Furthermore, the imperial court has decided that if General Sun Hao can assist Prince Yong'an in defeating the Northern Jin army, he will be granted the title of Marquis of Zhenxi and the entire Xizhou will be made his hereditary fiefdom."
"What? The court wants to confer a title of nobility upon Sun Hao? And they want to give Sun Hao the entire Xizhou as a hereditary fiefdom?"
Cao Tingjin could hardly believe his ears. You know, apart from the founding emperor Chen Haonan, who enfeoffed a group of hereditary nobles, only four people had been able to obtain the hereditary title of Liang State in more than three hundred years, and all of these four people had made extraordinary contributions to Liang State.
There were only four levels of hereditary titles in Liang State, namely king, duke, marquis and earl.
The only hereditary prince was Prince Fukang, whose hereditary fief was Hongxing Island. There were a total of six hereditary dukes, and each duke had only one county as his hereditary fief.
Xia Shijun sighed and said, "The court had no other choice but to confer the title of marquis on Sun Hao. This is the only bargaining chip the court can use now.
What's more, Sun Hao destroyed countless countries in the Western Regions and expanded the territory of Daliang by thousands of miles, so he deserved the title of nobility.
As for giving the entire Xizhou to Sun Hao as a hereditary fiefdom, it was merely a formal title bestowed upon him by the imperial court. After all, Xizhou was now known only as the Zhenxi Protectorate and not the imperial court.
In fact, the Zhenxi Protectorate had already learned about the court's plan to confer a title of nobility on Sun Hao before the Minister of War Xia Shijun arrived in Ganyang City.
Sun Hao was still very tempted by the possibility of being granted a title of nobility and having the entire Xizhou as his hereditary fiefdom.
Just to be granted a title by the court, the Zhenxi Army had to send troops to the south to help Prince Yong'an repel the army of Northern Jin.
At the Zhenxi Protectorate in the Emerald City, Sun Hao gathered together his eight most trusted advisers: Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Liu Bowen, Yao Guangxiao, Guo Jia and Jia Xu, to discuss whether to send troops to the south.
Zhuge Liang began by saying, "My Lord, I believe that maintaining the existing rule of Liang State will bring more benefits than disadvantages to our Zhenxi Protectorate.
If Prince Yong'an is unable to resist the Northern Jin army in the south, not only will the southern states of Liang be likely to be annexed by the Northern Jin, but the protectorates of the northern states will also likely begin to expand outward."
Liu Bowen then said, "Brother Zhuge is absolutely right. If Liang State falls into chaos, it will have a huge impact on the trade of our Zhenxi Protectorate.
Our Zhenxi Protectorate has just annexed the twenty-four surrounding Western Regions countries and is in dire need of funds. If the trade route with Liang is cut off, many of our previous plans will be forced to be interrupted."
Guo Jia nodded and said, "Last year, my lord led his army to the northern states to suppress bandits, and the prestige of our Zhenxi Army spread throughout the five northwestern states and the four northeastern states.
This is a perfect opportunity to spread the prestige of my Zhenxi Army to the four southwestern states and the three southeastern states."
Liang State originally had twenty-three states. In addition to the five northwestern states, four northeastern states, four southwestern states and three southeastern states, there were also seven states in the Central Plains, also known as the Seven States of the Central Plains.
The seven states in the Central Plains were also the areas where the Liang court had the most stable rule.
Pang Tong, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Yao Guangxiao and Jia Xu also expressed their support for sending troops to the south.
In fact, what really moved these eight counselors was the court's promise of nobility and its willingness to reward Sun Hao with the entire Xizhou as a hereditary fiefdom.
In this way, even if the Zhenxi Army cannot enter the Central Plains in the future, Sun Hao's descendants can still become the "King of the Western Regions".
Seeing that the eight counselors agreed with him, Sun Hao couldn't help but smile and said, "I never thought that I, Sun Hao, would be granted a title of nobility one day.
While all eight gentlemen are here, let's discuss how many troops to send to the south this time."
In a house in Emerald City, Geng Jing, the commander-in-chief of the Xizhou wing army, sighed and said to Liao Di, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xizhou wing army, "You should have heard that the court is planning to confer a title of nobility on Sun Hao, right?"
The commander-in-chief of the Xizhou wing army was nominally the highest official position in the Xizhou wing army, but because the Zhenxi Protectorate firmly controlled the military power of the Xizhou wing army, Geng Jing's position as the commander-in-chief of the Xizhou wing army was just a sinecure with no real power.
Like Geng Jing, those generals from the imperial guards in Zhenxi Zuowei were basically given idle positions after being transferred. The same is true for Liao Di, who is now the deputy commander-in-chief of Xizhou Xiang Army.
Liao Di nodded, "I've heard about it.
It seemed that the imperial court would not only confer the title of nobility on Sun Hao, but would also award the entire Xizhou to Sun Hao as a hereditary fiefdom.
If that happens, we will probably never make a name for ourselves in Xizhou."
Geng Jing said in a deep voice: "That's right. As long as Sun Hao is willing to lead the Zhenxi Army to the south and help His Majesty defeat the army of Northern Jin, the court will confer the title of Zhenxi Marquis on Sun Hao and grant him the entire Xizhou as his hereditary fiefdom.
We brothers who come from the Imperial Guards, although we have no worries about food and clothing in Xizhou, will only be able to eat and wait for death in the future, so I plan to take advantage of this opportunity of the imperial envoy coming to Xizhou to escort the imperial envoy back to the capital."
Liao Di hesitated a little, "But my brothers have already settled down in Xizhou, and my third concubine just gave birth to a son for me. Let's..."
Before Liao Di could finish his words, Geng Jing interrupted him, "Old Liao, I will let the brothers make the choice on this matter. I will not force any of them to follow me back to Beijing."
Liao Di immediately said hurriedly: "Lao Geng, that's not what I meant.
You also know that I have a wife and son in the capital, and I am reluctant to leave my current concubines and the children they gave birth to for me.
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