Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 268 Your humble servant Xu Jie requests guidance from the Duke of Biguo! [Seeking monthly votes]

"Eek—!"

Yan Maoqing didn't know if he had expressed his gratitude or not, as he could only hear a persistent ringing in his ears.

Duke Biguo!
You heartless fool Zhu, you're not human! You made me a Duke so easily?!
You should know that Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were appointed Grand Marshal and General-in-Chief not because of a single victory, but because they accumulated merits several times before being granted these titles.
Yan Shifan, you're such a jinx! If you hadn't mentioned the matter of the Duke just now, maybe that silly Zhu wouldn't have granted me the title of Duke!
Shen Kun and Gao Gong, you two bastards, are you satisfied now?
At this moment, he was thinking that this time he wouldn't need to submit a memorial to strongly oppose the granting of a marquisate to him, right?
Duke Zhu Xizhong and Grand Secretary Xia Yan, what are you two laughing at me for? What's there to congratulate me about? You're clearly gloating, aren't you?
And that eunuch reading the imperial edict, why are you reading it so loudly? You're almost deafening me!
Yan Maoqing had entered a "bite anyone" mode in his mind. At this moment, no one who appeared in front of him, or even anyone he had thought of related to this matter, was spared. He cursed them all in his mind, giving them a thorough dressing-down.

Although he was somewhat prepared and had a contingency plan in place to formally begin the "his achievements overshadowed his master" mode.

But who could have imagined that his title of marquis would skip the expected earl and possibly further marquisate, and leap directly to become the seventh duke of the Ming Dynasty?

Moreover, unlike other dukes, his ancestors had no merit whatsoever. He started from scratch and rose from a newly appointed scholar to a newly promoted duke in just one year!

Is there any royal law? !

Is there still any law?!

All of this started simply because he wanted to retire and return to his hometown as soon as possible!

This was the umpteenth time Yan Maoqing had regretted his past actions.

Moreover, this regret is occurring more and more frequently. Imagine if he had just followed the routine and lived a quiet life like the other newly appointed scholars, remaining inconspicuous and unknown for a period of time.

Then he might try to bribe the imperial physician to get a sick leave certificate. He might already be back in his hometown, living a carefree, passionate, and simple life with Bailu, farming and weaving, wearing only aprons and caring only about grains and vegetables...

What does it mean to make one mistake lead to another?
That’s what it’s called!
So... he felt like he was also a self-righteous idiot.

No, no, no, don't think so, he definitely is!

As for this so-called Duke Biguo, he does bear some resemblance to Guo Xun's Duke Yiguo.

Since both characters contain the characters "弼" and "翊", and both mean to assist, it's perfectly acceptable to interpret them as both being equivalent to the Duke of the State.

This is a characteristic of these newly appointed dukes, unlike the founding batch who often used place names as abbreviations for their titles, such as Duke of Wei, Duke of Han, Duke of Zheng, Duke of Cao, Duke of Song, Duke of Wei, etc., similar to the enfeoffment system of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty.

The imperial edict is still being read aloud.

Now it's time to reward the soldiers of the Heroic Battalion. Almost everyone received a reward, and dozens of unlucky soldiers who were injured or killed in the accident received even more generous compensation and posthumous honors, befitting heroes.

Shen Kun, Gao Gong, and Yan Shifan were also promoted and granted official titles.

Shen Kun and Gao Gong, in particular, were both transferred to the Ministry of War.

One of them was appointed as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, a position of the third rank.

One of them replaced Yang Bo, a famous minister who had stood firm in the court for forty years and was respected by Yan Song and Zhang Juzheng, and was appointed as the fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Personnel.

If you ask where Yang Bo is now, he is implicated in the Taiyuan case that Yan Maoqing made a big fuss about during his trip, and is in prison along with Grand Secretary Zhai Luan and Minister of War Zhang Zan.

For Yang Bo, Zhai Luan, and Zhang Zan, this was an utterly unexpected disaster, and even now they still don't understand how they ended up in this mess...

Yan Shifan remained in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, rising from Left Assistant Director to Left Vice Director of the Fifth Rank.

As for his father, Yan Song, he still needed to stay in Datong to complete the tribute arrangements with Ji Nang before seeing what the emperor's intentions were.

However, it will be difficult for Yan Song to return directly and be reinstated as the second-rank Minister of Rites. After all, he did not accomplish anything for the Emperor in Datong. On the contrary, he almost ruined things. How could the Emperor not know this?

really.

After Shen Kun and Gao Gong expressed their gratitude, they began to secretly glance at Yan Maoqing, their eyes filled with undisguised envy and a hint of questioning.

The meaning couldn't be clearer; it was clearly a question being asked of him:

"Minister Yan, no, no, Duke Biguo!"

"Now that the Emperor has directly bestowed upon you the title of Duke, this falls into the category of 'barely acceptable.' Surely we no longer need to submit memorials to plead for your life and vehemently oppose it, right?"

"..."

Yan Maoqing's tinnitus finally subsided a bit, and he immediately gave the two of them a look that said, "Get lost, I'm annoyed."

He had no choice but to accept his fate.

Since there's no way to resist, then we might as well just enjoy it!

Upon closer examination, becoming a Duke of the State does have its advantages, and significant ones at that.

The eunuch had already read it aloud, and he knew all the contents that weren't specifically written in the imperial edict.

First and foremost, of course, is the stipend.

The annual salary of a Duke was definitely among the highest in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom.

The annual amount reached as high as 5,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), which was an extremely astonishing figure. Even the rare first-rank officials in the imperial court could only look on with envy.
Secondly, there was the Duke's Mansion, which was bestowed upon him.

Of course, there isn't one now. Next, the imperial court will select a site, provide funding, and plan for the construction of the Duke of Biguo's mansion in a propitious location in the capital.

The Duke's mansion would certainly be more spacious, more grand, and offer more room to stretch out than the large house he currently lived in in Shengjiang Hutong. Even the accompanying carriages, furniture, and household items would be provided by the imperial court; he only needed to wait for the completion of the mansion, then move in with his family.

Thirdly, there were the rewards of gold, silver, paper money, and land of nobility.

Not to mention gold and silver, it was just two thousand taels of silver and one hundred taels of gold. Now that Yan Maoqing had seen a lot of money, he felt that this amount of gold and silver was not even enough to fill a tooth gap.

However, this was how officials were rewarded with gold and silver in the Ming Dynasty. This is why he was directly promoted to Duke, which was considered quite a lot.

Even when Zhu Houcong rewarded cabinet ministers and ministers of the six ministries with gold and silver, it was usually fifty taels as a rule, after all, the court still had to present itself as "honest and upright".

As for those so-called precious notes, they're so rough they're not even good enough to use as toilet paper. Just think of them as IOUs that the imperial court gives you that you can never cash.

What is truly of astonishing value is the land granted as a reward.

The minimum standard for granting land to princes and dukes in the Ming Dynasty was one hundred qing (approximately 66.7 hectares).

Because Yan Maoqing had recently taken down a large number of landlords in the capital by wielding the power of the four major state-owned farms, the court is now recovering a significant amount of public land.

So this time Zhu Houcong didn't make empty promises, and directly granted him 100 qing of land according to the minimum standard.

However, this piece of land is a bit remote, located in the Yanjiao area outside the capital.

Perhaps Yan Maoqing was used to the fast and convenient transportation of later generations, so he did not feel that this place was remote. After all, in later generations, many people from this place would commute to and from the capital every day.

Yan Maoqing didn't think one hundred qing was too little at all.

Although he is indeed incomparable to the other dukes who have held the title for many years.

After all, as far as he knew, the land owned by Duke Zhu Xizhong alone amounted to 1,300 hectares, which was less than a fraction of what he owned.

Even Guo Xun, the newly appointed Duke of Yi in this dynasty, already owns as much as 400 hectares of land.

But Yan Maoqing still felt it was too much...

In Yan Maoqing's view, these fiefdoms and estates were the biggest source of feudalism, which over time not only ruined the national treasury but also squeezed the living space of ordinary people.

If powerful officials and dignitaries start to seize land at all costs again, it's tantamount to digging up the ancestral graves of a dynasty.

He originally only wanted to use his privileged status as a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) to be a harmless parasite, but the harder he tried, the more tragic it became, and he ended up becoming one of the biggest parasites in the Ming Dynasty...

Now that things have come to this, there's nothing he can do about others.

All he could do was refrain from annexing the people's land and instead rent out his own noble lands to those in need, using the standard of the court granting public lands to the people.

The rent from the public land granted by the imperial court to the people was originally the minimum standard for rent in the private sector.

These proportions were calculated and determined by the imperial court, and can be understood as the public rental housing standards of later generations, which can be regarded as a policy to benefit and reassure the people.

He also understood the principle that a small favor is appreciated, but a large favor breeds resentment.

His ability to refrain from raising rents and from acquiring land makes him a truly philanthropist of our time.

Otherwise, if you dare to lend your land to others for free, within two years someone will think it's all right and dare to make trouble and seize the land for themselves. In that case, you'll end up with a lot of trouble and won't be able to explain yourself even if you're in the right.

Therefore, even if you are kind, you must remember to keep your edge sharp!
He, on the other hand, was more adept at showing off his talents and wasn't afraid of such troublemakers...

"Sigh, enough is enough. The imperial decree has already been issued, and everything is set in stone. What's the use of saying all this now?"

Yan Maoqing sighed and shook his head, silently making a decision in his heart.
"There's nothing to think about. Let's officially start the 'high merit overshadows the master' mode."

"Let me think carefully first. What outstanding achievements does the Ming Dynasty still have to make..."

Just as I was thinking this.

"Duke Bi, you displayed great prowess in Datong this time, and were promoted to Duke in one battle. This is truly a cause for celebration."

After the imperial edicts were read aloud one by one, and the accompanying officials began to reward the soldiers of the Heroes' Camp with wine and meat, Xia Yan quietly approached Yan Maoqing.

"You flatter me, Grand Secretary Xia. I am truly fortunate."

Yan Maoqing spoke modestly, but his eyes were fixed on a fair-skinned middle-aged man following behind Xia Yan.

This person was a stranger; I had never seen him before.

However, the way this person looked at Yan Maoqing was very strange, with an eagerness mixed with a hint of familiarity, as if he were very familiar with him.

"Xu Jie of Songjiang Prefecture greets Duke Biguo."

Seeing Yan Maoqing looking over, the middle-aged man bowed respectfully.
"Although Duke Biguo has never met me, I have long been his subordinate."

"I had previously returned to my hometown to observe the mourning period, and only recently returned to the capital to report to the Ministry of Personnel. After completing the procedures in a few days, I will be reinstated as the head of the Imperial Household Department's Bureau of Classics. I hope you will provide me with guidance in the future."

(End of this chapter)