When Sun Tu had gained a lot of support from the military and the public, in the palace, Tong Mu was standing in front of the emperor Zhao Ji, making his request to the man who was still the nominal leader of the Song Dynasty: "Your Majesty has also seen these complaints and grievances. , and the dozens of copies here are just the tip of the iceberg of the thousands of people who were murdered, so General Sun hopes that Your Majesty can immediately draft an edict to convict Cai Jing, Liang Shicheng, and their family members, etc., in order to calm the people of the world and raise the morale of the people. The laws of my court."
The calm words fell into Zhao Ji's ears like loud thunders, making his heart beat faster, his expression changed drastically, and a look of panic appeared on his face unconsciously: "This..." But he didn't even say a complete sentence. No more exports.
Although he had already been mentally prepared, he guessed that Sun Tu would not give up and would cause a bloody storm in the court. But when he saw the book in his hand and listened to the series of names of important court officials announced by Tong Mu, he still felt extremely frightened. The dozens of complaints stacked on the imperial case were in front of Zhao Ji's eyes. The inside became a hot coal, and I didn't even dare to touch it.
In fact, he didn't know how many things Cai Jing and other ministers had done behind his back to harm the country and the people, but all along, he chose to turn a blind eye because of selfishness and greed, deceiving himself and others into thinking that with the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, even if the people suffered some hardships, it would not matter. Nothing. Moreover, Cai Jing and other ministers also gave him many benefits, which made Zhao Ji choose to turn a blind eye and continue to reuse them.
But now, Sun Tu wants to convict these people. Does this mean that soon, this guy who is actually a treasonous thief will point the finger directly at himself? After all, Cai Jing and the others have been plundering the world only with his approval. As for the culprit, he must be himself.
Full of entanglements and fears, Zhao Ji actually had the courage to resist, or maybe because he was facing Tong Mu instead of Sun Tu, he actually felt that he still had a little room to struggle. So after being silent for a while, he finally had the courage to speak: "Tong Qing, I'm afraid the so-called grievances of these unscrupulous people are not accurate, right? If I kill the important officials of the court because of what they told me, I think it will only make the court lose face. In fact, Not a good idea.
"What's more, since the founding of the Song Dynasty, we have never killed an important official of the court without permission. Emperor Taizu once swore an oath not to kill scholar-bureaucrats for crimes. How dare I violate the rules of my ancestors and kill Cai Qing and others on these unfounded charges? Where are the people? I hope Tong Qing can explain more to Yue Hou after you return, and hope he can think twice.
"I know that he has many quarrels with Cai Qing and others, but after all, this is related to the stability of our Song Dynasty, and it is also related to the general trend of the world. I hope he can put the overall situation first..."
Listening to this man who spoke loudly and kept his mouth shut, Tong Mu raised the corner of his mouth and revealed a sarcastic and contemptuous smile: "Guan, did you think about something wrong?"
"Huh?" Zhao Ji glanced at him with some confusion, but his heart sank, because he had felt the change in the other person's attitude, from looking down at him just now to looking down at him now.
Tong Mu stepped forward, and soon he was only looking at Zhao Ji across the table. This had completely exceeded the boundaries of a monarch and his minister, and was full of threats.
: "Do you think we are asking you to approve this matter? Do you think we can't kill Cai Jing and the others without your will? Do you think you are still the aloof emperor, and your words are the will, and we will wait. Can I just obey the orders obediently?"
Every word "you think" made Zhao Ji tremble. After three sentences, his face turned pale. Only then did he truly understand how unbearable his situation was.
Tong Mu patted the books and tables on the desk: "The books and tables here are just to save you some face. Don't give up! As early as you did those things and allowed those corrupt officials to abuse the people, you should have known that you would have What will happen to you? If you are willing to cooperate, you can still maintain some dignity as the emperor. Otherwise, your Zhao family will still have a lot of people if you don’t have any other clan members... "
The most direct threat immediately made Zhao Ji feel as if he had been struck by lightning. His whole body was completely paralyzed, and his eyes were lifeless. The last bit of false illusion, which was only used to deceive himself, was completely shattered. It turned out that in the eyes of these people, he, the emperor, had long existed in name only and was just a puppet that could be replaced at any time.
It's ridiculous that I actually want to bargain with them and try to deal with them to save Cai Jing and others. This is completely seeking the skin of a tiger and bringing humiliation to myself.
At this moment, waves of calls like waves suddenly came from outside. Even through the many palace walls, people could still distinguish the meaning of the words: "General Sun is wise, kill those corrupt officials..." This made Zhao Ji's body twitch violently again, and his last bit of persistence was shattered.
"The officials should have heard it, right? This is what the people want, and it is the biggest hope in the hearts of millions of people in Tokyo. If you are still stubborn and think about protecting Cai Jing and others, you are making an enemy of the world. Emperor, I, the Song Dynasty, will never want him! Do you understand what I mean?" Tong Mu said, pressing his hands on the imperial case, leaning forward, staring at Zhao Ji in an almost condescending manner.
"I...I agree to what you asked for..." Zhao Ji finally broke down and said with a cry. At this time, he could only choose to save himself, because he knew very well that once he was really destroyed by Sun Tu, he would leave. Death is not far away.
But Tong Mu didn't give him any face. He just picked his ears and said, "What did you say? Why can't I hear you clearly? Speak louder."
"I... I say that Cai Jing and his friends are indeed guilty of unpardonable crimes. I will immediately issue an order to kill... and wipe out their whole family..." Poor Zhao Ji could only raise his voice and speak loudly. He no longer had the dignity that a king should have, and he could not even claim to be a king. Already changed. Because he knew that in the eyes of the other party, he was indeed not a king at all.
"That's good, please ask the official to write down the decree in his own hand." Tong Mu nodded with satisfaction, and the disdainful smile on his face became even brighter. He thought of many years ago, when he first became an official, he regarded the emperor in front of him as a god-like existence. But in just a few years, he had already seen through his cowardly, selfish, and incompetent nature. In his eyes, Zhao Ji was now synonymous with waste and not worth mentioning at all.
Zhao Ji could only endure it, took the pen and paper from the desk with trembling hands, and then followed Tong Mu's instructions,
He wrote out a decree to sentence Cai Jing, Liang Shicheng and other important officials of the imperial family to death. Not to mention, although he is not good at being an emperor, his calligraphy is really good. Even at such a frightening moment, the thin gold calligraphy is still quite good, and there is nothing strange about it.
It wasn't until he used his seal that Tong Mu reached out to take it, read the contents at a glance, and nodded slightly: "With the official's writing skills, it will be easy to get a job as a swordsman and pen clerk in the yamen. It's true. It’s admirable.”
Full of sarcasm and teasing reached Zhao Ji's ears, but he did not dare to express even the slightest anger. He could only laugh and nod along with it. There was no dignity that a king should have. But even so, Tong Mu didn't intend to let him go just like that. After squinting at him for a moment, he said: "Since the official is so good at writing, let's write another thing."
"Write, write what?"
"You are guilty of the edict." Tong Mu stared at him and said: "You don't think that all the sufferings suffered by the people in the world are due to Cai Jing and other treacherous officials? If you didn't reuse them and let them go, how could they be so unscrupulous? I don’t know the inside story, so I can’t say much else, but how Zhu Meng plundered the people in the south of the Yangtze River, causing countless families to lose their lives, and finally had to follow Fang La to raise an army. I saw it with my own eyes and experienced it myself. And why Zhu Meng was able to He harmed the people in this way because he was in the name of the plan you gave him, so in truth, your crime is only higher than theirs. Now it is not a matter of course for you to apologize to the people of the world under the edict of sin. ?"
"You want me to issue an edict to sin against you? You... you..." Even though Zhao Ji had given up resistance, he still wanted to refuse after hearing the meaning, because this was really a shame and humiliation, and might even shake his legitimacy as the emperor of the Song Dynasty. .
Throughout the dynasties, there were naturally many emperors who issued edicts to punish themselves, but most of them were just to appease the people after a major natural disaster. In fact, it was impossible for any emperor to admit his mistakes in front of his subjects. As for the other half of the so-called emperor who really admitted his mistakes, it was only after his death that the courtiers used his will to issue an edict of guilt. In fact, it had nothing to do with him.
But now, Zhao Ji is about to become the first emperor to write a personal edict and admit that he is guilty of the crime. This really exceeds his bottom line. Even under such circumstances, he still tries his best to resist.
But now Zhao Ji is already a piece of meat on the chopping block, how can Tong Mu allow him to refuse? Immediately, he stared at him again: "Guan Jia, do you think you still have a choice? Life, death, honor and disgrace, you choose for yourself."
With just this sentence, Zhao Ji's last line of defense was completely shattered. After trembling, he finally whispered softly: "I... I write..." As a rare person who can still suffer humiliation in the Kingdom of Jin after being a prisoner. An emperor who has lived on earth for decades, his obsession with life, or his obsession with life and fear of death, is still stronger than many people. For this reason, he can abandon all dignity and just live!
So, with Tong Mu's suggestion, a new edict written by the living emperor was released. When he took the edict, Tong Mu couldn't help but smile happily. This time, the initiative was completely in his own hands.