On the twenty-eighth day of the first month this year, Jiang Wang had just turned twenty-one.

To be precise, at today’s grand sacrifice, a military merit marquis, not yet twenty-one years of age, holding a food fief of three thousand households, was born. His name: Jiang Wang!

He had shattered the Da Qi Empire’s record for the youngest military merit marquis, pushing it back by several years!

Furthermore, what was the concept of a food fief of three thousand households?

Three thousand Qi citizens, their lives and deaths, everything, entrusted entirely to Jiang Wang.

Take Jiang Wang’s enfeoffment during the Fuyang War. His contribution lay in attacking Yang, and Qingyang Town was granted as his fief. On one hand, this leveraged Jiang Wang’s flag-like influence in the region to help the Qi court consolidate its rule in Yang. On the other hand, in this type of fief, as the enfeoffed lord, Jiang Wang only enjoyed tax rights. And the taxes, based on Qi’s standard, could only be reduced, never increased.

The governance of the fief’s populace remained under the purview of the Qi court. Although he could influence the appointment and dismissal of town hall officials, positions like pavilion chiefs still required reporting to the county government. If he excessively harmed the people, the Qi court would still hold him accountable.

Much like the recent Fu Xia War, after destroying the Xia country’s altars of state, the Qi court immediately designated some fiefs to meritorious generals. For instance, Jiang Wang’s enfeoffment of Chitan and Zhong Xuansheng’s enfeoffment of Mingkong Hanshan essentially leveraged the prestige of these Fu Xia meritorious ministers to stabilize rule in the Xia land. At the same time, the power within these fiefs was far from that of a food fief.

More crucially, whether it was Chitan, Mingkong Hanshan, or Qingyang Town, they were all newly conquered territories granted as fiefs.

While legally Qi territory, it would take time to truly govern them as Qi people. This was a specific situation born of war.

A food fief granted to a marquis was different. The enfeoffed citizens were Qi people who had lived in Qi for generations, truly the Great Qi people intimately connected with the nation’s power.

The corresponding household registers and rosters would all be handed over to Jiang Wang.

Jiang Wang could choose to move all of them to his own fief, thereby establishing the first batch of people completely under his control, or he could leave them in their original registers and merely levy taxes.

The sustenance provided by these three thousand households might not be considered immense wealth or honor for a super-human expert. However, it represented the highest form of recognition.

It signified that the duke or marquis, in this life, shared the nation’s glory, and could, alongside the Son of Heaven, enjoy the sustenance of the myriad people.

The larger the food fief, the more the nation’s power could be utilized.

Within the official road system, this offered immense benefits for cultivation!

Dingyuan Marquis had achieved the first merit in the war against Xia thirty-three years prior, and after years of conquest, accumulated countless merits. Relying on his spectacular performance in the Exterminating Yang War, he was finally enfeoffed as a marquis.

At that time, his food fief was only seven thousand households. It was after the recent Fu Xia campaign, after being the first to break through Jianfeng Mountain, repelling Yu Liyang, then beheading the Xia country’s town-guarding army commander, Long Jiao, being the first to ascend Tongyang City, and subsequently commanding Qiu Sha with merit, that his food fief was increased by three thousand households, reaching ten thousand households.

Generally speaking, a ten-thousand-household marquis was the pinnacle of merit-based nobility.

And Jiang Wang, in his weak-crown years, had already achieved a food fief of three thousand households.

This was not just his personal glory. Across all nations in the world, it would cause those who discussed military merit to cheer, celebrating the future of Great Qi.

Above the Dan tier.

Jiang Wuhua clapped his hands and laughed, his face full of delight.

Jiang Wuxie laughed and shook her head, peeling a plump, white snow fruit and swallowing it in one bite.

Only Jiang Wuyou sat upright, supporting her knees, without a single extra movement. Her heart was filled with joy, all within her phoenix eyes. As of today, no one would again doubt her initial vision.

That single sentence, “So-called heroes are those who turn the impossible into the possible.”

Had almost transformed from a beautiful blessing into a real description of Jiang Wang.

And her initial gamble, investing all her overseas resources without hesitation to obtain a single promise from Jiang Wang—a gamble seen as reckless by many at the time—looking back today, was it not a massive investment yielding profits hundreds, even thousands of times over?

Sowing one Qingyang man, harvesting one Wu’an Marquis!

Across the history of Qi, there were few, if any, who achieved this level of merit at Jiang Wang’s age.

The eunuch Qiu Ji, who held the pen, personally draped the luxurious python robe, symbolizing Wu’an Marquis, onto Jiang Wang.

Just as the eunuch Zhong Liwen, who was familiar with Champion Marquis Zhong Xianzun, had dressed him. These small details highlighted the Son of Heaven’s grace and reward.

The Qi people esteemed purple, and this marquis robe was also purple-based, unspeakably noble. In front and back, nine pythons coiled like swallowing clouds and mist.

Ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers adorned the hem of the robe, like a dream, like an illusion. Star shadows faintly appeared only when he walked.

It covered the dashing blue shirt, and thus gained the elegance to face kings and marquises!

With this robe donned, he had reached the pinnacle of a courtier. He could look at the great officials in court discussion at eye level, and had no need to avoid the commanders of the nine armies. He possessed the qualification to listen in on court affairs, just like the Upper Minister Yu Liyang.

Amidst the sounds of mountains calling and seas roaring, the two youngest military merit marquises of Qi, each composed, exchanged glances and temporarily retreated to the sides.

And at this moment, the main commander of this Fu Xia campaign, the True Monarch Cao Ji, who had proven his Dao in the Xia land, stepped into the square and ascended the high platform.

The Son of Heaven of Qi sat high on the dragon chair, looked down, and slowly said: “Minister Cao, you have worked hard.”

Cao Ji, still clad in armor, bowed his hands in greeting and simply replied: “Fortunately, I did not disgrace my mission!”

The dialogue between monarch and minister was only eight characters, but the trust conveyed between them was unspoken.

The Son of Heaven then waved his robe sleeve, and Jiang Rumo again unfurled a decree.

This was the third decree personally read by the Prime Minister of Great Qi, Jiang Rumo, today, and also the last.

His face was exceptionally broad, and his voice was exceedingly gentle. However, at this moment, it traversed heaven and earth, shaking the universe.

“In the early years, Taizu founded the nation, rising from scratch with only eleven households. In twenty-one years, he secured the mountains and rivers. Until Emperor Wu restored the nation, possessing nothing but thirty thousand soldiers, he fought thirty-seven battles to restore the altars of state. When I was initially the crown prince, I wore armor and swept away four nations. Upon ascending the great position, I exterminated seven more nations. At that time, Emperor Si Yuan of Xia, swept horizontally across the universe, swallowing the southeast, and the world dared not face him.

I raised my sword to resist, tilted the nation to war, arrayed and beheaded Si Yuan, swept away six armies, swallowed the eastern domain like a whale, and achieved hegemony. Qi country has since been called the Eastern Country!

Now, in the great contention world, there are six hegemonic nations, and numerous small nations like stars. Ancient sects stand tall, and battles often involve hundreds of thousands.

Famous generals of the world, how are they like a sea of stars? Yet, those who can command a hundred thousand troops should be few!

Now, there is Cao Ji, who can shoulder this responsibility.

Leading an army of a hundred thousand, he exterminated Xia in a single battle. He fulfilled my old grudge and penetrated the southeast.

Just as Taizu had the Ten Ministers of Fengtian, just as Emperor Wu had the Seven Generals of Zhenguo, so I have Cao Ji!

Enfeoffed as a hereditary Marquis of Du with three thousand households, his lineage shall inherit it!”

Cao Ji received the enfeoffment of a hereditary Marquis with three thousand households, leaping to become a top-tier merit noble of the Great Qi Empire. With this title, name, and power,

From now on, he could stand as an equal with the Zhenguo Grand Marshal.

Unlike Zhong Xuansheng and Jiang Wang’s enfeoffment, which were lifelong Marquises and could not be passed down to sons and grandsons,

Cao Ji’s “Marquis of Du” was a hereditary marquisate.

Of course, compared to hereditary perpetual Earls, Kings, and Marquises like the Nine Fan Hou, it was still slightly inferior.

Because this was hereditary succession, each generation that inherited the title would see it demoted by one rank.

Cao Ji’s son would then be an Earl, and his son would pass it to his grandson, who would then be a Viscount.

However, this single-character marquis was more noble than a double-character marquis. Even the Shi Men Li clan might not have a food fief of three thousand households.

Especially in this decree, the Son of Heaven of Qi directly compared Cao Ji to the Ten Ministers of Fengtian and the Seven Generals of Zhenguo of Qi Taizu and Emperor Wu. Those figures might all have their spirit tablets receiving incense in the ancestral temple after death.

The Fengtian and Zhenguo Halls were specifically established for these meritorious ministers.

The Son of Heaven of Qi had almost explicitly stated that in the future, the ancestral temple would certainly open another hall, either parallel to the Fengtian and Zhenguo Halls,

Or even above them, and Cao Ji would certainly be able to list his name within!

This was not only supreme honor, but in this vast world of power, it held extraordinary significance.

The so-called Ten Ministers of Fengtian and Seven Generals of Zhenguo, due to various reasons, had all passed away.

Just as cultivators, the stronger they are, the more difficult it is to heal once injured. The stronger one is, once their body dies and their Dao vanishes, the more thorough it is.

Jiang Mengxiong could suppress the passages between two realms with a flip of his hand and save fourteen people on the spot with spirit medicine. Under the same conditions, saving an Inner Mansion Realm cultivator was ten times more difficult. Reviving a Shen Lin cultivator was almost impossible.

And saving a person who had just died and saving a person who had been dead for a long time were completely different in difficulty. The longer the time, the more difficult.

These meritorious ministers whose names were listed in the Fengtian and Zhenguo Halls were all at the bottom of the True Person cultivation realm. When they died, blood rain descended from the heavens,

Heaven and earth grieved together. After death, there was absolutely no trace in the underworld, and even their true spirits were impossible to find.

But entering the hall to receive sacrifices was different.

Their spirit tablets were invited into the ancestral temple to receive generations of sustenance from the altars of state of Qi.

With the nourishment of national power and the incense of sacrifices, their spirits, wills, and fame could endure for a long time. Even if they had died many years ago and vanished like smoke, there still remained a hope of revival!

This was one of the places where the state system was stronger than sects. Receiving the incense of ten thousand people opened up opportunities for life in heaven and earth. Of course, those ancient sects also had similar means of preservation, just not as popular as the sect-country ancestral temple.

Cao Ji’s single battle that exterminated Xia not only made him a top-tier merit noble of Great Qi today, but also brought an open promise from the Son of Heaven for the future. Before, there was no Cao surname family. After, the Donglai Cao clan was already a first-class prominent family in Great Qi.

Donglai County also became the only county government in Qi to have two major top-tier prominent families.

However, the original number one prominent family in Donglai, the Qi clan, after Qi Xiao’s family split and seized the power of the Xia Corpse Army, had significantly declined in momentum and could hardly compare to the new noble Cao clan.

The entire grand sacrifice, along with the successive enfeoffment of Zhong Xianzun, Jiang Wang, and Cao Ji as marquises, was step by step reaching its climax.

The sounds of chime bells and music played by the ritual officials still floated in the high sky.

This grand and tumultuous war against Xia had just formally concluded here.

Spring of the fifty-seventh year of Yuanfeng.

The people of Qi had won everything they wanted to win.

Too many people slept forever in the soil of Xia.

Like Bao Bozhao, like Ouyang Yong.

Like the vanguard camp of Zhong Xianzun’s department, like Zhong Xin, who had followed Zhong Xianzun for many years,

Like the ninety thousand county soldiers under Tian Anping…

Like the victory camp led by Jiang Wang and Zhong Xuansheng, also losing over two thousand people in battle.

But there was also a part of the people who ascended to a higher stage from this point,

As the saying goes, “Don’t speak of enfeoffment when serving the lord; a general’s merit comes at the cost of ten thousand withered bones!”

“Don’t speak of enfeoffment when serving the lord; a general’s merit comes at the cost of ten thousand withered bones!”

This line of poem was written on paper, then erased.

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, fifty-seventh year of Yuanfeng.

Jiang Wang sat at the desk by the window, writing a letter.

A very long letter.

He wanted to tell Jiang Anan about the spring in Linzi. He wanted to describe the prosperity here, wanted to exaggerate the glory he had obtained, wanted to share all his success and joy, and would absolutely not mention the pain and danger he had experienced.

He had not written a letter during the entire Fu Xia war period, so he had many words of praise he wanted to say. He still wanted to chat with Ye Qingyu about little An’an’s education, to plan An’an’s cultivation path. He still wanted to use his post-Shenlin insights to help deduce the various applications of the Cloud Transformation divine ability.

His mood was tranquil, and his pen tip moved lightly and leisurely.

Outside the window were the Xia Mountains with un-reddened maple leaves. Lifting his eyes, he could see lush greenery.

After the ancestral temple ceremony ended, he was weary of the constant visits from various people and was unwilling to waste his precious time at wine and food banquets. Hence, he had hidden away in Zhong Xuansheng’s detached residence in the Xia Mountains.

Compared to Yaoguang Fang, located in the prosperous city, and the Wu’an Marquis residence, which was under construction and located in an even more prosperous area, this place was much quieter. Of course, it was also to avoid some meaningless entanglements. Such as the grand-niece of some great official in court discussion, the daughter of some commander of the nine armies, the daughter of some vice-minister, or the young ladies from prominent families. Even Wen Tinglan from the Yanfu family, due to sentiment, had arranged several poetry gatherings, with many of her close friends present. One day, looking at their pitiful appearance, Jiang Wang wondered what poetry he was making?

Sitting amidst a group of orioles and swallows, listening to their literary embroidery and singing of lyrics, it was even more tiring than when he was chasing and killing Shang Yanhu…

The melodious sound of silk and bamboo leisurely drifted in.

Jiang Wang shook his head along with the rhythm. His pen tip moved lightly and quickly, no need to say, it must be that the new neighbor had woken up from his hangover and started this day of revelry.

Perhaps out of consideration for Upper Minister Yu Liyang’s emotions, although the Qi army had captured the last generation’s Xia Emperor Si Cheng, who should have been a key captive for the sacrifice ceremony, it ended in haste, and this Anle Bo of Great Qi was not overly humiliated.

Even his former Great Xia harem, his Empress and several principal wives, were all safely sent to his side. The rest were all dismissed.

Looking at the monarchs of perished nations throughout history, Si Cheng could be considered to have had a good ending.

Of course, a heroic lord like the current Son of Heaven of Qi fundamentally did not need to find any sense of achievement in this Anle Bo. Perhaps if it were the Xia Xiang Emperor, who had been dead for many years, it would be a different matter.

Whether it should be said or not, after all, he was once the Son of Heaven of a nation, possessing ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains. This enjoyment of music was indeed of a high caliber.

Although Jiang Wang could not discern any profound knowledge, his ears felt very comfortable.

Borrowing the music from his neighbor’s home, he thus slowly and orderly finished writing the letter. He lightly released his hand, and the Cloud Crane flew out the window, straight up into the high sky. That light and floating heart also followed it up to the cloud top.

A clear and beautiful season, suitable for thinking of An’an.

“I’m not seeing anyone, absolutely not seeing anyone!”

His ear caught such a sound of refusal.

An indulgent, impatient, middle-aged man’s voice, still carrying a hint of nobility: “Come, continue playing music, continue dancing!”

Jiang Wang’s heart moved. He got up and left the study room, walked through the courtyard, and pushed open the main door.

Indeed, he saw a man in luxurious clothes, with a face like a peach blossom, standing in front of the courtyard not far away.

Once the king of Great Xia, now the Upper Minister of Qi.

Once known by the title “Peach Blossom Immortal,” he was the most romantic figure in Great Xia. After a few drinks, he would casually compose a poem that would rank the thirteen famous mountains of Xia, declaring “Other mountains do not compare.”

He composed how many tunes for people to sing.

He left behind how many affections, causing resentment in boudoirs to rise. After the first Qi-Xia war, he swept away his former debauchery and strove for improvement. As a True Monarch who achieved the Shenwu era of the Xia country, he was once the hope for the entire Xia country’s resurgence.

Such a man, with red lips and white teeth, a beautiful man, was almost a symbol of the peak period of the Xia country.

Such a person, here at Anle Bo’s residence, was met with a closed door.

Jiang Wang’s movement in pushing the door was naturally detected by him.

He turned around, seemingly walking in the wind, making the sunlight sway.

Truly a beauty like a blooming flower.

“Upper Minister Yu!” Jiang Wang called out directly: “Can we have a drink?”

Qi country originally had no Upper Minister position; this position was specially created for Yu Liyang.

The position was extremely honorable, while the real power was admittedly minimal.

A faint smile floated across Yu Liyang’s face: “Yu is naturally luxurious and will not drink unless it’s good wine, nor gather unless it’s with good friends. I wonder what wine Marquis Wu’an has?”

Jiang Wang directly turned half his body and made a gesture of invitation: “Seek the ‘Deer Cry’ of the forest!”

“Deer Cry in wine, that is an absolute product. Wu’an among men, indeed a good friend!” Yu Liyang laughed heartily, his wide sleeves billowing: “This wine, we shall drink!”

How many matters in life, await from the beginning.

For example, yesterday, life and death were fried.

For example, this morning, boiling wine in the spring.

Good season.

1. Food fief: In ancient China, during the Zhou Dynasty, the enfeoffed had ruling rights over the food fief. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, they only had tax rights. The author in the Red Heart world has made adjustments to fit the super-human world.
2. “Don’t speak of enfeoffment when serving the lord; a general’s merit comes at the cost of ten thousand withered bones!” – Cao Song, “Two Poems of the Ji Year, First Year of Xi Zong Guangming”