Thief Emperor

Chapter 895 Ennoblement
What’s the first thing to do after you’ve accomplished your goal?
Sit in a row and share the fruits.

Nowadays, the Xin Dynasty still uses the system of the Jiangdong small court. Among the three provinces, only one Zhongshu Province is in operation, and although the other government offices have a framework, the various official positions, ranks, etc. have not been formally determined.

However, Li Yun now does not have enough time to come up with a new official system. He can only make some modifications based on the Tang system in another world.

Then slowly update the system bit by bit in practice.

These are all things that happened later. The most important thing now is to arrange seats and distribute benefits to those heroes who followed Li Yun to build the empire.

All of these must be done.

Because this group of people will be the ruling foundation of the new dynasty for a long period of time in the future, and they are also the people that Li Yun must unite.

The most direct and effective way to unite a group of people is naturally to bind them together through interest links.

In this way, the new dynasty can be viable and continue.

After hearing Li Yun's words, all the officials showed excitement in their eyes.

Li Yun glanced at everyone, then smiled and said, "It's getting late, and I guess you all have things to do, so let's go back to the city."

"Prime Minister Du, Prime Minister Yao."

Li Yun looked at the two of them and said with a smile, "When you enter the city, don't rush back to the government office. Come to my house and we will discuss things."

The two looked at each other, bowed their heads and clasped their fists: "Yes."

After hearing Li Yun's words, everyone's eyes involuntarily focused on Du Qian and Yao Zhong with eager gazes.

They knew that the king invited these two gentlemen over probably to discuss rewards.

And one word from these two prime ministers may very likely allow them to take a big step forward.

After Li Yun left by car, everyone surrounded Du Qian and Yao Zhong. Someone saluted Du Qian with a fist and said, "Prime Minister Du, I have been following you since Jiangdong and have always been respectful to you."

"Du Xiang, Du Xiang."

A familiar person came forward with a smile on his face: "Prime Minister Du, I am an old subordinate of Yuezhou. Please don't forget me."

Du Qian took a closer look and found that he was indeed an old subordinate of his when he was the governor of Yuezhou. He should be the county magistrate of one of the six counties in Yuezhou at that time.

Just as he was about to speak, someone said with a smile, "Mr. Du, don't forget our old friend from Guanzhong. Back then, as soon as you wrote a letter, I and my whole family came to surrender."

Du Qian looked at him and recognized him.

At that time, Li Yun had just occupied Jiangnan. After his power expanded rapidly, he no longer had enough officials under him. Du Qian used the connections of the Jingzhao Du family to forcibly bring in a group of people from Guanzhong to take over.

Nowadays, officials from Guanzhong also account for a considerable proportion in Li Yun’s court.

There were also some officials who had passed the first Jinling Literary Examination. Some of them gathered around Du Qian, calling him "teacher", while others gathered around Yao Zhong, their "classmate", calling him "Mr. Yao".

For a moment, it was extremely crowded.

The two prime ministers were squeezed so hard that they could hardly move. After a while, Du Qian became annoyed and said in a deep voice, "Stop!"

Prime Minister Du can be said to be the founder of the civil service system in Jiangdong. Although he is not very old, his majesty among the civil servants in Jiangdong can be said to be unique, and even Yao Zhong is far inferior to him.

After he shouted like that, everyone shut up and dispersed obediently.

Du Xianggong walked in front of the crowd, looked at them, and sighed: "Everyone, you are already in a high position to be able to come here with the Lord today. The Lord just said that you are all founding heroes."

"At this time, any further fight is nothing more than a fight for titles, rank, and rewards."

"Otherwise, there is nothing to argue about."

“It’s okay to fight for it.”

Du Qian said seriously, "At this time, the court is in need of people. Many positions are vacant, and each position has a lot of things to do every day. All you have to do is to be conscientious in your duties and work hard."

"The imperial court and the Ministry of Personnel will all see this."

"I am also the Minister of Personnel. I can say this to you all here today."

He looked at everyone and said slowly: "As long as everyone works hard, after three to five years, when the court is stable, you will most likely step forward."

"After all, there are many vacancies right now."

Prime Minister Du and Yao Zhong looked at each other and said slowly, "Prime Minister, there are at least three vacancies."

According to the system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were usually five prime ministers.

At this time, the various systems of the Xin Dynasty had not yet been determined, but what was certain was that in the future, the Xin Dynasty would definitely establish three more provinces, and anyone who served as the chief official in the three provinces would then become a prime minister.

He was also a member of the Secretariat and the Prime Minister.

There will be at least five people, possibly more.

And now, the only two people who can be called prime ministers in the Xin Dynasty are Du and Yao.

When everyone heard this, their eyes were burning.

They were about to say something, but Du Qian waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, that's all for today. Mr. Yao and I still have to go see the emperor in response to the imperial edict."

"Everyone, please go away." After saying this, he looked at a young man among the crowd and said with a smile, "Xu Shaoyin."

The young man said he was young, but he was already in his early thirties. When he heard Du Qian's words, he hurried forward and bowed, saying, "This subordinate greets Prime Minister Du."

The man's surname was Xu and his given name was Kun. He was the champion of the first Jinling Literary Society. When he first took office, he was appointed as the governor of a continent.

Although he did not have such an outrageous promotion speed as Yao Zhong in recent years, he has now been transferred to the position of Shaoyin of Luoyang Prefecture, which means he will be the Shaoyin of Jingzhao Prefecture in the future.

Another Shao Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture was Zhang Sui, a disciple of Du Qian.

During the time that Li Zheng was away, Xu Kun was basically in charge of all affairs in Luoyang Prefecture.

Du Qian looked at him and said with a smile, "Come to my house tomorrow when you are free. I will treat Xu Shaoyin to a meal."

Xu Kun looked up at Yao Zhong, then bowed to Du Qian and said, "Your subordinate..."

"As ordered."

…………

In the study room of the Li Mansion, Li Yun had already changed into loose casual clothes. He leaned back in his chair, looking at the list in front of him, then looked at the two prime ministers sitting in front of him, and smiled: "You two, it's time to assign seats."

"Let's talk about the title first."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "Since we started the uprising, Brother Shouyi has helped me a lot. When I led the troops to the battle, Brother Shouyi always managed the rear in an orderly manner. He is the most worthy hero of the uprising."

"I have almost figured out how to reward Brother Yihui."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said slowly, "There are no outsiders here, so let's not be polite. Originally, with Brother Shouyi's merits, he should be given the title of One-Character King, but after all, the rules are here, so Brother Shouyi will bear the grievance."

"You will be appointed Duke of Qin, with a fief of 2,000 households. What do you think, Brother Shouyi?"

Du Qian quickly stood up and bowed to Li Yun: "Master, this... this is not allowed."

Du Qian was not at all surprised at being conferred the title of Duke. In fact, he had been mentally prepared for it.

After all, he was of a foreign surname, and being able to reach the rank of Duke was the highest he could achieve during his lifetime.

Moreover, the title is just a bonus after all; what really matters is the position.

In his current position as prime minister, not to mention the dukes, even the princes and dukes of the new dynasty have to be under his control. When they meet, they have to politely address him as "husband".

What really made Du Qian feel uneasy was the country's title of Duke of Qin and the actual fiefdom it occupied.

The Duke nominally had a fief of 3,000 households, but in reality, it was often only 700 to 800 households.

And Li Yun actually gave him a fief.

"Sir, the word Qin is too big, I, your humble servant..."

"Besides, there is no use for me to have so many fiefs, I..."

Li Yun waved his hand and said with a smile: "I was worried that you would think I was stingy. Since Brother Shouyi doesn't mind, then it's settled."

"Brother Shouyi, please treat the people of your fiefdom well in the future."

Du Qian had worked with Li Yun for many years and knew Li Yun's administrative thinking. Hearing this, he bowed his head and said, "Don't worry, my Lord. The land and property obtained by the Du family are all the same as the official land, and the rent will never be increased in the future."

Li Yun looked at Yao Zhong again and said with a smile: "Mr. Yao has made great contributions in managing the Central Plains, but after all, his time was short. My idea is to make you a marquis first."

"After a few years, I will promote you to Duke. What do you think?"

Yao Zhong stood up, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to Li Yun: "Your Majesty, please be clear. My contribution is meager, far less than that of Lord Du, and even less than that of other ministers in the court. I believe that the most I can accept is an earl. I will never dare to accept anything higher..."

Li Yun shook his head slightly at him and said with a smile: "Just be the Marquis. There is no need to refuse. There are many things to be decided today."

"Don't waste time."

Yao Zhong bowed his head in thanks, then stood up, his hands still trembling slightly.

Coming from a poor family, of course he was a little excited.

At this time, he finally completed the ultimate class leap and became a noble of the new dynasty. As long as he did not make major mistakes, he could at least benefit several generations of descendants.

"Let's talk about the others."

Li Yun reached out and knocked on the table: "Zhuo Guangrui."

Du Qian thought for a moment and replied, "Duke."

Yao Zhong also replied: "Duke."

"Xu Ang."

Du Qian thought for a moment and said, "Marquis of the Founding Kingdom."

Yao Zhong looked up at Li Yun and whispered.

"count."

(End of this chapter)