"Zhou Bao, the loyal and devoted general of Qing Province and highly skilled in feats, took credit for killing the enemy to protect grain. Now, I appoint you as the Wuyang County Governor. You will enjoy 3,000 hectolitres of food per year and a fief with a 300 km radius at Blackstone Valley. The official position is hereditary. By the emperor!"

　　The shrill voice of the eunuch resounded in Junior Leopard's ears. He suddenly s.h.i.+vered and then bowed his head lower.

　　He did not lift his head until the shrill voice had ended. Then he loudly said, "Thanks to the emperor, Long Live Our Emperor!"

　　"Please stand up, County Governor Zhou!"

　　Hearing the appellation and the eunuch's intonation, Junior Leopard got goose b.u.mps.

　　He had been in the capital city for 13 days. The news that the imperial court was going to enfeoff officials had spread all over the world.

　　The news excited the whole world.

　　To enfeoff?

　　Maybe some smart people had thought of this before. However, when the imperial court actually implemented it, they still felt that it was incredible.

　　The imperial court was going to carry out an enfeoffment system. The system of provinces and commanderies, which had lasted more than 10,000 years, had finally revealed its limits. Now, the old system from 10,000 years ago was needed to remedy the limits.

　　Most people were excited about getting a piece of land that belonged entirely to them, while a few people saw much farther and deeper.

　　This time a lot of people were enfeoffed. After all, Northern Yuan was so large that the system of provinces and commanderies was totally inappropriate under the circ.u.mstances.

　　The Jin had only established three new states in Seven Troops of the Southern Yard of Northern Yuan. The rest of the place was enfeoffed.

　　Perhaps even the emperor did not know how much land was enfeoffed. He only knew the territories of major well-known families and schools,

　　such as the Li Family in Pingzhou, the Meng Family in Ningzhou, the Liu Family in Yuzhou...

　　and so on.

　　The 12 largest well-known families in the Jin got the most fiefs. Their fiefs were the most fertile and largest areas on the prairie. The most interesting thing was that their fiefs were so close together that they almost overlapped. Moreover, whether the emperor did this intentionally or not, the boundaries of these fiefs were not clear. Then the emperor's intentions were obvious.

　　The Wu Family also got a fief with a 300 km radius, the same size as Junior Leopard's. But the two fiefs were far away; one in the east and the other in the west, thousands of miles apart.

　　In the imperial palace, the huge map of Northern Yuan was separated into countless small pieces. One should not look down on these small pieces as their actual areas were all hundreds of square kilometers.

　　"2,352 fiefs, Emperor, you do have good means!"

　　Looking at the northern prairie, which was like a large cake that was cut into so many small pieces, the old man in green was smiling brightly. "Apart from the fact that there are almost no people on the prairie now, even if there were people, it would be impossible to unify the prairie without a long period of time!"

　　"This isn't my means, it's yours!" The Jin Emperor was complacent as well, smiling and stroking a tuft of whiskers under his chin. Hundreds of years since the founding of the Jin, the dynasties of the Central Plains had experienced tens of thousands of years, and he was the first monarch to conquer the northern prairie. By virtue of this alone, it was enough for him to surpa.s.s all those previous wise emperors and sage-emperors.

　　"I just made a little suggestion. Without Your Majesty's invincible might, all of this is just a joke!"

　　"Well, let's not flatter each other! Have you seen the resignation of Ma Tianchang?"

　　"Yes, I have." When it came to this, their smiling faces grew somber.

　　"What do you think he really wants to do?"

　　"He wants out!" The man in green answered coolly, "He doesn't want to be involved in the mess any longer!"

　　"Mess? Is it a mess? It's a world event! It's the big picture of the whole world! It's an immortal achievement! Do you think it's a mess?" The Jin Emperor's voice rose sharply, and his dissatisfaction was palpable.

　　"No, I don't think so! It's him. He thinks all achievements are a mess. We all know that if it were not for revenge, he would not have helped Your Majesty to take the throne, nor would he have helped you to guard the northern regions for so many years. Now that Northern Yuan was destroyed and his wish has been fulfilled, it's normal to want out!"

　　"It's normal? Hmm, his wish has come true, but what about mine?" The Jin Emperor shouted angrily, "Over the years, I asked him to guard the northern regions, giving him great power to help me keep eyes on Northern Yuan. Now, Northern Yuan is destroyed, and he's leaving. What does he take me for?"

　　The man in green did not speak. In fact, he did not want to speak.

　　He and Ma Tianchang followed the Jin Emperor before the Jin Emperor's succession to the throne. 80 percent of the credit for helping the Jin Emperor to become the emperor went to them. After the Jin Emperor ascended the throne, they were entrusted with heavy responsibility and trust. One of them was a feudal official in the northern regions and one was working in the Cabinet. The grade of working in the Cabinet was not very high, but his authority was so powerful that it was almost identical to that of Chen Yifu, who lived on Longhu Street. And if one considered the weight of his words in the presence of the Jin Emperor, in many cases the man in green had more authority than Old Master Chen.

　　Thus, they knew each other well. He knew exactly why the Jin Emperor was angry, and he also knew that he had better not cut in when the Jin Emperor was roaring like a dissatisfied housewife.

　　"Do you think I should approve the resignation?"

　　Hearing the question, he raised his head, with a wry smile, saying, "Your Majesty, with all due respect, whether you approve it or not, the result is the same. Even if you don't approve it, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d will surely go. So you might as well approve it!"

　　"Approve it? It lets him off lightly!" The Jin Emperor roared.

　　"Not really! This time he has made a great contribution to suppress Northern Yuan. It's no exaggeration to say that he achieved the first-cla.s.s merit. There are still a few large territories which haven't been divided. Your Majesty can give him a large piece of land and let him go to the north. Even if he wants out, he needs a place to live anyway. The fief you give him is a great place to live. He has no reason to refuse!"

　　"But...!"

　　"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about this b.a.s.t.a.r.d. After all these years, can't you see that he is a man without any ambition? And he has no son, only a daughter who has married. Give him a large, environmentally friendly fief. That he goes there is the equivalent of helping you keep watch on that group of local moneybags. Even if he didn't mean it, those local moneybags would see it that way!"

　　"Will he go?"

　　"He'll go as long as you give him a good place with beautiful scenery!" The man in green laughed.