Chapter 95: Enfeoffment, General Manager of the Salt Transport Department of the Seventh Rank

"By the grace of the Emperor, the Edict states: Sun Shouren, guardian of Xingyuan Prefecture, has rendered meritorious service in past campaigns against the Alien Races, and has now rendered meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion. He is hereby enfeoffed as the Baron of Anye, with a salary of eight hundred shi of grain."

The Palace Attendant who had come to read the Imperial Edict smiled at Sun Shouren and reminded him in a low voice, "General Sun, why have you not yet received the Edict?"

Upon receiving the reminder, Sun Shouren finally reacted, immediately bowing low.

"This humble subject thanks His Majesty!"

Officials of Great Gan are not required to kneel to the Emperor; whether receiving an edict or attending court, a low bow suffices.

The reason for this is that the imperial power is not strong enough, while the noble clans are strong enough.

Some noble clans with a thousand-year heritage have even survived several dynasties without falling, and can be called terrifyingly massive behemoths.

Sun Shouren took the Imperial Edict with slight agitation, even forgetting to slip silver to the Palace Attendant.

The reason he had wanted to lead troops out to fight was to seek a title, and now, due to this suppression of the rebellion, added to his previously accumulated merits, he had finally been enfeoffed.

Even if it were only a County Baron, in terms of official rank, it would be considered at most a Fifth Rank Official.

But an official position cannot be passed down, while a title can.

According to Great Gan custom, those who inherit a title are not subject to reduction for three generations.

That is to say, this title must be passed down through three generations before it is reduced.

And a County Baron can be passed down for at least four generations, ensuring the wealth of his descendants for five generations.

Risking one's life on the battlefield to build merit—isn't that exactly what one is after?

Now that his wish had been fulfilled, how could he not be agitated?

"My Lord, you have worked hard; keep this money for the brothers to have some tea." Seeing this, Chen Mo stepped forward, pulled a stack of silver notes from his Huai, and slipped them over.

Upon seeing the silver notes, the Palace Attendant finally revealed a smile.

"The Ministry of War's rewards are in the back, and the County Baron's seal, ceremonial regalia, and court robes are all here as well."

He pointed to the two gilded rosewood chests to the side; naturally, an enfeoffment could not consist of only an Imperial Edict.

The full set of matching supplies would naturally be delivered along with the rewards.

"My Lord, take care on your way." Chen Mo smiled.

As the few Palace Attendants left, Sun Shouren finally began to recover his senses, his mood still quite agitated, and the smile on his face simply uncontrollable.

Although he had only been awarded a title this time and no other rewards, this title alone was worth more than ten thousand gold.

With a title, he was now a member of the nobility.

His children and grandchildren could enter the Imperial Academy to study alongside the princes and even the Crown Prince.

It could be said that from the moment he received this title, a rising noble clan was destined to appear.

Whether his descendants in the coming generations would be capable or not would merely determine the size of this clan.

Unlike before, when he only held an official position, which could at most benefit his grandchildren, and it was hard to say what would happen after that.

But now with a title, as long as one of his descendants in the next five or six generations is capable, the family can be passed down for a long time.

The Palace Attendants left, and the Ministry of War came to distribute the rewards.

Imperial Edicts are not cabbages; not everyone can have one, so most rewards are drafted and issued by the Ministry of War.

"Order the kitchen to set up a banquet; if there aren't enough people, find more to help. After the banquet, I will distribute the reward money, and after that, I will let you take turns on leave to go home."

Sun Shouren accepted the Ministry of War's reward documents and shouted loudly to the many soldiers beside him.

A battle had ended, and now they had returned home.

The many soldiers naturally needed a good period of leave to go home and visit their families, and the remains of the comrades who had unfortunately sacrificed themselves also needed to be sent home.

The compensation must also be paid in full; this point must not be skimped on at all, for only then would the other soldiers under his command be willing to risk their lives for him.

Hearing this, the many soldiers were all overjoyed and bowed to thank him.

The month of marching and fighting had also been quite exhausting for them.

Now that they were back in the familiar military camp, many soldiers were too lazy to even lie back on their beds, simply collapsing on the ground to rest.

Chen Mo, Mo Hu, and Xu Dabao followed Sun Shouren into the study, preparing to hear their enfeoffments and receive their rewards.

"Chen Mo." Sun Shouren sat at the desk and opened a document.

"This child is here." Chen Mo bowed.

"You were the first to scale the walls once, charged the formation twice, beheaded one great general, twenty-three Daoist sorcerers, forty-seven strongmen, and eight hundred and sixty-three ordinary rebel soldiers.

Totaling five great merits, twelve medium merits, and eighty-five small merits, your official rank is advanced four grades, promoting you to General Manager of the Xingyuan Prefecture Salt Transport Commission; report to your post on an auspicious day."

Sun Shouren finished reading the document, smiling quite happily.

As his foster son, Chen Mo having such a performance in this battle meant that he, as the foster father, also had face.

"Thank you, Foster Father." Chen Mo smiled and took the appointment document.

Setting aside military posts without rank, once one had a true rank, when the Ministry of War gave rewards, if one were promoted, they would no longer give rewards like silver.

Chen Mo had someone above him, so he could get an official position.

If he had no one above him, he could only take silver, and after getting the silver, he would likely have to offer a portion as tribute to those above.

Hence the saying: if you have no one in the Imperial Court, do not become an official.

Chen Mo was quite satisfied with this position; the General Manager of the Salt Transport Department had one advantage, which was the ability to travel between various military camps.

Because as the General Manager of the Salt Transport Department, his duty required him to patrol various places to search for private salt merchants.

It was just that no one was currently fulfilling this duty, so after taking office, he could fulfill it a little; fulfilling it three times a month would be enough.

This could ensure that he had a stable and sufficient quantity of Mirage Spirits every month.

"Mo Hu, charged the formation once, beheaded three Daoist sorcerers, seven strongmen, and two hundred and ten ordinary rebel soldiers, meritorious in labor.

Recorded one great merit, three medium merits, and thirteen small merits, rewarded with one Spirit-Nourishing Blood-Cultivating Pill."

Sun Shouren read Mo Hu's reward document; compared to Chen Mo, his battle record did indeed look a bit inferior.

But there was no help for it; the gap in strength between the two was simply too great.

Or rather, not just him; even if you added Xu Dabao, Sun Li, and the other four, their combined combat records put together would still not be a match for Chen Mo.

"You started as a Scholar and went straight to a Seventh Rank Official position; that is already an exceptional promotion. The Ministry of War cannot promote you any further. If a higher Sixth Rank position lacks real power, it is likely not as good as what you have now."

Sun Shouren handed over the appointment documents and told Mo Hu why his official rank had not been raised.

"The Spirit-Nourishing Blood-Cultivating Pill is quite rare; it is hard to find even one within our prefecture. By consuming this pill, you have a chance to condense your Inner Qi."

"Pick a time to properly go into seclusion and cultivate; seize this opportunity."

Although his official rank was not raised, the reward given by the Ministry of War was not bad: a pill that could help an External Martial Artist condense Inner Qi.

If Mo Hu could truly cultivate Inner Qi, his strength would surely see a significant leap; at the very least, gaining another six or seven hundred jin of strength would not be difficult.

The others also received their own rewards, and basically, everyone was able to raise their official rank a little.

Because previously, except for Mo Hu, the others were all Ninth Rank, it was easy for them to be promoted; a little merit was enough.

But for a Seventh Rank to be promoted to a Junior Sixth Rank, especially a Sixth Rank with real power, that is not an easy matter.

After finishing the rewards for the few, Sun Shouren picked up another large stack of documents.

The heads severed by the other ordinary soldiers had already been exchanged for silver and sent over, but how to distribute this silver to each person, and how much each person should receive, required him to personally tally and calculate.

The Master once said, "The difficulty lies in the countenance; when there is work, the disciples take the labor upon themselves."

Of course, it was impossible for Sun Shouren to calculate it himself, though he had clerks and scribes under his command to do it.

But after they finished, Chen Mo and the others still had to verify and cross-check it to ensure the money would not be distributed incorrectly.

The verification would have to wait a while; Chen Mo and the others went to the camp first to participate in the banquet.

Calling it a banquet, it was actually just slaughtering pigs and sheep, roasting or boiling them, with groups of ten sitting around to cook and eat.

Even if they pulled in many people to help, the camp's cooks would never have the ability to set up a hundred tables for a banquet.

Being able to serve up green onions, garlic, chili peppers, white salt, and the butchered pork and mutton was already quite good.

Of course, there was definitely enough wine.

Chen Mo just dealt with it casually, which meant eating half a sheep and drinking three jars of the rice wine brewed in the army.

Once full of food and wine, he then went to verify the merit roster; in reality, there was not much to verify.

He only needed to confirm that the reward silver issued by the Ministry of War was the same amount as the money being distributed.

The reason he had to verify it personally was to prevent some common soldiers from being dissatisfied with the money distributed and going to cause trouble for the clerks.

And with him verifying it personally, even if someone was dissatisfied, they would not dare to come find him.

"Those few bastards are drunk as hell again!" Seeing that only Chen Mo was working, Sun Shouren could not help but curse with a flushed face.

Because he had drunk quite a bit of wine, he had long since pulled up his clothes, revealing several scars from blades and spears on his abdomen.

"If you hadn't been the one dragging them to drink, they wouldn't be drunk," Chen Mo shook his head slightly and remarked.

He was not drunk not because he drank little, but because he could hold his liquor.

Sun Shouren was the same as him; the reason he was not lying on the ground now was because his strength was high enough, not because he drank little.

Sun Shouren gave a sheepish laugh upon hearing this; although he felt in the wrong, he could not apologize, so he sat down beside Chen Mo and helped him calculate.

It took over an hour to roughly calculate the amounts, and they waited another two hours until the afternoon when everyone had sobered up before the Ministry of War's reward silver was distributed bit by bit.

Whether they were Personal Soldiers or Battle Soldiers, everyone was overjoyed upon receiving the reward and hurriedly tucked the silver into their Huai.

"None of you bastards are allowed to go gambling for me! Take this reward silver back to buy two mu of land, or buy some things for your fathers, mothers, wives, and children."

"Whoever the hell I find taking it out to gamble, I'll skin you alive!"

Looking at the common soldiers who had received their rewards, Sun Shouren was both cursing and exhorting them.

In fact, if it were not for his prohibition against gambling among the brothers-in-arms in the army,

then perhaps the spoils of war some of them had obtained earlier would have already been lost by now.

And the reason he was exhorting them now was also to ensure these people could safely take the money home.

Eating, drinking, and whoring—no matter how much you spend, it won't be much, but once you start gambling, it becomes a bottomless pit that can never be filled.

Everyone shrank their necks and nodded in agreement.

They knew clearly that Sun Jiangjun was absolutely not joking with them.

After distributing the rewards for the living, the next step was the compensation for those who had unfortunately sacrificed their lives.

The Personal Soldiers in the camp did not suffer many losses; after all, they were each wearing iron armor and were well-trained.

So only five had unfortunately sacrificed their lives, while of the eight hundred Battle Soldiers, eighty-two had sacrificed their lives.

Because they only had leather armor, and the limbs refined by the Dutian Dao Qi-refining cultivators happened to be able to pierce leather armor.

Not counting the reward silver issued by the Ministry of War and the spoils of war distributed to them, each Personal Soldier was given an additional one hundred taels of compensation, and the Battle Soldiers were given fifty taels.

This was not a small sum; fifty taels of silver was enough to buy several mu of land.

Then, they arranged for specific people to send back the remains and the compensation, and they had to act under the banner of Sun Jiangjun the whole way.

This was so that the local powerful families and officials would know who had sent this money, so that no one would have improper thoughts about this sum.

Immediately after, he arranged for many Personal Soldiers to take turns on leave, as well as those responsible for camp defense and night-time gong-beating duties.

Chen Mo helped finish these matters, and the time had already reached late night.

Except for the Personal Soldiers responsible for night watch and gong-beating, most people had already returned to their rooms to rest.

Chen Mo fetched some water, washed his body clean, and also walked back to his own barracks.

The wooden chest containing the Kui Ox Bow and most of the harvest from this time was placed in the room.

Chen Mo did not pay it any mind; he walked to the side to calm his breath and regulate his Qi, preparing for the next Mortal Transformation.

(End of chapter)