"I second that proposal!"

Yuan Feng was the first to stand up and agree. Gongshu Lian was a doctoral student under him in the engineering college. If he helped Gongshu Lian to be ennobled, it would be of great benefit to his and the Yuan family's reputation.

"We second that proposal!"

Immediately afterwards, Chen Fan, Hu Guang, Li Ying, Cao Song, Yang Ci, Xun Shuang, Yang Qiu, and others also chimed in,

Good heavens! The officials in the court were also astonished. Although many of them had heard some rumors, the last time these bigwigs were so united was when Mo Shang was conferred a marquisate. And now it happened again.

"We second that proposal!!"

Immediately, most of the officials in the court stood up and echoed their sentiments.

Nowadays, most of the upright officials in the court have been expelled, and most of those remaining are pragmatic officials. It is not inappropriate to grant Gongshu Lian a title of Marquis of a Thousand Households for his merits.

Furthermore, since the bigwigs had all agreed, they didn't dare to be so foolish as to object.

Therefore, the proposal to enfeoff Gongshu Lian as a marquis was unanimously approved by all officials.

Liu Hong nodded in satisfaction and said in a deep voice, "By imperial decree, Gongshu Lian is hereby granted the title of Marquis of Hanyi Pavilion for his dedication to the country and his meritorious service in iron smelting, with a fief of one thousand households!"

"Your Majesty is wise!!"

Liu Hong then discussed with the officials matters concerning the performance evaluation of officials' political affairs, as well as the evaluation of spring plowing and learning next year.

Furthermore, Hu Guang proposed and established a scoring system for next year's performance evaluation, which was unanimously approved by all the officials. After all, this was something that had been decided long ago, and their objections were futile.

For a time, in this warm court, the officials were exceptionally harmonious.

Soon, several imperial edicts bearing the emperor's seal were issued from the Ministry of Personnel and sent to Gongshu Lian's residence and local government offices.

Just as the civil and military officials of the Han Dynasty were busily discussing the many matters of the coming year in the warm and peaceful Chongzheng Hall, Duan Jiong and Zhang Huan received secret orders sent by Liu Hong almost simultaneously.