Jiang Wang had only turned twenty-one on the twenty-eighth day of the first month this year.
In other words, at today's grand sacrifice, a military merit Marquis not yet twenty-one years old was born—Jiang Wang, with a fief of three thousand households!
He had pushed Great Qi Empire's record for the youngest contemporary merit-based marquis forward by several more years!
And what did a fief of three thousand households mean?
Three thousand Qi families—their lives and deaths, their every gain and loss—were all entrusted to Jiang Wang alone.
For someone like Jiang Wang, who had contributed in the War of Yang Conquest, his attack on Yang had earned him Green Sheep Town as his fief. On the one hand, this drew upon Jiang Wang's banner-like influence in the region to help the Qi court consolidate its rule over Yang Land. On the other hand, for such a fief, Jiang Wang, as its lord, possessed only taxation rights. And on the basis of Qi taxes, taxes could only be reduced, never raised.
The governance of the people in the fief remained under the authority of the Qi court. Though he could influence the appointment and dismissal of Town Hall officials, positions such as Tingzhang still had to be reported to the Prefecture Office. Should he oppress the people too harshly, the Qi court would also hold him accountable.
Just as in this war against Xia: after the Xia Kingdom's state had been conquered and destroyed, the Qi court had also carved out certain fiefs on the spot and bestowed them upon meritorious generals. Jiang Wang being granted Chi Pool, Chongxuan Sheng being granted Singing Sky Cold Mountain... in essence, this too drew upon the prestige of those who had rendered merit in the Xia campaign, stabilizing rule over Xia Land. At