Chapter 444: Establishing the Navy

"Since Yu Ji and Zuo Ci, the two of you have come, I plan to establish, outside the Six Ministries, a Tribute Hall, specifically to recruit extraordinary talents and strange scholars from among the common folk."

"The ranks of Tribute Hall members are divided into Sixth-Rank Tribute, with Sixth Rank the lowest and First Rank the highest."

"The Tribute Hall takes orders directly from the Emperor!"

Liu Bian spoke with dignity, presenting to everyone his idea of establishing the Tribute Hall.

"Your Majesty is Sage and Mighty! Your ministers second the motion!"

After hearing Liu Bian's words, though somewhat puzzled, everyone agreed.

After all, Liu Bian must have his own reasons for doing so.

Moreover, people like Yu Ji and Zuo Ci were indeed unsuitable for the other departments of the Imperial Court.

Thus, the Tribute Hall proposed by Liu Bian was undoubtedly the best place for them.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Liu Bian nodded in satisfaction as well.

"Yu Ji, hear the conferment!"

Then, Liu Bian looked at Yu Ji and said with dignity.

"Your minister is here!"

Hearing this, Yu Ji immediately shuddered and hurriedly responded respectfully.

"Yu Ji is hereby conferred as Fourth-Rank Tribute of the Tribute Hall of our Han Empire, official rank Fourth Rank, Salary of Six Hundred Shi."

"Your minister obeys the decree. Many thanks, Your Majesty!"

Hearing this, Yu Ji immediately bowed in gratitude to Liu Bian.

"Zuo Ci, hear the conferment!"

Seeing this, Zuo Ci at the side immediately rose, bowed, and responded: "Your minister is here!"

"Zuo Ci is hereby conferred as Hall Master of the Dan Palace of our Han Empire, official rank Fourth Rank, Salary of Six Hundred Shi, in charge of the refining and management of all pills required by our Han Empire!"

"Your minister obeys the decree. Many thanks for Your Majesty's heavenly grace!"

Zuo Ci immediately bowed in gratitude to Liu Bian.

He had not expected Liu Bian to appoint him as Hall Master of the Dan Palace instead of sending him to the Tribute Hall like Yu Ji.

At this moment, he already knew that the Basic Alchemy Manual Liu Bian had Cai Yong give him was definitely a fine thing.

Moreover, the pills Liu Bian spoke of should also be the legendary true pills.

Not the kind people had seen before, full of pill poison.

After conferring titles on Yu Ji and Zuo Ci, Liu Bian turned his gaze to Gan Ning and Taishi Ci.

"Gan Ning, hear the conferment!"

At this moment, Gan Ning, who had long been waiting at the side, immediately rose and responded loudly to Liu Bian:

"Your general is here!"

"Gan Ning is hereby conferred as Navy Commander of our Han Empire, official rank Fourth Rank, Salary of Six Hundred Shi. From this day forth, immediately establish a Navy of one Hundred Thousand for the Han Empire in Xuzhou, taking orders directly from the Emperor!"

Hearing this, Gan Ning's expression immediately froze.

He raised his head to look at Liu Bian, his face somewhat ugly, and said:

"Your Majesty, you wouldn't have said Water Army as Navy, would you!"

As a former Brocade Sail Bandit, Gan Ning didn't even have a large ship that could sail on the Yangtze River, let alone having seen a sea vessel that could sail on the ocean.

These two things were completely different.

So far, he had not heard of anyone who could build sea vessels.

Seeing Gan Ning's inquiry, Liu Bian gave him a slight smile and said with dignity:

"I did not speak wrongly. I am indeed ordering you to build the Navy of the Han Empire."

Upon hearing Liu Bian's affirmative words, Gan Ning's face immediately fell.

"Your Majesty, you may not know this — building a Navy is possible, but we don't have ships that can sail on the sea!"

"At present, we don't even have Warships that can sail on the Yangtze River, let alone sea vessels!"

At this moment, let alone Gan Ning thinking it impossible, even the others felt that building a Navy was unrealistic.

"Your Majesty, this minister concurs with General Gan Ning's view. If we wish to establish a Navy, we must first need warships capable of sailing on the sea."

"Presently, setting aside whether they can be built, even if someone could build them, our current finances cannot bear the expenditure!"

At this moment, Xi Zhicai, as Minister of Revenue, also rose and said gravely to Liu Bian.

"Your Majesty, this minister also concurs with General Gan Ning and Minister Xi. At present, we only need to build warships capable of sailing on the Yangtze River, sufficient to counter the Water Army of the four Commanderies in the south!"

"After Tian Xia is unified, it would not be too late to begin building a Navy!"

At this moment, Xun Yu, the Minister of Personnel seated at the side, also rose and said gravely to Liu Bian.

"Your ministers second the motion!"

At this moment, apart from Jia Xu, Guo Jia, and Cao Cao, the others also chimed in one after another.

"Your Majesty, since you insist so firmly on building a Navy, could it be that you have a way to solve the Warship problem?"

After everyone had spoken, it was only then that Guo Jia rose and asked Liu Bian with a smile.

From his understanding of Liu Bian, given his shrewdness, it was impossible he had not thought of these issues.

If Liu Bian had thought of these issues and still spoke with such certainty, he must have had a solution.

And as Guo Jia's words fell, the others also came to realize one after another.

They were all clever people; they had simply not thought of it for a moment. Upon hearing Guo Jia's words, they too felt that Liu Bian must have had a solution.

"Haha, still Fengxian is formidable. Not bad — the Warships for the sea, I can solve. You only need to cooperate well with Gan Ning and properly establish the Navy of our Han Empire!"

After hearing Guo Jia's words, Liu Bian immediately laughed and said to everyone.

"Your Majesty is Sage and Mighty! Your ministers cannot compare!"

Upon hearing Liu Bian's affirmative reply, those who had just spoken out in opposition immediately rose and bowed to Liu Bian.

Liu Bian waved his hand at the crowd, then turned his solemn gaze to the stunned Gan Ning and asked:

"Gan Ning, now that the problem of warships has been solved by Us, can you build Us a Navy that is invincible?"

Upon hearing this, Gan Ning's expression sharpened, and he immediately said solemnly to Liu Bian:

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. With warships, this general will surely be able to build Your Majesty a Navy that rules the seas and is invincible!"

Seeing this, Liu Bian nodded at him with satisfaction.

"Excellent!"

"Taishi Ci, hear your appointment!"

Upon hearing this, Taishi Ci immediately bowed with clasped fists and replied: "This general is here!"

"Taishi Ci is hereby appointed Vice Admiral of the Han Empire Navy, rank of the fourth grade, salary of five hundred and fifty shi, to assist Gan Ning in jointly commanding the Navy!"

"This general obeys the decree. Many thanks to Your Majesty for your grace!"

At this point, the rewards for the four had all been completed. Liu Bian turned his gaze to the Minister of Works, Xun You.

"Gongda, the matter of the Great Han Imperial Academy can also be put on the agenda. When the time comes, your Inner Cabinet and the Six Ministers will together select a location in Luoyang City and report it to Us."

"When the time comes, We will provide you with the blueprints for the Royal Academy."

Hearing this, Xun You and the others immediately replied respectfully to Liu Bian:

"Your subjects obey the decree!"

Afterwards, Liu Bian discussed some other matters with the crowd.

When they had finished talking and were about to leave, Liu Bian said to them again:

"Your Ministers, We have decided to convene a Grand Court Assembly in Five Days!"

"Wenruo, after your Ministry of Personnel returns, spread this news to those who did not come."

"Your subject obeys the decree!"

Xun Yu replied respectfully to Liu Bian.

Afterwards, the crowd withdrew from Liu Bian's Imperial Study.