The Emperor is Above

Chapter 296: Finally it's the turn of the sergeant vassal

After the awarding of titles began, the excitement on the faces of many nobles gradually grew more serious.

This time, the rewards given by Lord Xing were very generous. He promoted thousands of upper commoners to lower common vassal states in one go. This unprecedented generosity shocked everyone.

There were also many noble vassal vassals who originally thought that their military merits could only earn them rewards such as expansion of fiefdoms, but as a result, they were rewarded with promotions.

However, nearly half of the newly promoted nobles and vassal lords were given fiefs around Jiming Lake, or even near some strategic locations inside Jiming Lake. Apart from a few garrisons, there was nothing there and the location was extremely remote and desolate.

Qing Yi understood a lot after a little thought. There were no vassal lords above the level of doctor in the 500-li area around the capital. In the past, the Marquis of Xing had appointed nobles and ministers to manage the people in Tingli.

However, after the Cat Ghost Cult spread its beliefs, Lord Xing used drastic measures to eliminate hundreds of vassal believers who believed in evil gods, and then took back these capital pavilions and directly governed them, greatly enhancing the monarch's control over the capital.

Now, taking advantage of the winter festival ceremony, he enfeoffed many nobles and ministers to the newly expanded areas, and included the entire Jiming Lake into the capital area, expanding the capital area directly governed by Xing Hou to a radius of a thousand miles.

Thinking of this, Qing Yi quietly looked around. Whether it was the many doctors and vassal ministers, or the ministers on the altar of state and grain, they all obviously saw that the real purpose of Xing Hou was to strengthen the royal power, but no one dared to raise any objections.

Even the senior ministers Zhong Xing Huan and Qi Xi, although they both looked solemn, just looked at each other and said nothing. Of course, they had their own analysis in their minds.

The land of Jiming Lake is indeed fertile, but it is not easy to open up. It also has to face the invasion of millions of beasts that gather here every year. At most, the capital area can be expanded to a thousand miles in name. If Xing Hou wants to turn it into strength, it will take a long time to develop it.

However, the most crucial point was the thousands of upper commoners who were granted titles. Even though these people were not satisfied with the positions of their fiefs, they absolutely supported the decision of Lord Xing. After all, only when they, the upper commoners, were promoted to vassal states and became lower-ranking officials could they become true hereditary aristocrats.

Once someone opposed Xing Hou's reward, he would be making an enemy of thousands of noble vassal states. A single corporal vassal was a weak ant, but thousands of corporal vassal states gathered together would be intimidating.

Dozens of ceremonial officials read out the enfeoffment and rewards on behalf of Lord Xing, and their voices roared one after another:

"The senior commoner Bai Liang is upright and upright, and his fiefdom was expanded by 300 mu due to his merits..."

"The upper commoner Beiqugong was promoted to a noble title for his merits, and the lower commoner was granted a large marshland..."

"The upper common scholar Nan Xiangming beheaded 300 people, and was promoted to a nobleman for his merits. The lower common scholar was granted a large land..."

"Xin Kui, the lower-ranking vassal, has made great contributions in defending Luqiu City. He is promoted to the rank of middle-ranking vassal and is granted the land of Daze..."

"The corporal vassal Tu Shigu assisted in the battle at Solitary Hill, won many victories, and made many great contributions. He was promoted to a sergeant vassal and granted the land of Tuqiu Lake, two miles square..."

"what?"

Qing Yi was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that the reason given by Pig Master Gu Jinjue was to help in the battle against Gu Qiu, rather than the credit for the Autumn Harvest Weapon as he had expected.

When Tu Shigu returned with these hundreds of meritorious corporal vassals and stood in the sergeant vassal camp again, he smiled and bowed to Qing Yi across the crowd and said, "Hey, brother, I'm taking advantage of you!"

"quiet--"

The warning from the ceremonial officer at the front of the queue, without even turning his head, made the excited Tun Shigu reluctantly calm down. His small eyes narrowed into slits and never opened, but the smile on his face never faded.

There were thousands of lower commoners, upper commoners, and two thousand lower-ranking vassal officials. It took a lot of time, and it took more than two hours just to reward them.

It was not until 15:00 in the afternoon that it was the turn of the sergeant vassal to receive the reward. This was a huge ceremony with nearly a thousand people, and it really required good physical strength to participate.

"The middle-ranking vassal Tu Shigu has repeatedly presented the country with precious artifacts and made great contributions to the country. He was promoted to the rank of senior vassal and granted the land of Tuqiu Lake, which is three miles square..."

When Qing Yi heard the ceremonial officer mention Tu Shigu's name again, he could not help but feel a little surprised. Could it be that Lord Xing also began to value Tu Shigu's talent? Tu Shigu, who had squinted his eyes, did not react with excitement at first. Instead, he seemed to be frightened and looked incredulous:
"Oh my goodness, did I hear it wrong? Didn't I just get promoted to Sergeant? How come I'm going to be promoted to Senior Sergeant in the blink of an eye?"

Until the ceremonial officer scolded him rudely: "Sergeant Tu Shigu, didn't you hear your name being called just now? I've called you five or six times, why don't you come out?"

"Hey, hey, sorry, sorry, here I come!"

The pig master Gu Pang said with an apologetic smile, "Actually, I heard you when you called me the second time, but I was afraid that others around me didn't hear it clearly."

"puff--"

The ceremonial officer was almost vomited blood because of him, and Qing Yi couldn't help laughing. It was a rare opportunity for this old man to be proud of himself, and he was showing off in various ways.

Looking around at the camp of noble vassals, one can see eyes filled with envy, jealousy and hatred. Being promoted from a corporal vassal to a sergeant vassal is enough to make many people envious.

Who would have thought that Tun Shigu would be promoted from sergeant to senior sergeant in the blink of an eye. This speed was simply unparalleled. Even Qing Yi was not that fast.

Not long after, Tun Shigu, who had changed into the black robe and black cap of a sergeant again, stood in the queue behind the sergeant's vassal camp with his sword in hand and an excited look on his face. There were only more than a hundred people who were promoted to the rank of sergeant with him.

"My goodness, brother, I never dared to think in my whole life that one day I would be able to be promoted to the rank of sergeant and become a vassal!" Tun Shigu turned sideways and whispered to Qing Yi who was more than a dozen rows away.

At this moment, Tun Shigu's excitement was beyond words. Even though he knew that he and Qing Yi were only temporarily in the same sergeant camp, he still couldn't help but feel happy.

"Humph, you are a lucky and flatterer who has the good fortune to be ranked with us, the military vassal, yet you dare to make such a noise!"

A sergeant vassal sneered in a low voice with a look of displeasure on his face, "Fortunately, I will be appointed as a doctor later, so I don't have to suffer such humiliation again."

Tu Shi Gu had just been conferred the rank of sergeant and was scolded by a sergeant. He also received unfriendly looks from many sergeants around him. Being a timid person, he nodded and dared not say anything, his fat face flushed with shame.

Qing Yi couldn't bear to see these people's envy, jealousy and hatred, and couldn't help but sneer softly: "Your Excellency conferred the title of Master Tu Gu on him because he has made great contributions to the country. I wonder who among you dares to question your Excellency's decision? I wonder if you have any great achievements that your Excellency has praised you for?"

"Humph!"

The sergeant glanced at Qing Yi with an arrogant look, "I know that you, Sergeant Guqiu Yi, have made great achievements in battle, but in the Battle of Dunqiu, I wiped out 100,000 wild people in Jiming Lake, which is one and a half times more than the more than 40,000 people you annihilated in the Battle of Guqiu. Does this count as a great achievement?"

"Haha, I've always heard that the Battle of Dunqiu was commanded by the eldest son of the Marquis, with the Central Division and the City Guards leading 100,000 national militiamen as the main force, but I've never heard of your name." Qing Yi also sneered softly, "I didn't know that the Battle of Dunqiu was the achievement of your Excellency alone?"

"Sergeant Guqiu Yi, this is the chief of the Dongqiu Pavilion, Dongqiu Tai. It was he who held on to the small town of Dongqiu and blocked the two coalition armies of the wild people, which made the encirclement and suppression of the army a success!"

The head of the Wild Bull Pavilion, Niu Ben, got rid of the previous embarrassment at this time, and wanted to mediate the conflict between the two. He smiled brightly and said,

"Donqiu Taitingzhang, Guqiu Yishangshi, we are colleagues who will be promoted to the rank of junior official in a while, so it is better not to quarrel over trivial matters."

Dun Qiutai did not appreciate it at all and said, "Guqiu Yi was promoted from a lower commoner to a higher official in just one year. He is also a lucky and flattering official who has repeatedly offered many unique skills and tricks. Who would be willing to be ranked as a lower official with him?"

Qing Yi couldn't help but laugh and said, "You said that as if I want to be a minister with you."

"Quiet, no noise!" The ceremonial officer felt tired and wanted to pretend that he didn't hear some small movements, but he didn't expect that they would start a noise.

Fortunately, all the sergeants had been conferred titles, and now it was finally the turn of the sergeant-in-command to be conferred titles.

(End of this chapter)