Transmigrating to the Three Kingdoms as Lu Bu: I Have a Pseudo-Apocalypse System

As the sun set, the investiture ceremony came to an end.

Surrounded by officials, Lü Bu left Weiyang Palace and returned to the Prince of Jin's residence.

On the way, Guo Jia laughed and said, "My lord's words today will probably keep Yuan Shu and the others up at night."

Jia Xu stroked his beard: "It is precisely to make them restless and uneasy. Under pressure, one of Sun Ce and Shi Xie may take the initiative to surrender, thus dividing and weakening them and reducing the resistance to our conquest."

Lü Bu nodded: "Wenhe is quite right. Next, we should focus on developing the north, putting pressure on the south, and reforming the government. After the autumn harvest, if the south still hasn't surrendered..."

A cold glint flashed in his eyes: "Then, with the force of thunder, we will sweep away all the rebels!"

"Our lord is wise!"

……

Several days after the investiture ceremony, in the council hall of the Prince of Jin's residence.

Lu Bu sat in the main seat, flanked by key civil and military officials such as Jia Xu, Guo Jia, Shi Sunrui, Xun You, Chen Gong, Ju Shou, Zhang Liao, and Cheng Lian.

"I have summoned you all today to discuss the establishment of a system for the officials under the Prince of Jin's court." Lü Bu got straight to the point. "I have been granted the title of Prince, with a fief of five commanderies in Bingzhou. According to the system, officials under the Prince's court should be established to manage the fief. However, now that the north has just been pacified, the affairs of the court are complicated, and the system of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers is not operating smoothly. I wish to try out a new system within the Prince's court, which will both manage the fief and assist in the administration of the court."

Jia Xu stroked his beard and said, "Does my lord intend to establish a new administrative system within the Prince of Jin's residence?"

"Indeed." Lü Bu took out a scroll of silk and had his personal guards unfurl and hang it up. "This is the outline of the Six Ministries system drafted by me."

As everyone looked, they saw that the structure of the silk scroll was outlined with simple lines:

Prince Jin → Cabinet of the Prince's Palace (9 people) → Six Ministries of the Prince's Palace (Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, Works) / Censorate of the Prince's Palace

The following details are provided: The Cabinet serves as the Prince of Jin's advisory group, the Six Ministries are responsible for execution, and the Censorate is responsible for oversight. Major decisions are made by the Cabinet and submitted to the Prince of Jin for final approval. The chart also explains the approximate responsibilities of each of the Six Ministries.

Guo Jia's eyes lit up: "This new system has clearer responsibilities and powers, with each person performing their duties. It is much clearer than the previous chaotic official system in the court."

Xun You frowned: "My lord, this system is quite new, and it may be difficult to adapt to in the short term."

"Therefore, we will first try it out in the fiefdom of the Prince's Mansion," Lü Bu said. "Nominally, it will only govern five commanderies, but in reality, it can assist in handling important matters of the court. All government affairs must be reported to the Six Ministries and the Cabinet of the Prince's Mansion. After the Cabinet and the Six Ministries make decisions, they will then distribute the decisions to the various government departments for implementation. Once the system of the Prince's Mansion, Cabinet, and Six Ministries is in place and fully operational, it will gradually replace the old system."

Ju Shou pondered, "Nine members for the cabinet—how should they be selected?"

Lü Bu said, "There will be one Grand Secretary, two Deputy Grand Secretaries, and six other cabinet ministers, for a total of nine. The cabinet ministers themselves do not have official ranks; their ranks are determined by their respective duties or by my personal appointment. The Grand Secretary oversees the overall situation, and the Deputy Grand Secretaries assist him. Major decisions are made by vote in cabinet meetings, with the minority abiding by the majority, before being reported to me for a final decision."

He looked at Jia Xu: "Wenhe, you will serve as the first Grand Secretary of the Prince of Jin's Palace, concurrently serving as the Minister of Personnel of the Prince's Palace and the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, in charge of administration and personnel, and temporarily holding the rank of Third Grade."

Jia Xu was secretly delighted. This was practically equivalent to being the prime minister! As long as he didn't make any mistakes, he would definitely be second only to the emperor when the dynasty changed. Luckily, he had surrendered and submitted to the emperor early on. He was destined to become the most powerful minister!

He quickly stood up and bowed: "I accept the order."

"The two second-ranking ministers are Chen Gong and Zhang Liao," Lü Bu continued. "Chen Gong was transferred from the position of Governor of Yanzhou to the position of second-ranking minister in the Prince's Palace, concurrently serving as Minister of Revenue, in charge of money, grain, and taxes, and holding the rank of third grade. Zhang Liao was transferred from the position of Commander of the Bingzhou Army Group to the position of second-ranking minister in the Prince's Palace, concurrently serving as Minister of War, in charge of military logistics, and holding the rank of third grade."

Clearly, Chen Gong was being groomed as Jia Xu's successor as Grand Secretary, while Zhang Liao was Lü Bu's military strategist.

Chen Gong and Zhang Liao rose to accept the order.

Lü Bu then named a few more people: "The remaining cabinet ministers: Guo Jia, Xun You, and Zhang Song will not hold ministerial positions. Guo Jia will hold the rank of fourth grade, while Xun You and Zhang Song will hold the rank of fourth grade. Shi Sunrui will serve as the Grand Censor, in charge of the Censorate, and will hold the rank of third grade. Ju Shou will serve as the acting Minister of Rites, and will hold the rank of fourth grade. Cheng Lian will enter the cabinet as the commander of the Imperial Guard, and will hold the rank of fourth grade."

Jia Xu, Chen Gong, Zhang Liao, Guo Jia, Xun You, Zhang Song, Shi Sunrui, Ju Shou, and Cheng Lian were the nine members of the first cabinet of the Prince of Jin's mansion, appointed by Lü Bu. Following the odd-number system of the Standing Committee in modern society, the cabinet adopted a voting system for major cabinet meetings, with the minority obeying the majority.

Jia Xu, Zhang Liao, Guo Jia, and Cheng Lian are undoubtedly his trusted confidants. Chen Gong was a loyal and trusted minister of the original owner in Yanzhou, and never betrayed him until his death. Lü Bu is now watching Chen Gong's performance with a biased perspective. If Chen Gong performs well later, he will be the successor to Jia Xu as the chief minister of the cabinet.

Zhang Song represents those who voluntarily surrendered to Yizhou, Shi Sunrui represents the former officials and scholars of the Han Dynasty, and Xun You and Ju Shou represent the surrendered officials of local lords.

If no one betrays them along the way, then after Lü Bu unifies the world and changes dynasties, this team will be upgraded from the royal cabinet to the new imperial cabinet, with all members promoted one level, and then replace the original Three Dukes and Nine Ministers political system of the imperial court.

If someone harbors disloyal intentions, they could be replaced at any time. For example, Xun You, Ju Shou, and Shi Sunrui, although they currently appear very obedient, offering advice and contributing their efforts to Lü Bu, seem to be sparing no effort.

But Lü Bu knew that these men were historically, implicitly loyalists to the Han dynasty. He was very interested to see if they would still be as obedient as they were now when Lü Bu actually overthrew Liu Xie, abdicated the throne to him, and truly changed dynasties.

In addition, there were two positions in the Six Ministries that were not yet in the cabinet. Zhong Yao, who was well-versed in criminal law, was appointed as the acting Minister of Justice, holding the rank of fourth grade. Zuo Feng, the magistrate of Taicang, was transferred to serve as the acting Minister of Works, also holding the rank of fourth grade.

Of the six ministries, only the Minister of Personnel is always concurrently held by the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and the head of the military serves as the Vice Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and concurrently as the Minister of War. The number of ministers in the other ministries who enter the cabinet is not fixed. They will be selected based on their political achievements and seniority, or they may be concurrently held by cabinet ministers.

After announcing the list, Lü Bu scanned the crowd: "From now on, routine government affairs will be discussed by the cabinet and handled by the six ministries, while major matters will be decided by a vote in the cabinet meeting to form reference opinions, which will then be reported to me for final decision."