After Elara finished speaking, she watched the expressions on the two men's faces.
The Northern Frontier Army had just met her this time, and she had brought them back, so she could not rush things.
Still, no matter what, they had to slowly blend into the Plumera Kingdom's army and become part of the main force, not remain as the "Northern Frontier Army."
Senior General Duanmu and General He had no objection to her last request. They nodded and bowed again. "Your Majesty is right. The Northern Frontier Army is already part of the Plumera military, so it should be managed under the Plumera military system."
The prince had already told them these things. They had always been soldiers of Plumera first.
Elara saw no sign of displeasure on their faces and did not say more.
Commander Shu was now in the palace, and the Northern Frontier Army had been brought back to her base in Plumera City. With so many military officers and troops around, Elara was not worried that the Northern Frontier Army could not integrate.
After dealing with the military matters, Elara looked at Mr. Gong, who stood quietly with his eyes lowered.
"Mr. Gong, you traveled with me on this long journey abroad. After seeing the various advanced commercial trades abroad and comparing them with our current trade, do you have any new ideas to help improve commerce in Plumera Kingdom?"
Mr. Gong stepped forward from the line and bowed.
"Your Majesty, on the way back to Plumera City, I spent half a month preparing a report. It outlines the main problems in our current trade, possible reforms, and a business plan combining our conditions with foreign trade models. It aims to mix their strengths with ours."
Elara raised an eyebrow. "Let me see it."
Mr. Gong carefully took out a thick stack of densely written papers from his robe.
Thankfully, they now had paper. Otherwise, with so much content, he might have needed a cart to carry it all.
Elara accepted the thick stack from the palace servant and skimmed through it quickly, reading ten lines at a time.
Commerce was originally Elara's field. Even she had to admit that Mr. Gong's business plan was very well done.
He was indeed a sharp and clever talent with great potential in business. Elara read through the plan quickly, satisfied. She circled a few parts that could still be improved, then had the servant return it to him.
"Mr. Gong, you have done very well. This plan is excellent. Aside from the few parts I marked for you to think about more carefully, if you are ready with the rest, put it into action as soon as possible."
Mr. Gong bowed and was about to respond with "Yes," but Elara kept smiling at him and said, "Mr. Gong, this time you followed me to many countries, recorded and brought back the commercial trade and valuable specialty products. You also wrote this 'Business Development Plan,' which counts as merit. Your current rank is a third-rank official in the Commerce Department, so I will promote you to the chief supervisor of the Commerce Department, temporarily managing all trade development rules in my Plumera Kingdom."
"If you can make me see your 'Business Development Plan' successfully implemented in our country early, helping our economy and trade grow greatly, I will give you a higher position. How about that?"
Since Mr. Gong had his whole family destroyed after being betrayed, although he needed an official position to seek revenge in the future, he no longer cared so much about these external things.
Compared to rank and status, he cared more that Elara trusted his ability and recognized his plan.
He carefully put the plan back in his bosom, bowed deeply to Elara, and said seriously, "Yes, I will not disappoint Your Majesty. I will achieve what you expect soon!"
Elara nodded and continued to promote and reward those from other major departments who deserved it.
"Mr. Zhiron, you two have worked diligently in the Household Department for three months. The files you helped organize satisfy me."
"This time, when sending officials to the new northern counties, your department also contributed greatly. I now promote you both—Mr. Zhiron from the fourth rank to the third rank deputy minister, Mr. Zhiron from the fifth rank to the fourth rank official."
"Those in the Household Department who worked overtime with you these three months will also receive rewards and promotions according to the new laws. There are still many people in Plumera Kingdom whose files have not been collected. You must keep working hard and not slack off."
"Yes! We obey! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After that, Elara spent almost another hour promoting and rewarding meritorious people in all departments.
When she finally finished arranging the officials after a long court session of three months, she saw Kristof, head of the Justice Department, suddenly step forward. He raised both arms and handed her a "confession letter," loudly saying:
"Your Majesty, during the three months you were away, ninety-nine percent of our Plumera officials worked hard day and night. The development in all major counties is going well, but there are always a few bad elements trying to destroy the good situation you worked so hard to build."
"After investigation by the Justice Department, Hu Chen, the governor of Lupine County in the central-west, colluded with Li He, the head of the third county, Xunding City. They embezzled tens of thousands of silver coins, food relief, and clothing meant for refugees and disaster victims. They secretly protected and sold these to cross-border smugglers. The amount embezzled adds up to nearly seventy thousand."
"This caused refugees to rise in Xunding City, with many complaints from the people. When our department sent people to investigate, we even heard that refugees have organized a resistance army and are about to revolt."