We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Although all the officials tried their best to stop him, Emperor Qing had made up his mind and rejected everyone.

Emperor Qing acted decisively and began making preparations the next day.

Ten thousand elite soldiers were selected from the imperial guards to protect the emperor, and there were more than three thousand attendants, palace maids, eunuchs, and minor officials for logistics.

The left prime minister Du Fuchen stayed in the capital to assist in the administration, the right prime minister Huo Tao accompanied the emperor, and military generals such as Zhu Chun also accompanied him.

Emperor Qing even dug out his armor, sword, and bow and arrows from that time, thinking that if he was lucky enough, he might be able to encounter some ignorant barbarians outside the Great Wall and kill a few of them himself.

After three days of preparation in the capital, the emperor left the imperial city and headed north in a grand procession.

As the founding emperor, Emperor Qing felt that although he was old, he still had martial prowess.

After rejecting the ceremonial officer's suggestion to ride the dragon chariot out of the city, Emperor Qing specially found a tall horse and rode on it to accept the worship of the people.

He just wanted to let the people know that the prince of Daqing was able to conquer all directions, and the emperor of Daqing had not given up military affairs and could still ride a horse.

Amidst shouts of "Long live the emperor", Emperor Qing walked out of the north city gate.

He caught a glimpse of two pure white pigeons flying across the sky, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he was in a good mood.

"I've only heard of migratory birds flying south, but these two are flying north. Could it be that the birds also know that Che'er's Fengguo is a peaceful place, so they're migrating north?"

Huang Jin, who was standing by, immediately echoed, "Your Majesty is wise, this bird must be like this."

"Hahaha!"

Emperor Qing laughed a few times, looked at the white dove disappearing in the sky, and suddenly his heart was surged, and he waved his whip violently.

He mounted his warhorse and charged out like an arrow.

The imperial guards and the emperor were so frightened that they hurried to keep up with their majesty's pace at Huang Jin's exclamation.

. . . . . .

Fengguo, Chaoyang City.

A white dove fell from the sky and landed on the wooden frame of the "dove nest", combing its feathers that were ruffled by the wind.

The pigeon trainer untied the note tied to the pigeon's leg and was about to go and report when he saw another white pigeon flying towards him with its wings flapping.

He had no choice but to put the two notes together, glanced at them quickly to make sure the contents were the same, and then walked out.

When they arrived at the government office, they heard the voices of Li Che and his ministers discussing something. The pigeon trainer did not dare to disturb them and stood outside the door waiting in an orderly manner.

"Having taken over the northern territories, my Feng Kingdom's territory stretches north to the Songhua River, west to the grasslands outside Shangjing, and south to the sea. We have thirty-four cities and govern over three million people of all ethnic groups."

Li Che looked at everyone and continued, "How to properly govern such a vast territory has become a major problem. Although Chaoyang City is developing rapidly, it is difficult to take care of such a large territory, so reform is imperative."

To put it bluntly, the problem that Feng State is facing now is the common problem of the ancient centralized system - the diminishing marginal returns.

In a centralized country, the capital must be the most developed, and the surrounding areas radiating from the capital will also be relatively prosperous.

Moreover, in this area, the people are stable, there is little unrest, and the area is prosperous.

But the further outward, the weaker the regime's control becomes. As the saying goes, the emperor is far away and the mountains are high, and imperial power does not extend to the countryside.

That is why there were provincial and prefectural systems, and why there were provincial governors appointed to govern the people on behalf of the emperor.

In contrast, the feudal system rarely has this drawback. Since each vassal state is completely autonomous and can be passed on to the next generation, it has more motivation for development and governance.

But the disadvantages of the feudal system are more obvious, that is, it is extremely unstable and may even lead to the division of the country.

Having said that, Li Che waved to the young eunuch behind him:

"Wynn, go get the map."

Huai En immediately called two guards and carried a map to the center of the hall.

Everyone stretched their necks to look over, and saw that the territory of Feng State was now divided into three parts and filled with three different colors.

Li Che walked over, pointed at the map and said to everyone:

"This king intends to temporarily divide Fengguo into three provinces. The area from Shanhaiguan to the northernmost end of the Liao River, including Chaoyang, Liaoyang, Beizhen, Dalian, and Fuxin, is Liao Province."

"The area north of the Liao River, all the way to the border with Shiwei, including Shangjing, Bohai, Aodong and other places, is Jilin Province."

"To the east, the former Goryeo lands, including Dandong, Mokdi, and Ryugyong, are the province of Cho."

Li Che left the map, sat back on the throne, and continued:

"Each of the three provinces had its own government office and administrative staff. The provincial government office was directly under the royal palace, but it also had a certain degree of autonomy to facilitate the management of people's livelihood and government affairs."

"Each province establishes a governor, who is responsible for the overall work of the province, and is responsible for announcing the will of the people, pacifying the people, improving the political system, and reforming the laws and regulations."

"Each province must also establish a garrison. The garrison's primary responsibility is to maintain public order, but it must also retain the ability to mobilize for war. If war breaks out again, troops can be immediately deployed."

"What do you think?"

Li Che looked at the ministers.

Everyone looked thoughtful. It was obvious that Li Che's wild idea caught everyone off guard.

In this regard, Li Che expressed that he was also helpless. As the territory expanded, things became more troublesome.

Chaoyang City was originally located in the southernmost part of the country, making it difficult to cover the rest of Feng State. If the conquered territory could not be further consolidated and effectively controlled, it would be occupied by barbarians who appeared out of nowhere in a few years.

If you want to completely take control of the land outside the Great Wall, you must establish a more complete management system.

The provincial system was the most important administrative model in the past. It originated in the Yuan Dynasty, developed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and eventually influenced the administrative system of modern China.

Li Che was too lazy to come up with any more messy inventions, so he just used it directly.

Everyone pondered for a moment, and finally Zhuge Zhe was the first to respond: "If this is the case, the provincial governors will have too much power, and won't they become a country within a country?"

Li Che smiled and said, "That's fine. The provincial governors are only responsible for government affairs, and military affairs are managed by the garrison generals. Moreover, all major government affairs must be reported to the king and await his approval."

The lessons of history must not be forgotten, and the military and politics must be separated, otherwise the consequences of separatist regimes and the nurturing of bandits like those in the Tang Dynasty will occur.

Of course, we cannot over-centralize power, take back military power, recall all military generals to the central government, and repeat the mistakes of the Song Dynasty, which had weak borders.

Although Li Che did not like the Qing Dynasty, this administrative system was indeed the peak of feudalism, so it might as well be used.

Seeing that Li Che's analysis was very logical and this system sounded perfect, the ministers had no objections.

As for whether establishing a new system in the vassal state would be an act of usurpation and cause displeasure to the imperial court, no one cared.

The pigeon trainer outside the door heard that the discussion inside the hall had ended, and then walked in: "Your Highness, there is a secret letter from the imperial capital."

"Oh?" Li Che looked up, "Give it to me."

The pigeon trainer stepped forward and respectfully handed over the secret letter.

Li Che unfolded the small piece of paper, read it quickly, and said with a smile:

"My lords, your majesty will soon be here to serve the country."