The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 173 Duke Xingguo

He cupped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Your subject Li Jingyou greets Your Majesty. Please forgive me for being unable to perform the full ceremony due to my armor."

Li Jingxiao's caution made many people unable to hide their disappointment.

Many people also praised him repeatedly.

Emperor Longde also stepped forward excitedly and took Li Jingxiao's arm with both hands.

After helping him up, he said with emotion and excitement, "Jingyou has made great contributions in protecting the country and its people. On behalf of the millions of people, I thank you and all the soldiers."

After saying this, Emperor Longde even tried to bow to Li Jingxiao, which made Li Jingxiao curse inwardly.

However, in terms of action, he first performed a large bow.

This time, it was Emperor Longde who could only hold onto his arm again.

Li Jingxiao was in full armor after all. If the emperor forced him to perform a grand ceremony just to put on a show, it would only make the emperor appear too scheming in the eyes of the court officials.

Normally, the emperor only needed to help Li Jingxiao up the first time, grab his arm, and say that they should enter the city together, and that would have been enough.

Emperor Lund also realized that he had gone too far.

He hurriedly grasped Li Jingxiao's hand and said, "Jingyou, you've worked hard. Come with me into the city to pay respects to our ancestors."

Li Jingxiao quickly apologized and fell behind the emperor by one step.

After walking a few steps, they escorted the emperor to the imperial carriage, but no matter how the emperor tried to persuade them, they refused to get on the carriage.

Left with no other choice, the emperor had no choice but to have someone bring Zhui Feng over.

In reality, however, he was becoming increasingly satisfied with Li Jingxiao.

In the eyes of Emperor Longde, this was the attitude a subject should have: to be humble and cautious even in victory.

Li Jingxiao rode his horse alongside the imperial carriage, talking with Emperor Longde about his experiences since leaving Jizhou.

The civil and military officials who came to greet him all looked at Li Jingxiao's back with envy or satisfaction.

Frankly speaking, any emperor who isn't senile is not most worried about his ministers achieving too much merit.

Instead, they held considerable military power and, relying on their achievements, became arrogant and even disdainful of everyone.

Fortunately, Li Jingxiao wasn't stupid; he knew that humility was especially important in situations like this.

Moreover, his frequent casting of Jingguan (a mound of skulls) in the northern frontier was actually giving the court officials ammunition against him.

Once a stain is formed, the greater the merit, the more people will impeach him.

As long as the court officials are not in cahoots with Li Jingxiao, there is basically no danger.

Moreover, Zhou now has two emperors.

The fact that the old emperor was alive was, to some extent, beneficial to commanders like Li Jingxiao who were capable of winning battles.

The court has been arguing for many days about bestowing honors upon Li Jingxiao.

However, for the sake of Li Jingxiao's 4500 battle-hardened elite troops, Emperor Longde overruled all objections and insisted on bestowing upon Li Jingxiao the title of "Duke of Xingguo".

However, the resistance was indeed great; the Duke of Fengguo's actions were not simply a matter of killing tens of thousands of Tatars.

There were many people with great achievements in the early Ming Dynasty, but in the end only six became dukes.

In the early days of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were only eight dukes. Fortunately, Li Jingxiao's contribution this time was indeed enormous.

In particular, it severely deterred the steppes, making it much harder for the Tatars to raid southwards at will in the future.

Since Li Jingxiao dared to lead only three thousand cavalry and three thousand support soldiers out of the pass.

The killings plunged the grasslands into chaos.

If given 1 or even 2 cavalry in the future, they might dare to march all the way to 'Langjuxu Mountain' and, like the Marquis of Champion, perform the Fengshan ceremony at 'Langjuxu Mountain'.

Throughout history, only five people have ever achieved the feat of sealing the wolf's lair at Mount Langjuxu.

In addition, there's Kublai Khan, but it seems that historical records don't acknowledge that he actually sealed the wolf's lair; they only say that he led the Han army into the holy land of the Mongols and carried out a large-scale massacre.

The Ming Dynasty had two such figures: Lan Yu and Zhu Di.

Therefore, if Li Jingxiao could also "seal the wolf's lair," it would be a significant achievement in the history books for Emperor Longde.

This also proves that the martial arts of the Great Zhou Dynasty were no less than those of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, no matter how many reasons people in the court had for opposing the conferment of the title of Duke on Li Jingxiao, they could not completely deny Li Jingxiao's achievements.

As for his casting of the Jingguan (a mound of skulls), no matter how many people criticized him, even more people secretly envied him.

In the end, the retired emperor stepped forward and agreed to the emperor's decision.

Moreover, Li Jingxiao brought back nearly 30,000 warhorses, which also played a certain role.

If we were to calculate it in monetary terms, these 30,000 warhorses would be worth at least two million, or even three million taels of silver.

Moreover, among the Tatar leaders that Li Jingxiao killed, there was a commander of ten thousand, and many more commanders of a thousand, commanders, officers, and tribal leaders died.

In any case, as long as they become targets of Li Jingxiao's attacks, he will leave no one alive.

When they first entered the grasslands, the attacking tribes would leave women and children behind, but once they entered the heart of the grasslands, they left none behind.

It can be said that Li Jingxiao's campaign has severely damaged the grasslands.

No matter how many concerns the retired emperor had, his first thought was to guard against the grasslands using the pretext of revenge to invade southward again in a few years.

Moreover, Li Jingxiao was granted the title of Duke of Xingguo, but he was not given any military power.

To put it bluntly, they give you an extremely high title, but don't give you the corresponding military power.

Moreover, since there were already four kings of different surnames at the founding of the country, as well as the Jia family with two dukes, the situation was different.

Giving Li Jingxiao the title of Duke would no longer be too unacceptable in the eyes of the retired emperor.

Of course, if Li Jingxiao makes further contributions in the future, he can only be rewarded with some money, which is understandable given Li Jingxiao's intelligence.

He understands that he has reached the limit of his advancement, and receiving too many rewards would only make him uneasy.

Giving him even greater military power might be seen by Li Jingxiao as a sign that he was being targeted.

Li Jingxiao really didn't want to be the number one military figure in the Great Zhou Dynasty. If he didn't want to be emperor, what was the point of having so much military power?
To avoid making myself uneasy, and to prevent the emperor and the retired emperor from being uneasy as well.

The welcoming procession entered the capital, and Li Jingxiao, riding a tall horse, basically ignored the cheering crowds lining the roads.

He was so engrossed in chatting with the emperor about the upcoming northern expedition that he kept talking about it.

Being supported by the people is a great honor, but for a newly returned general like Li Jingxiao, it's not a good thing.

However, he didn't always have a stern face; he would occasionally wave to the people.

But most of the time, he talked to Emperor Longde about things on the grasslands.

It seemed that explaining this experience to Emperor Longde was the most important thing.

To avoid always having a stern face and not communicating with the people, which would seem too deliberate.

Moreover, he is only 16 years old. Such a young age and such a deep mind makes him even more likely to arouse people's vigilance and fear.

Sure enough, when Emperor Longde occasionally saw him, he would turn around and wave to the person who shouted "May the Great Zhou be victorious!"

Then, all he had to do was ask one question, and Li Jingxiao immediately began to explain it to him in detail.

It's obvious at a glance that in this kid's heart, he, the emperor, is the most important person.

This pleased Emperor Longde even more.

Upon entering the palace, Emperor Longde took him to the Daming Palace to meet the Empress Dowager, where he was naturally showered with praise and tested.

Li Jingxiao emphasized humility, attributing the victory entirely to the soldiers' dedication and hard work, the trust of the retired emperor and the emperor, and a little bit of luck.

The retired emperor was harder to fool than Emperor Longde, but the old man was old and understood many things better than Emperor Longde.

At this age, even if someone said Li Jingxiao was rebelling, the retired emperor would be the first to disbelieve it.

Moreover, Li Jingxiao had no power base in the imperial court, and even less connection in the local areas.

Anyone who would accuse him of rebellion and inform on him is a madman. Since he is unlikely to rebel and is clearly not power-hungry, Li Jingxiao is far less of a threat than the generals commanding tens of thousands of troops in the Nine Garrisons.

It could even be argued that keeping Li Jingxiao in the capital would actually deter the generals of the border army.

Therefore, the Emperor Emeritus's attitude towards Li Jingxiao was clearly very kind.

This made Emperor Longde secretly grumble to himself, thinking that his father was truly domineering.

Now they are all focused on cultivating Taoism, but they still want to keep all military power in their own hands.

Fortunately, although Li Jingxiao was young, he still had his heart set on himself as the rightful emperor.

Thinking about it this way, Li Jingxiao seems even more pleasing to the eye.

The retired emperor couldn't help but sigh inwardly, realizing that his son hadn't been raised according to the emperor's standards.

So ultimately, he still lacked the mindset of an emperor.

When you find someone pleasing to the eye, you think they are wonderful no matter what you look at them with.

Little did he know that his attitude was not good for either himself or his ministers.

Subsequently, Li Jingxiao was directly granted the title of Duke of Xingguo and officially appointed as the Right Commander-in-Chief of the Five Military Commands.

However, since the battle was over, the deputy commander-in-chief was no longer qualified to command troops in the field.

Li Jingxiao didn't care.

He didn't even want the position of deputy commander of the Palace Guard anymore.

However, Li Jingxiao did not want to be the emperor, and the emperor was the first to object.

Even if he does nothing, he is no different from the Empress's younger brother, Cao Bonian, the Commander of the Palace Guard.

It doesn't matter if I don't report to the government office or clock in at the palace every day.

As long as Li Jingxiao remains the Deputy Commander of the Palace Guard and concurrently the Commander of the Cavalry, he will serve as a deterrent both externally and internally.

Incidentally, he was promoted to the rank of Second-Rank General Who Protects the Nation.

These honorary titles were actually of little use; they only increased one's salary and prestige.

Other official positions remain unchanged.

Li Jingxiao had no choice but to suggest to the emperor that the number of Palace Guards be increased from 1 cavalrymen to 4500.

Let's just set up four commanders.

Before the emperor ascended the throne, Tang Zhijie and Chang Rui, the "leading officers and commanders" of the Sima Army, were appointed as commanders, respectively leading 900 heavy cavalry and 1600 light cavalry.

One hundred men were selected from the light cavalry to join the heavy cavalry, restoring the heavy cavalry force to 1000 men.

Niu Zhanpeng and Chen Hongsheng were promoted to commanders, each leading 2000 auxiliary soldiers who had been converted into light cavalry.

In any case, Niu Zhanpeng and Chen Hongsheng had been leading a troop of hired Tatars, Jurchens and Han Chinese from the northern frontier on the grasslands.

The retired emperor and the emperor could tell at a glance that Li Jingxiao was delegating power, and he himself did not even directly control any cavalry force.

It's obvious that he's worried about being suspected.

The retired emperor smiled and glanced at the emperor. The Palace Guard was the emperor's direct personal guard, and together with the Imperial Guard, they were known as the two Imperial Guards.

The number of troops was 8600, including 1 cavalry and 2 infantrymen from the Palace Guard and 5600 men from the Imperial Guard.

After Li Jingxiao returned with 4500 combat soldiers and 3000 logistics soldiers, the number of soldiers suddenly increased to 16100.

Moreover, Li Jingxiao's 7500 men are all experienced and elite.

It can be said that the Emperor Emeritus made a very significant concession this time.

Emperor Longde's face lit up with joy upon hearing this.

However, he did not entirely agree with Li Jingxiao's suggestion.

There's no problem with the four cavalry commanders; each of them only commands 1 men.

Li Jingxiao, as the commander, still managed the 900 heavy cavalrymen, and after replenishing their numbers, the force was restored to 1000.

The other four men each had a thousand light cavalry.

However, a thousand-man team is not just composed of soldiers; a thousand-household unit in the Great Zhou Dynasty has 1120 men.

If there aren't enough men, select from the Imperial Guard.

In other words, the Palace Guard will now consist of 5,600 men.

The number of troops under Li Jingxiao's command was five times that of the previous 1 cavalry.

Li Jingxiao nodded dejectedly, but fortunately he hadn't been involved in much of the affairs in the past.

There were four more commanders of the fourth rank, and Zhao Junming and Han Mengzhuo were transferred to the Palace Guard as chief commanders.

Training, duty shifts, patrols, and other tasks were all left to the two of them.

Emperor Longde agreed to the transfer of Zhao Junming and Han Mengzhuo without hesitation.

The rewards and honors bestowed upon the officers, both high and low, were quite generous.

Although most of them held only the sixth or seventh rank in terms of real power, several of them held the honorary rank of "Superior Cavalry Commandant," a rank of fourth grade.

Or from the fourth rank of 'Cavalry Captain'

Jia Rong, that kid, went straight to becoming a sixth-rank official in the Palace Guard's Treasury.

The emperor also bestowed upon Jia Rong a unicorn-patterned robe, the rank of fourth-grade cavalry captain, the position of left commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the rank of fifth-grade deputy commander of a thousand households.

Jia Rong was so happy he was dumbfounded.

Everyone else was incredibly envious of him.

But who could blame him when this young man was a descendant of the Ningguo family and the nephew of the new Duke?

Niu Zhanpeng and Chen Hongsheng both received the Qilin robe and the rank of Senior Cavalry Captain (a fourth-rank official) and General of Bright Might (a fourth-rank official).

Compared to their fathers, they were only one or two levels below them.

So it was the two of them who treated everyone to dinner.

Niu Zhanpeng and Chen Hongsheng naturally wouldn't refuse, and with a wave of their hands, they booked the entire Zuixianlou restaurant.

Li Jingxiao walked around the grassland and said that 6% of the spoils were returned to his soldiers.

He only takes 1% for himself, but in reality, some things are never distributed at all.

Li Jingxiao brought back 1.8 taels of gold alone.

There were 21 taels of silver, and 31 boxes of precious herbs such as jewelry, ginseng, and deer antler.

As the commanders of the auxiliary troops, Niu Zhanpeng and Chen Hongsheng received at least forty or fifty thousand taels of silver.

Spending a thousand taels of silver to entertain guests is really just a drop in the ocean.

Although Jia Rong was in the logistics team, he was Li Jingxiao's nephew and had amassed quite a few good things.

The Zhenguo Duke's Mansion, the Qiguo Duke's Mansion, and the Ningguo Mansion held lavish banquets for three consecutive days.

For a time, the nobles and sons of various families in the capital were filled with envy.

Niu Zhanpeng, Chen Hongsheng, and Jia Rong immediately became the objects of flattery for many sons of noble families.

As for Li Jingxiao, getting into his house is not easy.

When those spoiled brats saw him, they all trembled like quails.

Li Jingxiao's fondness for building mounds of stones had already spread throughout the capital during this period, amidst the heated debate in the court over how to reward him.

In order to enforce military discipline, he personally beheaded more than a dozen soldiers in front of the army on the grassland, including a commander.

He even whipped the centurions under his command and the other officers.

Therefore, some timid playboys trembled in fear when they saw him, afraid that Li Jingxiao would dislike them and whip them.
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(End of this chapter)