In the few days since returning to Bianjing, Zhao Huan has not attended court. He has been hiding in his study every day, eating and exercising on time, but he has not come out or met with his ministers. He has left all matters to the two offices to run smoothly.

Even Zhong Shidao, Li Gang, and others could not see the emperor, which made all the officials feel somewhat incredulous.

Did the emperor's northern expedition change his personality? Did he revert to the Zhao Huan he was when he was still the crown prince? No way! He was still putting on a show on the day he returned, sharing everyone's pain. It's impossible for him to have suddenly changed!

The ministers were puzzled, feeling that the emperor's behavior was completely unpredictable and did not follow the usual rules.

Zhao Huan did nothing else but cram into history books from all the dynasties in the past few days.

"Holy crap! Who the hell said that imperial power actually weakened in the Song Dynasty? Looks like I've been fooled by those keyboard warriors from later generations again!"

The entire history of power struggles in China is essentially a battle between imperial power and the power of the prime minister!

The official position of Chancellor in China appeared in the Qin Dynasty, with Left and Right Chancellors. When Zhao Huan watched TV series in his previous life, his concept of the position of Chancellor was always vague. He only knew that he was the head of all officials, and knew nothing else.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bang had to bow to Xiao He upon meeting him, not only to show respect for this founding hero but also to show respect for the position of prime minister.

The position of Prime Minister was truly second only to the emperor, and was completely different from the current position of Chancellor!

After Qin conquered the six states, it established left and right prime ministers, with the right prime minister being the most respected.

The prime ministers of the Qin and Han dynasties were fundamentally different from the prime ministers of the Song dynasty; they were given their own offices to govern.

What is "Kaifu" (开府)?

This means that the prime minister could work in the prime minister's office and that the prime minister could appoint subordinate officials.

This is similar to modern monarchies like Britain and Japan.

During the Western Han Dynasty, the Chancellor was in charge of all officials and had the power to select officials, supervise and punish officials, examine the vassal states, lead the court discussions and report to the emperor, and reject imperial edicts and remonstrances. Whenever there were major events in the country, the Chancellor would preside over the discussions among the officials, and then the emperor would discuss with the Chancellor before making a decision.

Therefore, the role of the prime minister was to assist the emperor in managing the country, officials, the army, diplomacy, and other aspects, and to possess the highest power and decision-making authority in the country.

The officials appointed by the Prime Minister's office include the Chief Clerk of the Prime Minister, who is responsible for supervising all officials; the Chief Clerk, Clerk, and Junior Clerk of the Prime Minister, who assist the Prime Minister in handling government affairs; the Eastern Office, which is responsible for the affairs of the prefectures and kingdoms and goes out to supervise the prefectures and counties; the Western Office, which leads all officials in presenting their reports; the Chief Clerk, who records all matters; and other offices such as the Discussion Office, the Resignation Office, the Memorial Office, the Thieves Office, the Decision Office, the Gathering Office, the Household Office, the Law Office, the Commandant Office, the Granary Office, the Military Office, the Finance Office, and the Attendant Office, which are in charge of various national affairs.

It is evident that the Prime Minister's Office, when established, was essentially a small court. The Prime Minister also had the power to execute national decisions, but for major matters, he needed to convene a court meeting with all officials and report to the Emperor.

All prime ministers possess both decision-making and executive powers, posing a significant check and threat to imperial power. This is fundamentally different from the prime ministers of the current dynasty, who only possess decision-making power.

Under such a power structure, it is difficult for the emperor's ideas to be implemented efficiently.

No wonder Emperor Wu of Han set up the Inner Court to divide the power of the Chancellor. Later, the positions of Grand Marshal and Grand Minister of Works were introduced to further divide power. Eventually, the Chancellor was abolished altogether. It wasn't until Cao Cao appeared that the Chancellor was reinstated, but only for a short time.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the position of prime minister was abolished, and the Three Departments and Six Ministries were established. The Three Departments and Six Ministries were created to divide the power of the prime minister. It can be said that the power of the prime minister was cut from the position of Grand Minister of Works and Grand Marshal into countless smaller parts, and then a head and deputy were appointed in each functional department.

The Song Dynasty was even more powerful. Financial power was taken over by the Three Departments, military power by the Privy Council, and administrative power by the Hall of State Affairs. These three departments each had a large number of people. From the beginning of the dynasty, people were continuously added to each department, creating a situation of mutual checks and balances and greatly weakening the power of the prime minister.

For example, the Council of State Affairs had positions such as the Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor, which, despite being deputy positions, wielded considerable power.

Therefore, by the Song Dynasty, imperial power was more centralized and powerful than in previous dynasties.

The reason why later generations felt that the Song Dynasty's imperial power was weak is that the emperors of the Zhao Song Dynasty were all relatively soft-hearted. This was related to the fact that civil officials ruled the country at the beginning of the dynasty. However, from the perspective of the system, the imperial power was very strong.

This is why there were basically no powerful ministers in the Northern Song Dynasty. Many people think that Cai Jing and others held absolute power, but that's like reading history books like mathematical formulas. One thing that clearly shows the strength of imperial power is that Cai Jing followed Zhao Ji's lead, because Zhao Ji could demote him whenever he wanted, and he could do it with any excuse.

During the reign of Emperor Qinzong of Song, there was no resistance whatsoever in his killing of the "Six Traitors," though he did so in a subtle and discreet manner.

Zhao Huan closed the thick historical records and rested with his eyes closed for a while.

The current situation is quite complicated. Although the institutional arrangements have ensured the strength and stability of imperial power, the accumulated problems from the beginning of the dynasty to the present have left the entire bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty in a state of stagnation.

Take the logistics of this Northern Expedition for example. The Ministry of Revenue allocated funds for the expedition, but there wasn't even a ripple. This is simply unbelievable!

At the beginning of any dynasty, the economic structure and social form are relatively simple, because every new dynasty is in need of rebuilding, and all industries have been destroyed.

However, after several decades of development, the economic structure of society will become diversified, requiring some institutional changes to adapt to economic development.

The courts of each dynasty were aware of this, which is why the Qingli Reforms were implemented in this dynasty, although they were short-lived.

By the time of Emperor Shenzong, the accumulated problems had become increasingly apparent. Emperor Shenzong had no choice but to risk public dissent and bear immense pressure to reinstate Wang Anshi's reforms, all in an effort to eliminate these problems.

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