During the Song dynasty,there were two channels of communication for memorials between the central and local authorities:one was the Jinzou Yuan(the memorials office)and Tongjin Si(the Tongjin secretary’s office);the other was the unofficial channel of Runei Neishi Sheng(the palace domestic service).The two channels were constantly competing for influence,and took turns to gain the upper hand.After the Yuanfeng Reorganization,the Runei Neishi Sheng became an important prop enabling the emperor to control the delivery of classified memorials and imperial edicts and thus stop the courtiers from deciding affairs of the state.But the role of the Jinzou Yuan was not stable.The tension and overlap between the roles of the Jinzou Yuan and the Runei Neishi Sheng in delivering classified documents is an important manifestation of the information game the Song emperors played with the courtiers.The emperors’control of the Jinzou Yuan and their use of the Runei Neishi Sheng shows the marks of dictatorship;the ups and downs of scholar-officials’resistance and struggle is a feature that shows the lively political forms of the Song dynasty.At the same time,the functions of the internal and external ministries that surrounded the Tang emperors,as well as the political features that accompanied them,were still at work in the Song dynasty.From the mechanisms of the monitoring system of the ministries in the imperial palace,including the Runei Neishi Sheng,Nei Dongmen Si(the inner department at the east gate),Yu Yaoyuan(the imperial pharmacy),Gemen(the cabinet office),Sifang Guan(office of foreign affairs),and the Kesheng(office of rituals concerning foreign affairs),and their functions in daily administration,it seems that in the Song dynasty,there existed an"inner court."