In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

Almost at the time when Wang Anshi rushed back with the news, Ma Zhengju of Bianliang was also in a gloomy mood.

By the afternoon, the moderate rain outside the house had turned into light rain, and the sound of raindrops was loud.

Several people were not in the pavilion before, but in the house. The servants were driven out and drank wine one by one.

Yang Rende poured himself a glass of wine, took a sip, and laughed bitterly: "It's over, everything is over, my Yang family has been completely defeated by me."

The news of the assassination of Wang Anshi spread in the military camp, and the assassin sent out at that time had another person outside who prepared horses to meet him and witnessed the whole process of their failed assassination outside the camp.

So Wang Anshi sent someone to send the letter back in an urgent manner of 800 miles the next morning, and Yang Rende's people rushed overnight, galloping at night, and delivered the letter at about the same time this morning.

In this way, Yang Rende also knew that he was doomed. The captive was a dead man. Whether he would be sold out was another matter, but the court would definitely continue to dig deeper. Following the clues, he had the most motive and would be caught sooner or later.

"Wang Shilong, you killed me!"

Yang Rende suddenly threw the wine glass, rushed to Wang Shilong, pinched his neck, and shouted with red eyes: "Look at what bad idea you came up with!"

"Old Yang, Old Yang!"

Others hurriedly pulled him away.

Wang Shilong got up from the ground, patted his butt and sneered: "Yang Rende, tell me yourself, can this be blamed on me? Everyone knows that even if I didn't come up with this idea, how long can everyone here live?"

He took a breath and continued: "Someone went to bribe the envoy this morning, but what was the result? He was reported, and the Dali Temple and the Court of Justice have gone to arrest him."

Yang Rende panted, took several steps back, sat on the ground, and didn't know what to say.

The generals and nobles have also recently realized that Zhao Jun is a bit unethical. After they rejected the court's proposal, they actually sent people to investigate the situation of the army. Isn't this asking for their lives?

So some people have already started to take action.

Some people use their connections to ask for mercy.

Some people who have not committed such serious crimes hurriedly found the Cao family and expressed their willingness to accept the court's conditions.

Some people simply prepared a lot of money and gifts to bribe the envoys who are investigating, hoping that the envoys will conceal the bad things they did in the army.

However, not to mention that the envoys sent by the court are accompanied by soldiers sent by the local censors and the imperial city when they handle cases, so it is difficult to accept bribes.

Just say that these people sent out are often newly admitted Jinshi in recent years, who have not been tainted by the officialdom, and they are also political achievements.

Once the task is successfully completed, it will be recorded in the merit book, which will facilitate promotion in the future.

There is really no need to sacrifice one's career in front of the censors and the guards of the Imperial City Department for the money given by the military nobles, even if it is a lot, as much as tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of strings.

Therefore, when encountering bribes, the messengers immediately report it, and get another credit, which is really great.

For a while, some military nobles who control Jingji Road and Bianliang Dongjing Camp have been dismissed in the past few days.

It is mainly because Zhao Jun gave the Ministry of War the power to act at its own convenience.

In addition, the Dali Temple, the Court of Justice and the Imperial City Department have intervened, and even before reporting to the Political System Department, they have already started to arrest people.

In the past two days, the military nobles of Bianliang have begun to panic.

"Die, let everyone die."

Yang Rende seemed to have given up completely, laughed miserably, and said on the ground: "Anyway, none of us brothers can escape."

"Alas."

Han Yunsheng, Ma Zhengju, and Zhao Kaiji also looked ashen and sighed.

Although the assassins they sent out have not responded yet, if you think about it carefully, this seems to be a stupid move.

If it succeeds, the court will be furious and investigate thoroughly.

If it fails, it will still be investigated thoroughly.

In the end, they still can't escape.

But at that time, they really had no other choice but to resort to this last resort.

If there is a good idea, who would take the risk?

"Not necessarily."

Wang Shilong suddenly shook his head and said, "Is there one last way?"

"Don't give us that bad idea."

Yang Rende sneered, "Isn't it bad enough to hurt us?"

"Anyway, we are all dead, why not talk about it?"

Ma Zhengju and the other two looked at him.

Wang Shilong looked at the three people and showed a strange smile: "Who wants us to die? We won't let them live. Only when they die can we live!"

"What do you want to say?"

Han Yunsheng frowned and said: "Now the court wants us to die, the government wants us to die, and the Political Bureau wants us to die. Can you still kill them?"

"Yes, that's right!"

Wang Shilong said: "Only when your majesty and Zhao Jun die, we have a glimmer of hope."

"You want to rebel?"

Everyone was shocked.

Wang Shilong said: "Who said I want to rebel? Do we have soldiers on hand?"

"How is this different from rebellion?"

"The difference is huge. Rebellion will definitely lead to death, but we just want them to die."

"Haha, I don't know what you are talking about. Every time Zhao Jun goes on tour, he is surrounded by dozens of guards and hundreds of secret agents from the Imperial City Division. Killing the prime minister is easier than killing him."

Zhao Kaiji shook his head: "As for the emperor, how many guards are there in the palace? I thought you just came up with a bad idea before, but I didn't expect you to be crazy. It's better to let Yang Rende beat you up and wake you up."

"I'm not crazy."

"Then what nonsense are you talking about."

"This is not nonsense, but the last way to save us."

"You still say it's not nonsense. Even if it succeeds, the eldest son will inherit the throne, even if he is only seven years old, and the queen will be in charge of the government, will she let us go?"

"What if the new emperor pardons us after he ascends the throne?"

"What do you mean?"

Ma Zhengju and others opened their eyes wide.

Wang Shilong said lightly: "Your Majesty, Zhao Jun, the eldest son, and the second son died in the palace chaos. Who do you think should inherit the throne?"

Zhao Zhen's eldest son Zhao Fang was born to Queen Cao in the fourth year of Jingyou after he exercised and abstained from sex for half a year.

After that, he slowly recuperated and was no longer obsessed with women like before. He only had children with adult mothers. Therefore, before the first year of Kangding, Zhao Zhen only gave birth to the eldest son Zhao Fang and the eldest princess Zhao Qinghan.

But in the first year of Kangding, that is, in 1040 AD, Concubine Yu De was already 19 years old.

So in that year, Zhao Zhen and Concubine Yu De worked hard to cultivate the land, and in the first year of Qingli, they gave birth to the second son Zhao Xin.

In other words, Zhao Zhen now has two sons and a daughter.

Under normal circumstances, if Zhao Zhen died, it must be Zhao Fang who ascended the throne, Empress Cao would be in charge of the government, and Zhao Jun, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and other political institutions would assist in government affairs.

But if they all died, then...

Everyone looked at each other, and a name that was almost forgotten flashed in their minds: the son of the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan!

"Could it be!"

They all opened their eyes wide.

"I didn't say anything, you can think it is like that."

Wang Shilong smiled.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Some people even thought about whether to report it.

However, the next second, Wang Shilong said calmly: "Don't think about reporting me. Attacking angels is a crime of treason. If you report me, everyone will die."

"You have been plotting against us for a long time?"

Han Yunsheng was shocked and said: "Let us attack angels and leave us no way to retreat?"

Now everyone understood why Wang Shilong urged them to send assassins to kill the messengers who were sent to the local area to investigate the case.

It turned out that he was plotting against them.

Because if Wang Shilong had discussed with them to assassinate the emperor's family at the beginning, the result would definitely be betrayed by his four "good brothers".

After all, it is better to die than to die.

Selling out a case of murdering the emperor, and even implicating the Grand Master, is a great merit.

It is possible that the bad things done in the past will be offset by merits and demerits, and there may be rewards in the end.

But selling out the case of murdering messengers, the merit is too small.

The most involved person was Wang Shilong, a small shrimp who was already doomed to die. How could the court let them go?

So after weighing the pros and cons, they could only choose to fight to the death.

Unexpectedly, this was exactly what Wang Shilong wanted.

Wang Shilong wanted to increase their charges step by step and drag them into the water.

The initial charge was a capital crime. The assassination of the envoy was already considered treason. If they wanted to report it, it would probably be too late.

Now.

They could only be forced to enter Zhao Yunrang's ship.

"Hehe."

Wang Shilong sneered: "How can this be said that I calculated you brothers? I should say that I am looking for a way out for you. Do you have any other way to survive except this way, putting yourself in a desperate situation and then surviving?"

Now everyone was silent again.

Whether before or after the assassination of the envoy, they really had no other way to survive.

Each of them has a family to support and has lived a life of luxury for many years. It is as difficult as ascending to heaven for them to disguise themselves, secretly take some money, and sneak out of Bianliang.

Let alone where they can escape to, their connections do not support them to escape further.

Just to say that in this era, if there is no guard to protect them, with money on their body, only a few wives and children, they will be eaten up before they go far.

There are car bandits and road thieves in various places, there are robbers in the mountains, and in some places, even the whole village is not a good person.

Especially in some remote mountainous areas, a village of people ambushed in the mountain roads, doing farm work during the day, and coming out to kill and rob at night, which is a common thing. It is difficult for ordinary people to travel long distances.

It is safer to take the canal or the official road with people coming and going instead of the remote paths, but there are so many government officials checking taxes along the way. Once a wanted order is issued, can you escape?

So it is very difficult to abscond with money.

"What do you want us to do?"

After a long silence, Zhao Kaiji finally figured it out and was the first to say, "You must have some purpose in plotting against us."

"Yes, I do need your help."

Wang Shilong nodded.

Ma Zhengju said, "How can we help? Besides, I'm afraid we can't even get into the palace. We'll be dead before we even get close to His Majesty."

Wang Shilong smiled strangely and said, "Yes, it's true on the surface, but what if..."

"What if?"

"What if there are people of ours in the palace?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Han Yunsheng was puzzled.

Wang Shilong smiled and said: "What I mean is very simple, that is, someone in the palace will naturally help. If we succeed, everything will be fine. Even if we fail, it doesn't matter. Someone will help us kill the assassin and find no trace!"

"What's the use? If we fail, won't we die?"

Yang Rende said.

"So only success is allowed, no failure is allowed."

Wang Shilong said to them: "This is also the reason why I came to you."

Everyone was silent.

Everyone is already a grasshopper on a rope, no one can escape!

．

．

In Chongzheng Hall, the rain became less and less in the afternoon.

It's just that the sky is cloudy, and it's obviously going to rain in the next two days.

Zhao Zhen put on a new pair of shoes and then stepped into the palace.

He now lives in Houyuan. When he just came from Houyuan, he accidentally stepped into a puddle and his shoes got wet.

"See Your Majesty."

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

"I'm late. I was taking the two princes in the back garden just now. I heard something happened, so I hurried over. Unexpectedly, I stepped on a puddle and my socks got wet."

Zhao Zhen apologized repeatedly. In fact, he wanted to come directly at first, because of his personality.

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

"The official dragon body is important."

Lu Yijian said quickly: "It doesn't matter if I wait a little longer."

"Um."

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

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

Zhao Jun sat on the chair and looked at Zhao Zhen and said: "Wang Anshi's eight hundred miles urgent document, the assassin is quite tough. He interrogated it all night and didn't tell the person behind it. He should be a dead soldier, but I suspect that he has nothing to do with Yang Rende." There’s a family connection.”

"Is there any solid evidence?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"Not yet."

Zhao Jun shook his head.

The dead man didn't say anything. This was a problem.

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "Then how to deal with it."

"Murdering an envoy 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 while and then asked: "How did the military registration check go this time?"

"Not optimistic."

Wang Zeng sighed: "The army in Jingji Road and Bianliang has been destroyed in large areas. It is full of corruption from top to bottom. Military discipline is loose. There are many deserters, short-term quotas, and arms sales. There are even some who are killed."

"What should we do with these?"

"kill!"

Zhao Jun said viciously: "It's time to kill."

"How many people are going to be killed?"

Zhao Zhen was a little frightened.

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

Zhao Jun shook his head.

Although there are only a few dozen families involved in the incident, there are countless descendants from dozens of families.

Although not everyone is full of evil, there is still no problem in gathering two to three thousand villains who deserve to be killed among these tens of thousands of noble disciples.

In addition to these people, there are many corrupt elements in the army, including officers at all levels and even middle- and higher-level generals.

The entire army was in a mess, as if there were countless silverfish in power, and there were countless evils mixed into it.

So at least for now, Zhao Jun is 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 work hard to tear apart its obsolescence and reform it with the new.

But from Zhao Zhen's point of view, in an army of more than one million people, an unprecedented purge involves so many people. Countless people have their wives and children separated, their families destroyed, and it may even cause huge turmoil.

For a moment, he said in horror: "Do you really want to kill so many people? Why do you have to kill so many people? Wouldn't it be better to just deal with some of the culprits?"

"Brother."

Seeing that Zhao Zhen was frightened, Zhao Jun advised: "You don't know how much they went too far, how many sergeants were oppressed by them, and some even simply killed the remaining soldiers to take away their housing and burial expenses. It’s not a pity for these people to die, so why should I care?”

"this"

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

"Aren't the people they harmed human lives? They resold the Song Dynasty's military equipment, resold the Song Dynasty's grain, deducted wages, cloth and grain, and let the lower-level soldiers starve and freeze. Is that what they should do?"

Zhao Jun said angrily: "Brother, what's the matter with you? You are kind to them, but you are unkind to the soldiers at the bottom. Compared with millions of soldiers, what's wrong with killing these silverfish? What's more, they blocked the reform of the Song Dynasty today. Do you think that the Song Dynasty's army will always be so dilapidated? "

"I"

Zhao Zhen opened his mouth, but in the end he could only say dejectedly: "Stop killing people, and it would be better to be exiled."

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

Zhao Jun finally said: "But I hope you can understand, brother, that the Song Dynasty is taking a correct path now, and it must go on firmly. You must not stop when you think it is good enough. That will only Let all our efforts be wasted!"

"And those who block our way must be eliminated. Even everyone here, including Lu 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 block the way of the Song Dynasty, start killing us grandparents. Compared with the fate of the Song Dynasty, our two lives are nothing! This is the supremacy of the country, this is the foundation of the country!"

"I know."

Zhao Zhen took a long breath, and finally could only smile bitterly and shook his head and said: "I understand that the national interests of the Song Dynasty are supreme. If I can make the Song Dynasty strong for a thousand years, why should I be afraid of dying?"

"Huh."

Zhao Jun also took a long breath, nodded with relief and said: "Brother, it's good that you can understand these principles. I actually know that you understand everything, but you are soft-hearted. But killing is to protect life. Killing these people and protecting more people is the real benevolence!"

"Yeah."

Zhao Zhen said: "Well, let's leave it to you, grandson. But the queen's birthday is three days later, what do you think"

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

Zhao Jun nodded.

Just collect a little more evidence to catch them all in one fell swoop!

Also give some time to explore that matter.