Chapter 546: The Carving Up of Power

Over the next two days, the nobles in Golden Feather City moved about with unusual frequency; even those who were not acquainted would visit one another through the most tenuous of connections for the sake of votes.

However, such selections ultimately relied on the nobles' comprehensive strength; connections, wealth, and power were the most important factors.

Even if some minor nobles coveted the positions of department heads within the Six Ministries, their comprehensive strength was plain to see, and no amount of maneuvering would be of any use.

Consequently, some of the bolder ones came to Wushanzhuangyuan to visit Luoning, hoping he would establish more departments so they, too, could serve the Kingdom.

These people's visits were not only to seek benefits for themselves but also, in a roundabout way, to submit a pledge of allegiance to Luoning.

After all, in the near future, even if this young powerhouse did not inherit Auduin's throne, he would establish his own country.

The Six Ministries system that Luoning was currently pushing would certainly be implemented in his own country in the future.

Therefore, by showing their faces before Luoning now, this group would have the opportunity to seek an official position in Luoning's kingdom later.

If they did nothing now, it would be too late to try to do something when the time came.

Luoning did not refuse their visits; he would say a few more words to those he knew, and for those he did not, he would simply go through the motions.

During this period, he had Carolina notify Maiken on his behalf, instructing him to return to Zilei Territory to begin laying out the encirclement of the Vila Principality alongside Meilongnika and Peiteluo.

At the same time, he had Kaierluosi and Aierlong return to Wubei Territory to coordinate with the naval forces trained by Lisi and Kalada to launch an attack on Screaming Island.

The territory of Screaming Island was vast, consisting mainly of numerous islands; although Luoning had Partridge as an insider, time was an issue if he wanted to swallow all the islands in one go.

Thus, he selected several Viscounts and Barons from the list of visitors to send troops to Screaming Island together.

Lulansi was not idle either.

The Wushan Territory's encirclement of the Vila Principality would inevitably affect the whole situation, so while considering candidates for the Six Ministries, he had Weijinsi issue a mobilization order on his behalf; all nobles, great and small, in the entire Wushan Territory would go all out to attack the Vila Principality until the opponent's territory was completely occupied.

Naturally, the fighting was not limited to one place.

Several small-scale conflicts had already broken out consecutively on the border between the Jisitana Duchy and the Feilunsibao Principality.

Because the strength of Feilunsibao was inherently greater than that of Jisitana, the latter had been at a disadvantage in these few conflicts.

Valjisi had no mind to manage the affairs of the Six Ministries; after convening a meeting of the nobles assigned to him to discuss the western front, he hurried back to his territory.

The western front was not only resisting Feilunsibao but also the Baladun Principality outside the Brown Forest in the Southwest Territory; Duke Valjisi was under considerable pressure.

Before leaving, the five members of the War Council held a discussion, and it was decided that Luoning would provide support to various battlefields in the form of mobile reinforcements.

He was currently equivalent to a nuclear weapon, possessing powerful deterrent force; he would be transported wherever he was needed.

Of course, Luoning's frontal military operations also had to be steadily advanced; after all, the sooner he occupied Dragon City, the sooner he could establish his own country.

As for the territory his country would encompass, it would naturally be the territory covered by the three major cities of Moore City, Bankesi Forest, and Hupan City—located between Miwu City and Dragon City—as well as five small cities and over a dozen small towns.

Oh, and there was also Dragon City; the capital of the Tricia Kingdom would likely also be included in Luoning's territory.

Presumably, no one would object to such an arrangement.

Two days passed in a flash, and on the morning of the third day, the same banquet hall was even more bustling than it had been three days prior.

The sounds of campaigning, vote counting, and applause were incessant; there were even scenes of people turning red in the face and arguing as they accused one another due to the intense competition for the department head positions.

One day was too short to finalize the list of personnel for these fifty-four official positions, so this meeting was held for three consecutive days, only being barely settled before dark on the final day.

Luoning looked at the listed roster, which contained quite a few people he was familiar with.

For instance, the Minister of Administration Asenuo had campaigned for the position of Minister of Personnel and had obtained the position as expected;

Or the former Minister of Commerce Lude, who was now the Minister of Revenue;

The Minister of Rites Landeer, who was the great-grandson of Beiluola;

The Minister of War Buluoer, the former Deputy Commander of the Griffin Knights;

The Minister of Justice Texas, who was the former Legal Minister of the Kingdom;

The only one Luoning did not know was the Minister of Works Keben, who was supported by Count Yiben and was a minister from Shuangfeng Ridge.

Looking at the deputy ministers, they basically all had backgrounds from Count families; it was only at the level of department heads that the figures of Kingdom Viscounts and Barons appeared.

Although Luoning did not have anyone compete for the positions of ministers, he had secured the position of deputy minister for Wilson in the Ministry of Personnel;

Besides that, the Ministry of Revenue had Albert, recommended by Lulansi, serving as deputy minister, and the Ministry of War had Bawei Shinaide, supported by Duke Valjisi when he left.

Choosing the positions for these six ministries was, in reality, a magnificent carving up of power.

Next, it would depend on how these officials made the Kingdom function again.

Luoning also took this opportunity to carefully observe the process; when he established his kingdom in the future, he would need to continuously optimize the departmental structure, and he also needed to consider the rule-making and job descriptions for other departments.

In addition to this, another major task he had to do was to have the Ministry of Rites plan the work regarding education well, so that it could be rolled out when the war was nearing its end.

After all, he did not want the selection of talent to rely entirely on noble recommendations and the form of public campaign speeches.

Of course, the education he promoted was not a pure imperial examination system, but rather geared toward modern curricula, such as language, mathematics, and engineering, with selection through examinations.

Because of this, the Ministry of Rites also needed to standardize examination rules for all parts of the country, unify textbooks, and so on; Minister Landeer, as the top manager of the Silva Magic Energy Chamber of Commerce, had taken on a huge task for himself.

Late at night, after Luoning saw Buluoer off, he lay on the sofa, feeling somewhat exhausted.

Blanche walked over to knead his shoulders and massage his scalp: "How is it? Do you feel very tired?"

"Mm, even more tired than fighting a battle with Selandier and the others that day."

Although Buluoer, as the Deputy Commander of the Griffin Knights and an Honorary Count of the Kingdom, had decent interpersonal relationships, he was not quite enough to become the Minister of War.

The main reason he was able to succeed was that Luoning had given him a very positive evaluation during the speeches, which allowed him to lead Bawi by a narrow margin of votes.

The Ministry of War was responsible for the Kingdom's military affairs, security, army management, and military supply.

Military affairs and army management did not need to be handled by Buluoer for the time being; he was relatively skilled in the area of security, but he did not understand military supply well, which was why he had come to consult Luoning.

The Kingdom's resources were very abundant, and now that there was fighting everywhere, they certainly had to support all directions; the supply of resources was a major matter.

Luoning prepared to hold a meeting between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue to discuss this issue in depth.

"Tomorrow, help me tell Carolina to write a letter to Wubei Territory, asking Rognar to prepare to take up a post under Buluoer."

Although every noble only had one quota in the Six Ministries, Luoning was no exception.

But this did not prevent him from stuffing some of his own people in there.

Of course, not to serve as ministers or department heads, just to follow them and learn a few things.

Luogena has always been responsible for the coordination and supply of materials for the Wubei Territory, Moonlight Valley, and the frontline Miwu City, and he has quite a lot of experience in this regard.

Luoning had Luogena assist Buluoer, not only to help the latter but also because he wanted Luogena to have more contact with the affairs of the Kingdom, so as to reserve trustworthy people for the future of the Kingdom.

"Then who shall be responsible for the material issues of our territory?"

Blanche asked while massaging Luoning's scalp.

"That is indeed a question."

Luoning thought for a moment and said, "Let Dawei take it on; he has followed me for Along time, his strength improved at the end of last year, and he worked under Luogena a while ago, so having Pier-sen assist him should not be a problem."

Blanche nodded slightly.

Dawei is also familiar with Wilson, Chaha'er, and the others, and it is relatively simpler for an old hand to mobilize materials from various places.

"Very well, I will have Carolina notify everyone tomorrow." (End of chapter)