Chapter 545: The War Council and the Six Ministries

Yiben's proactive proposal easily suppressed the voices of debate from before.

After all, since the powerful contenders for the throne had already advocated for postponing the discussion of who should be king, there was no point in others insisting on it.

Therefore, the topic of discussion shifted from the throne to the noble commander.

Regarding this, although Luoning did not decline, he had his own ideas.

"Since everyone supports me so much, and the late king's last testament also implies that I should lead the nobles, I will not decline this position of Commander."

Luoning stood up and bowed to the nobles filling the hall.

At this moment, enthusiastic applause erupted in the banquet hall, and Yiben took a deep breath, following suit with a smile on his face.

Whether this group of people truly supported him or feared his strength, the final result was the same.

Luoning waited for Along while, but the applause remained thunderous; helpless, he could only raise his hands in a downward pressing gesture, which finally brought the applause to a stop.

"Although everyone trusts me, in such a vast Kingdom, besides military operations, internal stability and development are equally important."

This sentence immediately drew everyone's attention; they were very curious about what Luoning was going to say, as every word of his now could be an opportunity and could change the landscape.

Luoning paused for a moment and stated his thoughts.

"Therefore, I propose that before the new king ascends the throne, we establish two departments. The first is the 'War Council' responsible for military operations, and the second is the 'Six Ministries' responsible for the stability and development of the Kingdom."

Weakening the power of the nobles was something Luoning had always wanted to do.

Although he was not the king at the moment, he could test the waters first; discovering problems now could serve as a reference for when he established his own kingdom later.

After all, there were many things he was also unclear about.

And his words undoubtedly made everyone's eyes light up.

Without a doubt, this War Council and the institution Luoning named the "Six Ministries" were both power organs.

The nobles could not compete for the throne, but they could align themselves with these two power organs.

Yiben asked with focused attention: "Duke Luoning, please elaborate on your thoughts."

Luoning nodded; just as he was about to continue, he saw a Knight stride into the banquet hall, bow, and run to Waerjisi's side to whisper a few words.

Waerjisi frowned, looked at Luoning, then looked at the various nobles, and said solemnly: "My Knight tells me that Feilunsi's son, Mosi Geligaod, has already led an army close to the border of Jisitana. It seems the Feilunsibao Principality has betrayed Auduin and surrendered to Telixiya!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the discussions in the hall immediately became heated.

Some were cursing the traitorous family of Greg, some were clamoring to execute Feilunsi, and others were demanding to send troops directly to the Feilunsibao Principality to kill all these traitors.

Amidst the noise, Carolina actually walked in as well; she brought news from the Vila Principality.

Lulansi sighed, "The Vila Principality has followed in the footsteps of Feilunsibao. Luoning, I must leave Wangdu early and head to the border."

With Andeliya killed by Luoning, the direct rebellion of the Vila Principality was foreseeable.

As for the Feilunsibao Principality, Feilunsi was still alive after all, yet his son Mosi did not even bother to negotiate and directly led troops to attack Jisitana; he was truly in a hurry.

Fortunately, Waerjisi had arranged defensive work a while ago, so they would not be caught off guard.

"The war has begun!"

Luoning said in a deep voice: "As the Commander of the Allied Forces, I now designate Waerjisi, Lulansi, Yiben, and Gushan as members of the War Council to be fully responsible for the campaign against hostile forces together with me!"

These four people, plus Luoning, were nobles of the rank of Count and above in the Kingdom; except for Gushan, they all had their own fiefs and possessed very strong power.

When they heard Luoning call their names, except for Lulansi, they were all very curious about what this was for.

"I intend for Duke Waerjisi to lead the western nobles to crusade against Feilunsibao, Marquis Lulansi to be responsible for the Vila Principality, Counts Yiben and Gushan to lead the central nobles to crusade against the Black Thorn Principality, and I will lead the nobles around Golden Feather City to directly crusade against the Telixiya Kingdom and the Ronghuo Principality!"

The War Council was, in reality, to preside over military actions in four directions and report the results to Luoning, who would then provide unified command.

Waerjisi and the other three had no objections after hearing this, especially Yiben.

In his view, this was Luoning implicitly agreeing to the conditions he had proposed at Wushanzhuangyuan.

Although he was responsible together with Gushan, the latter had never been interested in territory.

In other words, once they conquered the Black Thorn Principality, this territory would very likely be the ducal fief of the Tolansi Family.

Yiben was the first to express his stance: "I have no objection to Duke Luoning's approach, but I wonder which specific central nobles Count Gushan and I will be leading?"

Luoning said with a smile: "We can discuss this in detail later; I haven't finalized the specific list either. In principle, I respect the wishes of each noble; you can suggest whoever you want to follow. However, to balance the forces, I might make some adjustments."

Yiben nodded; it seemed that this meeting today would not be ending anytime soon.

Next, they discussed military operations for Along time, and only then did they start to turn to the "Six Ministries".

This was also a point of interest for many people.

After all, the War Council had been designated by Luoning, and they could not get any benefits from it, but was there a place for them to get involved in these Six Ministries?

In fact, Luoning indeed had no intention of designating officials for the Six Ministries yet.

"The Six Ministries I envision are the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of War, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Works."

Next, Luoning explained the main responsibilities of each department one by one.

Among them, the Ministry of Personnel is responsible for the selection, assessment, appointment, dismissal, and promotion of Kingdom officials;

The Ministry of Revenue is responsible for the Kingdom's finance, taxation, household registration, land, grain, and other economic affairs;

The Ministry of Rites is responsible for the Kingdom's etiquette, education, and external diplomatic affairs;

The Ministry of War is responsible for the Kingdom's military, security, army management, and military supply;

The Ministry of Justice is mainly responsible for judicial trials, prison management, and the formulation and revision of laws;

The Ministry of Works is mainly responsible for the Kingdom's engineering construction, water conservancy, transportation, etc.

Actually, besides the Six Ministries, there were other departments like the Supervisory Department, but conditions were limited, and there was no time to divide them in detail.

"Each department will have one Minister, two Vice Ministers, and six Directors. The Ministers and Vice Ministers of each department will be led by existing Kingdom ministers and nobles with outstanding abilities."

"And I will be responsible for coordinating the relationships between the various departments, listening to the opinions and work reports of each department, and ensuring the stability of the Kingdom."

Luoning looked around, "Now, I need everyone to nominate candidates to select suitable people to take on the responsibilities of these six departments."

Although it was called a selection, considering the degree of turmoil and the difficulty of implementation, the former Kingdom ministers would definitely be in the first batch.

For example, the Legal Minister, Texas, he would definitely be the Minister or Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice;

For example, Minister of Finance Lude could serve in the Ministry of Revenue.

Of course, there is no need to fear even if chaos arises.

Chaos is inevitable during a reform; once this reform takes root in people's hearts and is then set right by Luoning, those who follow will accept it.

This is one of Luoning's goals.

Besides this, he also wants to use the established Six Ministries to incite competition among the nobles, and later, in coordination with policies like the Grace-Granting Decree, strengthen the King's authority and weaken the power of the nobles.

Moreover, at this time, as he is the Commander, having gained power and status and eaten the meat, others must at least get to drink some soup, right?

Deterrence through strength has a great impact on all parties, but power is equally crucial in its influence on everyone.

He is releasing a portion of power; this is not to disperse his authority, but to make more people maintain his authority for the sake of the dispersed power.

After Luoning finished speaking, the nobles looked at each other in dismay; they had never seen such a method, and at the same time, they were thinking about why Luoning would do this.

However, they had no time to think deeply about this question.

They only knew that Luoning's proposal provided them with a new stage, a place where they could demonstrate their talents and influence outside of military affairs.

The nobles began to secretly calculate how they could occupy a seat within the framework Luoning proposed.

The great nobles were certainly eyeing the positions of Minister and Vice Minister, while the lesser nobles had no chance at those two positions, so securing a position as a Director should be fine, right?

After hearing this, although Waerjisi was full of doubts in many places, he still nodded in agreement with such a division.

"The Six Ministries system implemented by Duke Luoning divides the kingdom's affairs more precisely; if it can be thoroughly implemented, the efficiency of the kingdom's operation will certainly be greatly improved."

Yiben pondered for Along time before asking his question:

"Duke Luoning, I wonder if I, as a member of the War Council, can participate in the election for members of the Six Ministries?"

"Of course you can!"

Luoning said: "Even if you are too busy, you can recommend your followers or others to participate. However, each noble can only have one seat under their name in the end."

Yiben smiled: "I understand!"

Asenuo frowned.

He is the Minister of Administration; according to Luoning's statement, part of the administrative work and financial work are concentrated within the Ministry of Revenue.

In the end, he and Lude actually became competitors.

But thinking about it, it makes sense; the two of them often argued about many things on a daily basis.

He could not help but look at Luoning; this young man was not only peerless in combat power, but his ability to govern a territory and even a country could be seen from this proposal of the mutually checking Six Ministries.

Asenuo thought to himself: "Although Luoning is not the King now, I am certain that in the future, there will definitely be only one King on the Orland Continent, and it will be him!"

Some sharp-minded people also noticed that although Luoning did not accept the status of King, in reality, he was listening to reports from the Six Ministries and coordinating relations between all parties; this is exactly what a King should do.

"I suddenly proposed this system, and perhaps everyone has not fully understood it thoroughly. So I suggest everyone go back and digest it first; two days from now, everyone will bring the positions they desire and participate in the election, and we will hold a public vote."

Upon hearing this, the nobles nodded one after another to express their agreement.

During these two days, they also needed to contact various connections to lobby for votes for themselves.

Next, the topic returned to the question of how the noble troops led by the five leaders of the War Council should be divided.

This was a matter that had to be decided as soon as possible; after all, Feilunsibao and the Vila Principality had already taken action, and it could not be done slowly like the election for the Six Ministries.

Immediately, under Luoning's presiding, the nobles in the hall were divided one by one.

Except for some nobles who hoped to follow council members they were familiar with to participate in the war, the others did not have many opinions.

After all, with such a division, each noble would be relatively close to the battlefield, and the losses would be smaller.

Time flew by, and it was not until late at night that today's noble assembly ended.

However, the private affairs of the nobles had only just begun; the next two days would be the time when their activities were most frequent.

Yiben and Xuelun sat in the carriage and returned to their sleeping quarters.

Xuelun sighed, "Although I presided over the noble assembly at the beginning today, by the end, it had completely become Luoning's home field."

Yiben came back to his senses from the election affairs and smiled as he held her, "Don't mind it; we must understand that in this world, strength ultimately has the final say. Not to mention that Luoning is not only strong in power, but his other abilities are also quite good."

"Mm, you are right."

She expressed agreement, "Jialete wanted to compete with such a person; he really did not choose a good opponent. If he could have been content, looking at how Luoning did not take over as King today, he definitely would not have seized Jialete's throne."

"Yes, it's just a pity that Jialete's personality was too extreme."

Yiben sighed, "Fortunately, he was left with his life in the end. Although his cultivation was crippled and he was imprisoned, we can still take care of him a little so that he can live the rest of his life without worry for food or clothing."

Xuelun broke free from his embrace and looked at the night sky outside, where there were only a few scattered stars.

"Perhaps this is a good thing for him, and also a good thing for the Auduin Kingdom."

"Even if Luoning becomes King in the future, his descendants will still have the bloodline of Auduin!"