So Emperor An began to speak, saying nothing more than that the year had been blessed with good weather and abundant harvests, and that the people lived in peace and prosperity. Finally, he looked forward to the new year. Jing Zhe sighed inwardly, realizing that these rulers, regardless of the era, always spoke differently.

Of course, Andy emphasized a few things.

First, the Da'an Newspaper, founded by Jing Zhe, is gaining increasing popularity in Jingzhou City, and the people are calling for its success.

Secondly, Jing Zhe's victory in the martial arts tournament facilitated cooperation between the imperial court and various sects, ushering in a new chapter for both sides, with a promising future.

The third matter concerns the border regions. Again, it was thanks to Jing Zhe that the barbarians of the Western Frontier were driven back and the King of the Western Frontier was killed, thus ensuring the safety of the people of Liangzhou and allowing them to have a good New Year this year.

At the same time, Emperor An announced that General Liu Jinghong had served diligently in Liangzhou for many years. Now that Liangzhou was at peace, after the New Year, Liu Jinghong could return to Jingzhou to report on his duties and would remain in Jingzhou thereafter.

Jing Zhe felt very pleased after hearing this.

Although he has been busy lately, he has maintained communication with Liu Jinghong via carrier pigeon. He also heard from Liu Jinghong that she has submitted a request to Emperor An, and Emperor An has agreed.

Now that he heard Emperor An make the announcement, he knew that Liu Jinghong's return to Jingzhou was imminent.

The last item is the cooperation with Yueyao Kingdom. An Kingdom's relations with several border countries have been quite tense in recent years, so it has always been very careful in dealing with its neighboring countries.

It was also because of Jing Zhe that cooperation with Yueyao Kingdom was facilitated. Although Yueyao Kingdom was the weakest among its neighboring countries, its geographical location was quite crucial.

After cooperating with Yueyao Kingdom, Anguo can launch a counterattack by taking advantage of Yueyao Kingdom's favorable position, whether it is against Southern Qi or Western Xinjiang, once war breaks out.

Jing Zhe played a decisive role in accomplishing all four tasks, and therefore, he was officially granted the official rank of second grade.

It was decided long ago to promote Jing Zhe to the rank of second grade.

However, when Murong Xi was still in Jingzhou, Emperor An used the excuse of "punishing" Jing Zhe to prevent him from attending court and never officially announced his second-rank official position. Now it is considered confirmed.

Jing Zhe stepped forward again to express his gratitude, but he was slightly disappointed: he should have known better than to anger Bai Qingyuan to the point of fainting, so that Bai Qingyuan could have watched him become a second-rank official...

...

After summarizing the past, we must look to the future.

Emperor An summarized four points, all of which were related to Jing Zhe, and he looked forward to the future by relying entirely on Jing Zhe.

In the new year, Emperor An values ​​two things most: cooperation with the Yueyao Kingdom and cooperation with various sects.

These two things can actually be combined into one, because they both ultimately lead to the establishment of newspaper branch offices.

To cooperate with sects, it is necessary to establish branch offices of newspapers, branches of Wenxiangju, and branches of Zhangjia Winery in various places before personnel from various sects can be placed in them.

Meanwhile, the embassy of Yueyao Kingdom will also be established in various newspaper offices, so Jing Zhe will have a heavy burden after the New Year. After all, he will need to personally take charge of opening newspaper branches in various places.

After saying that, Emperor An smiled and said, "President Jing, your current position is now a second-rank official. Next, you can promote the official positions of the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Chen Jiannan, and other department heads accordingly. It will be good to entrust them with important responsibilities. After all, they will need to help you when you open branch offices, and it will be easier for them to get things done if they have higher official positions."

Now, the newspaper sends people to attend court every day, so Emperor An is quite familiar with the newspaper staff.

The benefit of Jing Zhe being promoted to the second rank is that the official positions of others can also be raised accordingly. If the official position is too low, it will be inconvenient to go to various places to handle affairs.

Jing Zhe bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. After the new year begins, I will submit my application for promotion to Your Majesty."

"It is said that with great power comes great responsibility. After the New Year, the burden on President Jing will be even heavier. However, I have high hopes for you and wish you a resounding victory. On behalf of the people of Anguo, I thank you in advance!"

"Your Majesty flatters me. Serving Your Majesty and the people of Anguo is my duty!"

Jing Zhe quickly replied.

Emperor An then spoke for a while longer, and the morning court session came to an end.

As a regular feature of the morning court session, Jing Zhe was naturally kept behind by Emperor An.

...

Council chamber.

Jing Zhe sat calmly opposite Emperor An.

Emperor An spoke first, asking, "You just said in court that you have a heavy responsibility on your shoulders after the New Year. Do you blame me?"

Jing Zhe naturally shook his head, "Your Majesty, when I first proposed establishing the newspaper, I promised to open branches in various places. Now Your Majesty has not only promoted me, but also provided so many conditions for opening branches. I am grateful enough, how could I blame you?"

Emperor An smiled and nodded, then said seriously, "Right now, my only concern is the matter of Jinxi!"

Then he looked at Jing Zhe and asked, "When do you think would be a good time?"

Jing Zhe thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, we still need to see how things are handled in Jinxi. After all, I have already discussed it with Kadan. Once he has settled all the domestic affairs in Western Xinjiang, he will contact me. At that time, with Western Xinjiang taking the lead, we can lure the enemy out, and then we just need to wait and see!"

Emperor Andi nodded; he naturally knew who this "snake" was, and then sighed.

Even though he had made up his mind, blood is thicker than water, and the thought of killing his own brother filled him with sadness and helplessness.

He then asked, "Has Kadan communicated with you? Has he discussed a specific time?"

Jing Zhe thought for a moment, then shook his head.

In fact, Kadan did write him a letter informing him of the progress of domestic affairs in the Western Frontier, but he could not tell Emperor An. As the King of the Western Frontier, Kadan was discussing matters with a mere subject instead of Emperor An. If he were to tell him, Emperor An would inevitably become suspicious.

So he countered, "Your Majesty, as the King of the Western Frontier, wouldn't Kadan proactively communicate with you if something were to happen? I haven't received any letters from him, nor has Your Majesty?"

Seeing Emperor An shake his head, Jing Zhe continued, "Your Majesty, after Kadan became the new king, he returned to the Western Frontier to handle domestic affairs. He is probably extremely busy right now and has no time for anything else, which is normal. Once he finishes everything, he should have time."

So Jing Zhe told Emperor An his plan: Kadan had reached an agreement with the Prince of Jin to jointly attack Jingzhou, and then Kadan would defect and join forces with them to deliver a fatal blow to the Prince of Jin.

Therefore, this matter is not urgent, and the Prince of Jin will certainly not act rashly; he will simply wait for Kadan to arrive.

Finally, Jing Zhe analyzed, "According to my estimation, by the time everything in Kadan is finished, it should be around June or July..."

"..."

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