People only know that the Ming Dynasty had the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which was the emperor's personal guard and acted on his behalf.

Unbeknownst to many, there was an institution similar to the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the Song Dynasty, namely the Imperial City Guard.

The Imperial City Guard was not well-known in history, mainly because the scholar-official class in the Song Dynasty was too powerful. Even though the emperor successfully decentralized the power of the prime minister and the military to achieve a situation of mutual restraint, the influence of the Imperial City Guard still could not extend beyond Bianjing.

The person standing in front of Zhao Huan at this moment was Xie Dahai, one of the officials of the Imperial City Guard. Xie Dahai was born into a humble family. His parents were not well-educated and, according to a fortune teller, his fate lacked water, so they named him Xie Dahai.

His parents are quite direct too.

Actually, you could also call her Xie Shuishui, Xie Duoshui, Xie Chaoshui...

Children from poor families have to put in ten thousand times more effort than others to climb up the social ladder. Xie Dahai is such a person. His eyes reveal a hardness, and when he walks, he stands straight, like a gun standing upright on the ground.

Even so, these martial artists had no social standing.

Like the Embroidered Uniform Guard, those who hold official positions do ruthless and cold-blooded things, and Xie Dahai fits the image and temperament of the emperor's henchman very well.

This is exactly the kind of person Zhao Huan was looking for.

Despite his cold-blooded nature, Xie Dahai remained very reserved in front of the emperor.

Upon seeing the emperor, Xie Dahai bowed respectfully and said, "This humble servant kowtows to Your Majesty, wishing you eternal peace!"

Zhao Huan did not let him stand up, but said, "Xie Dahai, I ask you, what are the key positions in the Imperial City Guard now?"

Although he didn't know why the emperor suddenly asked this question, Xie Dahai could only respectfully reply, "The Imperial City Guard is His Majesty's personal army, responsible for both palace security and intelligence gathering, sharing His Majesty's burdens!"

"And who is this 'His Majesty' you're referring to?"

Xie Dahai felt a chill run down his spine. Why did the emperor suddenly ask such a direct question?

With the new emperor having just ascended the throne, the Imperial City Guard is nominally in his hands.

Actually, when it was under the rule of Emperor Daojun, the Imperial City Guard was basically in a state of disrepair. Although it was the emperor's personal guard, the emperor did not care about anything and it was suppressed and beaten by those civil officials every day.

He quickly and cautiously replied, "There can be no two suns in the sky, nor two rulers in a country. Your Majesty is the supreme ruler, governing the land on behalf of Heaven. Your humble servant is willing to go through fire and water, even to the point of being shattered to pieces!"

Zhao Huan now truly understands why the cowherd wanted to set up an institution like the Embroidered Uniform Guard. As a lonely emperor, he desperately needs such an institution.

Otherwise, how could he stand up to the courtiers?

How to monitor public opinion?

How to spy on enemy military intelligence?

Rely on those hypocrites who only know how to read the classics and are full of benevolence and morality all day long?

They can easily fool you.

To some extent, Emperor Huizong of Song was also misled and misled; of course, he himself was also incompetent.

To firmly control a vast empire, an emperor must have his own personal army!

To what extent should this elite force be effective?

When the emperor ordered them to climb a mountain of knives, they scrambled to climb; when the emperor ordered them to jump into a vat of boiling oil, they eagerly jumped!

Zhao Huan believed that the implementation of his next series of reform policies would inevitably encounter numerous obstacles, which he could foresee.

I'm getting too big for my britches; survival is the priority.

Therefore, he must have an even stronger iron-fisted policy than Wei Yang!

Therefore, he desperately needs the Imperial City Guard.

Zhao Huan spoke in a very gentle tone, but his heart was incredibly dark. To do whatever he wanted, he first needed to control the military.

"Xie Dahai, I have just ascended the throne, and my trusted ministers, such as Cai Jing and Li Bangyan, have accused you of abusing your power and forming cliques in the name of the royal family. Is this true?"

Xie Dahai turned pale with fright and trembled all over. He hurriedly said, "This sinner deserves to die! This sinner dares not! I beg Your Majesty to investigate!"

"This is indeed a capital offense, and it could also endanger your family."

"Your Majesty is wise and discerning!"

After Xie Dahai was sufficiently frightened, Zhao Huan said again, "The ministers say that my personal guards are a bunch of bandits who corrupt the law and should be abolished. All the Imperial City Guards should be thoroughly investigated and exiled!"

"This humble servant is guilty!" Xie Dahai cried out inwardly. Although the Imperial City Guard was the emperor's personal army, they were completely suppressed by those ministers, and they truly hated those ministers!

The Song Dynasty emphasized that the emperor and the scholar-officials should govern the country together. To put it bluntly, the powerful scholar-official group directly crushed the Imperial City Guard and forcibly confined the Imperial City Guard's sphere of influence to Kaifeng.

This is also the most important reason why most people in later generations have never heard of the Imperial City Guard. Look at the Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard, they were all like wolves and tigers, because they had the support of the Ming Dynasty emperors!

Seeing Xie Dahai trembling with fear, Zhao Huan continued, "What crime have you committed? In my opinion, those bookworms really think they can govern this country well!"

Xie Dahai was slightly taken aback, then heard the emperor say, "I am the Son of Heaven, and the Imperial City Guard is the Emperor's personal army. They dare to falsely accuse my personal army in front of me. They are plotting a rebellion, and rebellion is punishable by death. Not your head, but theirs!"

Xie Dahai buried his head in the ground, not daring to move, but he couldn't figure out what Zhao Huan was thinking.

Is the emperor going to target the scholar-officials?

This is unprecedented!

Is our Imperial City Guard about to rise to power?

"That's right, the Imperial City Guard is about to rise."

Zhao Huan's voice rang in his ears again, and Xie Dahai suddenly looked up.

Holy crap, the Emperor is a god! He knows what I'm thinking!

"From this day forward, carry out the tasks I have assigned you, and do them with full force. If you need more people, just tell me. I will take care of you, and they cannot touch you!"

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I am willing to die for you!"

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