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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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The elite guards snapped to perfect attention, pushing the heavy doors open and stepping aside as the Emperor crossed the threshold. The office was vast, lined from floor to ceiling with towering rosewood shelves overflowing with bamboo slips, silk scrolls, and bound ledgers containing the lifeblood of the empire.
In the center of the room sat a massively long, highly polished mahogany table, designed specifically to seat the greatest gathering of intellects in the known world.
And they were all waiting for him.
The absolute brain trust of the Hengyuan Empire had assembled in full force. Standing respectfully behind their high backed wooden chairs, their hands tucked neatly into their wide silk sleeves, were the architects of his reign.
There was Jia Xu (Chancellor), Xun You (Grand Commandant), Chen Qun (Grand Secretary), Mi Zhu (Minister of Revenue), Liu Ye (Minister of Works), Chen Gong (Minister of Law), Sima Yi (Minister of War), Lu Su (Minister of Rites), Zhuge Liang (Minister of Personnel), Pang Tong (Chief Censor), Xu Shu, and Lu Xun (Grand Bailiff of Xiapi).
It was a staggeringly overwhelming concentration of sheer, unparalleled genius. The men in this room controlled the wealth, the laws, the armies, the trade routes, and the very cultural fabric of the entire continent.
As Lie Fan walked into the room, a warm, genuine smile of profound appreciation spread across his face.
"Your Imperial Majesty!" the twelve ministers chorused in perfect unison, dropping into deep, formal bows of profound respect that rustled their heavy silk robes.
"Rise, all of you. Please, take your seats," Lie Fan instructed, his voice carrying an easy, confident authority that instantly set the tone for the meeting.
He walked to the absolute head of the long mahogany table, where an ornate, beautifully carved small throne chair awaited him, draped in dark, embroidered silk. He took his seat, the subtle creak of the wood signaling the official commencement of imperial business.
The advisors took their respective seats, their eyes fixed intently upon their sovereign. Sima Yi, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu looked slightly more road weary than their pristine colleagues, but their eyes were equally sharp, hungry to dive back into the mechanics of governance.
Lie Fan leaned back in his throne chair, resting his hands comfortably on the carved armrests.
"It is good to see all of you gathered in one room again," Lie Fan opened, his gaze sweeping down the table. "A unified empire requires a unified council. We have much to do."
He looked specifically toward the men who had stayed behind to hold the fort. "Wenhe, Gongda, Changwen... all of you. How have you been during my long absence? Has the capital treated you well while we chased the Wei Dynasty's tail in the west?"
Jia Xu offered a thin, highly calculating smile, dipping his head slightly. "The capital has been quiet, Your Majesty. Frighteningly quiet. When the master of the house is away, the mice usually play, but we have ensured the traps were heavily baited and the cats were unfed. We are all in excellent health, though we have keenly felt the distinct lack of your final word on many pressing, high level matters."
"The treasuries overflow, Your Majesty," Mi Zhu added with a broad, wealthy grin, patting his ledger. "The integration of the central plains' trade routes has already begun to yield staggering dividends. We are richer today than the Han Dynasty was at its absolute peak."
Lie Fan nodded in deep satisfaction, his eyes continuing to move down the long table until they landed on the youngest face in the room.
"And Boyan," Lie Fan said, his smile widening into one of genuine delight as he addressed the Grand Bailiff of Xiapi, Lu Xun. "It has been far, far too long. This is the first time we have truly sat in the same room since you left to take up your vital administrative duties in Lujiang, assisting your Grand Uncle and learning under him. You so rarely return to the capital."
Lu Xun, possessing an intellect that easily rivaled the grizzled veterans in the room despite his youth, bowed his head modestly from his seat.
"Your Majesty is far too kind to notice my absence," Lu Xun replied, his voice clear and eloquent. "Lujiang is a crucial southern anchor for the empire's naval development and agricultural expansion. My duties there demanded constant, unwavering vigilance, especially with the condition that ky Grand Uncle is considering his age. I could not abandon my post lightly."
Lu Xun looked up, his eyes shining with profound respect. "But when the glorious summons came that Your Majesty had shattered the walls of Chang'An and returned victorious to the east... I prepare the capital day and night. I had to ensure the Bailiff's office was perfectly prepared for the massive influx of new edicts and the reorganization of the inner city to accommodate our new... permanent guests. I am deeply honored to finally gaze upon Your Majesty's face again."
"Your tireless work in the south has not gone unnoticed, Boyan," Lie Fan praised him warmly.
Lie Fan then swept his gaze back over the entire length of the table. The pleasantries had been warmly exchanged. The camaraderie of the reunion had settled. It was time to govern the world.
Lie Fan leaned forward, resting his elbows on the polished mahogany table, clasping his hands together. He looked at the impeccably organized, towering stacks of bamboo scrolls resting in front of Chen Qun, the thick, heavy ledgers under Mi Zhu's hands, and the ominous, tightly bound black folders sitting before Jia Xu.
"Now," Lie Fan began, a wry, highly knowing smirk touching his lips as he looked at the sheer volume of impending bureaucratic labor. "I assume, given the absolute perfection of your administrative habits, that you all have things to report today?"
A collective, almost perfectly synchronized sound of shifting silk, unrolling bamboo, and rustling parchment answered him.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Chen Qun stated smoothly, his face a mask of absolute bureaucratic seriousness as he patted a stack of scrolls that looked tall enough to rival a small pagoda. "We have the proposed, comprehensive tax reforms for the Yan and Yu provinces, the logistical frameworks for the garrison rotations in the west to support Master Fa Zheng, the preliminary assessments of the captured Wei treasuries from Luoyang, and approximately four hundred civil service appointments that require your immediate imperial seal."
Jia Xu slid his dark folders an inch forward, his voice a low murmur. "I also have the finalized security schematics for the Cao clan's permanent house arrest, detailing the guard rotations and surveillance protocols, alongside a dozen highly classified intelligence briefs from the Oriole agents currently embedded deep within the territories of the Northwestern Lords."
Xun You cleared his throat delicately, adjusting his sleeves. "And the Ministry of War requires Your Majesty's approval on the new supply line infrastructure connecting Hangu Pass to our central depots, not to mention the extensive integration protocols required to absorb the surrendered Wei heavy infantry without risking a mutiny."
Lie Fan looked at the sheer, staggering volume of paperwork materializing before him. It was a mountain of ink and bamboo that would dictate the lives of millions, shape the economy of a continent, and solidify the legacy of his dynasty for centuries to come.
He let out a long, heavy sigh, but his eyes sparkled with the undeniable, intoxicating thrill of supreme power. The heavenly halberd had done its bloody, brutal work on the walls of Chang'An, now, the imperial brush would finish the conquest in the silence of this room.
"Very well, everyone," Emperor Lie Fan said, reaching out his hand to take the very first scroll from the top of Chen Qun's massive stack. "Let us begin."
Lie Fan cracked the wax seal on the first bamboo scroll from Chen Qun's impossibly high stack. As Grand Secretary, Chen Qun's work formed the absolute, unyielding backbone of the dynasty's bureaucracy.
His scrolls were not military reports filled with glorious heroics, they were dense, meticulous legal frameworks, tax adjustments, and infrastructural blueprints that kept the empire fed, funded, and strictly obedient to the law.
"Let us start with Yan and Yu provinces," Lie Fan murmured, his eyes scanning the dense columns of characters.
Chen Qun leaned forward, his posture rigid. "Your Majesty, the proposed tax reforms aim to integrate the newly conquered territories without entirely crushing the local populace who suffered under Cao Cao's heavy wartime levies. We propose a temporary two year reduction in grain tax for any household that lost a son to the Wei conscription, provided they swear an oath of fealty to the Hengyuan census."
"A brilliant political maneuver, Changwen," Lie Fan nodded approvingly, dipping his imperial brush into the dark, rich ink. "It buys us the loyalty of the grieving mothers and widows, and it incentivizes them to register officially with our magistrates rather than hiding in the hills. Approved."
He stamped the heavy, square jade Imperial Seal at the bottom of the scroll, the red ink stark and final against the bamboo.
For the next two hours, the room was filled with the rhythmic sound of unrolling bamboo, the soft scratching of brushes, and the heavy, definitive thud of the jade seal. Lie Fan and Chen Qun worked in a terrifyingly efficient synergy.
They approved the logistical frameworks to support Fa Zheng's western garrisons, processed the staggering preliminary assessments of the captured Wei treasuries from Luoyang, and Lie Fan personally reviewed and sealed over four hundred civil service appointments, ensuring that only men of verified talent and absolute loyalty were placed in the newly acquired prefectures.
With the Grand Secretary's immediate mountain reduced to a manageable hill, Lie Fan turned his attention to the dark, ominous folders resting before Jia Xu.
"Wenhe," Lie Fan said, his tone dropping an octave, shifting from public administration to the murky, lethal world of state security. "Show me the cage."
Jia Xu slid a large, detailed schematic across the table. It was the architectural blueprint of the Wang estate, now the permanent prison of the Cao clan.
"The perimeter is established exactly to Your Majesty's specifications," Jia Xu reported, his long finger tracing the lines of the drawing. "The outer walls are patrolled by elite heavy infantry in overlapping, randomized shifts to prevent any recognizable patterns. The inner courtyard is held by the Imperial Guard. I have personally vetted the eunuchs and maids assigned to the interior, they have no families, no external ties, and are entirely dependent on my office for their survival. There are no blind spots. A sparrow could not land in that courtyard without my immediate knowledge."
Lie Fan studied the schematics intently, his eyes searching for any possible structural weakness. Satisfied with the suffocating perfection of the plan, he nodded. "Excellent. Ensure the food is of high quality, and the medical care for Mengde remains absolute. We are jailing them, not torturing them. Now... what do your birds sing of the west?"
Jia Xu produced a small, tightly sealed tube containing the highly classified intelligence briefs from the Oriole agents deeply embedded within the rugged territories of the League of Northwestern Lords.
"The alliance is fracturing exactly as Master Fa Zheng predicted," Jia Xu murmured, his eyes gleaming. "Some of them are currently arguing over the division of resources, terrified that our western garrison is preparing to march. The others are attempting to mediate, but their grip is slipping. Our agents have successfully seeded rumors that one of them is secretly negotiating a separate surrender with our envoys."
Lie Fan smiled, a cold, predatory expression. It was the absolute perfection of psychological warfare.
"Approve the operational budget to expand the Oriole network in Tianshui," Lie Fan ordered, scribbling a ciphered authorization. "Tell our agents to escalate the paranoia. I want forged letters 'intercepted' by their scouts implicating each other in a plot to assassinate each other. Let them bleed each other in the mountains while we consolidate the plains."
With the Chancellor's dark work concluded, the Emperor moved methodically down the table.
He turned to Xun You, plunging deep into the logistical nightmare of the Ministry of War. They debated and approved the massive new supply line infrastructure connecting Hangu Pass to the central depots in Xiapi, ensuring that if the western garrison ever needed to march, they would be fed entirely by the rich eastern harvests.
Lie Fan meticulously reviewed the extensive integration protocols for the surrendered Wei heavy infantry, ordering them to be broken up and distributed among veteran Hengyuan units to entirely dissolve their previous command structures and prevent any possibility of a unified mutiny.
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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