People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 286 A big purge

In several palaces around Qincan Palace, as well as several palaces to the west of Chenming Tower, including more than a dozen bedrooms where Zhao Zhen and the queen's concubines lived, countless guards rushed out.

In an instant the rebels were surrounded.

Then there was a burst of crackling, ping-ping-pong-pong sounds of fighting, mixed with panic, begging for mercy, roars, screams, wailing and other sounds.

The chaos almost lasted less than a stick of incense. Dozens of people were killed on the spot and more than forty people were captured.

Everyone on the railing on the second floor was shocked as they watched this thrilling scene.

No one expected that when the emperor was holding a family banquet, an assassin would suddenly come to assassinate him.

And they even got close to them. At the closest point, they were only less than a hundred meters away.

If Zhao Jun hadn't set up an ambush in the nearby palaces, I'm afraid the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty, as well as the supreme leadership group, would have been caught in one fell swoop.

"what is going on?"

Lu Yijian's eyes widened. After seeing that the following things calmed down, he couldn't help but said: "Hanlong, do you know something?"

"We'll talk about it later."

Zhao Jun waved his hand, then looked at Cao Cong, Cao Xiu and others who were also shocked and said: "Cao Xiu."

"The humble position is here."

Cao Xiu finally came to his senses and hurriedly offered his hand to Zhao Jun.

"Let all the soldiers of the Imperial City Department in the city mobilize and start working. All the generals and nobles who serve in the third government office must not be spared."

Zhao Jun said calmly: "Interrogate these people separately, find the mastermind behind the scenes, and then arrest them immediately, although I have already guessed who it is. Forget it. You go and surround Zhao Yunrang's house first, and wait. Let’s arrest them after they confess.”

"Yes."

"Your Majesty, please write a transfer order immediately to have the Imperial Guards on the left and right sides send troops."

"it is good"

"Lao Fan, your Majesty has given the order. Now go to the Privy Council to find Wang Deyong and Zhang Kang and ask them to issue a Privy Council order. Then you will take them to the left and right military camps and order them to immediately lead troops to enforce martial law throughout the city. Only allow No entry or exit allowed.”

"I see."

"Cao Cong, Li Yonghe."

"exist."

"You guys go to Sanya immediately and get the situation under control."

"Yes."

"Queen, noble concubine, and prince, please rest in the back garden, Wang Shouzhong."

"The servant is here."

"You lead the guards to protect the queen and the others."

"Yes."

"Guan family, let's go."

Zhao Jun commanded Ruoding and arranged everyone's tasks. Even the emperor obeyed his orders, and almost no one objected.

This sudden change seemed to have been anticipated by him, so no one interfered with his command.

After arranging the tasks, Zhao Jun led everyone downstairs.

The situation outside has long been calmed down, the captives have been arrested, and there are corpses everywhere on the ground.

Some of the captives were still cursing, some were already wailing, and more were tied up with their faces turned ashen.

Zhao Jun walked at the front and just glanced at these people.

Zhang Yu, the commander of the Imperial Guards who had been transferred back to Kaifeng, walked over to him and said, "Zhiyuan, there are a total of 114 people who committed the rebellion, 43 of them were captured, and the other 71 were all killed. "

At present, most of the noble sons of Kaifeng in Bianliang, including Zhe Jimin and others who shined in the Song-Xia and Song-Liao wars, have been transferred away.

Only Di Qing, Zhang Yu, Guo Zun, Liu He, Yao Bao, Liu Ping, who were not generals, still hold important positions.

Historically, most of them died in the Song-Xia war, and they can be said to be loyal and loyal. Therefore, the imperial court carried out slander against their descendants.

For example, brothers Guo Kui, Liu Changzuo, Yao Si and Yao Lin, Liu Jianji, Wang Guangzu, etc. are the descendants of these people. They also made many meritorious deeds in the war against Xixia during the Song Shenzong period.

These people who were not descendants of noble nobles gained the trust of Zhao Zhen and Zhao Jun, and now they are mainly responsible for the emperor's safety.

"Well, separate interrogations."

Zhao Jun turned to Cao Xiu and said: "As soon as the results of the interrogation are obtained, arrest the person immediately. No matter whether there is any other evidence, whether it is biting or not, arrest him first."

"Yes."

Cao Xiu quickly accepted.

Then Zhao Jun ignored the captured prisoners and, surrounded by a group of guards, left from the side with Zhao Zhen, Lu Yijian and others, heading towards the Chongzheng Palace.

Soon everyone arrived at Chongzheng Hall.

Everything in the palace is as usual.

The imperial guards outside surrounded all the supreme leaders of the Song Dynasty to protect them.

Before he sat down, Zhang Shixun was already shocked and said: "Hanlong, you already know about this?"

"No, I do not know."

Zhao Jun sat on his chair and shook his head: "Where can I know what they are plotting."

"Then what's going on today?"

Yan Shu leaned over and asked, "Since you don't know, how did you arrange the ambush?"

"Yes, you already knew it and wanted to tell us."

Lu Yijian complained: "At that time, I was almost scared out of my mind. I thought I was going to die today."

Zhao Jun spread his hands and said speechlessly: "I told you, I don't know either. I have been on guard against this for several years. I just guessed that it might happen today, but I'm not sure."

"Then what happened?"

Cai Qi wondered: "We have been on guard for several years, but you knew there was a rebellion a few years ago?"

"more or less."

Zhao Jun glanced at Zhao Zhen, who was already sitting on the chair, and said, "Do you still remember that a long time ago, I reminded my brother to be careful about Zhao Fang's safety?"

"This seems to be the case."

Lu Yijian's memory was not very good. After thinking about it for a while, Yan Shu and Wang Zeng actually remembered it.

Zhao Zhen was also in Chongzheng Hall at the beginning, telling everyone good news.

The queen gave birth to a dragon son.

At that time, Zhao Jun reminded Zhao Zhen that he must pay attention to protecting Zhao Fang to prevent any accidents.

At first, everyone was still thinking that they were afraid that Zhao Fang would die young like Zhao Fang in history. Zhao Jun was reminding Zhao Zhen not to let Zhao Fang stay in the Poison Palace.

I didn't expect there to be other reasons for this.

Then I saw Zhao Jun said in a deep voice: "Historically, Song Renzong encountered a rebellion. But I only heard the teacher mention it occasionally in elective courses, and I have never studied "Song History", so the specific situation I don’t know. For this reason, I can only guard against thieves for a thousand days and make careful arrangements."

"You mean that the imperial guards in the palace have been arranged by Wang Shouzhong and Cao Xiu these years?"

Wang Zeng asked.

"Ah."

Zhao Jun nodded: "I asked Wang Shouzhong and Cao Xiu to do this. I don't know the guards well, so I can't do it myself. Let them choose reliable guards to guard my brother and the prince at all times. I thought I could actually catch fish this time.”

"How do you know they're going to attack?"

"I'm not sure, but didn't I ask me to wait until the queen's birthday before taking action? Originally, I didn't plan to do this, but suddenly I thought about whether they would jump over the wall in a hurry?"

"So you deliberately left three days for them to plot and fall into the trap you had set long ago?"

Everyone was surprised, no wonder Zhao Jun agreed so readily.

At that time, everyone felt that this was not in line with his character.

I didn’t expect that this was all a routine.

"It can't be said to be a trap."

Zhao Jun explained: "As I said just now, the logic of the whole thing is that I have known for a long time that there was a rebellion in the palace in history, but I don't know the specific time and who committed it. The palace guards had tens of thousands of people. I can't clean them all, so I can only choose reliable people to protect my brother and the prince."

"As for this matter, I'm actually just thinking that a lot of the Imperial Guards should have contact with General Xungui, but there are too many of them. They contact each other privately, and I don't know who they are. I'm not a god, so it doesn't matter. to who everyone is involved with.”

He continued: "So I was wondering if someone would take the opportunity to collude with the generals to murder the emperor. And everyone and I are also on the murder list. Only in this way can they control the situation."

"Think about it, if the army cannot be dispatched and the generals are involved with some guards in the palace, can they mobilize a small number of people to kill the emperor and us, and then when no one can react, Propose a new emperor to ascend the throne?" Zhao Jun looked around and said: "In that case, as long as they have the support of the generals and nobles, plus the support of a group of courtiers involved with them, they may succeed. After all, the new emperor will also succeed. It must be someone with certain legal inheritance rights, what do you think?"

In an instant, everyone realized.

From the beginning when Zhao Jun came over in the third year of Jingyou, Houyuan and Zhao Zhen's personal guards had changed a lot.

The earliest batch of forbidden troops were those who had been guarding the rear garden for a long time. These people knew about Zhao Jun's existence, but they didn't know his origins and were not allowed to go out.

Later, when Zhao Jun's eyes recovered and he could leave the palace, these forbidden troops were released.

When Zhao Zhen gave birth to his son, Zhao Jun remembered that Zhao Zhen seemed to have been assassinated in history. If he had a son, would it make those whose interests were harmed take desperate risks?

So he reminded Zhao Zhen and asked him to replace all the guards around him with reliable people.

Wang Shouzhong is different from Cao Xiu. Wang Shouzhong is Zhao Zhen's "old man from the feudal lord" and is very loyal.

The Cao family has Queen Cao, and Cao Miaoxin is married to Zhao Jun. The interests of the three families are completely tied together.

It would be most appropriate for the two of them to pick reliable guards.

The family backgrounds of these guards have all been thoroughly checked, and they are definitely not from any force. They have also fought in the northwest, and their combat effectiveness is guaranteed.

Therefore, in recent years, this group of guards has been protecting Zhao Zhen and his family at all times.

This time Zhao Jun found out that General Xungui was on the head.

One day, he suddenly remembered the rebellion in Zhao Zhen's palace in history.

I was just wondering whether the rebellions in history might have something to do with nobles?

The answer is probably yes.

Because many of the imperial guards were descendants of nobles, it was impossible for ordinary people to suddenly attack the emperor for no reason.

Therefore, it is very likely that Zhao Zhen did something that affected their interests at that time, and thus suffered this sudden assassination.

After thinking about this, Zhao Jun simply agreed to Zhao Zhen's proposal to wait until Queen Cao's birthday before taking action, because he thought that the other party was likely to be involved with Zhao Yunrang, and he wanted to take them all under the bus.

After all, if only Zhao Zhen dies, then Zhao Fang and even Zhao Xin may ascend the throne. Afterwards, Queen Cao comes to the court, Zhao Jun, Lu Yijian and others support, but they still have nothing to do.

Therefore, the only possibility for those people to ascend to power is to clear out the emperor, empress, emperor's son, and people from the Constitutional Yuan.

In this way, they can immediately control the palace through the small number of noble sons who serve as junior officers in the Forbidden Army controlled by the Sanya, and then ascend to the throne as the most suitable heir, thus controlling the entire situation.

Li Shimin's Xuanwu Gate, Li Longji's Shenlong Coup, etc. all did this in history. It's just that Zhao Jun couldn't stand it. He knew that a palace coup had happened in history, so he took precautions in advance.

Therefore, the whole process of the whole incident is very simple, that is, although Zhao Jun does not know whether someone will take the opportunity to launch a coup, he knows that there has been a palace rebellion in history.

And he happened to be rectifying the nobles recently, so he felt that someone might take the opportunity to rebel against the nobles and launch this coup in history.

So I tested the waters and brought everyone from the Constitutional Yuan over to have a family dinner with Zhao Zhen to see if anyone would really jump out to seek death.

If no one is there, everyone is happy.

Zhao Jun began to purge the noble generals and complete the reform of the redundant army.

It would be better if there is.

It just so happened that this rebellion was used to launch a larger-scale purge and eradicate all opposition forces.

Just like Zhu Yuanzhang put the charge of rebellion on Hu Weiyong, and then launched a great purge to eliminate most of the founding generals.

At the end of Zhao Jun's words, he looked at Zhao Zhen who had a complicated expression and said, "Look, brother, sometimes being too kind is of no use, and you should be constantly disturbed by it. If you are kind to them, they may not be kind to you."

"I"

Zhao Zhen looked haggard and lowered his head in shame: "I was wrong."

"Well, through this coup, it is also good to see the true face of this group of vested interests and corrupt elements."

Zhao Jun looked at the crowd and said: "The empire has just begun to improve. There is still a long way to go in the future. We cannot be held back by this matter. Sometimes we have to make up our minds. Taking advantage of this opportunity, it is just right." Let’s launch a great purge.”

"What are you going to do?"

Lu Yijian asked.

"First of all, the main culprit and the noble family involved in the conspiracy must be from the Yi tribe!"

Zhao Jun gritted his teeth and said: "Although the Yi tribe may implicate innocent people, and the laws of our later generations do not have such an implication, this is in ancient times. If we do not do this, it will be difficult to deter other Xiaoxiao."

"Ah."

Everyone nodded slightly, the interests of the civil service group must be consistent in this matter.

Firstly, it can suppress the generals' group, and secondly, it can take the opportunity to take the power of the three yamen to the Ministry of War. Why not?

"Secondly, for those noble families who were not involved in the rebellion but still committed serious crimes, only the criminals will be punished, and the innocent people will not be implicated."

Zhao Jun continued: "Otherwise, the Cao family, the Zhe family, the Ge family, the Liu family, the Gao family, the Wang family and other families have many loyal children who fought hard in the army. If they were implicated, wouldn't they be beheaded if they had meritorious service?" ?”

He was referring to the descendants of Cao Bin, Zhe Yuqing, Ge Ba, Liu Wenzhi, Gao Qiong, Wang Quanbin and others. These people fought desperately in the Song-Xia and Song-Liao wars and fought for the court through life and death. It would be a bit embarrassing if they were implicated in this matter. It's unfair.

"Ah."

Everyone looked at each other and had no objections.

"The last thing is to deal with those who have committed misdemeanors, such as ordinary free money, reselling arms, embezzlement and extortion of bribes, etc., which were things Taizu tacitly approved of back then."

Zhao Jun added: "If it were normal times, I would definitely put them in jail, but this is what Taizu allowed them to do, so they can only forget about it. They are not allowed to do this again. The imperial court will arrange new paths and livelihoods for them."

"No problem, this arrangement is good."

Everyone agreed that Zhao Jun's handling of the matter was satisfactory.

He did not cut across the board and took advantage of this opportunity to deal with all the general disciples.

After all, there is too much involved here, and many of them are the children of generals who shined in the war between Song Xia and Song Liao.

If everything is dealt with, it will not only easily weaken the morale of the army, but also frighten the other generals who are not generals and suspect that the imperial court wants to kill them.

That would only spread panic.

Therefore, in this way, we can deal with a group of treasonous criminals, suppress a group of families who have committed serious crimes, and finally appease a group of families who are willing to move closer to the court and accept the court's arrangements. Only in this way can the stability of the army be achieved.

"Brother, it's okay for me to handle it this way."

Zhao Jun finally looked at Zhao Zhen.

Although I was asking for his opinion, everyone knew it. What other opinions could Zhao Zhen have?

He felt that Zhao Jun was too cruel to purge general Men Xungui and wanted to show mercy.

The results of it?

If someone backhands someone, they will start a rebellion.

Hit him hard in the face.

This also made Zhao Zhen feel ashamed, and he could only say: "There is nothing wrong with Da Sun's handling. Just do it according to Da Sun's wishes."

"Okay, let's get to work!"

Zhao Jun stood up and said: "You take action immediately and let all departments coordinate and prepare. I also want to go to the front to see in person and start cleaning up."

After saying that, he cupped his hands to Zhao Zhengong and said, "Brother, I'll go first."

"Ah."

Zhao Zhen said nothing more to hope that he would be more merciful.

This conspiracy also made him understand.

Sometimes, it’s time to be decisive but you still have to be decisive.

Otherwise, if he is always tolerant of everything, then anyone can sit on his head and shit.

What's more, it was Dasun who initiated the purge anyway. He was kind-hearted and had no blood, so he hid in the deep palace and pretended that he couldn't hear or see.

After Zhao Jun finished determining the matter, he stood up with many prime ministers, said goodbye to Zhao Zhen and left.

Renzong's heavenly group left the Chongzheng Hall, and only Zhao Zhen was left feeling sorry for himself.

People stood at the door.

The rain has decreased a lot recently, the weather is gloomy, and the ground is still a little moist.

Everyone looked at each other, and someone sighed: "I don't know how many people died."

"Those who rebel should die."

This was not said by Zhao Jun, but by Lu Yijian.

"I know, I'm just sighing."

"Okay, let's go."

Zhao Jun waved his hand and said: "Everyone performs his or her duties. This time it involves not only Bianliang, but also all the armies in the world. Under a wave of purges, tens of thousands of middle- and lower-level officers may be killed, or exiled. , still need to fill in, some are busy.”

Everyone shook their heads, dispersed and went to do their own things.

(End of this chapter)