Chapter 343 Conferring Titles and Declaring Himself Emperor

All the meritorious officials, large and small, received the titles they desired, except for Gao Yuan, whose reward had not yet been determined. This left many people puzzled and even slightly worried.

Looking through history books, who is the person a new emperor fears and wants to eliminate the most? Naturally, it is the meritorious official who holds heavy military power.

Moreover, Gao Yuan was the greatest contributor, holding all the military power in his hands.

Husband and wife? Don't be ridiculous. Look at those emperors; when they truly start killing for imperial power, whether it be spouse, child, or best friend, they kill them all without hesitation.

Actually, everyone was overthinking it. The reason Gao Yuan's reward hadn't been settled was that the couple had not yet reached a consensus. Zhao Xiyao wanted Gao Yuan to serve as the Grand Marshal of the World's Military and be titled King of Qian.

Gao Yuan, however, felt he had already laid a good foundation. Among his subordinates—Gao Yao, Yu Qian, Liu Rengui, Gao Xianzhi, and even that twelve-year-old brat at home—any one of them was better than him.

Plus, having just received the "Indulgent Life Mega-Pack" reward from the system, he wanted to lie flat like a salted fish and enjoy an early retirement.

In addition to Gao Yuan's title and official position being delayed, the rewards for several of the women were also stuck.

Zhao Xiyao had deep feelings for these sisters who had assisted her for so long, and naturally hoped to give them the same treatment as the other meritorious officials.

Unexpectedly, these women were not interested in these titles or positions at all. They all expressed that as long as Zhao Xiyao had suitable candidates, they were willing to step down and yield their positions to more talented individuals.

The family discussed it for a long time. Eventually, because some malicious whispers reached Gao Yuan's ears, he agreed to Zhao Xiyao's request. As for Zheng Wan and the others, they naturally followed their husband's lead.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the twentieth year of Great Qian, during the first grand court assembly of the new year, Zhao Xiyao publicly announced the rewards for Gao Yuan, Zheng Wan, and the others.

The Imperial Husband, Duke of Yue Gao Yuan, was named the foremost among those of great merit and enfeoffed as the Prince of Tang, as well as the Grand Marshal of the World's Military, overseeing all the world's troops. Crown Prince Zhao Cheng was established as the Crown Prince, and Zheng Wan and the others were all titled Side Consorts of the Prince of Tang.

As for why the Prince of Tang did not have a Primary Consort, everyone knew very well in their hearts that Zhao Xiyao had reserved that position for herself; she planned to become the Princess Consort of Tang after she retired.

Wu Xu was appointed as the Director of the Department of State Affairs, Zheng Wan as the Director of the Secretariat, the Imperial Guard Battalion was renamed the Yulin Guard with Mu Qing serving as its commander, and Yang Xin became the Minister of Revenue.

Next, the original Great Yue Bank was officially renamed the Great Qian Bank, with Song Yao as the first President, holding the rank of the regular third grade.

As for Xian Ying, because she managed the Secret Guards, her status was very special. Therefore, she was only internally given the title of Secret Guard Commander with the rank of the regular third grade.

Regarding Princess Consort Huang Yueying, as the Dean of the Institute of Advanced Research, she enjoyed the treatment of the regular third grade but held no specific official rank. Gao Yuan still hoped that those engaged in scholarship could stay away from the twists and turns of officialdom.

Originally, Gao Yuan was worried that having several women become officials all at once, and in high-ranking positions with real power at that, would cause resistance among the subordinates. To his surprise, no one opposed it at all.

Thinking about it later, it made sense. Not only had Wu Xu, Zheng Wan, and the others been handling court affairs for many years—earning everyone's recognition for their abilities—but even the Emperor was now a woman. What was so strange about having a few female ministers?

According to what Gao Yuan learned later, most people didn't think Wu Xu and the others' gender mattered at all; they all felt that with their abilities, they should hold high positions.

As for the maternal relatives in the family, Gao Yuan didn't just dismiss them all. At his suggestion, Mu Sheng was appointed as the Minister of War, Song Jinglian as the Minister of Rites, and Zheng Ting as the Minister of Works.

Gao Yao and Yu Qian were summoned back by Gao Yuan to serve as the Left and Right Vice Directors of the Department of State Affairs, concurrently holding the positions of Minister of Personnel and Minister of Justice, respectively, becoming Zhao Xiyao's left and right hands.

With this, the entire south was settled, and the Great Qian Dynasty entered a brand new phase.

Just as Zhao Xiyao ascended the throne as Emperor, the two powers in the north also announced their dynastic changes one after another. First, Gao Wu ascended the throne in Luoyang, establishing the national title as Great Liang, naming Gao Long as the heir apparent and Gao Hu as the King of Yan.

Not long after the news of Gao Wu declaring himself Emperor came out, Lu Kuan, not wanting to be outdone, also declared himself Emperor in Ji County, naming his state Great Yan and renaming Ji County to Beiping.

However, unexpectedly, Lu Heng was not named Crown Prince but was instead titled the King of Liang. This was seen as a response to Gao Wu's move of naming Gao Hu the King of Yan, and the two sides began clashing again.

Lu Heng couldn't figure out what had gone wrong that prevented him, the eldest son of the first wife and the commander of the Great Yan's three armies, from becoming the Crown Prince.

Furthermore, Lu Kuan actually appointed Yan Feng as the Senior First Grade General of the Agile Cavalry, while Zhang Su, who had followed Lu Heng through many battles and achieved great military feats, was only appointed as a Senior Third Grade Upper General of the Brave Guard.

One must know that Yan Feng had only undertaken the task of guarding Pingzhou and other places. In terms of military merit, he didn't even rank in the top ten—except that his younger sister was now Lu Kuan's favored consort.

In truth, the fact that he couldn't understand this showed he wasn't ready to be an emperor yet. How could a qualified emperor hand over military power to a single person, even if that person was his own son?

An eldest son of the first wife already controlled the vast majority of military power; if his confidant were then appointed as the top figure in the military, the Emperor would basically not be far from being forced to abdicate.

With a strategist like Qin Hui, Lu Kuan could play the game of courtly checks and balances with ease.

In the war to destroy Southern Qian, all three parties had gained significant benefits. Therefore, after entering the new year, no one had any intention of making a move, instead quietly consolidating their gains.

Especially Gao Yuan, whose infrastructure maniac nature surfaced once again. He built roads, water conservancy projects, and ports; he wouldn't let any opportunity to spend money slip by.

This made his father-in-law, Chu Weiguo, the Superintendent of the Maritime Trade Office, complain incessantly. He collected taxes with all his might, but the taxes he collected were spent cleanly before he could even see a trace of them.

However, Gao Yuan was not in a hurry at all. Since it had been proven that the navy had combat capability and cannons were starting to be equipped, his get-rich plan could begin.

Rummaging through his things, he found a map of the distribution of gold and silver mines on the Little Sun Islands that he had brought from the future, and then he summoned Cao Xing and Jiang Qin.

In the grand conferral of titles, Cao Xing had been titled a County Marquis, while Jiang Qin was only a County Baron. While the two were happy, they were still somewhat unsatisfied; after all, who wouldn't want to be a Duke?

According to the Decree of Extending Favors, all Dukedoms could be passed down for three generations before decreasing, Marquis titles could only be passed for one generation, and Earldoms and Baronies would begin decreasing starting from the next generation.

Therefore, upon hearing Gao Yuan's summons, the two rushed to the Grand Marshals Mansion to receive instructions.

Sure enough, they were extremely excited upon hearing the news. It was another mission for them, and this time the destination was much larger than Taiwan.

Gao Yuan took out the map and showed it to the two of them.

"These islands are full of gold and silver mines, so you should capture as many prisoners as possible to make them mine. As for the women... the women there have a unique charm. At that time, every soldier in the expedition will have a share."

Hearing Gao Yuan say this, the two became even more excited. They would get a share of the spoils from every expedition. Now that it was gold and silver mines, everyone's rewards would be unimaginably generous.

As for the women, that was a pleasant surprise. Women with a unique charm—for Gao Yuan to give such an evaluation, they likely wouldn't be ordinary.

Sure enough, after returning to the Navy Yamen, when the two mentioned Gao Yuan's evaluation of the Little Sun women, the entire navy became excited, itching to set sail immediately and experience these women with a unique charm.

Looking at the two who left excitedly, Gao Yuan silently mourned for the ancestors of the Little Suns for three seconds; any longer and he feared he would be letting down his own ancestors.