emperors were much closer to their ministers as before. We hear of
ministers who patted the ruler on the shoulders when they retired from
an audience; another one fell asleep on the emperor's knee and was not
punished for this familiarity. The emperor was called "_kuan-chia_"
(Administrator) and even called himself so. And in the early twelfth
century an emperor stated "I do not regard the empire as my personal
property; my job is to guide the people". Financially-minded as the Sung
dynasty was, the cost of the operation of the palace was calculated, so
that the emperor had a budget: in 1068 the salaries of all officials in
the capital amounted to 40,000 strings of money per month, the armies
100,000, and the emperor's ordinary monthly budget was 70,000 strings.
For festivals, imperial birthdays, weddings and burials extra allowances
were made. Thus, the Sung rulers may be called "moderate absolutists"
and not despots.

One of the first acts of the new Sung emperor, in 963, was a fundamental
reorganization of the administration of the country. The old system of a
civil administration and a military administration independent of it was
brought to an end and the whole administration of the country placed in
the hands of civil officials. The gentry welcomed this measure and gave
it full support, because it enabled the influence of the gentry to grow
and removed the fear of competition from the military, some of whom did
not belong by birth to the gentry. The generals by whose aid the empire
had been created were put on pension, or transferred to civil
employment, as quickly as possible. The army was demobilized, and this
measure was bound up with the settlement of peasants in the regions
which war had depopulated, or on new land. Soon after this the revenue
noticeably increased. Above all, the army was placed directly under the
central administration, and the system of military governors was thus
brought to an end. The soldiers became mercenaries of the state, whereas