Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2136 Wang Mang Returns to Court, Unifying the Eastern Barbarians

"Then let's establish another one, the Sword Yang Path!"

"Promote Yao Chong, the Prefect of Hedong Circuit, to Governor; and promote Wang Meng, the Prefect of Heyang Commandery, to Prefect of Hedong Circuit!"

"Furthermore, Deng Qiang is promoted to General of the Jianyang Road Army, and he shall recruit his own troops!"

Now that the decision has been made to establish a new system, the basic officials for this system must be arranged immediately.

Furthermore, they need to be dispatched there as soon as possible.

After all, the officials of Shenglan Road can't be allowed to govern Jiandi forever.

"Your Majesty, the Great Sword uses prefectures and counties as its local administrative system. Now that the Great Sword has become the Jianyang Road of our Great Han, shouldn't this prefecture and county system be changed?" After arranging the officials, Zhuge Liang suddenly reminded him.

"In that case, change the four prefectures of Jing, Duan, Yang, and Xu into commanderies, and appoint Yu Qian, Ji Dan, Yang Tinghe, and Xu Jie as the governors of the four commanderies."

Since Fang Xuanling had arranged for Yu Qian to temporarily take charge of the governance of Jiandi, Wang Yu decided to transfer Yu Qian directly from Shenglan Road to the newly established Jianyang Road, making him one of the prefects.

As for the prefectural governor position that was vacated after he was transferred from Shenglan Road, it's time to give those below him some hope of promotion.

After all, if those above are not transferred or promoted, where will those below get a chance to rise?

Besides this, Ji Dan, who had not been in the Han Dynasty for long, was also transferred to Jianyang Road.

Once we conquer the territory of the Song or Yan dynasties and create new vacancies for prefects, it will be time to promote Wang Meng and Ji Dan to the position of prefect.

Besides the changes in officials, with the establishment of Jianyang Road, Su Dingfang's border troops can now be expanded.

After all, Wang Yu plans to hand over the border defenses of Shenglan Road and Heyang Road to Su Dingfang's border troops.

However, if they were to take control of Heyang Road, since it would already be bordering the Golden Horde to some extent, the 50,000 border troops would no longer be sufficient.

Although the Golden Horde is an ally of the Han Dynasty, given the current situation of both sides, they should theoretically not have any conflicts for a long time to come.

However, this is not a reason for them to relax their defenses!
Safety is never something given by others; it is something you must give yourself.

Therefore, in Wang Yu's plan, Su Dingfang's 50,000 border troops should be gradually expanded to a scale of 100,000.

Of course, Su Dingfang is currently in a standoff with Da Wu, so there's no need to rush things.

"There is one more matter. Zhao Nanping has requested to retire. This position of Imperial Censor is putting me in a difficult position!"

Next, Wang Yu discussed the third and final topic of the day.

Only for these extremely important matters would Wang Yu arrange for someone to come and hold a special small meeting.

Most of the remaining matters were handled directly at court meetings, or the opinions of the cabinet in the memorials were directly approved.

The position of Imperial Censor was very important. In terms of rank, it was the same as the Ministers of the Six Ministries, both being of the second rank, second only to the Chancellor.

In fact, the Imperial Censor has always been known as the Deputy Prime Minister, and in terms of power and responsibility, he has implicitly surpassed the Six Ministries.

The Imperial Censor, responsible for supervising officials, impeaching corrupt officials, and maintaining the discipline of the court, had functions that were independent of the Six Ministries in the imperial court.

This position is mostly a disliked position, or rather, if someone in this position cannot be disliked, then a normal emperor should consider replacing them.

Therefore, not just anyone can fill this position.

When it came to the selection of the Imperial Censor, Zhao Anling, Guan Zhong, Zhuge Liang, and others all began to ponder deeply.

The selection of this person for this position certainly requires utmost care.

The key point is that, although this position is a second-rank official position, it is not necessarily something that everyone wants.

At the very least, those officials who aspire to the position of prime minister in the future probably don't want to touch that position.

If he were to actually take this position, his future as prime minister would be virtually over.

To put it bluntly, the position of Imperial Censor, and indeed all the officials in the Censorate, required them to be outspoken and critical. Those who dared not be outspoken could never become good Imperial Censors.

It's not just about daring to criticize your colleagues; to put it bluntly, when it really comes down to it, you need to have the courage to criticize even the emperor.

Therefore, once you become an official in the Censorate, especially the head of the Censorate, you simply cannot get along well with other officials.

How can someone like that rise to the position of prime minister?
You must understand that the prime minister is supposed to lead all the officials. If he has a terrible relationship with all the officials in the court, how can he lead them?
Therefore, if an imperial censor in any dynasty were to become too close to other officials, then the emperor above him was probably no good either!

The fact that a group of trolls were getting along so well with other officials speaks volumes about the state of the court.

In fact, given Zhao Nanping's smooth-talking personality, he was not really suited for the position of Imperial Censor.

When the Han Dynasty was established, firstly, it was because he had made a contribution in supporting the emperor, and secondly, it was necessary to establish a few role models among the veteran officials of Yanbei to appease them.

Besides that, it's also because of Zhao Nanping's age.

Zhao Nanping was already over sixty years old back then. Let alone how many more years he could serve as an official, it was uncertain how many more years he could live at that age!
Therefore, he was temporarily placed in this position, since he wouldn't be able to hold it for long anyway.

Indeed, this was the case. Since the beginning of the year, Zhao Nanping had been ill several times. By the end of the year, he finally realized that his health was probably really failing.

Therefore, Zhao Nanping submitted a memorial requesting retirement yesterday.

"What do you all think of Wang Mang, the Prefect?" Just as everyone was deep in thought, Secretary Zhang Liang put down his pen and paper and suddenly spoke up.

Although the Secretary was just a minor official with a low rank, he was always by the emperor's side, and the emperor's edicts were generally drafted by the Secretary.

His actual status surpassed that of many officials with higher ranks. However, this did not include those present at the scene.

Those present were either high-ranking officials from the Six Ministries, second or third-rank officials, or cabinet ministers. Moreover, the time these people had spent with the emperor was far greater than that of Zhang Liang.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, Zhang Liang rarely speaks at such small meetings, and simply does his job of taking notes.

Today, I'm taking the opportunity to express my opinion.

"Wang Mang!"

Many people present secretly pondered the name, only to suddenly realize that this person was indeed more suitable than other officials.

Within the Han Dynasty, there were many statesmen. Moreover, each one was among the best of the best, and the Han Dynasty was never short of prime ministers. However, being a good prime minister does not necessarily mean being a good censor.

Politicians are often shrewd and adept at weighing the pros and cons.

The position of Imperial Censor requires someone like Wei Zheng, a outspoken critic who dares to challenge everything and everyone, or someone like Bao Zheng, a stern official who doesn't give face to anyone.

The latter, among the people of the Han Dynasty, are truly hard to find who have reached a certain official position.

After all, although the position of Imperial Censor was vacant, they couldn't just appoint anyone. It was a second-rank position; even if it wasn't a lateral transfer, they had to find a suitable person from the third rank, or at the very least, from the fourth rank.

If someone is chosen from among the lower-ranking officials, even if the candidate is suitable, it would not comply with regulations, and some officials would likely feel uncomfortable about it.

But is it appropriate to promote someone of a high enough rank, like Bao Zheng, who was just promoted to Minister of the Court of Judicial Review a few months ago, to another rank so quickly, and by a whole rank, from the third rank to the second rank?

Moreover, the Dali Temple was also an important institution.

The public security organs, procuratorates, and courts are always indispensable, especially in times of chaos.

In times of chaos, both the central and local governments prioritize maintaining stability. The importance of the public security, procuratorate, and judicial organs in this endeavor is self-evident.

"Prefect Wang is modest, frugal, diligent, and learned. He is also filial to his elderly mother. In terms of virtue, he can serve as a model for our great Han Dynasty!"

"Furthermore, Wang Biejia has achieved many political accomplishments during his tenure, and given his status as a member of the imperial clan, the position of Imperial Censor is quite suitable for him!"

Zhao Anling, as the prime minister, cast his vote in favor.

Wang Mang was neither like Wei Zheng nor like Bao Zheng, who was upright and incorruptible. However, he was a perfectionist and somewhat idealistic.

Wang Mang was not without talent; he had achieved some remarkable results when he served as a prefect.

However, it was precisely because of his personality that he did not understand the principle of moderation. He achieved some remarkable results, but also caused all sorts of trouble.

Therefore, Wang Mang has only ever held the position of Prefectural Governor, and he has never been considered for the post whenever it became vacant. Wang Mang's personality is truly unsuitable for being the one who holds the most power.

However, this personality trait might not be unsuitable for a position as an imperial censor.

To be a good censor, one must strive for perfection, which inevitably leads to more criticism and offending others. In fact, the emperor himself required censors to offend people.

For the emperor, harmony could not be the norm in the court.

If all the officials in the court were like best buddies, then the emperor would be the one to be afraid! After all, if that were the case, it would mean that the emperor had lost control of the court.

As a member of Wang Mang's imperial clan, he was, to some extent, not as afraid of offending people as others.

Zhang Liang's suggestion was a revelation to everyone, including Zhao Anling.

Even if Wang Mang was a perfectionist, as an imperial censor, he would at most be nitpicking and finding fault with the trivial matters of officials. But that was still better than letting him wreak havoc on the region.

For Zhao Anling and Guan Zhong, compared to Wang Mang's achievements in the local areas, the troubles he caused from time to time were much more of a headache.

They had also heard in private that the two successive governors of Wang Mang's leadership team had both found Wang Mang extremely troublesome.

"Very well, then Wang Mang shall be transferred back to the central government and promoted to the position of Imperial Censor!"

Seeing that no one objected, Wang Yu immediately instructed Zhang Liang to prepare the imperial edict.

As a member of the imperial clan, Wang Mang could not possibly have attained a high-ranking position in one of the Six Ministries. Emperors rarely granted members of the imperial clan the opportunity to become the heads of the civil service. The combination of these two identities could easily lead to an imbalance in the court.

Becoming an Imperial Censor was a golden opportunity for him.

At the same time, the arrival of the Dongyi, Plateau delegation also caused a great uproar here.

Moreover, the impact of the arrival of the Plateau Mission on the Dongyi people was far greater than that of the other places the Plateau Mission visited.

It was the arrival of the highland delegation that led Yelü Abaoji to devise a plan to eliminate Yelü Defei.

Similarly, Yelü Abaoji successfully used this plan to once again unify the Eastern Yi.

However, although the Eastern Yi were reunified under Yelü Abaoji.

However, now, not only has Xiping Road fallen into the hands of the Han Dynasty, but even half of Nanping Road has fallen into the hands of the Sun Kingdom.

The Dongyi, which was reunified, was much weaker than it had been at its peak.

Yelü Abaoji had wanted to get rid of Yelü Defei for several years.

It wasn't just because Yelü Abaoji wanted to reunify the Eastern Yi, but also because Yelü Abaoji really looked down on this person.

Yelü Defei will definitely bear a huge responsibility for the loss of Xiping Road.

Back then, if he hadn't prioritized preserving his strength, one of the three Dongyi factions wouldn't have been wiped out, and Yelü Abaoji wouldn't have been defeated. Therefore, Xiping Road would naturally not have been lost.

Similarly, in Yelü Abaoji's mind, the fact that the Sun Kingdom had so easily taken over almost half of Nanping Road and had so easily established a foothold there also demonstrated Yelü Defei's incompetence.

If it weren't for the fact that Yelü Defei lost territory so quickly in the hands of the Sun Kingdom that Yelü Abaoji had no time to react,

In fact, within a short period of time, the Sun Kingdom not only acquired a large number of well-organized warships from the Nanping Navy, but also a large number of technical personnel from Nanping Province.

Their war with the Sun Kingdom won't be that difficult.

As a result, even now, they haven't managed to reclaim half of Nanping Road.

To put it bluntly, the growth of the Sun Kingdom's military strength largely relied on the Southern Pingdao of the Eastern Barbarians.

In this respect, it was almost a carbon copy of the Southern Barbarians' situation with the Great Wu. The only difference was that the Sun Kingdom was not as backward as the Southern Barbarians.

However, although Yelü Defei already had little territory, he lost half of Nanping Road, and now he was merely barely surviving.

With Yelü Abaoji's strength, he had completely outpaced Yelü Defei. Judging from his abilities, he could easily annihilate Yelü Defei.

However, judging from the timing, he dared not rashly launch a major attack.

This was the only plan we could devise, and we had to act discreetly.