Chapter 943: Chapter 52: Promotion in Rank, Heading to Shangluo Academy! (12,000 Words) _3
Zhao Xing deeply agreed. The national strength between the Southern Desolate and Great Zhou was simply incomparable. If it weren’t for its special location, it would have been destroyed 800 times already.
If we swapped the generals of Great Zhou and the Southern Desolate without changing anything else, they would still be defeated to Yin You Mountain; it’s just a matter of time.
"The fourth is the relocation of the rural cities’ populace, preserving Great Zhou’s foundational Qi Fortune," said King Heavenly Destiny. "This is another great achievement."
"The Creation Plate shows that there will be a peak period of flourishing fortune in Pinghai State in the coming hundreds of years, with talents emerging and erupting collectively."
"As initiators and executors, you and Xia Jing played significant roles. Your names have both appeared on the Creation Plate."
Zhao Xing was enlightened, no wonder the review was completed so quickly; it had reached the Creation Plate.
The true review!
"Of course, the inferences on the Creation Plate about the future will not be publicly disclosed, as predictions by Fate Officers are never used as a basis for promotion," said King Heavenly Destiny.
"Recommendations for those participating in this action will be made by Heavenly Officials and must pass multiple reviews by Earth Officials."
Zhao Xing nodded, understanding that predictions made by Fate Officers should indeed not be used as a basis for promotion; otherwise, chaos would easily ensue.
The ’Heavenly Officials’ mentioned by King Heavenly Destiny are actually the officials responsible for governance.
The Heavenly Officials are divided into Yin and Yang, with the Yang divinely governing the mortal world’s civil governance called the Heavenly Official Division.
The Yin Heavenly Officials govern the Yin Realm’s governance. Additionally, the Yin Heavenly Officials also hold the authority to bestow blessings. The institution is called the Heavenly Official Temple, also known as the Heavenly Palace.
Yang Heavenly Officials and Yin Heavenly Officials are often performed by Ritual Repairers because they are the most rational and wise people, less likely to be disturbed by certain matters.
The Bright Eyes Technique of Ritual Repairers, and their keen insight, are very suitable for assessing officials.
Of course, this is one of their primary responsibilities. There are many other functions in detail, such as blessing bestowal and extending longevity.
On the other hand, Earth Officials are quite different between the Yin and Yang Realms.
The Earth Official Sima of the Yang Realm holds the Yellow Register, Earth Register, some functions of the Earth Court, and overlaps with divine temples and Agricultural Supervision.
Earth Officials of the Yin Realm govern the penalties within the Yin Realm, capturing and arresting ghosts. The Earth Official granting amnesty is a Second Grade Yin God.
Since King Heavenly Destiny mentioned both Heavenly and Earth Officials, Zhao Xing guessed that his rewards this time would not be small.
Why is that? Because Earth Officials of the Yin Bureau are generally used to investigate one’s ancestry for eighteen generations.
If one’s ancestors were not criminals, then there wouldn’t be a problem.
It is equivalent to a "Yin Realm version of political vetting."
Involvement of Earth Official review is typically associated with promotion to high-grade official ranks.
Officials below Third-rank are of little consequence, as they can’t make any waves.
But for officials of Third-rank and above, they need to have a clean background.
Sure enough, King Heavenly Destiny then said, "Your reward this time is the position of Secondary Third-rank. Your title, merits, and honorary status all have promotions, but I won’t say much more, lest there’s no surprise when you receive the decree."
"Secondary Third-rank, what position is that?"
"Secondary Third-rank waiting for a transfer, with the position not yet determined," said King Heavenly Destiny. "In three years, you will go to the Dragon Court Ancient Land, so I suggested to His Majesty not to assign you a specific position for the time being, nor to receive the Third-rank fortune baptism, only the Fourth-rank."
"Of course, the official explanation to the Heavenly Officials and for the documents is to let you have a few years of good rest and reunite with family and friends."
To demonstrate His Majesty’s benevolence, I understand... Zhao Xing thought to himself.
Anyway, this arrangement also makes sense.
The tasks for a Third-rank official are basically long-term tasks, not ones that can be completed in a few years.
Once a policy is set and a direction is decided, it can’t be easily changed or abandoned lightly.
The Dragon Court Ancient Land will open in the third year of Da Zhi, appointing Zhao Xing now would disperse his attention.
Although he has the Ten Thousand Dharma Avatars, the matters at hand require full attention.
Being chased in the Dragon Court Ancient Land while processing major governmental affairs would certainly affect both, leading to poor outcomes on both sides.
Therefore, a waiting for transfer as Secondary Third-rank is the best arrangement.
"What do you think?" King Heavenly Destiny asked with a smile upon seeing Zhao Xing remain silent.
"Very excited," Zhao Xing replied.
King Heavenly Destiny laughed and said, "You’re fooling nobody!"
He hoped to see the excitement of a promotion on Zhao Xing’s face, but only saw feelings of emotion.
Any excitement?
Zhao Xing also smiled, "To be honest, there are indeed mixed emotions, a lot of feelings."
It is quite emotional.
Though the promotion to Third-rank was predicted,
Zhao Xing originally only aimed to achieve Fifth-rank during Emperor Jing’s reign.
Now that the Jingxin Calendar is about to end, he’s already at Secondary Third-rank!
Of course, opportunities for promotion hereafter would be fewer, requiring a long wait for seniority and waiting for the new king to ascend before having a chance.
With such a foundation, it’s far better than Zhao Xing initially envisioned.
However, truly reaching Third-rank, Zhao Xing also feels like walking on thin ice.
Because he is now closer to Emperor Jing!
...
Upon leaving the Water Flower Cave Heaven, Zhao Xing went straight to Tianyuan Prefecture City.
Since all the provisional positions he held were resigned upon departure, Zhao Xing was left with only the title from the Daoist Academy, which was [Daoist Official] specifically the Doctor of Governance.
The Doctor of Governance was also from the Xuantian Academy’s Tianyuan Prefecture Branch, so the Imperial Decree descended upon Tianyuan Prefecture.
Due to the secrecy of the Dragon Court Ancient Land and tasks from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, the promotion this time wasn’t made public.
Except for Junior Agricultural Officer Wang Tianzhi, Fate Officer Tianyan King, two Heavenly Officials, one Earth Official, and the Second Grade Priest of Tianyuan Prefecture, there were no other people.
Two Heavenly Officials arrived, but of them, one was not human, but a Yin Heavenly Official.
The other was Duke Wei, ’Wei Gongming,’ a Second Grade Ritual Repairer, with whom he had a past encounter at the Celestial Selection Island.