The next day, all the ministers came to the Haotian Hall for a meeting. Since the Royal Government Affairs Office was also part of the court, eleven princes also came to attend the meeting.

Chu Fan walked into the hall and sat on the dragon throne. The ministers immediately bowed their heads and saluted, shouting in unison: "Long live the emperor."

Chu Fan spoke slowly, his tone carrying a hint of authority: "My dear ministers, please stand. I will still issue orders for today's court meeting, and you only need to follow my instructions. If you have any memorials or official documents, please submit them to the Royal Government Affairs Office for processing."

All the ministers present stood up from the ground, maintaining a solemn silence and waiting quietly for further instructions from His Majesty.

Chu Fan looked around and began to ask, "Did the elders of the royal family recommend candidates last night to serve as the lords of the three important citadels?"

At this critical moment, Chu Anping, as the representative of the royal elders, stepped forward and announced to everyone present: "Your Majesty, the elders have officially submitted the list of three candidates to the Royal Affairs Office. Please review it personally."

As Chu Anping spoke, he respectfully handed the memorial in his hand to Eunuch Li who was standing beside him, indicating that he should pass this important document to His Majesty.

Chu Fan took the memorial from Eunuch Li and carefully read it. It detailed the names, birthdates, interests, and other information about the three princes. However, Chu Fan wasn't interested in these trivial details.

All he needed was for the three royal princes to go to the three Acropolis and take charge. For Chu Fan, the personal preferences of these princes were not important. What was important was their royal status. Their royal status would not only make the people in the three Acropolis feel more at ease, but they might also be able to rebel or something, and complete their system tasks at the same time.

Chu Fan read the list on the memorial and said, "Appoint Chu Junyuan as the Lord of Five Star City, with the title of Prince Yu; appoint Chu Xiujie as the Lord of Yao City, with the title of Prince Zhong; appoint Chu Maoshi as the Lord of Zhonghua City, with the title of Prince Deng. These three princes will command the economy and military of the three citadels. Of course, the Ministry of Revenue will still be responsible for collecting taxes, while the county government will be responsible for public security within the city.

From now on, titled princes can have a personal guard of 800 men, recruited by the princes themselves, and of course, all expenses of these 800 personal guards will be borne by each prince himself."

Upon hearing Chu Fan's outrageous order, no one uttered a word. After all, His Majesty was already furious. Furthermore, this wasn't the first time His Majesty had violated ancestral precepts, so everyone just assumed they didn't exist. After all, the royal family themselves didn't object to His Majesty's actions, so what good would it do for the ministers to object? After all, His Majesty wouldn't be morally blackmailed by his ministers.

Furthermore, His Majesty was not someone who sought only personal gain for the royal family. Quite the contrary, His Majesty and the entire royal family deeply respected and adhered to the order of the court. Whenever they entered the court, all the princes, regardless of their seniority, would humbly call themselves subjects, rather than relying on their royal status to act recklessly and unruly.

Chu Anping replied excitedly, "On behalf of the three princes, I express my deepest gratitude to Your Majesty for your great grace."

Chu Fan said calmly: "No need to be so polite, this is what you deserve."

As for why Chu Anping was so happy, it was because one of the three people on the list included a descendant of his own lineage. Of course, this spot was also obtained through the manipulation of the royal ancestor Chu Yuanwu. Chu Anping was happy in his heart that his family lineage also had a titled prince.

After Chu Fan detailed the prince's affairs, he continued, "Regarding the affairs of the three Acropolis County Offices, I have decided to hand over full responsibility to the Ministry of Personnel and Prime Minister Qin Hui. I hope that by the day after tomorrow at the latest, you can form a team. Then, you can open the court and publicly try the mayors of the other two cities and those aristocratic families who have committed numerous crimes, thus giving the people of the three Acropolis a satisfactory explanation."

Minister of Personnel Quan Zhengcheng and Prime Minister Qin Hui stepped forward and said in unison, "We will certainly live up to your Majesty's trust."

Chu Fan waved his hand, signaling them to leave. Then, Chu Fan continued, "Regarding the selection of the Minister of War, do you have any recommendations for someone?"

All the ministers were silent for a moment. A number of nobles and officials had been killed by His Majesty in the court. General Mu Yunfeng was guarding the border and it was impossible for him to return to the court to serve as the Minister of War. There was really no one in the Wei Kingdom who was suitable to be the Minister of War.

Moreover, the fact that Your Majesty did not directly appoint a prince from the royal family as the Minister of War proves that Your Majesty did not intend to let a prince from the royal family take up the position.

At this time, a voice rang out: "I recommend Cao Mengde to be the Minister of War."

Everyone saw that it was Changsun Dechong who was standing at the end of all the ministers. He was originally the Minister of War and stood at the front. Now he is a commoner and he was able to stand in the court because the emperor wanted to assign him something to do.

At this time, a minister immediately retorted, "I think it is not possible. Lord Cao is already over seventy years old. Isn't it a bit too much to ask him to serve in the government now?"

When Chu Fan heard this name, his mind was already reminiscent of Cao Mengde. The Cao Mengde of this world had assisted three emperors of the Chu family. He had also served as the general and prime minister.

At this time, Chu Fan thought of a poem by Cao Mengde on Blue Star:

Moreover, if he wanted to complete his mission, how could the court be without such a powerful and capable person?

Chu Fan said, "Be quiet. I believe age is not a problem. Even an old horse in the stable still has ambitions to run a thousand miles. Even a martyr in his old age still has great ambitions. I think if Cao Mengde is willing, I can agree to let him be the Minister of War."

After hearing Chu Fan's words, all the ministers agreed with Chu Fan's opinion, especially the two lines of poetry that Chu Fan said, which they had never heard of before, but were very appropriate to describe Cao Mengde.

Seeing that no one objected, Chu Fan continued, "Since no one objects, I will order Cao Mengde to consult."

Chu Fan asked Eunuch Li to find a piece of paper and wrote down the full text of "Turtle's Longevity" on it. Chu Fan said to Eunuch Li, "Show this to Cao Mengde. If he is willing to serve as my Minister of War, then let him come to court."

Eunuch Li immediately took the paper written by Chu Fan to find Cao Mengde. When Cao Mengde looked at the poem written in sloppy handwriting on the paper, he had only one thought in his mind: His Majesty was the one who truly understood him.

Cao Mengde said to Eunuch Li, "I, Cao Mengde, will definitely be the Minister of War."