Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 556 Grand Conferment of Titles to Founding Heroes

In the palace, in the Yunxiang Hall where Lu Jin usually worked, Bao Yu was the first to come after the court session. Upon entering the hall, he knelt down on the ground without saying a word.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty's grace is boundless and as heavy as Mount Tai. You have bestowed upon me the title of Duke for my military merits. I am extremely apprehensive and dare not accept such an honor even at the cost of my life. I have come here to express my gratitude to Your Majesty and humbly beg Your Majesty to rescind your decree."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin sighed, "Get up, what are you doing?"

Bao Yu looked up and said earnestly, "I am but a scholar. Your Majesty has not abandoned me and appointed me to the Imperial Academy. My job is to assist in writing documents. Although I have followed Your Majesty for a long time, I have always served before you and have never been to the front line, let alone killed a single enemy soldier with my own hands."

"The title of Duke is the highest rank among officials. It cannot be lightly granted to anyone but a veteran general who has made great contributions to opening up new territories and establishing peace in the country. This is a great treasure of the court and a prominent position of the nation!"
"As a mere scholar, I have received Your Majesty's favor and have been fortunate enough to serve in the army. I am already overwhelmed with gratitude for the small amount of merit I have achieved. If I were to shamelessly accept this dukedom, wouldn't it make the loyal and brave soldiers of the world feel cold and cause uproar in the court and among the people?"

"I fear that the crime of overstepping my authority is one that even death could not atone for. The court's regulations are magnificent, and I would never dare to tarnish the court's dignity for my own selfish gain. I beg Your Majesty to rescind your decree!"

After speaking, he knelt on the ground and remained kneeling for a long time.

Lu Jin, however, sternly tapped the table. “You’ve gone too far. You’re causing discontent among the soldiers and criticism from both the court and the public. Everyone in the army knows about your achievements. I don’t think anyone in the court or the public would dare to criticize you. You have to become the Duke of Xin, whether you like it or not!”

"Your Majesty~" Bao Yu called out again, looking up.

"Alright, alright, stop refusing." Lu Jin immediately stood up, glanced at Li Dingbang who was standing at the door, and said, "Dingbang, take the others out and close the door."

"Yes."

After Li Dingbang left with his guards, leaving only Lu Jin and Bao Yu in the hall, Lu Jin stepped forward, pulled Bao Yu, and said, "Get up quickly, do you expect me to help you up myself?"

Bao Yu then stood up in a panic and bowed to the side.

Lu Jin turned around, pacing back and forth in the hall as he recalled, “Among the civil officials, in terms of seniority, you two brothers were the first to serve me. When I first conquered Luzhou, I didn’t have a single civil official under my command. It was your elder brother Bao Heng who was the first to serve me. His seniority was even earlier than that of Prime Ministers Li and Feng. They were both granted the title of Duke, so why can’t you?”

Upon hearing this, Bao Yu was about to say something more, but Lu Jin immediately raised his hand to interrupt him.

"I am not actually a veteran of Chaohu. When I conquered Luzhou, although I had just won three battles and gained prestige in the army and won over the generals of Chaohu, there was still Zhao Pusheng who was eyeing me and wanted to compete with me for military power. My position in the army at that time was far less stable than it is now."

"At that time, it was you two brothers, especially you, who disregarded your personal safety and risked your lives to infiltrate the enemy camp. With the help of Kang Maocai, you managed to get rid of that scoundrel Zhao Pusheng and helped me consolidate my position in the army. These things are not convenient to tell outsiders, but I will always remember the contributions of you two brothers."

"And then there was the decisive battle with Kang Maocai in Chaoxian. It was you who went deep into the enemy camp to spy on the enemy's situation and sent back a steady stream of intelligence. Only then was I able to keep track of every move of Kang Maocai's army. Otherwise, it would not have been possible to fight so smoothly afterward."

"If we can't kill Kang Maocai, how can we take over Huaixi? If we can't take over Huaixi, how can we have the strength to cross the river and seize Jiangnan? If we can't seize Jiangnan, how can we have the resources to compete for the world?"

Lu Jin suddenly turned around and looked at him, saying, "What's more, you are in charge of the intelligence bureau for me. You say you have never killed a single person on the battlefield, but who doesn't know the merits of the intelligence bureau? Whether it was the Eastern Expedition against Jiangzhe or the subsequent major battles, before the troops were even dispatched, the city defense maps of various places were already on the desks of you generals. Aren't these merits?"
"In my opinion, at least 20% of the military achievements of all the generals in the army were made by the intelligence bureau. The intelligence bureau alone is enough to be worth 100,000 soldiers. Of course, the credit of the intelligence bureau is definitely not yours alone, but as the head of the intelligence bureau, you have been a good leader, worked effectively, and had a keen eye for talent. The intelligence station chiefs you selected have never made a mistake. This is also a great achievement."

"With such merit, who would dare to criticize or gossip behind your back? Even the most arrogant and fierce soldiers in the army would have to acknowledge your achievements. So what are you afraid of? If I say you can be granted the title of Duke, then you will naturally be granted the title of Duke!"

"Your Majesty! Your subject..." Bao Yu choked up upon hearing this. He hadn't expected the emperor to remember the events of that year so clearly and to affirm his work achievements so highly. He was deeply moved.

Lu Jin waved his hand and said, "Alright, stop crying. You are now the Duke of Xin of our Great Ming Dynasty. What kind of behavior is this, crying like this? It's unbecoming."

"Furthermore, I originally intended to grant each of you brothers a marquisate, but after thinking about it, I realized that your elder brother Bao Heng's talent is indeed not outstanding, and he has no significant achievements to show for it. Granting him a marquisate would be inappropriate and would not be convincing to the public. Besides, he has already become the Right Provincial Governor of Zhejiang, and he will inevitably enter the central government as a civil official in the future. Therefore, I will not grant him a title, but will only grant you the title of Duke."

"You should explain this to your brother in private, so he won't blame me for being biased."

Bao Yu quickly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is overthinking it. How could my brother blame Your Majesty for being biased?"

"Well, there's one more thing. I intend to hand over the position of Minister of the General Staff of the Privy Council to Xia Yu."

"To be frank, although you are good at managing the intelligence bureau, you are not as good as Xia Yu in terms of advising on military affairs and planning strategies. The military reform will be implemented soon, and Xia Yu must be given a more suitable position. He can no longer continue to be the Attendant-in-Ordinary. Moreover, I have an even more important matter to entrust to you." Lu Jin immediately said again.

Bao Yu immediately cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please give your orders. I will do my utmost to repay Your Majesty's kindness and favor!"

Lu Jin nodded and then said, "After the military reform, a large number of veterans and officers will be laid off and retired. In addition to some going to the Internal Guard, some will be assigned to the police departments of various prefectures and counties. However, the framework of the police department has not yet been set up. Therefore, after the New Year, I plan to transfer you to be the Minister of Police."

"The Ministry of Police is different from the former Ministry of Justice. It not only has to maintain local security, but also has the responsibility of managing household registration, and has some of the responsibilities of the former Ministry of Revenue. In addition, it is responsible for arresting criminals and handling cases. In the past, these were handled by the local magistrates, but now they are also handled by the Ministry of Police. As for the final judgment, it is handled by the Court of Judicial Review (Dali Temple) system."

"And the skills required for handling cases, such as investigation, reasoning, tracking, surveillance, arrest, and evidence collection, happen to be what intelligence personnel are best at. Therefore, after much consideration, I still think you are the most suitable for this position."

"After the military reform begins, you can give priority to those officers and veterans who are laid off, and then organize a training course to train these retired officers in criminal investigation skills and various case-handling skills. You should find some books or compile a few case-handling textbooks yourself. After these people graduate, they can be assigned to police stations in various places."

"In addition, the police department in the capital should also set up a case-handling team directly under the headquarters. They don't need to handle ordinary criminal cases. They just need to keep a close eye on those nobles, high-ranking officials in the capital, and their sons."

"After this grand conferment of titles upon the founding heroes, some of them will inevitably become arrogant and complacent, and commit wrongdoings. Ordinary police officers really have no way to deal with these nobles or their sons who commit crimes. They probably wouldn't dare to arrest them even if they saw them. At this time, a professional team is needed to handle such cases."

"Moreover, even the position of Minister of Police is one that could be filled by anyone, and it's unlikely that they could control the police. It would be best if the candidate were a nobleman with a title, and the title couldn't be too low. Otherwise, those noblemen might not give face to the Ministry of Police. So this position is definitely yours."

Bao Yu suddenly realized that His Majesty had this other intention in bestowing upon him the title of Duke: to use his status as a fellow nobleman to control those nobles and high-ranking officials who committed crimes and violated the law, as well as their sons.

In fact, in the original history, this job originally belonged to the Five Cities Military Command, which was equivalent to the police in the capital. However, in ancient times, only the capital had such a team. Local security was generally handled by the clerk (police chief), patrolmen (armed police), and three shifts of yamen runners (police officers, patrolmen, and criminal police). Lu Jin has just reorganized these and put them all into the police department system.

The Five Cities Garrison was originally used to arrest lawless nobles. Later, it became the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the emperor's personal guard. The Embroidered Uniform Guard would arrest those that the Five Cities Garrison dared not arrest. In the Qing Dynasty, this function was changed to the Nine Gates Admiral.

So even though Bao Yu was transferred from the General Staff Department of the Privy Council to the Police Department, he actually wielded even more power. After all, he was in charge of the security of the capital, possessed a certain number of armed forces, and even had the authority to arrest nobles and high-ranking officials.

There's also Bao Yu's identity. He's neither from the Zhejiang West faction nor the Zhejiang East faction. He's not part of the Huai West faction, Lu Jin's old guard, nor is he from the Dingyuan faction like Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong. In terms of his job, he's neither part of the civil administration system nor deeply involved with the military's combat troops. It can be said that from the very beginning, the intelligence bureau was a rather special entity.

This is a lone minister, or rather, a member of the emperor's faction. He can only maintain his power by relying on the emperor. It is perfect to use such a person to do such a thing. He doesn't have deep relationships with anyone, so there is no need to give face to anyone. Just arrest whoever you want!

“I see, Your Majesty. Please rest assured, I will set up the police department as soon as possible,” Bao Yu said immediately.

"Hmm." Lu Jin nodded and instructed, "After you go back, think carefully and select a few successors for the intelligence bureau. I will make the final decision. After the New Year, you will take up your post in the police department. There is still some time before the military reform. You can first make a preliminary plan outline, including how to select people, how to train them, and what preparations need to be made. Make the plan and let me see it. There is still plenty of time. You can take your time to do it."

"And as for dealing with those nobles, you don't need to give anyone face. Whoever does evil, commits crimes, or oppresses the people, you punish them. Put on your Duke's airs, I'll back you up. If anyone is not convinced, you can tie them up and send them to me, I will deal with them personally!"

"Yes!"

"Okay, that's all for now. You can go back now."

"Then I shall take my leave."

After Bao Yu left, Lu Jin looked at the list of nobles on the table again.

In this grand conferment of titles upon the founding heroes, Lu Jin directly bestowed titles according to rank. Army commanders and group army generals were all granted the title of Duke, making eleven Dukes in total. However, Lu Jin's original plan was to grant several army commanders the title of Prince. But Lu Jin had previously told Zhu Liangzu that while granting them the title of Prince was possible, they had to relinquish their military power. He would only grant them the title of Prince when they ceased commanding troops and returned to the capital to retire. Therefore, this time, the five commanders were only granted the title of Duke.

Even so, there are still differences between the dukes, which can be seen from their titles.

For example, the commanders of the five army groups were: Liao Yong'an, Duke of Chu; Zhu Liangzu, Duke of Qi; Yang Jing, Duke of Wu; Yu Tingyu, Duke of Zheng; and Chang Yuchun, Duke of Xiang. These titles corresponded to the main combat areas of each army group. Liao Yong'an's First Army Group's main achievement was conquering Jiangxi, Hubei, and Jingxiang, all of which were formerly Chu territory, hence his title of Duke of Chu.

At the same time, Liao Yong'an was a true elder of Chaohu, and among the elders of Chaohu, he was the first to express his full support for Lu Jin's rise to power. Without his support, Lu Jin might not have even been able to capture the Chaohu Navy.

Before becoming emperor, Lu Jin had already proclaimed himself King of Chu. Now, he has specially granted Liao Yong'an the title of Duke of Chu, which suggests that he considers Liao Yong'an to be the most meritorious official.

For example, Yang Jing's Third Army focused on attacking Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so he was enfeoffed as Duke of Wu; Zhu Liangzu's Second Army focused on attacking Huaibei, Shandong, and Hebei, so he was enfeoffed as Duke of Qi; Yu Tingyu's Fourth Army focused on attacking Henan and Shaanxi, so he was enfeoffed as Duke of Zheng; and Chang Yuchun's Fifth Army focused on attacking southern Anhui, southern Jiangxi, and Hunan, so he was enfeoffed as Duke of Xiang.

Moreover, these titles all belonged to powerful states during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and even among the titles of Duke, they were among the higher ranks.

In comparison, the generals of several army groups were as follows: Miao Daheng was granted the title of Duke of E, and was in charge of attacking Hubei, Jingxiang and Sichuan; Liao Yongzhong, as Zhu Liangzu's deputy, was granted the title of Duke of Lu; Yu Tonghai, who was in charge of attacking the southern part of the northern frontier during the Northern Expedition, was granted the title of Duke of Dai; Hua Gao, who was in charge of attacking the Central Plains and Shaanxi, was granted the title of Duke of Liang; and Feng Sheng, who was in charge of attacking Huaibei, Shandong and Hebei, was granted the title of Duke of Wei.

These titles all refer to smaller states during the Spring and Autumn Period.

There is also Liao Yongjian, who served as the commander-in-chief of the 10th Army Group. However, his military talent was not outstanding among the generals. He was simply too senior and could not be suppressed. Moreover, he originally came from the navy.

Now that the founding heroes have been enfeoffed, the three Liao brothers, who are dukes of three different states, seem a bit too outrageous. However, their merits are undeniable, and they were loyal ministers from the beginning. It would be imperative not to enfeoff them. So, Lu Jin enfeoffed Liao Yongjian as Duke of Ying, which is not the name of a state during the Spring and Autumn Period, but rather a more elegant title.

At the same time, Lu Jin also planned to transfer him away from the main field forces of the army. Liao Yongjian had the rank of general and was a naval commander. He simply transferred him to the navy to be the commander-in-chief of the navy, in order to suppress and divide the power of the three Liao brothers in the army.

There are a total of eleven army groups, and the three brothers control four of them. This is outrageous. It's not a big deal during wartime, but it must be restricted during peacetime.

The navy was also short of a capable admiral to keep things in check. Bai Guangtai, Sang Shijie, and Miao Youzhen, these three naval officers, were too inexperienced and lacked the qualifications and achievements to be fleet commanders, but they were not qualified to be naval service commanders.

Fang Guozhen and Chen Youliang were not Lu Jin's own people, so it was impossible to let them sit in this position. Looking at the entire army, Liao Yongjian was really the most suitable.

Finally, there's Liu Futong, the commander-in-chief of the 11th Army Group, who was also generously granted the title of Duke of Ying by Lu Jin.

Although he was not a direct subordinate of Lu Jin, he was still the first person to rise up against the Yuan Dynasty in the Red Turban Rebellion. Moreover, in the early stages of Lu Jin's uprising, he held back the Yuan army's attack in the north, giving Lu Jin time to grow stronger. Even if this was not his intention, Lu Jin was grateful for this.

During the final battle in the Central Plains, Liu Futong wisely chose to surrender. Although he was forced to surrender after being surrounded by Lu Jin, surrender is surrender, which at least reduced the casualties of his soldiers and made a certain contribution to ending the chaos earlier.

Furthermore, there are many generals in the army like Liu Futong who do not belong to the Holy Martial Army's direct line but have submitted to other forces. Lu Jin needs to set an example for these people. As long as they sincerely submit, he will not hesitate to reward and give them important positions.

Let's just say it was a case of "spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones," and Liu Futong was also granted the title of Duke, because his main combat area was in the Yingzhou area, hence the title of Duke of Ying.

In addition to these eleven commanders and generals, there were also some generals who only reached the rank of lieutenant general or commander-in-chief, but whose seniority was extremely high. They were also among those conferred the title of Duke this time.

For example, Ye Sheng, the first general to surrender to Lu Jin, helped Lu Jin capture Zhu Liangzu alive. He then led cavalry for a period of time and was Lu Jin's horsemanship and spear instructor. Later, he followed Yang Jing in the Eastern Expedition in Jiangzhe and later attacked Liaodong during the Northern Expedition. He made outstanding contributions and had a long service record, so he was specially enfeoffed as the Duke of Liao.

Similarly, there was the cavalry general Zheng Yong, who joined Lu Jin before he attacked Zuo Junbi, and was enfeoffed as the Duke of Lu; the two commanders of the Imperial Guard, Lu Jin's trusted and staunch supporters, Zhu Shou was enfeoffed as the Duke of Yue, and Zhang Wen was enfeoffed as the Duke of Shu.
There were also several veterans of Chaohu at the rank of army commander: the brothers Zhao Yong and Zhao Zhongzhong, one the Duke of Rui and the other the Duke of Ju; and Zhang Desheng, who was enfeoffed as the Duke of Wei.

Xu Yong, who came to join Lu Jin with his own troops after Lu Jin captured Luzhou, was enfeoffed as Duke of Cao.

Mao Gui, from the Xuzhou Sesame Li tribe, was enfeoffed as Duke of Song.

Among the generals who have submitted to these external forces, Liu Futong should not be the only one to be a duke. Otherwise, these generals will easily band together. Granting a duke title to Mao Gui of the Sesame Li faction would divide them and make it easier for Lu Jin to control them.

Furthermore, the troops under Sesame Li in Xuzhou also made significant contributions to the anti-Yuan movement and resistance against the Yuan army, and they deserved the title of Duke.

Finally, there was Bai Guangtai of the navy, who was granted the title of Duke of Qi.

Although the three naval regiments in the Holy Martial Army had always played only an auxiliary role, Bai Guangtai's naval regiment made particularly outstanding contributions, especially in the Battle of Chongmingsha at the mouth of the Yangtze River, where it defeated Fang Guozhen's massive navy, covered the flank of Yang Jing's eastern expedition, and effectively protected the Nanjing Central Government when the rear was vulnerable.

It also indirectly led to Fang Guozhen's secret surrender and the capture of more than 170 ships, laying a solid foundation for the establishment of the Shengwu Army Navy!

Later, he assisted the Third Army in completing the Shandong Campaign and the Liaodong part of the Northern Expedition. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Bai Guangtai was responsible for transporting military supplies from Jiangnan to Liaodong. He deserves credit for his hard work and was specially granted the title of Duke of Qi!
Qi is Bai Guangtai's hometown; he is from Qichun.

Finally, there were only three civil officials who were granted the title of Duke.

As in the original history, Minister Li Shanchang was rewarded for his meritorious service in preparing provisions and was granted the title of Duke of Han.

Military Advisor Feng Guoyong assisted Lu Jin in managing the army and made meritorious contributions, mainly in expanding the army and training soldiers. He made outstanding contributions to the rapid expansion of the Shengwu Army in the later stages and was granted the title of Duke of Xingguo.

Bao Yu of the General Staff was awarded the title of Duke of Xin for his meritorious service in overseeing intelligence espionage.

Of those who survived, 25 were granted the title of Duke. The rest were marquises or earls. For example, Xu Da, who is currently a military commander, was only granted the title of Marquis of Jiujiang this time because of his short tenure and relatively low rank.

There was also Deng Shunxing, who was also a military commander and Deng Yu's father. Because of his short service and few military achievements, he was only granted the title of Marquis of Nanxiong this time. Hu Dahai, whose position was even lower than his, was only granted the title of Earl.

The Holy Martial Army consists of 11 army groups, 22 corps, 44 divisions, and some cavalry divisions, guard divisions, and the like, totaling more than fifty divisions.

In addition to the more than 20 dukes, there were also more than 20 marquises and nearly 40 earls conferred this time. Among them were not only military generals, but also military advisors and strategists such as Xia Yu and Zhan Ding. Both of them were conferred earl titles: Xia Yu, Earl of Jiangning, and Zhan Ding, Earl of Ninghai.

And Xu Jichuan, the head of the Construction Department of the Marshal's Office in charge of equipment manufacturing, built three ironworks in three years and made countless weapons, armor, muskets and cannons for the entire army. He deserves credit for his hard work, even if he didn't achieve great merit. Lu Jin had promised him that as long as he did a good job in logistics, he would definitely be rewarded with a noble title. This time, he was directly granted the title of Marquis of Iron Official.

In addition, Lu Jin's grand conferment of titles upon the founding heroes differed from previous dynasties in that previous dynasties often included a fiefdom with a certain number of households, which varied in nature from dynasty to dynasty.

However, Lu Jin did not grant him a fief this time, but instead rewarded him with money. In any case, Wang Dayuan had brought back enough gold and silver this time, and there would be a continuous stream of gold and silver coming back in the future, so it was better to simply reward him with gold and silver.

So the reward standards were finally set: each of the dukes would receive 10,000 taels of silver, and the five army commanders, as well as Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong, would receive an additional 1,000 taels of gold.

Marquises were paid between 8,000 and 5,000 taels of silver each, depending on their merits, while earls were paid between 1,000 and 3,000 taels of silver each. In total, it would cost less than one million taels, which was a good deal.

This reward was a one-time honor and not a regular occurrence. It was mainly intended to reward them and improve their lives. Emperor Lu Jin was not stingy. Gold and silver were still very valuable in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, and their purchasing power was not low. Ten thousand to several thousand taels of silver was enough to improve their lives.

Now that we've given them generous rewards, if they commit crimes and oppress the people again, they shouldn't blame the emperor for being ruthless!

In addition, there are overseas land grants, such as the 3,000 mu of land granted to Zhu Chongba in Hokkaido. We'll talk about that later. At present, the Ming Dynasty controls too little overseas land, so it's not too late to distribute it later. These real land grants with low taxes are much more practical than nominal fiefs.

Even if they themselves were unwilling to immigrate overseas, sending a steward or someone to manage the overseas estate would be more cost-effective than receiving a fiefdom and salary.

(End of this chapter)