Do you have the strength to force me to join the Liangshan bandits?

Chapter 640 Cai Fu: This is the rule of Qi! [1st Update]

Bangyuan Cave, Qingxi County.

"Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live a thousand years!"

The civil and military officials of the Southern Kingdom, including Duke Fang Jie, Grand Preceptor Deng Yuanjue, Left Chancellor Lou Minzhong, Right Chancellor Zu Shiyuan, General Du Wei, Privy Councilor of the Eastern Hall Lü Shinang, Minister Wang Yin, General Shi Bao of the Southern Kingdom, and General Li Tianrun of the State, all knelt down before Cai Fu on the dragon throne and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

Cai Fu sat imposingly on the dragon throne, with his soon-to-be-married princess, Fang Jinzhi, sitting beside him.

Fang Jinzhi looked happily at her man's profile, his features were well-defined, his lines were strong and angular.

Not the kind of pretty boy with delicate features, but a real man full of vigor and righteousness!

Even just sitting next to Cai Fu, one feels as if melted by the yang energy emanating from him, as blazing as the sun!

Seeing all the civil and military officials bowing down at Cai Fu's feet with heartfelt admiration, Fang Jinzhi felt much more at ease.

The world only sees the Southern Kingdom Empress's extremely noble status, but they don't know that Fang Jinzhi walks on thin ice every day.

Even when she was being worshipped by civil and military officials, Fang Jinzhi felt extremely uncomfortable because she did not have the power to do so.

Cai Fu became King of Qi with a clear conscience. He had conquered the country, so who would dare to disobey him?
Fang Jinzhi was different; not only did she gain the throne by chance, but she also inherited a mess.

She has neither fought in wars nor governed in politics, and she just turned eighteen this year. Isn't this forcing her into a difficult position?

To put it bluntly, even if she sat on the dragon throne, she still had to be mindful of the attitudes of the civil and military officials.

Because any word, action, or even expression she makes can be interpreted with countless hidden meanings.

The key issue is that she lacks substance, at least not the substance to be an emperor, so it's better this way, she's carefree.

Cai Fu was very happy, but he also laid out the unpleasant truth beforehand:

“I am deeply honored that you all are willing to acknowledge me as your king.”

"There is one rule that Cai Fu must make clear to everyone first."

"In the state of Qi, the capable rise and the incapable fall!"

"Don't compare starting points, compare progress; don't compare seniority, compare achievements!"

"So you might be the prime minister or the marshal in the Southern Kingdom, but you might not be the prime minister or the marshal in the Qi Kingdom."

"At first, you might be placed at the grassroots level. Once you demonstrate your abilities and achieve results, you will naturally be placed in a position that is more suitable for you."

"For example, Zong Ze was originally a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the sixth year of the Yuan You era. He had served as a county lieutenant, county magistrate, sub-prefect, and even the prefect of Dengzhou."

"After being framed by treacherous officials and dismissed from office by the court, he lived in seclusion in the mountains at the age of sixty-one."

"Upon hearing that I was holding the World's Greatest Hero Tournament, he came incognito and won the gold medal."

"I know his past, but he can only serve as a deputy general in the vanguard to attack the Liao Kingdom based on his gold medal."

"Later, based on his military achievements in the northern frontier, I appointed him as the General of Tanzhou, in charge of the troops in Tanzhou."

"You all know Tanzhou, right? It's one of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that were taken away by the Liao Kingdom."

"It is now Qi territory, which we took back from the Jin army!"

"It is foreseeable that he will be remembered in history as the first general to reclaim Tanzhou!"
"This is how the State of Qi employs people!"
"So you were the prime minister in the Southern Kingdom, but you might have been a staff officer in the Qi Kingdom."

"You were a marshal in the South, but you might be a commander in the State of Qi."

"But as long as you have the ability, you will definitely be able to achieve results!"

"If you achieve something, you will definitely be promoted to a high-ranking position!"

"But before that, you must start from the bottom!"

"If you are all willing to accept the rules of Qi, Cai Fu welcomes you with open arms. From now on, we will weather the storms together and help each other through thick and thin!"
"If you are unwilling to accept it, please say so now. Cai Fu will not force you and will even offer you gold and silver to wish you a bright future and great success!"

From now on, we will each have our own futures and go our separate ways!

"This humble general is willing to follow Your Majesty!" As soon as Cai Fu finished speaking, Fang Jie was the first to express his opinion without hesitation.

Following closely behind were military generals such as Deng Yuanjue, Shi Bao, Wang Yin, and Li Tianrun, all of whom were convinced of Cai Fu's abilities.

They are all capable, and they are not worried about not being able to rise to prominence under Cai Fu.

The civil officials who hesitated were, for example, Lou Minzhong and Zu Shiyuan.

They had already risen to the positions of Left Chancellor and Right Chancellor, reaching the pinnacle of their official careers.

But when he arrived in Qi, he had to start as a strategist. How could he be willing to accept that?

Although Cai Fu gave them the example of Zong Ze, how could they possibly have Zong Ze's abilities?
If they had Zong Ze's abilities, wouldn't they have taken the imperial examination route instead of joining Fang La's rebellion?

The State of Qi already has a prime minister, Wen Huanzhang, and in line are Zhu Wu, Li Gang, Li Zhu, and others...

It was virtually impossible for them to become prime ministers in the state of Qi.

If they wanted to work at the grassroots level, why would they go to the State of Qi?

Wouldn't it be better to just surrender to the imperial court?

Lou Minzhong and Zu Shiyuan exchanged a glance, knowing that if they wanted to leave, now was the best time.

Several civil officials exchanged glances and quickly made a pact, then bowed down to Cai Fu, saying, "The world is so big, I want to go and see it."

Cai Fu counted the heads, which included about ten civil officials such as Lou Minzhong, Zu Shiyuan, Feng Xi (the envoy who introduced the officials), and Jia Yuqing (the military commissioner of Xuanzhou).

To Cai Fu's satisfaction, none of the military officers left, which at least proved that they had all risen through the ranks based on their true abilities.

It's hard to say about civil officials, after all, even the Left Chancellor Lou Minzhong was originally just a teacher in Qingxi County.

However, he was not as good as Wu Yong. At least Wu Yong had some schemes and tricks, but he was born with the body to fall for traps.

In the original story, if it weren't for the fact that he fell for two schemes—first recommending Chai Jin and Yan Qing to Fang La, and then accepting the feigned surrender of Li Jun, Ruan Xiao Wu, Ruan Xiao Qi, Tong Wei, and Tong Meng—Fang La wouldn't have been so easily defeated.

If even the Left Chancellor is like this, one can only imagine the level of the other civil officials.

So, goodbye then, the next one will be even better!
Cai Fu did not try to stop them, but gave each of them one hundred strings of cash for travel expenses and saw them off out of Qingxi County.

Zu Shiyuan was very frustrated. He had originally planned to play hard to get with Cai Fu and then pledge allegiance to him.

As a result, Cai Fu let him go so easily, leaving Zu Shiyuan to curse Lou Minzhong in his heart.

After all the discordant notes were cleared away, harmony returned to the Golden Palace.

From this day forward, the eight southern prefectures of Shezhou, Muzhou, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Changzhou, Huzhou, Xuanzhou, and Runzhou will be officially incorporated into the territory of the State of Qi.

Originally, the State of Qi already had twenty-seven prefectures. With these eight more, it would have thirty-five prefectures.

It's not small, but it's actually not big enough.

The Song Dynasty had four capitals, thirty-four prefectures, two hundred and forty-three counties, fifty-two military districts, and four supervisory offices, totaling three hundred and thirty-seven counties and prefectures.

Cai Fu's share was only one-tenth.

Afterwards, Cai Fu appointed Yang Lin as the General Commander of Shezhou, Han Tao as the General Commander of Huzhou, and Peng Qi as the General Commander of Xuanzhou.

Sun Xin was appointed to replace Sun Li as the General of Runzhou, and Sun Li was appointed as the Pacification Commissioner of Jiangnan, responsible for streamlining the army and administration.

……

In the room filled with the scent of medicine, Li Kui lay naked on the bed, his face ashen.

He usually loves to be completely naked, but at this moment he wished he could wrap himself up like a mummy.

After carefully examining Li Kui's body, An Daoquan shook his head.

Cai Fu asked him, "Is there any hope?"

(End of this chapter)