Even the scholars who usually supported Fang Yun felt like they were in a dream.
He became a second-rank official right after the palace examination? The six ministers were only second-rank officials!
This is simply too unrealistic. Even if all the saints of the human race had passed the palace examination, it would be impossible for them to directly enter the second rank.
Zhang Poyue worked very hard until now, but he was only a general of the second rank.
Before Li Wenying became a great scholar, he was only a third-rank provincial governor because he was too young.
Even though Liu Shan was a versatile genius of his generation, he was already over 40 when he held the second-rank official position.
Fang Yun is not even eighteen years old, but his official position is second only to the four prime ministers. What about the other officials
"It would be better to just hit your head and die." A military official was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
"I want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into!"
All officials from the left-handed prime minister's party remained silent.
The consequences of suppressing Fang Yun back then finally appeared.
There are only a dozen or so second-rank official positions in Jing State's civil service, the Academy of Literature, and the military, and they are all occupied now, so it is impossible to vacate them for Fang Yun.
However, Fang Yun was first given an honorary title of "Prince's Junior Tutor", which confirmed Fang Yun's status as a second-rank official. As for what specific position Fang Yun held, the imperial edict did not specify.
In addition to the additional title of Prince's Tutor, Cao De'an announced that Fang Yun would be named "Prince Ji" instead of the King Zhenguo as everyone had previously speculated. However, the single-character king has a higher status than the double-character king.
In order to commend Fang Yun, the imperial edict gave Fang Yun an extra piece of land.
One piece was Zhengde County, Xiangzhou, which Fang Yun had chosen before the palace examination, and the additional fief was Ji County, his hometown.
When Cao De'an announced that Ji County was also Fang Yun's fiefdom, many people found it hard to believe.
One king had two fiefdoms, which was unprecedented in the Ten Kingdoms.
"What?" Ji Zhibai cried out softly, then quickly closed his mouth and looked at his mentor Liu Shan in surprise.
Ji Zhibai's change made many people suspicious. They observed Liu Shan again and found that Liu Shan's expression changed again.
The scholars present immediately guessed that the imperial decree to give Fang Yun an extra piece of land was kept secret from Liu Shan!
If it was when Liu Shan was in power, the Queen Mother's actions would inevitably cause a backlash from the officials. But now, Fang Yun is in the limelight. If Liu Shan objects at this time, he will most likely be expelled from the court by the Queen Mother and Fang Yun and completely lose his power.
Liu Shan cannot make any mistakes at this moment!
Many people looked at the Queen Mother, but could not see her face clearly. Obviously, this second fief was not just a reward, but more like a compensation for something. Fang Yun had suffered too much grievance.
Giving Fang Yun's hometown as a fiefdom is more than just ordinary trust.
Ji Zhibai sat at the table in a daze, a look of pain on his face, then he lowered his head and clenched his fists.
Some people looked at Ji Zhibai with a mocking look. In the face of such a level of trust, all the alienation plots were nothing but a futile effort.
Today, everyone saw nothing but Ji Zhibai's incompetence and childishness.
A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of Ji Zhibai's mouth, and even though he wiped it quickly, it was still discovered by someone with ulterior motives.
After Cao De'an announced the imperial edict, Fang Yun stepped forward and took the edict.
Cao De'an said with a chuckle, "After today, Fang Xusheng will travel the sea of learning. Then he will go to the Holy Academy to participate in the competition for the head of the country. After that, he will practice in the Holy Academy or study abroad. When Fang Xusheng returns from his study abroad, his specific position will be decided."
The left prime minister and his party heaved a sigh of relief. If Fang Yun really disregarded his future and became an official in the court, the left prime minister and his party would be in constant fear.
Ji Zhibai wiped the corner of his mouth again. Fang Yun did not choose to become an official directly after the palace examination, which meant that Fang Yun did not value his official career and was devoted to the holy way. Naturally, it was impossible for him to seek power and usurp the throne. This once again shattered his plan to sow discord.
Ji Zhibai finally couldn't help it, he covered his mouth with his hands and coughed softly, blood constantly flowing out from between his fingers.
Fang Yun glanced at Ji Zhibai with cold eyes.
If Ji Zhibai still had his literary advisor, this level of blow would not be a big deal. But now Ji Zhibai's literary advisor has almost completely collapsed, and he absolutely cannot withstand what happened today. The problems of his literary advisor and literary palace will inevitably increase again.
Fang Yun was very satisfied with the title of Prince Ji. As for giving Ji County as his second fiefdom, he was so satisfied that he could not describe it.
In the future, there will be an additional Prince Ji's Palace in Ji County.
The fiefdoms were actually independent kingdoms of each king. Although the behavior within the fiefdoms had to abide by the laws of the Kingdom of Jing, in reality, as long as the royal palace did not commit serious crimes, the court would turn a blind eye.
Ji County and Zhengde County are both lower-level counties, far from being comparable to the upper-level counties, but with Fang Yun around, there will be no problem in developing them into large counties or even provincial capitals.
After the imperial edict was read, there was a period of leisure. People nearby came over to toast him and called him Prince Ji.
When Fang Yun first heard the name "Prince Ji", he was a little dazed. He didn't expect that he would sit in this position so soon.
For a country, a king of a different surname is the highest position, and above that can only be the monarch.
However, a semi-saint has transcended the scope of a country. It is not that a country governs a semi-saint, but rather a semi-saint governs a country.
Fang Yun couldn't help but think of the princes in the operas and the princes in history. Compared with them, he was too young to reach this status.
However, Fang Yun did not find the process of becoming king easy. Many of the things he experienced were things that some princes might never encounter in their lifetime.
There was toasting in front of the Fengtian Hall. Fang Yun was socializing, but he was still thinking about other things.
Hearing the name Zhengde County again, Fang Yun couldn't help but think of that place.
After Wen Zhan and Qing Kingdom won back Xiangzhou, Fang Yun got the opportunity to choose a fiefdom in Xiangzhou. At that time, Fang Yun didn't know what to choose, but the power left to him by Di Luo made him choose Zhengde County.
Fang Yun has been collecting a lot of information about Zhengde County these days. Even though he has never been there, he knows it better than anyone else in Zhengde.
However, Fang Yun still could not find any clues and was unclear why Di Luo's power chose that place.
"Go see it for yourself sometime."
Another half hour passed before the enthusiasm for congratulating Fang Yun on his coronation gradually faded.
All the high officials toasted Fang Yun, except the left prime minister Liu Shan who sat there motionless.
Some imperial censors never drank alcohol and were staring at Liu Shan. If Liu Shan still didn't toast after the banquet, they would definitely jointly impeach him.
Although Fang Yun was a virtual saint in the past, his official position in Jing State was not high enough. Others could make a fuss about this, but now they can't.
Fang Yun is now Prince Ji!
From now on, when attending court, Fang Yun will stand in front of the Left Prime Minister!
If Liu Shan didn't toast Fang Yun, it would be a violation of etiquette.
Time passed slowly, and finally, Liu Shan picked up the wine glass on the table, slowly stood up, and walked towards Fang Yun.
Fang Yun was still sitting on the chair and did not get up until Liu Shan walked over to him.
The whole audience was silent.
The entire palace fell into deathly silence.
Fang Yun poured himself a drink, looking very leisurely.
The young prince was a little drowsy just now, but when he saw this scene, he was so scared that he shrank into the empress dowager's arms, looking at Fang Yun and Liu Shan nervously.
Ji Zhibai gritted his teeth, he didn't expect Fang Yun to humiliate his mentor in such a way!
Liu Shan stood beside Fang Yun for a long time before showing a very natural smile and saying, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Prince Ji is more elegant than ever."
"Oh? It's Master Liu." Fang Yun turned his head, took a closer look at Liu Shan, and slowly stood up.
(To be continued…)