313: Chapter 313 Imperial Edict Spreads Throughout the Land

Upon hearing Chen Hu's first imperial edict, the ministers below all wore looks of astonishment.

"Has this new emperor lost his mind?"

"Exempting taxes and grain for three years, what will the imperial court use for expenses?"

"One must know that the main tax revenue of the Great Yong Kingdom comes from agricultural taxes and poll taxes."

"Commercial taxes account for at most one-tenth of the Great Yong Kingdom's tax revenue."

"Without tax revenue, what will be used to pay official salaries, and without grain, what will be used to feed the soldiers?"

At the same time, some officials secretly felt disdain in their hearts; he was indeed a rebel who knew nothing about governing a country.

Other officials secretly gloated, thinking, "You've just ascended the throne and are already courting death; let's see how long you can sit on that throne."

"Pfft!"

At this moment, someone laughed out loud; it was the Second Prince. He looked at Chen Hu with disdain: "Do you even understand how to govern a country? If you don't, let me do it!"

The Second Prince had already given up on everything. He knew clearly that Chen Hu was a Hunyuan Martial Saint and could kill him with a mere flick of a finger.

Yet, thinking about how he had plotted for so many years only to have the throne snatched away by an outsider, an overwhelming resentment surged in his heart.

"Someone, drag him out!"

Chen Hu glanced at the Second Prince indifferently and then shouted lightly.

Immediately, Dian Wei brought in a squad of Organ Refining soldiers and forcibly dragged the Second Prince out.

Next, the eunuch began to read the second imperial edict.

This imperial edict was for the conferral of titles upon Xiahou Xu.

Chen Hu directly conferred upon him the title of Prince Yong and also bestowed ten million taels of silver, one million taels of gold, a royal mansion, and so on.

Xiahou Xu was very satisfied with Chen Hu's rewards and directly bowed to express his gratitude and accept the edict.

Then the eunuch began to read the third imperial edict.

This imperial edict was the decree conferring the title of Empress upon Princess Anping, Xiahou Jing.

After announcing the imperial edicts, Chen Hu ordered his men to spread the content of the first imperial edict throughout the realm as quickly as possible.

Then he announced the end of the court session.

Very quickly, the news of Emperor Jingren abdicating to Chen Hu spread rapidly from the royal capital in all directions.

Spreading along with it was the news that Chen Hu had already achieved the rank of Hunyuan Martial Saint.

Originally, some people did not understand why Emperor Jingren was willing to abdicate, but upon learning that Chen Hu was a Hunyuan Martial Saint, they could understand.

Likewise, the news regarding the three-year tax exemption for farmers and commoners also spread at the fastest speed.

People struggling at the bottom never cared who became the emperor.

What they cared about was whether they could eat their fill and dress warmly.

Therefore, as this imperial edict spread, Chen Hu immediately gained their support.

They were even pondering where to use the extra money and grain now that they didn't have to pay taxes for three years.

Should they have two more children, or find a wife for their son?

And the number of Chen Hu's followers was also surging at a visible speed.

When the time reached noon.

The number of Chen Hu's followers had surged from 64.56 million to 154 million.

Chen Hu estimated that with the spread of that imperial edict, by midnight tonight, the number of followers would reach at least 300 million.

Around two in the afternoon.

The Imperial Palace, Imperial Study.

Secretary Kong Wanwan, who served as Chen Hu's secretary, came in to report: "Your Majesty, my father, Prime Minister Xie, the Ministers of the Six Ministries, and the four Dukes have arrived!"

"Have them wait in the side hall; I will go over shortly!"

Chen Hu nodded.

"Yes!" Kong Wanwan withdrew.

After a while, Chen Hu arrived at the side hall.

Everyone in the hall bowed to pay their respects.

Chen Hu raised his hand slightly: "There is no need for such formalities. Someone, bring a chair for each of the ministers."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone expressed their gratitude.

It is worth mentioning that after accepting the throne, Chen Hu issued an imperial edict promoting Kong Jing to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, a third-rank official.

The reason these ministers came today was for only one matter: to ask Chen Hu when he would officially ascend the throne.

Although Chen Hu had accepted Emperor Jingren's abdication today.

And was already the nominal emperor of this country.

He still had to choose a date to officially ascend the throne to demonstrate legitimacy.

Besides that, the name of the country and the era name also needed to be discussed.

Originally, Chen Hu did not intend to hold any ascension ceremony, but under the persuasion of this group of ministers, he agreed to it.

After all, not holding an ascension ceremony would mean his title was not justified and his words would not carry authority.

Although it was a formality, sometimes it had to be gone through.

As for the name of the country, this group of people had discussed several options, which were Wu, Qian, and Lin.

Choosing Wu would imply that Chen Hu possessed supreme martial power and was a Hunyuan Martial Saint.

As for choosing Qian, it would imply that Chen Hu had a broad mind and could accommodate everything.

After all, after a dynastic change, there were not many who could avoid harming a single member of the previous dynasty's royal family and retain most of the officials.

As for choosing Lin as the country name, it was because Chen Hu started his rise from Linjiang Prefecture.

After reviewing them, Chen Hu chose Qian as the country name, and the era name would be Shenwu.

After discussing the matters of the ascension, the country name, and the era name.

Chen Hu then proposed the matter of establishing a Cabinet.

He became emperor to increase the number of his followers.

But in fact, he was not willing to spend his time dealing with state affairs.

When Chen Hu proposed the concept of a Cabinet, the other officials subconsciously looked at Prime Minister Xie.

But Prime Minister Xie was very calm, which made the others feel a bit strange, as this Cabinet was obviously splitting the power of the Prime Minister.

The reason Prime Minister Xie did not oppose it was that Chen Hu had already used a loyalty card on him.

A loyalty card can only be used three times a day.

Besides using one on Prime Minister Xie, Chen Hu also used one each on Duke Chen and Duke Liang.

After dismissing these ministers.

Chen Hu prepared to go and deal with the Yellow Heaven Army.

Previously, when he was not the emperor, he could ignore the Yellow Heaven Army.

Now, this country was already his.

Therefore.

Chen Hu used Near and Far to arrive outside the Feilong Prefecture City.

With a wave of his hand.

Ten thousand Tier 5 Black Armor Cavalry, ten thousand Tier 5 Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, five thousand Tier 6 Black Armor Cavalry, and five thousand Tier 6 Great Snow Dragon Cavalry appeared behind Chen Hu.

"Set off!"

With a light shout, the thirty thousand cavalry rode straight toward the Feilong Prefecture City more than ten miles away.

The huge commotion instantly alarmed the Yellow Heaven Army.

They immediately closed the city gates, and at the same time, the news quickly reached the ears of Zhang Wentian.

Chen Hu led his army and paused for a moment at the city.

Zhang Wentian then appeared on the city wall with a group of experts.

When Zhang Wentian's gaze swept over the thirty thousand-strong army behind Chen Hu, despair could not help but flash in his eyes.

Twenty thousand Marrow Refining troops, ten thousand Organ Refining troops.

Although there were over seventy thousand troops inside the city, they simply could not hold them off.

"Sect Leader Zhang, for the sake of our former alliance, if you open the city gates and surrender, I will allow you to take the members of the Yellow Heaven Sect and leave. How about that?"

Chen Hu's voice drifted over the city wall like thunder.

This voice made the minds of the experts on the city wall buzz, and the soldiers were even more affected, with their vision going black and them falling to the ground on their backsides.

"Father, what should we do?" the Young Sect Leader Zhang Yu asked anxiously.

Zhang Wentian said bitterly: "What else can we do? Surrender!"

"Sect Leader!"

Some high-ranking members wanted to say something, but were interrupted by a wave of Zhang Wentian's hand: "Can you hold off the army below, or can you hold off General Chen, who is a Hunyuan Martial Saint?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present fell silent.

Very quickly, Zhang Wentian ordered the city gates to be opened, welcoming Chen Hu and the thirty thousand-strong army behind him inside.

Chen Hu also fulfilled his promise, allowing Zhang Wentian and a group of his subordinates from the Yellow Heaven Sect to leave Feilong Prefecture smoothly.