Chapter 92: Resting with the Country
Chapter 92: Resting with the Country
The chief eunuch took a scroll of imperial eunuch from a junior eunuch following behind him and slowly unfolded it.
Shao Quanzhong fell to his knees.
The imperial edict crushes everything. You can salute the Governor of Jiangsu in military uniform, but you cannot salute the emperor.
Lin Bozai was called out of the queue, still a little confused and at a loss as to what to do, so Shao Quanzhong pulled him.
Lin Bozai was just a person who had never seen the world, but he was not stupid. He immediately knelt down behind Shao Quanzhong.
As soon as Lu Laifu unfolded the imperial edict in his hand, Lord Qiao, who was watching, immediately smiled with joy.
Lord Wu bowed to Qiao Songnian to express his congratulations, but did not dare to make a sound to disturb the eunuch reading the imperial edict.
There are rules for decorating imperial edicts. The one that Lu Laifu took out had a black ox horn as the axis and a peony brocade surface. This was an imperial edict to reward a fifth-rank official, which meant that Shao Quanzhong, a sixth-rank salt judge, was promoted at least two levels.
"Salt Transport Judge Shao Quanzhong and his wives Rong and Wen. The Emperor of Fengtian Chengyun decrees:
You are in charge of the camp, and you have established your reputation in the military camp; you are in charge of the capital, and you are in charge of the supply and military reserves. You are responsible for the protection of the country, and you are responsible for the plan. Shao Quanzhong, the judge of the salt transport, has worked hard in your position, and has never replaced his position. Your strategy can eliminate the budding, and you are entrusted with the hope of being a strong city; your plan can also provide enough food, and you are responsible for the hard work of bandits and herdsmen. Use the seal of favor from Pei to make you receive the honor. Because you have helped the king in his work, you are appointed as the garrison commander of Taizhou, the governor of Taizhou, the commander of Yunqi, the yellow riding jacket, the flower feather, the title of Zhiyong Baturu, and the imperial edict. You are praised by the government, and the purple edict shines; you show your outstanding achievements in the military, and the jade scepter shines. Encourage the meritorious and increase the number of people, and reward them with titles.
March 8th, the eleventh year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign.
The imperial edict was written in parallel sentences, making it difficult to understand. Except for Qiao Songnian, a Jinshi who had passed the imperial examinations twice, and Wu Wenxi, a Juren, the others could only skim through it and could not understand it.
But everyone understood the key words of the reward. Everyone was shocked. The emperor was so generous!
Generally speaking, it is normal to confer an official title through an imperial edict. Too much reward wastes resources. In any imperial court, there are many officials but few positions. Rewards are scarce resources and must be used with caution.
Wow, Shao Quanzhong was awarded six titles at once, which basically means he was awarded all the titles of this level within the system of the Qing Dynasty.
Most people actually didn’t pay attention to the last sentence because they were uneducated and couldn’t understand it. However, Qiao Songnian and Wu Wenxi were shocked.
What does "awarding him a title" mean? The emperor conferred the title of fifth-rank Yunqiwei on Shao Quanzhong. In addition to the honor, he also received an additional salary of 85 taels of silver per year.
Converted into modern terms, it is about 30,000 yuan a year in subsidies, not much, right? The emperor allowed this title to be hereditary and passed down to descendants!
This is much more impressive than a higher title, but the title will decrease upon death or inheritance.
If the child in Ronghui's belly is a boy, he can inherit the title without downgrading. Even if he does nothing, he can just lie down and relax for the rest of his life. This is called a hardcore crop.
The Shaw family can now be counted among the aristocrats who "live and die with the country".
The emperor is saying that you, Shao Quanzhong, now have a share in my Qing Dynasty. You are one of the shareholders of my Qing Dynasty and have joined the board of directors. You have to work hard for me in the future.
Shao Quanzhong kowtowed to express his gratitude, and the eunuch smiled and said in a hoarse voice, "Master Shao, you can get up now."
Shao Quanzhong stood up, and Lu Laifu went over and patted his shoulder affectionately, "You are a good young man. You have made a great contribution this time. When the emperor heard that he was seriously ill, he broke out in a sweat and felt much better. He specially came to Shuxiang Temple to thank the Buddha for his blessing."
Lu Laifu waved his hand, and another young eunuch came over with a yellow jacket and a fifth-rank hat and feather. Shao Quanzhong bowed and took them.
"I cannot give you this imperial edict now because I haven't finished reading it. I heard from Lord Qiao that your wife is pregnant and cannot come to receive the edict. I have to go to your house to read the edict about conferring the title of fifth-rank imperial lady to both of your wives."
Shao Quanzhong bowed to Lu Laifu and said, "Thank you for your consideration, eunuch."
"I have an imperial decree here to confer the title of Yunqiwei on your father and the title of Fifth Rank Concubine on your mother. I have to go to Jingjiang. After all, I am the servant of the emperor, and my life is to run errands."
Shao Quanzhong bowed to the ground again, "Eunuch Lu has worked so hard, and I am extremely grateful."
He bowed sincerely. His parents had now entered the ranks of the nobility, so when they saw Lord You again, they no longer had to pretend to kowtow and wait for Lord You to help them. Lord You had to pay his respects to the two elders.
Being able to make my dad happy is more glorious than getting a promotion myself.
"Get up, get up. It's your contribution. The emperor's grace is great. Just work hard for the emperor in the future."
Everyone was still in a daze. It turned out that the reward was not just six items, but also extended to his wife, father and mother. After counting with fingers, Shao Quanzhong himself was appointed as the governor of Taizhou, the garrison commander of Taizhou, and the cloud cavalry captain. He had three wives of the imperial edict at home, and his father was also a cloud cavalry captain. The Shao family suddenly had seven more salaries.
Eunuch Lu will go to Shao's house and then to Jingjiang, which is too tiring. Shao Quanzhong turned around and whispered a few words, and Zhang Siwen turned and left.
Shao Quanzhong handed the yellow jacket and the top hat with a peacock feather to the personal soldiers behind him.
The original yellow jacket must be taken home and placed together with the imperial edict. It can only be worn during important social events.
You can make an identical backup replacement for yourself at any time and wear it all the time if you want and no one will bother you.
The fifth-rank crystal hat was granted by the emperor. In fact, in order to reduce the production cost, the imperial court no longer uses gemstones for hats now, and has replaced them with glass imitations...
Official uniforms had to be made at one's own expense, and not everyone had the flowered feather. Only those who had made great contributions to the rank of fifth rank and above could be awarded. Even if those who had made great contributions to the rank of sixth rank and below could only be awarded the blue feather.
Flowery plumes and blue plumes can also be donated, with seven thousand taels for a flowery plume and five thousand taels for a blue plume, but the donation does not bring any honor.
Shao Quanzhong was promoted twice and became the acting prefect of the fifth rank, which was just enough administrative level to be awarded the flower feather.
As for the garrison, it was of the fifth rank, equivalent to the modern captain. It was a military rank and was worthless. It only gave Shao Quanzhong the power to command the regular army.
In addition, Shao Shucai and his son Shao Quanzhong were promoted to the fifth rank at the same time. They could already put up stone lions at the door of Shao's house and the house in his hometown of Jingjiang for show.
Shao Quanzhong is just confused. As he is a direct descendant of Lord Qiao, he should be promoted through the sequence of salt transport. If he is promoted to the fifth rank, he should be the deputy envoy of salt transport. How come he was appointed as the governor of Taizhou in the administrative system?
This is a taboo in the officialdom, and generally means that the emperor is alienating himself from his adoptive father.
After Li Xiucheng of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom became so powerful that he frightened the emperor, Hong Xiuquan distributed Li Xiucheng's subordinates to various places, and Li Xiucheng was no longer in charge of the rank and system.
Li Xiucheng's rebellion was difficult because of this, but his subordinates no longer obeyed his orders, and he was unhappy and unwilling to fight the Qing army. The withdrawal of troops from Qimen and the release of Zeng Guofan were examples, and Anqing was soon to be lost because of this...
Why does the Qing Dynasty do this? Is Emperor Xianfeng so stupid?
Eunuch Lu saw Shao Quanzhong in deep thought. Being a shrewd man, he immediately understood what Shao Quanzhong was wondering about and patted him on the shoulder.
"Sir Shao, our Qing Dynasty has always been sincere to loyal ministers. Sir Qiao has been promoted to the governor of Jiangning, and is still in charge of the grain stations in Jiangnan and Jiangbei. From now on, you and your son must work together to benefit the people of Jiangning."
That's right. I said that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had not been destroyed yet, and it was not time for the Qing Dynasty to be discarded. Emperor Xianfeng was not a tyrant, so he would not do such a stupid thing.
Godfather has now been relieved of his job as the salt transport envoy. Although the money earned is much less, he should have made enough long ago and what he is pursuing now is promotion.
This time, godfather's promotion was a crucial leap. He became an official of the second rank, which is the same level as the governor. He is expected to become a powerful official in a certain area.
Looking up, I saw that Lord Qiao had indeed changed into a crown of carved coral. My sense of officialdom was not sharp enough, so I had not noticed it just now.
Seeing that his godson was looking at himself, Lord Qiao smiled and nodded to Shao Quanzhong.
As soon as Lord Wu and Lord Qiao arrived with Lu Laifu, Shao Quanzhong knelt down to receive the order without paying his respects to the two lords.
He went over and kowtowed to his godfather, "Congratulations, godfather, on your promotion."
He stood up and saluted Wu Wenxi, "Greetings, Lord Wu."
Shao Quanzhong was promoted but was only a fifth-rank prefect, while Wu Wenxi retired from the fourth-rank salt and tea official position, three ranks higher than Shao Quanzhong.
After they finished their greetings, Lu Laifu took another imperial edict from the young eunuch.
This imperial edict still had a black ox horn axis, but it had a brocade surface with small floral patterns.
The chief eunuch coughed and said, "Lin Bozi, listen to the order."
(End of this chapter)