"Princess Changle's Residence Captain Ye Zhen has shown loyal courage in protecting his mistress, escorting Princess Changle safely back from a desperate situation... The Emperor is greatly pleased and hereby specially confers upon Ye Zhen the title of First-Class Viscount of North Sea, with a commandery granted in fief!"
This Imperial Decree left Ye Zhen utterly stunned. Even Gu Tieqi and Liu Feng, waiting nearby, stared wide-eyed. Gu Kuang in particular nearly glared his eyes red!
A first-class viscount! Gu Kuang had struggled in the military camp for nearly a century. Though he had yet to enter the Human-Demon Battlefield, he had earned no small number of merits. Yet even now, he had only attained the rank of Sea Suppressor General, merely two grades above Ye Zhen's former rank. He was still a hundred thousand miles away from even the lowest baron, much less a viscount.
To put it plainly, if one had no one backing them at court, even a World King Realm expert could at most scrape together the title of Marshal. Being granted a noble title was difficult.
It was difficult to receive a noble title, but there were always a few lucky souls who earned one through great merit. Yet to be granted an actual commandery as a fief immediately after receiving a title—that was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Basically, only those holding royal titles or the descendants of the imperial clan could possibly receive actual fiefs after being ennobled.
Moreover, most of the time, the territories of those royal descendants were arranged and rearranged within their own family's domains. In the end, they were merely carving up their own fiefs.
But Ye Zhen's case was different. An actual commandery as a fief!
Under normal circumstances, only ordinary second-class earls or first-class earls might