As the year's end approached, the assessment of merits for the Western Inspection Tour, overseen by Imperial Uncle Cao, suddenly concluded ahead of schedule. All three thousand merit ranks and two hundred Special Merits were awarded... not only sooner than expected, but with remarkable fairness.
Of course, this was a feudal society, and one whose internal contradictions had already reached boiling point. Given the scale involved, absolute fairness was impossible. But comparison was what mattered most. Beside a certain someone's wildly excessive promises inside the city, his subsequent refusal to honor them, and his defeatism and evasiveness after returning, Imperial Uncle Cao's handling of this truly could be called a clean sweep of people's hearts.
Zhang Xing saw his own name too. Like Qin Bao, as one of those who had left the city to seek help that day and returned with reinforcements, he received one of the two hundred Special Merits. His Principal Sixth Rank became Subordinate Fifth Rank, though his post remained unchanged.
From one perspective, this seemed somewhat unsatisfactory, since it brought no direct benefits.
But in fact, by the political traditions of Great Wei and even the Former Dynasty, this was already very fair... mainly because, given Zhang Xing's current position and achievements, his next step would be Principal Fifth Rank. A local official of Principal Fifth Rank generally held actual military and civil authority in his locality; in the army, he would be a Gentleman of the Palace General commanding at least a thousand regular troops. In the central government, it was more extraordinary still, essentially a transitional rank: advancement meant becoming a Vice Minister, while retreat meant taking a post in one of certain courts or directorates.
This was a ceiling in the official careers of men from humble households, commoner clans, and even