But the reward given to Li Ru later on is quite interesting.
Li Ru!
He was definitely a top-notch strategist, it's just a pity he followed the wrong person.
Of course, if Dong Zhuo hadn't become arrogant because he held power, he wouldn't have met such an end; it can only be said that fate played a cruel trick on him.
To be honest, Li Ru's reputation isn't very good, because his schemes are in the same direction as Jia Xu's— both are extremely ruthless. In fact, when it comes to ruthlessness, only he and Jia Xu are worthy of the title.
Now that the system has given it to me, coupled with Ran Min from before, it seems like it's hinting that I should do something bad.
Lin Yi glanced at the envoys and saw that they all looked terrified. He couldn't help but smile. It wasn't for nothing that he had made a knock-off of the Xuanyuan Sword; he had certainly made a name for himself.
He looked at Zhang Jiao and said in a deep voice, "Grand Preceptor, are there any further steps?"
"Your Majesty has completed the Fengshan ceremony to worship Heaven, and Heaven and Earth have acknowledged your merits. Now it is time to reward your ministers!" Zhang Jiao glanced at the ministers below and said in a deep voice.
Lin Yi nodded. The previous officials had only made a hasty design; now it was time to put together a proper arrangement.
He looked at the assembled officials below and said in a deep voice, "My establishment of the Great Liang owes much to the contributions of all my officials, but the greatest credit goes to my father, the Emperor Emeritus. I hereby honor my father as the Retired Emperor."
" Cai Yan is hereby appointed Empress of the Eastern Palace, as the head of the harem and in charge of the north. Li Mingzhu is hereby appointed Empress of the Western Palace, responsible for assisting her."
" Jia Xu will continue to serve as the Grand Secretary of the Central Secretariat, responsible for decision-making and various proposals. Chen Qun will serve as the Attendant- Chancellery, responsible for review, and Xun Yu will serve as the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, responsible for execution."
" Jiang Wei, Minister of Ministry of Personnel Mi Zhu, Minister of Ministry of Revenue; Cao Cao, Ministry of War of Ministry of Rites Zhang Liao, Minister of War; Ma Jun, Minister of Ministry of Works; and Chen Dao, Minister of Ministry of Justice, were appointed as the heads of the Six Ministries."
"Furthermore, Wang Ziwen was appointed Grand Tutor, a high-ranking official of the first rank."
" Sima Yi was appointed Governor-General of Shannan, Ma Chao was appointed Grand Governor-General of the Western Regions, Gao Shun was appointed Governor-General of Xiliang, Gan Ning was appointed Grand Admiral of the Navy, and Zhou Yu was appointed Grand Governor-General of Jiangdong..."
" Ran Min is appointed as the Grand General of the Southwest, responsible for guarding the Jackal Kingdom."
After a series of appointments, almost everyone received a reward, including Ran Min, who had not been summoned.
Of all the rewards, only a few positions changed, namely Cao Cao was promoted to Ministry of Rites, sent to take charge first. As for future promotions, that will be discussed later.
Long live the Emperor!
The officials kowtowed to express their gratitude for the emperor's favor. This was the moment when they truly received recognition, and their names would be remembered for eternity along with this Fengshan ceremony.
Lin Yi nodded slightly and looked at Zhang Jiao, saying, "Alright, now that the sacrificial ceremony is over, the rest is up to you!"
After Lin Yi left, the group of foreign envoys looked quite grim. It seemed that the terrifying momentum of Great Liang was about to become uncontrollable.
Abucha took a deep breath, walked straight to Jiumosong, and said in a deep voice, " Jiumosong, the situation in Great Liang is about to become even stronger, and we need to make necessary contact!"
Originally, the two countries were uninvolved, but now they probably can't avoid it, because the Great Liang seems to be a bit too powerful.
"I understand. I will inform the King and formally establish diplomatic relations with the Frostwest Empire to jointly resist the Great Liang." Jiumosong nodded solemnly and said in a deep voice.
The current situation is something that the Zhennan Dynasty alone cannot withstand. Even if they manage to stop it, they will likely suffer heavy losses, and the Frostwest Empire might take advantage of them.
Rather than that, we should bear it together.
However, he couldn't help but glance at the envoys from other countries, who quickly looked away. Going against a genius like Great Liang was practically suicide.
Without hesitation, these people eagerly followed the Great Liang convoy back, eager to express their stance.
Among the crowd, members of prominent families like Wang Hui wore bitter expressions, knowing that the Emperor's prestige would likely grow even stronger after today.
Zhang Wanhao gritted his teeth and said, "This is troublesome. The aristocratic families are probably completely out of luck. The current emperor is far too powerful. After today, if we say anything bad about the emperor, we'll probably be torn apart!"
He had witnessed the fervor of the people earlier; they were even more enthusiastic than his own father. If his family were to speak ill of the emperor, they would likely suffer a terrible fate.
The power of these aristocratic families in the south has been largely wiped out, and these families have suffered heavy losses. If it weren't for the fact that they still have some roots in the north, they would probably be homeless by now.
His current goal is to restore the Zhang Clan, but the current emperor is so powerful, which is definitely not a good thing for him.
"Alas, the Emperor is now ruthless towards the aristocratic families. If it weren't for the fact that we are still somewhat useful, we would probably all be wiped out. With that ' Aristocratic Clan Administration Law ' in place, our aristocratic families have nowhere to hide," said the Liu Clan family head, looking dejected.
Of all the people, he suffered the most severe losses, because the Liu Clan controlled the inn and restaurant, and therefore had the most people under their command.
Having been dealt two blows by Li Anlan and his wife, he was severely weakened.
They had originally hoped to take this opportunity to recover, but now that the Emperor had done this, they felt that life was even more difficult for their aristocratic families.
Wang Hui took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Did you see the flaw in that miracle just now? How could it be so outrageous? It even produced a legendary phenomenon, and it even managed to cut a mountain in half with a single sword strike. Has the Emperor become a god?"
"I don't understand!" Zhang Wanhao chuckled dryly. He really didn't understand this stuff, but it felt very absurd.
Liu Kun rolled his eyes and said irritably, " Cao Cao came to our door earlier, saying that our aristocratic family holds a large amount of land and people, which is a threat to the emperor. This is something that Great Liang will not allow."
If I'm not mistaken, this is the Emperor's ultimatum. If we don't respond, we might be completely purged.
He had been somewhat hesitant at first, but after seeing this today, he felt it was better to be sensible, otherwise his last glimmer of hope might be gone.
Upon hearing this, a moment of silence fell over the room.
Someone who has controlled a powerful family for so many years is no fool.
During the Great Ning era, powerful families could do whatever they wanted because the imperial court needed their wealth and influence to rule the country.
But the Great Liang is too powerful now, so whether the aristocratic families still exist is completely irrelevant.
If we don't know our place, the Emperor might lose patience, and then we'll be in big trouble.
Liu Kun took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "The northern aristocratic families are still observing the situation, but Cao Cao has already met with them. I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out for much longer!"