The so-called reward means either granting a title or giving a heavy reward.
It stands to reason that Du Ning's military exploits are indeed worthy of the imperial court's heavy reward.
"My second brother's words are very true, and I agree with you." King Yan came out and said.
"My son also agrees with the second brother's proposal. Suzhou student Du Ning has indeed made the greatest contribution. Without him, our Yun Kingdom's dragon boat battle this year will undoubtedly be lost." Xia Wang said.
King Ji said: "My son has heard about Du Ning's literary name for a long time. He is indeed a rare talent. He should be promoted to the palace and given an official position."
"King Ji's words are reasonable, and I agree with him."
"I also second the proposal."
Many officials came out to express their support. At a glance, nearly half of them had already asked for credit for Du Ning.
Only the Xianwang and the officials of the Xianwang Party remained silent because they still held a grudge against Du Ning. If it weren't for Du Ning, the Xianwang would not have missed the crown prince position.
Therefore, it is impossible for the Xian Wang and officials of the Xian Wang Party to speak for Du Ning.
"You are all right. The Dragon Boat War was a complete victory for the Yun Kingdom, and Du Ning should be the first to take the lead."
Emperor Jingwen nodded slightly and said: "I would like to see Yun Guo have such a great talent. You might as well discuss it. If Du Ning is to be an official, what official position should be given to him?"
"I believe that with Du Ning's talent, he can serve as a minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Beijing, and as a county magistrate abroad."
"No, Du Ning has a very high level of martial arts skills. He should join the army and become a famous general in the future."
"You are all wrong. I think it would be better for Du Ning to serve in the Household Affairs Department..."
The officials started talking fiercely, and they were all vying for Dunin.
Emperor Jingwen was quite pleased when he saw this.
It is rare to see many officials wooing the same scholar in the court, which shows that Du Ning is indeed quite appreciated.
The wise king suddenly said loudly: "I would like to inform my father that I believe that Du Ning is too young to be an official."
"What did you say? That makes no sense!"
"Wise King, how come Du Ning is not suitable to be an official when he is so talented?"
"This is the pillar of the country, how can it be buried so easily?"
Some officials angrily scolded the wise king.
If it were in the past, officials would naturally not have this kind of attitude towards the wise king.
However, today is different from the past. Now the kings are still in the stage of re-electing the prince, and they are all making great achievements in their respective political achievements.
And the virtuous king has lost the qualification to compete for the crown prince, so naturally there is no need for everyone to give the virtuous king that face.
The Xianwang and the officials of the Xianwang Party secretly resented that they had once been influential figures in the court, but how could they have ever been scolded like this by other officials.
The kings looked at the wise king with evil eyes.
They knew that the wise king was just harboring hatred, so they opposed Du Ning becoming an official.
Emperor Jingwen's eyes narrowed, "Tell me what you think."
The wise king said slowly: "My son has checked the information about Du Ning. Although he is well-known in the literary world and has a certain status, his achievements in the imperial examination are only the first in the county examination. He is not only
How can you be entrusted with important responsibilities when you are young and have little education? Father, please think again."
After the words fell, many officials shut their mouths.
"Every word of the wise king makes sense, and I second my opinion."
"Du Ning is really too young, he should hone himself more."
"Yes! Haste makes waste, so you have to take your time!"
The officials of the Xian Wang Party echoed one after another, all looking like they were righteous and thinking about the overall situation.
"You..."
The kings looked very ugly, but they could not say anything to refute.
"Even if Du Ning is not suitable for becoming an official for the time being, he has contributed a lot to bringing glory to the Yun Kingdom. This is obvious to everyone." King Yan said.
The wise king chuckled and said, "We can record Du Ning's merits temporarily, and then give him a post when Du Ning becomes a Jinshi in Confucianism, Taoism, or has better results in the imperial examination."
"No! The imperial court has always made clear rewards and punishments. How can we record merit but not reward? It's ridiculous!" said the King of Xia displeased.
"You can't make a good thing out of nothing. Du Ning is still very young now. He should spend more time on reading and studying. Du Ning has talent, but he also has potential. He may become a great scholar in the future. If he is ignorant, he will be given various rewards.
, but it will easily make him complacent. We cannot do things without foresight." The wise king said.
"This..."
The kings looked at each other, helpless.
"Ahem..."
Emperor Jingwen coughed twice and said slowly: "What the wise king said makes sense. Du Ning is still a student of Suzhou Academy of Literature, so he should focus on his studies. However, the court will reward meritorious service, so he will be promoted from the seventh-grade Viscount to the fifth-grade Viscount.
Earl!"
"Father is wise!"
"Your Majesty is wise!"
The Wise King and the officials of the Wise King’s Party hurriedly shouted with joy on their faces.
For them, the title is just a title in name and has no real power.
Only third-grade marquises can have some of the privileges of the court.
Viscount and earl are both honors for ordinary scholars. Only scholars who have made truly great contributions to the country can be named marquis. Based on Du Ning's current merits, he is not qualified to be promoted to marquis.
"Cough cough... cough cough..."
Emperor Jingwen coughed again and covered his mouth with a handkerchief, which was covered with blood.
"Ahem..."
Emperor Jingwen rolled his eyes and fell on the dragon chair.
"Father!"
"Your Majesty!"
Everyone’s expressions changed greatly.
"Ahem..."
Emperor Jingwen coughed up blood again and fainted.
"Quickly pass on the imperial doctor! Pass on the imperial doctor!"
…………
The eighth day of May.
The whole city of Suzhou held a celebration banquet in the main square to celebrate the victory of the Liao students in the dragon boat battle.
Pine trees were planted in the large square for people to enjoy the shade, and tents were set up around it to kill pigs and sheep. The number of tables in each street was more than 10,000, so people also called it a banquet of ten thousand tables.
Not only in Suzhou, but also in the entire Yun Kingdom, there has not been a banquet of ten thousand tables in the past hundred years.
If it were not a matter of national celebration, there would basically not be a banquet of ten thousand tables, at best it would be just a banquet of thousands of tables.
This year's dragon boat battle was not just an ordinary victory, but broke the Liao Kingdom's winning streak for many years, created a super record of the Yun Kingdom's student group destroying the Liao Kingdom's dragon boat, and even defeated the Liao Kingdom's Half-Saint Family.
Scholar.
How can this not make Suzhou boil?
In order to hold this celebration banquet, as early as two days ago, the Yamen took the lead in requisitioning all the chefs and waiters in the city.
The aristocratic families and common people also have money and ability to contribute, and they come together to help, which is even more lively than the Chinese New Year.
Officials from the Yamen, the Literary Academy, and the General's Office also participated in the celebration banquet.
The whole city celebrates!
At noon, the celebration banquet started.
"Everyone, please! We will not go home until we are drunk today!"
"Master Ling said that the celebration banquet will be held until tomorrow morning. During this time, we can eat and drink as much as we want."
"It smells so good! Tsk tsk... It really deserves to be a celebration banquet with ten thousand tables!"
The people who attended the celebration banquet did not eat breakfast and had an empty stomach all the time. They just waited for the celebration banquet to start and began to overeat and eat to their heart's content.
Du Ning and forty-nine other Juren students came to the celebration banquet. They are the heroes who have brought glory to the country and are also the protagonists of the celebration banquet.
Luo Wenxuan, who was traveling with him, said: "Mr. Du, you are really a sight to behold today. The whole city is holding a celebration banquet for you. We in the Yun State have not held a banquet with ten thousand tables for a hundred years. Even when Mr. Ye Jinghong became a Jinshi Wen.
When you won the war in the capital of the Liao Kingdom, it was just a banquet with a thousand tables. You did something that even Mr. Ye could not do back then."
"The main reason is that Mr. Ye has never surpassed the scholars from the semi-sage family, otherwise we would have held a banquet of ten thousand tables in Suzhou long ago."
Cao Qingyun said: "At that time, the students of the Liao Kingdom were afraid of Mr. Ye's literary name, which made the semi-sage families in the Liao Kingdom dare not come forward to fight against him. Later, the students of the Liao Kingdom thought that Mr. Ye was not worthy of his reputation and clamored again in the literary world. Little did they know that Mr. Ye
He didn't care about them at all. When he fought in the capital of Liao Kingdom, those semi-saint families didn't dare to fight, but they became arrogant afterwards. That kind of behavior is really disgusting."
Du Ning said slowly: "The reputation of the Half-Saint Family is too great. If they beat others, others would not be surprised, let alone strange. But once the scholars of the Semi-Saint Family fail, it will be a stain that is difficult to wash away.
Name."
Everyone nodded. Du Ning's words hit the nail on the head.
In the competition for literary fame, it is natural for scholars from semi-sage families to win, but they cannot afford to lose.
If you win, others won't say anything. Once you lose, you will be very embarrassed.
Therefore, scholars from the Semi-Saint Family will not take action easily, especially if they are not sure of victory.
"Master Du is here! Please come quickly! Please come quickly!"
"Brother Du, your seat is in the middle."
"Hurry and take a seat, I'm going to leave you."
After Du Ning and others arrived, everyone took the initiative to move aside to make way for them.
"Thank you all."
Du Ning and others thanked everyone.
Many officials have already been waiting here, including Ye Jinghong and many bachelors from the Academy of Arts, state government officials headed by Ling Zongde, and many generals from the General's Mansion.
"I have met all of you, my lords."
"I'll be polite."
All the students bowed to each other.
"No need to be polite, please come and take a seat!"
Ling Zongde said to the students: "I have already reported to the court to express my merits to you. The Emperor was very pleased, so he ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to prepare a gift and send it to Suzhou Literary Academy as a reward. Everyone has a share."
"Thank you, sir." Everyone said gratefully.
"In addition, because Mr. Du performed best in the dragon boat battle, the emperor decided to promote Mr. Du to the title and asked Mr. Du to accept the order."
After Ling Zongde finished speaking, he took out the imperial edict.
Many officials present immediately saluted the imperial edict. Those without meritorious titles knelt on the ground, while those with meritorious titles bowed respectfully.
"Following the imperial edict of the Emperor Chengyun, Du Ning, a student of the Suzhou Academy of Fine Arts' scholar class, led all the students to participate in the dragon boat battle, defeated the children of the semi-saint family of the Liao Kingdom, destroyed all the dragon boats in the Liao Kingdom, and created the best record in the history of the Yun Kingdom's dragon boat battle.
For his first meritorious service, he is not worthy of a heavy reward due to his studies, so he was promoted to the fifth-grade earldom as a reward. I appreciate this."