Great Song: The Young Emperor Wins the People's Support to Purge the Court

He ascended the throne at thirteen, and before he had even warmed the dragon throne, the entire court was waiting to see him make a fool of himself!

After transmigrating as Emperor Renzong of Song, Zhao Zhen, he faced hellish difficulty from the start: Emperor Zhenzong had died, leaving the court in turmoil; Liao and Xia watched like tigers as the borderlands sent urgent warnings; and the powerful Empress Dowager Liu ruled from behind the curtain while the Five Fiends schemed in the shadows!

The nobles and officials of the court saw him as a child puppet. The people of Bianjing feared the dynasty was about to fall, while the enemy warlords laughed that the Great Song was bringing about its own destruction. An emperor who was just thirteen? The realm was surely doomed!

Yet no one knew that within this young body lay the soul of an emperor who had witnessed a thousand years of dynastic rise and fall!

By candlelight through the night, he sat steadily in the Hall of Sagely Governance, using his vermilion brush to review mountains of memorials. His work was methodical, seasoned, and ruthless, leaving the old eunuch Chen Lin terrified out of his wits!

At his first court audience, when a second-rank official tried to provoke and test him, he struck like thunder and dismissed the man on the spot. His decisive ruthlessness left every official in the hall speechless!

The shocking secret behind the switch at birth? He exposed it with a few casual words, instantly winning the loyalty of the palace’s most faithful souls! Empress Dowager Liu’s show of authority? He turned the tables and made her a laughingstock before the court!

The Five Fiends fawned and spread slander, hoping to kill by another’s hand? He accepted their “toys,” then turned their scheme against them, vowing to tear out the court’s cancer by the roots!

Kou Zhun and the Eighth Prince? Such worthy ministers and fierce generals were already in his grasp! The Yang Family Generals and Bao Qingtian? He had already prepared a path to high office for these future luminaries!

Who says a young emperor can only be manipulated? He, Zhao Zhen, would wield the pieces on the board of the realm at the age of thirteen!

He would stand against the empress dowager, execute corrupt officials, establish the imperial examinations, select worthy talents, and govern with diligence! A policy of distant alliances and nearby attacks? No! He would wipe out Liao and pacify Xia, forging a mighty dynasty that surpassed even the Han and Tang!