The morning court began.
Emperor Zhou sat on his dragon throne with a smile.
Everyone could see that Emperor Zhou was in a very good mood today.
Emperor Zhou once again had Shen Jing stand in an unobstructed position near the palace entrance and smiled, saying, “I believe all my beloved ministers are well aware of Shen Jing’s achievements! I intend to confer upon Shen Jing the title of Marquis of Loyalty and appoint him as Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, concurrently serving as General Dingyuan. What do my beloved ministers think?”
Whoosh...
As Emperor Zhou’s words fell, the court immediately erupted in an uproar.
Has he gone mad?
Conferring a marquisate?
Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial is a fourth-rank official.
General Dingyuan is a fifth-rank military official!
Many people had previously thought Emperor Zhou would be generous to award Shen Jing a sixth-rank official position!
As it turned out, the lowest rank was a fifth-rank!
The key was, this marquisate was truly too much!
What did Shen Jing do to deserve a marquisate?
Just by collapsing a few sections of the city wall, he could become a marquis?
This was more than a generous reward; it was an indiscriminate one!
Not to mention the assembled officials in court, even Shen Jing, who had received a hint of the news beforehand, was a little stunned.
He's really going to be a marquis?
He just went to Qu Prefecture for a spin and became a marquis?
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However, this position of Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, why does it feel a bit off?
Yao Jian subtly glanced at Emperor Zhou, then immediately gave a look to the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Receiving Yao Jian’s signal, the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel immediately stepped forward, “Your Majesty, this is unacceptable!”
“What is unacceptable?”
Emperor Zhou slightly raised his eyes, his expression unruffled.
The Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel said with righteous indignation, “Shen Jing indeed rendered meritorious service to the imperial court, but his achievements are absolutely not great enough to warrant a marquisate! If Your Majesty confers upon Shen Jing a marquisate based on personal preference, how will officials from various regions and soldiers in the army think? Rewards and punishments must be clear to win over the people and to demonstrate Your Majesty’s divine power!”
“Minister Yu’s words are reasonable!”
Another official chimed in, “Your humble servant believes that for Shen Jing’s achievements, a baronage would be sufficient!”
As the two spoke, many ministers vehemently opposed.
“If Your Majesty confers a marquisate upon Shen Jing, it will inevitably cause discontent among other meritorious generals!”
“If Shen Jing can be granted a marquisate for such minor achievements, will everyone who renders service to the imperial court in the future also be granted a marquisate? If so, how many dukes and marquises would the imperial court have to confer?”
“Indeed, how many generals bravely fight the enemy on the front lines, yet cannot achieve a marquisate in their entire lives? How can Shen Jing’s achievements warrant a marquisate?”
“Please, Your Majesty, reconsider…”
A group of ministers offered their remonstrances, each with more compelling reasons than the last.
Some genuinely considered the imperial court's welfare, but more were driven by resentment and jealousy.
A young upstart, with just a few achievements, is directly made a marquis?
How should those who toiled for the imperial court feel?
In the future, when they see Shen Jing, will they have to bow to him and respectfully call him “Marquis Shen”?
To let a young upstart ride over their heads, this was simply a humiliation!
Listening to the ministers’ remonstrances, Emperor Zhou showed neither joy nor anger, then called out Yao Jian’s name, “Chancellor Yao, as the head of all officials, do you think there is any problem with my conferment?”
Yao Jian did not directly answer Emperor Zhou’s question; instead, he inquired, “Your Majesty has appointed Shen Jing as Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, presumably intending for him to be in charge of receiving the Yong Country Delegation, correct?”
“Yes!”
Emperor Zhou nodded.
Hmm?
Shen Jing’s eyelids twitched, and he quickly whispered to an official nearby, “Shouldn’t the reception duties be handled by the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial?”
“Indeed.”
That official nodded slightly and replied in a low voice, “However, the former Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, Minister Yu, was promoted to Minister of Rites, and the two former Vice Ministers of the Court of State Ceremonial were transferred, one to the Ministry of Rites and one to the Ministry of Revenue…”
“…”
Listening to the official’s words, Shen Jing’s face twitched slightly.
In other words, the Court of State Ceremonial is currently leaderless?
Whoever the hell serves as Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial is the highest official in the Court of State Ceremonial?
Damn it!
This dog emperor definitely had a plan all along!
While they were talking, Yao Jian, who had been deep in thought for a moment, spoke again, “Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial is a fourth-rank official, and General Dingyuan, although a military official, is also a fifth-rank official. Your humble servant believes that Your Majesty granting Shen Jing these two official positions is already an immense imperial favor! Even if Shen Jing is not granted a noble title, he should still be grateful for Your Majesty’s imperial favor. Shen Jing, what do you say?”
Yao Jian threw the question to Shen Jing, looking at him with a smile.
If Shen Jing himself said yes, then it would be unreasonable for His Majesty to still confer him a marquisate.
If Shen Jing dared to say no, then he could seize the opportunity to brand Shen Jing with the charge of disrespect!
Shen Jing naturally understood the trap in Yao Jian’s words and smiled, “Although this junior has made a small contribution, the matter of conferment should be decided by His Majesty. How could this junior overstep?”
Overstep!
Yao Jian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
What a clever use of “overstep”!
It meant that the ministers’ presumptuous discussion of His Majesty’s conferment upon him, attempting to make decisions for His Majesty, was also overstepping!
He hadn't expected this young man, despite his youth, to speak with such seasoned skill!
Given this, he could even less allow Shen Jing to hold a high position!
“So, you think it’s only natural for His Majesty to confer a marquisate upon you?”
Yao Jian once again posed a question laden with a trap.
“Thunderstorms and rain, all are imperial grace!”
Shen Jing replied solemnly, “Let alone His Majesty bestowing honors upon this junior, even if His Majesty were to punish this junior as Chancellor Yao previously suggested, this junior would have no complaints!”
“Nonsense!”
Yao Jian frowned, “When did this chancellor ever say I would punish you?”
“Ah?”
Shen Jing was slightly surprised, “Chancellor Yao didn’t say that? This junior remembers that Chancellor Yao previously said it was this junior who forced Prince Ji to raise an army and rebel, and that this junior ruined the imperial court’s important affairs for personal gain…”
“You must have misremembered!”
Yao Yu snorted coldly, “Those were the Second Prince’s words, you mustn’t…”
However, before Yao Yu could finish his sentence, Yao Jian glared at him fiercely.
Yao Yu froze for a moment, then suddenly realized something was wrong.
When he saw Ye Qing’s gaze, he instantly realized he had fallen into Shen Jing’s trap.
They were currently discussing Shen Jing’s conferment, yet he brought up old matters again. Wasn’t this clearly making Ye Qing uncomfortable?
What a sinister little beast!
“Those were indeed the Second Prince’s words!”
Emperor Zhou took over the conversation, his meaningful gaze falling on Ye Qing, “Do you think there is any problem with my conferment upon Shen Jing?”
Ye Qing secretly cursed Yao Yu for being a fool, hesitated for a moment, then respectfully replied, “Everything is up to Father Emperor!”
Clearly, Father Emperor was determined to heavily reward Shen Jing!
His previous statement that Shen Jing's faults outweighed his merits had already caused Father Emperor's displeasure. If he were to sing a different tune today, he might incur even more of Father Emperor's dissatisfaction.
He just didn't understand why Father Emperor would so heavily reward Shen Jing, who was unrelated to him.
Isn't Shen Jing just the Su Family's live-in son-in-law?
Is he worth such importance from Father Emperor?
“Your humble servant believes that Your Majesty’s conferment upon Shen Jing is entirely appropriate!”
Just then, Pei Ji suddenly stepped forward and declared loudly, “Although Shen Jing did not personally fight on the battlefield, in the suppression of the rebellion, he should be given the foremost credit!”
“If they hadn’t risked their lives to breach the city walls of Yuping Pass, Your Majesty and all our colleagues would probably still be having headaches right now! Not to mention achieving the great victory at Yuping Pass!”
“Shen Jing’s breaching of the city walls indirectly saved the lives of countless soldiers in the army, helped the imperial court eliminate the hidden danger of the Qiang people, and also showed Yong Country the strength of our Great Zhou!”
“With such great achievements, why can he not be made a marquis?”