Happy times always pass quickly. The banquet is half full in a flash, and the lively and noisy raises the glass to drink. Many guests are drunk.

Just as many famous scholars were full of food and food, they were ready to get up and go to the center of the dance floor to have a veneer dance with the singer dance girl, the First Emperor, who had never made any big moves, suddenly knocked on the desk a few times. An eunuch behind him picked up a wooden hammer and rang a row of chimes hanging behind him.

"when"

Amid the sound of the bells with a pleasant sound, the bustling noise of the entire hall instantly became quiet, and even the group of dancers singing and dancing in the center of the dance floor of the hall quickly retreated.

"Today's feast, I am thanking the four heads of Fan, Wen, Zheng and Ximen for offering my coal, iron and cement factory. Although our Qin Dynasty is proud of military merits, we treat the people of the world equally. Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce work their own businesses, peddlers and barons perform their duties, and reward merits and punishments. This is the foundation of our Qin Dynasty's magical rule. Although the four heads of the family are merchants, they are full of the heart of serving the country. They handed over such rich wealth to me, which is not inferior to the merits of expanding territory. Recently, the left minister proposed to implement the new Lord's Act, and I feel it is right. Therefore, in addition to the reward of grain fields and real estate, there are also a lord. Where is Zhao Qing?"

"I'm here!" Zhao Qing, a central eunuch, who was dressed in the uniform of an eunuch, quickly stood up.

"Read my title to the four heads of the family, and send the edict to the newspaper office tomorrow morning and publish it in the latest issue of the Daqin Metropolis Daily, so that the world can know the righteous deeds of the four heads of the family to serve the country and also know my rewards and rewards to patriotic merchants!"

"I obey the order!" Zhao Qing took a well-made imperial edict from a palace man behind him, slowly unfolded it and began to read aloud.

"The First Emperor's edict: Dingtao Fan family, Taiyuan Wen family, Xinzheng Ximen family, Handan Zheng family donated huge sums of money to the country, upholding patriotic righteousness and showing his feelings for business, is a role model in the business world. In order to commend the patriotic enthusiasm of the four families, I specially granted the name of the four families the righteous merchants, and at the same time, the title of second-class township marquis of Fan Yi, Wen Gu, Ximen Tai, and Zheng An... "

"Fan Yan, Marquis of Dingyuan, Wen Gu, Marquis of Guanping, Ximen Tai, Marquis of Yiyang, Zheng An, Marquis of Security..."

"Everyone granted a marquis' mansion in the capital, with a fief of 600 households, a reward of 30 hectares of grain fields, a property of 50 acres, a horse of 20, and a slave of 50. The rest of the rewards and chariots and horses were awarded by the Ministry of Rites in accordance with the new Lord's Act..."

After reading the edict, the entire Ganquan Palace was so quiet that it was almost audible.

Most people have a dull face and open their mouths and can stuff a big duck egg into it. Many people think they have heard it wrong, so they try to scoop out the cochlea.

The four white-bearded old men, Fan Yan, had completely lost control of their souls, and looked at Zhao Qing with unconscious eyes. Their heads were buzzing with only the sound of blood rushing, making them feel like they were exploding in their entire bodies.

Chen Xu slowly drank and ate vegetables with a calm expression, crunching a plate of fried beans, with a clear sound particularly harsh.

"Son-in-law, I... I heard it right?"

Meng Yi, who was originally gnawing on the crispy duck legs, opened his mouth wide. The duck legs in his hand fell to the ground for a long time before he came to his senses. He pulled Chen Xu's sleeves greasyly and asked in a low voice.

"Why, my father-in-law is envious and jealous?" Chen Xu looked at the brand new brocade robe he specially wore for today's dinner and was touched by his father-in-law, and his face was thrusting and said unhappy.

"Nonsense, I joined the army from the age of sixteen, and then promoted to Shangqing. When I was young, I earned some military merits. I am still far from the marquis. A few despicable merchants donated some money and could actually climb up to me to shit and pee. How can the civil and military officials in the court be so convincing? "Meng Yi yelled in a low voice with his beard and stared at me.

"Does my father-in-law have hundreds of millions of dollars to donate?" Chen Xu asked disdainfully while wiping his sleeves with a napkin.

"No!" Meng Yi shook his head with a dark face.

"That's all, what else can I say if I don't have money? Others buy it for money. If there is anything you don't agree with. Besides, the new Lord's bill has been implemented, and the 20th level military rank has become a seventeenth level. In addition to the prince and the prince, there are also fifteenth level titles. The young master of the father-in-law's young master is at least a village marquis. What's wrong with you? The son-in-law thinks you should have made a profit!"

"Hey, it seems that you make sense to say this. Although you are a village marquis, the marquis is better than the young master..." Meng Yi nodded happily after thinking it through.

"Oh, it's a pity that I have no home and no military merits. Whether it is the new Lord's Act or the old military title law, I can't even get involved!" Feng Quji, who was sitting on the other side, sighed with a little grievance.

"Why should Feng Xiang do this? There is no big difference between you, the prime minister, the marquis, and being a marquis who has no power is just a voice. How can you hold the central power of the court? Look at the old marquis in Xianyang, how many people don't bow to ask Feng Xiang and be polite when they see him. Money is not as good as power, and the Lord's Act is just to appease the people of the world. However, if you really govern the world, you still need to choose talents, and be awarded military merits and officials. Those martial men can kill people. Isn't the country a mess? The Qin Dynasty is at the moment, and the separation of military and political affairs is the only way out. As long as Feng Xiang works diligently, even if he has no titles in front of him, he may even posthumously be granted a Duke after his death, and he will still be granted a wife and son, and keep Feng's family safe for hundreds of years..."

"Really?" Feng Quji's excited hand shook off several beards, and Meng Yi also stretched out his head, staring at Chen Xu with big eyes.

"I mentioned this in the supplementary clause of the Lord Act of Your Majesty. The title of Great Qin is precious, and Your Majesty will not be granted lightly. The Duke is a top lord other than the royal family. There are probably only the deceased generals in the world. Now that the new military title bill is implemented, all the new and old nobles of my Great Qin need to re-program the title of title. I think Your Majesty will also consider the deceased General, Tongwu Hou and even Li Si to re-prove the title of title for several people. Although this matter is a speculation, I think it is almost impossible to separate. Maybe Your Majesty will arrange it in a few days. Once this start is available, it may become a routine in the future. However, don't spread this matter, and Your Majesty has not yet concluded..."

"Okay, in this case, I may be able to get a noble title after death. Not only can I shine my ancestors, but I can also protect my junior Feng family!" Feng Quji nodded happily.

"No wonder the supplementary bill was hidden by His Majesty..." Meng Yi suddenly realized, his eyes turned and urged, "Tell me quickly what other provisions of the supplementary bill?"

"Your Majesty has not agreed yet, so I can't say it now!" Chen Xu shook his head and refused.

Because the whole banquet was already full of noise, both the royal family and the officials and celebrities were shocked by the sudden order of the First Emperor to be named marquis, and the merchants had never been granted titles in the Qin Dynasty, and the low status of the merchants was also a common understanding of the world. But today, the First Emperor actually appointed four merchants as marquis in one breath. Once this matter spreads, it will cause criticism from the world and make the gentry class angry.

Since ancient times, the gentry has disdained to join merchants.

But from now on, whether it is an official or a disciple of a hundred families, when they see these four merchants, they will respectfully call the marquis.

Damn, I can't think about it carefully, and I feel like I'm not doing well after thinking about it.

Faced with such excitement and noisy situation, Chen Xu naturally would not disclose the terms of the supplementary proposal that these merchants might actually enthrone the vassal states in advance, otherwise even Feng Quji and Meng Yi might jump up and oppose it.

"Thank you, the magistrate, for your kindness!"

In the midst of the noise, the four old men also came to the front of Emperor Qin and several palace ladies to thank him. Faced with such exciting news, the four old men were almost trembling all over and could not walk.

"Four dearests, please come!" Emperor Shi stood up and walked to Fan Yan and the other four, personally helped the four old men up, looked up and down, and said with a smile: "All the dukes are older than me, and they can run around and operate everywhere. They are healthy and healthy elders, which makes me envious. My title of Great Qin is precious. In the past, the marquises had to be destroyed to be awarded the title, but the four patriotic righteousness really touched me. I made an exception. In the future, I would like to ask the four dear ministers to work diligently to manage these enterprises for me, work hard to refine steel and cement, and support the various projects and construction of the court, so that I can live up to my sincere hope!"

"The people who follow the orders will definitely repay Your Majesty in the future!" The four old men nodded in tears.

"Haha, all the dukes are already the marquises, why do you still call them a sect? You should call yourself a subordinate!" Emperor Shihuang waved his hand with a gentle smile.

"Yes, I will obey the order!" The four old men quickly bowed and thanked each other again.

Seeing this situation, the noise and noise in Ganquan Palace slowly stopped.

Once the reward order was issued, there was no room for improvement. At this time, even though many princes, princes, ministers and important officials in the court were dissatisfied, there was no chance of change. This was not the court's discussion on politics, but the final decision of the First Emperor.

Therefore, when he looked at the four old men who were crying and wiping their tears, they returned to their seats. Most of the guests invited to attend the banquet were no longer in the mood to eat meat and drink. They were drunk and were ready to get up to dance a few veneer dances with the dancers in the palace. They were all drunk and sighed and looked at each other speechlessly, unable to hold up their listless wine glasses.

In Chen Xu's opinion, the court made a big profit from the court.

But for the Qin Dynasty, a country that respects military merits, and for the people who are already accustomed to the inheritance of the Shang and Zhou rituals and the habits of superiors and inferiors, the reward of the four merchants to be granted marquis was obviously too much, completely exceeding the psychological preparations of almost everyone.

The banquet began to be neglected. After the First Emperor gave the four old men, he ate some food and went back to the palace to rest. The rest was accompanied by a group of royal families. The banquet became even more neglected, and no one spoke of eating and drinking. So, the imperial banquet that originally took at least two hours on weekdays was dispersed for a total of one hour. Under the gifts of Zhao Hai, Zhao Ying, Zhao Cheng, Fusu, Hu Hai and other royal families, the guests who came to the banquet dispersed.

As soon as the hour of Xu arrived, the east gate of the palace, filled with carriages and slaves, quickly became empty, and almost all the guests who came out said goodbye to each other with dark faces, making the imperial guards on the palace gate confused.

"Please stay, please stay and don't send it away from you!"

When Chen Xu and the four old men came out with Fusu, the carriages and horses in the square had almost gone out. A group of guards from the Qinghe Marquis' Mansion quickly came over with the carriages and horses, and Chen Xu also bowed to Fusu.

"The Grand Master is gone, please feel free to go back and wait. The emperor's reward edict will be sent to the Chamber of Commerce for communication tomorrow, and Fusu will be sent not far away!"

As the dinner ceremony officer arranged by the First Emperor, the eldest son Fusu bowed to him in front of the palace gate.

"Thank you, my son, for sending you off, let's say goodbye!"
Chapter completed!