After the eunuch dressed in a six-clawed cyan robe finished reading the decree of the Holy Emperor Ren Venerate of Great Zhou, Ji Long, the entire camp of the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea was already near boiling over!
If it weren’t for the constraints of military law, the awe of the imperial decree and the angel’s authority, cheers might have erupted long ago.
However, everyone had smiles brimming on their faces and suppressing an overwhelming sense of joy inside and out.
As soon as the decree was read, a thunderous voice of gratitude resounded like a storm.
As Marshal of the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea, Ye Zhen was also pleased after hearing the conferment order.
However, as a commander, there are still many things to do.
According to etiquette, he expressed thanks for the benevolence of the heavens one by one.
Then, he had Niu Er present eight storage rings; of course, the storage ring of the angel who read the decree was the richest.
The reason the decree from the Great Zhou Court arrived so swiftly this time was because Ye Zhen’s slaying of the Seven Surnamed Prophet Demon Master Qi Hong was a major event not seen for a hundred thousand years.
This made all the ministers in the court, who had gained nothing during the hundred thousand years of standoff, feel a sense of vindication, so the conferment decree also came very quickly.
Especially during the millennium war, Ye Zhen’s achievements had a positive effect in every aspect, whether it was morale, military spirit, battle intent, or public opinion.
Therefore, this conferment was fast, swift, and extensive!
Since the rewards for slaying the Seven Surnamed Prophet Demon Master of the Demon Clan had already been settled by the Military Department and the Ancestral Shrine, there was little debate.
As for the military achievements of Ye Zhen’s subordinate generals, since they followed Ye Zhen’s major achievements and had many demon clan heads as evidence, the reward was also very swift.
By "extensive," it means that this result and the court’s conferring rewards should all be widely informed in the shortest time to have a positive guiding effect on the whole army.
So the angels sent for the conferment, after reaching the nearest Ancient Teleportation Formation, were brought to Ye Zhen’s Blood River Camp in the shortest time by a Void Hunting King who had achieved a Little World within himself to complete the rewards.
Simultaneously, the scenes of Ye Zhen accepting the rewards, and the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea accepting the rewards and shouting "Long live the Holy Emperor," were all recorded in Shadow Capture Jade Slips.
One was for reporting back to Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long.
Two was for widespread dissemination to inspire military morale.
The Shadow Capture Jade Slips of accepting rewards will be recorded in thousands and distributed to all units of the Human Demon Battlefield.
The meaning is simple – to tell these soldiers to strive to kill demons, as long as you gain merits, the court will definitely not be stingy with rewards!
According to the Ancestral Shrine of Great Zhou’s bounties and the military department’s regulations, those who kill Prophet Demon Masters of six surnames are Marquis, seven surnames are Duke, eight surnames are Prince, and nine surnames are Prince.
Ye Zhen killed the Seven Surnamed Prophet Demon Master Qi Hong, directly ennobled as Duke.
In the imperial decree, Ye Zhen was conferred as Third-class Duke of North Sea County!
National Duke, First-class National Duke, Second-class State Duke, Third-class County Duke.
And before this, Ye Zhen’s title was Third-class North Sea Earl, skipping five levels in between.
For most nobles, especially after reaching the rank of Earl, striving a lifetime to rise one or two ranks is considered exceptionally talented.
But in Ye Zhen’s case, he jumped five levels!
Moreover, these five levels have a qualitative division!
In the nobility system of the Great Zhou Empire, the Six Ranks and Eighteen Grades of nobility, the Fourth Rank and Sixteenth Grade merit, these are the visible divisions, but among the nobility, there’s an informal division.
That is the upper, middle, and lower class noble systems.
As for merit, it is hardly counted within the noble system as merit cannot be inherited, the honor dies with the individual.
Nobility only counts the Six Ranks and Eighteen Grades of titles.
Among them, Barons and Viscounts are called Lower Nobles, and are seen as bumpkins in the noble system.
This is because these two ranks are the most numerous and easiest to obtain, with a bit of scheming or a bit of strength and luck, they can be contested for.
Earls and Marquises are called Middle Nobles, these two noble ranks are either truly fought out with great strength and fortune or inherited by birth.
While they hold a certain status, they cannot enter the empire’s high echelon or decision-making circle.
Those who can truly enter the decision-making circle are the Upper Nobles, Dukes, and Princes.
These two noble ranks are the real rulers of the entire Great Zhou.
To put it into perspective, in the last ten thousand years, there have been no more than seven Dukes conferred in Great Zhou, Ye Zhen is only the eighth person, which shows its value.
Several important positions in Great Zhou, especially military-related ones, are held by Dukes.
For example, the West Patrol Xio Qiangu is the Duke of the Secret Kingdom!
The Grand Governor of the Human Demon Battlefield Ji Yuan holds the title of Prince Lik.
The Governor of the Northern War Zone Ni Feng holds the title of Duke of Fengbei State.
Dukes and Princes in Great Zhou have the right to participate in government affairs, they can attend court meetings in the Upper Hall even without an official position.
In other words, today’s ennoblement, although Ye Zhen is only a Third-class Duke of North Sea County, it represents Ye Zhen’s entry into the true ruling class of Great Zhou.
For Ye Zhen, mingling in Great Zhou, it’s no less than a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate.
Similarly, for the generals under Ye Zhen, having a Duke they can serve means they have a channel to voice themselves in the court.
At the same time, it also represents the formation of a small faction.
And normally, Ye Zhen would not be able to obtain a Duke title simply by accumulating demon clan heads.
The various benefits of being conferred a Duke title are numerous, even Ye Zhen cannot list them all.
Correspondingly, there’s the fiefdom.
According to Great Zhou’s regulations, noble fiefdoms are conferred three ranks lower.
According to the law, a Third-class County Duke can enjoy a fiefdom of half a state, roughly seven to nine counties, conferred three ranks lower, means it’s conferred according to a Third-class Marquis’s fiefdom.
A Third-class Marquis is conferred one high-grade and one mid-grade county.
And Ye Zhen’s previous North Sea First-class Viscount was a non-reduction real fiefdom conferred a low-grade county.
However, now that North Sea County is increasingly prosperous, it is already a mid-grade county with the potential to rise to a high-grade county.
The calculations here are extremely complex.
The final result is that while Ye Zhen’s nobility advanced significantly, he could only gain an additional mid-grade county fiefdom.
However, this fiefdom can only be selected from the Grand Sect Leader after Ye Zhen’s campaigns end.
Apart from Ye Zhen, almost everyone under him received rewards.
Starting with Liuu Feng, Ye Zhen reported military achievements, and Liuu Feng was conferred as a First-class Baron, solving the birthright issue for this illegitimate son, rewarding his following Ye Zhen.
Next is Gu Tieqi, Ye Zhen’s arranged military achievements also allowed him to be conferred as a First-class Baron, a title that can be inherited.
Although currently, it can only be passed down three generations, it is still a noble title, and once he returns to Luoyi, it would be enough for Gu Tieqi to return home in luxury and pride.
Plus, these military achievements are just the beginning!
The third one is the Military Commander Zheng Dangshi, whom Ye Zhen focuses on nurturing, and Wind Scout Commander Niu Er, both conferred as Second-class Barons,
The titles go to these four, while the merits of the lower generals, from Iron Cavalry Captains, Captains, amounting to tens of thousands, to hundreds of regional generals, are also rewarded.
It can be said that the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea reaped extremely rich rewards this time.
Even soldiers who did not receive merits were given a large number of Spirit Stones as rewards.
The grand scene at this moment can only be described with one phrase – when one prospers, even his chickens and dogs ascend to the heavens!
It is worth mentioning that Long-Armed Fire Monkey King Sunx Ba, Xuan Hu, Zhu Hong, elder sister Liao Feibai, and others were also given military positions with reported military merits by Ye Zhen.
However, during the reporting of military merits, the numbers were deliberately suppressed so that they only received relatively low merits.
Even with Ye Zhen’s backing, being unclear in origin or being of the Demon Race, if they were to suddenly achieve great merits, they might face the most stringent scrutiny and bring trouble.
If they accumulate merits and rise slowly, the process of accumulating merits and promotion itself is a proof of clear ancestry.
In the future, they can find a place to establish themselves in Great Zhou.
In Ye Zhen’s strategic planning, everything is on the right track!
According to Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long’s decree, due to the outstanding achievement of the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea, an angel was specially commanded to reward the army for three days.
However, on the very first day of the decree’s rewards, an emergency military news was delivered by the Heavenly Patrol Divine General scouting outside.
Concerning the emergency military situation of the Seventh Crown Prince of the Demon Emperor, Congyun’s army!

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