Inside the Imperial Study in Nanjing's Imperial City.
The new emperor, Chen Huai'an, heard news of Chang Yuchun, the deputy marshal of the army, again when the Ministry of War submitted a memorial regarding the recovery of Nanzhao territory and the surrender of Pyu.
Minister of War Li Jingyu, beaming with joy, presented the memorial to Chen Huai'an with both hands, saying, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"
"The southern expeditionary army led by Deputy Marshal Chang Yuchun has already brought all the territory of the Nanzhao Kingdom under the new dynasty, and has also brought the letter of surrender from King Mangyinglong of the Pyu Kingdom!"
"The Prince of Pingxi, Murong Fu, who declared himself emperor, has been killed in battle between the two armies, and there has been no more war in the southwestern border of the dynasty since then!"
oh?
Chen Huai'an raised an eyebrow and immediately took the memorial from Li Jingyu's hand and began to read it carefully.
In Chang Yuchun's memorial to the throne, he recorded in detail the course of the Kachin War, including the Longcheng Southern Expeditionary Army's confrontation with the Pyu Elephant Army, and the details of the vanguard general Lu Jiang killing the enemy emperor Murong Fu on the battlefield.
Subsequently, there was also a list of the amount of gold, silver and jewels that King Mangyung of Pyu voluntarily surrendered to the new dynasty and paid tribute to the new dynasty every year.
Looking at the battle details in the memorial, Chen Huai'an couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly, saying, "It seems I was overthinking it. The Pyu Kingdom's elephant cavalry isn't as formidable as I imagined!"
Ha ha!
After saying that, Chen Huai'an laughed out loud.
Li Jingyu, the Minister of War standing to the side, couldn't help but flatter him, saying, "Your Majesty is wise. How can the elephant cavalry of this mere Pyu Kingdom compare to the army of Longcheng that Your Majesty personally led?"
"The fact that His Majesty has granted permission for the Pyu Kingdom to surrender to the new dynasty is already an act of great mercy."
"Otherwise, the iron cavalry of the Dragon City army will surely be able to sweep across every inch of Pyu Kingdom's land with unstoppable momentum!"
Hahaha!
Hearing Li Jingyu's words, Chen Huai'an couldn't help but burst into laughter, thinking to himself that this old guy was indeed a veteran of three dynasties of the Great Xin Dynasty, and his ability to read people's expressions was truly profound!
He speaks in a way that people like to hear.
The key point is that everything he said was true, and you couldn't refute it!
Chen Huai'an waved his hand and said, "Lord Li, there's another layer to the memorial submitted by Deputy Commander Chang: he's requesting commendation for Lu Jiang, the vanguard commander of the southern expeditionary army."
"To kill the emperor of an enemy country on the battlefield is the highest honor in military merit!"
After a pause, Chen Huai'an asked, "Lord Li, according to the Ministry of War's regulations, what reward do you think General Lu Jiang, the vanguard general, should receive?"
Forehead--
Regarding this issue, Minister of War Li Jingyu had already prepared his answer in his mind before reporting to the Emperor.
However, he still looked troubled at this moment.
Finally, after hesitating for a long time, he timidly said, "Your Majesty, according to the military reward system established by the previous dynasty's Ministry of War, beheading a general on the battlefield is the greatest merit."
"Even ordinary soldiers who achieve merit can be promoted to general, despite not meeting the usual standards."
"And this vanguard general, Lu Jiang, was originally a fourth-rank military officer of the imperial court, and the person he killed was the self-proclaimed emperor of Nanzhao. This military achievement is of a slightly higher value than an ordinary kill on the battlefield."
While giving her report, Li Jingyu kept glancing at Chen Huai'an's expression out of the corner of her eye.
Seeing that the other party did not show any obvious change in expression, he immediately blurted out the speech he had prepared in advance, saying, "According to the regulations of the Ministry of War, this General Lu can be appointed as a second-rank general, serving as the commander-in-chief guarding a region!"
After thinking for a moment, Li Jingyu added, "However, in my humble opinion, General Lu has relatively little seniority in the army and is a former surrendered general. If we were to bestow upon him the title of Second-Rank Grand General and Commander-in-Chief to guard a region at this time, I fear it would be difficult to gain the respect of the people."
"Therefore, I believe that General Lu should be posthumously granted the title of Loyal and Brave General, and the court should appoint him to a second-rank official position!"
Hahaha!
After listening to Minister of War Li Jingyu's words, Chen Huai'an neither agreed nor disagreed, but simply laughed heartily a few times.
Then, he waved his hand and said, "Lord Li, you may leave now!"
"I will decide on the rewards and honors bestowed upon Vanguard General Lu Jiang!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After Minister of War Li Jingyu left the Imperial Study looking completely bewildered, Chen Huai'an immediately got up and went around to the screen in the study, where a curtain was hanging.
Above the curtains were the words "Duke," "Marquis," and "Earl."
The names of many generals of the Dragon City army were already pasted on the curtain, but Chen Huai'an still seemed dissatisfied with his order and had already shuffled it several times.
At this moment, Chen Huai'an picked up his pen and wrote down Lu Jiang's name.
Then, without hesitation, he pasted the slip of paper with Lu Jiang's name on it into the Marquis's column and fixed it there.
Indeed, Chen Huai'an has decided to bestow the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery upon Lu Jiang, the vanguard general who killed Emperor Mu Rongfu of Nanzhao on the battlefield. This is the first list of marquises to be confirmed by the new dynasty.
As Minister of War Li Jingyu said, given Lu Jiang's seniority in the army and his status as a surrendered general, even if he killed Emperor Murong Fu of Nanzhao on the battlefield, his military achievements would at most earn him the title of Grand General and Commander-in-Chief, but would not be enough to earn him the title of Marquis!
However, Chen Huai'an resolutely conferred the title of Marquis upon Lu Jiang, making him the first person in the new dynasty to be officially recognized as a Marquis.
The reason was that Chen Huai'an wanted to use this opportunity to test the waters and see how these nobles and arrogant soldiers of Longcheng would react after learning about this, so as to determine the final list of rewards during the new dynasty's investiture ceremony.
Despite the seemingly peaceful atmosphere within the Longcheng army, the soldiers are making their final efforts for the unification of the new dynasty.
In fact, military generals had long been eager to receive rewards after the founding of the country.
Chen Huai'an's Dragon City Inner Guard has already gathered a lot of information, including information about several Dragon City generals who, in order to be ennobled at the post-founding ceremony, have been secretly interfering in the new dynasty's appointment of an empress. This is not a good sign.
Therefore, Emperor Chen Huai'an needed an opportunity, a whetstone, to test the reactions of the generals of the three armies to the matter of the founding of the dynasty and the bestowal of titles.
Marquis Lu Jiang, the Loyal and Brave, was Chen Huai'an's whetstone.
The next day.
At the court assembly, Emperor Chen Huai'an of the new dynasty personally issued an imperial edict conferring upon Lu Jiang, the vanguard general of the Longcheng Southern Expeditionary Army, the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Valor of the new dynasty.
This news shocked the entire court.
In particular, Li Jingyu, the Minister of War who was in the know, stared wide-eyed in disbelief until Cai He, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, personally handed him the Emperor's edict, which instructed the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites to take full responsibility for the matter.
Li Jingyu then realized that the Emperor had indeed conferred the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery upon Lu Jiang, making him the first person in the new dynasty to be granted a marquisate.
He received the heavy imperial edict, his eyes involuntarily drifting towards the new emperor Chen Huai'an on the dragon throne in the Golden Palace, his heart already churning with turmoil.
Li Jingyu knew that once the contents of the imperial edict were announced to the world, it would surely cause a huge uproar in the new dynasty.
The first storm of the new dynasty is about to arrive!
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