Chapter 57: Promotion

  Forgot the time, sorry!

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  Luoyang is still prosperous, but with a few more desolate scenes.

  Luo Zheng has been very busy these days, with all sorts of social engagements making him so frustrated that he felt like splitting himself in two.

  Duan Wei, Guo Qu, Fan Chou, Zhang Ji and others all sent people to invite him, inviting him to a banquet, with the intention of winning him over.

  For this newly risen powerful man who had just made great contributions and was appreciated by Dong Zhuo but had not yet attached himself to any faction, the Xiliang army's powerful generals, apart from Niu Fu and Li Jue, all wanted to win him over, including Duan Gui and Guo Si.

  The Western Liang generals were united in their dealings with outsiders, suppressing both the Bianzhou military clique and the Northern military clique, while internally there were also many mountain strongholds.

  With Niu Fu, Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, and members of the Dong clan as the core generals, they occupied a dominant position in the Western Liang army.

  When Dong Zhuo rose to power, the Western Liang veterans who had followed him, including Duan Gui, Hu Zhen, Guo Si, Li Jue, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji, also held considerable military power. While competing for favor with each other, they were united in their external policies.

  As for the northern military system led by Xú Róng and the Pingzhou military system led by Lü Bu, they were the objects of suppression by the Western Liang military system.

  Xu Rong was a bit better, and got along with the Xiliang army system quite well. Xu Rong was just a pure military man and didn't have any ambition to contend for power. He was often entrusted by Dong Zhuo to lead troops in battles alone.

  As for Lü Bu's forces in the provinces and states, they were the main objects of suppression by the Western Liang military clique.

  Factional strife within a party, or factions within a party, may be a problem that any leader has to face.

  Luo Zheng did not know how Dong Zhuo considered the factional strife of his troops, perhaps indulging in it or even being troubled by it, but in any case, no ruler would tolerate a force under his command threatening his own authority.

  If this 'party' is still within its own control range, there may not be any hidden dangers.

  But if this 'party' were to lose control, it would absolutely be subjected to ruthless purge.

  Lu Zhi observed the complex situation while carefully responding to the Western Liang generals' attempts to win him over, neither immediately refusing nor relying on any particular faction, so as not to arouse Dong Zhuo's suspicion and invite unnecessary disaster.

  As for Lü Bu and the high-ranking officials in the court, it's best to keep a distance from them as much as possible.

  This time, the troops went to Guandong, and although their own abilities were appreciated by Dong Zhuo, they were not his trusted confidants. Before gaining Dong Zhuo's trust, it was unwise to get too close to these people, as there would only be disadvantages and no benefits.

  A bit annoying is that Cao's family home has not been found yet.

  When in Qiao County, a woman of the Cao family said that in order to save her son's life, she had told Cao Cao that his family was still living in Luoyang.

  As soon as he arrived in Luoyang, Luo Zheng had people search all around, but there was no news.

  A spacious rear courtyard of an inn.

  Without war, Luo Zhen rarely relaxed, so he read the books of saints and sages, studied the mainstream ideas of this era, or even studied military strategies, or practiced his terrible brush calligraphy, lest he be looked down upon by scholars.

  It's quite comfortable to relax occasionally.

  What Luo Zheng didn't expect was that Gan could write beautiful calligraphy with a brush.

  After inquiring carefully, it was learned that Gan's family background was from an official family, although he had not yet retired, his learning was quite profound.

  Luo Zheng was not ashamed to ask, so he simply let Gan's family be his teacher and teach him to practice calligraphy.

  This approach is undoubtedly a violation of etiquette. If it gets out, it will definitely be criticized by those bureaucratic officials and scholars.

  Gan was infatuated with Gan, thoroughly liking this gentle and considerate man who didn't adhere to conventions.

  The scorching sun is ordinary, by August, the weather finally isn't so hot anymore.

  Luo Zhen spread out the silk fabric and was slowly practicing calligraphy. The characters he wrote were as if they were flying or crawling like dogs.

  Gan stood behind him, smiling secretly and massaging his shoulders and back to relax his mind.

  Just then, a close attendant rushed in hastily and said loudly: "General, the Emperor has sent an envoy to proclaim an imperial edict."

  "Angel?"

  Luo Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then asked in confusion: "What message has the heavenly envoy come to announce?"

  The little servant grasped his head and said: "I don't know either."

  "Hurry, follow General Ben to welcome him."

  Luo Zheng pushed away the desk and hurriedly got up and ran out.

  Ran to the door, only to suddenly remember that in this era, the emperor's edict was not something to be received casually, and one had to bathe and burn incense.

  This is the ritual system and cannot be violated; otherwise, it would be a serious offense of great disrespect.

  He hastily ordered his attendants to bring in the angel first, and then rushed into the house to let Gan Shi serve him with bathing and changing clothes.

  After going through all these tedious procedures, he finally arrived at the front hall to meet the angel and received the sacred decree.

  The little yellow gate of the imperial edict opened and read: "Xia Qi School Lieutenant Lu Zheng is loyal, filial, benevolent and wise, with both civil and military talents. He led the army to defeat the rebellious army in Guandong, making great contributions to the country and benefiting the people. He is specially promoted to Zhonglang General, rewarded with 10 qing of land, a mansion, 100 slaves, 1,000 taels of silver, and 10 pieces of brocade. He is ordered to report his loyalty to the country and not betray the imperial edict."

  "Your subject Luo Zheng thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!"

  Luo Zheng hastily bowed again, his heart filled with a mix of surprise and bewilderment.

  A few days ago, rewards were given for merits and achievements, but unexpectedly, Niu Fu and Li Jue's gang stirred up trouble.

  I thought the military achievements were all in vain, but unexpectedly, the reward still came down.

  Although it was delayed for a few days, he finally got promoted and received many rewards.

  Zhonglang Jiang is a high-ranking official in the imperial court, equivalent to the governor of a province, who can command troops and fight independently.

  Although the Camp Lieutenant also has a certain degree of command power, due to the limitations of his rank, he has very limited autonomy and can at most lead an army to perform some relatively simple military tasks, with extremely rare opportunities to take charge alone.

  However, the Zhong Lang Jiang was different, this rank had truly entered the ranks of Han Dynasty's military officer system.

  In the first year of Zhongping, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out. Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, and Lu Zhi were among those who led the imperial army to suppress the Yellow Turban rebels with the title of Zhonglang General, truly possessing the right to command troops independently and being a prominent general of the imperial court.

  Of course, among the military officers, Zhonglang Jiang is considered the lowest rank, and there are many more senior generals above him.

  For example, the miscellaneous number generals, and further up are the four Ping, four An, four Zhen, four Zheng and other military officers, as well as Che Ji, Bian Qi generals and Da Jiang Jun etc., all of whom have a higher rank than Zhong Lang Jiang.

  However, although the imperial court had set up military officials, they were not regularly established. Therefore, most of the military generals who led troops in expeditions were granted the title of Langjiang.

  It wasn't until Dong Zhuo entered the capital and controlled the court that, in order to appease his trusted followers, he lavishly granted titles and nobility to his generals and commanders, resulting in generals being as common as dirt and captains being as numerous as dogs, becoming increasingly worthless.

  Those provincial governors and magistrates even privately appointed their confidants to official positions, and some even took on official titles for themselves, making the entire system a mess.

  For example, Yuan Shu took the post of Governor of Yu Province for himself and gave Sun Jian the empty title of Inspector of Yang Province.

  According to the Han Dynasty system, officials above the county lieutenant, commander, magistrate and military officers were all appointed by imperial decree, that is, they could only be directly appointed by the emperor. Local officials had no right to appoint them. Yuan Shu's actions can be said to be openly disregarding the Han court.

  Or rather, they did not take the puppet court controlled by Dong Zhuo seriously.

  Sent off the angel, Luo Zhen's mood was great, and immediately let Xu Chu, Zhao Yun and others go to receive the reward.

  The time in Luoyang was too short, and I didn't have a chance to buy some household items, so I had been living in the post house all along, which was quite inconvenient.

  These days I was just making people ask around, preparing to buy a house in Luoyang City. Unexpectedly, the emperor gave me a set as a reward. This is really like having just fallen asleep and someone comes to send you a pillow.

  Of course, Luo Zhen understood that these rewards were nominally bestowed by the Emperor, but in reality they came from Dong Zhuo.

  After bustling around for three days, I finally moved into my new home.

  This is a mansion located in Houjie Street, Shangdongmen, with three courtyards and an area of about two mu.

  Those who can live here are not ordinary people, but nobles in power. The city guards change shifts and patrol the streets at all hours to prevent thieves.

  The neighbors on the left and right are either high-ranking officials in the court or generals in the army.

  The mansion is very large, with dozens of rooms in the shed. The front yard is where the guards live, and the middle yard is where the servants live.

  As for the backyard, there are only seven or eight rooms in the house, which are used by the owner of the mansion and his relatives.

  The hundred slaves bestowed by the Emperor have also been delivered and are temporarily accommodated in the central courtyard.

  Xu Chu and Zhao Yun led dozens of personal soldiers to move into the mansion. The two had no family business in Luoyang, temporarily had nowhere to go, and could only live in Luo Zheng's mansion. Xu Chu and Zhao Yun even moved into the backyard, temporarily serving as Luo Zheng's personal bodyguards.

  As for Wu Yi and his clansmen, they were detained in a manor outside the city.

  Wu Yi's sister Wu Zhen, Xun Yu and his family of three were all taken to the mansion by Luo Zheng and settled in the inner courtyard.

  The hundred slaves given by the emperor were mostly women in their twenties, with only a few under twenty.

  Luo Zheng took a look, these women were all official slaves, either they had committed crimes and been exiled or they were bought from various places to be trained as entertainers. Although none of them were as stunningly beautiful as Wu Zhen, they were all pretty and skilled in singing and dancing.

  However, how to settle is a problem.

  Luo Zheng was uninterested in art and didn't have the mood to appreciate singing and dancing.

  Raising so many women in the mansion not only dissipates one's will but also wastes money and grain.

  As for taking all of them as concubines, don't even think about it.

  Even a hundred women would be too much for even the strongest man to handle.

  "In a chaotic world, there is no human rights, and women in a chaotic world have even less human rights. They are sent around like goods, all of them are pitiful people. Even if they were given freedom back, they still can't make a living. What's to be done?"

  Gan's eyes shone with admiration as she said in a soft voice, "You don't think of women as inferior, that's truly a blessing for us women."

  Being praised by women is something that makes a man feel proud and honored.

  Luo Zheng also laughed and said: "Originally, I had so many advantages on my body, how did I not discover them before? Hmm, you've worked hard all the way here, just choose four clever and clever maids from those slaves to serve you!"

  Gan's eyes sparkled as she said: "Thank you, husband."

  Luo Zheng sighed again, "What about the remaining land?"

  Gan said with restraint: "If you have this intention, why don't you marry these women off to other families and live a peaceful life?"

  "That's right, this is actually a good idea."

  Luo Zhen slapped his thigh and shouted out: "Xu Zhu and Zhao Yun, where are you?"