I embezzled 100,000 taels at the beginning, and the empress begged me to be more greedy

The next day.

There was a joyous scene in the palace.

All the officials came to the court, and in front of the Zhonghe Hall, the palace guard of honor played triumphal music to celebrate the southern expedition troops' victory over the State of Chen and the successful unification of the north and the south for the State of Yan.

Chen Xiu settled down in the capital yesterday and entered the palace early this morning.

Along the way, it is inevitable to meet many court officials.

Facing the Ninth Prince, these court officials suddenly showed a hint of admiration on their faces.

"Greetings to the Ninth Prince!"

Everyone bowed respectfully to Chen Xiu.

Chen Xiu also responded politely one by one and did not want to chat too much with these officials.

But the appearance of the Ninth Prince quickly attracted the attention of other officials, who gathered around him and started talking.

"The Ninth Prince is truly remarkable. He has accomplished such a great feat. Congratulations!"

"If the Ninth Prince hadn't gone to the front to command, the war might not have ended so quickly."

"Yes, the two countries have been in a stalemate before. Since the Ninth Prince arrived at the front line, there have been frequent reports of victory. It must be the Ninth Prince who has made the greatest contribution."

"If you ask me, it is Inspector Jiang who deserves the most happiness, to have received the help of the Ninth Prince, a powerful general."

These people's words seemed to imply that the credit for defeating the State of Chen should be attributed to the Ninth Prince.

Moreover, there was a hidden meaning in these words to belittle Jiang Zuo.

It seemed as if the words were saying that Jiang Zuo was able to lead troops to defeat the State of Chen with the help of the Ninth Prince.

Chen Xiu felt extremely uncomfortable with the flattery of these officials. He just said a few perfunctory words and didn't want to pay any attention to them.

Chen Xiu was also worried that if he was overly praised by others, he might be envied or even praised to death.

He has a special status and only wants to serve the emperor. He doesn't want to care about anything else.

Arriving in the hall, Chen Xiu felt uncomfortable facing all kinds of gazes from everyone.

He hadn't attended court for many years and found it difficult to adapt for a while.

Accompanying Chen Xiu into the capital this time were a number of Huainan Army generals, who had also rendered outstanding contributions in the war to the south to conquer the State of Chen. However, not many officials were willing to talk to these generals, and they all went to flatter the Ninth Prince.

Amid the discussions of the crowd, Empress Chen Qingyun slowly walked out.

"Your Majesty, long live the emperor!"

All the ministers knelt down in unison.

"Flat body."

Today, Chen Qingyun only wore light makeup, but he still had the majesty of an emperor, and there was a hint of ease and comfort in his eyes.

Afterwards, Chen Qingyun began to reward the ministers who had made contributions to the destruction of the State of Chen. He especially praised Chen Xiu many times and granted the Ninth Prince more fiefdoms.

If Jiang Zuo was not there, Chen Qingyun's first target of praise would definitely be him.

But no matter whether it is the Ninth Prince or Jiang Zuo, they are the most trusted people around the empress. As long as their merits are rewarded well, they can establish more prestige in the court.

And Chen Qingyun also needs this to build his own trusted force.

"The Ninth Prince has made great achievements in battle and deserves the title."

Someone else said it with a bit of flattery.

"The Ninth Prince led his troops to attack Jiankang City. He is truly the most talented general in the Great Yan State today."

Facing the praise from others, Chen Xiu just said modestly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. I just did what I should do. All the credit should be attributed to the soldiers on the front line."

Chen Xiu really didn't want others to attribute all the credit to himself.

But Chen Xiu's words obviously did not stop the flattery. Another official said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to be so humble and courteous. We all know that the destruction of Chen was due to your military prowess. Even Inspector Jiang has praised you many times."

"Patrol Envoy Jiang?"

Chen Xiu was a little confused and had no idea why they were praising him so much.

At this time, Chen Qingyun also said: "Jiang Zuo has explained everything in the memorial, and specifically praised your way of using troops."

After hearing this, Chen Xiu finally understood everything.

When capturing Guangning City earlier, Jiang Zuo modestly accepted the credit, but unexpectedly, when he reported to His Majesty, he still pushed all the credit to Chen Xiu.

For this reason, Chen Xiu hurriedly explained: "Most of the battles to destroy the State of Chen were commanded by Jiang Zuo, and I was just assisting from the side."

"Oh? Is that really true?"

Chen Qingyun was not too surprised.

It was just that the official who had been flattering the Ninth Prince just now couldn't help but change his expression slightly.

"All of them were commanded by Jiang Zuo? Ninth Prince, there is no need to be so humble."

Others still don't believe that all this is Jiang Zuo's credit.

Chen Xiu explained again, "Your Majesty, I am absolutely not being modest. The first credit for this southern expedition to destroy the State of Chen was definitely given by Jiang Patrol Envoy, including crossing the river to seize Guangning City and advancing alone to Jiankang City. These were all Jiang Zuo's strategies. If it weren't for Jiang Patrol Envoy, my army wouldn't have been able to destroy the State of Chen so easily."

After hearing what the Ninth Prince said, the whole place fell silent.

Chen Qingyun curled her red lips, unable to hide the joy in her heart.

"It is indeed Jiang Zuo. He must not want to attract too much attention, so he repeatedly said that it was the Ninth Prince's credit." She said secretly in her heart, already understanding everything.

Such a minister who is not interested in meritorious service is exactly what the empress needs.

No matter what, Jiang Zuo must come to the capital within this month to serve as the Empress's chief minister!

At this time, other Huainan Army generals also said: "Just as the Ninth Prince said, going south directly to capture Jiankang City is exactly what Inspector Jiang planned."

After hearing the generals' testimony, those court officials who had once questioned Jiang Zuo were suddenly speechless.

Originally, they wanted to use the opportunity of praising the Ninth Prince to secretly belittle Jiang Zuo, but after learning the truth, they were immediately ashamed and couldn't help but wonder in their hearts who Jiang Zuo was and how he could have such talent.

No matter what the task is, it can be completed so easily. It seems that Jiang Zuo's dominance is an inevitable trend.

The person with the ugliest expression at the moment was none other than the Right Prime Minister Lu Jun. He had tried many times before to obstruct the southern expedition plan, but now faced with this situation, he was no longer able to stop it.

Chen Qingyun put away his joy and said calmly: "In this case, Jiang Zuo has made great military achievements and completed the unfinished cause of his predecessors. I have decided to confer the title of King of Hannan on Jiang Zuo and grant him the Three Officials."

King with a different surname!

Everyone present was shocked to hear the empress's reward.

This is the highest reward in the State of Yan. For hundreds of years, no one has ever become a king of a different surname.

This man Jiang Zuo has become the number one person in the Great Yan Kingdom.

It seems that the empress attaches great importance to Jiangzuo.

Everyone knows that the court structure of Yan State will definitely undergo major changes.

At this moment in the court, there were naturally some people who were dissatisfied with Jiang Zuo, but they did not dare to raise any objections.

After all, no one can refute his great achievement in defeating the State of Chen.

It would be very ignorant to openly oppose in such an occasion.

All the civil and military officials knew that Jiang Zuo was the next powerful official in the dynasty...