Chapter 537: Nobility

Although Baifeng said he needed to rest well for a few days, he went to work as usual the next day; mainly, he could not set his mind at ease. Yulong was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, and now that the entire power of the nation had been temporarily handed over to him, he was under doubled pressure.

The Soldiers who had gone to blow up the Quake Lake that day had already been sent home by Xiong to rest. Xiong also felt somewhat sorrowful due to the death of his old friend; it should have been him who went, and if he had gone, would things have been better?

Upon learning that his father had died, Juxiang, like Chi, was heartless and did not feel too much grief; instead, he said to Xiong, "My father was a warrior of Huaxia, and I will become a person like my father in the future."

Only the women knew that the pillar of their families was gone, and no one knew what their lives would be like in the future; they were all panicked, and at this moment, they began to cry loudly instead.

Because Baifeng had fallen ill, Xiong, as a leader, went to the homes of those Soldiers one by one to offer condolences, stating that they would definitely provide sufficient compensation and honor, and would not let them become impoverished from now on just because their husbands and fathers had died.

The first thing Baifeng did after returning was to decide to fulfill his promises. He called Xiong, Zhu, and Wu over; having not seen each other for a day, they suddenly felt much older.

Baifeng did not mince words: "I have decided to fulfill my promises to those Soldiers. The deceased Soldiers shall be posthumously granted Nobility, to be inherited by their legitimate sons, and granted a surname; from now on, their descendants will all be able to have a surname. The Soldiers who returned alive shall all be granted a surname and rewarded with food and supplies."

This was originally Baifeng's promise before he left. If everyone had died, Baifeng might have given everyone a low-level Nobility, the kind that only had honor and no other use. Because Chi's lifetime merits were high enough, he certainly would have been given the highest Nobility. Now that most of them had returned alive, Baifeng did not want Nobility to be everywhere in this not-so-large nation, which would make it seem not precious at all; granting surnames, giving Military Merit medals, and rewarding supplies were the most appropriate things to do.

All of this had to be coordinated with the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works. First, the Ministry of Rites had to produce a complete set of regulations, because everything in this regard was a blank slate. The people in the Ministry of War only thought that Military Merit was something recorded in a notebook, used for getting a promotion or a raise after a certain amount of time.

The greatest honor in their eyes was the colorful medal hanging on the neck of the First Warrior at the annual Sports Meet. Baifeng had never canceled the Sports Meet; it used to be for selecting Soldiers and providing a path of advancement for Slaves, but now its nature had changed somewhat, becoming more about displaying individual martial prowess and mass entertainment. Although some previous policies remained unchanged, for Slaves, it was still their chance to change their own destiny.

Huaxia had few wars; if one wanted to ensure everyone did not lose the courage to struggle, the Sports Meet was indispensable.

Baifeng first formulated a system of Nobility for Huaxia, which was actually just copying the Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, and Baron of later generations. Because Baifeng himself was the King and had no intention of changing to Emperor, everyone was already used to it, and it was not good to keep changing back and forth. After Changle, he would not be a Prince, but a State Duke; in reality, there was no difference.

Chi was definitely going to be made a Marquis. Those who followed Baifeng to conquer the world would naturally also have a Nobility. As for the current officials, unless they had some major contribution, they would not be given Nobility; their official positions were enough for them. Official positions could not be inherited, but Nobility could.

As for whether this Nobility system would threaten the rule of Baifeng's family in the future, Baifeng was not worried. His own generation and Yulong's generation would absolutely have no problems. In the future, he would naturally have good things to pass down to Yulong; the "Order to Extend Favor"—when the time came to use it, there would naturally be descendants who would take it out from some tightly locked box and copy it according to the detailed notes.

The benefit of Nobility was honor and status; even if there was no power, there was influence, and no matter how strong an official was, they could not bully them at will. It was considered a guarantee for the descendants of these meritorious officials. No matter how nicely Baifeng spoke to everyone, and no matter how nicely everyone spoke, the humans of this era only had two purposes for coming into the world: to live and to reproduce.

If they could live better, they would certainly not abandon the descendants they produced at will. Only when Baifeng gave them enough guarantees would they be willing to sacrifice for Huaxia for the sake of their descendants. Of course, Baifeng believed that Chi had not thought that much either.

People with Nobility could be allocated a portion of land that did not require taxes; in name, it was private, and no one in Huaxia could manage it, though the Royal Family could, because the underlying logic was that their land was divided from the land of the Royal Family.

In the future, if Military Merit accumulated enough, one could be granted Nobility. Even if you were a farmer, if you could pay enough taxes at once, you might be rewarded with Nobility; in any case, it depended on one's contribution to Huaxia.

Nobility could not be given at will, but other honors could: Special Class Merit, First Class Merit, Second Class Merit, and Third Class Merit, divided into individual and collective. The medals made of gold were personally designed by Baifeng, though this time only eight Special Class Merit medals and dozens of First Class Merit medals were made. Furthermore, those for the military and for ordinary people were different.

People who could eat their fill had reached the peak of their desire for honor and status, and Baifeng would naturally think of ways to satisfy them. He had the people of the Ministry of Works find enough wooden boards to make plaques. For Chi's family, Baifeng wrote the large characters "Pillar of the Nation," and for other families, it was "Family of Special Class Merit" or "Family of First Class Merit." All of them were written stroke by stroke by Baifeng and then handed over to a Carpenter to carve.

Because all of this required a long time, in order not to chill the hearts of those Soldiers and Workers, it was necessary for the two leaders, Xiong and Chi, to explain it privately, and first let them try not to talk about it to the outside world; when everything was ready, a ceremony would be held.

Wu recorded everything in a notebook. Although he felt it was a pity about Chi's death, if he himself died and could exchange it for so much honor, it would be worth it. He did not want to just die of old age like this and end up with nothing.

Baifeng saw through their thoughts, especially Wu's; he was old now and not as shrewd, and his worries were almost written on his face. Plus, the original officials of the Ministry of Rites were incompetent and had been sent back to school to relearn and take exams, while new officials for the Ministry of Rites had not yet been supplemented. With only Wu and Zhigui in one department, Wu was truly a bit tired and was no longer willing to use his brain.

In this small room, Baifeng gave them a promise: "You will all have Nobility, but now is not the time. I originally planned to grant you titles and surnames at the end of the year, but Chi and the others' affairs must be arranged as soon as possible, so I will have to wrong you for now."