This era's greatest, most prosperous, most civilized and most flourishing... Almost all the beautiful words can be prefixed with "the most" without exception, the great city of Bianjing. At this moment, it is shrouded in the attack of a violent storm.

  Three consecutive days of torrential rain filled all the rivers and canals in Bianliang City. The high halls, pavilions, and towers within the imperial palace, the post stations and wine shops outside the Vermilion Bird Gate, and the brothels with their embroidered flags and beaded curtains, all appeared and disappeared in the rain, losing their usual vitality and becoming dispirited.

  A flash of lightning cut across the sky, and the heavens were as bright as day, illuminating the Forbidden City shrouded in a veil of water, also illuminating Han Shanggong's pale face.

  Kaifeng Imperial City, the signing room of the Zhongshu Sheng.

  Since receiving Ouyang Xiu's "Fan Wen Zheng Shendao Beiwen", Han Xianggong has been maintaining a sitting posture, and the attendants in the signing room dare not breathe loudly, nor even move.

  After the lightning flashed, a loud thunderclap rang out, startling Han Xianggong so much that he shivered. He withdrew his gaze from the beam above and calmed himself down before looking at the letter again in the candlelight.

  That was not a divine stele, but an astonishing letter of impeachment. In it, Ouyang Xiu wrote about a shocking case of corruption with his powerful writing style, which had the power to take one's breath away and change the color of mountains and rivers.

  To be honest, Han Qi had known that the military in Lingnan was not clean when he was still the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, and had also proposed to the court to cut down and reorganize the southern troops to save expenses, but several memorials were all ignored.

  Not long after, he was also muddled and expelled from the Privy Council, and was transferred to a local government as a prefect. Later, he realized that this was a cut-off of his financial resources... It is said that the treatment of high-ranking officials in the Song Dynasty is high and rewarding, but that refers to high-ranking officials, and the lower the official rank, the income decreases. For officials below the seventh grade in the capital, there is not much difference with the cooks and tailors in Bianjing.

  Not to mention the numerous officials, whose income can only be described as meager, barely making ends meet in Bianjing, a city with soaring prices.

  The Song Dynasty's measures to prevent and control corruption among officials were very effective. Before taking office, an official needed to be recommended by at least two other officials, and if a corruption problem arose in the future, the recommender and direct supervisor would also be punished. Moreover, officials who had been previously disciplined, even if they had not been expelled from office, would have to wait on the sidelines for promotion and evaluation. Not to mention that there were many idle officials waiting to take up positions, keeping an eye on things, so corruption cases in the Song Dynasty's officialdom were extremely rare.

  But as long as it's a human society, don't expect to eradicate corruption. Where one side is not bright, the other side is, if the political circle can't be corrupted then there's still the military...

  The Song Dynasty was known for its emphasis on civil governance over military power, but this only referred to the suppression of political status. In terms of finance, more than 70% of the revenue was invested in the military. Within the military, it has always been a self-contained entity that even the emperor could not inquire about, naturally becoming a high-risk area for corruption.

  The Western Army defending Xia Guo and the elite Forbidden Troops were somewhat better off, with their commanders only slightly embezzling funds and not daring to be too corrupt. As for the Southern... the Northern Court had always viewed them as weak and wealthy, easy to bully and exploit - a fat sheep, a granary, and a treasury. They never believed that Southerners would rebel. Their logic was simple: if they could peacefully rule over the weak Southern Tang and the brutal Northern Han, then under the civilized splendor of the Great Song Dynasty, how could they possibly rebel when they hadn't even had time to show gratitude?

  The armies south of the Yangtze River, the farther south they went, the more corrupt and unscrupulous they became. The southerners were extremely wealthy and had a strong economic mindset. They took advantage of the army's superior status to monopolize trade and made more money than they did through corruption. Although their political status was low, they were as rich as princes and lived in luxury that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

  But the strategy of Emperor Taizu to gather the elite troops in the capital region made the southern generals, no matter how rich they were, not dare to have any ideas, and could only obediently accept the control of the imperial court. As for the civil officials who held their power over life and death, they naturally had to show respect, and every year during festivals, they would send heavy gifts to various government offices..., of course, under the name of certain merchants.

  The Song Dynasty did not allow officials to embezzle personally, but it was not stipulated that the government office could not accept gifts, so this money, civil servants took it with a clear conscience and without hesitation.

  As a price, they served as the protective umbrella for the military generals. Even if it was an official renowned for his integrity, he would not accept such gifts, but felt that he should be lenient towards the military because in the eyes of the Song Dynasty officials, military men were inherently inferior and it would be strange if they didn't embezzle at all. As long as they listened obediently, let them embezzle a bit.

  It never occurred to me that while Lingnan was calm, a Zhong Yiqi would emerge from south of the mountains.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  After the failure of Qingli New Deal, all gentlemen were reflecting on why they lost so quickly. Han Qi was no exception...

  Looking back at the beginning of Qingli, how great was the momentum of the new policy? With officials' resolute attitude above and a group of famous ministers united below, as well as support from all sides that shook the heavens, it lasted less than a year before ending in failure... The reason is simply that the new policy harmed the interests of the bureaucratic class. As a result, countless bureaucrats stood on the opposite side of the new policy, allowing the old party to rapidly gain strength and seize Ouyang Xiu's weakness, pulling the leaders of the new policy into the quagmire of party struggle, making the imperial court feel fearful, and thus retreated.

  In conclusion, Han Qi finally realized that from ancient times to the present, one or a few individuals can never go against the vast officialdom, even if it's the emperor, they don't have that ability.

  After the fall of Fan, many people made changes. The first to change was Han Shanggong, who had exceptional talent. After that, he began to adapt and indeed became the first to emerge from failure and return to the capital as a key official.

  Soon, the officials in the capital discovered that Lord Han had indeed changed. Although he was originally proud and wealthy, and disdained to accept any gifts, he also learned to turn a blind eye to his subordinates' benefits.

  After sitting firmly in his position, Han Qi began to promote old comrades-in-arms... Apart from Yu Jing, he also wanted to bring back Ou Yangxiu. In the Song Dynasty, it was not uncommon for officials to be reinstated after being dismissed, and this was also a natural thing to do when Ou Yangxiu's literary reputation was at its peak.

  Yu Jing's reaction made him feel relieved, thinking that even this stinky Han had changed, and Old Ouyang wouldn't still be that stubborn stick in the mud.

  The answer is here, still.

  What comforted Han Shanggong was that Ouyang Xiu still cherished the friendship of his former comrades, or thanked himself for his recent support. In short, he did not inform the authorities first, nor did he publicly announce it to the world... With Ouyang Xiu's status as the leader of the literary world, once his article was published, it would spread throughout the country within ten days, and everyone in the Song Dynasty would know about it. Compared with Ouyang Xiu, no one could match his power of speech.

  This made Han Qi not too passive, and calm down, he immediately realized that since Ouyang Xiu in Jiangxi knew about the Lingnan affair, it was obviously impossible to keep it secret.

  And Han Qi didn't expect that the plot would be so shocking. He thought that at most, it would be stricter than the Western Army, and they would just have to eat a 30% empty salary... In that case, their combat effectiveness should still be recoverable.

  But now, the Lingnan army is clearly rotten to the core. How can they still expect to be indulged when their own shoes are broken and tattered?

  Either do nothing or do it thoroughly, this was Han Shanggong's temperament. The blood gradually returned to his face, and the extremely mature and charming cold face revealed a thick killing intent. Since that's the case, then let's cut through the chaos with a swift knife, not leaving a single one behind!

  This is also going with the flow...

  "Change into court attire." Han Qi glanced at his attendants and instructed in a low voice: "I'm going to have an audience with the Emperor!"

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Only after a brief moment, the official met with his envoy in the Weiyang Palace.

  This Emperor Zhao Zhen of the Great Song Dynasty, renowned for his benevolence, was born with a gentle and compassionate appearance. Although he looked quite young due to good care, he was already forty-three years old this year, only two years older than Han Mei. He is currently experiencing the best years of a man's life, as well as the most authoritative period of an emperor.

  This year also marks the thirtieth anniversary of his ascension to the throne, and twenty years of personal rule. He has experienced too much, and long ago learned how to grasp this vast empire with faltering steps, making it move forward steadily without stumbling. People have grown accustomed to seeing the great Song dynasty officials resolve all troubles as easily as spring breeze and gentle rain.

  It's rare for the palace people to see an official as angry as this. After listening to Han Qi's report, Zhao Zhen's eyebrows twitched slightly, and his hands clenched tightly in his sleeves, suppressing his anger. Only after a while did he slowly say: "Based solely on Ouyang Gong's letter, you dare to draw such a conclusion?"

  "Returning to the official residence, Ouyang Yongshu is a man who is absolutely reliable and will not fabricate rumors or stir up trouble." Han Gui's expression was firm and resolute, vastly different from when he was in his own signing chamber. He only heard him say in a deep voice: "I believe that even if it's not entirely accurate, it's not far off!"

  "What kind of supervision is the Imperial Censorate and the Office of Scrutiny doing?" Zhao Zhen's voice was laced with anger, this being the most he could express his indignation: "This level of corruption, isn't it a case of gradual decay rather than sudden frost?"

  "The official is right." Han Qi bowed deeply and said: "After this matter has been properly handled, I will certainly take the blame myself."

  "It's none of your business." Zhao Zhen suppressed his anger and said, "You've only been the Imperial Envoy for a few days?" Thinking of his former teacher who was the previous Imperial Envoy, he couldn't help but feel annoyed and said, "We'll deal with the matter of accountability later, first take care of the Lingnan situation." He let out a long sigh and asked again, "Not even one of the officials or soldiers in Lingnan is reliable?"

  "It's no problem for us to transport grain and fodder." Han Qi said: "But if we go to war..." As he spoke, his expression turned gloomy: "I'm afraid Yang Hui will be in danger."

  "Tell him to stand down at once!" The officer ordered in a deep voice.

  "Before presenting himself to the emperor, Your Majesty had already issued the order to stand by in their original positions."

  Han Qi said softly.

  "I hope it's still in time."

  （）