Text/Feng Xuanyi
If you want to ask which is the most tolerant dynasty in Chinese history, the answer must be the Song Dynasty. However, in the Song Dynasty, which was known for its tolerance, the secret service was also very developed and very powerful. The set of Jinyi guards in the Ming Dynasty had already existed in the Song Dynasty.
Today, Xiaobian will talk to you about the secret service organs of the Song Dynasty.
When the Song Dynasty was established, in order to protect the safety of the emperor and strengthen precautions, Zhao Kuangyin inherited the Wudesi system of the Five Dynasties period. Wu Desi was a kind of secret service agency in the Five Dynasties period, directly under the emperor, and the chief of Wu Desi was called Wu Deshi, Zheng Qipin. Although of low rank, Wu De envoys were all close associates of the emperor, and sometimes they were also appointed by eunuchs around the emperor, so their power was very high and everyone was jealous.
After The Song Emperor Zhao Kuangyin succeeded to the throne, he strengthened the configuration of wu desi, and he selected a number of elites from the army and assigned them to the management of Wu Desi, and the important commanders of Wu Desi were personally selected by the emperor. This highly effective force, independent of any department, was under the personal command of the emperor. It was their job to oversee the prohibition of access to the Imperial City. But in fact, their real purpose was to spy on the emperor's intelligence, and these people were the eyes and ears of the emperor, collecting intelligence for the emperor, spying on officials, and controlling the public opinion of the empire. These people are scattered among the people, the government and the public, the illegal and conspiratorial activities of officials and soldiers, the economic problems of officials, folk customs and strange affairs, and slander of government and politics, etc., all in their eyes. As a result, Wu Desi had a nickname: Detective Division, and Wu Desi's investigators were called: Chazi.
During Zhao Kuangyin's reign, the first Wude envoy was named Wang Renzhen. This person was Zhao Kuangyin's confidant—all the Wude envoys were the emperor's confidants when they took office, otherwise the emperor would not have used them. This man is sinister and cunning, scheming, and skillful. During his tenure, Wu Desi quickly grasped all kinds of information about the empire, the privacy of officials, and became a department that terrified hundreds of officials. Even Zhao Kuangyin's humerus minister and famous prime minister Zhao Pu was also afraid of Wang Renzhan for three points, and when he saw Song Taizu talking to Wang Renzhan alone, he was very worried, afraid that he would make some big moves. The history books record that once, Zhao Pu saw Song Taizu and Wang Renzhan talking alone, and Zhao Pu was worried about this, and the next day, he went up to Song Taizu and said to Taizu: Wang Renzu is a traitorous person, and His Majesty talked to him for a long time yesterday, and I am very worried that he will slander the minister again. Instead of adopting Zhao Pu's advice, Song Taizu said to him: I will leave Wang Renzhan to speak, don't be jealous, don't teach outsiders to laugh at my monarchs and courtiers for not being harmonious.
From this, it can be seen that Wang Renzhen's position in the emperor's heart.
After Wang Renzhen stepped down, he was replaced by Liu Zhixin and Wang Ji'en. These two people can be described as the confidants of Song Taizu, Liu Zhixin is Song Taizu's aunt and cousin, and his mother is the sister of Taizu's mother. Liu Zhixin lost his father at a young age, and when he was three years old, he was fostered in the home of Song Taizu and was like a brother to Song Taizu. Wang Ji'en was Song Taizu's most favored eunuch, and his name was given by Taizu.
Because of Wu Desi, Song Taizu was "deaf and blind", and the big things and small feelings of the government and the public were all in their chests.
After the death of Song Taizu, Emperor Taizong of Song succeeded to the throne. The Wude Division continues to play its role. In 981, Emperor Taizong of Song ordered that Wu Desi be renamed imperial city division, and the officials in charge were also renamed "Imperial City Division" by Wu Deshi. There were generally three people in the "Imperial City Division", and later there were increases and decreases, and at most there were as many as ten people. After the name change, the functions of the Imperial City Division were further strengthened, and a secret service agency integrating investigation, arrest, interrogation, and imprisonment was gradually formed.
For two or three hundred years of the Song Dynasty, the Imperial City Division has always existed, and it is tightly held in the hands of the emperor, becoming an important institution for the emperor to maintain his rule.
The strength of the Imperial City Division is often recorded in the writings of the Song people.
During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, the chancellor Kou Zhun was deposed and replaced by a general judge in Henan. Before leaving, he went to the home of Wang Dan, the prime minister, to bid farewell, and Wang Dan set up a banquet to entertain. The next day, when Wang Dan ascended to the throne, Song Zhenzong said to him: "Yesterday I knew that there were guests who were very happy. The court is fine, the ministers are harmonious, and it is gratifying. After Wang Dan heard this, he was terrified.
During special periods, the Imperial City Division could even host the deposed empress. During the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song, Empress Meng, because her daughter Princess Fuqing was ill, disregarded the taboos in the palace and used the water given by the Taoist priests to cure her illness, and was accused of cursing Zhezong with magic. The Emperor ordered the Imperial City Department to investigate. The Imperial City Division was ordered to arrest and interrogate all the eunuchs and concubines around Empress Meng, and during the interrogation, "the limbs were broken, and those who broke their tongues" were destroyed. After the confession, the emperor deposed the empress and ordered her to "leave the Yaohua Palace".
After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Imperial City Division also became "history". However, although this institution is no longer there, its spirit has been well inherited by the rulers of the Ming Dynasty and carried forward.