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"Return to your place," Lie Fan said, his voice flat. Minister Deng stumbled back into the ranks, his body trembling with shame and fear. The message to the entire court was crystal clear, opposition born of self interest would be crushed, not with rage, but with cold, inexorable law.
"Now," Lie Fan said, his tone shifting back to that of a ruler conducting business, "let us begin the court meeting."
The usual petitions and reports were presented, border updates, agricultural yields, infrastructure projects. Lie Fan addressed each with his characteristic sharp intelligence, but a new undercurrent of fear and absolute obedience ran through the officials' responses. The Emperor had just demonstrated his power, and the memory was fresh.
Finally, after the routine matters were settled, Lie Fan turned his gaze towards the deliberation committee. "The deadline for the deliberation on the reform proposals has arrived. Grand Secretary Chen Qun, step forward and present the finalized versions to the court."
Chen Qun stepped forward with a calm dignity that contrasted sharply with Minister Deng's abject terror. In his hands, he carried two scrolls, tied with imperial yellow silk. He bowed and offered them to an imperial maid, who carried them with reverence up the dais and presented them to Lie Fan.
The entire hall held its breath. This was the moment. The Emperor unrolled the first scroll, Hlhis eyes scanned the carefully inscribed characters. The structure of ranks, from the highest noblesse to the humblest entry, clearly delineated. The checks and balances. The new avenues for men of talent, cutting off the rot of favoritism.
He then unrolled the second, outlining the structure of the Imperial Examination. Every three years, a great assessment. Questions spanning history, literature, law, governance, philosophy. Examiners rotated between ministries to prevent corruption. A path for the son of a farmer, if gifted, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the son of a minister, measured not by birth, but by mind.
After what felt like an eternity, he looked up. His gaze swept over the committee, the state teachers, and then the entire assembly.
"The deliberation committee has done its work with full of excellence," he announced, his voice resonating through the hall. "The arguments made inside are sound. The logics presented are very impeccable. The goal that is for a stronger, more righteous dynasty governed by the worthy, is one We wholeheartedly endorse and support."
He picked up the green jade Imperial Seal from the table beside his throne. The heavy jade seal, carved with the coiling dragon, was a symbol of ultimate authority. He pressed it firmly into the vermilion ink paste, then stamped it onto both scrolls with a decisive thud that echoed like a fateful drumbeat.
"Let it be known to all," Lie Fan declared, his voice rising in proclamation. "From this day forward, the Nine Rank System and the Imperial Examination are the law of the Hengyuan Dynasty. The Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Law will begin preparations immediately. I want the refirm of the system be done as efficient and as fast a spisisble, and also begin preparations for the first empire wide examination that will be held in three years' time from now."
The deed was done. The reforms were no longer a proposal, but the law of the land. There was no applause, only a deep, unified bow from the entire court. It was a bow of acceptance, of a new era being ushered in.
As the court was dismissed and officials began to file out, the atmosphere was electric with unspoken thoughts. The reformers exchanged looks of quiet triumph. The defeated conservatives slunk away, their futures uncertain.
And Lie Fan, rising from his throne, allowed himself a small, private smile behind the beads of his mianguan. The political theater was over. The stage was now set for the real transformation of his empire. The frogs had been boiled, the net had been cast, and the harvest of a new, meritocratic age had begun.
Before leaving, Lie Fan announced one last thing. His voice, calm but commanding, carried across the silent hall.
"One matter remains. These two new laws, which We have passed into the foundation of Our dynasty, must not remain hidden in scrolls or confined to the walls of this court. They must be announced throughout all the lands of the Hengyuan Dynasty. The Nine Rank System, the Imperial Examination, every subject under heaven must know what they mean. Their explanation shall be written plainly, in words even the common folk can understand, so that they do not merely hear the names but grasp the spirit of these reforms."
The words stirred a ripple among the officials. To announce reforms in such a way was unprecedented. Usually, decrees were delivered in formal language, dense with classical phrasing few commoners could truly follow. But Lie Fan was deliberately choosing clarity over exclusivity. It was another statement in itself: the reforms were not simply for the officials, they were for the people.
Jia Xu, standing in his role as Chancellor, stepped forward and bowed deeply. His calm voice rang out with solemn assurance.
"Your Majesty may rest easy. This servant promises that the announcement shall be made and spread as swiftly as possible. Simple explanations will be prepared, and every prefecture, county, and village will hear the Emperor's will. Not one subject shall remain ignorant of this new order."
Lie Fan gave a satisfied nod, his expression unreadable behind the curtain of his mianguan beads. Then, rising from the Dragon Throne, he stepped down from the dais. The Yellow Ghost Bodyguards, their black and gold armor gleaming, fell into formation around him. His robes flowed like waves of fire as he crossed the length of the hall.
The officials sank into a deep bow as he passed, their foreheads pressed low. None dared move until the sound of his footsteps faded beyond the great doors.
Minister Deng and the disgraced group of officials lingered, hoping, foolishly, that they might somehow seize the chance to beg forgiveness, to grovel their way back into their sovereign's good graces.
But that chance would never come. They were already marked. Through the tireless eyes of the Oriole Agents, Lie Fan knew of their corruption, their nepotism, their secret dealings. To him, they were already men half buried, their pleas nothing but the squeals of pigs before slaughter.
When the court was finally dismissed, the officials dispersed in every direction. Some hurried to their ministries, some lingered in hushed groups, others fled the hall as though chased by the specter of their own downfall. The atmosphere outside was entirely different. Word had already begun to spread, the Emperor had sealed the reforms with the Imperial Seal.
The news raced across Xiapi like wildfire and, within days, across the entire realm.
The common people cheered. For them, this was not simply a matter of high politics but the dawning of a brighter age. To farmers, artisans, and merchants alike, the Nine Rank System promised officials who could no longer rise through nothing but birthright or bribes.
The Imperial Examination offered a dream undreamt, that a boy born in obscurity, if diligent and brilliant, might one day serve as a magistrate, a governor, even a minister.
In villages, parents gathered their sons and urged them to study with newfound fervor. Young men, especially those in their teenage years, sat late into the night by lamplight, pouring over classics, histories, and essays.
Some did so from their own ambition, others from the heavy push of family expectation. Every family dreamed that in three years' time, when the first empire-wide examination was held, their household might be the one to send forth a candidate who would secure both honor and prosperity.
Even among the lowest, there was hope. "If I cannot rise, perhaps my son can," men whispered. For the first time in generations, the future seemed less bound by chains of birth.
Meanwhile, within the bureaucracy, the Nine Rank System began its implementation with speed and precision. It was decided that the highest ranks would be converted first.
The Three Excellencies, the Ministers of the Six Ministries, and the Heads of Departments. This was accomplished swiftly, for these positions were already held by Lie Fan's closest circle, men whose loyalty and competence were beyond question.
From there, the conversion moved downward through the layers of administration. Here the true labor began. The vast number of officials across the civil and military branches had to be catalogued, assessed, and reassigned according to the new structure. Records had to be rewritten, titles recalibrated, precedents established.
Jia Xu, Chen Qun, Zhuge Liang, Chen Gong, and Lu Su shouldered the monumental burden. It was not opposition that slowed them, Minister Deng's reckless actions had shattered any chance of organized resistance, but sheer numbers.
Thousands upon thousands of officials across the provinces required evaluation. The clerks of the ministries worked day and night, sorting through records, updating registers, copying edicts. Before those subordinates could work effectively, they themselves had to be classified under the Nine Rank System, creating a dizzying chain of reform.
It was grueling work, but it was also exhilarating. For those loyal to the Emperor, every scroll copied, every name reclassified, was a hammer stroke in the forging of a new order.
While the civilian bureaucracy labored under its immense transition, Lie Fan's mind turned to the other great pillar of the realm, the military.
That evening, he summoned the Imperial General Staff to the palace. Xun You the Grand Commandant, Sima Yi the Minister of War, Huangfu Song the Grand General, and Zhang Liao the Deputy Grand General, together, the four of them formed the brain of the empire's armies. They assembled in the chamber Lie Fan had named the Art of War Hall.
The hall itself was a sanctum of strategy. Its walls were lined with shelves of military classics, Sun Tzu, Wu Qi, the Six Secret Teachings, and countless others. Maps filled the tables and walls, detailed surveys of each province, diagrams of fortresses, river routes, supply chains.
There were even new maps of the Korean peninsula, meticulously prepared by Oriole agents and local informants. Miniature carved figures, painted red, black, or white, stood ready to represent armies, divisions, and fleets.
When Lie Fan entered, he was standing before the great central map of China, gazing intently at it. The territories of the Hengyuan Dynasty were carved in bold strokes, now spanning half the land. To the west and north, the domains of Cao Wei stretched from Luoyang all the way to the frontier at Wuwei. To the south and west, the fractured remnant of the Han held Yi Province.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty
Age: 35 (202 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 2325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 966 (+20)
VIT: 623 (+20)
AGI: 623 (+10)
INT: 667
CHR: 98
WIS: 549
WILL: 432
ATR Points: 0