Chapter 147: The Six Great Legions

"Ju Shou, come forward to receive your appointment!"

"I am here!"

Ju Shou, who was standing behind Xu Shu, heard this, immediately stepped out, and responded loudly to Liu Bian.

"I appoint Ju Shou as Jingzhao Yin, Fourth Rank, with a salary of six hundred shi, effective immediately!"

"I, Ju Shou, thank Your Majesty for your heavenly grace!"

Ju Shou had not expected that Liu Bian would also appoint him to a Fourth Rank position.

Moreover, it was the position of Jingzhao Yin, which was quite good among Fourth Rank positions; he immediately kowtowed to Liu Bian excitedly.

"Now, there is no candidate for Bingzhou Inspector yet; Wenruo, do you have a suitable candidate?"

Thinking that the Bingzhou Inspector had not yet been decided, Liu Bian asked Xun Yu.

Upon hearing this, Xun Yu pondered for a while before replying to Liu Bian:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I recommend Chang'an Magistrate Cheng Yu. During his time as Chang'an Magistrate, he managed Chang'an in an orderly fashion; with his ability, he is fully capable of the position of Bingzhou Inspector!"

After hearing that Xun Yu recommended Cheng Yu, Liu Bian could not help but nod.

He highly recognized Cheng Yu's ability.

Immediately, he said to Xun Yu:

"Cheng Yu is indeed a good candidate, so let Cheng Yu serve as Bingzhou Inspector!"

"However, my wedding is coming up soon; let him attend my wedding before going to Bingzhou to take office!"

Thinking that it was only twenty-some days until his wedding, and that he would summon the marquises from all the provinces and commanderies of the world to come for an audience,

if Cheng Yu went to Bingzhou now, he would have to come back in a few days, so it would be better to wait until after the wedding to take office.

"I obey the decree!"

After hearing this, Xun Yu could not help but nod and bowed to him.

"However, after Cheng Yu is transferred to Bingzhou Inspector, the vacant position of Chang'an Magistrate will be filled by a suitable person chosen by your Ministry of Personnel!"

Thinking that the position of Chang'an Magistrate would be vacant, Liu Bian said solemnly to Xun Yu.

"I obey the decree; please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will certainly select a suitable person to serve as Chang'an Magistrate!"

Seeing this, Liu Bian nodded, and then said to everyone:

"Now that the government affairs are finished, let us talk about the military."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately pricked up their ears; after the previous events, they knew that this military matter would likely be a major reform as well.

"Through this Battle of Liangzhou, I have decided to divide the army into local garrisons and main combat legions."

"Currently, I intend to first create six great legions; they are the Shenwu Legion, composed of elite soldiers."

"And the five great Divine Beast Legions, named after the divine beasts in our Huaxia mythology."

"Among them, I already have suitable candidates for two of the legions."

Speaking to this point, Liu Bian quietly watched the reactions of the officials below.

However, although the officials were somewhat surprised, it was still within their tolerance; they all stared at Liu Bian curiously, wanting to know who would command these two legions.

The only thing they could guess was that Lü Bu would definitely be among them, after all, he was currently the strongest person besides Liu Bian.

If he could not command a legion, then no one else in the Great Han could be found to serve.

Sure enough, as they expected, they heard Liu Bian continue:

"Lü Bu, come forward to receive your appointment!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Bu, in the row of military officers, was startled. After stepping out, he bowed excitedly to Liu Bian and shouted:

"I am here!"

"I appoint Lü Bu as Commander of the Shenwu Legion of the Great Han Empire, Third Rank, with a salary of one thousand shi, reporting directly to me."

"Effective immediately, select one hundred thousand soldiers from all the legions of the Great Han to form our strongest legion!"

Liu Bian said to Lü Bu with majesty and solemnity.

"I obey the decree; thank Your Majesty for your heavenly grace!"

Lü Bu knelt on one knee excitedly to Liu Bian and bowed.

If he were not wearing armor, he would have kowtowed to Liu Bian twice.

After standing up and returning to the military row, Lü Bu could not help but raise the corners of his mouth.

"Zhang Liao, come forward to receive your appointment!"

Ignoring the proud Lü Bu, Liu Bian turned his gaze to Zhang Liao behind him and said with majesty.

"I am here!"

"I appoint Zhang Liao as Commander of the Xuanwu Legion, one of the five great Divine Beast Legions of the Great Han Empire, Third Rank, with a salary of one thousand shi, reporting directly to me."

"Effective immediately, use the one hundred thousand Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry as a foundation to form the two hundred thousand-strong Xuanwu Legion."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liao was trembling with excitement; he had not expected Liu Bian to entrust him with such an important position.

He knew clearly that there were many people in the Great Han Empire stronger than him.

Now that Liu Bian had appointed him as Commander of the Xuanwu Legion, one of the five great Divine Beast Legions, it showed how much Liu Bian valued him.

Immediately, he knelt on one knee to Liu Bian excitedly and responded loudly:

"I obey the order! Thank Your Majesty for your heavenly grace!"

"I will certainly die for Your Majesty!"

"Rise, Wenyuan!"

After Zhang Liao stood up, Liu Bian said to him again:

"Wenyuan, from now on, the Xuanwu Legion will be stationed outside Luoyang City; as for the defense of Bingzhou, leave it to Li Su and the other three."

"With those four in Bingzhou, each leading five thousand troops, it will be no problem to defend against the Xiongnu moving south."

With Li Su and the other three in Bingzhou, as long as they did not leave the city to fight enemies several times their number, it would be no problem to defend for a few days.

"I obey the decree!"

Seeing this, Zhang Liao also accepted it gladly.

"As for the commanders of the remaining four Divine Beast Legions, I have decided to hold a military competition in ten days; the final four winners will become the commanders of these four legions."

After Liu Bian announced the election of the commanders for the remaining four legions, all the military officers showed excitement.

This method was undoubtedly the best arrangement; even if they lost, it would just mean they were not as skilled as others.

"Your Majesty, can I also participate?"

At this moment, Dian Wei, after hearing Liu Bian's words, could not help but come out and ask Liu Bian with a smile.

"E'lai, you and Zhongkang should not join in the fun; since Yuan Shao is suspended, you, Zhongkang, take over the Yulin Army first!"

Seeing that it was Dian Wei asking, Liu Bian said to Dian Wei and Xu Chu with annoyance.

"Hehe, I obey the order!"

"I obey the decree!"

Seeing this, Dian Wei chuckled at Liu Bian twice and responded respectfully.

He was not interested in the position of commander; he just wanted to spar with the people in the army.

And Xu Chu also bowed respectfully to Liu Bian.

"However, since there are too many soldiers in our Great Han army, in order to quickly select the commanders of the five great legions, those whose strength has not reached the Postnatal Realm should not participate."

Thinking that there were hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the army, if everyone participated, it would be time-consuming and laborious, so he said to the military officers.

"I obey the decree!"

Upon hearing this, the military officers bowed and responded.

It was estimated that even if Liu Bian did not say it, those who had not broken through to the Postnatal Realm would not participate.

After all, there were quite a few people under Liu Bian who had broken through to the Postnatal Realm.

Even Zhao Yun and Wei Yan, after successfully cultivating, had entered the Postnatal Realm. ===== CHAPTER 148 =====