Zhenguan: I, Dou Fengjie, will not be the first cuckold.

Chapter 80 Civil and Military Officials, Orleans Roast Chicken (Fifth Update)

Whether or not Dou Fengjie was granted the title of Grand Master of the Palace, it made little difference; it simply meant a slight increase in his salary as a civil official.

But what's with adding a fifth-rank guerrilla general?

In the Tang Dynasty, honorary officials were either civil or military officials; it seems there was no one who held both positions.

When the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War go to war, which side should I side with?

What? You don't need to plant rice seedlings? Do you think I'm that kind of person?

The Ministry of War official shrugged and said, "Don't ask me, I heard even the Minister was confused."

The only person who could leave Hou Junji dumbfounded was the emperor.

Li Shimin's autocratic rule and the novel practice of having civil and military officials living together must have attracted many impeachments from censors.

However, there is a loophole in this matter; there is no regulation that states that one cannot be granted both civil and military honorary titles.

If the law doesn't prohibit it, then it's permissible.

Dou Fengjie didn't feel guilty about receiving an extra salary, since he wasn't afraid to go to the battlefield anyway.

A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger; how many young men do not want to be proud and triumphant on the battlefield?

Moreover, Dou Fengjie is skilled in archery and his hand-to-hand combat has improved rapidly. With further training in weaponry, he might very well achieve great things.

Guerrilla generals, when faced with chaos and turmoil, can also legally and legitimately organize detachments and rally defeated troops.

Of course, when encountering Eagle-Strike Generals, Resolute Generals, or serving captains, guerrilla generals would mostly have to step aside.

Congratulations, Doctor Chaosan!

"Congratulations, General Guerrilla!"

The mansion and public corridors were filled with congratulatory voices, and even Changsun Huan, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, reluctantly bowed.

Faced with the temptations of the Dahemo Association, Dou Fengjie maintained a firm stance and clearly distinguished between public and private matters, which deserves this honor.

Feng Dexia, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, offered a forced smile as he congratulated Dou Fengjie, but in reality, he was furious and wanted to jump up and down.

Why didn't he think of showing off, saying something grand, and making a name for himself in front of the emperor?

Feng Dexia had no idea how many things Li Shimin, with his shrewd and experienced eyes, couldn't see through.

It's just a pretense of ignorance and deafness.

Now, let alone setting a trap for Dou Fengjie, Feng Dexia himself has to consider whether he might be sent to some cellar by Dou Fengjie.

That's brutal!

Dahe Mohui's attempt to flatter backfired, and he was banished to the Xianbei Mountains to play with bears. It's unknown whether he emerged whole or broken into pieces.

The key point is that the imperial edict mobilized troops from those foreign states, which seems to have had some unclear relationship with Dou Fengjie.

Especially Xueyantuo Yishitong Tele, a powerless and incompetent good-for-nothing who can't even fight, has now become quite powerful, commanding 100,000 troops, and in some respects, he can rival Liu Bang.

Jealousy is ineffective. Although Feng Dexia held a higher position in the Court of State Ceremonial than Dou Fengjie, he had no ability to influence foreign states.

"My dear Duke of Zan, your loyal old friend Madeleine has returned!"

Outside the guesthouse, Madeleine, the Frankish envoy with blue eyes and a high nose, stood with his arms outstretched, his laughter shaking the dust off the black tiles.

"Jean Valjean, that can't be right. In such a short time, you shouldn't have even reached Persia yet?"

Dou Fengjie naturally hugged Madeleine, almost overwhelmed by her strong body odor and perfume.

There's nothing we can do; those Europeans, for some reason, resist taking baths and prefer to use heavy perfumes to counteract their body odor.

No one in the entire Court of State Ceremonial understood why Dou Fengjie addressed Madeleine in such a strange way.

"Old Madeleine had only just arrived in Kucha when he met his eldest son, who was with some of his family, preparing to settle in the far east."

"Fortunately, he happened to have brought several tall Shire horses with him, along with cabbage and onion seeds."

Madeleine laughed heartily, "Isn't this what they call telepathy?"

Dou Fengjie frowned and thought for a moment. It turned out that the Frankish court officials had fought too fiercely for power, which was why the Madeleines had moved east!

Unfortunately, the large white pigs, white asparagus, and chicory are still undecided.

Dou Fengjie led Madelan into the dormitory and asked Cheng Chumo to prepare tea for the guests.

Anyway, Madeleine couldn't tell the difference between the quality of this tea soup with its mixed flavors.

Dou Fengjie smiled and replied, "My dear Jean Valjean, my promise to you still stands. Would you like your child to serve as a ninth-rank senior clerk in the Directorate of the Imperial Gardens of the Ministry of Agriculture, or as a eighth-rank junior supervisor in the Four Directions of the Imperial Gardens?"

"What those two positions do isn't important; what's important is that he grows the vegetables he brings well and shares the methods with others."

As for the pasture supervisors of the Taipu Temple in Longyou, the registrar was reduced from the ninth rank to the lowest rank, and he still had to stay in the pasture every day as a stable boy. It is estimated that Madeleine would not want his son to suffer.

In any case, the value of the Sharma was only to improve the horses of the Tang Dynasty. Whether they could be successfully paired and whether their offspring would have any merits was still unknown.

Hybridization has a low success rate; seemingly ideal male and female parents often combine to produce new varieties that contain the defects of both.

Madeleine smiled broadly: "Duke Zan, you are truly a trustworthy man."

"Let Dubois go to the Jingyuan Directorate to broaden his horizons and witness the wisdom of farming in the Tang Dynasty."

Dubois is a transliteration meaning "forest," a rather straightforward naming method.

Once the cabbages have grown, Dou Fengjie can try making stir-fried cabbage with pork belly.

The cooking was perfect; the pork belly was fatty but not greasy, and the cabbage was crisp and refreshing. In the words of Jiannan people, it was simply "perfect."

Madeleine had previously inquired and learned that Dou Fengjie also held a part-time position as the deputy inspector of the Imperial Garden. Since Du Bois was appointed as the director of the Imperial Garden, Dou Fengjie was able to take care of him.

Moreover, growing vegetables by simply copying the pattern is vastly different from racking one's brains to breed a suitable horse.

Dou Fengjie's decision to appoint him to this position demonstrates his sincerity.

With his inner conflict resolved, Madeleine spoke much more naturally: "Dubois said that there were increasing internal conflicts within the Franks, and the Byzantines—which the Tang Dynasty called Fusen—were vying for territory with the Persians."

"On the peninsula, the emerging nation of the Abbasid Caliphate, centered in Mecca, is rapidly consolidating its scattered forces."

"In the end, only the Tang Dynasty in the East can allow our Orleans family to live and thrive in peace."

Dou Fengjie finally managed to swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

At this point, it seems a bit impolite to ask Madeleine if she can make Orleans roast chicken.

The rise of the Abbasid Caliphate was unstoppable, and the behemoth Persia collapsed in just a few years.

On the contrary, the Abbasid Caliphate firmly guarded the vital passage between Eurasia, preventing the Abbasids from expanding without limit.

Whether it's the Silk Road or combined sea and land transport, the Abbasid Caliphate and Persia are unavoidable hurdles for large-scale exchanges between Eurasia.

Because of the great distance, the Tang Dynasty has no way to deal with the Abbasid Caliphate at this stage, so let's not mention it.

That way, they can take in the Persian royal family in exile in the future, and bring them up whenever they have a problem with the Abbasid Caliphate.

"I bought two houses in Longzhengfang, and from now on I will be neighbors with the Duke of Zanguo."

Madeleine's move caught Dou Fengjie off guard.

Who would have thought he wouldn't even maintain distance?