143: Chapter 53 Rewarding Meritorious Officials

The morning of the 11th day of the 5th month, Yongan Year 1.

Li Ling was awakened by a burst of urgent knocking.

He rolled over groggily, trying to pull the quilt over his head to block out the noise, but the knocking persisted stubbornly, accompanied by a familiar voice: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! It is time! It is time for court!"

"I've only slept for three hours..." Li Ling muttered, burying his face in the pillow, "Let me sleep a little longer..."

[Host, your ministers are already waiting in the Taihe Hall. Today is the first morning court since your ascension; if you are late, it will not sound good if word gets out.]

"I am the Emperor, who would dare say it doesn't sound good?"

[Host, you've only been on the throne for a day and you're already putting on airs? Do you believe I can take away your dragon throne right now? Then we'll see where you sit for court—squatting on the threshold?]

"No, no, no! I'll get up! Can't I just get up?"

Li Ling scrambled out of bed and quickly washed up and changed.

The palace maids filed in, helping him put on the intricate black dragon robe, fastening the belt, hanging the jade pendant, and putting on the crown.

He turned a circle in front of the bronze mirror, barely managing to muster some energy.

"System, did you just say Taihe Hall? I remember Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai saying yesterday that today's morning court would be in..."

[In the side hall of the front hall of the Taihe Hall, not the main hall. The main hall is still under renovation; the smell of paint is too strong and stings the eyes. Didn't Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai tell you yesterday? You were being lovey-dovey with Empress Su Wanqing at the time and didn't listen at all.]

"That was me... consolidating our relationship! Right, consolidating our relationship!" Li Ling said righteously, "Besides, the Empress and I just got married, what's wrong with being lovey-dovey? What's wrong with that?"

[...Host, you win. Hurry up, the ministers are waiting.]

When Li Ling arrived at the side hall of the Taihe Hall, the civil and military officials were already lined up and waiting.

Seeing him walk in, everyone bowed in unison: "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Ministers, rise." Li Ling strode to the main seat and sat down, scanning the room below.

The military generals stood on the left, and the civil officials on the right, clearly demarcated, yet there was a subtle tacit understanding—everyone was telling him with their eyes: Your Majesty, there is much to be done today.

"My ministers, thank you for your hard work during yesterday's founding ceremony." Li Ling began, his voice still raspy from just waking up, "Since today is the first morning court, I won't engage in formalities. Speak your minds directly."

Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai stepped forward first: "Your Majesty, I have a matter to report. Regarding the specific plan for rewarding meritorious officials, although part of it was read out at the ceremony yesterday, there are still some details that require Your Majesty's personal decision. In particular, there are several generals and civil officials who have performed great deeds but have not yet been rewarded. Their merits are no less than those who have been rewarded, and if they are not rewarded, I fear it will chill hearts."

"Who are they?" Li Ling asked.

Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai pulled a list from his sleeve and read: "First, the naval officer Chen Haisheng, who has followed Your Majesty for many years. Although young, he has performed outstandingly in naval battles repeatedly, especially his suggestions on base construction, which saved a large amount of military expenditure. Second, Army officer Wang Tieshan, who, when quelling the southern rebellion, led three hundred men to hold the high ground for two days and two nights, repelling an attack by three thousand enemy troops. Such military exploits should be heavily rewarded. Third..."

Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai read out a dozen names, each followed by a long list of achievements.

Li Ling listened, nodding while mentally estimating the scale of the rewards.

He was very familiar with these names—some had joined him in suppressing bandits, some were helmsmen during the first naval battle, and some had been wounded in the decisive battle of the United Fleet yet held their posts at the cannons.

Every one of them was flesh and blood, and every one of them deserved to hear him personally say, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai." Li Ling interrupted him, "I will draft the reward plan for these people myself. After you return, send their detailed resumes and records of merit to the Imperial Study, and I will decide after I have reviewed them."

Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai bowed and said: "Yes."

Li Ling looked at the military side: "Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan, I heard that some brigade commanders in the Army are throwing a tantrum recently? Because they weren't selected for the Heavy Combined Arms Brigade?"

Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan stepped out: "Your Majesty is perceptive. Indeed, a few brigade commanders have differing opinions on the reorganization plan. They say that having fought for so many years with Your Majesty, why can they not enter the elite unit? I have pacified them several times, but the effect was not good. Especially that brigade commander surnamed Liu from the Northwest Military Region; after the ceremony yesterday, he drank quite a bit, pounded the table in the barracks, and cursed, saying Your Majesty is 'tearing down the bridge after crossing the river, killing the donkey after it has ground the grain.'"

Li Ling's expression did not change, but his eyes turned cold for a moment: "I can pretend not to have heard what he said while drunk. But if he still doesn't understand after waking up tomorrow, then tell him—if he wants to join the Heavy Combined Arms Brigade, he can, but he must pass the assessment. If he fails the assessment, never mind being a brigade commander, he won't even be a company commander. My Army does not feed idlers. Whoever has the ability gets in, whoever doesn't steps down; this is an iron law."

Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan nodded: "I understand. I will go to the Northwest Military Region myself to convey Your Majesty's meaning clearly."

"You don't need to go." Li Ling waved his hand, "Let Commander Zhao Tieshan go. He is the commander-in-chief of the Special Forces and has fought his way up from the grassroots; his words carry more weight than yours. If Brigade Commander Liu really wants to make trouble, let him have it out with Commander Zhao Tieshan to see whose fist is harder."

A low chuckle came from below. Even on Commander Zhao Tieshan's stern face, a rare smile appeared: "Your Majesty can rest assured, I will definitely explain the logic clearly and make Brigade Commander Liu convinced."

In addition to rewarding meritorious officials, several major issues were discussed at the morning court.

The first was the improvement of the imperial structure. Li Ling adopted the suggestions of Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai and Zhang Zhidong, adding two core institutions, the Cabinet and the Grand Council, outside the traditional Six Ministries.

The Cabinet is responsible for coordinating daily government affairs, with five special committees under it: Economics, Education, Diplomacy, Industry, and Agriculture; the Grand Council is responsible for military strategy and national defense construction, reporting directly to Li Ling.

In this way, civil and military governance are separated, and powers and responsibilities are clear, retaining the experience of the traditional bureaucratic system while absorbing the efficiency of the modern cabinet system.

"Your Majesty, although this structure is advanced, it may encounter resistance in implementation." Zhang Zhidong stepped out and said, "Especially those old officials accustomed to the old bureaucratic system; they may not be able to adapt to the new way of working. If handled improperly, it may cause turmoil in the officialdom."

"I know." Li Ling nodded, "Therefore, I do not intend to impose a one-size-fits-all approach. First, implement the new system in the newly established departments, while keeping the old departments operating in their existing ways, transitioning slowly. Give the old officials time to adapt. But there is one bottom line—no matter how the transition is made, efficiency must be improved. Whoever drags their feet, I will replace them."

Zhang Zhidong bowed and said: "Your Majesty is wise."

The second was education reform. Li Ling decided to build a new-style university in each of the four places: Jinling, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuchang, focusing on engineering, business, medicine, and teacher training, respectively.

In addition, at least one hundred primary and middle schools are to be established across the country to popularize basic education.

The teaching staff for these schools will be partly drawn from experts manifested by the system, partly hired from the German Empire and Meijian Country, and partly selected from excellent teachers in the old schools of the Qingxia Kingdom.

"Education is a century-long plan." Li Ling said in his summary, "I don't want bookworms who only know how to shake their heads and recite the Four Books and Five Classics. What I want are practical talents who can build machines, build railways, open mines, and fight wars. Ten years from now, I hope to see Tang Country's own professors and researchers in every university; twenty years from now, I hope to see Tang Country's technological level catch up with the great powers; thirty years from now, I hope to see Tang Country become a world-class technological power!"

The civil and military officials responded in unison: "Your Majesty is wise!"

The third was the official launch of the "First Five-Year Plan".

This was the thing Li Ling had prepared most carefully since he transmigrated. With the help of the system, he spent nearly a year perfecting a development plan covering five major areas nationwide: industry, agriculture, transportation, energy, and military, with clear goals and quantitative assessment indicators for each item.

Core indicators include: steel production to triple within five years, growing from the existing 300,000 tons to 1.2 million tons; coal production to double, growing from 5 million tons to 15 million tons; railway mileage to exceed 5,000 kilometers, initially forming the framework of the three major railway networks in North, East, and Central China; establishing more than ten universities, training no less than 50,000 professional talents; the number of main naval warships to double, and all Army group armies to achieve mechanization.

"The goals of the First Five-Year Plan may be considered too radical by some." Li Ling said while expounding on the plan, "But I tell you—if it is not radical, we cannot catch up with the great powers. The great powers will not wait for us to develop slowly. Meijian Country, the UK, the German Empire, which one is not getting stronger day by day? If we walk slowly, let alone catching up, we won't even be able to eat their dust!"

"Therefore, these five years, I require you to go all out! Whoever drags their feet is a sinner of the Tang Country!"

The civil and military officials bowed and said in unison: "We will definitely do our utmost!"

After the morning court ended, Li Ling returned to the Imperial Study, slumped into a chair, and let out a long sigh.

"I'm exhausted." He rubbed his temples, "I've been talking all morning, my throat is smoking."

[Host, your performance today was not bad. You didn't soften where you should have been tough, and you didn't harden where you should have compromised; you handled the boundaries quite well. It's just that the phrasing of 'sinner' at the end was a bit heavy, and it might make some ministers feel uncomfortable.]

"They'll have to get comfortable with it." Li Ling leaned back on the chair, closing his eyes, "I give them a relaxed environment, but no room for laziness. Comfortable days are earned by oneself, not bestowed by me. If they can't even understand this simple logic, then they shouldn't be officials of the Tang Country."

[Host, you are more like an emperor than before.]

"Of course." Li Ling opened his eyes, a trace of a smile on his lips, "I am the founding emperor. If I don't even have this kind of presence, how can I hold down the stage? Alright, where is that reward list? I need to see how to arrange it, so no one thinks I've forgotten anyone."

He flipped through the list left by Minister of Rites Shen Zhibai on the desk, read it carefully, and then annotated it with the titles and rewards he had drafted himself in red ink after each line.

When he reached the line for Chen Haisheng, he stopped, the tip of his pen hovering above the paper for several seconds.

"System, do you think this person, Chen Haisheng... is worth using heavily?"

[Chen Haisheng, twenty-five years old, performed outstandingly in naval battles, especially the three naval base construction plans he proposed, which have extremely high strategic value. If he can complete the construction and management of these bases in the next few years, he could very well become the backbone of the Tang Country Navy.]

"Then give him more responsibility." Li Ling wrote after the line for Chen Haisheng— "Promoted to Naval Colonel, concurrently serving as the General Manager of Naval Base Construction. Additionally, granted three thousand taels of silver and one hundred rolls of silk."

After writing, he put the list aside and picked up another document—the preparation plan for "Qingxia University".

"System, do you think that if I name the university 'Qingxia', it will be a bit tacky?"

[Tacky? I think it's quite good. 'Qing' represents integrity and clarity, 'Xia' represents Huaxia and civilization. Combined, it means 'Integrity of Huaxia Civilization', which is very meaningful. Besides, a name is just a symbol; the key is the content and teaching staff of the university.]

"Makes sense." Li Ling nodded and signed his name at the end of the document, "Then it shall be called Qingxia University. Besides this one, I also plan to build an Army University and a Naval Academy in Jinling. The Army University will be called 'Qingxia Army University', and the Naval Academy will be called 'Qingxia Naval Academy'. The names are simple and direct, so people know what they are for at a glance."

[Host, you are really attentive to the cause of education.]

"That's for sure." Li Ling stood up and walked to the window, "Whether a country is strong or not is not determined by how wise the emperor is, but by whether the common people have food to eat, children have books to read, and young people have skills. What I can do is give them a fair starting point. As for how far they can go, that depends on their own feet."

Outside the window, the afternoon sun shone through the gaps in the plane tree leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on the floor.

Outside the Imperial Study, the slogans of soldiers drilling and the roar of the machinery factory starting up came from afar, interweaving like a march being played.

Tang Country's first working day passed in busyness and fulfillment.

At the same time, in a secret base outside Jinling City, those twelve biplanes had already completed three takeoff and landing training sessions on the temporary runway.

The pilots jumped out of the cockpits, took off their goggles, their faces filled with undisguised excitement and nervousness.

"Commander Zhao Peng," a new pilot ran to Commander Zhao Peng, his voice trembling, "This kind of plane... is too amazing! A speed of 180 kilometers per hour, it feels like flying! If the enemy sees this thing falling from the sky, they will probably be scared to the point of wetting their pants!"

Commander Zhao Peng smiled and patted his shoulder: "What is this? His Majesty said that in the future there will be more advanced planes that can fly to an altitude of several thousand meters. Our task now is to practice well, practice until we can fly with our eyes closed, and then let those warlords see what is called 'justice descending from the sky.'"

In the distance, an attack aircraft was reloading bombs, its silver-white fuselage reflecting the afternoon sun, like a giant steel bird resting.

And beneath its wings, those four 50-kilogram aerial bombs were quietly waiting for their first mission.