Upheaval

After the imperial accession ceremony ended, Liu Bei proclaimed a massive upheaval in official ranks and titles that he had been postponing.

Until now, Liu Bei had accumulated some of the merits of those who achieved them in a cumulative manner. For example, in my case, he gave me the title of Marquis of Loyalty instead of Marquis of Dao Ting which he could have given after I returned from the condolence mission.

This was not the product of Liu Bei being stingy, or political strife or checks and balances. It was simply because there were limits to the official ranks and titles Liu Bei could bestow.

But now that he has become emperor, not king, it’s different. Unlike kings, emperors have no restrictions on official ranks and titles.

Official ranks and titles he couldn’t bestow as King of Hanzhong until now.

That is, the highest official positions such as the Three Excellencies, Nine Ministers, Grand General, and high nobility titles like Marquis of Xian or Duke have come under Liu Bei’s discretion.

The first name Liu Bei mentioned was none other than Zhuge Liang.

“I appoint Military Advisor General Zhuge Liang as Chancellor.”

After Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong’s name was called.

“I appoint Military Advisor General Pang Tong as Grand Commandant.”

Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, who had remained in the position of Military Advisor General until now, had a discrepancy between the power they held and the rank of their positions. This appointment resolved that after a long time.

“I appoint Minister Liu Ba as Imperial Censor.”

Chancellor, Grand Commandant, Imperial Censor. These were the positions of the Three Excellencies.

Originally, the Three Excellencies, the highest positions in the Later Han, referred to the Minister of Education (司徒) who took care of state affairs, the Minister of War (司馬) in charge of military affairs, and the Minister of Works (司空) managing punishments and construction.

But as times changed, the Three Excellencies handed over real power to the Imperial Secretariat and fell to honorary positions.

Then when Cao Cao ascended to the position of Chancellor himself to establish his power, he abolished the Three Excellencies system of the Later Han.

That’s not to say the Three Excellencies completely disappeared. Cao Cao advocated a return to the Three Excellencies system of the Former Han consisting of Chancellor, which he revived himself, along with Imperial Censor and Grand Commandant.

Unlike the Three Excellencies of the Later Han which were equal, he tried to solidify his rule by using the Three Excellencies system of the Former Han with a vertical structure centered on the Chancellor.

Later, when Wei became an imperial dynasty through abdication from Emperor Xian, Cao Pi restored the Three Excellencies system of the Later Han.

However, Liu Bei adopted the Three Excellencies system of the Former Han following Cao Cao. The purpose was simple.

It was to place Zhuge Liang in the position of second only to himself, above all people below one person. Even surpassing Guan Yu.

Zhuge Liang’s authority was truly immense as he came to oversee both internal and external affairs with the added position of Director of the Imperial Secretariat (錄尙書事) managing the Imperial Secretariat.

Liu Bei pushing Zhuge Liang this much was the same in the original history.

It rarely happens that an emperor directly makes a subject’s authority so large. But Liu Bei did so.

Though it’s partly due to his firm belief in Zhuge Liang’s ability and loyalty, the true intention Liu Bei wanted to reveal through this appointment was this:

‘I’ll entrust internal affairs to Zhuge Liang, and I’ll focus on external affairs.’

The Han and rebels cannot coexist; the imperial enterprise cannot rest content with a corner.

It was a declaration of will to continue the national policy Liu Bei had put forward.

It was a measure announcing to the world his determination to unify the realm.

As if to prove this, Liu Bei immediately moved on to appointing military officials.

“I appoint Front General Guan Yu as Grand General.”

The number one in the military.

The highest position commanding all troops was naturally given to Guan Yu.

Likewise, though the hierarchical relationship and roles with the Grand Marshal who oversees the country’s military power and the Grand Commandant varied according to the era, this time it was divided only into Grand Commandant and Grand General.

In modern terms, the Grand Commandant that Pang Tong took was similar to the Minister of Defense, and the Grand General given to Guan Yu was close to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

It was an extremely easy-to-understand chain of command compared to Wei where Grand Commandant, Grand Marshal, and Grand General were complexly mixed.

“I appoint Left General Ma Chao as General of the Agile Cavalry, and Right General Zhang Fei as General of the Chariots and Cavalry.”

The second and third in the military continued following the existing order.

Until now, though Father was nominally lower than Ma Chao, he actually had the real power of the second-in-command, but with the Northern Expedition ending in great success, Ma Chao’s real power also rose to be no less than Father’s.

However, looking at overall power, not just the military, Father’s authority as concurrent Minister Coachman was still stronger. Though Ma Chao also received the title of Governor of Liangzhou in addition to General of the Agile Cavalry, the value of Xiliang and Guanzhong were incomparable.

After Guan Yu, Ma Chao, and Father, my name flowed from Liu Bei’s lips.

“I appoint Rear General Zhang Ran as General of the Guards, concurrently entrusted with the Yellow Battle Axe, and Governor of Bingzhou.”

General of the Guards (衛將軍).

It was the 4th ranked military position following Grand General, General of the Agile Cavalry, and General of the Chariots and Cavalry, and these four plus the Four Directional Generals were the permanent general positions of the Later Han.

It was also the position that Jiang Wei, who was like Zhang Wan when he died and Fei Yi rose to Grand General, or Zhuge Zhan, son of Zhuge Liang, received.

The concurrent entrusted Yellow Battle Axe meant I held the battle axe given by Liu Bei, and Governor of Bingzhou meant I concurrently held the position of Governor of Bingzhou along with the position of General of the Guards.

Of course, since Bingzhou was not yet incorporated into our territory, there were no actual duties as Governor of Bingzhou. It was the same situation as Governor of Guanzhong Wu Yi or Governor of Hongnong Yang Yi in the past.

After me, new appointments and transfers of civil and military officials continued to be announced, but most of the important positions had already come out.

While half-listening to the endless official position reforms, I imagined the redeployment of the army in my mind.

‘Placing Ma Chao in Xiliang is a measure anyone would understand. There’s no one more suitable than Ma Chao for embracing the Qiang people and quickly stabilizing Xiliang. We won’t have to worry about supplying horses and troops in the future.’

The key was not Ma Chao but Guan Yu and Father.

‘Guan Yu remains in Jingzhou as is. And Guanzhong is entrusted to Father.’

Though Wu Yi is there as Governor of Guanzhong, the Minister Coachman is higher.

The Minister Coachman who manages and supervises the Minister Coachman’s Office where Chang’an and Luoyang were located handles similar duties to other governors or regional inspectors, but the rank was higher. It was considered equal to the Minister of Works who was in charge of internal affairs.

Anyway, Liu Bei entrusted Guanzhong and Jingzhou, the two places bordering Wei, to his most trusted brothers. It was a deployment with clear intentions for the future attack on Luoyang.

‘Unless something unusual happens, I’ll just play a supporting role in the Luoyang attack.’

My role seemed to be a diversionary attack to disperse Wei’s forces.

‘By the way, the name value of those deployed on Sun Quan’s side seems a bit low.’

Excluding the southern and western borders facing ethnic minorities, there were a total of 5 areas bordering Wei and Wu.

For areas bordering Wei, there was the Bingzhou area I would take charge of, and the aforementioned Guanzhong and Northern Jingzhou.

The vanguard was the trio of me, Father, and Guan Yu. Add to that Ma Chao in Xiliang who could provide rear support, and it’s as if all the highest military positions were invested.

In contrast, Southern Jingzhou and Nanzhong facing Wu were somewhat weak.

The one appointed as Governor of Nanzhong commanding the seven commanderies of Nanzhong was Yi Hui, who had persuaded Ma Chao during the siege of Chengdu in the past.

It’s true he’s a capable person worthy of Liu Bei’s recognition. His military talent is also above average, seeing how he pacified the Nanzhong rebellion in the original history.

However, it’s also true that he feels somewhat lacking compared to Wu’s Lu Xun or Zhu Ran.

‘Southern Jingzhou is also a bit weak. Entrusting it to Feng Xi… wouldn’t it be better to switch with Wei Yan from Hanzhong?’

I understand that Feng Xi is the military officer Liu Bei is pushing after Wei Yan.

I also understand the importance of Hanzhong, which can support either Guanzhong or Jingzhou.

‘But no matter what, Feng Xi’s weight class is too low.’

Even the previous Jingzhou backstab was blocked by the mobilization of Shu Han’s outstanding talents like Pang Tong, Pan Jun, Ma Liang, Fang De, and Wei Yan.

There seemed to be a bad trend of underestimating Wu overall, including Liu Bei. It couldn’t be like this otherwise.

Since successfully defending against Sun Quan’s surprise attack during the Battle for Jingzhou and Lu Meng’s death, I felt the vigilance against Sun Quan had weakened a lot.

Doesn’t this look familiar from somewhere?

Yes, that’s right. It’s just like seeing Wei who ignored Shu saying it was nothing after Liu Bei died, then was startled by Zhuge Liang’s Northern Expedition.

Knowing how young I was and what an unreasonable position I had risen to, I had been holding myself back, but this time I wondered if I should intervene slightly in personnel matters.

I thought Pang Tong would not let his guard down even if others did. Perhaps Pang Tong was also too focused on being invested in the great undertaking of the Northern Expedition.

‘Or am I underestimating Feng Xi too much? Because of the scant historical records?’

Thinking about it, Liu Bei wouldn’t give the governor position to just anyone. Considering that Liu Bei appointed Feng Xi as governor in place of Father, he may be a more outstanding person than I imagine.

Even his defeat to Lu Xun would have been unavoidable for Feng Xi if Liu Bei had led it.

Well, one way or another, I needed to properly check it out once.

‘I wonder if there’s a way to make contact before heading towards Bingzhou.’

However, before my concerns could be resolved, a place where I could express my opinions was naturally created.

Almost simultaneously with Liu Bei declaring himself emperor and establishing a new era name:

The fact that Sun Quan had accepted the enfeoffment as King of Wu bestowed by Cao Pi reached the Shu Han court.

It was a reversal of alliances.