The Imperial City of Jinling.
Inside the imperial study, the new emperor Chen Huai'an was reviewing memorials. His young and handsome face was filled with hesitation and exhaustion as he sighed to himself that being an emperor was no easy task!
At this time, a full month had passed since Chen Huai'an proclaimed himself emperor in Jinling.
As the two armies of Longcheng continued to conquer the remnants of the previous dynasty, the territory and land under Chen Huai'an's rule were already approaching the size of the Great Xin Dynasty at its peak.
Following this, military and political affairs from various regions were compiled and submitted to the Six Ministries, and finally presented to Emperor Chen Huai'an for review.
Although the six ministries of this new dynasty have been re-established, the ministers of the six ministries are all temporarily appointed. In addition, most of these ministers are former officials of the previous dynasty, and they dare not make decisions on matters related to the new dynasty without authorization.
Therefore, the enthronement ceremony of the new emperor Chen Huai'an, the Fengshan ceremony to worship Heaven, the progress of the two southern expeditionary armies, and the attitudes of the powerful families in Jiangnan towards the new dynasty, all these matters require Chen Huai'an's final decision.
In addition, there was a mess left behind by Zhao Gan, the second emperor of the Great Xin Dynasty, which Chen Huai'an also needed to clean up personally.
For example, the project to excavate the Grand Canal that runs through the north and south is now one-third complete. We can't just let it fall apart like this, can we?
As a time traveler, Chen Huai'an was well aware of the profound significance of excavating the Grand Canal to connect the north and south. In the short term, this massive project was a waste of manpower and resources.
However, from a long-term perspective, the construction of the Grand Canal is a monumental undertaking that benefits both the present and future generations, and it must continue no matter what.
Chen Huai'an immediately reviewed the memorial from the Ministry of Works, ordering the continuation of the Grand Canal project and instructing the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 30 million taels of silver for the canal's excavation.
For example, the memorial submitted by the Ministry of Rites concerned the imperial examinations in various regions the following year.
In the Great Xin Dynasty, where "military prowess was paramount," the imperial examination system was always based on recommendation. In layman's terms, only students who were qualified to participate in the imperial examinations could be recommended by local powerful families.
After Emperor Chen Huai'an ascended the throne, the first year of the new dynasty coincided with the imperial examination held every five years.
Chen Huai'an looked at the memorial from the Ministry of Rites and then marked it as pending.
His true intention was to take advantage of the founding of the new dynasty to reform the imperial examination system.
At the same time, Chen Huai'an was well aware that there would inevitably be resistance to the implementation of reforms. At present, the overall situation of the new dynasty was not stable, and rashly carrying out the imperial examination reform might cause an unfavorable situation. Therefore, he postponed the matter.
For example, the naval fleet's voyage to Southeast Asia.
During the Daxin Dynasty, the Daxin Navy made three voyages to the Western Ocean, not only to establish trade relations with the countries of Southeast Asia, but also to demonstrate the might of the Daxin Dynasty. There were also many vassal states in Southeast Asia that submitted to the Daxin Dynasty.
Now that Chen Huai'an has declared himself emperor, he will inevitably have to send a naval fleet to the South Seas again. On the one hand, it is to allow the new dynasty to accept the homage of the various vassal states, and on the other hand, it is to prepare for the arrival of envoys from all countries for Chen Huai'an's enthronement ceremony.
Chen Huai'an's original intention was to send the naval commander Qi Jiguang on a voyage to the Western Ocean, but at present, General Qi, who also served as the commander of the Shenji Battalion, was assisting General Pang Xianchu in battle on the front line of the Southern Yue Kingdom and could not spare the time.
Therefore, Chen Huai'an reviewed the memorial from the Ministry of War and assigned the voyage to Fang Tianyao, the former naval commander of the previous dynasty, with Luo Yucheng, the deputy commander of the Longcheng naval forces (formerly the deputy commander of the Longcheng Inner Guard and concurrently the special envoy of the Prince of Jin), to lead the voyage.
This move also implies that Luo Yucheng will take over the future coordination of the various vassal states in Southeast Asia from Fang Tianyao.
Chen Huai'an also made a special note that the fleet that went on this voyage to the Western Ocean consisted mainly of warships from the Longcheng Navy Fleet, with the lead ship being the "Destroy the Japanese Pirates".
Every day, dozens or even hundreds of such memorials were submitted to the new emperor Chen Huai'an's desk, leaving him severely sleep-deprived. This was even more exhausting than the 996 work schedule he had before he transmigrated!
Of course, Chen Huai'an could also simply leave it to the Six Ministries to handle, and he could just immerse himself in the pleasures of the harem every day.
However, for the new emperor Chen Huai'an, who aspired to be on par with Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han and become a great emperor for all time, it was certainly impossible for him to do such a foolish and tyrannical thing.
To be honest, Chen Huai'an's obsession with becoming a great emperor for all time was not because of the permission to explore immortality in the [Born to be an Emperor] system;
In fact, he had absolutely no interest in immortality.
He only hoped that after achieving the status of a great emperor, when he unlocked the right to explore immortality, he might have even a one in ten thousand chance of returning to the world before he transmigrated.
Even if he can't go back, it would be good to see the people and things he cares about through the lens of time travel!
Let's get back to the main topic.
As Chen Huai'an finished reviewing another memorial, he stretched lazily in his chair in the imperial study and muttered to himself, "Throughout history, countless heroes and great men have made 'receiving the mandate of Heaven and enjoying longevity' their lifelong pursuit."
Little did they know, being an emperor is no easy task!
"Report—"
"Your Majesty, Minister of War Li requests an audience with two battle reports from the front lines in Yongzhou of the Nanyue Kingdom and Dali of the Nanzhao Kingdom!"
Suddenly, the voice of Xiao Po, the commander of the Imperial Guard, came from outside the Imperial Study.
"Let him in!"
Chen Huai'an leaned back in his chair for a short rest and casually invited Li Jingyu, the Minister of War, to come in and speak with him.
Soon, Li Jingyu hurriedly entered the imperial study and respectfully performed the three kowtows and nine bows to Chen Huai'an. Only after Chen Huai'an told him to rise did he stand up.
As Li Jingyu presented the battle report, he proactively reported, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has just received a battle report from the front lines in Yongzhou, Nanyue Kingdom;"
"With the assistance of the Divine Machine Battalion, the Southern Expeditionary Army captured Yongzhou City, a key town in Southern Yue, in just three hours, annihilating more than 100,000 Southern Yue defenders!"
"The specific battle situation has been reported in detail in the memorial. Please review it, Your Majesty!"
oh?
Upon hearing the words "the city was breached in three hours and 100,000 enemy troops were annihilated," Chen Huai'an couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, showing interest.
He took the battle report from Li Jingyu and read it carefully, and the smile on his face deepened!
Hahaha!
After a long silence, Chen Huai'an burst into hearty laughter and said, "I knew it! Once the Divine Machine Battalion makes its debut, it will surely become famous in one battle!"
"However, the fact that we annihilated 100,000 enemy troops in this battle is something I didn't expect, haha!"
"Your Majesty, there is also a message from General Chang Yuchun, the Deputy Marshal of the Army, sent from Dali, the capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom, on an urgent journey of 800 li!"
At this moment, Li Jingyu, the Minister of War, took out another memorial and presented it to Chen Huai'an.
Li Jingyu said, "General Chang said that the other army he led to the south has already reached the capital of Nanzhao, and it will be captured in an instant!"
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