Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 335 The Champion Marquis (A super-large chapter of 8,000 words)

Emperor.

Son of Heaven.

A nation is the most powerful entity, controlling the lives and deaths of countless people.

When Song Yan first transmigrated to this world, he wondered what his feelings would be if he had the chance to meet the emperor of this world one day... Perhaps he would be very excited. But he also felt that he would probably be very calm, after all, this was no longer his original time and space, and the emperor he would meet was not an ancestor like Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, or Li Erfeng. He probably wouldn't have too many expectations.

In addition, having already made a prediction, Song Yan was calmer than he had expected when he suddenly saw the middle-aged man on the dragon throne.

It simply confirmed a certain idea in my mind, nothing more.

Song Yan even tilted his head slightly, a hint of suspicion in his eyes. After all, he was Luo Yuheng's older brother and had inherited the same excellent genes. So, although Emperor Ninghe was already middle-aged, he was still quite good-looking. However, he did not exude the noble and domineering air that an emperor should have. If he did not wear the crown on his head and the dragon robe on his body, he would probably just be a very charming middle-aged man.

But thinking about it, Emperor Ninghe's reign was rather frustrating.

Suppressed by the civil service and threatened by powerful clans...

He caught a cold by accident, and even the most skilled doctors in the Imperial Hospital couldn't cure him. They couldn't even find a physician from outside the palace. If it weren't for that old eunuch taking some special medicine and anti-inflammatory drugs from Song Yan, he probably would have been beyond the fifteenth day after his death.

Living in such an environment, even the most domineering person will be worn down completely, leaving only cautiousness and timidity.

Song Yan looked at Emperor Ninghe, and Emperor Ninghe looked at Song Yan. Their eyes met, and Song Yan actually sensed a slight smile and a tiny bit of dissatisfaction in Emperor Ninghe's eyes.

dissatisfied?

What are you unhappy about?

If it weren't for us, your daughter would be gone long ago.

If it weren't for us, you wouldn't be here either.

Could it be that Emperor Ninghe still feels that our status is not good enough for his daughter?
Thinking this, Song Yan pursed her lips, then suddenly remembered something… In ancient times, looking directly at the emperor was a crime, wasn't it? Wouldn't it be seen as an attempt to assassinate the emperor? Sigh, the palace has so many messy rules; nothing compares to the carefree life in Ningping County and Pingyang Prefecture. Muttering to herself, Song Yan lowered her eyes. Fortunately, the rules in Ningguo weren't as strict as during the Ming and Qing dynasties; when meeting the emperor, one didn't need to kneel, just bow slightly.

On the dragon throne, Emperor Ninghe kept staring at Song Yan, expecting to see a look of shock, horror, and disbelief on Song Yan's face. He thought the boy might even jump up in fright, and he couldn't wait to smile... But what happened? The boy remained indifferent from beginning to end. He showed no shock, and even looked disgusted, as if he, the emperor of Ning Kingdom, was nothing special.

No, you're disgusted?
He is the emperor.

The emperor of Ningguo was actually disliked by his own son-in-law?

Is this reasonable?

Is this normal?

Even if you dislike it, you should at least try to cover it up a little. Being so blatant, are you afraid I won't notice?
Ninghe Emperor was somewhat displeased, having only managed to put on a show but ending up with nothing and being looked down upon. The thought that his son-in-law had such a lucrative business in sugar and tea, only to have it handed over to that old scoundrel Fang De, only fueled his frustration.

Forget it, forget it. Who told me to be the father-in-law? How could I argue with a mere boy who hasn't even come of age yet? At this moment, Emperor Ninghe could only comfort himself in this way. He pursed his lips, adjusted his mindset, and said, "All of you, rise," thus beginning the court session.

The so-called grand court assembly is basically a summary of the past year. Each department and official at all levels must present their achievements and mistakes of the past year. Generally, they will embellish the report slightly, but not too much, since the court will send people to investigate. If the reported achievements are seriously different from the facts, they will be severely punished.

However, Ningguo's situation last year was really not that good.

The State of Chu invaded and lost two cities.

The Jurchen army rammed into Pingyang, and Pingyang fell.

Torrential rains have left countless people homeless.

In the dead of winter and blizzards, countless people froze and starved to death.

Song Yan felt a pang of sympathy just listening to it, as if Ningguo was already on the verge of collapse.

Fang De's summary was oppressive to listeners. Next came Yang Hetong, then two Grand Secretaries, and the Ministers of the Six Ministries. Starting with some civil official, the memorials changed. They began with a string of ornate articles, from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, quoting Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Mencius, their intonations as powerful as the best sleeping pills. Coupled with a poor night's sleep, Song Yan soon felt like his soul was wandering. Then, he suddenly jolted awake, his eyes widening, and found Emperor Ninghe glaring at him from the dragon throne. Song Yan immediately straightened up, his head lowered as he furtively surveyed the ranks of military officers, easily spotting several swaying companions.

It seems he wasn't the only one who couldn't stand the long-winded speeches of civil officials. These officials were really a pain in the ass. Couldn't they just get to the point? Why did they have to go on and on like that? Song Yan finally understood why Fang Hai had prepared steamed buns in advance. With the days going by, it was very likely that it would take four or five hours, let alone two or three. If he didn't eat something in the morning to fill his stomach, he really couldn't stand it.

The sun had already risen high in the eastern sky before we knew it; it must be almost noon.

Just when Song Yan felt that both of his legs had completely stiffened, it was finally his turn.

Among the governors sent to the provinces, Song Yan was ranked only after Fang Hai. He pursed his lips, left the queue, and began to recount everything that had happened in Pingyang Prefecture. From taking the initiative to destroy the Wugulun tribe, to using the punishment of bribes to patronize the ancestors, to stabilizing the people's hearts and preventing rebellion, the officials in the court were basically already aware of these events. However, even after hearing them again, many officials were still filled with righteous indignation.

Qian Yaozu was a typical scholar-official; how could he be treated like this?

Song Yan paid no heed to the hostile stares, his voice still echoing in the hall:

"Due to the Jurchen raids, the population of Pingyang Prefecture was halved, and many people died. Furthermore, because Qian Yaozu colluded with 132 officials to embezzle government grain and salaries, more than 70,000 people in Pingyang Prefecture starved or froze to death, and their corpses piled up like mountains. At present, the population of Pingyang Prefecture is less than 40% of its original size, and countless houses and fields have been destroyed. Although there is a desire to resume production, heavy snow has prevented construction from starting, and they can only wait for spring."

"At the end of the nineteenth year of Ninghe, I learned that the Jurchen king, the Great Khan Wanyan Guangzhi, had mobilized the elite troops of various tribes in an attempt to besiege Anchegu. I persuaded Jiao Junze, the prefect of Dingzhou, to lead 30,000 troops from Dingzhou and Pingyang Prefecture out of the border on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. The mountains were blocked by heavy snow, and the journey was difficult. We found traces of the Jurchens a hundred miles northwest of Xinhou County."

"On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, he led his troops in a surprise attack on the Jurchen Haoshi tribe. His soldiers fought bravely and fiercely for a day and a night, and the Haoshi tribe was wiped out."

"The Khan of the Hushi tribe, Ulun, and his eighteen princes were all executed."

"In this battle, a total of 22,174 Jurchen barbarians were beheaded. Their heads were collected and will be used to build a Jingguan (a mound of heads) in the spring of next year to demonstrate the power of our Great Ning Kingdom."

"We captured 300 warhorses, as well as countless supplies such as grain and animal hides."

"Our army suffered a total of 67 cavalrymen killed in battle, 1,296 infantrymen killed in battle, and thousands wounded. We earnestly hope that the court will show mercy."

hiss.

As soon as these words were spoken, a rustling sound arose all around, and many people's expressions changed.

No, could this Song Yan be the reincarnation of a demon lord? Why does he love war so much?

Pingyang Prefecture had just been plundered, and normally they should have been comforting the displaced people and allowing them to recuperate. But this guy, instead of helping, wanted to retaliate.

Most importantly, he actually succeeded.

There were more than twenty tribes of varying sizes among the Jurchen people, and two of them have now been wiped out.

Moreover, this guy actually went out of his way to cut off his head and bring it back. Does he really enjoy building mounds of skulls? Could he really have some serious illness?

Some people doubted the authenticity of the battle report, feeling that what Song Yan said was too outrageous. They knew the quality of the Ningguo army better than anyone else. They had embezzled all the soldiers' pay and the money for manufacturing armor and weapons. How could the soldiers have such exaggerated combat power?

However, for the officials in the court, the truly shocking part was yet to come, as Song Yan's voice continued:
"On the night of the 27th day of the twelfth month in the nineteenth year of Ninghe, the Ningguo allied forces split into two routes. One route was led by me, with 4,000 cavalry, and the other route was led by Jiao Junze, the prefect of Dingzhou, with more than 20,000 infantry."

"On New Year's Eve in the nineteenth year of Ninghe, four thousand cavalrymen launched a surprise attack on the Jurchen royal court, burning down the camp for thirty miles. All the tents and grain of the Jurchen royal court were burned to ashes, and tens of thousands of Jurchen barbarians were burned to death. The rest scattered and fled. I led the cavalry in pursuit and killed them, and also beheaded thousands more."

On the dragon throne, Emperor Ninghe suddenly trembled, his eyes widened, his gaze was intense, his fingers on the armrests clenched tightly, and his breathing became rapid.

Horses trampled the royal court.

What an honor.

When did Ningguo become so proud and triumphant?

"Wanyan Guanghan, the younger brother of Wanyan Guangzhi, the Great Khan of the Jurchens, was killed, and his head was taken back to Pingyang to be used as a mound of skulls."

"In this battle, tens of thousands of warhorses and tens of thousands of nags were captured. However, there were too many to bring back completely, so the warhorses and nags were shot and burned."

These words elicited a collective gasp from those around them.

This kid is really vicious.

Burning down their tents and killing Wanyan Guangzhi's younger brother was bad enough, but he even killed their warhorses... Killing them was one thing, but burning them was another. It's like he didn't even want to leave the corpses behind. Could this kid be planning to freeze and starve those Jurchen barbarians to death?
Some of the civil officials were whispering amongst themselves, and most of their gazes were filled with suspicion.

However, some people had solemn expressions, such as Fang De and Yang Hetong. These two had obviously learned the real situation through some channels.

Meanwhile, the military officers puffed out their chests, their faces full of pride.

There was no other way; the military officers had been oppressed for far too long. Although he was just a young man in his early twenties, his achievements had indeed restored some face for the military lineage.

"The first day of the twentieth year of Ninghe."

"Withdrawal from the Jurchen royal court."

"They encountered Wanyan Guangzhi's personal guards on the road and escorted his queen to escape."

"In the battle, the queen was captured."

"On the sixth day of the twentieth year of Ninghe, he returned to Xinhou County and met with Jiao Junze, the governor of Dingzhou. Jiao Junze led 25,000 tribesmen in a surprise attack on the four major tribes of Jurchen Shuhu, Shuzu, Tudan, and Pennuli. They beheaded more than 47,000 people, killed two Jilie Khans and 27 princes, burned four camps, and captured more than 3,000 warhorses and more than 5,000 nags."

"Tens of thousands of heads were piled up outside Xinhou County."

"In this battle, our army suffered a total of 384 cavalry deaths, 5,599 infantry deaths, and countless wounded."

"This is the list of those who have rendered meritorious service and those who died in battle. We hope that the court will allocate funds for their compensation to comfort the souls of the fallen soldiers. In addition, we earnestly request the court to allocate 100,000 taels of silver to build a Jingguan (a mound of skulls).

"I plan to build ten Jingguan (a mound of skulls) outside the new county town after the spring. Each Jingguan will contain seven thousand skulls, as a deterrent."

This was agreed upon beforehand; when Song Yan reported the matter, he would include Jiao Junze's contributions as well, because if they were separated, they would not stand out.

When Song Yan's voice fell, the vast court was as silent as ice crystals.

Pairs of eyes looked at Song Yan, then at Jiao Junze behind Song Yan.

Good heavens, Song Yan is a ruthless man. He dared to launch a night raid on the Jurchen royal court with four thousand cavalry.

Jiao Junze was ruthless; with 25,000 infantrymen, he actually managed to slaughter four enemy tribes.

With these two ruthless figures in charge of Liaodong, there's probably no need to worry about the Jurchen threat anymore. On the contrary, it's the Jurchen barbarians who should be afraid now. Moreover, one thing is certain: Song Yan truly has a peculiar fondness for building Jingguan (a type of mound of skulls). Look, when it's too cold, he'd rather cut off his own head and wait until it warms up to build it; when money is scarce, he'll even beg the court for funds to build Jingguan.

Too persistent.

Even though Emperor Ninghe was quite shrewd, he couldn't help but laugh when he heard the battle report.

This might be the only good news we heard at this grand assembly.

But when he heard about the pension and the allocation of 100,000 to build a mound of corpses, his lips twitched involuntarily. Damn it, the imperial treasury is so full that even rats could starve to death.

Many civil officials were eager to stand up and impeach Song Yan for exaggerating his military achievements, but seeing that all the civil officials in Yang Hetong's faction remained unmoved, they ultimately suppressed their thoughts.

The Yang family's spies are spread throughout Ningguo. Even Yang Hetong didn't question Song Yan's trampling of the royal court and Jiao Junze's massacre of four tribes, which is enough to prove it's true. Those who can enter the court are all seasoned veterans. Even if they dislike Song Yan, they would never deliberately cause trouble at this time.

On the dragon throne, Emperor Ninghe was overjoyed and clapped his hands, laughing loudly: "Good, very good, excellent!"

"Who says the military of Ningguo is outdated?"

"Our Ning Kingdom still has soldiers who can fight, and generals who can lead troops."

Emperor Ninghe's voice resounded throughout the court, echoing in everyone's ears: "My beloved ministers, how should such a great achievement be rewarded?"

In an instant, the rustling noises vanished completely. The civil officials lowered their heads, and they were utterly unwilling to offer any reward to a soldier, especially one who had killed many civil officials.

Just then, Fang De suddenly stepped forward:
"He shall be... granted a marquisate!"

Although he is old, his voice is still full of energy!
For a time, the words "bestowing a marquisate" echoed in the ears of all the officials in the court. Among the military generals, although some were envious, not a single one expressed dissatisfaction.

On the civil officials' side, however, things were in an uproar. Emperor Ninghe sat on his dragon throne with a smile, ignoring the commotion as if he wanted to wait for them to reach a conclusion.

After a while, an official stepped forward and said, "I impeach Song Yan."

"Qian Yaozu is a prefectural governor, a third-rank official. Even if he makes a mistake, only the Court of Judicial Review can deal with it. Song Yan is just a county magistrate, yet he arbitrarily killed his superior and 132 officials of Pingyang Prefecture. He is a habitual killer and disregards the law. How can such a cruel person be worthy of sitting in the court?"

Emperor Ninghe found such impeachment rather uninteresting, so he turned his gaze to Song Yan: "What do you have to say?"

Song Yan first bowed, then walked up to the official and looked him up and down. The official appeared to be in his forties, with an oddly flushed face, suggesting he had been sexually assaulted. "May I ask who you are, sir..."

The official puffed out his chest: "Liu Xuan, Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate!"

"So, your job is to oversee all the officials?"

Liu Xuan's expression was solemn: "Indeed, I wonder, Governor Song... no, now Magistrate Song, what excuse do you have?"

Song Yan smiled and said, "Explain? How could I? I admit to everything you said. I did kill Qian Yaozu and 132 officials of Pingyang Prefecture without the order of the court, along with their relatives, totaling more than 1,800 people."

Liu Xuan was overjoyed. As an imperial censor, he was most skilled at impeachment. Song Yan had many problems, but in Liu Xuan's opinion, killing his superior without authorization was the most unsolvable crime. After all, the court had not issued an imperial edict to punish Qian Yaozu. No matter how you look at it, Song Yan was the one who had no reason to do so.

Song Yan's quick admission still surprised Liu Xuan. However, now was the perfect time to press his advantage. Despite his doubts, Liu Xuan had no time to think too much. He quickly turned towards the dragon throne, bowed, and reported, "Your Majesty, Song Yan has been brought to justice. Please make your judgment."

For a moment, the atmosphere at the scene became somewhat eerie.

Fang De remained calm and composed, as if he were already asleep, completely oblivious to the commotion in the court.

Fang Hai and Jiao Junze frowned slightly. Song Yan's easy confession surprised them both, and they felt that Song Yan was plotting something. Emperor Ninghe glanced at Song Yan with a hint of suspicion, then slowly said, "Minister Liu, given Song Yan's crimes, how should he be punished?"

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Liu Xuan's lips: "Then, he'll be torn to pieces, executed by slow slicing."

Song Yan glanced at Liu Xuan. "Damn it, you think I'm easy to bully? Keep laughing, you won't be laughing for long." He continued, "Your Majesty, I impeach all officials of the Censorate."

hum.

The imperial court was in an uproar once again.

Good heavens! Impeaching one person is already quite something, but this kid is ruthless; he's going to impeach the entire Censorate right now. You have to understand, the Censorate has one Left Censor-in-Chief, three Left Deputy Censors-in-Chief, 110 Supervising Censors of twelve circuits, and 12 Supervising Secretaries of the six ministries.

This means impeaching 126 people. Has Song Yan gone mad?

Liu Xuan stared wide-eyed at Song Yan, his face full of disbelief.

Fang Dedu, who was about to fall asleep, suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had been startled.

In particular, among the officials of the Censorate, although not all of them were qualified to attend court, there were seven or eight of them present. In an instant, these seven or eight censors launched a verbal attack on Song Yan.

Arrogant and boastful comments came one after another.

"quiet."

"What kind of decorum is this, with all this noise and commotion in the imperial court?"

Just then, a sharp shout suddenly rang out in the court.

That was the voice of the old eunuch beside Emperor Ninghe, the very same one who had witnessed Song Yan's lightning five-strike whip. It was as if sound waves could be seen passing through mid-air, and the ears of many officials were ringing. This one move alone demonstrated a rather astonishing level of martial arts skill.

The censors, especially those from the Censorate, were all pale and trembling like leaves.

Emperor Ninghe became increasingly curious, wondering what Song Yan was up to: "Reason."

"I, the Censorate, have the honor of having the knowledge that Qian Yaozu illegally opened the official granary and embezzled 300,000 shi of rice?" Song Yan asked in a deep voice, facing the Censorate officials.

In an instant, the eight censors froze.

"Did you know that Qian Yaozu secretly negotiated peace with the Jurchens and sent them money, grain, and women?"

“I once stormed into the Jurchen royal court. I saw the fate of those women. They were made into jerky and used as food to fill their stomachs. Did you know that?” Song Yan questioned again, his voice now stern.

The eight censors turned pale, unsure how to answer Song Yan's question.

Liu Xuan, still bracing himself, said, "At that time, Qian Yaozu had already sealed off the city, and the Jurchen cavalry were still in Pingyang Prefecture, so... so we didn't know the situation in Pingyang Prefecture."

"Then why do I know?" Song Yan sneered. "Are the 126 officials of the Censorate not as powerful as a mere county magistrate like me? If that's the case, what use is the Censorate? Just a waste of food?"

That's a bit of sophistry. Do you think everyone is as good at fighting as Song Yan? But you can't say it directly, since Song Yan is only a minor county magistrate in name, and doesn't hold any other official position.

Seeing that everyone was speechless for a moment, Song Yan pressed on: "The purpose of the imperial court setting up the Censorate is to supervise all officials, but how have you been supervising them?"

"You don't know that Qian Yaozu secretly negotiated peace with the Jurchens and secretly opened the official granaries. You don't know that Qian Yaozu, along with 132 officials from Pingyang Prefecture and thousands of clerks, went door-to-door extorting money and grain and arresting women in order to raise reparations for the Jurchens. Because of Qian Yaozu's evil deeds, 70,000 people froze to death, starved to death, and died of disease..."

"Seventy thousand civilians!" At this point, Song Yan's voice was already stern: "Outside Pingyang City, the corpses are piled up like mountains, and you still don't know?"

"Hundreds of thousands of people in Pingyang City are on the verge of rebellion, and you still don't know it."

"Tell me, what exactly is the purpose of your Censorate? Are the twelve regional censors in charge of local affairs just for show?" Suddenly, a loud shout made all eight censors tremble.

Damn it, although the twelve censors are supposed to supervise local officials, very few of them actually go to the local areas. They can just report on what they hear; going to the local areas would be too much of a hassle.

But this is something that really can't be talked about.

Song Yan's attack was not over yet. His voice was cold and gloomy, and it carried an indescribable pressure: "Those are hundreds of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands... If so many people rebel, what will be the consequences? Don't you censors know? That's not comparable to the twenty or thirty thousand troops of Li Er of Liutang. They might even directly invade Dongling. Can you bear the consequences?"

The Left Censor-in-Chief frowned deeply. This series of interrogations had truly caused the Censorate to lose face: "Song Yan, don't be so unreasonable. Although the Censorate has some responsibility for oversight, it is only a minor matter. We are now investigating your responsibility, so don't try to change the subject."

"A trivial matter? You actually think this is a trivial matter?" Song Yan grinned and looked at Emperor Ninghe again: "Your Majesty, the 126 officials of the Censorate are incompetent and negligent in their duties, resulting in the deaths of 70,000 people; I also suspect that the Censorate deliberately condoned Qian Yaozu's wrongdoings in order to incite a popular uprising. They are plotting a rebellion."

Well, 70,000 lives were directly attributed to the Censorate, and they were also charged with plotting a rebellion.

"Your Majesty, I, Song Yan, request that you execute all 126 members of the Censorate, along with their entire families and relatives. Only in this way can we appease the spirits of the 70,000 people in heaven."

hiss.

A collective gasp swept through the crowd. No one stood up to speak in support of the Censorate. Those who could navigate the court were all shrewd and calculating. Take this matter of the Censorate, for example. It could be a minor or major issue. At best, it was dereliction of duty; a few years' salary deduction and a demotion would suffice. But if they were to pursue it further, the deaths of 70,000 people would indeed be linked to the Censorate, and the impending rebellion would be related to its negligence. If they were to be beheaded, they would deserve it.

By now, they have seen through Song Yan's methods. It's very simple: he will accept whatever you say, but even if he is torn to pieces, he will drag those who impeached him, their colleagues, and even their entire families down to hell.

For a moment, the eight censors from the Censorate turned pale, their bodies trembled slightly, and their eyes showed a hint of fear.

After all, the Censorate was not a royalist faction.

Most of them came from aristocratic families and Bailu Academy.

If Song Yan's life could be used to eliminate 126 officials of the Censorate, Emperor Ninghe would be overjoyed.

Seeing Emperor Ninghe's eyes narrow slightly, as if he were deep in thought, the censors felt a chill run down their spines.

Just then, Yang Hetong sighed with a hint of helplessness and finally stepped forward: "Your Majesty, this old minister believes that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. At that time, Pingyang Prefecture was on the verge of a popular uprising. Song Yan's execution of Qian Yaozu was also to quell public resentment. Although it may have been seen as usurping power, it was still acceptable."

"Moreover, the crimes of Qian Yaozu and his associates are too numerous to count, so killing them is not inappropriate."

Therefore, Song Yan should not be punished for this matter.

"As for the Censorate, although it was guilty of negligence, the situation in Pingyang at that time was special. Qian Yaozu sealed off the city, and the censors of the Censorate were not allowed to enter or leave. Even if they had news, it would not have reached the court. Therefore, it is not appropriate to pursue the matter too much."

Ninghe Emperor clicked his tongue almost imperceptibly. This old fox, a master of smoothing things over.

"Therefore, the matter of Song Yan's unauthorized killing of Qian Yaozu is thus settled. From today onwards, anyone who brings up this matter again will be punished for disobeying His Majesty. As for the Censorate, all its members will be demoted one rank and fined three years' salary," Emperor Ninghe said.

I guess I still need to disgust these people.

The entire group from the Censorate breathed a sigh of relief; at least they were still alive.

A demotion by one rank has little impact; the power held by an official remains largely unchanged.

The penalty of three years' salary reduction is a joke; that meager annual salary is nothing more than a drop in the ocean for them, not even worth a second glance.

After a brief pause, Emperor Ninghe spoke again: "The Minister of the Imperial Secretariat just said that Song Yan's merits should be ennobled as a marquis?"

"Gentlemen, do you have any further objections?"

The imperial court fell silent.

Even the most displeased civil officials kept their heads down obediently at this moment.

Are you kidding me? Song Yan is a ruthless guy who'll drag his opponent's entire family to hell at the drop of a hat.

Who would complain about having too many relatives?

It seems that in the future, we will have to use other methods to deal with Song Yan.

Fang Hai smiled and nodded slightly, it seemed that Song Yan had kept his instructions in mind.

You have to be reckless and fearless; only then will people not dare to target you easily.

Seeing that no one raised any further objections, Emperor Ninghe smiled, glanced at the old eunuch, who then stepped forward, took out an imperial edict from his robes, and his shrill voice began to echo throughout the court:

"The Emperor, by the Will of Heaven, decrees:

I have heard that praising virtue and recording achievements are grand rites for emperors; and demonstrating loyalty and martial prowess is the steadfastness of subjects. You, Song Yan, the magistrate of Xinhou County, are prudent in your planning and possess both righteousness and courage. You have swept away the dust and strife of the northern barbarians, bringing peace and tranquility to the people; you have quelled the Jurchen rebellion, securing the nation's impregnability.

Armed with sharp weapons and armor, they fight bloody battles that change the very landscape; charging into battle, their achievements shine as brightly as the sun and moon.

Loyal, diligent, and outstanding; brave and unparalleled in the army.

He bestowed upon you the title of Marquis of Champion, granted you a certificate of honor, an annual stipend of one thousand shi of grain, and the title of Marquis of Champion, which shall be inherited by your descendants.

You will always be favored by heaven, and your glory will shine brightly. Don’t be lazy! "

Song Yan's pupils suddenly contracted, and his body trembled slightly. The imperial edict was written in archaic and obscure language, but Song Yan heard the three words "Marquis of Champion" clearly. In an instant, Song Yan felt his body shudder, and countless tiny goosebumps appeared on his skin.

Champion Hou.

What merit or ability does he possess to receive the same title as Huo Qubing?

Seeing Song Yan's shocked expression, Ning Hedi suddenly felt a great sense of satisfaction. Finally, there was a time when you were surprised, kid. The slight dissatisfaction in his heart before disappeared completely at this moment.

Clearing his throat, Emperor Ninghe said loudly, "Song Yan, why don't you receive the imperial decree?"

"Remember this: never be arrogant or complacent, and you will forever retain your position and rank. If you rely on your achievements to violate discipline, the state will have its usual punishments. Be careful!"

"Your subject receives the imperial decree!" Song Yan kowtowed and took the imperial decree into his hand.

Looking at Song Yan, Yang Hetong narrowed his eyes into slits. He had thought that Song Yan would be easier to deal with once he arrived in Dongling, but now it seemed that his rise to power was unstoppable.

If we want to deal with Song Yan again, ordinary methods will no longer work.

By the way, Your Highness?
Song Yan just mentioned that he had captured Wanyan Guangzhi's princess.
Perhaps we can make something of this princess.

(End of this chapter)