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

Chapter 63: Conferment Meeting
All the ministers in the hall looked over immediately. It was not uncommon for princes to come to court in the Song Dynasty. Not to mention the distant past, it had happened during the reigns of Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Shenzong.

For example, the position of Minister of Zongzheng Temple is currently held by Zhao Zongjing, Prince of Jiyin, but the two previous ones were both princes of the first rank.

Seeing that there was no way out, the old party kept silent, wondering in their hearts what kind of official position Zhao Xu would give them.

Zhao Ti himself was a prince of the first rank, but this was just a title.

The official system of the Song Dynasty was complex, with several types of officials, such as officials on salary, dispatched officials, officials with no official duties, officials with honors, and officials with official posts. However, only dispatched officials had actual duties, also known as officials in charge of official duties. After the Yuanfeng reform, some officials on salary were also given the title of dispatched officials.

The dispatches are divided into the following categories: knowledge, judgment, power, direct, trial, signature, promotion, inspection, and management, etc.

To hold a low-rank official position with a high rank is called "xing", and to hold a high-rank official position with a low rank is called "shou". Zhao Ti was a first-rank official, so no matter what position he was assigned, it was called "xing". If he was only in charge temporarily, it was called "quanxing".

The ministers did not think that Zhao Xu would be given a very high official position. After all, Zhao Ti had no qualifications in the court and no achievements in the imperial examinations. After the Yuanfeng reform, members of the royal family could take the imperial examinations, but even if they passed, they would basically enter the Imperial Academy as professors and study for the rest of their lives.

What they were worried about was that Zhao Xu would be given a noble official position, where his words would carry weight both inside and outside the court, which would be detrimental to the old law.

Zhao Xu said: "Prince Yan, you can just... temporarily take the position of the commander of the Imperial Guards and the Infantry Division!"

All the ministers were stunned when they heard this.

Zhao Ti was also slightly startled. This was different from what he said in the palace on the night of the rainstorm. That night he said he would be an honorable official, but now Zhao Xu actually asked him to be in charge of the troops?
In charge of the troops! The princes of the Song Dynasty had always been promoted to higher positions, and all of them held both civil and military positions. For civil positions, they were generally three dukes, or ministers of state, and for military positions, they were generals, such as the military governor, military governor, and so on. Zhao Ti now held both civil and military positions.

The army of the Song Dynasty was divided into management and coordination. Management was under the jurisdiction of two departments and three yamen, and coordination was under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council.

The two departments are the Palace Front Department and the Imperial Guard Department.

The three yamen are the Palace Front Commandery under the Palace Front Commandery, the Infantry Commandery under the Imperial Guard Commandery, and the Cavalry Commandery under the Imperial Guard Commandery.

The two departments existed side by side and checked and restricted each other. Originally, the authority of the Imperial Guard Department was slightly greater, and its corresponding rank was half a grade higher than that of the Palace Front Department. However, in the second year of Emperor Taizong's Yongxi reign, after General Mi Xin of the Right Guard was dismissed by imperial decree, no one was reinstated and the Du Yuhou of the Palace Department temporarily took over his position.

In the second year of Jingde, Wang Chao, Duke of Lu, was dismissed from his post as Du Yu Hou, and the Infantry Department and the Cavalry Department were then taken over by the Palace Front Department.

All the officials were wondering, is the emperor going to reopen the Imperial Guard Division? After all, the Prince of Yan was the commander of the infantry, so the Palace Guard Division no longer had the authority to govern the Infantry Division.

At this time the old party headed by Lu Dafang breathed a sigh of relief. Although the commander-in-chief of the Infantry Department was in charge of troops, in their hearts he was not as important as a noble civil servant. At least his words in the court did not carry as much weight as those of a noble civil servant. As for whether there were soldiers or not, they did not care. The Infantry Department was only in charge of troops and garrison part of the Tokyo City, and the power to transfer troops to other places lay in the Privy Council.

Zhao Ti remained calm and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhao Xu said: "When the Prince of Yan takes up his post tomorrow, he will start to wipe out the Ghost Fan Tower."

Zhao Ti accepted the order, and after half a while, as there was nothing else to do, he left the hall as ordered, and the court meeting ended.

The next morning, Zhao Ti came to the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards and Infantry. At that time, although the combat effectiveness of the imperial guards in the capital was weakening year by year, they had not yet reached the complete corruption as during the Jing Kang period.

After checking the roster of officers, the yamenei asked all the low-ranking officers to leave. Zhao Ti looked down and saw that there were about ten people left in the hall, including a deputy commander-in-chief and a chief military officer, as well as the commanders of the left and right wings of the Divine Guard, the Tiger Wing Army, the Wuwei Army, the Xiongwu Army, the Fengjie Army, and the Buwu Army. They were the entire team of the Infantry Command.

Zhao Ti smiled slightly: "It would be difficult to see all of you, but it just so happened that I caught up with the grand court meeting yesterday, and you all heard that the government wanted to wipe out Guifanlou. Now you can share your thoughts."

The people below looked at each other in bewilderment. Some of them were not permanently stationed in the capital, because they were all present at the grand court meeting. At this time, the deputy commander Wang En said, "Your Highness, this matter must be handled with caution. Since the time of Taizu, troops have been sent to clear out the Guifan Tower, but it has lasted for a hundred years. It is not easy to completely eradicate it." The chief military officer Zhong Pu next to him said, "I have encountered such a situation in the Western Army. It was nothing more than flooding, burning, and smoke, and then the soldiers went down to the city to kill them. It must work."

Zhao Ti glanced at the other person. Zhong Pu was the son of the famous general Zhong Yan. He had been appointed as the right palace guard in Beijing for his meritorious service. He had just been sent to the Imperial Guard Infantry Division to serve as the chief military officer.

Wang En shook his head and said, "General Zhong, don't you know that the underground passage of the Ghost Fan Tower almost runs through Tokyo? How can it be compared with ordinary ones? All these methods have been used before. Although they are effective, they cannot completely eliminate it."

Zhong Pu frowned and thought, "It's only this big. I can't think of any other ideas. It's not a good idea to just fill the ground with soil."

The others nodded when they heard this. As Zhong Pu said, there was almost no other way to deal with a place like Guifanlou.

Zhong Pu looked at Zhao Ti, clasped his fists and said, "I wonder if Your Highness has any good ideas?"

Zhao Ti said: "I can't tell you yet. You go back and select two thousand strong men from your respective armies, tell them about this in secret, and be prepared."

Wang En said, "Your Highness, Guifan Tower is well-known. Although the soldiers are brave, they may become flustered and neglect their duties. Why don't we talk about it later?"

Zhao Ti shook his head and said, "Tell them that Guifanlou has accumulated countless gold and silver treasures in the underground of Tokyo for a hundred years. Whoever gets it will own it. In addition, there will be military merits accumulated."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall's eyes lit up. Before, they only thought of Gui Fanlou, but had not thought about how much wealth the other party had accumulated over the years.

"You are the same!" Zhao Ti raised his lips: "It's just a dirty thief, as long as he can get it."

Wang En stroked his short beard and said, "Your Highness, the emperor's side..."

"I have discussed this with the emperor, and the emperor has given his approval. It now depends on how you handle it." Zhao Ti glanced at everyone and said with a smile.

"Guifan Tower has existed for a hundred years. I wonder if it has accumulated a mountain of gold and silver?" Zhong Pu took a deep breath.

"Mountains of gold and silver?" Zhang Zhen, the commander of the left wing of the Divine Guard, shook his head. He is the son of the famous general Zhang Yu and the cousin of Zhang Dun. Zhang Dun is currently still in charge of the Dongxiao Palace, and Zhao Xu has not yet transferred him back to the capital.

"General Zhong has been in the west for too long, so he still doesn't know what's going on in Tokyo. This devil Fan Lou is doing a business with no capital, luring, kidnapping, begging, and selling people. Over the past hundred years, I'm afraid that even mountains of gold and silver are not enough to describe just a little bit of it."

"Yes, yes, that's right!" The others nodded.

Zhao Ti said: "You all go back and select some soldiers to train. I will explain to you in detail how to proceed when the time comes."

As he spoke, he stood up and walked out of the gate of the envoy's office. Zhou Tong and Su Da were waiting outside. He got into the carriage and said to Zhou Tong, "Guangzu, do you know if Guifanlou has any relationship with the Beggars' Sect?"

There are beggars in Tokyo City. Previous investigations have shown that they are not members of the Beggar Gang, but Gui Fanlou's men.

"Your Majesty, there shouldn't be any." Zhou Tong pondered, "The Beggars' Sect seems to have a rule from their ancestors that they can't stay in the capital for long. The beggars in the city are either from Wuyou Cave or they are wild beggars from all over the place."

Zhao Ti nodded, and after a while the carriage arrived at Zhuque Street in the south of the city. He got off and walked into the Jinfengxiyu Tower.

Shang Qi came over with an invitation and a map: "Sir, I got the stuff."

(End of this chapter)