After coming out of the palace, Cao Xiu followed Zhao Jun closely again, with a complicated expression on his face.
The last time I came out, although I respected Zhao Jun, it was mainly because of the government's attitude towards Zhao Jun, and it did not mean that I had any relationship with Zhao Jun at that time.
As a result, in just twenty days, Zhao Jun became his direct superior, and had control over all the life and death power of the Imperial City Bureau and controlled everything.
When Zhao Jun entered the palace this time, he not only got the token from the Imperial City Administration, but also the token that allowed him to enter and exit the palace freely, as well as an imperial decree to mobilize troops.
The military system of the Song Dynasty was that the emperor directly controlled the establishment, mobilization and command of the army. The Privy Council basically only had military records and tiger talismans, and could not violate the emperor's power to use the tiger talisman.
Therefore, the tiger seals were actually in the hands of the emperor. During wartime, the Privy Council was directly responsible for mobilizing the army according to the emperor's will. They were drawn from the three yamen that managed the national army, and then the power of commanding the army was handed over to the generals to fight on the front lines, resulting in a situation where "the soldiers did not know the generals, and the generals did not know the soldiers."
In other words, as long as there was an imperial decree, Zhao Jun could basically mobilize troops at will, turning those soldiers who originally had no generals to lead them into his own personnel.
However, he only had the order to mobilize the local wing troops, and at most he could mobilize the local wing troops. The power of the imperial guards was still in the hands of Zhao Zhen.
This is Zhao Zhen's bottom line and he would never give it to him. Therefore, to a certain extent, although Zhao Zhen gave Zhao Jun great authority, as long as the imperial guards were in his hands, Zhao Zhen would ultimately control the situation.
For Zhao Jun, it was already quite a feat to be able to gain control of a local army of several hundred to a thousand men from the Song Dynasty emperor, who had a very poor grasp of military power. With the power of the Imperial City Command and the Xiang Army, he could at least do whatever he wanted in the local area without having to worry about being nameless and powerless.
After leaving the palace, Zhao Jun was led by Cao Xiu all the way to the yamen of the Imperial City Administration.
The Imperial City Division was part of the imperial palace guards and, according to ancestral law, was not subject to the supervision of the Imperial Censorate. It was an independent supervisory body, independent of the Court of Censors and the Imperial Censorate. The imperial palace guards were managed by the Palace Front Division, but the Palace Front Division had no authority over the Imperial City Division; they were solely responsible to the emperor.
Therefore, although Zhao Zhen gave the local wing troops and the Imperial City Division to Zhao Jun, Zhao Jun still could not threaten Zhao Zhen because Zhao Zhen still controlled the imperial guards and the Palace Guard Division of the imperial palace.
This is also one of the reasons why he was able to reluctantly hand over this part of power after being severely scolded.
If Zhao Jun wanted the Imperial Guards and the Palace Guards, Zhao Zhen would probably not give them to him even if he was beaten to death.
The Imperial City Office is located inside Chengtian Gate next to Donghua Gate. To be precise, this area is not the imperial palace, but rather the imperial palace's inner city wall. To the south of the office is the Palace Front Office's imperial guard station, to the north is Chengtian Gate, to the east is Donghua Gate, and to the west is Xuanyou Gate leading to the palace.
When I entered the government office, I saw a slightly old scene. The courtyard was quite spacious and there was a big tree planted inside. It seemed that ancient courtyards liked to have a few towering trees. However, the walls of the courtyard were mottled and covered with spider webs.
Although this place was a secret service agency of the Song Dynasty, it was only quite powerful during the reign of Zhao Kuang. It completely declined during the reign of Zhao Guangyi. In addition, due to insufficient funding for the government office, it naturally lost its glory.
Along the way, Zhao Jun and Cao Xiu asked about the situation of the Imperial City Bureau and temporarily got a general understanding of it.
In the early Song Dynasty, the Imperial City Administration was called the Wude Administration, and its influence spread throughout the country.
As the literati became increasingly powerful during the reign of Zhao Guangyi, they became increasingly dissatisfied with these Wudezu local officials spread across the country.
Some local officials even arrested Wude soldiers and sent them to the central government, and wrote to Zhao Guangyi saying: Your Majesty does not rely on the talents of the world to govern the country, but uses such despicable villains as spies. I think you are not qualified to be the emperor.
So, under strong opposition from local officials and civil servants in the court, Zhao Guangyi made a compromise and narrowed the scope of the Wude Division's activities to the vicinity of Bianliang City, and changed its name to the Imperial City Division, which was only responsible for intelligence investigation of Bianliang people and officials, unlike the early Song Dynasty where it was spread across the country.
At this time, the funding for the Imperial City Division mainly came from Zhao Zhen's treasury. Its subordinate departments included the Investigation Division and the Ice Well Division. The Investigation Division was responsible for gathering intelligence, and the Ice Well Division was responsible for storing ice in the palace. Zhao Jun's medicine was now stored in the Ice Well Division.
In terms of internal hierarchy, there are one Imperial City Envoy and one Imperial City Deputy Envoy, and there are five people including the operatives, supervisors, inspectors, escorts, and escorts, four front-line personnel, six rear-line personnel, and two contract surveying officers. The rest are commanders, captains, and thousands of escorts, spies, and inspectors under them, who are in charge of the entire Bianliang's espionage activities.
Basically, the Imperial City Envoy and the Imperial City Deputy Envoy during the Renzong period were all relatives of the emperor or military families. For example, the Imperial City Envoy at that time was Cao Xiu, and the Deputy Envoy was Wang Shilong, a descendant of Wang Renshan, a general in the early Song Dynasty. Later, Cao Xiu died of illness, and his successor was Cao Qun, Cao Xiu's third brother.
After arriving at the Imperial City Office with Cao Xiu, the officials in charge of the daily operation of the organization, such as the Director, Supervisor, Supervisor, Procurator, and Yasi, hurried over to pay their respects.
But what they didn't expect was that Cao Xiu took a step back, made way for Zhao Jun, and introduced him to them: "This is the new Director of the Imperial City Division. From now on, the Imperial City Division, including me, will be in charge of the Director."
"Meeting Zhisi."
Everyone looked at each other and bowed quickly.
Zhao Jun looked around and asked, "On the way here, I told the Caocheng Envoy to send someone to gather you all immediately. Why are there only a few of you? Where is the deputy envoy?"
"this"
Several people looked at each other. They were just the ones in charge of the lower levels. The stewards were Cao Xiu and Wang Shilong. How could they dare to interfere in the affairs above?
"Okay, since Wang Shilong didn't come, he won't be the Deputy Envoy of the Imperial City anymore. This position will be vacant. If I find a capable person in the future, I will appoint him."
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