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 official's attitude towards Zhao Jun, and it did not mean that I could have any relationship with Zhao Jun at that time.
As a result, in just twenty days, Zhao Jun became his immediate superior, and took control of all life and death powers in the Imperial City Division, controlling everything.
When Zhao Jun entered the palace this time, he not only had to get a token from the Imperial City Division, but also a token to enter and exit the palace at will and an order to mobilize troops.
The military system of the Song Dynasty was that the emperor directly controlled the establishment, deployment and command of the army. Basically, the Privy Council only had military registration and tiger charms, and it could not violate the emperor's power to use tiger charms.
Therefore, the Tiger Talisman was actually in the hands of the emperor. During wartime, the Privy Council directly followed the emperor's will and was responsible for mobilizing the army. They were extracted from the three yamen that managed the national army, and then handed over the power of commanding the army to military generals and sent them to the front lines to fight, resulting in a situation where "the soldiers do not know the generals and the generals do not know the soldiers."
In other words, as long as there is an edict from the emperor, Zhao Jun can basically mobilize troops and horses at will. Turn those soldiers who did not have military generals into their own subordinates.
However, he took the order to mobilize the Xiang army, and at most he mobilized the local Xiang army. The power of the imperial army was still in the hands of Zhao Zhen.
This is Zhao Zhen's bottom line, and it is impossible to give it to him. Therefore, to a certain extent, although Zhao Zhen gave Zhao Jun a lot of authority, as long as the Forbidden Army is in hand, Zhao Zhen will ultimately control all situations.
But for Zhao Jun, it was already very good to be able to obtain local military power ranging from a few hundred to more than a thousand people from the hands of the Song Dynasty emperor who was extremely ill at controlling military power. It can be said that with the military power of the Imperial City Division and the Xiang Army, at least locally, he can do whatever he wants without having to worry about being nameless and powerless.
After coming out of the palace, Zhao Jun led Cao Xiu all the way to the Yamen of the Imperial City Division.
The Imperial City Division is one of the Imperial Palace Guards, and "according to ancestral law, it is not affiliated with the Taichao". It is a supervisory agency independent of the Jianyuan and Yushitai. The imperial guards of the imperial palace are managed by the Palace Front Division, but the Palace Division has no control over the Imperial City Division. They are only responsible to the emperor.
Therefore, although Zhao Zhen gave the local Xiang Army and the Imperial City Division to Zhao Jun, Zhao Jun still could not threaten Zhao Zhen because Zhao Zhen still controlled the imperial army and the Palace Front Division of the Imperial Palace Guards.
This is one of the reasons why he was able to reluctantly hand over this part of his power after being scolded so bloody.
If Zhao Jun wanted the Imperial Guard and the Palace Chief, he might not even give it to Zhao Zhen even if he were killed.
The Imperial City Si Yamen is located in the Chengtian Gate next to Donghua Gate. To be precise, this area is not the imperial palace, but the imperial palace urn city. To the south of the Yamen Office is the imperial guard station of the Dianqian Si, to the north is Chengtian Gate, and to the east is Donghua Gate, and to the west is Xuanyou Gate leading to the palace.
Entering the government office, what you see is a slightly old scene. The courtyard is quite spacious, and there is a big tree planted in it. It seems that ancient courtyards like to have a few towering trees, but the walls of the courtyard are mottled and long. Full of cobwebs.
Although this place was a secret service agency of the Song Dynasty, it was still quite prestigious in the Zhao Kuangyin era, but it completely withered in the Zhao Guangyi era. Coupled with the lack of funds for the government office, the natural beauty was no longer there.
Along the way, Zhao Jun and Cao Xiu asked about the situation of the Imperial City Division and got a general idea for the time being.
In the early Song Dynasty, the Imperial City Division was named Wude Division, and its power spread throughout the country.
As the scholar-bureaucrats became more and more powerful during Zhao Guangyi's era, local officials became increasingly disdainful of these martial and moral soldiers all over 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 world's talents to govern the country, but you use such a despicable villain as your eyes and ears. I feel that you are not good at being an emperor.
Therefore, under strong opposition from local and Manchu civil officials, Zhao Guangyi made a compromise and narrowed the scope of Wude Division's activities to the vicinity of Bianliang City and renamed it Imperial City Division. It was only responsible for the intelligence investigation of Bianliang people and officials. In the early Song Dynasty, it spread all over the country.
At this time, the funding of the Imperial City Department mainly came from Zhao Zhen's internal funds. Its subordinate departments included the Detective Department and the Ice Well Service. The Detective Department was responsible for spying on intelligence, and the Ice Well Service was responsible for the storage of ice cubes in the palace. Zhao Jun's medicine was now available. Stored in ice storage.
The internal hierarchy is divided into one person each for the Imperial City Envoy and the Imperial City Deputy Envoy, and there are also five people for commissioning, promoting, promoting, detaining, and escorting, four in the front, six in the back, two surveyors, and the rest. Thousands of commanders, Dutou, and subordinate guards, spies, and inspectors were in charge of the entire Bianliang espionage activities.
Basically, the imperial envoys and deputy imperial envoys during the Renzong period were served by relatives or generals. For example, the imperial envoy at this time was Cao Xiu, and the deputy envoy was Wang Shilong, a descendant of Wang Renfan, a general in the early Song Dynasty. Later, Cao Xiu died of illness, and his successor It was Cao Quan, Cao Xiu's third brother.
After arriving at the Imperial City Office with Cao Xiu, the people who were responsible for the daily operation of the organization, such as promoting, promoting, detaining, detaining, etc., quickly came over to pay a visit.
But what they didn't expect was that Cao Xiu took a step back, moved Zhao Jun out of the way, and introduced to them: "This is the new Imperial City Secretary. From now on, the Imperial City Division, including me, will be in charge of the Imperial City Division."
"Meet Chiji."
Everyone looked at each other and quickly bowed.
Zhao Jun looked around and asked: "On the way here, I asked the envoy from Cao City to send someone to summon you 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 chiefs below. The chief stewards were Cao Xiu and Wang Shilong. How could they dare to take care of the matters above.
"Okay, if Wang Shilong doesn't come, then he will no longer be the deputy envoy of the Imperial City. This position will be vacant. If I find a capable person in the future, I will appoint him."
Zhao Jun walked into the government office hall, sat down directly on the main seat, looked around and said: "Don't be too restrained, come here."
Several people, led by Cao Xiu, walked to the middle of the hall and saluted Zhao Jun again.
As soon as Zhao Jun opened his mouth, he was dismissed from his position as deputy envoy to the imperial court, which made them very frightened. They all looked at each other in silence and fear.
Only Cao Xiu's face was as dark as water and there was no reaction.
Because he knew that when the officials warned him at that time, they had already said that the orders given by Zhao Jun in the Imperial City Department were equivalent to the orders given by the emperor.
With such power, it doesn't matter even if Wang Shilong is killed, let alone getting rid of Wang Shilong.
When they stood up, Zhao Jun looked down and said: "I know you have a lot of doubts about why I am in charge of the Imperial City Division. I can only tell you one thing, and that is that my surname is Zhao."
He paused for a moment to see everyone's reaction.
Sure enough, everyone except Cao Xiu had a surprised expression on their face.
Zhao Jun was very satisfied with their performance and continued: "The officials have been deceived for too long, and the power of the Imperial City Division has long been reduced. Now that I am here, I have to change things. You should introduce yourselves first."
"Zhisi, my subordinate Li Bin is currently in charge of the Imperial City Department."
"My subordinate Zhou Wenyan is promoted to the Imperial City Secretary."
"My subordinate Wang He is appointed as the Secretary of the Imperial City."
"My subordinate Yu Ji is appointed as the Imperial City Secretary's detainee."
"My subordinate Chen Zhong is appointed as the Imperial City Chief of Staff."
Everyone introduced themselves. The Imperial City Division can be regarded as a special force. The personnel and grades vary in different dynasties and periods.
For example, in the Taizong Dynasty, Wudesi was the fourth rank, in the Zhenzong Dynasty it was the fifth rank, and now it is the sixth rank.
Basically, in the Song dynasty, all were between the fifth and sixth ranks. The imperial envoys were the sixth rank, the deputy envoys were the sixth rank, and the following ones were about the seventh rank. The ones at the same level as them were the seventh rank commanders who were responsible for directly commanding the soldiers. make.
They belong to the civil servants of the Imperial City Department and are responsible for sorting out the intelligence sent by the inspectors below and the internal affairs of the organization. The external commanders and Dutou are military attachés and directly manage the soldiers below.
Zhao Jun first asked them to sit down, and then asked them to tell him all the current situation of the Imperial City Division.
Soon after Li Bin's narration, he learned the current internal information of the entire Imperial City Division. For example, there were currently more than 5,000 Imperial City Division personnel in Bianliang, and at the most, there were more than 7,000 people.
Among them, there are ten commanders of the seventh rank, fifty-six of the eighth-rank commanders, and more than a hundred people in charge of the eighth rank. In the Song Dynasty, one hundred people were a capital, and five hundred people were a battalion. The commander of the first battalion was the commander.
If converted into Jinyiwei, there are more than a hundred general banners, more than fifty hundred households, ten and five hundred households, and there are no Jinyiwei thousands of households, because the imperial city in the Song Dynasty only had a few thousand people, unlike the number of Jinyiwei in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. If there are more than 100,000 people, there is no need for a thousand-household establishment.
In addition, there are a number of subordinate officials who are responsible for intelligence collection, signatures, sorting, storage, reporting, paperwork, etc. In fact, they are the clerks of the Imperial City Department, while Li Bin and others are the chief officials.
In other words, an Imperial City Department has two systems, the civil service system of the government office and the military attaché system outside, which together constitute the operation of this relatively small organization.
While talking, some people came in one after another from outside.
These are the commanders of the Imperial City Division and Camp. They all have their own fixed territories. The place where they work is not the Imperial City Division Office, but in various areas, so they come relatively slowly.
After everyone came in, they were shocked again that the Imperial City Division had changed, and a young man actually rode on Cao Xiu's head.
However, when they learned that Zhao Jun's surname was Zhao, they all hurriedly bowed respectfully.
In fact, he estimated that within a few days, this matter would spread throughout Bianliang.
Lu Yijian and the others will definitely know that they have control of the Imperial City Division, while people outside who don't know about it will speculate on Zhao Jun's identity.
This was something he had expected.
Many times, if you want to do big things, you have to pull off the tiger's skin. For example, Liu Bang killed the White Snake in the uprising and claimed that he was the son of the Red Emperor. He used ancient superstitions to expand his influence and used it as a myth.
Although Zhao Zhen's tiger skin is ugly in Zhao Jun's eyes, at least in the eyes of the world, he still represents the supreme imperial power.
So you still have to borrow it.
About an hour later, everyone except Wang Shilong arrived.
During this period, Zhao Jun also fully understood the internal situation of the Imperial City Division. After getting to know these people, he already had an idea in his mind.
He ordered everyone to go out, and then summoned the battalion commanders in batches and arranged for them to investigate some things.
It was not until noon that a young man who was about the same age as Cao Xiu, in his twenties and less than thirty years old, walked in. After coming in, he took a look at the situation and hurriedly cupped his hands to Zhao Jun and said, "Wang Shilong has met Zhisi."
When Zhao Jun saw this man, his face was very ugly, because as soon as this man came in, he was filled with the aroma and smell of wine. He said coldly: "Wang Shilong, on the first day that I took charge of the Imperial City Division, you dared not to show up, and now you still have to show up." Do you have the nerve to come here? You have been dismissed by the Imperial City Secretary, get out!"
Wang Shilongzhen's expression suddenly changed and he shouted: "I am the deputy envoy of the imperial dynasty. No one can get rid of me except the officials!"
"you sure?"
Zhao Jun took out the token, showed it to everyone first, and then said: "Didn't Cao Xiu tell you that what I say in the Imperial City Department in the future will be like what an official says? Come on!"
"Chiji!"
The policemen outside the door quickly walked in.
"Fork him out."
Zhao Jun waved his hand and the new official took office. He was just about to shock the Imperial City Division when Wang Shilong bumped into him. It was no wonder he was there.
Although the police officers all looked at each other and did not dare to move, after Wang Shilong heard Zhao Jun's words, he did not dare to resist, but shouted: "Cao Xiu, you bastard framed me! You You didn’t tell me this at all, you beast!”
He is not a fool.
The Imperial City Envoys and the Third Class of the Yamen have always been served by the sons of the nobles. The fathers of these noble sons were the founding generals of the country. They are commonly known as yamen. They spend all day drinking and drinking. It is common for them to go to the yamen to order a few words and then go to have fun.
Today Wang Shilong just said hello as usual and then went out to play. The person sent by Cao Xiu just informed him that a meeting would be held and asked him to go to the government office immediately.
When Wang Shilong heard that it was just Cao Xiu who was going to have a meeting, he didn't care at all. After all, he and Cao Xiu didn't get along, so he didn't bother to care about the other party.
If what Cao Xiu was saying at the beginning was that the Xinzhi Division had arrived and had all the power granted by officials to appoint and dismiss the Imperial City Division, he would have to rush over no matter how stupid he was.
Cao Xiu just said indifferently: "First, I have sent someone to inform you, but you can't come by yourself. Second, going to Goulan to drink and have fun during the duty period is a big mistake. I have impeached you many times. If it were not an official, Renhou, do you think you can still be the deputy envoy?"
Zhao Jun glanced at Cao Xiu in surprise. Although Cao Xiu was a little careful and was using himself to eradicate dissidents, people like Wang Shilong really couldn't be his right-hand man, so he simply didn't care.
When he saw that the policemen were afraid to move, he banged the table and shouted angrily: "Are you walking so slowly without eating? The Song Dynasty lacks everything except people. If you don't want to do this, get lost with Wang Shilong!"
The police officers had no choice but to come up and apologize to Wang Shilong and leave with him in their arms.
Wang Shilong's face was ashen.
The Imperial City Department was originally an agency directly under the emperor, and what Zhao Jun said inside now was like the emperor's words, so he had no ability to resist at all.
This is not a matter of one level of officialdom crushing people to death, but an issue of countless levels of officialdom. People can directly remove you from their posts. Unlike in the officialdom, where the principal cannot remove the deputy, it may cause the deputy to recruit some people to take over. Official position.
And Zhao Jun can appoint and remove the entire Imperial City Division, including Cao Xiu, not to mention being isolated. Even if it doesn't go as he wants, he will be kicked out directly. How can there be a power struggle?
(End of chapter)
