Empire Conquest

Chapter 642 - 638: Arrangements for Aftermath

Li Yunxiang made a special trip, not to flaunt his success to Bai Zhizhan, but to give Bai Zhizhan a heads-up.

Three days earlier, on May 1st, Xue Yuanzheng formally granted Liu Changxun the rank of Grand Navy Marshal, and at the same time, Liu Changxun submitted his request for retirement.

Apart from the Founding Fathers, the title "Grand Marshal" became a ceremonial rank, bestowed only on retired generals.

Because of the defeat, or at least the lack of victory, in the last war, none of the thousands of Land and Sea Forces generals earned this honor.

Even Zhou Kuande, who committed suicide for his country before the end of the war, was posthumously awarded the rank of Marshal.

The last Navy General to receive the rank of "Grand Marshal" was Chen Bingxun.

Additionally, it was only after his death for his country that he was posthumously awarded the "Grand Marshal" rank.

According to information disclosed by Li Yunxiang, Xue Yuanzheng had already approved Liu Changxun’s retirement application, but he would continue as Navy Commander until his successor took office.

Liu Changxun’s recommended successor was Bai Zhizhan.

It was also a tradition of the Imperial Navy for an outgoing Commander to recommend his successor.

As such, receiving Liu Changxun’s endorsement did not surprise Bai Zhizhan.

What Bai Zhizhan did not expect was that Liu Changxun would resign before the end of the war.

Bai Zhizhan assumed that Liu Changxun should wait until the war was over and he had fully achieved his goals before relinquishing his position as Commander-in-chief.

However, this was also within reason.

With Newland’s 5th Fleet surrendering, large-scale naval battles had come to an end, and what followed would be a one-sided campaign of ground attacks.

In that regard, Liu Changxun had indeed completed his service honorably.

The key point was that by stepping down now, Liu Changxun was allowing Bai Zhizhan to greet the final victory as the Imperial Navy Commander.

One had to admit, Liu Changxun was quite magnanimous.

In Li Yunxiang’s words, what awaited Bai Zhizhan in the Imperial Capital was not only the rank of Navy General but also the throne of Navy Commander.

This was also why Liu Changxun sent a telegram asking Bai Zhizhan to return to the country immediately.

However, according to Li Yunxiang, this was actually part of Xue Yuanzheng’s arrangements.

When discussing this matter, Li Yunxiang revealed a piece of crucial information.

After the war ended, Xue Yuanzheng would retire and return to his hometown!

This was the key reason why Bai Zhizhan needed to assume the role of Navy Commander before then, because after Xue Yuanzheng stepped down, no matter who became the Imperial Chief Minister, only Bai Zhizhan, with his status as a Prince Consort to the Imperial Family, could assert control over the Navy and protect its interests.

In fact, the status of Prince Consort was secondary.

Of the Empire’s 14 existing Special Mixed Fleets, 9 Fleet Commanders were Bai Zhizhan’s subordinates. Among the 7 most important Main Battle Mixed Fleets, 5 Fleet Commanders were Bai Zhizhan’s confidants. Clearly, the majority of the Navy followed Bai Zhizhan’s commands.

It was evident that no one within the Navy could surpass or replace Bai Zhizhan.

Undoubtedly, Liu Changxun understood this as well and thus willingly vacated the position of Navy Commander.

Not to forget, Liu Changxun was considered an outlier within the Liu Family.

Furthermore, the influence of the Liu Family within the Navy had greatly diminished during the war.

This was not to mention Liu Xiangdong, who was quite amiable with Bai Zhizhan, and even Liu Xiangzhen had made a wise choice.

Of course, what was most crucial was the post-war situation.

From the perspective of protecting the Navy’s interests, the only person capable of supporting the Navy after the war was Bai Zhizhan.

To Bai Zhizhan’s great astonishment, according to the news disclosed by Li Yunxiang, the person to assume the role of Imperial Chief Minister after Xue Yuanzheng wasn’t Situ Jingde, the one with the highest support.

The specific individual was not named by Li Yunxiang, who only mentioned enigmatically that it was someone they knew well and with whom they had a very good relationship—a General.

In fact, there was no need for Li Yunxiang to state it explicitly.

With just a little thought, Bai Zhizhan guessed it.

The person Li Yunxiang was referring to was Lian Xusheng!

The key was not in Xue Yuanzheng, but in the Holy Emperor.

Before that, two core members of the Imperial Family, the Eldest Prince serving in the Army and the Third Prince serving in the Navy, had both been promoted to generals.

Furthermore, four months earlier, the Fourth Prince had become a fighter pilot.

Another key point was that throughout the entire war, the authority of the Imperial Family had been comprehensively elevated.

To put it bluntly, the influence of the Imperial Family could no longer be overlooked.

Clearly, the current Emperor had more than just a symbolic significance; he had an influence that no one could surpass or replace.

This alone meant that Situ Jingde could not possibly become the next Imperial Chief Minister.

The crux was that, over twenty years ago, during the last great war, Situ Jingde had been the superior officer of the current Holy Emperor.

If Situ Jingde were to ascend to the throne of the Imperial Chief Minister, how would he handle the relationship with the Holy Emperor, or rather how to resolve the contradiction between imperial power and the power of the Chief Minister?

One must not forget that an essential reason Xue Yuanzheng decided to retire to his homestead after the war was because the conflict with the Holy Emperor had become apparent.

If Xue Yuanzheng continued as the Imperial Chief Minister, the struggle between imperial power and the power of the Chief Minister would inevitably escalate, without ever compromising the core interests of the Empire.

If one had to leave, it could only be the Chief Minister.

Situ Jingde was too domineering and clearly unable to manage the relationship between imperial power and the power of the Chief Minister.

It is thus clear that Situ Jingde could never sit on the throne of the Imperial Chief Minister!

Replace him with another person from the Tang Family?

Clearly, that too was unlikely, as after all, Xue Yuanzheng was the spokesperson for the Tang Family, and his conflict with the Holy Emperor mainly reflected the Tang Family’s dispute with the Imperial Family.

The successor to the Chief Minister must be someone of extremely high prestige and who had a very good relationship with the Holy Emperor, posing no threat to imperial power.

Without doubt, Lian Xusheng was the ideal choice.

Firstly, he was the undefeatable War God of the Empire’s Army and had an influence and appeal within the Empire that even surpassed Bai Zhizhan.

Once the Luosha Federation was defeated, he would surely have the support of the masses.

Secondly, over twenty years ago, he had been a direct subordinate of the Holy Emperor!

This relationship determined that he would definitely hold the Holy Emperor in the highest regard.

Another key point was that his political stance was more aligned with Xue Yuanzheng’s, being a typical hardliner, which made it even easier to gain support from the Tang Family.

And speaking of relationships, his connections with Bai Zhizhan and Li Yunxiang were also a plus.

With him as Grand Secretary, Li Yunxiang, the Commander of the Air Force, and Bai Zhizhan, the Commander of the Navy, would give him face, no matter what.

This way, internal military conflicts could be minimized to the greatest extent, smoothly transitioning into the post-war period.

If it were any other Army general, the conflict between military branches would be hard to resolve.

The key was the post-war transition.

Up to now, the total force of the Empire’s Land and Sea Forces had already exceeded 14 million, with the Army accounting for over 10 million, plus approximately 12 million militiamen.

The Empire’s military force was over 25 million strong!

After the war, resettling so many soldiers would be the number one issue for the Imperial Authority.

Doubtlessly, it was also the number one problem.

Since the Army had the largest force, in addition to 10 million regular troops, there were also about 9 million militiamen, hence a highly respected Army general must oversee the big picture.

So, aside from Lian Xusheng, who else could hold sway?

Furthermore, active cooperation from the Navy was needed.

Clearly, this was also why Bai Zhizhan was appointed Navy Commander before the end of the war.

Speaking of which, the early establishment of the Air Force was related to this matter, as an independent Air Force was formed, and it would attract about 3.5 million from the Army Air Force soldiers.

It can be seen that all these arrangements were made with the aftermath in mind!