Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 392 Promotion by Nine Ranks
“Yuan Xianhe’s forces were weak and he was no match for him. As a result, he was defeated and captured. Yuan Xianhe was also a member of the imperial clan. According to seniority, Yuan Faseng was his great-uncle. So he tried to persuade him to surrender. He warmly held Yuan Xianhe’s hand and invited him to sit with him.”

Yuan Xianhe, however, was unmoved and questioned him: "My father and I are both from the imperial family and are pillars of the country. Now that the country is in danger, you are taking the country and defecting to a foreign country. Aren't you afraid of being infamous for ten thousand years?"

"Yuan Fasieng was furious and told him not to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Yuan Xianhe made it clear to Yuan Fasieng: 'I would rather die a loyal ghost than live as a traitor!'"

“These words exposed Yuan Faseng’s true colors, leaving him utterly ashamed. Enraged, he had Yuan Xianhe executed. After Yuan Xianhe died a martyr’s death, the people of Xuzhou despised Yuan Faseng and refused to associate with him.”

"At this time, Yuan Jian led the main force of the Wei army to approach Pengcheng. Yuan Faseng initially wanted to resist alone, but he was deserted by his followers and suffered a great defeat on the spot. He only managed to escape back to Pengcheng with a few dozen horsemen. Only then did he realize his own limitations and no longer cared about the 'imperial throne'. He quickly sent his son Yuan Jingzhong to my camp to ask Commander Chen for help."

"But Commander Chen has remained inactive until now." Yu Tianmin said with a bitter smile, "Yuan Jingzhong is almost anxious to death. He kneels outside the commander's tent every day, begging Commander Chen to send troops, but Commander Chen remains unmoved."

"Now everyone in Xuzhou is saying that Commander Chen is going to sit back and watch the tigers fight, so he can reap the benefits later." He also said with some confusion, "But if we really wait until Yuan Fasheng surrenders, won't we have made a wasted trip?"

"We have no right to interfere with Commander Chen's military operations; we can simply follow his orders," Ren Yuan casually reminded him.

"Yes." Yu Tianmin was startled and stood there for a while before saying with embarrassment, "I was indeed influenced by the atmosphere in the army, and I even unconsciously started saying strange things."

"In the army, what matters is the ironclad unity. Without your own ironclad unity, even if the emperor gives you the title of Grand Commander, no one will listen to you. We are Commander Chen's ironclad unity, and we must do our utmost to uphold Commander Chen's authority no matter when or where." Ren Yuan had many feelings during his trip north, and this was one of them.

"Yes, I've learned a lot." Yu Tianmin's attitude became even more respectful, finally understanding why Commander Chen valued the young man in front of him so much.

~~
As they spoke, the Yanhuang Flying Chariot slowly landed on the training ground of Liang's army camp, immediately attracting a large crowd of soldiers to watch.

They surrounded Ren Yuan and his group, talking loudly and touching them indiscriminately, turning the training ground into a noisy marketplace.

"..." Ren Yuan frowned as he watched. The military appearance and discipline of the Liang Imperial Guards were not even as good as those of the rebel army of the Six Garrisons.

Zu Geng secretly activated the anti-theft mechanism. As soon as the Imperial Guards touched the vehicle's exterior, the lightning-struck wood inside the vehicle went into a state of discharge, causing them to tremble all over.

The soldiers were so frightened that they quickly retreated...

Ren Yuan and the others jumped out of the car, gave them a cold look, and entered the central army camp.

The main force in the central army camp consisted of men from the Gouchen Division, and their military appearance and discipline were noticeably better.

When Ren Yuan returned, everyone smiled and nodded at him, but no one made a ruckus to greet him and break the silence in the military camp.

Chen Zhao, dressed in gleaming silver armor, stood outside the central command tent. Seeing Ren Yuan and the others arrive, he lifted the tent flap and said in a deep voice, "Go in, your father is waiting for you."

"Hmm." Ren Yuan nodded and led his men into the central command tent.

~~
Inside the central command tent, Chen Qingzhi was still dressed in a white robe, looking elegant and handsome, more like a military scribe than the commander-in-chief.

"Commander Chen!" Ren Yuan hurriedly led his men to bow, took off his waist badge with both hands, and presented it to Chen Qingzhi, saying, "This humble servant has come to apologize to you."

"What crime have you committed?" Chen Qingzhi asked with a smile as he took the waist token.

"Without consulting Commander Chen, I took it upon myself to decide to go to Jizhou to rescue Zu Sima," Ren Yuan said frankly.

"Oh, I see." Chen Qingzhi nodded and asked, "Did you report back to me earlier?"

"No." Ren Yuan shook his head. He led the team outside the camp and then turned away without even seeing Chen Qingzhi, let alone reporting back. "Without reporting back, you are still on a mission and naturally have the right to act as appropriate," Chen Qingzhi waved his hand and asked, "Were the people rescued?"

"They've been saved."

"Did anything happen?"

"Completely unharmed."

"Then you've done well and haven't done anything wrong." Chen Qingzhi laughed and tossed Ren Yuan's waist tag onto the table. "But we really do need to get you a new waist tag."

He then said solemnly, "Ren Yuan, listen to my decree."

"Your subject respectfully listens to Your Majesty's instructions," Ren Yuan quickly replied solemnly.

"Your Excellency: I have heard that Heaven's Mandate rests on virtue, and the imperial regalia is not for personal gain. Yuan, the Deputy Commander of the Gouchen Division, possesses a resolute character and a loyal and courageous spirit. He was sent as an envoy to retrieve the imperial seal, braving dangers and perils, risking his life without hesitation, and ultimately recovered this vital treasure, returning it to my palace. Although demons and monsters plotted against us, they could not ultimately seize Heaven's favor from Liang."

"His outstanding achievements deserve recognition and reward. He should be promoted to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Seventh Rank, in charge of the Imperial Guard, and still under the command of General Chen Qingzhi. His subordinates who have made contributions should be recorded in the Central Secretariat according to their merits and treated with great respect to encourage future generations."

"To use a jade disc to defend against a magpie is something only a brave man would do; to hold the imperial seal and protect the tripod is something only a loyal minister can entrust with. Go and obey!" After reading the imperial edict, Chen Qingzhi handed it to him and said with a smile, "Congratulations on becoming the commander-in-chief."

"Congratulations, Commander!" The others in the tent also offered their congratulations one after another.

"His Majesty is truly generous this time!" Gongsun Lu laughed, "He directly promoted A Yuan from the fifth outer class to the seventh inner class, a promotion of nine ranks!"

"To the top in one step is truly remarkable!" Everyone exclaimed with envy.

"Hehe..." Ren Yuan couldn't help but chuckle, also shocked by this huge improvement.

In other dynasties, being promoted from a sixth-rank deputy guard commander to a fifth-rank military commander would at most be considered a promotion of one or two ranks, and would never have the earth-shattering impact of the Great Liang Dynasty.

The reason is that when the Great Liang Dynasty was founded, although it followed the previous dynasty and established a nine-rank official system, starting from the seventh year of the Tianjian era, Emperor Xiao Yan implemented a new ranking system, dividing court officials into eighteen classes, with those in more classes being more respected and those in fewer classes being less respected.

Therefore, the official ranks in Daliang are now a dual-track system, with both class and grade. However, the grade is only used to determine how much salary is paid, while the more important political status is determined entirely by the class.

Therefore, it was common for a third-rank official to be ranked below a fifth-rank official, who had a higher rank, simply because of the lower number of ranks. As a result, over time, people started to only look at the rank of the official and no longer considered the official grade.

In fact, as long as you're in the class, even being a class officer is considered quite prestigious. There's also the lower-ranking outer class (the seventh class). For example, Ren Yuan was originally in the outer fifth class; he had to climb two more ranks to even see the tail end of the inner class officer hierarchy.

The gap between those outside and inside the class is one that many people can never bridge in their lifetime. This is because those inside the class are almost exclusively the privileged class, and very few commoners can join them.

Only the emperor could break down this barrier and allow the gentry to have some influence in their private domain.

Even though Emperor Xiao Yan had paid great attention to promoting commoners, high-ranking officials from humble backgrounds like Zhu Yi and Chen Qingzhi were still extremely rare.

Now, the emperor has promoted Ren Yuan to a higher rank, which shows how much he values ​​him.

To others, this was also a signal that the emperor intended to give important positions to commoners, which naturally made them feel excited and honored.

(End of this chapter)