If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

Inside the Xuanzheng Hall, you could hear a pin drop.

The court assembly, which should have been a celebration of the end of the Wolf Kingdom's military troubles, was now eerily silent.

The civil and military officials stood with their hands at their sides below the hall, each with their own thoughts.

Zhao Yu sat upright on the dragon throne, but did not intend to speak first.

His gaze swept over everyone in the hall, while his mind raced with calculations.

With the Wolf Kingdom defeated and plagued by internal strife, it's safe to leave it alone for the time being.

But it was at this moment that he truly took over the entire Liang Dynasty.

To secure this position, even if one doesn't become invincible, one must completely control the Liang Dynasty to make a living.

To gain control of the Great Liang, one must focus on four core aspects: economy, military, talent, and public support.

economic.

The national treasury now has only a meager 100,000 taels of silver left.

The reason there was no shortage of money before was because we only had to guard one imperial city and extort a sum of money from the civil officials in the imperial city. That's why we not only didn't lack money, but we also had spare money to distribute lucky bags to all the people in the city.

But now we have to face the entire Liang Dynasty; throwing in this little bit of money won't even make a ripple.

Then go and exploit those five major families again?

They are now confident that if they don't handle things well, a counterattack could lead to a tax evasion crisis and economic collapse.

Let's look at the military aspect next.

Zhao Yu's gaze fell on the Meng family members in the ranks of military officers.

Although the Meng family is loyal, they are a fallen military family, now only responsible for guarding the imperial city, with no more than five thousand imperial guards under their command.

Compare this to his uncle Qian Zhentian, who commands a million soldiers.

Five thousand is nothing, not even a drop in the ocean.

As for talent.

On the military side, the Meng family has clearly sided with them.

On the civil officials' side, looking around, apart from the newly appointed prime minister Wang Zhang, who among the others didn't have the shadow of the five major families behind them?

These people are only thinking about power and profit; it will be quite difficult for them to be used for our own purposes.

The only positive trend might be in public sentiment.

This is all thanks to Zhao Yu's governance.

His actions had angered the people of Liang, causing widespread resentment and uproar. However, his recent actions had actually changed the public's perception of him, with some even seeing him as a lifeline.

Once this good reputation gradually spreads, public sentiment will be turned around.

However, it will take too long, and there are also five major families blocking the way.

Zhao Yu smiled bitterly to himself.

When I took over, it was a mess of accounts; now, it's just a slightly better-looking mess of accounts.

But he wasn't one to give up easily, so he decided to start by recruiting talent!

Whether it's the economy or the military, ultimately it all depends on people.

Just then, Li Qiang, the Minister of War, stepped out from the ranks of civil officials, breaking the silence in the hall.

He bowed deeply, his face beaming with smiles.

"Your Majesty! The Wolf Kingdom's army has besieged the city, and we are in imminent danger. Fortunately, Your Majesty's mighty power has turned the tide. This is a blessing for our Great Liang and a boon for all its people!"

The praise and eulogy were sung in a flowery and extravagant manner.

However, he changed the subject, and his face showed a look of concern for the country and its people.

"However, this battle also exposed serious flaws in the existing military system. The border troops, stationed far from the capital and beyond the control of the imperial court, had become militarily weak and ineffective, allowing the treacherous wolf kingdom to take advantage of the situation!"

"I believe we should change course and revise the military system!"

Zhang He's voice suddenly rose in pitch, becoming resounding and forceful.

"I propose abolishing the border army system and replacing it with a system of one army per city! Local officials should be allowed to recruit soldiers and form city defense armies to protect their villages! In this way, every region will have strong troops, and foreign enemies will no longer dare to humiliate our Great Liang!"

These words caused an uproar throughout the hall.

Immediately, many civil officials stepped forward and echoed the sentiment.

"Lord Zhang is absolutely right! This is a strategy for strengthening the nation!"

"I second that proposal! Protect the borders and ensure the safety of the people!"

"Only in this way can our Great Liang Dynasty be as solid as a rock!"

For a moment, shouts of "Your Majesty is wise!" rang out in the hall, as if they were truly thinking of the country and its people.

Zhao Yu chuckled.

They talk a good game, but they sing a better game.

In most places, officials are members of the five major families.

Let them recruit their own army. Who will that army ultimately listen to?

Isn't this just using the guise of reform to get the imperial court to fund the private armies of these five powerful families?

"Bullshit!"

Wu Xun's troops immediately objected. A young general from the Meng family stepped forward, pointed at Li Qiang's nose, and began to curse:

"What kind of bullshit military system is this! It's clearly you civil servants who are embezzling and corrupting military pay every year! Our brothers on the border aren't even getting enough to eat, how are they supposed to fight those wolf cubs!"

His shout immediately ignited the anger of the military officers.

"That's right! My brothers and I have been guarding the border for ten years. When we wrote back, we said that we only received less than 30% of the military pay allocated by the court! The rest was all swallowed up by you bunch of corrupt officials!"

"You pedantic scholars, have you forgotten the matter of the former Minister of War?"

The hall immediately descended into chaos.

The two factions, one civilian and one military, clashed and accused each other, spitting as they spoke, and the scene briefly spiraled out of control.

Despite the angry shouts from the military officers, Minister of War Li Qiang remained completely calm.

He gave a cold laugh and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Generals, please calm down. I know that the soldiers on the frontier are working hard, but military pay doesn't just appear out of thin air."

"Banditry is rampant in various places now, and trade routes are blocked. If there are no troops in the local areas to suppress them and maintain order, how can taxes be collected? Without tax revenue, how will the imperial court pay the generals' salaries?"

After saying that, he even glanced at Zhao Yu.

The threat in those words couldn't be clearer: if they don't grant them the right to recruit, then they can forget about any tax money going to the imperial court!

Zhao Yu narrowed his eyes.

He knew Zhao Yu well; although he was incompetent and had almost allowed the civil service to usurp the reins of government, he wasn't completely stupid.

He knew perfectly well that military power must never fall into the hands of civil officials.

Therefore, he has been holding firm on this matter.

If any official is found to be secretly maintaining an army, he will be immediately charged with treason.

With the Prince of Zhennan's sword hanging over them, those civil officials really didn't dare to go too far.

But things are different now.

The siege of the capital made these civil officials feel a real sense of crisis.

This group of people clearly realized that if they waited any longer, they would never have the opportunity to recruit an army.

That's why I took this opportunity to try and completely break through this restriction.

Zhao Yu's gaze passed over the noisy crowd and landed on Qian Zhentian at the very front of the military officers' formation, wanting to see his reaction.

Unfortunately, Qian Zhentian just stood there from beginning to end, at most picking his nose to pass the time.

It was as if all of this had nothing to do with him!

Zhao Yu frowned slightly.

It seems this cheap uncle is no pushover either!