Lu Duan trembled all over upon hearing this, sliding directly from his chair to under the table.
Li Xiaogong was bewildered. What was going on?
He curiously looked down at Lu Duan, who was slumped on the ground: "Did your hemorrhoids act up?"
Lu Duan shook his head wildly, looking at him with terror: "Please, King of Hejian, show mercy and spare this old man?"
"I'm already this old, I can't withstand your whipping, I'll bleed!"
Whether he bled or not was unknown. His backside was still covered by trousers, unseen by outsiders.
However, upon hearing this, Li Xiaogong almost spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.
With his forehead covered in dark lines, he yanked Lu Duan out from under the table: "What nonsense are you spouting, you old fellow! Who the hell is going to whip you?"
"We're asking you to take office because An Zhi acknowledges your abilities!"
"Don't tell me you thought I, the King, took a fancy to your old backside?"
Kou Zhun and Zhao Pu, standing nearby, looked at Lu Duan with stunned expressions, their gazes involuntarily drifting downwards.
Mu Guiying was so amused she kept giggling, covering her mouth.
Lu Duan, ignoring his embarrassment, realized he had misunderstood upon hearing Li Xiaogong's words and seeing his serious expression.
Thus, his hanging heart finally settled back into his chest. He let out a long sigh and apologized to Li Xiaogong with a smile.
"Your Highness of Hejian, please don't be offended. How could I possibly think in that direction? You are a Prince, and would not do such a sordid thing!"
"What I meant was, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the Great Tang's decrees, and if I make a mistake later, you might whip me with a lash."
Li Xiaogong took his words as truth, sat back down in his chair, and patted his chest reassuringly.
"You can rest assured about this. No matter what kind of decree it is, it's all for strengthening the nation and enriching the people. As long as your general direction is correct, minor mistakes are insignificant!"
Lu Duan was overjoyed: "Does Your Highness truly mean this?"
"More true than the hemorrhoids on your backside!" Li Xiaogong nodded with a smile.
Lu Duan's old face flushed. He got up, cupped his hands, and said: "In that case, this old man is willing to serve the Great Tang and govern a region!"
"Hahahaha! Excellent! From now on, you are the Governor-General of Jinshan Prefecture!"
After a burst of laughter, Li Xiaogong said to his guards: "Come, fetch the map of the Americas!"
Soon, a massive map, two meters by two meters, was brought over and spread on the floor nearby.
This was a scaled-up topographic map of the Americas, made by Fang Er. It showed no cities or roads, only the natural terrain.
Pulling Lu Duan over, Li Xiaogong pointed to the map and said: "The red dot on this map is where we are now."
"Take this pen and draw a circle on it."
"Draw a circle as large as your capabilities allow."
"The area within the circle will be the territory of Jinshan Prefecture in the future."
Lu Duan was stunned. Prefecture divisions were made in such a simple and crude manner!
But it felt incredibly good!
He bent down and lay on the map, pondering the surrounding terrain.
In the lower right corner of the map, there was a scale and explanations of various symbols, making it very intuitive.
Mountains, rivers, basins, and plains were all laid out.
After careful consideration, holding a pencil he had never seen before, he drew a large circle on the map.
The area encompassed what would later be California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah!
A total of 1.21 million square kilometers!
After demarcating the territory of Jinshan Prefecture, Lu Duan respectfully placed the pencil back on the table and said to Li Xiaogong: "This place is mountainous and difficult to travel. This old man can only manage this much land."
Li Xiaogong glanced at the area he had circled and then clapped his hands in approval.
"Good! Since the territory is decided, you should take up your post promptly. You may select from the existing civil officials and assume your duties immediately!"
"Guards, go and fetch official robes for Lord Lu!"
The nearby guards quickly went to the warehouse and brought back a set of camouflage combat clothes and a thirty-jin steel ingot engraved with "Governor-General of Jinshan Prefecture."
Lu Duan was a little confused. Were these official robes and the official seal?
Looking at the surroundings again, he became even more bewildered.
If he wore these clothes and hid in the mountains, no one would know who killed someone with the official seal, right?
Soon, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed: "I didn't expect the court to put so much thought into this!"
"Among the immigrants, there are bound to be some with ulterior motives. With these official robes, as long as they are a bit far away, even if someone wants to assassinate, they won't find a target."
"And these clothes are also designed innovatively, practical and concise, without wasting a single piece of fabric."
"The pockets on them can also hold personal belongings, which is much more convenient than stuffing them in one's robes."
"Brilliant, simply brilliant!"
Saying this, he took the camouflage clothes and put them on on the spot.
Li Xiaogong only knew that Fang Er had previously instructed that seventh-rank officials wear jungle camouflage, sixth-rank officials wear desert camouflage, and fifth-rank officials wear ghillie suits.
However, he had never seen what a ghillie suit looked like and had not imagined such a use.
Looking at Lu Duan, who had changed his clothes, he became even more appreciative of Fang Er.
Why hadn't he thought that someone would assassinate officials?
But how could he let others know, so he concealed his guilt with laughter: "Hahahaha, these are specially made official robes by the court. We must consider every aspect properly!"
After a round of self-praise, he sent two guards to accompany Lu Duan to find a suitable place to establish the prefecture.
Lu Duan left with great satisfaction, leaving Zhao Pu and Kou Zhun dumbfounded.
A fifth-rank official, decided in just a few sentences?
Even the territory was arbitrarily drawn on a map. This felt like a child playing house!
Just as the two of them were full of envy for how easily Lu Duan obtained his official position, a path was suddenly cleared by the escorting guards in front. A group of generals in armor walked over.
It was Chai Shao and the others. After they each found a chair and sat down, Li Ji asked.
"Ninth Brother, I just saw someone wearing a ghillie suit leave your place?"
"That's a fifth-rank official robe. You didn't just give it away casually, did you?"
Li Xiaogong had to explain Lu Duan's matter to them.
Zhao Pu's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. Didn't they say the chairs were broken? Why wasn't anyone thrown off?
Old man, damn it!
Forget it, I'm too old, I can't damn it!
This was clearly targeting him. Was he that foolish?
Regardless of seniority or experience, Lu Duan wasn't even fit to carry his shoes. Why could he sit there, drink tea, chat, and easily get a fifth-rank official?
While he stood until his legs went numb, no one paid him any attention?
Was it just because Duke An of Guo had spoken a few good words for Lu Duan in front of the Emperor back then?