"I'm not qualified, and you're even less qualified!" Wang Xiaohai waved to Yan Zhuang and gestured, "Control this talkative guy and don't let him speak. Also, don't let his mother, Concubine An, speak."
Commander Yan Zhuang and several others rushed towards the Fourth Prince, pressed him to the ground, and untied the military bag he brought with him, which contained some thick ropes and socks. He stuffed the socks into the Fourth Prince's mouth and tied it from his mouth to the back of his head with a rope.
Concubine An was also treated in the same way.
"Does anyone else have any objections?" Guan Zeyuan glanced at everyone in Zhengyang Palace.
Those who had objections were locked up and had socks stuffed in their mouths. Now no one dared to have any objections.
"Please give me the imperial seal of the Zhou Dynasty!" When Guan Zeyuan defeated the imperial guards earlier, he found a seal wrapped in brocade in the army. It was the imperial seal of the Zhou Dynasty that had been passed down for a thousand years.
A centurion carried the brocade box containing the imperial seal from the main gate of Zhengyang Palace to the steps below the dragon throne.
"The new emperor is respectfully invited to receive the seal!" Dozens of messengers from the Yulin Army spoke at the same time.
The entire Zhengyang Hall was filled with thunder-like sounds, and dust from the eaves of the hall fell down.
Wang Xiaohai and two black-clad guards accompanied Princess Shu to the steps.
A figure quietly slipped in from the gate of Zhengyang Palace. It was today's martial arts champion Li Wu. He blended into the crowd.
Princess Shu took the imperial seal at the steps and slowly walked towards the throne. She seemed hesitant at the first two steps, but her steps became faster and faster, and she became more and more confident.
Zhou Shuyi stood in front of the dragon throne and turned to face everyone in Zhengyang Hall.
All the Yulin soldiers knelt at the same time: "Long live our emperor!"
Civil and military officials, princes, and the late emperor's concubines also knelt down reluctantly and congratulated the new emperor together with the Yulin Army.
In Zhengyang Hall, only Wang Xiaohai did not kneel down to congratulate.
"Everyone, please stand up!" Zhou Shuyi didn't know whether to call herself "I" or "I" now. After thinking about it, she decided to call herself "I", not wanting to break the rules of her ancestors. "I have just ascended the throne and have no idea what to do. Many things are still unclear, so I drafted two edicts to appoint several people to share my responsibilities. First, I appoint Wang Xiaohai as the National Master. Seeing him is like seeing me. Second, I appoint Guan Zeyuan as the General of Protecting the Country and Minister of War, a first-rank official. He will be in charge of appointing Li Wu as the Left General and Yan Zhuang as the Right General, a second-rank official. He will be in charge of the newly formed Yulin Army and the Imperial Guard. Heilin and Heisen will be the Minister of the Imperial Guard, and their salary will be calculated according to the first-rank. Every Yulin Army soldier who breaks into the palace will be rewarded with 100 taels of gold and promoted one rank."
"Long live the Lady Queen!" The people who were rewarded cheered and applauded, with joy on everyone's face.
There are no ordinary soldiers in the Yulin Army in the palace. The lowest rank is a sergeant, but he is a sergeant without any soldiers under his command.
"I'll give you a favor. You can return home in batches and recruit ten fellow townspeople as your own subordinates. The state will provide them with military pay." Wang Xiaohai's voice spread throughout Zhengyang Palace. "You will be divided into two groups. The specific number of vacancies will be determined later by consulting the Military Affairs Office."
"Why do you do this?" The Queen walked down from the dragon throne, came to Wang Xiaohai and asked.
"This is a way to quickly increase troops." Wang Xiaohai said, "The current Yulin Army of more than 10,000 can't defend against attacks from other countries or rebels. Letting them lead ten people each would have an army of over 100,000, which is almost enough in terms of numbers."
"But they brought ordinary people who have never been on the battlefield. How can they fight?" the Queen asked in a low voice.
"Who is a natural born soldier?" Wang Xiaohai was reminded by the system of his great achievement. "It only takes some training."
"All civil and military officials in the palace, please come before me to register your names and positions." Two black-clad imperial guards presented a blank silk book and quill pen. "We need to count any vacancies."
"Today's morning court session ends here. Due to recent unrest, we won't be holding a state banquet to celebrate," the Lady Queen said. "We'll wait until this period is over. Perhaps I'll be assassinated tomorrow, and you'll have to choose a new emperor. Everyone, register with the Minister of the Imperial Guard as soon as possible. We'll have new official badges and seals cast in ten days. If you haven't registered by then, I'm sorry, you'll lose your position!"
Wang Xiaohai said a few words to the two black-clad guard ministers, then walked out of the gate of Zhengyang Palace, looking at the palaces and buildings in front of him, and at the Yulin Army running on the road.
Wang Xiaohai knew that he could not relax, as his fellow traitors would try their best to sneak into the palace and assassinate the Lady Queen or other generals and high-ranking officials.
However, he couldn't split himself up, so he could only protect one person at most. He still had to strengthen the guards at the palace gates! Seeing so many bow-wielding guards at the gates, the assassins wouldn't dare act rashly. After all, saving their lives was more important than completing their mission. They'd rather assassinate some state officials than risk a hail of arrows from the palace.
"Imperial Master, is the palace in danger?" General Guan Zeyuan, the protector of the country, also walked to Wang Xiaohai, his face flushed and full of excitement.
After all, anyone would be happy to jump from a captain of ten thousand men to a first-rank minister of war, which is several levels higher.
If I continue to work hard as before, I probably won't be able to get promoted in this lifetime. At most, I can get a half-level improvement in salary after I retire from the army.
Sure enough, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
"There is a secret passage. There is an underground secret passage in the residence of those crazy queens a hundred years ago. You send people to block it." Wang Xiaohai suddenly thought, "Remember to send more archers. There may be a few assassins there." Wang Xiaohai was not sure whether there were any, but it was always better to be careful.
"I understand." Guan Zeyuan's face was serious. He quickly retreated and re-entered the hall. He talked with Li Wu for a few words and gave Li Wu a thousand soldiers to lead to block the secret passage.
Half an hour later, all the civil and military officials walked out of Zhengyang Palace. They did not whisper to each other, but kept their heads down and remained silent, leaving in a hurry. It was probably to leave the palace to alert their families and servants.
Yan Zhuang led hundreds of soldiers to escort the officials away.
"There's still a lot to do tomorrow." The Lady Queen looked a little tired. "The Minister of Rites told me a lot of things. There are also the princes and the late emperor's concubines who need to be settled. I can see that none of them obey me. If I let them out of the palace, they will definitely organize an army to rebel."
"Don't let them leave the palace yet. Let them out after the army and officials are under control. They will only be given the right to collect taxes on the land they are granted, and they are not allowed to build barracks." Wang Xiaohai suggested.
Hei Lin, who was following the Lady Queen, took out a pen and paper and wrote down what Wang Xiaohai said.
"Starting today, for the next nine days, you can't leave ten meters from me," Wang Xiaohai said. "Be careful, there may be assassins in the palace. I don't need to worry about other counties, and I can't do anything about it. If my estimate is correct, officials in all counties and prefectures, except the capital, have already suffered."
"Is there any solution?" asked the Queen.
"No, we can only wait for them to leave Zhou." Wang Xiaohai said, "Zhou is a vast country. It's impossible for you to find them. If you find them, you will die if you are few in number, and you won't be able to catch up with them if you are many."
"Let's go back to Ganyang Palace."
Behind the Lady Queen were two royal guards and twelve palace maids hired by Guan Zeyuan to serve her.
Ganyang Palace was the residence of the emperors of the Zhou Dynasty. Many emperors died there, and Empress Zhou Shuyi was not averse to it. In her opinion, the ancestors would protect her there.
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