately stepped forward and said, "I second that proposal. I believe that the two Grand Secretaries will make reasonable arrangements to fill the vacancies."
One came out and shut down the conversation, while the other came out and arranged the outcome of the matter. The implication was that the emperor could just go ahead and kill, and how to fill the vacancy afterward was the prime minister's business. If the prime minister couldn't fill the vacancy, it was his dereliction of duty, and he could just replace him.
Seeing that these two people were talking nonsense in court and had no integrity whatsoever, the two ministers wished they could stick them to the wall and pin them down!
Zhao Huan looked at his ministers with a troubled expression: "Do you all think we should kill them?"
Damn it! Emperor, you've brought people all over the capital! You didn't reply to a single one of all those memorials I sent you last night. Did you burn them all? And now you're here pretending to ask us questions? Can't you put on an even worse show?!
The official who was about to step forward and say that the execution was unjust was immediately silenced by Imperial Censor He's words. The crime of bringing disaster to the country and the people was a serious one, so the two prime ministers were now obediently silent, and the people below naturally had to pretend to be stupid as well.
Seeing that the ministers remained silent, Zhao Huan said with difficulty, "Since you all think he should be killed, then kill him. Issue my decree: he shall be executed at noon today outside the Fifth Court Gate!"
Wang Boyan said, "Your Majesty, the execution of criminals is always carried out in the autumn; this is the established law!"
"Those are all heinous villains. Why keep them until autumn? Execute them! When is up to me!"
"this……"
"Could it be that Minister Wang intends to exonerate them?"
"Your subject dares not."
"At noon today, all officials in the capital shall gather at the Five Dynasties Gate. I will personally oversee the executions!"
The courtiers shouted, "The Emperor is wise and sagacious!"
Now the ministers of the two offices were in a real bind. The emperor was going to kill several officials at once, creating such a large vacancy. Who would handle this? Could they expect the emperor to handle it personally? Impossible!
In the emperor's words, if even such a small matter requires my attention, what are you prime ministers good for?
That morning, the whole of Tokyo was abuzz with the news, and the public's discussion of the matter was almost as heated as if the Jin army were at the city gates.
This is the first time since the founding of the dynasty that hundreds of officials have been executed in a row. The emperor is going to kill so many people that the world is in chaos!
Oh no, I heard that the execution was carried out by all the civil and military officials who persuaded the emperor.
It seems that the officials of our Great Song Dynasty are quite righteous. When faced with such a case of embezzlement of grain and salary, they have shown their noble sentiments and great patriotism, which is truly commendable!
But the most praiseworthy is the Holy Emperor. Previous emperors dealt with corrupt officials by exiling them, but those officials were not afraid. After all, they had already gotten the money, and even if they were demoted, they would still eat and drink well.
Things are different now; we just kill them outright.
In the morning, Zong Ze, the commander-in-chief of the new army who was training in the north of the city, led an elite force into the capital. The emperor, escorted by the Imperial Guards, personally arrived at the Five Dynasties Gate, where countless people came to watch.
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