Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

Duke Zhao looked grim and dejected, realizing that his words had offended the emperor.

He could stand head-on with the founding generation of military heroes and have opposing opinions.

But what they absolutely shouldn't have said was something about the Qing Dynasty and the Han Dynasty negotiating peace!

Ultimately, it was Jia Jing who truly won the Emperor's favor. This great victory gave Emperor Jingsheng the confidence to destroy the Qing Dynasty; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so vehemently criticizing himself!

The political situation is becoming increasingly unpredictable, and Wu Xun, a member of the Jingnan faction, will face a difficult future!

Emperor Jingsheng ignored the Duke of Zhao's thoughts and spoke directly:

"Let's continue discussing the matter of rewarding Minister Jia! In my opinion, we should proceed as previously agreed, promoting him to the rank of Third Class to reward his military achievements, and also elevating him one rank in his official position. What do you all think?"

Based on his merits, being granted the title of "Grand Master of the Third Rank" was appropriate, and a promotion was also a fitting honor.

Although several civil officials felt that Jia Jing was too young and that his official rank could be delayed, there was no rush to promote him to the third rank.

Being granted a marquisate would be enough to reward his merits, but having just experienced Emperor Jingsheng's angry rebuke of the Duke of Zhao, it was not appropriate to speak up again at this time.

Jia Jing is currently in the emperor's favor, so there are some things that really cannot be said.

Gong Dingzi, a Grand Secretary of the Hall of Preserving Harmony, was the first to step forward and bow, saying:

"Your Majesty is wise! Given Jia Jing's merits, granting him the title of Third-Rank Marquis and promoting him by one rank is, in my opinion, perfectly appropriate and fitting!"

Zhang Tingyu, Li Guangdi, and the others also cupped their hands and said:

"Your Majesty is wise; I have no objection!"

Niu Jizong also stepped forward to agree.

Emperor Jingsheng continued, "Since you are being granted a marquisate, you should naturally have a title. I have been thinking about it for several days, but I am still somewhat hesitant. You are all learned men, so please share your opinions and help me come up with a suitable one!"

In the Han Dynasty, the noble titles were Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. Among them, Earl, Viscount, and Baron were only divided into three ranks and did not have official titles.

Reaching the rank of Marquis is equivalent to the second rank, making one a truly high-ranking military officer of the dynasty who shares the fate of the nation, and they usually have their own title.

Niu Jizong was somewhat envious upon hearing this, for he, a first-class earl, did not yet have his own title!

However, Jia Jing was one of their own, and he felt honored, so he immediately cupped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty! I believe that Jia Jing won the battle while defending Liaodong, and therefore could be granted the title of Marquis of Liaodong. I wonder if this is appropriate?"

The titles of marquises in the Han Dynasty were generally named after cities, townships, counties, or prefectures. Niu Jizong's proposal of the Marquis of Liaodong is one such approach.

But the others clearly disagreed, arguing that Liaodong was far too large.

Jia Jing was only a third-class marquis, and it was already quite good that he was granted the title of a city!

If you become the Marquis of Liaodong, and are later promoted to the rank of Second-Class Marquis or First-Class Marquis, wouldn't you have to grant him the entire Han Dynasty?

Gong Dingzi stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe we should take the character 'Liao' from Liaodong and add the character 'Ning' to it! We can then bestow upon him the title of Marquis of Liaoning!"

"Firstly, it conveys the idea of ​​peace and tranquility in Liaodong, and secondly, it reflects the good intention of ensuring peace and stability in Liaodong! Using this to commend his achievements and encourage Jia Jing to make new contributions seems more appropriate!"

Zhang Tingyu and the others couldn't help but change their expressions upon hearing Gong Dingzi's words.

Good guy!

The land is vast and peaceful!

Niu Jizong only granted Liaodong a fiefdom, but you've granted the entire world to you!

I know you, Gong Dingzi, are His Majesty's man and want to please him, but you can't be this shameless!

This title could even be used as the reign title of the Han Dynasty!

The peace and tranquility of Liaodong is a strategic matter of great importance to the country. Can we really rely on just one child like Jia Jing?

Li Guangdi spoke with a somewhat unpleasant expression:

"Your Majesty! I believe that since Jia Jing captured the Qing army commander in Jizhou City, he should be granted the title of Marquis of Jizhou. Jizhou has been a strategically important military town since ancient times, and this would both reward his achievement and serve as an encouragement!"

The suggestions given by the others were all good, but none of them particularly satisfied Emperor Jingsheng.

Emperor Jingsheng pondered for a moment, then asked Zhang Tingyu, who had not spoken, a question;

"Hengchen, what do you think?"

Zhang Tingyu seemed to have prepared his response beforehand, and cupped his hands in greeting, saying:

"Your Majesty! I believe that there are certain restrictions placed on Liaoning, Liaodong, and Jizhou!"

"Jia Jing is a young hero of our great Han Dynasty. Now that our great Han Dynasty is in turmoil, the court will need him to make contributions in the northwest and southwest."

"His achievements and military prowess should not be limited to Liaodong, but should serve to deter the barbarians and expand the territory of our great Han Dynasty, making our Han Dynasty's fame spread far and wide!"

"Why not bestow upon him the title of Marquis Jingwu, meaning to pacify the world through military force? Moreover, the pronunciations of Jing and Jing are similar, making it a fitting and auspicious title."

Emperor Jingsheng nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Why did he recall Jia Jing to the capital? Wasn't it so that he could use his martial prowess elsewhere?

Hengchen is right!

Heaven has bestowed such a brilliant talent upon me, not merely for the sake of Liaodong.

Jia Jing will be my Marquis of Champion and Grand General in the future. He will be able to deter the barbarians, subdue enemies, and expand our territory for the Han Dynasty. I have high expectations for him!

Hengchen knows me well!

Emperor Jingsheng immediately issued the following order:

"Hengchen's words are reasonable! Jia Jing of Jin was granted the title of Third-Class Marquis of Jingwu, bestowed with a red-inked iron certificate, and promoted one rank to General Zhen Dong, a third-rank official. The cabinet drafted the decree, and it was officially issued as an imperial edict!"

All the officials bowed in obeisance, indicating that they had obeyed the imperial edict.

Emperor Jingsheng then said:

"Other meritorious officials should also be rewarded. Based on the list of meritorious individuals reported by Minister Jia, I have decided to promote Qin Qiong to the rank of Fourth-Rank General and elevate him to the rank of First-Class Earl."

"Zhang Yi (Zhuque) is promoted to the rank of Fourth-Rank General and granted the title of Second-Class Earl. Feng Ziying is promoted to the rank of Fifth-Rank Left Colonel and granted the title of First-Class Baron. Han Qi is promoted to the rank of Fifth-Rank Right Colonel. The rest are to be promoted and rewarded by the Ministry of War according to their merits."

Qin Qiong's rank was higher than Zhuque's because he had captured Yinti this time.

The reason why Zhuque had a higher rank and official position than Feng Ziying and Han Qi was firstly because he was more courageous in battle, and secondly because Feng and Han had served in the army for a shorter period of time than Zhuque, who had been following Jia Jing since he joined the army.

The officials below had no objection and bowed in agreement.

These were all agreed upon a few days ago; this time, Emperor Jingsheng simply formally confirmed them.

Having finished discussing this matter, Emperor Jingsheng had no interest in discussing anything else. Instead, he stood up and asked Xia Shouzhong, who was standing beside him:

"Master, has Minister Jia arrived yet?"

Xia Shouzhong thought to himself: Your Majesty, you've asked this five times since you got up this morning!

Xia Shouzhong had never seen Emperor Jingsheng care so much about a subject before, and immediately replied without hesitation:

"Your Majesty, General Jia has entered the palace and is on his way to the Qianqing Palace."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingsheng's expression showed a hint of joy, and he said in a light tone:

"Minister Jia has traveled a long way from the front lines. He has made great contributions. Let us go outside the gate to greet him."

Upon hearing this, the faces of the officials in the hall were taken aback.

What? The Emperor and I, the most important officials of the state, went to the gate together to greet that brat Jia Jing?

Isn't this a bit too much of a courtesy?

Even if Jia Jing did indeed make great contributions, the court had already bestowed upon him official titles and honors, so there was no need for him to be so humble!

Zhang Tingyu sighed inwardly; he wasn't surprised that Emperor Jingsheng had done this.

He knew Emperor Jingsheng's character well; he was very clear about his likes and dislikes, and if he liked someone, he liked them to the core, wishing he could elevate them to the heavens and give them everything he wanted!

If you hate someone, you'd want to send them to hell; you could say you're a person of strong emotions!

Without a doubt, Jia Jing at this time was a minister whom Emperor Jingsheng greatly liked and valued!

Emperor Jingsheng ignored what his ministers thought and walked towards the door first.

The ministers behind him had no choice but to follow closely behind and wait together outside the Qianqing Hall for the triumphant Marquis Jingwu.