The political storm sweeping through the imperial capital finally came. When the interim military and political commissioner announced the successor to the new emperor, the first thing the ministers saw was that the elder brother Situ Yuan kowtowed to his younger brother Situ Lang, and the other two candidates for the throne were competing fiercely. The eldest prince and the third prince were nowhere to be seen, and almost everyone knew immediately that the first stage of the battle for the throne was over. Although it is not yet clear who will be the final winner, as far as the current situation is concerned, the Seven-Ninth Alliance has ensured the smooth handover of the imperial throne and the stability of the imperial financial issues, with a large army loyal to Situ Lang surrounding the imperial capital. With the financial backing of Jiangnan Donghai who supported Situ Yuan, the Seventy-Nine Alliance has firmly controlled most of the empire's situation, and the compromise reached between the Seventh and Ninth Highnesses has temporarily avoided a fragmenting conflict.
When the ministers saw Li Wufeng, an outsider and the military and political envoy to the northwest and governor of Northern Luzon, following Situ Yuan and kowtowing to Situ Lang, everyone knew that this was the most powerful person in the empire. The outer vassals also joined the Seven-Nine Alliance, forming a powerful iron triangle. No wonder the eldest prince and the third prince had to retreat. As a result, there is no suspense about the situation in the entire empire. No matter what the attitudes of His Highness and His Highness are, as long as this iron triangle exists stably, neither His Highness, His Highness, nor any other internal forces can It poses a challenge to the throne of His Highness Ninth Prince.
Wu Feng looked coldly at these guys who followed him and knelt down behind him. These poor, belated bastards did not have the corresponding strength in their hands, nor did they have the consciousness and courage to take a gamble. At this time, the lid had been lifted. Isn't it too late to express my allegiance to the new emperor only when the government opens? With the establishment of the new emperor's team and the compromise with Situ Yuan, almost the entire government will undergo earth-shaking changes. With the passing of Situ Mingyue, it is time for many old officials to retire.
On January 18, 698 in the Gregorian calendar, the new emperor of the empire, Situ Lang, finally ascended the long-desired throne. Situ Yuan also got his wish and was named King of Chu, with the fiefdom of Jiangnan County. However, Jiangnan County still had to pay a large amount of money to the empire every year. The tax was less than the previous tax. At the same time, the new emperor also conferred Li Wufeng as the King of Qin and concurrently served as the Military and Political Envoy of Guanxi. However, Wufeng declined the position of King of Qin because he did not dare to be appointed at the same time as the King of Chu. Accepted the post of military and political envoy to Kansai.
The edict following the new emperor's accession to the throne quickly spread throughout the world, with the Imperial Guard Corps, the City Guard Corps, the Third, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Corps as well as independent troops in the East China Sea and Jiangnan. They all pledged their loyalty to the new emperor.
The newly appointed Minister of Administration Lu Wenfu also began to form a new cabinet team. Ning Yuanwang was ordered to retire due to his poor performance in the battle for the throne. On the contrary, Minister of Justice Sidon, who had been cheering for Situ Lang, took over. Lu Wenfu's posts as Minister of the Interior and Minister of Justice were replaced by Situ Yuan, the former deputy minister of culture, education and health. At the same time, Wei Zhongxing was also removed from the post of minister of culture, education and health and was replaced by another deputy minister; Minister of Finance Tian Yi remained unchanged and remained the Minister of Finance. At the same time, he established the Imperial Central Bank in accordance with Tian Yi's opinions. Tian Yi also served as the governor of the Imperial Central Bank; Foreign Minister Saliden resigned and was replaced by Yuan Donghai, a representative of Situ Yuan's family. The county governor is Tang Fang.
Due to his decisive role in the battle for the throne, Ma Yuanhua was appointed Deputy Minister of Military Affairs and Commander of the Guards Corps, while Frey, another deputy commander of the Guards Corps, was directly dismissed from his post. Yusuf, commander of the City Guard Corps, was unexpectedly retained in his position, and was supplemented by a large number of reserve soldiers, and the organization of five integrated divisions was quickly restored.
A series of personnel changes were carried out in a dazzling way. Although the appointments of local officials had not yet been changed, local officials who had already smelled something rushed into the imperial capital to find their own way and rush for their own future and destiny. The imperial capital suddenly Presenting a busy scene, almost everyone seemed to have forgotten that the Kaman army was still watching eagerly in Qinghe Mansion, immersed in the celebration of the new emperor's succession.
The new emperor's edict did not even mention his two brothers, Situ Tai and Situ Jun. Yanyun and Wuhu were also in a strange situation. Apart from Situ Tai and Situ Jun, who returned to their hometown, Apart from organizing the army to practice martial arts, they never mentioned the new emperor's succession in the imperial capital. There was neither congratulations nor objections, as if Yanyun and Wuhu had become a paradise outside of independence and the empire.
But not all changes are absent. Economics is subordinate to politics, but all subtle changes are often reflected in the economic aspect. Starting from January 698, the financial departments of both Yanyun County and Wuhu County stopped turning over the fiscal revenue due to the General Administration of Finance of the imperial capital, and the customs departments stationed in Yunzhou and Dengzhou also The customs fees that originally belonged directly to the Customs Department of the Imperial Finance Administration were automatically intercepted and turned over to the Yanyun County Finance Office in Peiping. The three northern prefectures in the East China Sea that were already controlled by Situ Tai have also completely stopped paying money to those under the control. Jinling Mansion, the capital of Donghai County in the hands of Situ Yuan, turned over taxes, and the situation in Donghai became increasingly tense.
In addition to unofficially criticizing these acts of rebellion at court meetings, the newly enthroned Emperor also began to order the Eighth and Ninth Corps to conduct large-scale military exercises. The Seventh Corps stationed in Jiangnan also fought with the King of Milan. The troops conducted joint amphibious and land military exercises between the two countries in the deep border areas between the two countries. Everything indicates that as the situation in the imperial capital becomes increasingly stable, many things will gradually be put on the agenda of His Majesty the Emperor. Not everything can tolerate this going on forever, and it may not be long before it is time to resolve it. .
On February 9, 698 in the mainland Gregorian calendar, less than a month after Situ Lang ascended the throne, 10,000 Japanese naval troops raided the Cook Islands belonging to the Kingdom of Doton, and occupied the Cook Islands in just three days. 2 On the 15th, the Japanese in the Dodon Kingdom had not yet learned that the Cook Islands had been controlled and occupied by the Japanese. They devoted all their resources and mobilized 60,000 troops to land at night using the Cook Islands as a springboard and boarded the Crescent Moon at the southeastern end of the Dodon Kingdom. peninsula. Because the first fleet of the Tanghe Empire Navy under the control of Situ Tai not only failed to warn the Duodun Kingdom Navy, but also quietly used some logistics ships to help the Japanese transport soldiers to the Crescent Peninsula. The speed and efficiency of the Japanese attack were greatly affected. Greatly improved.
On February 16, the Japanese non-stop surrounded Fukuyama Port, the most important port on the Crescent Peninsula and the largest military port in the Doton Kingdom. After three days and two nights of hard fighting, 60,000 Japanese land troops and 10,000 naval forces finally succeeded. After the cost of more than 20,000 people, Fushan Port was finally captured. The 20,000 land troops and 15,000 former navy troops who guarded Fushan Port were all sacrificed. The Japanese also captured a large number of ships of the Doton Navy, and the navy's strength was improved. Greatly improved. On February 20, the second batch of 50,000 Japanese troops arrived at Fushan Port by boat, and met with the first group of troops who had arrived in the Jeolla Valley area, the narrowest throat of the Crescent Peninsula, 160 miles north of Fushan Port. Ten thousand Japanese armies built fortresses and established a solid defense line.
The Crescent Peninsula is an irregular, narrow peninsula in the southeast of the Dodon Kingdom. The northern and central parts of the peninsula are slender and narrow, and the south is slightly wider. Due to the influence of the ocean, the climate is different from the mainland of the Dodon Kingdom, which is located in the northeast corner of the mainland. It is different, warm and humid, and the peninsula is mostly mountainous and hilly, with rich copper deposits. Only a strip of valley along the eastern seashore connects the peninsula to the interior of the Kingdom of Dodon. Next to the Jeolla Valley is the steep and rugged Admiralty Mountains. The mountains are steep and towering, and the tops of the mountains are covered with snow all year round. Sadly, the only access is through the Jeolla Valley, which is less than two kilometers wide.
The Duodun people, who had just woken up from a dream, panicked. On the one hand, they pulled out 150,000 of the 200,000 troops stationed at the border with Yanshan and set out overnight, and urgently asked Situ, who was inspecting the naval fleet in Yunzhou, to Tai proposed to borrow ships from the Empire's First Navy Fleet to transport soldiers, but Situ Tai refused on the grounds that the ships could not go to sea during the winter maintenance period. The 150,000 Doton army had to march through the snow to return to the interior of the Dodon Kingdom, and then go east along the seaside.
It's a pity that time waits for no one. When the first cavalry troops of the Dodon Kingdom arrived near the Cholla Valley, it was already ten days later. The Japanese used cruel methods to forcibly recruit and mobilize all the Dodon people in the area to invest in it. During the construction of the Jeolla Valley Fortress, the Japanese Army maintained the necessary vigilance with only 5,000 people, and tens of thousands of others also invested in the construction project. In just ten days, a small fortress began to take shape. , although it is still very crude, it is enough to block any army trying to move south. According to subsequent statistics, during the construction period of only ten days, due to the cruel climate conditions and the severe torture by the Japanese construction supervisors, more than 3,000 Dun people lay under the walls of the fortress, and the Japanese soldiers even sacrificed a lot. The cost of dozens of lives shows the difficulty of engineering this fortress.
Facing the 50,000 Japanese army and the valley fortress that was still being improved and strengthened, the Dodon cavalry, which had reached less than 30,000 people, had no choice but to strengthen surveillance and reconnaissance and wait patiently for the follow-up infantry to catch up. It was just a 150,000-strong army. By the time they were completely assembled in front of the Valley Fortress, another week had passed. During this period, Tatehara Yamakawa was recruiting reserve soldiers in Japan. Another 50,000 people had arrived at Fukuyama Port, and all of them were deployed to the Valley Fortress for defense.
Thick war clouds began to envelope the Crescent Peninsula in the northeastern corner of the mainland.