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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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But within the walls of the palace, the political landscape was about to experience huge shift. The time had come for the monumental announcement of the newly created ministries and the specialized department. This was not a quiet reorganization done behind closed doors, it was a grand display of imperial evolution. The announcement was, of course, officially made through Jia Xu, acting in his capacity as the supreme Chancellor.
Standing before the entire assembly of Imperial Court officials in the grand main hall, his voice echoing with cold, absolute authority, Jia Xu read the Emperor's edict. He detailed the creation of the Ministry of Domestic Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Military Logistics, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the highly independent Department of Strategic Intelligence.
The officials listened in stunned, breathless silence as the very structure of the government they had known for years was drastically expanded and decentralized. But the true shockwave hit when Jia Xu subsequently broadcasted the names of the men who would lead these new pillars of the state.
The specific individuals appointed as the new Ministers and the Head of the Department were publicly listed on the massive imperial bulletins in the city squares, and the edicts were rushed via fast riders throughout the entire land.
When the scholars, magistrates, and common people read the names, a collective gasp echoed across the continent. Xun Yu. Tian Feng. Xi Zhicai. Cheng Yu. Jia Kui. Guo Jia.
These were the legendary, fiercely loyal advisors of the fallen Emperor Cao Cao and the stubborn Yuan Shao. Men who had been assumed dead, executed, or permanently imprisoned. Yet here they were, elevated by the terrifying, boundless magnanimity of Lie Fan to the absolute highest echelons of the Hengyuan government.
It was the ultimate, undeniable proof of Lie Fan's absolute supremacy. He was so incredibly powerful, so entirely unopposed, that he could take the greatest minds of his enemies and seamlessly forge them into his own administrative weapons without a single fear of rebellion.
This massive political shift naturally shook the land to its very core. The sudden addition of four new ministries and a sprawling, highly specialized intelligence department meant that the overarching government structure had drastically changed. The bureaucracy had literally doubled in size overnight.
And for the vast, restless population of the empire, this presented a golden, once in a lifetime opportunity.
For those ambitious young scholars studying by candlelight in the provincial academies, and for the frustrated, low ranking local magistrates who had felt their careers stagnating under the old system, it was a clarion call to action.
They wanted to grasp it with both hands. They understood the basic mathematics of an expanding empire, the rapidly expanding government would desperately need significantly more talents to become part of its massive workforce.
The new ministries required thousands of undersecretaries, scribes, logistical planners, agricultural inspectors, diplomatic envoys, and intelligence analysts. The roads leading to the capital were suddenly flooded with carriages and scholars traveling from every corner of the mainland, all eager to sit for the newly expanded civil service examinations.
Lie Fan had not just created a government, he had ignited an unprecedented era of social mobility and intellectual fervor, ensuring that the brightest minds of the next generation would willingly throw themselves into the jaws of his bureaucratic machine.
As the domestic administration underwent this massive, frenzied transformation, Lie Fan was not resting on his laurels. His empire was securing its internal foundations, but his dark, visionary eyes were already looking far beyond the established borders.
While the scholars clamored for positions in the new ministries, Lie Fan quickly convened a highly classified, incredibly secret meeting. This was another grand outward expansion council meeting, of course, held deep within the most secure, heavily guarded war rooms of the inner palace. The Yellow Ghost Bodyguards locked down the entire wing, ensuring that not even a stray breeze could carry a whisper of what was about to be discussed.
This elite council consisted of his absolute best, most brilliant, and ruthless military and strategic minds. As they filed into the dim, torch lit room, the sheer concentration of historical genius was staggering.
Representing the martial might of the empire were the peerless Deputy Grand General Zhang Liao and the venerable Grand General Huangfu Song. Representing the core strategic pillars of his long standing inner circle were Xun You, Sima Yi, Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun, Xu Shu, and Pang Tong.
And finally, integrating seamlessly into the highest level of imperial planning for the very first time, were the newly submitted titans, Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and Xun Yu.
They gathered in absolute silence around a massive, intricately detailed map that had been rolled out across a heavy stone table. This was not a map of the central plains or the northern steppes, which they knew intimately.
This map depicted the jagged, treacherous coastlines of the far east, the churning, violent expanse of the eastern ocean, and a crescent shaped chain of mysterious islands.
Lie Fan stood at the head of the table, the flickering torchlight casting deep shadows across his face. He looked at the gathered geniuses, preparing to deeply discuss the grand, unprecedented plan of eastern expansion.
"The north is secured. The west is barricaded. The south is tamed," Lie Fan began, his voice a low, commanding rumble. "But an empire that only looks inward will eventually suffocate. Our eyes must turn to the rising sun."
He pointed a heavy, wooden guiding stick directly at the distant, isolated island chain on the map.
"Yamato," Lie Fan stated, letting the name hang in the air.
A murmur rippled through the council. An invasion of this magnitude would definitely need some extensive, painstaking preparation time.
Yamato's position was not just across a river or a mountain range, it was very far to the east, isolated across treacherous, highly unpredictable seas known for swallowing entire fleets in sudden, violent typhoons. It was a logistical nightmare that violated every traditional rule of mainland warfare.
"Your Majesty," Huangfu Song spoke up, his voice raspy with age and experience. "A naval invasion of that distance... we would be fighting the ocean itself before we ever saw an enemy blade. Supplying an army of a hundred thousand men across those waters would stretch our current maritime capabilities to the absolute breaking point."
"Which is why we will not launch from our eastern shores," Lie Fan countered smoothly, a brilliant, terrifyingly calculated strategic smile touching his lips.
Pointing firmly at a specific peninsula on the map, Lie Fan revealed the true genius of his geographical maneuvering. He actually planned to strictly use the pacified Goguryeo peninsula, of course, as the main logistical jumping point and naval staging ground to attack Yamato.
"We have already bled to secure the lands of Goguryeo," Lie Fan explained, tracing the coastline of the peninsula with his stick. "It is pacified. It is rich in the deep forest timber required to build our new, massive steam powered warships. More importantly, it juts out into the eastern sea, drastically cutting the distance our fleets must travel over open water to reach the islands of Wa. We will build our shipyards there. We will stockpile our grain there. Goguryeo will be the unsinkable anvil from which we launch our hammer."
Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia exchanged a rapid, highly appreciative glance. The logistical brilliance of using an already conquered, geographically advantageous territory to completely bypass the vulnerability of long distance naval supply lines was flawless.
But Lie Fan was not finished shocking his advisors. He looked around the table and explained to his stunned attentive council that his initial plan wasn't to completely conquer Yamato outright.
"To land a massive occupation force, to garrison every village, and to attempt to enforce Hengyuan law across a hostile, mountainous island chain thousands of miles from our capital..." Lie Fan shook his head. "Occupying it entirely would overstretch our maritime supply lines, drain our treasury, and trap our soldiers in an endless, bloody guerrilla war against a people defending their homeland."
Sima Yi frowned slightly, his mind constantly calculating the most efficient path to absolute victory. "If we do not occupy them, Your Majesty, then what is the purpose of the invasion? Why spend the resources to cross the sea if not to claim the land?"
Lie Fan's eyes darkened, filled with the cold, ruthless pragmatism that had built his empire.
"We are not crossing the sea to govern them, Zhongda," Lie Fan clarified, his voice dripping with absolute, terrifying menace. "We are crossing the sea to break them."
He leaned over the map, his hands planted firmly on the edges of the table.
"My goal is not to administer their villages. My goal is to shatter their military with absolute overwhelming force," Lie Fan declared. "We will sail our new, iron reinforced steamships to their shores. We will unleash the Fierce Fire Oil Cabinets and burn their coastal fleets to ash. We will unleash the Hwachas and the Cannons to completely annihilate their assembled samurai and warlords in a single, apocalyptic demonstration of Hengyuan supremacy."
The advisors listened in dead silence, picturing the absolute carnage.
"We will crush their pride so thoroughly, we will inflict such a staggering, incomprehensible defeat upon their finest warriors, that their leaders will have absolutely no choice but to beg for mercy on their knees," Lie Fan continued. "We will not occupy Yamato. We will make it our loyal and terrified tributary state."
Zhuge Liang's eyes widened as the sheer elegance of the long term strategy finally clicked into place. By forcing them into submission through sheer terror rather than occupation, Lie Fan would secure the wealth and submission of the islands without paying the continuous, bleeding cost of garrisoning them.
"Through establishing a powerful, unshakeable military and political foothold there," Lie Fan concluded, stepping back from the table and letting the weight of his grand vision settle upon the greatest minds of the era, "Hengyuan would then begin to systematically, culturally, and economically expand our influence. We will control their trade. We will dictate their foreign policy. And over the coming decades, without shedding another drop of our soldiers blood, we will slowly, inevitably bring the mysterious eastern archipelago fully under our ultimate imperial dominion."
The council room was silent for a long moment as the brilliant strategists absorbed the monumental scope of the plan. It was flawless. It leveraged their new technology, maximized their geographic advantages, and utilized psychological warfare on a national scale.
Slowly, one by one, from the veteran generals to the newly assimilated geniuses of Wei, the advisors bowed deeply over the map, their minds already racing to calculate the ship tonnages, the troop deployments, and the diplomatic ultimatums necessary to bring the Black Dragon's terrifying eastern vision to life.
As the brilliant military minds began their intense preliminary discussion around the heavy stone table, pointing at the treacherous coastlines and calculating the vast logistical requirements of supplying an army across the churning eastern ocean, Lie Fan observed them with a profound sense of satisfaction.
The synergy in the room was electric. Rivals from the old world were now actively collaborating, their peerless intellects entirely synchronized toward a single, world altering goal.
Feeling that the initial strategic seeds had been successfully planted, Lie Fan stood up from his heavy wooden seat. He smoothed the front of his dark silk robes and took his leave.
"I leave the mapping of this conquest in your capable hands," Lie Fan warmly stated, his voice echoing in the torch lit room. "I know that you will give the absolute best naval and land strategy that the world has ever seen. The mainland has felt the weight of your genius. Now, let the oceans tremble before it."
All of them, from the veteran commander Huangfu Song to the newly assimilated genius Xun Yu, paused their hushed debates and respectfully nodded their heads in unison, acknowledging the immense trust the Emperor had just placed upon their shoulders.
But just as Lie Fan turned his back and took his first step toward the heavy oak doors to exit the room, a voice called out, stopping him in his tracks.
"Your Imperial Majesty, if I may," Guo Jia spoke up, his tone highly respectful but laced with the sharp, unyielding pragmatism that defined his chaotic brilliance.
Lie Fan turned back, raising a curious eyebrow. "Speak, Fengxiao."
Guo Jia stepped slightly away from the map, bowing his head wisely before he looked directly at the Emperor. "Your Majesty, our minds can calculate the supply lines of a million marching men, and our land strategies are indeed peerless. We can outmaneuver any infantry and crush any cavalry. But the ocean is an entirely different battlefield. It does not obey the laws of the plains, nor does it care for the formations of infantry. While we can draft the overarching invasion plan, we would desperately need the practical expertise of the naval admirals for this specific maritime strategy operation."
Guo Jia gestured toward the vast blue expanse separating Goguryeo from Yamato on the map. "Tides, typhoons, the drafting of the steam warships' hulls, and the intricate maneuvers required for a massive naval landing assault... these are matters of salt and wind. We need the men who have spent their lives mastering the water to tell us what is actually possible."
Hearing that incredibly astute reminder, Lie Fan's eyes widened slightly in sudden realization. He raised a hand and tapped his forehead, shaking his head with a rich, self deprecating laugh that momentarily stripped away his terrifying imperial aura, revealing the deeply human, pragmatic leader beneath.
"Yes, of course," Lie Fan chuckled, acknowledging his own momentary oversight. "How could I possibly forget about that crucial detail? A scholar can read a thousand books on the ocean, but only a sailor knows how to survive a storm. You speak the truth, Fengxiao."
Without another moment's hesitation, he turned to the Yellow Ghost Bodyguards flanking the doorway and immediately ordered his attendants to send out the fastest courier hawks and relay riders available.
"I will urgently summon the top admirals of the realm," Lie Fan commanded, his voice ringing with renewed purpose. "Send word to Gan Ning, Jiang Qin, Huang Zu, and Zhou Yu. Command them to immediately hand over their appointed duties to their deputies, travel to the capital with all possible haste, and join this council in this monumental planning."
It was a staggering roster of maritime power. However, Lie Fan knew the reality of geography. Since the admirals are currently stationed at various distant, heavily fortified naval bases across the southern and eastern coastlines of the empire, they will naturally need some time to arrive at the capital.
"Their journeys will take several weeks," Lie Fan noted, looking back at his council. He instructed the advisors to wait for some time to finalize the intricate naval aspects of the invasion, allowing the admirals to take the lead on the maritime tactics once they arrived.
"Meticulously make the groundwork strategy in the meantime. Calculate the grain, map the staging grounds in Goguryeo, and prepare the diplomatic ultimatums. When Zhou Yu and Gan Ning arrive, we will merge the land and the sea into a single, unstoppable spear."
After delivering those final instructions, Lie Fan finally left the war room, the heavy wooden doors sealing shut behind him.
With the military affairs properly delegated to the greatest minds in history, the Emperor's demeanor shifted entirely. As he walked through the opulent, sunlit corridors of the inner palace, he swiftly turned his sharp, visionary focus next onto grand academic and societal matters. The sword had unified the land, but the mind would have to govern it.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty
Age: 36 (203 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 2325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 11)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 1,010 (+20)
VIT: 659 (+20)
AGI: 653 (+10)
INT: 691
CHR: 98
WIS: 569
WILL: 436
ATR Points: 0