The red sun rose in the east, its path ablaze with light!
A thousand armies, ten thousand banners, swords and armor standing like a forest!
Surrounded by a vast army, the emperor of the Han Dynasty returned to his loyal Xingyang.
In the Xingyang Traveling Palace, the assembled ministers stood in their appointed places.
The Regular Attendant's shrill voice rang through the hall. "Cao Cao, Governor of Yanzhou, has received imperial favor for generations. Loyal, Upright, Sincere, and Cautious, exemplary in his virtue as a subject, he spared himself no hardship in welcoming His Majesty and has rendered great service to the Han Dynasty's Altars of State. He is appointed Great General Who Conquers the West and Bearer of the Credentials, invested as Marquis of Qiao, with a fief of Three Thousand One Hundred Households.
"Let this be proclaimed throughout All Under Heaven."
Cao Cao's face remained composed in the hall, but wild delight shone in his eyes.
Great General, General of Agile Cavalry, General of Swift Cavalry, General of Chariots and Cavalry—with Li Jue and Guo Si dead, all four of these high-ranking generalships stood vacant. Next came the high-ranking generalships of the Four Conquests, Four Garrisons, and Four Pacifications. Even when Li and Guo scattered offices and titles with lavish hands, they had bestowed only the Four Garrisons and Four Pacifications. Moreover, Cao Cao's General Who Conquers the West bore the honorific "Great."
In the world today, judged by office alone, he had already reached the pinnacle for a military man.
Liu Xie sat at the head of the hall. He was quite intelligent, and in this short time he had already sensed the differences between Cao Cao and Li and Guo.
Once the investiture ended, Liu Xie asked, "Minister, on my return from Guanzhong, I saw that