Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1687 Dan Gou
"Is this really scientific? Why do they experiment on me before they experiment on dogs?"

"Probably because dogs are more expensive to rescue if something happens to them, and it's easier to save you if something happens to you." Wen Yuan was patrolling the streets of Thebes with a Danish dog on a leash.

However, although it seems that Wen Yuan's status is higher than Gou's, which is higher than Han Xingzhi's, their actual military ranks are reversed.

Han Xingzhi's father had retired from the military and passed on his hereditary military rank to Han Xingzhi, making Han Xingzhi a colonel-level officer—or, more accurately, a commander of a thousand men. However, since he was not a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and had no plans to enlist, his rank had not yet been officially determined.

This is the current rule in the Ming Dynasty: titles, positions, and ranks are all separate. Hereditary chiliarchs and hereditary biarchs are essentially titles, no different from earls and dukes, only with ranks. This is because during the Hongwu Rebellion, all dukes, marquises, and earls with military merit titles were reclassified as super-rank noble titles.

The rule at that time was that a "Governor-General" was granted the title of Duke or Marquis, and a "Commander-in-Chief" was granted the title of Earl; these three were considered superior ranks. However, below that, because the treatment of Viscounts and Barons overlapped with that of Commanders-in-Chief, and they were not considered superior ranks, the Viscount and Baron ranks were subsequently abandoned in practice, and hereditary military officers were used as titles of nobility instead.

These hereditary military officers were divided into nine ranks, roughly into Commander Rank 1, Thousand-Household Rank 1, and Hundred-Household Rank 1. There were further subdivisions between each rank, such as Chief and Deputy Thousand-Household Commander, Chief and Deputy Hundred-Household Commander, etc.

So if we have to make a comparison, the commander-in-chief level corresponds to a viscount, while Han Xingzhi, the hereditary commander of a thousand households, is actually a baron-level official—he was in fact a hereditary baron of the Ming Dynasty.

The distinction between commanders of a thousand households and commanders of a hundred households can be seen as differences in the rank of the fief.

In comparison, Wen Yuan's family's hereditary title was at the level of a centurion, which was actually lower than the rank of the military dog ​​they were using.

Although the rank of centurion is low, this can be considered a kind of dynamic balance. Because for hereditary military households to obtain a real military rank, it needs to match their noble title. The higher the noble title, the more difficult it is to obtain a real military rank. For example, it's very easy for Wen Yuan to obtain the rank of lieutenant; he will be directly granted the rank of lieutenant upon graduating from military academy, which is equivalent to passing the examination required for inheriting the noble title, allowing him to directly obtain a military rank matching his noble title without further examination.

In contrast, Han Xingzhi was facing a major headache. The evaluation process for a colonel-level officer, equivalent to a commander of a thousand men, was incredibly rigorous. The closest path he could take was to join the military from a technical position after graduating with a doctorate, which would grant him the rank of major. That was the most immediate option.

But overall, the fact that the two of them are able to stand here is actually thanks to the blessings of their ancestors—from Wen Yuan's perspective, it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that they benefited from the blessings of their past lives.

After all, if their ancestors hadn't chosen their "birthplace," they wouldn't have encountered Shangluo and wouldn't have been entrusted with such an important responsibility.

The combined age of these two was less than a fraction of that of the mummies. Now, they were already here to punish those aged souls.

"I'm so miserable," Han Xingzhi said, leading his dog. "Don't you think so, Brother Dog? Why do I have to do this arduous job without even receiving a military salary?"

"Woo woo," Dan Gou echoed his complaints.

"Hey, hey, hey. Why are you so accommodating to him?" Wen Yuan tugged at the dog's leash, but the red dog responded with a disdainful look. "Wait, are you trying to flatter him because his official rank is higher than mine?" "Huh?" Han Xingzhi suddenly realized, "So my official rank is higher than yours? Oh right, I'm a hereditary commander of a thousand households, I had forgotten myself."

Wen Yuan yanked the dog leash sharply: "In the army, you're addressed by rank! Do you even know what rank is? What's the use of those titles? Aren't they just earned by our ancestors? Besides, who knows when you'll inherit this chiliarchy? I, on the other hand, am already a centurion."

"Speaking of which," Han Xingzhi suddenly remembered a question, "what would happen if I never received a substantive appointment as a commander of a thousand households in my entire life?"

"It probably won't do much for you personally. After all, salaries aren't discounted like they used to be. The imperial court has mountains of gold and silver that it can never spend all of. But..."

"but?"

"But you should think this through—having a hereditary chiliarch position will be very helpful for your further advancement, to becoming a viscount or even an earl. Because you're only two ranks away from these positions. If you work hard, it's not impossible to get a military rank like a commander."

"The Commander... is so far away."

"Actually, it's not that far off. You know my master, right? He's actually the hereditary commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. But as you can see, he hasn't been officially appointed commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard yet; he's only a chiliarch. This brings up another problem: your title can only be passed on to one person. If you don't have an official position yourself, it's difficult to secure other hereditary positions for your descendants. If this continues, the family will decline."

Wen Yuan also felt some regret about this matter. Originally, with such a high official position as Grand Secretary Wen, he could have promoted his family's noble rank. However, Grand Secretary Wen was a civil official, not a military official, and military merit and noble rank were matters for military officials. Therefore, even though he served as Grand Secretary for 20 years, it did not improve his family's position as a centurion.

This matter can be compared to the precedent set by Zhang Taiyue. His distant ancestors were commanders of a thousand households, while his branch consisted of soldiers without any hereditary military rank. Although he spoke of his military family background and the honor he had received from the state, he never mentioned his military rank when he held immense power in the court.

Even more outrageous was Xia Yan. He was also a soldier, but by the time the Ministry of War recruited soldiers for him, he was already the Minister of Rites. Considering that he was the only eligible person in his household to be conscripted, whether he enlisted or not, this process had to be followed, and even the Minister of Rites was no exception.

Therefore, the Minister of War personally handed the conscription notice to the Minister of Rites. If this procedure failed, the six ministries would have to meet with Xia Yan, the Minister of Rites, Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall, and a swordsman and shield soldier, to sign it, which was no different from the current situation of Shang Luo, the Grand Marshal of Demon Subduing.

The fact that this kind of joke can be told again centuries later is a kind of heavy inertia. Inertia not only has the aspect of being difficult to reverse, but also the aspect of rolling forward. As long as you run fast enough, the problems behind you won't be able to keep up. From this perspective, Rome was still running too slowly.

"Ah. So painful." Han Xingzhi looked at the sun. "But then again, if I don't care about 'descendants,' then it's all the same, isn't it?"

(End of this chapter)