Deng Ai was sitting in his residence.
An assortment of books and maps lay before him.
Deng Ai leafed through the books while consulting the maps and marking them.
His son Deng Zhong stood beside him, his face full of misery.
This time, Deng Ai had truly landed Deng Zhong in a terrible mess.
Because Deng Ai had been posted away as General Who Guards the West, Deng Zhong had remained at the imperial court, first serving as an attendant Gentleman of the Court before being assigned to the Ministry of Rites as a Gentleman.
This had offered excellent room for advancement, and there were plenty of merits to be earned in the Ministry of Personnel, too.
When the imperial court launched the War of Shu's Destruction, the Ministry of Personnel also began preparing appointments for officials throughout the Shu Kingdom in advance.
Zheng Mao led his subordinate officials in compiling a list of officials suitable for promotion. If the Shu Kingdom could be pacified, they could select appointees directly from among them.
Deng Zhong had spent several months running himself ragged over this.
During those months, he had practically lived at the Ministry of Personnel, examining officials' previous administrative achievements, checking them against the vacancies required in each locality, and sorting and arranging them one by one. Every day was incredibly busy.
Forgetting sleep and meals, he had rushed through the work with his colleagues for several months before finally producing several thick "personnel" lists.
These were not official appointment lists, merely the Ministry of Personnel's lists of candidates, but preparing them was even more troublesome than preparing the official lists.
But just when all this was finished, and they were waiting for the emperor to review their candidates, bestow rewards, and determine their merits...
Someone suddenly came to