In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

After coming out of the palace, Cao Xiu followed Zhao Jun closely again, with a complicated expression on his face.

Last time, although he respected Zhao Jun, it was mainly because of the emperor's attitude towards Zhao Jun, and it did not mean that he had any relationship with Zhao Jun at that time.

As a result, in just twenty days, Zhao Jun became his direct superior, and mastered all the power of life and death in the Imperial City Department, controlling everything.

This time when Zhao Jun entered the palace, he not only got the token of the Imperial City Department, but also the token to enter and exit the palace gate at will and a 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 take tiger talismans.

So in fact, the tiger talismans were in the hands of the emperor. During wartime, the Privy Council directly followed the emperor's will and was responsible for mobilizing the army. It was drawn from the three yamen that managed the national army, and then the power to command the army was handed over to the military generals, who went to the front line to fight, 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 is an imperial edict, Zhao Jun can basically mobilize troops at will. Turn those soldiers who originally had no military commanders into his own personnel.

However, he was given the order to mobilize the local wing troops, and at most he could mobilize the local wing troops. The power of the imperial army was still in the hands of Zhao Zhen.

This was Zhao Zhen's bottom line, and it was 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 imperial army was in hand, Zhao Zhen would still control everything in the end.

But for Zhao Jun, it was already very good to get the local military power of hundreds to more than a thousand people from the Song Dynasty emperor who had an extremely morbid control over military power. It can be said that with the military power of the Imperial City Division and the wing troops, at least he can do whatever he wants in the local area, and he doesn't need to worry about the problem of being nameless and powerless.

After leaving the palace, Zhao Jun went all the way to the yamen of the Imperial City Division under the leadership of Cao Xiu.

The Imperial City Division is one of the imperial palace guards. "According to the ancestral law, it is not subject to the supervision of the Taiwan", and it is an independent supervisory agency outside the Jianyuan and the Yushitai. The imperial guards of the palace were managed by the Palace Front Division, but the Palace Front Division had no control over the Imperial City Division, as they were only responsible to the emperor.

Therefore, although Zhao Zhen gave the local wing army 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 Front Division of the imperial palace guards.

This was also one of the reasons why he was able to reluctantly hand over this part of power after being scolded.

If Zhao Jun wanted the imperial guards and the Palace Front Division, Zhao Zhen would probably not give them to him even if he was beaten to death.

The Imperial City Division Office was located in Chengtian Gate next to Donghua Gate. This area was not the imperial palace to be exact, but the imperial palace urn city. To the south of the office was the imperial guard station of the Palace Front Division, to the north was Chengtian Gate, to the east was Donghua Gate, and to the west was Xuanyou Gate leading to the palace.

Entering 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, but 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 still quite powerful during the Zhao Kuangyin era. It completely withered during the Zhao Guangyi era. In addition, the government office was short of funds, so the natural scenery was no longer there.

Along the way, Zhao Jun and Cao Xiu asked about the situation of the Imperial City Division, and temporarily understood a general situation.

The Imperial City Division in the early Song Dynasty was called the Wude Division, and its influence spread all over the country.

As the literati in the Zhao Guangyi era became more and more powerful, they became more and more dissatisfied with these Wude soldiers spread all over the country.

Some local officials even arrested Wude soldiers and sent them to the central government, and wrote to Zhao Guangyi: Your Majesty does not rely on the talents of the world to govern the country, but uses such despicable villains as your eyes and ears. I think you are not a good emperor.

Therefore, under the strong opposition of local and Manchu civil officials, Zhao Guangyi compromised and narrowed the scope of Wude Division to the vicinity of Bianliang City, and renamed it Huangcheng Division, which was only responsible for intelligence investigation of Bianliang people and officials, unlike the early Song Dynasty, which was spread all over the country.

At this time, the funding of Huangcheng Division mainly came from Zhao Zhen's treasury. Its subordinate departments included Tanshi Division and Bingjing Division. Tanshi Division was responsible for intelligence investigation, and Bingjing Division was responsible for ice storage in the palace. Zhao Jun's medicine was now stored in Bingjing Division.

In terms of internal levels, there were one Huangcheng Envoy and one Huangcheng Deputy Envoy, and there were five people, including Gou Dang, Ti Ju, Ti Dian, Gou Ya, Ya Si, four people in front, six people in the back, and two Kanqi officials. The rest of the commanders, Du Tou, and the thousands of Yaban, secret agents, and Cha Zi below were in charge of the entire Bianliang's spy activities.

Basically, the Imperial City Envoy and the Imperial City Deputy Envoy during the Renzong period were appointed by relatives or generals. 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 was replaced by Cao Xiu's third brother Cao Quan.

After arriving at the Imperial City Office with Cao Xiu, the people in charge of the daily operation of the organization, such as the officials in charge of the work, such as the promotion, the inspection, the hook, and the security, came to greet them.

But what they didn't expect was that Cao Xiu stepped back, let Zhao Jun go, and introduced them to them: "This is the new Imperial City Director. From now on, the Imperial City Director, including me, will be in charge of the Imperial City Director."

"Meet the Director."

Everyone looked at each other and bowed their hands in greeting.

Zhao Jun looked around and asked, "On the way here, I asked the city envoy Cao to send someone to gather you all. Why are there only a few of you? Where is the deputy envoy?"

"This..."

The people looked at each other. They were just the ones in charge. The stewards were Cao Xiu and Wang Shilong. How could they dare to take care of the things 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 dismissed him 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 appointed as the Secretary of the Imperial City."

"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 reign of Emperor Taizong of Taizu, Wudesi was of the fourth rank, in the reign of Zhenzong it was of the fifth rank, and now it is of 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 and envoys 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 situation in the Imperial City had changed, and a young man actually rode on Cao Xiu's head.

But 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 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 and revolted. He was known as 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 bowed 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 full of aroma and 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 are still You have the nerve to come? You have been dismissed from the imperial city, 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, and then said: "Didn't Cao Xiu tell you that what I say in the Imperial City Department in the future is like what the government says? Come on!"

"The Chief!"

The inspectors outside the door hurried in.

"Take him out."

Zhao Jun waved his hand, and the new official took office with three fires. He was about to shock the Imperial City Department, and Wang Shilong bumped into him. It was no wonder that he was not to blame.

Although the inspectors looked at each other and dared not move, Wang Shilong did not dare to resist after hearing what Zhao Jun said, but shouted: "Cao Xiu, you bastard framed me! You didn't tell me this at all, you beast!"

He is not a fool.

The Imperial City Envoy and the three-shift Yamen have always been in charge of the sons of nobles. The fathers of these nobles were all founding generals, commonly known as yamen, who spent their days in debauchery. It was common for them to go to the Yamen and order a road at most, and then go out to have fun.

Today, Wang Shilong ordered a road as usual, and then went out to play. The person sent by Cao Xiu just informed him that a meeting was going to be held and asked him to go to the government office immediately.

Wang Shilong didn't care at all when he heard that Cao Xiu was just going to hold a meeting. After all, he didn't get along with Cao Xiu, so he didn't bother to care about him.

If Cao Xiu had said at the beginning that the Xinzhi Division had arrived and had all the power granted by the government to appoint and dismiss people within the Imperial City Division, he would have rushed to come no matter how stupid he was.

Cao Xiu just said indifferently: "First, I have sent someone to notify you, but you didn't come. Second, going to the brothel to drink and have fun during the duty period is a serious offense. I have impeached you many times. If it weren't for the kindness of the government, do you think you can still be a deputy envoy?"

Zhao Jun looked at Cao Xiu unexpectedly. Although Cao Xiu had some small ideas and was using him to eliminate dissidents, people like Wang Shilong really couldn't be his right-hand man, so he simply didn't care.

Seeing that the inspectors dared not move, he slammed the table and shouted angrily: "You are walking so slowly, haven't you eaten? The Song Dynasty lacks everything except people. If you don't want to work anymore, get out with Wang Shilong!"

The inspectors had no choice but to come up to Wang Shilong and say sorry, and then left with him.

Wang Shilong's face was ashen.

The Imperial City Department was originally an institution directly under the emperor. What Zhao Jun said in it was like the emperor's words, so he had no ability to resist at all.

This is not a matter of one level higher than the official, but that the official has countless levels, and people can directly dismiss you from your position, unlike the official position between the principal and the deputy, the principal cannot dismiss the deputy, which may cause the deputy to win over some people to undermine the principal.

And Zhao Jun can appoint and dismiss the entire Imperial City Department, including Cao Xiu, not to mention undermining it, even if he does not like it, he will be kicked out directly, how can he carry out the power struggle?