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

After conquering Zhuge Zhe, Li Che appointed several officials on the spot.

Qian Bin has the longest qualifications, the highest official position, and is also his teacher, so he is naturally the only one who can be the Left Chief Clerk.

Li Che also asked him to serve as the keeper of the royal palace, in charge of finances.

Wang Chongjian came from the Ministry of Works, and was the first among the accompanying officials to go into battle and fight the bandits. He was considered brave, resourceful, and motivated.

Li Che then sent him to the Office of the Chief Secretary to serve as the Director of Works, in charge of construction and repairs, which was equivalent to the head of the Ministry of Works.

His father, Wang Xi, was the Junior Supervisor of the Astronomical Department. He went to the Fengci Office and served as the Director of Fengci, in charge of sacrifices and rituals, which was equivalent to the head of the Ministry of Rites.

Uncle Yang held multiple positions, including Director of Food, Director of Treasures, and Director of Ceremonies, responsible for managing food, royal seals, and ceremonial guards, which was similar to the job he had done before as the chief steward.

Hua Chang'an served as the chief physician of the Good Medical Institute, in charge of medical care and health, equivalent to the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau.

Hu Qiang was appointed commander of the royal palace guards, and Qiu Bai was appointed deputy commander.

In the military officer system of the royal palace, these two positions have a very high status, equivalent to the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Guards.

The other officials were also given official positions and rewards, and everyone was very happy.

The palace's civil service staff was barely enough, and many of them held multiple positions.

Li Che doesn't have many talented people, so he can only maintain it like this for now.

The situation with military officers was much simpler. Li Che promoted several veterans from the Criminal Camp and increased the number of personal guards to 200.

In terms of military rank in the Ninggu Army, the battalion is the basic unit.

There were two generals, Wang Sanchun was responsible for leading the troops, and He Conglong was responsible for recruiting soldiers.

Ten battalions were set up on the previous basis, and each team was promoted to a captain.

Each battalion has five teams under its command, each with a team leader. Each team has three groups under its command, each with a group leader.

Each group is led by five squad leaders, and each squad leader leads ten soldiers.

However, captains of special military units such as Yue Yun, Wang Hu, and Yan San are not included in the organization of the ten battalions and form separate battalions.

When fully staffed, each battalion should have about 750 people. Now the Ninggu Army is not yet full, so new soldiers need to be recruited from the people.

The ten battalions had a total of 7,500 people, plus 1500 people in the cavalry battalion, and more than 1,000 people in the personal guard battalion, the crossbow battalion, and the scout battalion. The total number finally exceeded 10,000.

With the addition of some auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers, Li Che now has a decent armed force.

In this area outside the Great Wall, the largest barbarian clan has only a little over 10,000 people. If the quality of the soldiers can be improved, these more than 10,000 people will be enough to sweep through any tribe.

After all the discussions were completed, Li Che's heart was filled with emotions. He stood up and walked out the door.

Everyone didn't know what was going on, so they stood up and followed Li Che.

The group walked out of the government office in a mighty procession, only to see the sky outside gradually getting brighter and the dawn breaking.

Several maids who had served everyone all night were leaning against the doorstep and sleeping secretly.

Seeing Li Che and his group coming out, he was immediately frightened and fell to his knees: "Your Highness, please spare my life, Your Highness, please spare my life."

The imagined punishment did not come. The young prince simply said softly, "Thank you for your hard work. Go and rest. We don't need anyone to serve us here."

The maids hesitated and didn't dare to look up, but they heard His Highness say again: "Uncle Yang, I'll leave them to you. Give them some rewards."

The white-haired old man behind him nodded in agreement, and the maids breathed a sigh of relief and retreated with many thanks.

Li Che walked out the door, looked at the morning light appearing on the horizon, and smelled the fresh air.

"What do you think is on the other side of the mountain?"

Wang Xi was the first to speak: "Your Highness, that must be Goryeo."

Li Che asked again: "Where is the end of Goryeo?"

Zhuge Zhe replied, "The coast of Goryeo is the sea."

"What about beyond the sea?"

Everyone looked at each other and said they didn't know.

What is beyond the sea? Not to mention them, even the most well-read person in the world probably doesn’t know.

Li Che laughed and said, "The mountains and rivers are beautiful, why can't it be the land of Daqing? The sea is vast, why can't it be the fishing ground of China?"

At this moment, the clouds in the sky split apart, and a ray of morning light slanted down, falling right on Li Che.

Li Che bathed in the warm morning light and turned back: "Remember this day, it is the beginning of our great achievements."

The morning light is like a golden dragon, floating above the clouds, murmured to the earth.

Everyone was suddenly enlightened. The golden morning light made His Highness look golden and brilliant, like a god.

Li Che grinned and said slowly: "Everyone, listen to the dragon's roar."

. . . . . .

At noon, the sun was high in the sky, and the boundless blue sky was filled with dazzling light.

There was a crowd of people outside the north gate of the inner city.

A huge temporary wooden platform stretched across the north gate, and fully armed Ninggu soldiers were guarding the wooden platform.

"Brother, may I ask why so many people are gathered here?"

A burly man in animal skins squeezed into the crowd and asked curiously.

The man looked back and said disdainfully, "You seem like a strong man, but you didn't accompany His Highness into the city yesterday. How could you not know this?"

The strong man smiled innocently and said, "My mother was seriously ill. She went hunting in the mountains yesterday and didn't catch up with you."

After hearing what the strong man said, the man put away his contemptuous expression:

"Your Highness broke through the inner city yesterday and raided the homes of those corrupt officials. Now, Ninggu County City has been completely transformed."

"Your Highness is wise and powerful. He knows that these corrupt officials have been harming our people for years. He is ready to vent our anger and publicly try these conscienceless people."

"This..." The burly man took a breath, "What is a public trial?"

"Let us, the common people, be the judges for once, and sentence these corrupt officials to death!" The man's eyes gleamed. "As long as the evidence is true, we can point out the guilt of these corrupt officials to their faces, and Your Highness will decide for us."

The burly man shook his head, seemingly incredulous. "Your Highness is the emperor's son, right? How could the emperor's son offend an official and stand up for us?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" the man said dissatisfiedly, "His Highness is different from those nobles. He is truly on the side of us ordinary people."

"I don't believe it," the strong man said in a naive voice, "I've been escaping from the interior to the exterior of the Great Wall, and I've never seen an official who's sympathetic to the people!"

"Hey, you man!" The man was also angry. "If you don't believe me, just see for yourself. If I didn't think you were a filial son, and you were saying such bad things about His Highness, I would have taken action long ago!"

Seeing that the person in front of him was angry, the strong man did not argue and turned to leave.

Suddenly, the man spoke again: "Your Highness is kind-hearted and has opened a free clinic in the east of the city. If you have a sick family member, you can go there for treatment."

"The medical treatment is free. The cost of the medicinal materials is only the cost, and you can also exchange them for things. If your mother is seriously ill, you might want to go there for a checkup."

The burly man looked back at the man and moved his lips as if he wanted to say something.

But the man waved his hand and said, "Okay, it's not about you, it's about your sick mother."

The strong man still didn't believe it.

And free medical treatment? Could it be that the Prince of Ninggu had given up his good status as a prince and turned into a Bodhisattva?

But the man in front of him was kind-hearted, and the strong man didn't want to keep questioning him, so he just bowed and thanked him.

Suddenly, the sound of gongs and drums came from the front.

The man quickly turned around, ignoring him, and said excitedly, "The public trial has begun! Oh, His Highness is here too!"

Upon hearing this, the strong man also looked at the wooden platform curiously.

Is there really a public trial?

It would be okay to wait and see. If the Prince of Ninggu really kills those corrupt officials, maybe the free clinic will be real too.

I don't know what the Bodhisattva looks like, though. I've heard that Bodhisattvas can be male or female.

I don’t know whether this prince is a man or a woman... or both?