Chapter 146

After the mutiny, the court only realized that the power held by the Ministry of War was too great, so major reforms were carried out on the Ministry of War. The Crown Prince presided over the joint consultation and formulation of the reforms by all ministers.

The bloody scene where living people next to them had their necks cut off with one stroke was still vivid in the minds of all the ministers. Therefore, no one cared whether the reform of the Ministry of War this time brought any conflict of interest to their families. On this matter, the opinions of all parties were surprisingly unanimous.

This reform went smoothly and fell right into the arms of the Crown Prince and others.

The main part of the reform was to split the power of the Ministry of War. In the past, all generals were managed by the Minister of War, and only the Minister of War participated in the early morning court, with no other generals at all in the entire court. From now on, the Ministry of War will only manage all the administrative affairs of the armies, such as the selection and appointment of military officers, military registers, weapons, military orders, etc.

The real military power lies in the hands of the generals of each army. The generals report to the grand generals, the grand generals report to the first-rank grand generals, and the first-rank grand generals finally take orders from His Majesty.

The Minister of War no longer has any power to mobilize troops, and the first-rank grand general needs the other half of the tiger talisman in His Majesty’s hand to mobilize any one army.

There is only one first-rank grand general, equivalent to the former Minister of War. It is now changed to the son-in-law of the Prince Regent, that is, the husband of Princess Chang, who really grasps the military power of the royal family in his own hands.

Next are the second-rank generals, four in total. General Chen is one of them, and the other three are nominated by the major families. They are the reserve forces of Ye Country, stationed all over the country, to deliver a large number of troops when war breaks out, train military talents, and so on.

Below that are third-rank generals, eight in total, called the Four Expeditionary Generals and Four Garrison Generals. These eight generals are stationed outside the capital to guard the original garrison troops and city guards of the four borders directly appointed. Generals above third rank, including third rank, are based on a hereditary system, giving priority to selecting and training outstanding talents from families, and only after qualifying can they be entrusted with important tasks, otherwise they will be replaced by other outstanding talents from the army.

For those below third rank, the generals from all over recommend outstanding talents, submit written requests, and get approval before they can be entrusted with important responsibilities. They do not adopt a hereditary system.

As for Gong Xiaohua, she belongs to the third-rank general. She replaced the former guardian general of the capital city. She is currently temporarily guarding the capital city and also manages the Xiyuan troops. She is firmly under the feet of the Son of Heaven.

Correspondingly, there are also new regulations for the early morning court. All civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above in the capital must participate in the early morning court.

Now, at the court meeting, it is no longer the case that only civil officials are seen and military officers are not seen.

Other fourth-rank and higher officials outside the capital who come to Beijing also need to attend the court meeting.

Although Gong Xiaohua belongs to the third-rank general, she is the youngest military officer in the entire Ye court, and is also the only female military officer. She and Qin Chuyuan attend the morning court together every day.

After this mutiny, Qin Chuyuan was appointed as the Minister of the Imperial Clan Court, a positive third rank. He is the attendant and advisor to His Majesty, in charge of discussing the gains and losses of the court's policies, admonishing, etc.

The civil and military couple is deeply favored by His Majesty and has become a beautiful story spread in the capital city.

In the center of the hall, Gong Xiaohua stands in the middle and back position of the military queue, with the civil servants of Daye on the left and the military on the right. During the early morning court, if no one mentions her, it is as if she does not exist.

Her focus now is on guarding the troops of the city. The gates of the capital were severely damaged, and she needs to supervise the repair of the city walls. She also plans to draw a detailed map of the inside and outside of the capital to redeploy the defense of the capital. The tasks are heavy. The daily work of the two troops is temporarily managed by the people she has selected.

The Xiyuan troops are temporarily managed by He Lianyu, assisted by Li Zichen for clerical work.

The city guards are managed by Jiang Hui. Sometimes he also assists Gong Xiaohua in patrolling and defending the capital city and other places, so Gong Xiaohua transferred Guo Fan from the Xiyuan troops to the city guards to assist Jiang Hui in training soldiers.

Jiang Hui is a young man in his early twenties from a small official's family who was temporarily promoted by Gong Xiaohua from the original city guards to the deputy general.

Jiang Hui is brave and strategically minded. The key point is that he is righteous. He was envied by his superiors, so he could only reach the position of a yaomen general in the army. He once thought that he would just muddle along in the army until retirement, or hopefully die on the battlefield one day and get a promotion by chance.

During this mutiny, Gong Xiaohua promoted him across several levels against the opposition and made him deputy commander. In addition to being grateful to Gong Xiaohua, he also admires her unorthodox and fearless approach very much. Like Guo Fan, he is extremely loyal to Gong Xiaohua. The King of Ye used thunder methods to arrest all people related to the Third Prince, Sixth Prince, and Lin Family and put them in prison waiting for investigation and trial within two days.

After the last mutiny, the King of Ye fell ill the next day and was bedridden for many days. He is still very weak now. According to the imperial physician, his spirit was hit, which led to his body not recovering for a long time. Now he looks much older than before.

This time he barely summoned the Princess Wei and the envoys with his weak body. "Announcing the arrival of Princess Wei and the envoys!"

Soon, four people walked into the center of the hall. The one at the front was a young woman, the Tenth Princess of Wei Country. The other three envoys followed closely behind her.

The woman was wearing exquisite Hu clothing, fair complexion, slightly thin, wearing small deer skin boots, her face was covered with a veil, her hair was draped over her shoulders, with a few small braids at the temples, and a gold chain set with blue gemstones on her forehead was woven together with the ornaments above her two ears and edited behind her brain. Looking closely at her pair of apricot eyes, they were deep and empty, giving a sense of bleak vicissitudes.

"Another victim under politics." Gong Xiaohua lamented inwardly.

The three men behind her wore animal skin hats and dark long gowns tied around the waist by a belt.

The man walking in the middle was about the same age as the King of Ye. He was slightly fat with a goatee and his eyes revealed cunning and calculation.

The one on the left was a burly, tall, sturdy and fierce warrior with a full beard and eyes staring widely like bronze bells, looking fierce.

The one on the right was a young man who looked like he was in his early twenties. Although he had a smile on his face, his eyes revealed cunningness and arrogance.

"Princess Wei (Envoys of Wei Country), we greet the King of Ye, and wish that the King of Ye be as fortunate as the heavens." The four made a fist with their right hands and placed them in front of their chests, saluting the King of Ye.

"The Princess and the Envoys have come a long way. There is no need to be restrained."

"Thank you, King Ye."

"Great King Ye, according to the agreement between our two countries, my country is sending our Tenth Princess for marriage to cement the friendship between our two countries, so that we will no longer invade the borders of your esteemed country. As a condition, my King Wei humbly requests that King Ye release our two princes as well as the troops at the Xu Mountain Border Pass, and present Princess Wei with 100,000 catties of grain, 10,000 cattle and sheep, and 10,000 bolts of cotton as betrothal gifts." The elder envoy spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

As soon as he said this, the generals standing on the right side of the hall resisted the urge to go up and punch him. Damn, this was the most shameless person they had ever seen.