Reborn In The Three Kingdoms

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The sound of brushes scratching against parchment echoed like a constant hum beneath the rafters, punctuated by the occasional bark of a minister’s order or the rhythmic thud of a clerk’s seal upon a decree.

Lie Fan stood upon the dais of the Grand Hall, robes of black and crimson flowing like living flame as the morning light filtered through the lattice windows, a silent arbiter as the machinery of his grandest reform clicked into place.

On his left stood Cheng Qun, the architect of the Nine Rank System, his expression serene but sharp, the mind of a reformer gleaming in his eyes. On the right was Jia Xu, the Chancellor, calm and calculating, holding a bundle of bamboo slips marked with official seals.

Rows of officials stood before them split between the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Law. the twin pillars that would bear the weight of this monumental reform. Parchment scrolls, filled with the names and records of every official in the empire, were spread across vast tables like a cartographer’s map of human ambition and competence.

The implementation of the Nine Rank System was a monumental undertaking, a bureaucratic purge cloaked in the language of meritocracy. For weeks, teams of assessors had pored over performance reports, tax records, judicial reviews, and the silent, damning observations of the Oriole Agents. Now, the results were being formalized.

The process was as impersonal as it was transformative. An official’s name would be read aloud. His achievements, his failures, his integrity, and his competence were weighed against the rigid criteria of the new system.

Then, Chen Qun would consult with the ministers, and a new rank would be assigned, inscribed with a brushstroke that could elevate a man to the heavens or cast him into the political wilderness.

”Gentlemen,” Lie Fan began at this time, ”our empire grows not merely through conquest, but through order. War builds empires, but law preserves them. The Nine Rank System is not a tool of vanity or pride, it is the measure by which talent shall rise and corruption shall fall.”

His words settled over the hall like the calm before a storm.

Cheng Qun stepped forward, bowing deeply to Lie Fan before spreading the scroll in his hands upon the great jade table. ”Your Majesty,” he said, ”as instructed, we have completed the preliminary assessment. Every official, from the highest grand minister to the lowest local clerk, has been evaluated on three principles, virtue, ability, and merit. The results have been compiled and reviewed jointly by the ministries. Today, the new ranks shall be finalized.”

Lie Fan nodded. ”Then proceed.”

The atmosphere in the hall immediately become tense, a strange mixture of hope and dread. One by one, the names were read aloud, and the new ranks assigned. Courtiers who had coasted on family name and political connections watched in silent horror as their status was systematically dismantled.

A official who had held a prestigious but largely ceremonial post for a decade found himself demoted two full ranks, his position given to a younger, fiercely competent administrator from a minor gentry family who had tripled the tax yields in his remote commandery.

Conversely, there were quiet triumphs. A lowly records keeper in the Ministry of Works, a man whose genius for logistics had been buried under a mountain of nepotism for twenty years, was suddenly promoted three ranks.

His new authority allowing him to streamline supply lines that would benefit the very armies fighting in the north. His hands trembled as he received the new seal of office, his eyes glistening with disbelieving tears.

Each announcement stirred ripples among the gathered officials. Some lowered their heads in shame, others could barely hide the quiet satisfaction spreading across their faces.

Through it all, Lie Fan remained silent, watching. His expression was unreadable, a mix of patience and authority. He knew such reforms would strike at the very heart of entrenched privilege, and that even loyal men would bristle when their power was measured and found wanting.

When the final name was read, Cheng Qun looked up and bowed again. ”Your Majesty, the new structure is in place. With your approval, we will send copies of the assignments to every provincial office by the end of the week.”

”Approved,” Lie Fan said. ”Let it be known that the ranks of the Hengyuan Dynasty are determined not by favor, but by worth. If this system offends those who grew complacent in their station, then it has already succeeded in its purpose.”

His eyes flicked toward Jia Xu. ”Chancellor, you have the oversight of its enforcement. Ensure that no man, no matter how noble his family or how cunning his tongue, evades the hand of law.”

Jia Xu inclined his head slightly, his lips curling into the faintest of smiles. ”As always, Your Majesty, justice shall be served and quietly, if necessary.”

This great reshuffling was not confined to the imperial court. Couriers fanned out across the empire, carrying the new rankings to every province, commandery, and county. And it was in these local seats of power that the most dramatic, and often ugliest, reactions occurred.

Some rejoiced, letters of promotion spreading like wildfire through the households of minor clerks who had toiled for years in obscurity. Others reacted with outrage, disbelief, or desperate denial.

In Huainan, the mayor of a prosperous market town smashed the inkstone upon his desk when he read that his rank had fallen two levels. ”This must be a mistake!” he roared to his aides. ”How can a man of my years, who has served since before the founding of Hengyuan, be judged unworthy by a system of numbers and scrolls?”

His advisers said nothing.

On the other hand, in a prosperous town south of the Yellow River, a Mayor named Deng, a man who had held his post through a combination of flattery and strategic marriages, was demoted to a mere precinct captain. The report cited his chronic mismanagement of granaries and his tolerance of corrupt underlings. Enraged and humiliated, Mayor Deng did not take the news gracefully.

”This is an outrage!” he bellowed in his yamen, throwing the official missive to the floor. ”I have served this region for fifteen years! My family has ties to the old imperial house! Who is this Chen Qun? Who is this emperor to cast me aside like garbage?”

Blinded by pride, he began to scheme. He summoned a few loyal, and equally disgruntled, subordinates. ”We must discredit the new appointee for my position,” he hissed. ”Spread rumors. Say he embezzles, that he is a drunkard, that his family are bandits. And send a bribe... a generous one... to the regional inspector. Perhaps this... assessment... can be revisited.”

What Mayor Deng did not know was that the new regional inspector was a man promoted for his integrity, and that the ”loyal” subordinate he confided in was, in fact, an Oriole Agent.

The agent listened, nodded, and promised to carry out the orders. Instead, he compiled a meticulous report detailing the attempted bribery, the slanderous rumors, and the seditious complaints against the emperor himself.

Elsewhere, whispers began to spread. Bribes were offered in secret. Petitions were forged. Rivalries, once dormant, flared back to life as demoted officials sought to drag their rivals down alongside them.

Three days later, in Xiapi, Jia Xu presented this report, along with a dozen others just like it from across the empire, to Lie Fan. The Chancellor’s face was its usual mask of placid intelligence, but his eyes held a glint of cold satisfaction.

”Your Majesty,” Jia Xu said, laying the scrolls on the imperial desk. ”The Oriole Agents have completed their sweep. As expected, certain officials could not resist the temptation to meddle in their fates. Here are the reports.”

Lie Fan read the reports, his expression unreadable. He saw the desperation, the petulance, the blatant corruption of men like Mayor Deng. A lesser emperor, or a more impulsive one, might have ordered immediate arrests, public executions to serve as a warning.

But Lie Fan was a gardener, not just a woodsman. He understood that while you must prune the diseased branches, you should not burn the whole tree if some parts could yet bear fruit.

Lie Fan read in silence, his brow furrowing slightly as he finished the last one. ”So,” he said softly, ”even with opportunity and fairness before them, greed still finds its way into their hearts.”

”They are men, after all,” Jia Xu replied evenly. ”Ambition is as natural to them as the tide to the sea. But such tides can drown an empire if left unchecked.”

He looked up at Jia Xu. ”Their records, before this demotion, were they clean?”

Jia Xu consulted another scroll. ”For the most part, yes, Your Majesty. Mediocre, but not criminal. This... rebellion... seems to be a product of their wounded pride, not a pattern of lifelong sedition.”

Lie Fan nodded slowly. ”Then we will be magnanimous, but firm.” He picked up his brush. ”Draft a decree. For these officials, Mayor Deng and the others named in these reports, they are to be fined a sum equal to two years of their former salary. A hefty punishment. They are also to receive a formal, public reprimand, to be read aloud in their respective yamens, stating that any further attempt to subvert the Nine Rank System will result not in fines, but in the loss of their position, their property, and their head.”

He set the brush down. ”This is their last chance. The old way is dead. They can adapt and serve the new dynasty with the merit they actually possess, or they can be crushed by it. The choice is theirs.”

Within the hour, the imperial edict was written, sealed, and distributed. It was concise, but its words carried the weight of thunder.

”To all officials of the Hengyuan Dynasty, let it be known that the Nine Rank System exists to reward merit and punish corruption. Those who sought to alter their fates by deceit have shamed their posts and insulted the dynasty’s grace. However, for the sake of their past service, His Majesty extends leniency. They shall receive no dismissal, but each shall pay a fine equal to one year’s salary and be placed under probation. A second offense shall be met with removal and confiscation of property.”

When the decree reached the provinces, relief mingled with fear. Many of those caught in the act wept with gratitude for their emperor’s mercy, and vowed never to test it again. Others gritted their teeth, their pride wounded but their loyalty grudgingly renewed. In his town, Mayor Deng received the imperial edict, his face turning ashen as the fines were announced and the stern warning read aloud in front of his former subordinates and his replacement.

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty

Age: 35 (202 AD)

Level: 16

Next Level: 462,000

Renown: 2325

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)

SP: 1,121,700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 966 (+20)

VIT: 623 (+20)

AGI: 623 (+10)

INT: 667

CHR: 98

WIS: 549

WILL: 432

ATR Points: 0