Zhao Jiu was destined to have a chasm with the people of this era, a huge chasm that was difficult to overcome.

This chasm was not necessarily due to differences in ideological awareness, nor was it necessarily due to differences in education systems, or even differences in worldviews. It also had a natural impact from cognition...

For example, people in this era always felt that emperors should enjoy the company of three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines.

But in reality, even a womanizer in later generations would have a procedure for finding partners, keeping one and letting one go. A few people who keep four or five partners may indeed exist, but don't you see everyone looking at him with curiosity and ridicule? Would someone who grew up in this environment really want to keep three or five hundred young women at once for their own personal needs?

Would he even recognize their faces?

And for another example, some civil officials would always worry that an emperor would engage in extravagant construction, be wasteful, and use the pitiful productivity of this era to test various limits... But someone who has seen steel and concrete jungles and enjoyed industrialized life, where would they get the mood for that?

With forty billion coins, wouldn't it be better to expand the territory on the map?

And for another example, some bureaucrats would speculate from an extremely selfish perspective that the Emperor was doing this to consolidate military power and that he was doing that to create discord... But, this Emperor was actually just lazy, ignorant, and simply went with the flow.

Sometimes he could think of it, but sometimes you wouldn't tell him that there could be such an explanation.

Enough idle talk, let's continue. In the spring, when all things flourish, in the late February, the original school of thought, forcibly supplemented with the Shu King's new learning and the Guan school's Taoist traditions, officially became the official school of thought, the main basis for the imperial examinations and teaching, and the national guiding ideology... And thanks to the previous clamor and preheating, and the unconditional endorsement of the Son of Heaven in a royal society, it did not cause much of a ripple.

Because the imperial court had things to do.

The first thing was the discussion on the turmoil in the Nanling Mountains after the complete suppression of the Dongting Lake bandits.

Speaking of which, the turmoil in the Nanling Mountains had already begun in the Jingkang era. In other words, the area where later Guangdong, Guangxi, and the junction of Hunan and Jiangxi are located had already entered a state of anarchy for six or seven years. So far, according to statistics from the surrounding government offices, there are a total of twelve kings, three or four hundred large and small gangs, a total of one hundred thirty or forty thousand, affecting more than a dozen prefectures and military districts in the entire Nanling area...

As for why it was so chaotic, there were many reasons.

First of all, it is a densely populated area of ethnic minorities, and its culture is somewhat different from the surrounding areas; secondly, it is a typical hilly area, with inconvenient transportation and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The term "malaria-infested land" was invented specifically to refer to this area; thirdly, not to mention the Song Dynasty, this place has always been a place where bandits run rampant and folk customs are fierce, and often a mountain village or a powerful family is unhappy and directly rebels, so it has always had a tradition of rebellion.

There's no way around it, it's a poor and remote place... But geographically, it belongs to the heart of South China. Bandits from all directions can't stay and run there, just like the Taihang Mountains have produced bandits since ancient times.

Historically, in the mid-Ming Dynasty in another timeline, the Ming Dynasty was plowing the court and sweeping the caves in the north, but it did not delay it from rebelling in a dozen or so prefectures in the back, and then tossing for many years, let alone the current situation after the Jingkang Disaster?

Of course, thanks to the previous effective efforts to hold on to Huaishang, stationed in Nanyang, and recover the old capital, the current situation in the Great Song is much better. From the perspective of internal troubles, only this big hole remains.

Therefore, the imperial court, from top to bottom, regarded the last suppression operation as a top priority. And Zhao Ding, the prime minister of the Department of State Affairs, who was actually the prime minister, also put forward his own plan based on the characteristics of Nanling, which was to let the already exhausted Imperial Army withdraw to rest and reorganize, replace Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun to go south together, one from Fujian and one from Hunan, and then let the local volunteer army from the two Guangnan routes go out of Guangdong and Guangxi, and attack together from three routes to quell the rebellion.

However, this plan was immediately opposed by Zhang Jun, the Privy Councilor, who believed that the movement and deployment of troops would waste time in vain, and since Yue Fei had already arrived in the south, he should quickly go south while the weather was not too hot, and resolve the battle before summer arrived.

In this regard, Zhao Jiu once again expressed his support for Zhang Jun, but agreed with part of Zhao Ding's opinions. Finally, he ordered that Yue Fei himself decide how many troops to bring south and how many to return to rest and reorganize, and gave him the authority to mobilize the government volunteer soldiers from Jiangnan West Road, Fujian Road, Guangnan East Road, and Guangnan West Road, and recruit local Miao soldiers.

At the same time, generals, soldiers, civil and military officials from the two Guangnan and Nanling regions were sent south together to guide and ensure that this last large-scale rebellion was resolved.

Since the Emperor had decided, things were quickly carried out.

While the major event of suppressing the rebellion in the outer court had just been decided, another earthquake-like important event broke out in Tokyo, that is, Yang Yizhong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, was suddenly revoked of his power to receive and transfer secret edicts, and Liu Yan, the number two figure of the Imperial Guard, was put in charge of this matter.

The matter was traceable. Previously, the Hubei Pacification Commissioner had submitted a formal memorial pointing to Yang Yizhong for impeachment on the issue of secret edicts, but at that time, the affairs of the Original School and the military arrangements for suppressing the rebellion were more important. Now that the matter was settled, the Emperor naturally dealt with it.

However, Yang Yizhong, who had always been regarded as the Emperor's confidant, suddenly suffered such treatment, which still aroused suspicion and speculation among many people in Tokyo - almost on the second day after the incident, dozens of memorials were sent to Emperor Zhao's desk through the Privy Council, all of which were impeaching Yang Yizhong and demanding his execution.

"I only revoked your power to transfer edicts, and they think I'm going to kill you." In the cool pavilion by the fish pond, Zhao Jiu, while enjoying the fresh air and reading the memorials, suddenly chuckled.

Yang Yizhong, who was standing aside, hesitated to speak, and Liu Yan also looked a little different.

"But to be honest, if Ma Shen hadn't submitted a memorial, I wouldn't have thought of this." Zhao Jiu put down the memorial, picked up another one at random, and then shook his head repeatedly. "Zhengfu, you actually hold military power in the forbidden palace, the power to handle intelligence, and also control the correspondence between me and the military generals of the world. If you really want to rebel, you can completely imprison me and then falsely issue edicts to the armies of various routes. This power is no smaller than the power of the Privy Councilor."

"This subject would never dare!" Yang Yizhong really couldn't hold on any longer, and knelt down on the spot under the watchful eyes of Lan Gui, Liu Yan, and several Hanlin scholars and recorders.

"It's not a question of daring or not, it's for your own good." Zhao Jiu continued to sigh. "I'm also ignorant. I made such a big mistake in the system. If Ma Shen hadn't said it, I really wouldn't have thought of this... They always said they wanted to kill you before, and I thought it was because you were always taking the blame for me... To be honest, don't hold any resentment in your heart."

What could Yang Yizhong say? He could only solemnly clasp his hands and say, "This is the Emperor's grace. This subject has no resentment at all."

After hesitating for a moment, Liu Yan, who was standing aside, also knelt down directly: "Your Majesty, this subject believes that the power to transfer secret edicts may as well be directly transferred to the Department of Internal Affairs..."

"No need!" Zhao Jiu immediately shook his head. "I took it from Zhengfu only because he had too much power and responsibility on his shoulders. It is certainly inappropriate to be tied to one person. Now it is good to separate it, so why bother moving it again?"

"This subject also has military power in the Imperial Guard." Liu Yan cautiously replied.

"Is it the same thing?" Zhao Jiu finally frowned. "Troops, intelligence, and the core of power are the key responsibilities in times of emergency. You two jointly control the Imperial Guard. Zhengfu controls the Imperial City Division, and you lead the affairs of secret edict transfer. That is already appropriate enough."

"But it is still inappropriate for a military general to handle such core matters." Li Ruopu, a Hanlin scholar, stepped forward and clasped his hands. "Your Majesty, there have been discussions as early as the Tang Dynasty, saying that the power of the prime minister comes from one who manages the world and two who manage the core of power... In this dynasty, the East Mansion manages the world, and the Privy Council controls the core of power. The system is already very complete."

"If it were complete, how could Liang Shicheng become an internal prime minister?" Zhao Jiu retorted without even raising his head. "Wasn't it he who contaminated the core of power?"

Li Ruopu was stunned for a moment, but immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the Son of Heaven resides in the center of the world, and it is inevitable that there will be people to serve him. As long as the eunuchs adhere to morality, then even if they can come into contact with some things, it does not count as interfering in politics."

"How is it possible for eunuchs not to interfere in politics?" Zhao Jiu laughed in response. "I'm talking to you about the system, and you're talking to me about morality... You yourself said that the core of power is the power of the prime minister, and the eunuchs reside beside the Son of Heaven, so it is inevitable that they will get involved in the core of power. And since they get involved in the core of power, they are in fact contaminating the power of the prime minister. This is the basic principle of eunuchs interfering in politics since ancient times... For example, Lan Gui, even though his reputation is excellent now, do you dare to say that he does not have a part of the core of power?"

Lan Gui did not hesitate and knelt down on the ground for the third time.

"It can be seen that in your eyes, it is acceptable for eunuchs to contaminate the core of power, but it is absolutely unacceptable for military officials to contaminate the core of power." Zhao Jiu still didn't even look at Lan Gui, but continued to flip through the memorials and shake his head. "What kind of reasoning is this?"

Li Ruopu hesitated for a moment and continued to respond: "Your Majesty is right. Since there is a Privy Council, the power of the core should belong entirely to the Privy Council."

"But wouldn't that be depriving the monarch of his power?" Zhao Jiu continued to laugh in response. "Do I have to learn from Emperor Guangwu and set up an Inner Secretariat again, and then continue to fight for power internally and externally?"

Li Ruopu was completely silent.

"It's the time and the situation." Zhao Jiu, who continued to flip through the memorials, finally sighed. "The power of the monarch and the prime minister, the central and local governments, civil and military officials, are always fighting endlessly, but you always have to distinguish between the times... A few years ago, we were stray dogs, a small imperial court. The imperial court was in the army, and we couldn't take care of anything. Starting from Nanyang, we had a slight foothold, and it was a military-first policy. Everything had to be based on the army. After Yaoshan, the situation was stable, but the war had to continue, so I had to implement a civil-military division... And since there is a civil-military division, then these secret edicts of military generals will only go through the system of the Imperial Guard. Neither you nor the Department of Internal Affairs should care about it... Get up, all of you!"

The three kneeling people stood up together, and even Li Ruopu clasped his hands and responded: "This subject understands. This matter is a wartime system and should be discussed after the Jin people are exterminated."

Emperor Zhao, who had not stopped to look at the memorials on the stone table in front of him during the previous words, finally stopped when he heard this and stared at Li Ruopu with a strange expression, staring at this Hanlin scholar on duty today until he felt a little flustered.

"Your Majesty, I wonder if this subject has any omissions?" After a while, Li Ruopu finally couldn't hold on.

And Emperor Zhao also sighed helplessly: "Li Qing has no omissions. I just don't understand... That is, why do each of you, not only civil officials, but also military generals, eunuchs, relatives of the emperor, and even the common people, always want to return to the old days and take the old path? You must know that the various things of the old days clearly led to the Jingkang Disaster, clearly it was not a very good path, but why are you all so reluctant to part with it and regard the old path as the right path? Is the power of tradition really so great? Why do I say 'the ancestors cannot be followed'? Isn't it because the ancestors took the wrong path?"

Li Ruopu's expression was dazed, and he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

And after this Emperor questioned, he also felt a little powerless, just opened a new memorial, but couldn't help shaking his head and instructing: "Don't say such things in the future. Even if the Jin people are exterminated and we return to normal times, it will be a new normal time, not the old normal time... You write an article to express my meaning roughly and send it to Editor Hu to be put on the next issue of the *Dibao*."

Li Ruopu dared not refute and just quickly responded.

However, just as Li Ruopu turned around and headed to the idle room in the side hall to prepare to write the article, suddenly, Emperor Zhao behind him suddenly stopped him: "Don't go!"

Li Ruopu heard a different tone and was surprised, but he could only quickly respond and turn around.

Next, he saw this Emperor repeatedly read the memorial in his hand for a long time, and then pressed it on the table and pondered for a long time before speaking calmly again: "Scholar Li, don't write that article for now! Go summon the four Chief Executives, the Censor-in-Chief, and the Ministers of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War to discuss politics in the Wende Hall!"

Seeing that the Emperor's tone was calm, Li Ruopu, who had entered the ranks of Hanlin scholars since Nanyang for some unknown reason, felt inexplicably guilty for a moment, so he had to hurriedly accept the order and leave.

After waiting for a while, Zhao Jiu, who had been sitting in place for a long time without moving, finally got up and headed to the Wende Hall surrounded by his close ministers. When he arrived there, the Four Chief Executives, the Censor-in-Chief, and the Two Ministers had already gathered with Li Ruopu.

And at this time, Zhao Jiu finally revealed the mystery:

"An official of the Ministry of War has impeached the Rear Army of the Imperial Guard for countless instances of corruption through the conversion of money. Do you know about this?"

The four Chief Executives, namely the Deputy Prime Ministers of the Department of State Affairs, Zhao Ding and Liu Ji, the Deputy Privy Councilors, Zhang Jun and Chen Gui, as well as the Censor-in-Chief Li Guang, and the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lin Qi, all looked at Hu Shijiang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, while Hu Shijiang's expression remained unchanged. He directly stepped forward, clasped his hands, and responded to Zhao Jiu: "Your Majesty, this subject knows about this matter. Before submitting his memorial, this official discussed the military expenditures of Shaanxi with this subject."

Zhang Jun glanced at Emperor Zhao's expression, frowned, and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, this subject believes that the Ministry of War has put the cart before the horse... Conversion money, military colonies, empty salaries, and conscripting soldiers are four common malpractices in the army. I'm afraid they have been unavoidable since ancient times. At present, who in the entire army can avoid them? Only now that the war is not yet settled and there is a civil-military separation, some things must be tolerated, and it is a tacit understanding between superiors and subordinates... Minister Hu is new to the affairs of the Ministry of War, and I'm afraid he is a little confused about the fundamentals."

Many people around frowned, but generally did not speak. Even Li Guang just sighed.

And Zhao Ding thought for a while and then stepped forward as the Prime Minister of the East Mansion, but he actually had some hesitation: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War is also performing its duties. Moreover, the Rear Army of the Imperial Guard was reorganized in front of Your Majesty, basically eliminating empty salaries. In addition, due to the habits of the Western Army, it is still stationed in its hometown, so the habits in the conversion money are slightly heavier, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of the Ministry of War. That is also common."

Zhao Jiu's expression did not change, like a puppet: "I am not here to rebuke Minister Hu. Of course, I have always known about the conversion money and these things. The principles you have said are what I have always emphasized... I just suddenly feel that it has been Jianyan five years, and some people should change some of their bad habits, and some things should be done."

The ministers below, especially the ministers who had followed Emperor Zhao for a long time, became awe-stricken when they saw Emperor Zhao's expression. Zhang Jun was even more shocked and somewhat flustered.

"Summon Wu Jie to the capital! Zhang Jun, come too!"

Hearing the second name, even Zhao Ding became somewhat flustered.