Chapter 449: One Million-Strong Army Recruited

"Your Majesty, this subject has a memorial to present!"

At this moment, Minister of Works Xun You, who had been waiting for a long time, stepped out of the ranks and bowed to Liu Bian.

"Proceed!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the construction of the Shrine of Heroic Souls, which Your Majesty previously ordered my Ministry of Works to build, has already commenced."

"Furthermore, regarding the site selection for the Imperial Academy, after careful deliberation by myself and the other ministers, we have finalized the location in the Eastern District of Luoyang City, approximately five miles from the Imperial Palace."

"This area was originally farmland, later used as a military camp for Dong Zhuo's Xiliang Army, and now it happens to be vacant."

"Moreover, this site covers an area of about one hundred mu, which is perfectly suited to serve as the grounds for the Imperial Academy."

After Xun You finished speaking, he looked at Liu Bian respectfully.

"Very well, one hundred mu in size is indeed suitable for the Imperial Academy's site."

"Gongda, the construction of the Imperial Academy must begin as soon as possible. There are many commoners in Luoyang City; you may mobilize them to participate."

"However, you must ensure the commoners are well cared for. As for the wages for the commoners, have your Six Ministries jointly establish a standard; you must absolutely not let the commoners suffer any losses."

Liu Bian readily agreed to the location selected by Xun You and the others.

Subsequently, he exhorted Xun You further.

"This subject obeys the decree!"

Upon hearing this, Xun You immediately responded respectfully.

"Right, if there is a shortage of manpower, you may dispatch half of the Yulin Army. They are all warriors, and this bit of labor will be effortless for them."

"As for the guards of Luoyang City, leaving twenty-five thousand men is sufficient."

"Besides, my Shenwu Army and the Five Great Divine Beast Legions are still outside the city."

Thinking that relying solely on commoners for construction might be slow, Liu Bian decided to dispatch half of the Yulin Army to participate in the construction.

After so many months of cultivation, most of these Yulin Army soldiers possessed the strength of first-rate martial generals, and some with good talent had already broken through to the Postnatal First Layer realm.

With the addition of these soldiers, the Imperial Academy would surely be built rapidly.

"This subject obeys the decree!"

Upon hearing this, Xun You also readily agreed.

If this were any other emperor, the officials would have long since voiced their opposition.

But with Liu Bian, everyone felt that his arrangements had not the slightest issue.

Everything was determined by strength.

"This is the blueprint for the Imperial Academy I have found; you may proceed with the construction according to this blueprint."

After arranging the personnel matters, Liu Bian took out the blueprint he had already redeemed and handed it to Xun You.

Xun You respectfully received the blueprint and took a quick look.

He saw that on the overall layout provided by Liu Bian, the entire Imperial Academy was divided into two campuses: the Martial Dao Academy and the Literary Dao Academy.

Inside the academy, there were halls for the Library Pavilion, teaching buildings, martial practice grounds, canteens, Array Dao, Pill Dao, and Refining, all fully equipped.

If it were truly built according to this blueprint, it would undoubtedly become the most prestigious academy in the entire world.

Moreover, the entire academy was shrouded by an array.

However, because Liu Bian had not yet taught anyone about arrays, he still found some parts difficult to understand.

"Your Majesty possesses great talent; this subject is in awe!"

Having regained his composure, Xun You bowed respectfully to Liu Bian.

"For the Imperial Academy, Minister, proceed with the construction according to this blueprint. As for the final protective array, I will personally set it up when the time comes!"

Liu Bian also knew that others would not know how to set up arrays, so he immediately said to Xun You.

One must know that this blueprint cost him fifty thousand National Fortune points, redeemed from the System Mall.

And the academy's protective array, which came with the system, was an Earth Grade Upper Quality array: the Star Protection Array.

The Star Protection Array could autonomously absorb the power of the stars from the sky to replenish the array's consumption.

Furthermore, the array included illusion arrays, killing arrays, and protective arrays, capable of killing experts up to the Martial Emperor level.

The majority of those fifty thousand National Fortune points were spent on this array.

Moreover, Liu Bian wanted to wait until the dynasty was established before setting up an array for the Imperial Palace as well, so that he would not have to worry about enemies breaking into the palace when he was away.

"This subject obeys the decree!"

Subsequently, he retreated back into his own ranks.

"Is there any other business to present?"

After Xun You returned to the ranks, Liu Bian asked the assembled officials once again.

"Your Majesty, this subject has a memorial to present!"

Minister of War Cao Cao walked out from the ranks, bowed, and cupped his hands to Liu Bian.

"Proceed!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, as of yesterday afternoon, the soldiers for the Six Great Legions have all been fully recruited."

"Furthermore, there are still many strong and able-bodied commoners who wish to join my Six Great Legions."

"All of this is due to Your Majesty's wise and brave leadership, which is why the commoners of my Han Empire are so eager to enlist!"

After Cao Cao finished speaking, he looked at Liu Bian with a face full of reverence.

One must know that these Six Great Legions totaled a full one million one hundred thousand troops.

Even subtracting the original soldiers, there were nearly eight hundred thousand newly recruited men.

In this era, being able to recruit over eight hundred thousand men in such a short time shows just how formidable a feat it was.

Moreover, there were many who did not join the Six Great Legions, all filled with regret, still secretly hating themselves for arriving too late.

The benefits enjoyed by the soldiers of the Han Empire today were quite substantial.

Just the fact that they received more farmland than ordinary families made many commoners flock to join, not to mention the monthly military pay of five taels of silver!

Today, among the commoners under Liu Bian's command, anyone with strong and able-bodied family members wished their own children could join Liu Bian's ranks.

"We congratulate Your Majesty! We offer our congratulations, Your Majesty!"

At this moment, upon hearing Cao Cao's words, the assembled officials also excitedly offered their congratulations to Liu Bian.

In all their years as officials, from ancient times to the present, they had never heard of commoners being so eager to join the army.

In the past, whenever the imperial court recruited soldiers, the commoners would hide as far away as possible, wishing they could hide their own children away.

It was nothing like today, where the commoners were actively volunteering themselves.

In just under ten short days, over eight hundred thousand people had been recruited.

"This is excellent!"

At this, Liu Bian could not help but clap his hands in approval.

"Fengxian, Yunchang, you six, I grant you three months."

"You must train a batch of soldiers for me, each with a strength of at least a first-rate martial general."

"For all necessary resources, consult the Minister of Revenue, Xi Zhicai; whatever the Ministry of Revenue lacks, I shall provide."

"I have only one requirement: three months from now, your six legions must all fulfill my demands."

"Can you six accomplish this?"

Liu Bian asked, looking solemnly at Lü Bu and the other six legion commanders.

Lü Bu, Guan Yu, and the other six legion commanders stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Liu Bian, and replied with grave expressions:

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will certainly fulfill Your Majesty's requirements!"

"Good. In that case, I shall look forward to the performance of you six in three months' time!"

"We obey the imperial decree!"

Upon hearing this, the six men responded loudly with determined expressions.