Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

The emperor was very annoyed.

If he had known that Bingzhou troops would reach the capital of Zhao, he should not have helped Xiahou Yan become the general.

Just let Chu Ning kill Xiahou Yan and put an end to it once and for all!

It's all his fault for trying to strike a balance!

Now it’s over, it’s over.

Not only was Xiahou Yan, the person he had chosen, killed, but even Chu Ning dared to ask for a reward in front of him.

Looking at Chu Ning's indifferent expression, the emperor rolled his eyes and said in a generous manner:

"Chu Ning, you defeated the Yan army in Zhou Dynasty, put down the rebellion, and won a great victory in Yunzhou. With such merits, I certainly cannot fail to reward you."

"How about this, I will restore your status as a prince, and your official position will be restored. Your title will still be the King of Chu."

But Chu Ning had a blank expression on his face when he heard this: "Father, these originally belonged to me. Do you want to take them as a reward now?"

Again, not enough!

The emperor twitched his lips and said with a wry smile, "Of course I know that I cannot use this as a reward. I will just restore your previous title and official position first."

After a pause, the emperor turned to look at the Grand Tutor and the Prime Minister and asked, "My dear ministers, what kind of reward do you think I should give to Chu Ning?"

Chu Ning was already a prince, and his title of King of Chu was the best among all the princes. He was also granted Bingzhou and Liangzhou as fiefs, and even his official title was general. The emperor didn't know what reward to give him.

Taifu Dugu Xin and Prime Minister Yang Wende looked at each other and realized that the emperor was embarrassed and wanted them to save face.

As the prime minister, Yang Wende was well versed in court affairs. Seeing that Chu Ning did not want to give up, he immediately understood that Chu Ning wanted more rewards.

"His Majesty."

Yang Wende smiled and stood up: "Your Highness the King of Chu has made such great achievements. He is truly a meritorious official of our dynasty. I suggest that His Highness the King of Chu be appointed as the general, Feng Anguo as the Minister of War, Han Xing as the Vice Minister of War, and the rest of the Bingzhou troops be divided according to their military merits."

Now Chu Ning’s highest official rank is only general!

The reason why Chu Ning always felt that it was not enough was, of course, also for the purpose of gaining rewards for his subordinates.

However, Yang Wende had a trick up his sleeve and appointed Feng Anguo as the Minister of War and Han Xing as the Vice Minister of War.

Everyone knows that Feng Anguo has received favors from the Xiahou family. Now that Chu Ning has destroyed the Xiahou family, there is no guarantee that Feng Anguo will not be dissatisfied with Chu Ning.

Giving the position of Minister of War to Feng Anguo can, on the one hand, prevent Chu Ning from competing for this position, and on the other hand, it can also promote Feng Anguo to take away the power in Chu Ning's hands.

In the past, the generals of the Chu State also served as the Minister of War, but now Yang Wende separated the two positions, which invisibly weakened the power of the generals.

Although the general could nominally mobilize all the troops of the Chu State, if there was no written document from the Minister of War, the troops under him could use this as an excuse to refuse to obey the general's orders.

After all, the Ministry of War also has the power to control the troops!

Although Han Xing became the Minister of War, he was still under Feng Anguo and was also suppressed by Feng Anguo.

With Feng Anguo's qualifications and achievements, no one would dare to object to such a reward!

Even Chu Ning nodded slightly and looked at Yang Wende deeply: "The Prime Minister is worthy of being the Prime Minister. Such a reward is indeed fair."

The word "fair" has a particularly strong tone.

Yang Wende felt a chill in his heart and said with a wry smile, "If His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu feels that there is something wrong, please speak up."

Chu Ning shook his head: "I have no objection to the rewards given to Lord Feng and General Han, this is what they deserve.

However, this time, not only did I deal with the Yan army, I also helped my dynasty win over the Zhou dynasty. With such an achievement, it would be a bit petty to just get a promotion."

Not enough, still not enough!

The emperor looked a little unhappy.

I've given you the position of general, and you still think it's not enough?

What does this kid want?

Just as the emperor was deep in thought, the Grand Tutor suddenly smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, Prince Chu, for such a great achievement, there will naturally be other rewards.

Your Majesty, according to the previous rules, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu should be rewarded with 10,000 taels of gold, 10,000 pieces of silk, and his fiefdom should be increased by 3,000 households!"

The official position brings benefits, so of course one cannot fall behind in terms of material things.

After all, with such a great contribution, it is not enough to just give him an official title. Material support must also be in place, as this is a matter of face.

The emperor responded, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "It is indeed my fault for neglecting it. How about this, I will reward you with 30,000 taels of gold, 50,000 pieces of brocade, and 6,000 households of food!"

Since you want to win over Chu Ning and make Chu Ning calm down, just be generous and double the reward.

Anyway, the State of Chu had a good harvest, abundant grain, and a sufficient treasury this year, so the emperor didn't feel bad about spending this little bit of gold and brocade.

As for the fiefdom, there is no need to mention it. At this moment, Chu Ning is in charge of Bingzhou and Liangzhou, and has jurisdiction over hundreds of thousands of people. Adding 6,000 households will not have any impact on the court.

Such a generous reward still did not make Chu Ning smile, and his expression remained calm.

"Thank you for the reward, father. However, the troops of Bingzhou need to govern Zhao State. It may be too late to transfer people from the court. I suggest that you directly transfer people from Bingzhou officials to govern the captured prefectures and counties of Zhao State!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of the emperor, the grand tutor and the prime minister changed drastically.

It was not until this moment that they realized how big Chu Ning's appetite was.

If the officials who govern Zhao State are all from Bingzhou, then after taking over the capital of Zhao State, that piece of land will all be under Chu Ning's control.

It turns out that this is Chu Ning’s purpose!

The emperor's face suddenly turned ugly.

He had never expected Chu Ning's appetite to be so big. He not only wanted to become a general, but also wanted all the states and counties that were captured by Zhao State.

"no!"

The emperor refused without thinking, saying, "That is the territory conquered by our frontline soldiers. How can it be governed by officials from Bingzhou alone?"

When the Grand Tutor saw that something was not right, he quickly tried to smooth things over: "Your Highness, King of Chu, what His Majesty means is that you don't have many officials in Bingzhou, and it is difficult for you to govern so many prefectures and counties. You should ask the court to send some officials over to govern together."

At this time, no one dared to offend Chu Ning, for fear of delaying the plan to destroy the State of Zhao on the front line.

Now, they can only coax Chu Ning.

Yang Wende reacted and quickly persuaded him: "Yes, Your Highness, you don't have many officials in Bingzhou, how can you govern so many states and counties in Zhao?

There is still a war going on there. If we don’t send some experienced people to deal with it, I’m afraid there will be problems with food and grass in the future.”

Facing the persuasion of the two senior officials in the court, Chu Ning chuckled and said, "My lords, I started selecting talents in Bingzhou at the beginning of the year. Now I have many officials in Bingzhou, and their abilities have been tempered in this year!"

After saying this, Chu Ning bowed to the emperor and said, "I hope your Majesty will consider this matter carefully!"

After saying this, Chu Ning turned and left, leaving the emperor and the other two looking at each other in bewilderment.