Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

The list of officials appointed by the new Great Xia Dynasty quickly appeared in the official gazette of Great Xia. Most of the officials in the capital were quite satisfied with Lu Chen's arrangements.

After all, they weren't part of Lu Chen's core group in the North, and they weren't purged when Lu Chen entered the capital. It's quite good that they're still being given important positions now.

Although some of them were demoted, they knew very well that although their official positions remained unchanged in the court in the capital, they would not have any real power.

In Yancheng, the imperial court, although their official ranks had been demoted, they still held real power.

A position with real power is much better than a nominal post in the capital where one can retire comfortably.

After the list of appointed officials was released, Lu Chen immediately convened a grand court assembly.

At 4:30 a.m., before dawn, many ministers had already arrived outside the Council Hall.

Today is Lu Chen's first formal court assembly since his ascension to the throne, so the officials in the capital are quite enthusiastic.

Once all the officials in the capital had arrived, the grand court assembly officially began. The officials bowed in unison and shouted, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Lu Chen said calmly, "Rise and sit down."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The ministers then went to the sides of the main hall. In front of each seat on both sides of the hall was a plaque with the corresponding position written on it.

Upon witnessing this scene, the officials in the capital couldn't help but sigh, never expecting the new emperor to be so considerate of them.

Having served as officials for so many years, this was the first time they had ever heard of court being held like this, with seats for everyone.

In the past, when they attended court, they would stand in the main hall for several hours at a time until their legs would go weak.

This alone shows the difference between the new emperor and the previous emperor.

Just as Li Rui said, the new emperor is unlike any other emperor in this world.

After the ministers were all seated, Lu Chen spoke directly: "Today is the first grand court assembly after the reorganization of the court. Before the assembly begins, I would like to remind the newly appointed ministers that once the assembly begins, we will only discuss political affairs."

At this point, Lu Chen looked at Zhuge Chongguang, who was sitting in the first seat below the Dragon Platform, and said, "Grand Scholar, you may begin."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall was stunned.

Start?

What should we start?

At this moment, Zhuge Chongguang addressed the assembled officials in the hall, saying, "I will preside over this grand court assembly today."

Upon hearing Zhuge Chongguang's words, the officials from the capital were somewhat bewildered.

What the hell? The grand court assembly is all handed over to the ministers to preside over, so what is the emperor doing on the side?

However, the officials from the capital soon discovered that the ministers from the former Northern Kingdom had no reaction at all. They all seemed to think it was normal, and it seemed that the Northern Kingdom often did this in the past.

Some officials from the capital wanted to stand up and say something, but then they remembered what Lu Chen had said at the beginning: to only talk about politics, so they had no choice but to sit quietly in their seats.

Zhuge Chongguang continued, "Today's grand court assembly will mainly discuss the matter of sending troops to Dawu."

These words immediately caused an uproar among the officials in the hall.

Send troops to Dawu!

I never expected the new emperor to plan to unify the world so soon!

This is a huge opportunity for everyone in the hall; as long as they perform well in this war, they will have the chance to be promoted.

Both civil officials and military officers were extremely excited at this moment.

Zhuge Chongguang continued, "Now Your Majesty has two Celestials at your disposal. Your Majesty plans to first send troops to attack Da Wu, and then send the Celestials directly to the capital of Da Wu to put pressure on the Da Wu royal family. In this way, the fighting spirit of the Da Wu army can be broken in the shortest time, and Da Wu can be destroyed."

With the arrival of celestial beings, the nature of warfare changed. Previously, each dynasty had its own Grandmaster, who was considered a trump card, making it difficult for any one dynasty to defeat the other.

However, Celestials are different. Great Wu may not have Celestials. As long as Great Wu does not have Celestials, Lu Chen can send any Celestial to the capital of Great Wu and directly eliminate all the Grandmasters of Great Wu, forcing Great Wu to surrender.

Moreover, the Great Xia army is so powerful that the soldiers of Great Wu would immediately lose their will to fight upon seeing Great Xia's firearms.

This time, the Great Xia adopted a two-pronged approach: one was to fight against the Great Wu's army, which was a battle at the grassroots level, and the other was to fight against the Great Wu's royal family and nobles, which was a battle at the highest level.

In a typical war, if it only targets the lower classes, no matter how many people die, the royal family and the powerful figures in the capital will not feel any pain. They will only conscript more able-bodied men to send to the front lines to die.

The fighting at the grassroots level will last for a very long time, until both sides have almost exhausted their lower-ranking soldiers, and only then will negotiations slowly begin.

However, once the lives of high-ranking officials are involved, the war won't last long.

Under Zhuge Chongguang's leadership, the timing of the war, the specific number of troops to be dispatched, and logistical arrangements were all discussed.

During today's grand court assembly, Zhuge Chongguang presided over the entire event, while Lu Chen only spoke a few words, as if he were just there to watch the spectacle. This made Lu Chen seem like a puppet emperor whose power had been stripped away.

Of course, Lu Chen was not a puppet emperor; when officials discussed issues, their eyes were always on Lu Chen.

Although it was a grand court assembly presided over by Zhuge Chongguang, the officials were all well aware of who they were speaking to.

This form of court assembly was still quite novel for officials in the capital, but they quickly accepted it.

By the time the grand assembly ended, it was already noon.

Lu Chen sat on the dragon throne for the entire morning, listening to people chattering away. He was getting tired, even though he had only said a few words. Listening to their discussions was still quite exhausting.

As the court session ended and Lu Chen was heading to the inner palace, a female guard rushed to him, "Your Majesty, Lady Qin is about to give birth!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen went straight to Qin Yuwei's palace without saying a word.

At this moment, a crowd of women had gathered outside Qin Yuwei's palace. When they saw Lu Chen arrive, the women quickly made way for him.

Lu Chen hurriedly entered Qin Yuwei's room.

The room was filled with the old midwives from the former Northern Prince's Mansion, and the maids who delivered the babies were the same people from before. When everyone saw Lu Chen, they immediately made way for him to walk up to Qin Yuwei.

Qin Yuwei was deeply moved when she saw Lu Chen arrive. She thought Lu Chen was too busy to come see her, but she didn't expect him to come before she gave birth.

Lying on the bed, Qin Yuwei said weakly, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects. Please forgive me for not being able to rise and bow to Your Majesty."

Lu Chen smiled slightly, sat on the edge of the bed and said, "It's alright, you can just lie there."

At this moment, Lu Chen held Qin Yuwei's hand and said, "Don't be nervous, the baby will be born soon."

Qin Yuwei said, "With Your Majesty here, I am not nervous."

Qin Yuwei had already heard Chu Yuqin and the others say that as long as Lu Chen was by her side, Lu Chen's women would hardly experience any pain during childbirth.

Qin Yuwei believed that Chu Yuqin and the others wouldn't lie to her. Just then, Qin Yuwei suddenly felt a warm current enter her body, and her discomfort instantly disappeared.

Qin Yuwei was very surprised. Just as Chu Yuqin and the others had said, she really did not feel any discomfort.

Just as Qin Yuwei was about to say thank you, she suddenly felt her stomach move. Before she could figure out what was happening, she felt as if something was missing from her body, and her stomach instantly felt lighter.

The next moment, the child's cries echoed throughout the hall.

Qin Yuwei was stunned.

Although she had heard that having Lu Chen by her side would make childbirth easier, she never expected it to be this easy.

That's too easy! She gave birth just like that?

Qin Yuwei carefully raised herself up slightly and looked at her belly. She saw that her belly had shrunk and the midwives and maids were busy cleaning the baby. Only then did she believe that she had really given birth.

Lu Chen continued to use his Rejuvenating Hand technique to help Qin Yuwei recover. After the midwives had cleaned and washed the baby, they brought the baby to Lu Chen.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, it's a prince!"

Hearing the midwife's words, the happiest person was not Lu Chen, but Qin Yuwei.

In this era, a mother's status depended on her son. Although she didn't expect her child to become the crown prince, having a prince would guarantee her future, and Qin Yuwei was very happy.

(End of this chapter)