Marquis Ying's Marquisate.
Luo Zhong, the current Marquis Ying, looked at the letter before him with a complicated expression. Beside him sat Lü Chang, the current Marquis Lü. Wang Mang had entrusted Marquis Lü with delivering the letter, and its contents were very simple.
It simply explained the situation between All Under Heaven and the court to him.
At the end, it said, "Emperor Gao and Emperor Xiaoxuan both swore oaths in years past. More than two hundred years have passed, and those oaths have yet to change.
"But if Great Han falls, those oaths will turn to ash.
"If we do not save the Altars of State now, when will we?"
The Garrisoning High-ranking Marquises.
They had been a force that could not be ignored since Great Han's founding.
Especially in the struggles among local commanderies and kingdoms, of the three forces-the great gentry clans, the commandery and county officials, and the Garrisoning High-ranking Marquises-only the Garrisoning High-ranking Marquises stood beyond defeat.
At worst, their enfeoffed households would be reduced, and they would be transferred elsewhere.
This was the imperial family's protection of the Garrisoning High-ranking Marquises.
Luo Zhong set down the letter, then turned to Lü Chang beside him and asked, "Wen Chang, since you were willing to deliver Wang Jujun's letter, I take it you support him?"
Lü Chang shook his head at once. "Of course not. Our clan's guiding principle will never change: we follow the emperor's footsteps.
"But our clan also has interests of its own.
"Since the Pacification, we Garrisoning High-ranking Marquises have rarely reached directly into the Central Court.
"We only recommend talent through the Recommendation System and other such means. Compared with our most glorious years, we have already fallen far behind.
"Twenty years ago, the Inspector of Qingzhou, a mere official