Given Li Si's and Fang Xuanling's capabilities, they would at least be bureau chiefs. Even if they were to become one of the four ministers, they would still be qualified to join the cabinet.
However, these positions could not be adjusted at the moment.
Ouyang Shuo did not even intend to add new ministers to the cabinet. There was already a Prime Minister, three Vice Ministers, and two part-time Vice Ministers. Any more and it would be too much.
However, he had to make arrangements. He couldn't let such talents be idle. That would be a 'waste of resources'.
Just as Ouyang Shuo was in a dilemma, Jiang Shang stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I think that it's time to equip the three protectorates with the Chief Historian and Secretary General."
The Chief Historian was equivalent to the Chief of Staff of the protectorate, similar to the Secretary General in modern society. The Secretary General was equivalent to the Chief of Staff and could be seen as the military advisor of the protectorate.
The Chief Historian was equivalent to the Chief of Staff of the protectorate, similar to the Secretary General in modern society. The Secretary General was equivalent to the Chief of Staff and could be seen as the military advisor of the protectorate.
Given that Great Xia still separated the military and politics, the Chief Historian's position was much higher than the Secretary General's.
According to Great Xia's system, the protectorate was divided into two levels: the Protectorate General and the Protectorate General. This was because in the military, the Protectorate General was ranked above the Great General. Hence, the Protectorate General was ranked above the Protectorate General, which was different from the Tang Dynasty's system.
The Protectorate General was Rank 2, on the same level as the Chamberlain of Dependencies, the Imperial Censor, and the Chief Secretary. It was higher than the Four Great Academies' Deputy Chancellors but lower than the Four Great Academies' Chancellors.
Correspondingly, the Chief Historian of the Protectorate General was Rank 3, on the same level as the Governor of a province.
The Protectorate General was Rank 2, on the same level as the Four Great Academies' Deputy Chancellors and Jing Zhaoyi. The Chief Historian of the Protectorate General was Rank 3, on the same level as the Four Great Academies' Deputy Chancellors and Jing Zhaoyi.
The Chief Historian of the Protectorate General was Rank 3, on the same level as the Secretary General of the Four Great Academies. At the same time, the President of the Great Xia Bank, as the central bank, was promoted from Rank 3 to Rank 2.
The two presidents of the Great Xia Commercial Bank and the Great Xia Agricultural Bank continued to be Rank 3.
The Southern Border Protectorate Manor had five provinces under it, so it was naturally an Upper Protectorate Manor. Thus, the full name should be the Southern Border Protectorate Manor. The Protectorate General of the Protectorate General of the three provinces was the Protectorate General of the Protectorate of the Southern Border.
The Protectorate General of the Protectorate General of the Southern Protectorate General of the Protectorate General of Protectorate General.
At this time, Jiang Shang proposed that the three protectorates be equipped with Chief Historian and Scribes. Firstly, it was to strengthen the protectorates and assist the protector-generals. Secondly, he was implying that the protector-generals should be given corresponding restrictions and supervision.
"Shan," Ou Yang's Yang 'Jiang's said. "Jiang of"
"of of of." Yang of Yang Jiang smiled. "Your Emperor of of Yang of.
Coincidentally, Li Si, Fang Xuanling, and Wei Liao had all started out as strategists. They were skilled in both the pen and the sword, and some of them had even served as Chief Annals.
After the discussion, it was decided that Li Si would be appointed as the Chief Historian of the Southern Border Protectorate, Fang Xuanling as the Chief Historian of the Southern Border Protectorate, and Wei Liao as the Chief Historian of the Northern Border Protectorate.
Comparatively speaking, the situation in Africa was the most complicated. Li Si should be the most suitable candidate to be the Chief Official of the African Protectorate. However, Ouyang Shuo considered two things. Firstly, Mulan Lanyue was still young and might not be able to control Li Si. Secondly, Li Si, who was also a subject of Qin, could not go to Africa to take up a post.
Fortunately, Fang Xuanling was also resourceful and honest. He had the demeanor of an elder, so it was likely that he would become Mulan Yue's right-hand man, assisting her as she became a high-ranking official guarding the borders of the imperial court.
At this point, this round of personnel adjustments had come to an end.
Before leaving, Kou Zhun asked, "Your Majesty, where will the Guanxi Province be located?" Regardless of whether it was Chang 'an or Xianyang, they were more than enough to serve as the administrative center of a province. That was why it was so difficult.
No matter which city they chose, the citizens of the other city would be dissatisfied.
Ouyang Shuo, on the other hand, took it lightly. He smiled and said, "First come, first served. Let's settle on Xianyang then!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Kou Zhun gasped in admiration. If that was the case, Chang 'an would have nothing to say.
…
After sending off Jiang Shang and the other two, Ouyang Shuo wasn't done with his work.
Settling a group of civil officials and adjusting the relevant personnel was only the first step in dealing with the aftermath of this battle. Following that, he had to figure out how to settle a group of generals, as well as the four armies of Zhou, Song, Qin, and Tang.
Among the generals who surrendered, Qin had Wang Jian and Wang Ben, while Tang had Li Ji, Hou Junji, Yuchi Jingde, and Cheng Yaojin. Among them, Wang Jian and Li Ji, who were considered to be on par with Li Jing, were the strongest and were qualified to be the commanders of the army corps. Wang Ben and Hou Junji were the next strongest, followed by Yuchi Jingde and Cheng Yaojin.
Given Wang Jian's talent, he was even qualified to be the commander of a theater of operations.
Then, there were the surrendered armies of the four nations. Among them, there were 650,000 soldiers from Zhou, 380,000 from Song, and 500,000 from Qin and Tang respectively. There was a total of 2.03 million soldiers. Apart from the slightly inferior Song army, the rest could be considered elites.
It would be a pity if they were all dismissed.
The problem was that following the unification of the Central Plains, the existing Great Xia army had to undergo a series of retrenchments to reduce expenses and replenish the treasury, let alone establish a new army corps or army corps.
How to deal with these two million soldiers became a big problem.
At three o 'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Liang, Jia Xu, and Du Ruhui were invited to the imperial study for a discussion.
"Everyone, how do you think we should arrange the armies of the four nations?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
Seeing this, Zhang Liang was still the first to step forward and replied, "Your Majesty, I think that the arrangement of the armies of the four nations shouldn't be an isolated matter. It should be considered together with the upcoming major disarmament."
"What do you mean?"
Zhang Liang said, "Following the unification of the Central Plains, the empire's strategy has shifted from internal to external. This major disarmament shouldn't be as simple and crude as the previous few times. Instead, it should be based on the empire's strategic direction and determined by war. The current structure of the army should be thoroughly reorganized. The fundamental goal is to increase the combat power of the entire army, not to weaken it."
Ever since Qin and Tang submitted, the officials had a tacit understanding to replace the word "imperial" with "empire." Yes, with the current territory of Great Xia, even though it wasn't an imperial dynasty, it was definitely worthy of the name "empire."
Calling it an imperial dynasty in the old days made it seem a little petty.
Ouyang Shuo tacitly agreed to this. No matter what, an empire sounded more imposing than an imperial dynasty. This was also the confidence that a rising powerful nation should have.
What Zhang Liang said was no longer a problem with the two million soldiers, and it wasn't even a problem with the Great Xia army. It directly escalated to the empire's strategic issue for the next two to three years, or even longer.
The problem was huge, but it couldn't be avoided.
Ouyang Shuo smiled. Zhang Liang was indeed a master of strategy, and Ouyang Shuo was very willing to follow his advice. "Alright, then everyone, let's discuss how the empire's future strategic direction should be determined."
Zhang Liang stood up again. "The prerequisite for becoming an imperial dynasty is to obtain the position of the overlord of Asia. If we start from this point, India in the southwest, the Persian Empire in the west, and the Romanov Dynasty in the north are all great enemies that we can't avoid. They should be the empire's strategic focus. "
Zhang Liang didn't mention Java in the southeast and the Mongolian Empire in the north. It wasn't that he was negligent, but with the empire's current strength, these two countries were nothing more than minor ailments and couldn't be treated as major opponents.
"Further away, the African Continent, which has already achieved success, and the American Continent, which is still in its infancy, are the empire's strategic focus. As for whether to intervene in the European Continent, it's all up to Her Majesty, "Zhang Liang said.
Unknowingly, Great Xia already had the framework of a global hegemon, and its tentacles were almost all over the world. However, this framework was still very fragile, and it needed to continuously strengthen its foundation.
Ouyang Shuo stated, "The European Continent isn't included in the strategic considerations for now."
In Europe, Great Xia currently only had one base city. It was undoubtedly a fantasy to think that it could move the entire European Continent with the power of a single city. More importantly, in Ouyang Shuo's long-term plan, Europe shouldn't be Great Xia's mortal enemy.
In the future, there might be a possibility of forming an alliance.
"Understood!"
Zhang Liang nodded. He also felt that giving up on Europe was a wise choice. They couldn't expand their territory too much.
At this moment, Du Ruhui stood up and said, "This humble subject thinks that although it's important to expand outwards, we can't give up on domestic defense. No matter what changes, the Central Plains should be the empire's core, and we can't slack off. "
Ouyang Shuo nodded and concluded, "The Central Plains, South Asia, West Asia, North Asia, Africa, and the American Continent — these six strategic directions can't be ignored, and there are strong opponents in each of them. From this, it can be seen that the empire is still facing a huge challenge. Just as Zi Fang said, we should properly plan for this major disarmament. How to reduce the absolute number of soldiers while ensuring and even increasing the overall combat power of the entire army is the most important thing.
"After this, the Grand Council, the Privy Council, and the Cabinet of Advisors should plan carefully and come up with a feasible disarmament plan as soon as possible. We should strive to complete this disarmament before the end of the year," Ouyang Shuo ordered.
"Yes!" The three ministers accepted the order in unison.
It was already mid-July, and there were only five months left until the end of the year.
According to common sense, this round of disarmament involved the entire army, and it would take at least three months or even longer. This also meant that there wasn't much time left for the three major institutions to come up with a disarmament plan.
Before that, they still had to settle the problem of the two million soldiers. Regarding this matter, Jia Xu had a plan that he wanted to report to Her Majesty.
However, this plan was very vicious, and it might not be approved.
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