No one cared about Ji Zhibai and Zuo Xiang's party. Not only were the scholars in the palace caught up in a carnival, but the capital and cities across Jingguo were also like cities that never sleep, with bright fireworks and blasting firecrackers, even more lively than the Spring Festival.
Since the establishment of Jing State, it has been losing territory. To the north is Cao Man, to the west is Wu State, and to the south is Qing State. Fortunately, the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea does not occupy the land, otherwise Jing State would now be one state short.
In the past, when Jing State was at its most powerful, it could barely take back one or two prefectures from Qing State or Wu State, but it was unprecedented for someone like Fang Yun to take back an entire state in one go.
To the entire human race, a state of land is not as important as any war poem handed down from generation to generation, but to the people of Jing State, the significance of this state of land is extremely important.
Especially in Jiangzhou on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Although Jiangzhou and Xiangzhou were separated by the Yangtze River, many residents of the two places were related by marriage. After Xiangzhou was taken, the two states were completely opposed to each other. Fathers and sons were separated, brothers were separated, and even couples were separated. Hundreds of thousands of relatives and friends completely cut off contact.
Due to the continued hostility between the two countries, only a small number of scholars can travel between the two countries to see their relatives every year, and ninety-nine percent of the people can only look at the Yangtze River and sigh.
Whenever there is a major festival, countless people in Jiangzhou and Xiangzhou, which are close to the Yangtze River, will release lanterns into the river to express their grief.
Today, the most popular items in shops across Jiangzhou are fireworks and firecrackers, and the second most popular item is Fang Yun’s longevity tablet!
Decades have passed since Xiangzhou was gone, and many people from that time have passed away, but their children and grandchildren still remember the wishes of their parents and ancestors. Fang Yun helped them fulfill their wishes, so they must repay Fang Yun for his kindness.
As night fell, the banquet in the imperial palace in the capital came to an end.
At a normal banquet, the elderly, children, women, or those who don't like banquets can leave, but today no one left.
Because there is a huge reward for the merit of taking over a state.
On the night of the third day of the second lunar month, there was only a small crescent moon in the sky. The moonlight was dim, but it was as bright as day inside the palace.
The scholars in the capital sat in various places in the palace according to their literary rank and status. In front of the Fengtian Hall, as in ordinary banquets, there was a large dragon throne, on which the empress dowager and the minor princes were sitting.
After the eunuch's signal, people in various parts of the palace returned to their seats one after another.
The people of the Left Prime Minister's Party had gloomy faces and said nothing, their eyes were extremely complicated.
As for the others, almost all of them were eagerly waiting and looking at Fang Yun with envy.
When the palace was completely quiet, the eunuch placed a conch shell on the table in front of the empress dowager.
Soon, the Queen Mother's voice was heard over the capital.
"Duke Fang Yun went to Qing State alone, fought ten people with one stroke, and finally won Xiangzhou with a literary battle, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of our Jing State for decades. Taizu once ordered that whoever captured a state would be crowned king. The reward would be passed down to three generations. But this battle did not cost a single soldier, and did not hurt a single person. It is an unprecedented achievement. I have discussed with all the ministers. The reward will be extended to three generations! The throne of the Fang family will not be easy for six generations!"
Fang Yun stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, and Thank you, Queen Mother!"
Everyone stood up and shouted "Long live the king, long live the queen mother".
Finally, the Queen Mother said, "After the banquet, please ask Minister Fang to go to the cabinet and choose your fiefdom yourself."
“Hiss…” Countless people gasped. These four words “personally selected fiefdom” are more important than the reward for three generations.
Because there are nearly a hundred counties in a state, of varying sizes, wealth, and importance, if the decision was made by the cabinet, the final result would inevitably be to select a medium-sized county, but now, Fang Yun can choose any one.
The left prime minister had his eyelids drooping, trying to conserve his energy as usual, but when he heard the words "personally selected fiefdom", he suddenly opened his eyes, and when he was about to speak, he immediately looked at Ji Zhibai.
Ji Zhibai understood what he meant, and stood up quickly, saying loudly: "Absolutely not! The laws of our ancestors cannot be violated!"
He Ludong immediately said, "Why do you say that? The Queen Mother has already issued an imperial decree, which is the law of heaven and cannot be changed!"
"This matter has not been reviewed by the cabinet, so it cannot be made into an order! If it is forced into an order, it will subvert the national law, and we will be sorry for our ancestors and the people! The law cannot be violated! Etiquette cannot be abolished!"
Minister Jiang Hechuan said, "Her Majesty the Queen Mother has communicated with me. I feel that this matter is not important and I agree with her. However, since there are people who oppose it, we must consider it carefully. Ji Zhibai, you will leave for now. Minister Zuo, what do you think?"
Liu Shan frowned slightly, then returned to normal, slowly stood up and said: "If the Queen Mother and the Minister of Literature agree, I will not object, but I don't know what the other members of the cabinet think."
Assistant Minister Si Yueqing immediately stood up and said, "I object!"
The Minister of Personnel followed closely behind and said, "I object!"
Finally, people from the Left Prime Minister Party and the King Kang Party came out to oppose it.
Fang Yun kept looking at the Left Prime Minister with some envy in his heart. This was the importance of cultivating one's own power. Such an action of opposing a country's hero would inevitably lead to a significant loss of public support. If there were any mistakes, it would affect the Left Prime Minister.
However, there is no need for Liu Shan to step forward now. His followers will stand up for him and will not let him suffer any losses.
This is one of the important reasons why Liushan has remained standing. Whenever his position is shaken, there will always be a suitable person to take the blame for him.
Minister of Civil Affairs Jiang Hechuan looked at Minister of Left Liu Shan with a strange look, and then he slowly said, "Just an hour ago, this minister received a joint letter from all the officials in Xiangzhou, saying that the people in all parts of Xiangzhou want Fang Xusheng to choose their counties as fiefs. Dozens of counties have already signed letters, and civil officials from all over the country have also shown their abilities in order to compete for fiefs, almost fighting each other. As a last resort, all the officials in Xiangzhou strongly requested that Fang Xusheng personally choose the fiefdom, otherwise, it will inevitably cause civil unrest."
Fang Yun did not expect this to happen. He could not help but look at Liu Shan again, thinking that Liu Shan was indeed a cunning old man. If he had taken the initiative to oppose it just now, the Minister of Literature would have made him lose face and thus gained the initiative in other areas.
When Liu Shan failed to fall into his trap, Jiang Hechuan lost interest and was too lazy to fight Liu Shan's men, so he simply told the story.
All the officials from the Zuo Xiang party and the Kang Wang party secretly felt lucky. Who could have thought that such a thing would happen? People from various counties actually competed to become subjects of Fang Yun's fiefdom.
In the past, when a king was enfeoffed, the people of each place would certainly resist with all their might, because the king was the most powerful among the fiefs, and even the national law was secondary. Many of the kings' families oppressed the people and ran rampant in the county, and no one could control them. Thirty years ago in Wu State, there was even a riot in the whole county because the king's reputation was too bad. In the end, the Wu State court was forced to do nothing and moved the king's fief to a remote and poor place.
But after thinking about it carefully, all the officials couldn't help but admire the people's sharp eyes. Fang Xusheng was not an ordinary prince. Being in Fang Xusheng's fiefdom, he must be superior to the people in other places. What's more, Fang Xusheng was the people's favorite and his goal was to become a semi-saint. He could only favor the people in his fiefdom and would never take advantage of them.
The people of the human race's various holy families' fiefdoms hardly ever worry about food or clothing, and who doesn't have a child from a noble family as a childhood friend? If something really happened, they would definitely be able to talk to the people of the holy families and solve it easily.
It was not until then that some officials came to their senses. After all, Chen Sheng had obtained the fiefdom hundreds of years ago, and everyone had forgotten the great benefit that day.
Suddenly, a Jinshi general shouted: "I am speaking on behalf of General Zhang Poyue!" (To be continued...)