"Wu'er...... Aifei ...... Madman! Brute! You are not human......" Emperor Lizong was really anxious to see his wife and daughter being tortured like this, but unfortunately no matter how he struggled, Hong Tao's hands pressed on his shoulders were like iron, so that he couldn't even stand up, so he could only curse while trying to break the confinement on his shoulders with his own hands. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Ah...... "Vomit ......" Before the screams at the door disappeared, there was a bigger scream from the gatehouse, and one of the middle fingers of Emperor Lizong's left hand was grabbed by Hong Tao and broken, so painful that Emperor Lizong's legs kept kicking, and even vomited directly, and his stomach cramped.

"Give first aid, give them all some anesthetic, send someone to prepare two wooden stakes outside the north gate of the palace, and pull these two women over to be tortured." Hearing Hong Tao's order, two marines took out first-aid kits from their backpacks and began to stop the bleeding and bandage the two women, while another marine took out a small leather bag from his backpack and grabbed a few leaves from it.

"Chew, chew slowly, don't swallow, it will make you less painful. Your Majesty, they have already reached this point, if they don't want them to lose another finger, open their mouths. I'm not here to negotiate terms with you this time, but to replace you, which means that the two of us are enemies, you should have inquired about my previous affairs, and I should be clear about what the enemy means. Do as I say, and I will ensure that your Zhao family will be the emperor forever. If you reject me, the entire Lin'an City will be killed and injured because of you, and then I will pat my ass and flee back to my kingdom to continue to be the king, and you and your Zhao family will all be turned into dry bones. And your country will soon become the territory of the Jinhe Empire, and it will have nothing to do with you, and the only thing that future generations can remember about you is that because of your mediocrity, the entire royal family, the imperial court, and Lin'an City have suffered huge casualties, what will they say about you, I don't think I will say anything good. Don't forget, Hong Jinhe is my son, for what purpose does the Jinhe Empire not let others slander their old emperor, you say? ”

These leaves are ancient leaves, and the indigenous people of Central and South America used them as a medicinal herb for curing diseases, and they would chew two tablets regardless of headaches and brain fever. Hong Tao had already discovered this kind of thing, and did not order it to be banned, but he did not encourage it, but used it as a kind of anesthetic. It does have the effect of relieving pain, whether to refine the substances in it, Hong Tao has not yet thought about it.

"You humiliate me so much, what face do I have to be an emperor! The emperor you said is just an ornament, why do you have to let me be it, it's better to give me and them a good time, it doesn't matter if you are buried or not, I don't have the face to see my ancestors and ancestors. Emperor Lizong's spirit had collapsed, but the huge pain in his hands reminded him that there were two women outside the door whose fingers hurt more than his own, so he had to open his mouth and take a few leaves into his mouth.

"No one will know about today's events, and I won't say anything. The emperor is indeed an ornament, but it is better than nothing, you say? My patience is limited, and now is not the time to talk about these things, and when everything settles down, I will talk to you thoroughly if you don't want to talk about it. I didn't hurt your right hand for a purpose, do you want to see both of their fingers cut off one by one, and then go to the royal road to suffer humiliation and a tragic death, or write the edict according to what I say, you choose. I'll give you half a cigarette to eat, and when I'm done with that, I'll have to get an answer. Hong Tao looked at the sun at the door, the sun was already very high, he didn't have time to talk nonsense with Emperor Lizong, the result must be made before sunset, once nothing can be done, take advantage of the night to get on the ship and return home, what the Great Song Love is, no matter what.

"I don't want this emperor, write an edict of abdication, and let them and my family out of the palace?" Emperor Lizong didn't dare to fight with Hong Tao anymore this time, anyway, he had to face it, and what about the time for most of the cigarettes, just don't wait.

"Do what I just said, not a word is bad. Given that you have injuries and may have a poor memory, I'll tell you one last time, listen. You are still the emperor, I am the prime minister, the prime minister needs to listen to me, all the government affairs of the country are handled by me, you and all the royal family, just enjoy life in the palace. In the future, you should listen very carefully to my suggestions, and then very solemnly agree with them. In return, I will let the current crown prince continue to be the crown prince, and after a year, you can let him succeed to the throne whenever you want, just say hello to me in advance. This edict should be written sincerely and eloquently, and then announced to the world, especially the Straits Company State and the Jinhe Empire, and I will send someone to send it over. There will be ministers coming in a while, let's discuss the details again, that's probably the meaning, are there any objections? Hong Tao pressed his hands on Emperor Lizong's shoulders again, and then raised his chin at the door. The two women who had just woken up were crushed to the ground again, and two short knives were pressed against their other little fingers.

“…… Let's find someone from Zhongshushe, I put the word ...... "Emperor Lizong can't think of resisting at all, and Xiucai meets a soldier and can't explain it clearly." No matter how much you say, people won't let you say it, it's a knife at every turn, or you will break your fingers, who can stand this thing. Suicide? Let's not talk about whether there is a chance to commit suicide, even if I die, what will happen to my family? Hong Tao is not like a person who likes to brag, he is very likely to kill his family before leaving. In this case, the vast majority of people can only give in, and Emperor Lizong is also among the vast majority of these people.

"Take His Majesty the Emperor and the concubine and princess to a quiet room where no one disturbs you, you must be closely protected, even if you, you have to squat side by side, understand?" Hong Tao didn't have time to wait for the emperor, who had lost his soul, to write the edict slowly, because in the Song Dynasty, the emperor did not have the final say, it had a very complicated process.

In many TV series and movies with historical themes in later generations, if the emperor wants to issue an edict, he will say to the eunuchs around him: Serve with pen and ink! Then either the emperor himself wrote, or the eunuch wrote it on his behalf, brushed and brushed, and stamped the emperor's big seal, and then took it out to announce it to the world. Hong Tao of other dynasties did not know, if he did this in the Song Dynasty, this edict would not even be able to go out of the palace gate, and he could read it to the family members and eunuchs in the palace.

What is the Holy Decree? A decree is a decree of a country, not just the consent of the emperor alone. In most cases, the decree was not the emperor's idea, but the result of the deliberation of the court officials headed by the prime minister, but it was ultimately issued in the name of the emperor. In a few cases, the emperor has a new idea, but he must also consult with several prime ministers and obtain everyone's support before he can issue a decree to inform the people of his decision. Sometimes the involvement is too big, and a court meeting has to be held to let the civil and military officials discuss whether this new idea can be established.

Even if everyone agrees, the decree cannot be issued casually. First of all, it is not possible for anyone to draft a holy decree, the emperor can't write it himself, and it can't be done by finding a eunuch to write it on his behalf. There is a special person to do the drafting of the holy decree, and this position is called Zhongshusheren, and he is a big official!

The emperor told the Zhongshu Sheren the decision with the consent of the hundred officials, which was called the prefix, and the Zhongshu Sheren wrote the holy decree in accordance with the emperor's prefix, that is, the central idea, in words that conformed to the system, which was considered a formal holy decree...... Draft!

If he finds something illegal in the prefix, he will refuse to draft the holy decree, which is called sealing and returning. Regardless of whether the other party is the emperor or the prime minister, the title of the word was returned by the Zhongshusheren, as long as the people really find a mistake, you are not allowed to retaliate, you can only go back and modify it according to the law, and then submit it to the Zhongshusheren.

This situation is not a few, whether it is the Southern Song Dynasty or the Northern Song Dynasty, there are instances of the holy decree being returned by the Zhongshu Sheren, and it is not one or two cases, it cannot be said that it is very frequent, but it is also commonplace.

Those who have the function of supervising and adjudicating the holy decree are not the only ones in the Zhongshu House. If a holy decree wants to be promulgated reasonably and legally, it must first be handed over to the province of Menxia after it has been written by the Zhongshu Sheren, the words are made correctly, and the prime minister of Zhongshu has signed it. The decree is officially adopted by the provincial minister and signed by the prime minister of the province.

It is not enough to pass it alone, the holy decree is not just a eunuch who can take a thought, and the implementation of the holy decree is also strictly stipulated, it must be promulgated and executed by the Shangshu Province, and other people or institutions do not have this right.

At this point, the process of the holy decree has not yet been completed, because there is another department that has the right to inspect the holy decree, that is, the taizhi, that is, the speech official. This department has the right to discuss the merits and losses of government decrees, to examine edicts, and even to revise edicts. In other words, if they find that there is a serious error or irregularity in the decree, they can withdraw the decree and refuse to carry it out.

This right of the speakers will also be regulated by other departments, not that a certain department can do whatever it wants. Although the Southern Song Dynasty abolished the two provinces of Menxia and Shangshu after the reform of Yuanfeng, the meaning is still the same, but the Tang system was restored in name.

Through the promulgation of a small holy decree, it can be seen that the basic concept of governing the country of the Song Dynasty, from the emperor to the ministers to the civil scholars, has reached a consensus, that is, the checks and balances of power have the rudiments of the separation of three and four powers, and its core concept is indeed to restrain the excessive concentration of power of a certain party, so as to avoid one person or a small group of people having the final say. Of course, the Song Dynasty's system of checks and balances was still flawed, and many times it still relied on the rule of man rather than the rule of law, and Hong Tao would now come to help them change it.

(To be continued.) )