Chapter 245 General Zuo Yang discusses Sun Quan at night
After the eunuch read out the rewards for Guan Yu, he continued to read out Liu Bei's rewards for other generals.
"I worship the general of the left, Ma Chao, as a general of hussars, lead the herdsman of Liangzhou, be granted the title of Marquis of Zhuxiang, and enjoy the power of a town of 1,500 households."
"I worshiped the right general Zhang Fei as a general of chariots and cavalry, commanded the Sili school captain, and was granted the title of Marquis of Xixiang. He was granted the title of food for 1,500 households in the city."
Liu Bei's rewards for Zhang Fei and Ma Chao were also speculated by the officials.
Among the original four generals, the later general Huang Zhong passed away last month.
And now that the former general Guan Yu, who is the leader of the four generals, has become a general, the corresponding official positions of Zhang Fei and Ma Chao, who were slightly inferior to Guan Yu at the beginning, will certainly not be too low.
Among the traditional generals with heavy titles in the Han Dynasty, the general has the highest rank. Below the general, according to rank, they are the hussar general, the chariot general, the guard general, and the four-party general.
General Wei is already banned, so according to common sense, General Hussar and General Chariot will only emerge from Ma Chao and Zhang Fei.
Compared to Zhang Fei's cavalry generals, Ma Chao's cavalry generals are undoubtedly of higher rank.
This is also easy to understand.
Ma Chao was a prince before he defected to Liu Bei. His status among Liu Bei's ministers was special and sensitive.
This status gave Ma Chao a more detached status among Liu Bei's courtiers, so Liu Bei appointed Ma Chao as a hussar general, with a military position above Zhang Fei.
But this does not mean that Ma Chao will have more power than Zhang Fei.
Because although the hussar general and the chariot general are generals with high status, these two military positions do not have the natural authority to open a government like the general.
A general who does not have the power to open a government will not have much power if he does not have control over his hands.
Therefore, how much power Ma Chao and Zhang Fei have in their hands comes entirely from Liu Bei's trust in them.
Although Ma Chao's military position is slightly higher than Zhang Fei's, Ma Chao's other position is Liangzhou Mu, while Zhang Fei's concurrent position is Sili Xiaowei.
The Sili Xiaowei was placed in the fourth year of Zhenghe by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
When the Sili Xiaowei was first established, the Sili Xiaowei had many powers, but the biggest purpose of Emperor Wu's initial establishment of the Sili Xiaowei was to "uphold integrity, command a total of 1,200 officials and disciples, catch witches and poisons, and supervise the treacherous and cunning officials."
"Beitang Shuchao·Establishing the Official Department" records: "The Sili Xiaowei was first appointed by Emperor Wu. Later, the kings and nobles were dissatisfied, so they made 1,200 slaves from Zhongdu officials and disciples."
"Correct the crown prince, rule everything below the three princes and the neighboring counties."
From the above records, it can be seen that the Sili Xiaowei holds the power of restraint, supervision, arrest, punishment, etc.
This is the enhanced version of the Han Dynasty Jin Yiwei Commander.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty Liu Xiu saved the Prime Minister Sizhi, allowing Sili Xiaowei to gain greater power.
During the meetings between Sili, Xiaowei, the monk, and the imperial censor, Zhongcheng, both had special seats, which was known as the "three separate seats".
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Sili Xiaowei even dared to impeach senior officials such as the Three Dukes, so he was feared by hundreds of officials.
In the cruel struggle between relatives and eunuchs in the Eastern Han Dynasty, both sides often relied on the power of the Sili Xiaowei to defeat the other side. This shows that the Sili Xiaowei had multiple powers.
From then on, Sili Xiaowei became a pivotal role in the political center, so Dong Zhuo called it a "heroic position".
During Li Jue's dictatorship, he took the title of Sili Xiaowei. After Cao Cao seized power, he also took the title of Sili Xiaowei to show his self-respect.
Of course, Sili is no longer in Liu Bei's hands now, so according to convention, Zhang Fei's scope of authority is to transform into Yizhou, where the imperial capital is located.
Zhang Fei, who served as the captain of the Sili school, with his authority, could even directly arrest all officials below the rank of Sangong and Jiuqing, and if there was sufficient evidence, directly convict the arrested officials.
Compared with Zhang Fei's Sili Xiaowei, Ma Chao's Liangzhou Mu position is slightly higher in terms of rank, but Liangzhou is not under Liu Bei's rule now, so Ma Chao's Liangzhou Mu position is just a remote leader.
From here you can see the difference between the two.
After reading out the rewards for Ma Chao and Zhang Fei, the eunuch read out the rewards for many generals who commanded the army abroad.
For example, Zhao Yun, the general of the Yi Army, was granted the title of General of the Southern Expedition, guarding the army in the middle, and was granted the title of Marquis of Yongchang Ting.
Jin made Wei Yan, the general of Zhenyuan, the general of Zhenbei.
There are also Wu Yi, Li Yan, Wu Ban, etc.
But the ministers have yet to hear about a person's reward.
That person is Mi Yang.
The ministers couldn't help but have some doubts in their hearts, this shouldn't be the case.
Whether it was the Battle of Public Security or the Battle of Xicheng, Mi Yang made great contributions.
Those two great achievements are enough to be remembered in history, not to mention Mi Yang's victory in Xicheng, which helped Liu Bei ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.
Moreover, how many people in Chengdu don’t know Liu Bei’s trust and love for Mi Yang?
Because of his trust in love, Liu Bei could decisively hand over the military power in Hanzhong to Mi Yang for temporary command.
The relationship between Liu Bei and Mi Yang is simply a replica of the contemporary Emperor Xiaowu and Champion Hou.
Under such circumstances, how could Liu Bei forget Mi Yang's reward?
Just when the officials were suspicious, the eunuch on the altar had almost finished reading the list of rewards in his hand.
But just after he saw the last person's name, his eyes suddenly froze.
This person's reputation is almost unknown to everyone in Chengdu recently.
And under the narration of his adopted son Huang Hao, he was very impressed by this name.
Because of the awe in his heart, when the eunuch read out the reward for this man, he raised his heart and read Liu Bei's reward aloud.
"Here is General Yang of the Han Dynasty, who has made numerous meritorious deeds. He was in charge of public security and defeated Lu Meng. He went out to defend Xicheng and swallowed up the six armies of Wei.
The grass is made in heaven, and the gentleman is wise. He was born in Wo Yang, and he was an honorable minister of the Han Dynasty. It was at the time of Jiahui, and he was powerful in Yibei. Which of these good generals will follow in his footsteps?
In ancient times, the virtuous were appointed and ranked in order, and officials were awarded according to their abilities. Those who worked hard were rewarded with generous salaries, and those with great virtues were awarded titles. Therefore, martial arts is used to show importance, and literary virtue is praised."
"Today I record the achievements before and after, worship the partial general Mi Yang as the general of the left, grant the title of champion marquis, and supervise the military affairs of Yibei during the holidays!"
When the eunuch finished reading Liu Bei's reward for Mi Yang, he slowly put away Liu Bei's reward edict.
His actions meant that Mi Yang was the last general Liu Bei personally rewarded.
And when Liu Bei's reward spread throughout Wudan Mountain, the officials who heard that Mi Yang had received this reward unconsciously began to commotion.
The ministers all raised their heads and looked at Liu Bei with surprised eyes.
The ministers saw an unconcealable smile on Liu Bei's face.
They originally thought that Liu Bei had forgotten to reward Mi Yang, but it turned out that Liu Bei had placed the reward for Mi Yang here!
The reason why the officials were in a commotion after hearing Liu Bei's reward for Mi Yang was because they never expected that Liu Bei's reward for Mi Yang would be this.
As early as when they were in the main hall, the officials had a heated discussion about Mi Yang's reward.
During the discussion at that time, although Mi Yang's official position did not reach a unified result, everyone had a consensus on Mi Yang's title, that is, Mi Yang would be a prince after this battle.
The marquis system of the Han Dynasty has evolved to this day. Among the marquises, there are usually three levels: Tinghou, Xianghou, and County Marquis.
For example, although the Marquis of Yixiang obtained by Yu Jin, the Marquis of Zhuxiang obtained by Ma Chao, and the Marquis of Xixiang obtained by Zhang Fei all have many settlements, they are actually just rural Marquises.
Only the Marquis of Xiangyang that Guan Yu was granted was a real county Marquis.
Now in Liu Bei's imperial edict to reward Mi Yang, there is no mention of the place where Mi Yang's champion marquis lived, which shows that Liu Bei's title reward to Mi Yang was a form of virtual title.
But with the title of Champion Marquis, anyone who has read history books will know that this Marquis is a county marquis!
Champion Marquis is a title created by Emperor Xiaowu for Huo Dasima, which means "conquering the entire army".
Even Emperor Xiaowu, in order to make Huo Dashima's champion worthy of his title, specially cut off "Luyang Township" in Rang County and "Linjun Ju" in Wan County to establish Champion County as Huo Dashima's food town.
Today Champion County still exists in Nanyang County, not far from Wudang County.
The first owner of Champion Hou was Huo Qubing. Because he brought pride to the Han people, he made the title Champion Hou an honor.
Now Liu Bei not only gave Mi Yang a higher-ranking county prince than Ma Chao and Zhang Fei, but also gave Mi Yang such a title with special meaning. How could he not shock the hearts of the officials?
Your Majesty really regards Mi Yang as his champion!
However, after the officials were surprised, they had to admit in their hearts that Mi Yang deserved the title of Champion.
Isn't Mi Yang the "conqueror of all armies" now?
In the 400-year history of the Han Dynasty, a total of three people were awarded the title of Champion Hou for their military exploits.
They are Huo Da Sima, Jia Fu and Dou Xian.
Now Mi Yang's military exploits may not be as good as those of Huo Da Sima and Dou Xian, but Mi Yang is still very young.
When Emperor Xiaowu conferred the title of Champion Marquis on Huo Da Sima, wasn't it because Huo Da Sima was young at that time and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was full of expectations for him?
At that time, the Han Dynasty was harassed by the Xiongnu, and the country was uneasy.
Emperor Xiaowu then named Huo Da Sima the champion when he first showed his prominence, hoping that he could continue his efforts to defeat the Huns for the Han Dynasty and protect the tranquility of the Han Dynasty.
Now that the Han Dynasty is falling apart, the six northern states are occupied by rebels, and the ancestral temples are located in the southwest, the Han Dynasty has also reached a critical stage.
Liu Bei specially granted Mi Yang the title of Champion Marquis on the day of re-establishing the Han Dynasty. He also hoped that Mi Yang could be like Huo Da Sima and annihilate all thieves for the Han Dynasty.
What surprised the officials was not only that Mi Yang was awarded the title of Champion Marquis, but also because of the official position Liu Bei gave Mi Yang.
Although General Zuo is only one of the four generals and is not as noble in rank as the Hussars General and Chariot General, he is still an important general.
How old is Mi Yang this year? Only twenty-one.
The 21-year-old heavy-duty general is truly amazing.
The officials who had previously speculated that the official positions Liu Bei would reward Mi Yang were nothing more than generals with titles such as Zhengbei and Zhenbei.
And the most important thing is that everyone knows that the holder of the rank of General Zuo of the Han Dynasty turned out to be Liu Bei.
Although Yu Jin and Ma Chao also served as generals of the left, they were essentially generals of the left in the Kingdom of Wei and the Kingdom of Hanzhong respectively, and they were not the same concept as the generals of the left in the Han Dynasty.
Now Liu Bei has given Mi Yang the title of Jun Zuo, who had followed him for more than ten years before he became king. This must have a special meaning.
Otherwise, why did Liu Bei not worship Mi Yang as the former general, but only worship him as the left general?
As for this special meaning, it seems that Liu Bei hoped that Mi Yang could inherit his ambition to revive the Han Dynasty.
Your Majesty, you really dote on the champion!
As Liu Bei's last reward to Mi Yang: the governor of the Yibei army during the holiday.
Yibei refers to Hanzhong County and Hanxing County.
Although on the surface, Liu Bei's reward is the most generous.
But when Liu Bei worshiped Mi Yang as General Zuo and was granted the title of Marquis of Champion, this reward was just a matter of course.
Originally, Wei Yan was in charge of military affairs in Hanzhong, while Mi Yang was the prefect of Hanxing.
So in essence, this reward only gave Mi Yang an additional layer of military power as the commander-in-chief of Hanzhong County.
Wei Yan was only a general in the north, and the current Wei Yan was far inferior to Mi Yang in terms of military exploits.
After Mi Yang was promoted to General Zuo by Liu Bei, as the official with the highest title among the two counties of Yibei, it was his duty to supervise the military affairs of Hanzhong County.
As for the holidays, that’s reasonable.
After all, when Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others served as generals of the four directions before, they all had false power.
Liu Bei gave Mi Yang three rewards, although each one was surprising.
However, Liu Bei first mentioned Mi Yang's military exploits. Under such circumstances, Liu Bei's reward for Mi Yang gave people a sense of justice.
Considering Mi Yang's military exploits and the impact he had after his victory, he is well-deserved for the honor and power he has now received.
Just now, the ministers were worried that Liu Bei would forget about the reward for Mi Yang, but now it seems that they are completely overly worried.
Emperor Zhang Wu not only did not forget to reward Mi Yang, but also specially placed his reward at the end as a finale to inspire people.
Guan Yu and Mi Yang are related by their father-in-law, and now their rewards echo each other. This is the reward edict carefully prepared by Liu Bei.
Liu Beigao stood on the altar. He looked at the faces of the ministers below who first had a look of surprise, and then quickly returned to normal. There was a hint of smile in his eyes.
In fact, what the ministers didn't know was that Liu Bei's original intention was to create a title of general for Mi Yang like Emperor Xiaowu.
However, Liu Bei considered that he had just ascended the throne and his foundation was not yet stable, so it was inappropriate to rashly change the official system of the Han Dynasty.
So Liu Bei suppressed his thoughts in his heart for the time being.
But when the time comes in the future, he will definitely realize his idea!
...
After conferring awards to the ministers on Wudan Mountain, Liu Bei took the emperor's chariot back to the palace in Chengdu.
Not long ago, a minister suggested that Liu Bei should expand and repair the palace.
After all, Liu Bei's current palace was slightly expanded from the original Yizhou Mufu.
Regardless of its layout or magnificence, the palace was not suitable as a residence for the emperor.
However, this proposal of the ministers was flatly rejected by Liu Bei.
Liu Bei did not want to waste people and money.
Moreover, if you feel that the imperial palace in Chengdu is not magnificent enough, instead of carrying out large-scale construction and expansion, it is better to return it to the old capital as soon as possible.
The palace in Chang'an City was the real residence of the Emperor of Han Dynasty.
On the night he returned to the palace, Liu Bei summoned several close ministers to discuss a matter.
That was how he should manage his relationship with Sun Quan after he became emperor.
If this matter is not handled well, it will bring considerable hidden dangers to the emerging empire that has just been established today.