Deliberations and Rewards: The Kong Household's Rewards
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After the officials reported on their duties, they discussed matters concerning the "Outer Heaven Battlefield" of the past few decades, the merits and demerits of the two battles against the invasion of the Demon Race and the martial arts cultivators of the "True Martial World," and the upcoming counterattack on the "Heavenly Demon Grotto-Heaven."
Of course, those who could participate in such discussions were at least at the level of state governors; local prefects and magistrates simply did not have the opportunity or qualification to participate.
Kong Wenxuan was still standing in a corner of the Southern Vermilion Bird Domain with the governor of Bifang Commandery and his colleagues from the counties below, listening to the upper echelons discuss matters, as well as the governor of Extended Net Moon Deer Prefecture, who was recounting the performance, merits and demerits of the "True Spirit Lineage" in the various counties and prefectures within the prefecture in several major battles, as well as their daily defense of the local areas, tax payments, and so on.
He paid close attention to the merits and demerits of the Peacock Kong Household, whom Governor Extended Net Moon Deer Prefecture meticulously recounted.
These merits and demerits were just a small matter in the grand court assembly, but for Kong Wenxuan and the Kong Household, they were of paramount importance.
The governor's account of the Kong Household's merits and demerits, battlefield performance, and daily conduct was accurate, which is why the Kong Household was able to receive the honors, rewards, and benefits they deserved in the subsequent system of rewarding merits and punishing demerits.
These merits, rewards, and benefits bestowed by the "Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty" even surpassed the rewards given by the "Extended Net Moon Deer" Lu Household and the rewards from the "Vermilion Bird Royal Court" small court assembly.
Especially for a "Low-Grade True Spirit" Lineage like the Kong Household, the fact that the "Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty" could easily drop some mid-to-high-grade resources and spiritual objects would be enough to double the Kong Household's strength and foundation, and it's even possible to have a few more Golden Core True Person.
Therefore, Kong Wenxuan naturally had to pay close attention to ensure that the merits of "Extended Net Moon Deer Prefecture Governor" were correct.
Fortunately, everything that could be discussed at this "Grand Court Assembly," whether it was the content of the officials' performance reviews or the merits and demerits discussed in the deliberations, had been carefully verified and confirmed to be accurate in various places, so it would not cause any trouble at this "Grand Court Assembly."
Therefore, when Kong Wenxuan listened to the governor of Extended Net Moon Deer Prefecture, explain his own merits and demerits and situation, he found nothing wrong with it, and he was able to put his mind at ease.
After the deliberation, the reward and punishment were carried out. Based on the merits and demerits of each party as described in the previous deliberation, the six central ministries of the "Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty" directly made the reward and punishment decisions.
Just like the small court assembly of the "Vermilion Bird Royal Court" back then, the "Golden Crow Emperor" sitting high on the throne issued the "Imperial Edict", and the officials of the "Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty" central Ministry of Rites read the "Imperial Edict" to reward and punish the "True Spirit Lineage" in various places and states.
Rewards and punishments are carried out in order of rank from top to bottom according to the "True Spirit Lineage" rank.
First, there are the five families of the "Second-Grade True Spirit" Lineage: the Yu Household "Grand Yin Jade Rabbit", the Ao Household of "Azure Dragon True Spirit", the Zhu family of "Vermilion Bird True Spirit", Zhu Household Bai Household "White Tiger True Spirit", and the Wu Household "Black Tortoise True Spirit".
Then there are the thirteen "Third-Grade True Spirit" Lineage that govern the thirteen states of the Central Domain, such as the Yang Household "Shang Yang True Spirit"), the Lian Household "Feilian True Spirit"), and the Bai Household ("Bai Ze True Spirit").
After a long process of rewarding merits and punishing demerits, it was finally time to reach the level of rewards and punishments for "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" Lineage.
During this grand court assembly, Kong Wenxuan lost track of time and had no idea how long it lasted, though it felt quite long.
At the "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" Lineage level, the number is even greater, making rewards and punishments even more time-consuming.
However, Kong Wenxuan never expected that the reward and punishment "decree" of his own "Peacock True Spirit" Kong Household would be quite high up, ranking ninth among the top ten rewards and punishments of "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" Lineage.
Kong Wenxuan had already discerned from the previous reward and punishment process that the order of these rewards and punishments at each level was basically based on the magnitude of the merits rendered by each "True Spirit Lineage".
In other words, among the thousands of "Seventh-Rank True Spirit Realm" Lineage in the five regions and five domains of the entire "Seventh-Grade True Spirit Realm," the newly promoted "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" Lineage, the Peacock Kong Household, ranked ninth in terms of merits and achievements in the several major battles over the past few decades.
There are only eight Lineage with a "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" level higher than the Kong Household! This is enough to show the Kong Household's strength and their outstanding performance on the battlefield.
Therefore, when Kong Wenxuan stepped forward on behalf of the Kong Household to receive the "imperial decree" reward, he could clearly sense that various targets were looking at him from all directions in the "main hall," some with surprise, some with curiosity, and some with curiosity, each with their own distinct purpose.
Clearly, everyone was quite surprised and curious that the "Peacock" Kong Household, a newly established "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" Lineage that had only been around for a few decades, had managed to achieve a merit ranking ninth among the Seventh-Rank members in the great battle.
Kong Wenxuan ignored these stares, only bowing and listening to the "imperial edict" read aloud by the Ministry of Rites official at the head of the table, listening to the rewards within, then bowing down to express his gratitude and accept the "imperial edict."
As for the content of the rewards, it was similar to the rewards given at the small court assembly of the "Vermilion Bird Royal Court" back then, mainly divided into two parts: one was "meritorious service of the imperial court", and the other was the reward of spiritual food and wine at the banquet that followed.
However, the number of imperial decrees bestowed by the emperor at this "Grand Court Assembly" far exceeded the number of royal decrees bestowed by the Vermilion Bird King at the "Small Court Assembly".
At the "small court assembly" that year, the Kong Household was rewarded with 500 imperial merit points, a Fifth Tier spiritual meal, and a pot of Star Dew Sweet Spring.
Now, at this "Grand Court Assembly," the "Imperial Edict" bestowed upon the Kong Household Dynasty, as well as a banquet of Sixth Tier spiritual food, three pots of Star Dew Sweet Spring, and one pot of Grand Yin Jade Dew.
The amount of this reward is more than ten times that of the original "small court assembly".
Of course, this is also related to the achievements made by the Kong Household family.
When the "Small Court Assembly" was held, the invasion by the Demon Race in collusion with the martial arts practitioners of the "True Martial World" had not yet broken out. The merits made by the Kong Household, apart from resisting an invasion by the Demon Race and martial arts practitioners together with the Bi Household in the Demon Race Secret Realm of "South Lake Mountains", and annihilating the "Cuckoo" Du Household who used the forbidden technique "A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix Paying Homage to the Phoenix", were at most ordinary merits such as guarding the territory and paying taxes. There were no great merits.
Therefore, the royal decree issued by the Vermilion Bird Royal Court at that time during the "small court assembly" was already considered a generous reward.
Now, as this "Grand Assembly" is being held, the invasion by the Demon Race in collusion with the martial artists of the "True Martial World" has already broken out twice.
In these two great battles, the Kong Household made numerous contributions, even ranking ninth among the "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" Lineage in terms of merit, surpassing many long-established "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" Lineage with hundreds or even thousands of years of history and profound heritage. With such great merit, they naturally deserved more and greater rewards.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the imperial edicts bestowed at the "Grand Court Assembly" were ten times more numerous than those bestowed at the "Small Court Assembly."
Furthermore, this "imperial decree" was bestowed solely by the emperor of the "Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty" as a reward for merit, without taking into account the military achievements and merits of the Kong Household in killing enemies and resisting invasions in several major battles.
Those military achievements and merits had already been attributed to the Kong Household during the previous discussion when the governor of Extended Net Moon Deer Prefecture, was rewarded for his merits, totaling more than 20,000.
It was precisely because of these more than 20,000 merits that the Kong Household was able to rank ninth in the merit ranking of the "Seventh-Grade True Spirit" Lineage, thus receiving such a reward from the "Golden Crow Emperor".