In Sun Tu's view, as the prince, Zhao Heng really does not need to engage in such small tricks to deal with those powerful traitors who have harmed the country and the people. After all, the status of monarch and ministers has been determined long ago. Even if the current prince's power is limited, those people do not dare to disrespect him. , and as long as a few years pass, the situation will completely develop in a direction that is beneficial to him. After all, he is the crown prince and the future emperor of the Song Dynasty.
But in fact, Sun Tu had oversimplified things. In fact, he was not really an official in the court. He participated in those conspiracy battles that killed people without blood. He didn't know what Zhao Heng was facing now. The situation, how embarrassing his situation was.
Since ancient times, there have always been unexpected conflicts between adult princes and emperors, because once the supreme position is involved, the ethics and morals in the world will be abandoned by many people. Although the Song Dynasty had never seen a situation in which the royal families of the Sui and Tang dynasties fought against each other because of this, the relationship between the prince and the emperor would always become alienated over time, even if they were close relatives.
As the eldest son and prince of today's official family, Zhao Heng's situation seems to be even worse, because he is not only subject to suspicion from his father - even a literary emperor like Zhao Ji still values imperial power more than anything else, and even He is wary of the fact that the prince's power in the court will continue to expand and threaten him - and he must also face the fact that his father does not like him.
Yes, as the prince, Zhao Heng was actually not loved by his father. He had been very alienated from his father since he was a child. At that time, Zhao Ji was only King Duan. It was only because he was the eldest son in the family that he was promoted to be the prince by the ministers. According to Zhao Ji's own thoughts, he would rather make his third son Zhao Kai the crown prince. In fact, many ministers in the court knew this, but they were all strongly opposed to it. After all, establishing a direct eldest son as an heir is the most important thing. How can you do something like abolishing the eldest son and establishing a younger one
Zhao Heng knew this very well and knew where his advantages lay, so he behaved in front of the ministers in these years by being law-abiding, fair and strict, and he looked like a gentleman and a wise king. As a result, even powerful ministers like Cai Jing, who had always been gentle and submissive to his master, did not dare to go against him, and other ministers even supported him wholeheartedly. But the more he acted like this, the more he aroused Zhao Ji's resentment. After all, everyone likes people with similar temperaments to themselves. In his eyes, his son was not like him at all.
As a result, the situation of the prince Zhao Heng in the court became more and more embarrassing. Some favored ministers had even begun to plot ways to arrest him and help the officials to depose the prince. However, he had always followed the rules and abided by etiquette. There is no chance. And Zhao Heng is not a fool. He has many Eastern Palace ministers around him who can discuss it. Naturally, he sees all this in his eyes and wants to solve the trouble at hand or even fight back.
Because they believe that as long as the prince can catch the mistakes of some people in the court and knock them down directly, his virtuous name will be spread all over the world. By then, the emperor would no longer be able to embarrass the prince over some trivial matters, and the status of these Eastern Palace ministers would inevitably rise.
Sun Tu's recent plan was noticed by them, and they quickly used it. This led to today's mutual cooperation and thunderous evil. Of course, it was impossible for the prince and the others to tell Sun Tu directly about the hidden secret. Fortunately, Zhao Heng himself said
Cai was very proud of himself, and what he said really impressed Sun Tu.
I saw him holding his hands in a serious manner: "Since His Highness the Crown Prince intends to wipe out the evil spirits, I should follow your orders and act according to your orders. However, I wonder if Your Highness has a comprehensive plan that requires the cooperation of your Majesty and others?"
"This... In fact, your arrangements have been quite thorough. The reason why I brought people here is just to see the performance of you and those under you at close range. Also, since Yuehou, you are bringing all the people from all sides. When I was sent to capture the thief elsewhere, I stayed here in Dongcheng. I must have other plans, right?"
"The prince is indeed wise. Yes, I did stay here on purpose, waiting for the opportunity to mature before taking action myself. Because a few days ago, I have found out that the most important location for the thieves is in front of Chaoyang Gate in the east, not far from here. A lair, even the leader may be hiding there."
Hearing what he said, Zhao Heng's interest became even higher: "Is this happening? Why didn't the Marquis of Yue take action?"
"I'm waiting for news. I can only take action after everything else is successful. And what the prince doesn't know is that if we really want to wipe out these bandits who have caused trouble in Tokyo for many years, it is not enough to just send out troops to hunt down. There must also be Next step plan.”
"But what is it?" Zhao Heng showed great interest. Even several other officials looked at Sun Tu curiously. Wasn't today's fanfare enough to suppress the bandits
After Sun Tu expressed his intention, the expressions of everyone present, including the prince, changed. One of them even frowned and said, "Isn't this too cruel? Although they do many evil things, they still have a life after all."
"If you can go among the people and listen to the words of those who have been harmed by them, you will not think there is any problem in dealing with them like this. Your Highness, if you want to get rid of it once and for all, you must take this cruel approach. "As Sun Tu said, he stood up and bowed.
This was his true intention of taking the risk today to expose the other party. Because Sun Tu knew very well that although he could get people from the three yamen to jointly search for the Wuyou Cave bandits, he was not qualified to completely exterminate them. The person who really prompted them to join forces must be allowed to nod in order to achieve their ultimate goal.
But at this moment, Zhao Heng hesitated: "This... After all, it harms the harmony of heaven and goes against the teachings of the saints. When we educate and govern all people, we should be based on kindness and forgiveness. How can we be so cruel just because they have gone astray? Jue, how about killing them all?" After years of living a regular life, coupled with the influence of the civil servants around him, his temperament was a bit soft after all.
"Your Highness, the evil done by these people is far beyond our imagination. Moreover, if this is not the case, it will be extremely difficult for the bandit leaders to feel fear and be willing to obey our wishes and testify against the traitors in the court who protect them. This will not be truly pacified. The source of trouble. Maybe if we defeat them this time, within a few months, these thieves will be back again."
"Marquis Yue, are you being alarmist?" Finally, a grey-bearded official beside him couldn't bear it any longer: "What's wrong with the prince practicing benevolence and forgiveness in order to influence those thieves? If you really follow this What you said is a big mistake. If people know that all this is led by the prince, how will the people of the world treat the prince in the future?"
"What Master Wang said is that even if
They have made mistakes and should be handed over to the judicial office. How can they decide their life or death at will? "Several other people also nodded in agreement. As soon as they opened their mouths, Zhao Heng, who was already unsure of his decision, became even more swayed: "Yue Hou, can this matter be changed? After all, it means hundreds of lives. ah… "
Sun Tu stared at the prince blankly for a moment, and then let out a breath of turbidity. It was only then that he saw another side of Zhao Heng hidden under his shrewdness. In fact, he was not strong in his heart, and he was not a person who could achieve great things at all.
This can also explain why, as the prince, he obviously has many ways to deal with those powerful traitors, but he insists on getting involved in Sun Tuping's gangster matter. In the final analysis, he was worried that he would be jealous of Zhao Ji, so he could only do some small tricks behind the scenes. This was not something a responsible person could do.
Perhaps he has indeed thought about eliminating harm for the people, but this must be based on the situation that he can benefit and will not be implicated. And once things are beyond his control, he would rather give up. As for the consequences of this, it was impossible for him to care about it.
Other officials, including Di Huchen, may also have the desire to eliminate harm for the people, but in their eyes, nothing can compare with the safety of the prince. Even if it is just a problem with their reputation, they cannot risk their lives for the lives of the people at the bottom. Take a little risk.
After thinking about all this, Sun Tu's heart became cold again. In fact, in essence, there was not much difference between Zhao Heng and Zhao Ji in front of him. Even though he seems to be more of a wise king than his father, that's just because of his current status, and the Eastern Palace officials around him have no power. Once he really takes control of the Song Dynasty, who knows what it will look like in the future.
Just when the atmosphere in the hall seemed a little depressing, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside, and then a guard appeared outside the hall: "Your Highness, there is someone outside the store claiming to be a subordinate of Yue Hou, and he has come to deliver some news."
"Oh? But have all the thieves elsewhere been pacified and wiped out?" Zhao Heng asked quickly upon seeing this, hoping to break the dull atmosphere.
Sun Tu also turned around and looked over, only to see the man quickly unfold a secret letter and read: "All the bandit lairs in the southwest, southeast and other places have been destroyed. There are more than 300 thieves and more than 500 people. Taking advantage of the chaos, they fled into the waterway below and were ordered to guard the entrances of various waterways. In addition, 32 corpses were found in Songying Lane and other courtyards, all of which were women and children. They were believed to have died after being abducted by the thieves. …”
Initially, several people looked happy because of the good news, but when the second half of the news was read out, their expressions suddenly changed. As for Sun Tu, even though he had been prepared, when he heard the number of thirty-two corpses, his eyes suddenly sank, and his murderous intention became even stronger.
Thirty-two bodies were found, but what about the ones that were not found? I'm afraid burying the corpses in the lair was just a stopgap measure, and they should have transported more corpses out of the city long ago. Also, this is just Tokyo, but what about the entire Song Dynasty? I'm afraid the number of victims must be counted in the hundreds, right
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The most critical moment has come to pacify Wuyou Cave. Please give me a few votes and I will let Sun Tu use it to smash those scourges to death. . . . .