Chapter 118: Preparations
When Wang Wei returned back to the palace, he was happy and relieved to discover that only half a month had passed during his retreat. As such, he immediately called a court meeting.
Inside the meeting hall, all the ministers looked at Wang Wei sitting on the dragon throne. All of them had awe on their faces as they could feel that his majesty was even more powerful than half a month ago.
All of them wondered when cultivation became so easy. Of course these people did not know that the reason that Wang Wei took so little time for his breakthrough was first due to his powerful soul.
Second, it was because his cultivation room was the center or "eye" of the Dragon Vein that ran throughout the entire dynasty’s capital.
The Dragon Vein is actually a special kind of spiritual qi vein necessary for creating a fortune dynasty, while other spiritual veins are mainly used for places of cultivation. The more spiritual veins a place has, the more spiritual qi that said place contains.
On the other end, without a place with a dragon vein, it is impossible to create a fortunate dynasty. This is one reason that Wang Wei had to wait until he conquered the capital before establishing his own dynasty.
Meanwhile, during the court meeting, Wang Wei took a while to review all that happened during his retreat. After a few minutes, he said, "So, we are ready to start expanding our territories?"
"Absolutely," answered Grand Commandant Li Jun. "Your Majesty, you can just give the order and our army will respond immediately."
Wang Wei nodded and looked at one of his ministers, "What about the officials needed to take over different cities and states after our conquest? Is there enough people available?"
The official--who was part of the cabinet as the Minister of Education--stepped forward and said, "Yes, according to your orders, we have trained copious amounts of scholars that are knowledgeable in government politics and management. However, your majesty, the majority of them do not have any actual experience."
"Hmph, what do you mean not enough experience! Didn’t you send them to different small villages around our territory to learn and experience proper management?" answered another member of the cabinet, the Minister of Finance.
"How can a few villages compare to governing a city, county or even state," retorted the Minister of Education.
"Well, all I know is that you people in the Education Department are responsible for a quarter of the entire dynasty’s spending in the last two years. I do not know what kind of plan you have, all I can say is that we do not have any money for it."
After saying that, the Minister of Finance snorted coldly, while the Minister of Education looked at him like he was the enemy that killed his family. If it was outside, there is a high chance that these two people would fight with each other.
Upon seeing the tense atmosphere of these two people, someone finally said something: it was the Empress, Dong Lifen.
"Minister of Finance, there is no need to worry about the treasury of the dynasty. With the rapid expansion of our territories, there will be countless wealth coming our way."
"As for you, Minister of Education, after our territories expand, you can send the reserved officials to their post immediately, however, after a few months, a reviewer can be spent to examine how well they are doing their jobs."
"The one who did a good job can stay at their post, while the ones who fail can have their salary decreased and given a warning. After three warnings, these people can be sent back to the Academy as teachers."
After hearing this, both ministers snorted at each other while nodding to the Empress. Although they do not like her, they have to admit that she is quite politically savvy.
Many people did not like it when his majesty broke convention two years ago and allowed the Empress to hold power in the court.
Although there have been many female rulers in this world, the idea that only male can be Emperor has been ingrained on the bones and soul of the majority of people of this world--especially scholars.
However, seeing that Wang Wei did not care about their rejection, and Dong Lifen had proven numerous times that she is capable, they still showed her some modicum of respect.
After seeing that the problem had been resolved without his interference, Wang Wei smiled and said, "The Empress’ decision is correct. The next few years, Great Xia will be in a state of constant war and conquest. There will be no time to allow people to slowly adapt."
After saying this, he looked at the Minister of Agriculture and asked, "Do we have enough grains for our military exploit?"
"Yes, your majesty. There is enough grain for more than five years of constant fighting without affecting the lives of the people. Moreover, we have enough reserve to feed the entire dynasty for 2 years in case an emergency were to happen."
After that, Wang We looked at Chancellor Yan Liling, who also reported her preparation.
"There are plenty of pills refined by the Alchemy Hall. However, the pills are not enough for all the soldiers to use, only the officers with a certain rank. Furthermore, with constant refining over the past two years, the majority of spiritual medicine is almost all used."
"As you know, it takes a long time for spiritual medicines to grow, unlike normal ones. However, the shortage should also be relieved after we conquer a few more kingdoms."
Wang Wei secretly nodded as he could always count on his team when it comes to doing things properly. The next person he looked at was the Head of the Refiner Hall.
After seeing the gaze that locked him in, the Head of the Refiner Hall smiled wryly and said:
"Your majesty, our situation in the Refiner Hall is actually more dire than the Alchemy Hall. Due to the fact that we publicized puppet constructs and origins artifacts during the past two years, the entire dynasty is in great need of all kinds of spiritual materials."
"Whether it is woods, metals, or rocks. We overused most of the spiritual ores that we had available in construction. I hope that when the Grand Commandant conquers the first kingdom that he placed more emphasis on these materials first and sent it back to us in order to relieve our pressure in the Refiner Hall."
Li Jun nodded after hearing this, which made the Head of the Refiner Hall quite happy to the ire and envy of the other officials. However, both Li Jun and Wang Wei ignored these people.
Afterwards, Wang Wei asked Grand Censorate Wang Ju, "Did Su Ai manage to infiltrate the Great Shu Dynasty?"
"Yes, Miss Su Ai did succeed in her infiltration," replied Wang Ju calmly. "However, things seemed more complex than previously anticipated."
"Oh, how so?"
"His majesty, according to the information we received, taoism has greatly developed throughout the entire Great Shu Dynasty. As taoism focused on being pure and indifferent, not a lot of people are in fact interested in attending brothels."
"As such, our source of information is greatly reduced. What’s even worse is the fact that the Emperor of the Great Shu Dynasty has denounced worldly affairs and entered seclusion to become a taoist monk."
"From then on, all the court meetings took place in a Taoist Temple habited by one of your majesty’s peers. Our agents dare not not enter the temple."
"Furthermore, the officials of the Great Shu Dynasty have a great deal of respect for him, so, they do not easily speak about him in public or in private. However, we did get some information."
"His name is Feng Heng and he is the Dao Child of the Taiyi Profound Gate."
Wang Wei looked pensive after hearing this news. He was not surprised by the fact that this person was from the Taiyi Profound Gate as he had already guessed such.
The Taiyi Profound Gate is a pure taoist sect in the Myriad Emperor World who has cultivated 7 Great Emperors. Their founder, the Absolute Beginning Great Emperor is considered one of the greatest Emperors ever cultivated in the Myriad Emperor World.
However, the reason he paid so much attention to this Heaven Chosen was not because of his background, but because he always felt there was something wrong with this guy.
Despite only meeting once through the Luck Dragon of the Great Shu Dynasty, he always had a weird feeling towards this guy.
After pondering for a few seconds, Wang Wei then asked, "Anything else?"
"Yes," answered Wang Ju before continuing. "A few days ago, we received news that a delegate from the Great Zhou Dynasty was heading towards the Great Shu Dynasty."
"However, we currently do not not know the reason for such a visit. Many of my subordinates theorized that Crown Prince Ji Song wanted to form an alliance, however, given the arrogance of each Heaven Chosen, this is very unlikely."
Wang Wei nodded in agreement with Wang Ju. With the pride of these people, even if they decided to form an alliance, they will first fight for who is the leader of said alliance.
After Wang Ju finished her report, it was Li Jun’s turn next. He waved his hand and a military map appeared in the middle of the court room; it was similar to a 3D Hologram.
Then, he started to explain his marching strategy.