Chapter 398: Chapter 211: Two Countries Join Forces _2
Translator: 549690339
Nowadays, countless scholars in both countries are greatly disappointed by this.
If the king issues a call for talents, the scholars of these two countries would be overjoyed upon hearing it, and would not hesitate to travel thousands of miles to join.”
The main reason why Sun Siwen and Cui Changqing laughed at this was that the actions of the Nanhai Sect and the Nine River Sword Sect in recent times were too chaotic and unseemly.
Unlike Lu Yuan, who single-handedly established today’s foundation without much restraint, being penniless and destitute.
The Nanhai Sect and the Nine River Sword Sect have been established for over a thousand years.
During this long period, the number of disciples in both sects has exceeded ten thousand, with countless interests and factions intertwined.
Now that both sects have turned into countries, Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange have reaped the greatest benefits, becoming the royal family.
But what about the disciples and elders under them, and even the affiliated sects? Wouldn’t they want enough interests and benefits to be appeased?
Otherwise, the sect that originally belonged to everyone suddenly becomes a country belonging only to the two of them. They can’t take all the benefits for themselves, right?
If that were the case, who would be willing to work for Su Xuange and Yan Wangqiu?
Therefore, considering these factors, Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange had to take out more than half of the official positions in the country, use them as the interest cake, and allocate them to their subordinates.
However, South Sea Prefecture and Yulin County are only so big, with only ten prefectures and a hundred counties. Even now that the country has been established and a central court added, how many positions can be distributed to their followers?
Yet under their control, there are thousands of people who are eagerly looking forward to obtaining an official position.
As a result, in order to come up with so many official positions, Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange had to choose to downsize and dismiss the original local officials, leaving most of their positions vacant for their confidants.
Such behavior was justified by them as cleansing the court’s influence, sharing benefits with all the people in the world.
But who are those people?
Naturally, they are their own relatives, friends, and acquaintances.
Such behavior naturally disgusted the local literati of the two counties.
Originally, the founding of Southsea and Ninghai was not resisted by the local scholars of the two counties, and some even looked forward to it.
After all, once the two countries were established, the princes of foreign countries would naturally be unable to serve in their own counties. As a result, the two countries would have to select officials from among their own people.
Sun Siwen had mentioned this before.
Originally, half of the local officials were occupied by scholars from Linhai and Yuzhang counties.
Now that half of the quota has been vacated, the scholars of their own country can naturally go and compete for it.
Such a great opportunity naturally elates the local literati.
However, the operation of Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange has not only occupied nearly half of the vacated quota but has also taken up much of what was originally left for them.
The benefits they had originally hoped for in the founding of the country were gone, and their own interests were damaged instead.
Just imagine, the local scholars of the two counties must be furious.
It is likely that in the literary world, those scholars are privately complaining and cursing at the two countries as tyrants.
Under such public opinion, a series of actions by Southsea and Ninghai quickly spread to all counties in the world and became widely known.
As traditional literati, Sun Siwen and Cui Changqing naturally disapprove of the martial style of the two countries.
At this moment, seeing Lu Yuan bring it up, they couldn’t help but scoff a few words.
While mocking, both of them couldn’t help but feel fortunate that they had encountered a ruler like Lu Yuan.
If they had come across martial men like Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange, let alone become prime ministers and control a country,
they were afraid they wouldn’t even be able to hold official positions, and could only pack up and return home to be mere farmers.
Seeing the attitudes of his two chancellors, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but be speechless and then laughed helplessly, “Although the literary atmosphere of Southsea and Ninghai is not as flourishing as in our country, there are still six or seven thousand scholars in total.
As long as more than half of them come to our country, along with our own scholars, we should have enough.
Even if there is still a shortage, it will not affect the overall situation. We can slowly fill in the gap in the future.”
Sun Siwen nodded and said, “The king is wise. With the help of Southsea and Ninghai, there should be no problem in selecting officials.”
Lu Yuan laughed, “In that case, the two of you can go back and prepare. The founding ceremony, the choice of etiquette, diplomatic matters, and preparations for the imperial examination are all state affairs that both of you need to be busy with. I thank you in advance.”
When Lu Yuan reached this point, he stood up and bowed to the two of them.
He had no problem with military affairs, but if it weren’t for this father-in-law and son-in-law duo helping him in political affairs, he wouldn’t be able to manage the logistics on his own.
If he tried to manage it forcefully, at best, he would just become a second Southsea or Ninghai, or even worse off than them.
Therefore, whether it is out of sentiment or necessity, his bow is genuine and sincere.
And Sun Siwen and Cui Changqing dared not accept such a salute, hastily avoiding and saying, “We are entrusted by the king with state affairs and are obliged to do our utmost for the king. We dare not accept such a salute.”
Thus, under a harmonious atmosphere of monarchs and ministers, the framework and keynote of founding a country were settled.
With a clear goal ahead, Sun Siwen and Cui Changqing’s efficiency naturally ensured swift execution.
All the tailors and embroiderers in Changsha Prefecture were summoned, and fabrics from all the big cloth shops were purchased.
The new dynasty needs a new look.
Since Lu Yuan is founding a country, he naturally needs to prepare new royal robes and official uniforms to determine the color and etiquette of their attire.
Although there is still some time before the official founding, although rushed, it is still possible to make some simple robes and attend official functions temporarily.