At this moment, the officials in Xianyang Palace were in an uproar!
Chehou! Xianyang Marquis!
These two words deeply stimulated the nerves of Great Qin's civil and military officials!
Even though the First Emperor had just announced that he would reward the person who created the paper, Great Qin's officials felt that the person who created the paper would only be a small pavilion chief. Even if the person created the paper, he would be given a title of nobility, which would at most be the ninth rank, the Five Great Doctors.
After all, the tenth rank above that was Zuo Shu Zhang!
When Shang Yang presided over the reform of the Qin country, the title he used was Zuo Shu Chang!
To reach the level of Shu Zhang Zuo, one had to at least contribute to Great Qin!
Many of Great Qin's generals who had fought hundreds of battles and many of Great Qin's strategists had not reached this level!
As for the highest-level Marquis Che, in the entire Great Qin, there were only Marquis Wucheng, Wang Jian, and Marquis Tongwu, Wang Ben!
Wang Jian's title of Marquis Wucheng was obtained by destroying the Zhao, Chu, and Yan countries.
Wang Ben was awarded the title of Marquis Tongwu after he led his army to destroy the Wei and Qi kingdoms!
Among the six countries in the east of the country, other than the weakest Han that was destroyed by Neishi Teng, the other five countries were all destroyed by Wang Jian and his son!
Ying Zhan was just a small pavilion chief, but he was given the title of Marquis Che just because he had given the paper to Wang Jian and Wang Ben!
How could Great Qin's civil and military officials not be shocked?
Moreover, the marquis title that the First Emperor gave to the winner was even more extraordinary!
He said that he would give Yingzhan the fief of Xianyang Pavilion, but his title was Xianyang Marquis!
One had to know that when one was conferred the title of marquis or lord by the name of a place, it was usually tacitly agreed to be conferred by a city!
For example, during the reign of Empress Dowager Xuan, Ying Pu, the second son of Empress Dowager Xuan and the younger brother of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Ying Ji, was granted the title of Lord Jingyang. Jingyang City was the fief of Lord Jingyang.
Now, the First Emperor had made Yingzhan the Marquis of Xianyang. To others, Xianyang referred to Xianyang City!
Great Qin's Capital City!
In the eyes of the world, didn't it mean that the First Emperor had given the capital of the Great Qin Dynasty to Yingzhan?
What was this?
Ever since the founding of the State of Qin more than five hundred years ago, there were three places that had never been sealed.
One was the first capital of the Qin Country, Yong City where the ancestral temple was located!
The second was Yueyang, the second old capital of Qin State.
The third was the capital city of Great Qin since Duke Xiao of Qin, Xianyang!
This was especially true for Xianyang, which was still the capital of Great Qin. Even the princes did not have the right to be sealed in the capital, let alone Yingzhan, who was only an unknown member of the Imperial Clan and a small pavilion chief!
"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate!
He won a battle with a Tingchang. What virtue and ability did he have to be ranked as Marquis Che together with Marquis Wucheng and Marquis Tongwu?”
"Your Majesty, please retract your order. This is not in line with etiquette. Although you have won the battle, you don't have to be conferred the title of Marquis, let alone the Marquis of Xianyang!”
"Being conferred the title of Fifth Physician is already the limit. How can he be conferred the title of Marquis!”
In the next moment, many furious ministers and Confucian scholars began to speak up.
Among them, some were conservative and traditional, and felt that it was not polite to give a chief a marquis title.
Some of them felt that it was unfair that they had not been given the title of Marquis despite having done so many meritorious deeds for Great Qin. They felt that it was unfair for them to be given the title of Marquis just because they had won a battle.
There were also some who were jealous and saw that Yingzhan was going to be conferred the title of Marquis.
Especially those scholars and professors, they were the most excited.
For many years, the Confucians were not welcomed by the kings of the various countries in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Now that he was finally able to enter the Great Qin Imperial Court, he was ambitious and wanted to expand his influence. He wanted to suppress the Legalism School and the Hundred Schools of Philosophy, promote Confucianism, and raise the status of Confucian scholars.
However, in Great Qin's court, the First Emperor had only given them titles in name and made them scholars, but he had never truly trusted them.
In short, Confucian scholars had no real power!
Now that they saw a young man who had just risen up, how could they not be jealous? They were so jealous that their eyes were about to burn!
Not to mention the officials and Confucian scholars, even Yingzhan himself was a little stunned.
Although the First Emperor, who had assumed the alias of Wang Ben, had claimed that Yingzhan was a marquis, Yingzhan only believed that Wang Ben's personal opinion was not the final reward that the First Emperor would give.
In fact, Yingzhan had never thought that he would be able to rely on paper to become a marquis.
In the end, the truth was beyond Yingzhan's expectations!
The First Emperor had really given him the title of Marquis, and it wasn't the 19th rank of Marquis within the Pass, but the highest rank of Marquis Che!
This made Yingzhan feel that the First Emperor was indeed a great talent and bold vision, a king with the courage to unify the world.
He must have seen the extraordinary meaning behind the paper, which was why he broke the convention and gave it to Ying Zhan, who had no military merits.
However, what Yingzhan couldn't figure out was that even the title of Marquis should be a title without a specific place name, such as Wang Jian's Marquis Wucheng and Wang Ben's Marquis Tongwu.
Even Lu Buwei, who had the power to rule the world, was only given the title of Marquis Wenxin without a specific city.
According to common sense, even if the paper that won the battle had extraordinary significance to the world, it should be given a title like Marquis Wencheng or Marquis Tongwen.
Not the Marquis of Xianyang!
Even if Ying Zhan was the chief of the Xianyang Pavilion, this was still hard to say!
Just as Yingzhan was feeling puzzled, the First Emperor spoke,""Silence!
All of you are filled with righteous indignation. Could it be that you think that I have rewarded and punished unfairly?”
The stern and dignified voice silenced the entire Xianyang Palace.
Anyone could hear that the First Emperor was furious!
Moreover, because he didn't want Yingzhan to hear his voice, the First Emperor deliberately changed his voice to make it sound like he was extremely furious.
"We dare not!"
No one dared to anger the Emperor's dignity, so the ministers who had spoken earlier all spoke up.
The First Emperor snorted and said,""Do you think that it's too shocking for me to confer a marquis title to a pavilion chief?
However, do you know that Ying Zhan's grandfather, Ying Jiugong, killed the enemy's leader at the twenty-third level in the Battle of Changping and broke a leg on the battlefield?
In terms of merit, he should be given the title of a seventh-grade official!
As for Ying Zhan's big uncle Ying Bofen, he died in Changping and beheaded sixteen ranks. In terms of merit, he should be awarded the rank of a fifth-rank Great Official!
Ying Zhan's second uncle, Ying Zhongyong, followed General Meng Ao to attack Zhao. He died in the Battle of Lang Meng and beheaded nine levels!
As for the third brother, Ying Shuzhong, and the fourth brother, Ying Jijun, they had both died at Hangu Pass 20 years ago when the five countries attacked Qin together to protect Great Qin!
And the Qin law stipulated that if a soldier died in battle, his title could be inherited by his descendants!
Ying Jiugong and his four sons 'military merits added together were enough to reach the eleventh rank right Shu Chang!
Ying Zhan was the only male in Duke Ying Jiu's family. According to the Qin laws, he should have been given a title of nobility!
Moreover, the paper presented to win the battle was an auspicious sign that benefited the country. You also said that this was an achievement similar to the creation of characters by Sage Cangjie.
With this merit, I will give him another nine ranks, to the rank of Marquis Che. Isn't that right?
Or did you just say that your ability to create characters was not inferior to Cangjie's? Was it just nonsense and deceiving the emperor in the palace?”
The First Emperor's imposing words silenced the entire Xianyang Palace.
Because according to what the First Emperor said, Ying Zhan inherited the military merits of his father and grandfather, and with the help of the paper, he was indeed qualified to be a marquis…
However, it was indeed a little inappropriate to be conferred the title of Xianyang Marquis…
Even if the Emperor said that the fief of the Marquis of Xianyang was Xianyang Pavilion, the officials still felt that it was a little far-fetched…
Seemingly seeing through the thoughts of the people in the hall, the First Emperor sneered in his heart.
Inappropriate?
According to etiquette, not to mention Xianyang City, even the entire Great Qin Empire will belong to my Zhan 'er in the future!
Ying Zhan, who was in Xianyang Hall, heard what the First Emperor had said. Although he still didn't understand why the First Emperor was so generous, he didn't embarrass the First Emperor. He took a deep breath and cupped his hands."I, Marquis Yingzhan of Xianyang, have received the imperial edict. Thank you, Your Majesty, for bestowing me with the title!”
The greater the power, the greater the responsibility.
Regardless of whether Yingzhan was mentally prepared or not, from this moment on, his name as the Marquis of Xianyang would resound throughout Great Qin!
He was ranked first in the world!
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