The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 24: Planning in Advance
Zhao Ti heard this and said, "Come with me to see it."

He was not familiar with the Prince of Jiyin, he had only established his own government for a year, and the other party was not a close relative.

Zhao Zongjing, Prince of Jiyin, was the son of Zhao Yunbi, Prince of Xiang, and the cousin of Emperor Yingzong.

The other party held a high official position. Apart from the title of prince, he was also the Minister of the Temple of Imperial Clan, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and the Inspector of the Three Departments.

However, the other party did not have a good reputation within the royal family. In addition to sending people to sneak into various mansions to fish for money, they also did many other strange things.

In the fourth year of Yuanfeng, he took in a concubine, whom he liked very much. He then became sarcastic towards his wife, the Princess Consort. His wife was nearly fifty years old and no longer as pretty as a flower. Later, it was not known whether she was angry or for some other reason, but she died not long after.

After Zhao Zongjing buried the Princess of the County, he wanted to promote his favorite concubine to be his principal wife, but this was not allowed according to the royal law. Since his principal wife was the Princess of the County, it was not so easy to canonize her. She had to be given a title in the palace. A concubine who came in through the side door without any name and had no special merits would not be given a title by the palace.

So he racked his brains to come up with a plan, which was to first send the concubine outside and lie to her as a girl from a good family, and then perform the ceremony of three matchmakers and six betrothals to marry her as the main wife and then marry her into the mansion, and she could be called the main wife. In this way, he could bypass the laws of the royal family and avoid the inspection in the palace.

He took action and remarried the concubine as his principal wife, but there is no wall that is impenetrable, and the matter was discovered by the Censorate. Since Zhao Zongjing was the Minister of the Imperial Clan Affairs Bureau, it was inappropriate for him to take the lead in doing such an illegal thing, so they wrote a letter to impeach him.

Emperor Shenzong felt that this matter was indeed unacceptable, so he dismissed him from his posts as Kaifu Yitong Sansi and Zongzhengsi Qing, and the concubine remained a concubine. However, later when Zhao Xu ascended the throne and changed the year to Yuanyou, for some reason he restored all his official positions.

Zhao Ti led his men to the lobby of the mansion. As soon as they entered, they saw a fat old man in purple official uniform leaning on a recliner, stroking a teacup and looking around.

His house was simple. After he was given the mansion, he had never decorated or renovated it, and there were many old things in it.

The old man looked around with a surprised look on his face. When he saw Zhao Ti coming in, he slowly stood up and said, "The King of Yan is very busy every day."

Zhao Ti had seen Zhao Zongjing before, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong, and at several other grand ceremonies, but he had never spoken to him. At this moment, he smiled slightly and asked, "Where is the Prince of Jiyin coming from?"

The two of them were not closely related, and they both knew each other's intentions, so there was no need for them to discuss marriage. In the Zongzheng Temple, it was not allowed to discuss marriage with the temple minister.

"What are you talking about, Prince Yan?" Zhao Zongjing said with a smile, "I am not visiting the clan, but I am here to ask Prince Yan about something."

Zhao Ti nodded: "What's the matter?"

Zhao Zongjing did not answer immediately. He walked around the hall for a while and then looked at the walls: "The King of Yan lives such a simple life?"

"Zongzheng, you might as well say that my place is old and shabby." Zhao Ti smiled faintly, "I have no money. The annual salary plus various miscellaneous subsidies is only a few thousand strings of silver. At the current market price, it can only be exchanged for two or three thousand taels of silver. Even Hequ horses can't be bought for a few horses."

Although silver was not directly circulated in the Song Dynasty market, it was often used to pay for transactions such as trading horses and military salaries.

There were gold and silver shops in Song City that specialized in currency exchange, and the Taifu Temple's cargo business also had similar responsibilities.

"The Prince of Yan is crying poor." Zhao Zongjing said in a chuckle, "Which of the princes doesn't have a way to make money? I know that the Prince of Yan got a lot of good things from Prince Duan. Once he sells them, I'm afraid it will cost more than a few years' salary!"

Zhao Ti thought for a moment: "Is this the reason why Zongzheng came here? It's written in black and white, signed and sealed, how can it be slandered?"

"That's not the case." Zhao Zongjing waved his hand: "Prince Duan accused Prince Yan of breaking into his residence, driving away the guests, and threatening and intimidating him."

Zhao Ti said: "How can this be true? Prince Duan is spreading rumors."

Zhao Zongjing said: "But there are many witnesses on Prince Duan's side."

Zhao Ti sneered: "I also have many witnesses here who can prove that this is not the case. I just came to ask for the medical expenses."

Zhao Zongjing's expression darkened when he heard this: "Does the King of Yan not intend to recognize him?"

Zhao Ti showed his displeasure: "Why are you admitting something that didn't happen? Otherwise, we will confront each other in the hall. Prince Duan came to my house first to provoke me and fight. His arrogance and disobedience can all be counted as well."

Zhao Zongjing's face twitched, and he forced a smile: "There is no need to confront in front of the hall. The two princes are of noble status, and this is a trivial matter within the clan, which does not involve outsiders. Why go to the hall?"

Zhao Ti said nothing, sat on a chair beside him, frowning.

"But..." Zhao Zongjing continued, "Even if the threats and intimidation are proven by both parties, the Prince of Yan did break into the Prince of Duan's mansion, right? The Prince of Duan did not enter the Prince of Yan's mansion."

Zhao Ti raised his eyelids: "So what?"

"He has violated the law to some extent. As a member of the royal family, the sentence is light. If he were a commoner, his crime would be serious!" "Then how will he be sentenced?" Zhao Ti teased, "Brother, what can you sentence me to when I go to my younger brother's house?"

"Hehe, Prince of Yan..." Zhao Zongjing shook his head: "I said, we are both members of the royal family, so the sentence is light. It can be a fine, house arrest, or... exemption from punishment, just a warning."

"Oh?" Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes: "Exempt from punishment?"

This Zhao Zongjing came personally to ask for money. Since he can be punished, banned, or exempted from punishment, then the power of judgment is naturally in his hands. He wants to spend money to avoid disaster. What a good plan!
"But I don't have the money to pay the fine." Zhao Ti shook his head: "Just waive the punishment."

Zhao Zongjing was stunned, then he coughed lightly: "King Yan, if there is no fine, then it is even more impossible to be exempted from punishment..."

Zhao Ti asked, "How do you explain this?"

Zhao Zongjing said: "The fine is not small, but as for being exempted from punishment, it won't take that much..."

Zhao Ti blinked and said, "Zongzheng, I am poor, so it is better for the other kings to have their own ways of making money. Now I am deeply in debt and have no money at all."

Zhao Zongjing's face turned ugly when he heard this: "Why does Prince Yan have to do this? Aren't those dozen artifacts of Prince Duan wealth?"

Zhao Ti sighed and said, "I took all of it to pay off my debts. If Zongzheng doesn't believe me, you can go find him yourself."

"Since Prince Yan has said so, don't blame me for not considering the royal family's feelings and punishing him." The smile on Zhao Zongjing's face disappeared, and he said with a cold expression.

"There is no fine. Otherwise, what will the Zongzheng do? Just ask them to move it away."

"That's not necessary. Since the King of Yan is stubborn and unyielding, we have no choice but to sentence him to house arrest!"

"House arrest..." Zhao Ti reached out and touched a folding fan, shaking it: "I can endure three to five days, I can also endure ten days and half a month, what else can I do?"

"You, Prince Yan, you are too arrogant!" Zhao Zongjing said angrily: "According to the law, you can be confined for three months. Since you are so unrepentant, just half a year will do!"

Zhao Ti glanced at him and said, "Half a year?"

"Half a year!"

Zhao Ti muttered to himself, "I will take in a few concubines, and have fun every day. Half a year will pass in the blink of an eye..."

"Then one year!" Zhao Zongjing's face turned red and his neck became thick. He was really irritated by the other party.

"One year?" Zhao Ti's face immediately changed: "Does it really take that long? How many years can we have in our lifetime? Zongzheng..."

Looking at Zhao Ti's expression, Zhao Zongjing couldn't help feeling proud in his heart: "Prince Yan, this sect will sentence you to be confined to the palace for one year. You are not allowed to go out. Once you go out, I will report you to the palace and punish you according to the sect law. You just wait for the judgment from the Zongzheng Temple!" After saying that, he walked out of the door.

Watching Zhao Zongjing walking away, Zhao Ti's mouth curled up. This was exactly the result he wanted.

He had already planned this matter when he went to Prince Duan's Mansion.

The laws of the Song Dynasty prohibited royal family members from leaving the capital without permission. This rule was relaxed during the Yuanfeng Reform of Emperor Shenzong, allowing distant royal family members to live in places such as the Western Capital and Luoyang, but close royal family members were still not allowed to leave the capital without permission.

If he wanted to go to Wuliang Mountain in Dali, he had to go out secretly. However, he had to attend royal ceremonies and annual court meetings and could not be absent. The only way to avoid them was to confine himself to the mansion, and a year was enough time.

A moment later, Bai Zhan came in, holding a carp seal: "Your Majesty, there is a letter from the tower."

Zhao Ti took it, opened it, glanced at it, and said, "Tell Shang Qi to completely deal with the Tiger Gang and the Qingyi Society tonight. I will go there in person."

Bai Zhan nodded and turned to leave.

Zhao Ti thought for a few moments and then stood up and walked out of the hall. At this time, the sky became gloomy and covered with dark clouds, and it seemed that a storm was coming.

After wiping out these two gangs, 80% of Tokyo's underground territory had been taken over by the Jinfengxiyu Tower, so he could go to Dali Wuliang Mountain with peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)