Chapter 399: Chapter 211: Two Countries Join Forces _3
Translator: 549690339
At the very least, important central officials of the new dynasty should wear their own official uniforms with their colors.
Otherwise, how will they show their legitimacy? How will they distinguish themselves from Da Yue?
Should they be like the kings of Southsea and Ninghai, wearing a yellow robe and underneath having ministers wearing all kinds of messy robes with different styles, like bandits and rebels, when establishing a new country?
If that’s the case, then Sun Siwen and Cui Changqing should find a block of tofu to hit their heads against, all those years of education and serving as the Prime Minister would have been in vain.
In addition to preparing the new dynasty’s uniforms, the construction of the Altar for Worshipping Heaven outside of Changsha is also underway, with civilian workers working overtime, and proper preparations are being made according to the regulations.
Uniforms, etiquette, enthronement, and worshiping heaven – the two most important matters in the establishment of a nation are slowly being perfected under the efforts of the two chancellors.
Apart from these two matters, the other central officials, consisting of three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, and five jurisdictions, were quickly selected by them and appointed by Lu Yuan, who then promoted them from their positions in the local authorities.
In just over half a month, more than a hundred principal officials of these various central offices have been reassigned from the local prefectures and counties.
After they left, local supporting officials were promoted to fill the vacancies.
Although there are still many basic officials at the grassroots level, at least the framework has been set up and it is barely enough to maintain the most basic daily operations.
Now they just need to get through the difficult times of the founding of the nation and wait for the new juren to fill the positions, which will naturally alleviate the shortage of officials.
As for the hardships during this time.
When Lu Yuan founded the country, nearly a thousand officials under his administration were promoted by one or two levels, and some were even promoted by four or five levels.
Moreover, with the establishment of the new dynasty, there is a general celebration and Lu Yuan is now not short of money, and there are generous rewards for everyone.
Under promotions and wealth, these officials are not complaining, but rather, they are all extremely happy and full of enthusiasm.
After all, there are vacancies everywhere in the country, and if you do slightly better, you can be promoted.
Who could miss such a good opportunity for promotion? Who would want to miss it?
And amid all this busyness, the preparations for Lu Yuan’s founding of the nation have gradually been completed.
In the seventh year of Hongdao, on the fifteenth day of the sixth month.
On Dongting Lake, thousands of battleships dock on the river, covering the entire lake like a dark cloud.
Yang Jing and Shangguan Ming, leading the imperial army, arrived at Yiyang County as promised after a month and united with Lu Yuan.
Having already received notice, Lu Yuan had someone wait on the pier to welcome the soldiers who were disembarking from the battleships in turns and heading to the already established camps.
Amidst the busyness, Yang Jing, Shangguan Ming, Jihui the Holy Monk, and Qiao Kangquan finally met with Lu Yuan.
In a lakeside restaurant on the pier, which had been cleared out, Lu Yuan, accompanied by Lan Cai’er, welcomed these guests from afar.
“This time, we are leading an army of 140,000 and are accompanied by four Grandmasters, at the request of the King of Changsha. We have come a long way.”
In the restaurant, Shangguan Ming sat at the table, staring directly at Lu Yuan, looking at the person he had been dealing with for a long time but had never met. After a long while, he asked, “Now that the soldiers have arrived, when will the King of Changsha establish the nation and unite his forces with ours to march north?”
Lu Yuan smiled slightly and shook his head, saying, “The establishment of the country has been set for the 20th of this month, which is an auspicious day. On this day, I will worship heaven outside Fu City.”
I will formally announce to the world the establishment of the nation and the founding of Changsha.” At that time, I would like to invite the generals and national teachers to come and witness the ceremony.”
Inviting Shangguan Ming and other important officials of the court to attend the founding ceremony of the nation was something that Lu Yuan had planned long ago.
Having these people present at the founding will make Changsha a more prestigious country.
Because it represents the recognition of Da Yue’s court for the Changsha nation.
With this symbolic meaning, it will undoubtedly help Lu Yuan better unite the hearts of the Dongting Prefecture’s people.
As for this request, Shangguan Ming would not make things difficult. After all, they had already granted the nation, and they would not be bothered by this small matter, so he nodded slightly and said, “That’s no problem. On that day, the four of us will be there in person.”
However, after finishing these words, Shangguan Ming continued to ask, “Previously, the King of Changsha had said that after the establishment of the nation, our two countries would unite to break through Yiyang County, eliminate the Zhou people in the city, and then march northward with the army. Now that our 140,000 strong army has arrived, I wonder how the 100,000 strong army promised by the King of Yichang is preparing?”
In Tianmen Prefecture of Jiangbei, Zhou Country has 300,000 soldiers.
Among these 300,000 soldiers, 200,000 are elite soldiers of Zhou Country. The remaining 100,000 are Qiang soldiers under Li Xiong’s command and defectors from the Yue people who have been gathered in Xichuan Prefecture.
This force is not weak.
Now Shangguan Ming has 140,000 soldiers on his side, and in Tianmen Prefecture City in Jiangbei, Bai Mengyang also has 20,000 soldiers.
Together, they have only 160,000, which is just half the number of Zhou’s soldiers.
As for the Inborn Grandmasters, counting Li Yanjing and others in Yiyang City, Zhou has five Inborn Grandmasters.
On the court side, there are also five people, just even with them.
Therefore, going north with this strength, the court’s hope of repelling Zhou and retaking Xichuan Prefecture is nothing more than wishful thinking.
It is even questionable whether they can recapture Tianmen Prefecture.
That is why the promise of 300,000 soldiers by Lu Yuan, Yan Wangqiu, and Su Xuange became an important force for the court to recover Xichuan Prefecture.
Among the three, Lu Yuan’s 100,000 soldiers are the most important.
Who else can have an elite army of 100,000 soldiers under his command?
This is also why, although they may be unhappy in their hearts, Shangguan Ming and others still come with respect at this time.
Since they have given so much respect, Lu Yuan will naturally not refuse in return. At this time, he said, “There are already 60,000 soldiers stationed outside Yiyang City, and 40,000 soldiers stationed outside Changsha City.”
These 100,000 people are elite soldiers skilled in battle.”
After the establishment of the nation, the army will set off, attack and break through Yiyang City, and eliminate the Zhou people here.”
My 100,000-strong army will then head north.”
Lu Yuan replied succinctly.
Hearing him say this, Shangguan Ming finally showed a bit of a smile, “Good! I will wait for the King of Changsha to go into battle.”
Yang Jing and others on the side also showed smiles.