Chapter 50: Recruited to the Imperial Court

"Haha..." The imperial envoy threw his head back and laughed loudly, attempting to cajole him: "The Great Chieftain may rest assured that the imperial court will never treat surrendered generals poorly."

"How much authority does a county military inspector actually hold?"

"It is merely a humble rank-nine petty official!"

"With the Great Chieftain's extraordinary heroism, how could you allow yourself to be confined to such a small pond as Yishui?"

"Border prefectures and military districts are the true stages where the Great Chieftain can fully display your talents!"

"As for the Great Chieftain's official rank, it shall be a Martial Guard Captain, a proper rank-eight, just one step below the magistrate of this Yishui County!"

Official ranks in the Song Dynasty were quite precious, unlike the later Ming and Qing dynasties where official grades were handed out excessively.

In the Song Dynasty, a rank-seven official was already qualified to attend imperial court assemblies.

Even Han Shizhong only earned a junior rank-nine Junior Guard Official title after capturing Fang La through accumulated merits.

After Song Jiang accepted amnesty, he was only given the nominal position of Vanguard General without a clear rank, let alone any real duties. It was only after suppressing Fang La that Emperor Huizong of Song bestowed upon him the rank-seven military title of Grand Master of Military Virtue along with the concurrent titles of Pacification Commissioner of Chuzhou and Grand Military Commander, which was promptly followed by a cup of poisoned wine.

From this perspective, offering Li Gui a proper rank-eight military title for accepting amnesty was actually quite generous.

However, Song Jiang had managed to retain all of his subordinates' troops at that time—it remained a mystery what the imperial court was thinking, though that was presumably one of the conditions of the amnesty.

Yet, while the imperial envoy spoke smoothly, the reality was entirely different.

How could the rank of a military officer compare to that of a civil official?

Furthermore, this Martial Guard Captain was a nominal military rank, carrying only prestige without any real power.

The official system of the Song Dynasty was quite complex, having evolved step-by-step from the Tang Dynasty system into two distinct categories: substantive posts and official ranks.

A substantive post referred to actual duties, officially called a "functional office" or a "dispatch."

The official title worn by an official was called a "rank office," also known as a "substantive title," "selection rank," or "salary-granting title," which determined the official's grade, basic salary, benefits, social status, and treatment, roughly equivalent to modern administrative or salary grades.

Many official titles sounded impressive, but their actual grades were quite low.

For instance, Lin Chong was the Drill Instructor of the Eighty Thousand Imperial Guards, where "drill instructor" was his substantive post. In terms of his official rank, however, he was merely a minor official of the lowest rank-nine. There were over five thousand similar instructors within the Imperial Guards, which did not mean Lin Chong personally instructed eighty thousand men.

Many individuals held only official ranks without substantive posts—these were the ones who received salaries without performing duties, also known as "idle officials," "scattered officials," or "supernumeraries."

Most people in this category were either demoted officials who had fallen out of favor, well-connected scions benefiting from hereditary privilege, individuals who purchased their offices, or, naturally, surrendered generals.

The redundancy among officials primarily stemmed from these scattered officials.

More commonly, individuals held a "combined office and post," where the corresponding grade and duties were integrated.

For example, Ding Enlu, mentioned previously, held both the substantive rank and post of "Magistrate of Yishui."

Yet, there were also many who held both rank offices and substantive posts that were entirely unrelated.

For instance, historical records of the Song Dynasty mention a man named Sun Zhu, whose substantive rank was "Magistrate of Yuqian," but whose substantive post was "Editor and Collator in the Secret Pavilion."

Therefore, many people shared the same official rank while holding entirely different substantive posts.

Conversely, many held the same substantive posts with different official ranks. For example, two individuals serving as military commissioners in different prefectures would hold different grades, some being rank-nine and others junior rank-nine.

The official system of the Song Dynasty could be said to be the most complex in ancient history; an outsider stepping into it would find themselves utterly bewildered by its inner workings.

Logic dictated that a band of mountain bandits should understand none of this and simply allow themselves to be hoodwinked by the imperial envoy.

However, Li Gui was essentially cheating; he was a time traveler.

Although he had never studied history and understood little of these intricacies, he was capable of grasping the primary contradiction.

Li Gui frowned. Disregarding whatever the imperial envoy was blabbering about, he merely asked:

"How many men are under the command of this official post?"

The imperial envoy chuckled and brushed the question aside with an evasion:

"The Great Chieftain may freely choose any other prefecture for your appointment. Military strengths vary across different prefectures, so the number of troops commanded under the same title cannot be generalized."

"The exact number of troops under your command will only become known after the Great Chieftain assumes office."

"I am merely here to deliver the imperial decree and am not privy to such details."

"If the Great Chieftain wishes to fight on the battlefield, it is best to choose a remote military prefecture near the national border, where accumulating merits on a daily basis is much easier."

He kept urging him on, hoping to make Li Gui choose the borderlands. Once that fierce warlord reached the frontier, whether he lived or died would be none of the envoy's concern.

Unfortunately, the envoy did not realize that Li Gui had no desire whatsoever to exert himself for the country or pledge loyalty to the Great Song.

Li Gui merely asked again: "Once I get there, am I the highest authority?"

"Uh..." The imperial envoy hesitated for a moment, then answered evasively: "Under this heaven, only His Majesty may be called the highest authority."

"Ha!" Li Gui sneered coldly. "My temper is less than stellar. If I have a minor disagreement with a superior officer and accidentally hack him to death, wouldn't that completely waste the imperial court's painstaking efforts in offering amnesty?"

"Having thought it over, I would rather not go to those large jurisdictions. I prefer to serve in a small city or county."

"The military inspector of Yishui County sounds rather nice. A slightly lower rank is of no consequence; the main thing is that I won't have a mother-in-law figure lording over me from above."

"What does the imperial envoy think of this?"

The imperial envoy smiled and shook his head: "Yishui County is not a military stronghold, so no military inspector post has been established there."

"Just create one. If that doesn't work, a military inspector position in any other county will do."

The imperial envoy fell silent for a moment, then shook his head: "The imperial decree has already been issued and cannot be altered!"

"That is easily solved then! Since I am free to choose any prefecture, I shall simply remain in Yizhou, and the imperial court can casually assign me a post among the local garrison troops."

The imperial envoy shook his head once more, saying: "According to the laws of the imperial court, all officials must be appointed away from their home regions. Aside from Yizhou, any other prefecture may be chosen at your discretion."

"In that case, let it be Liangshan County in Yunzhou. I shall go there and serve as a military inspector."

The imperial envoy was utterly speechless. Stunned into silence for a long while, he finally managed to say: "...Great Chieftain, there is no such thing as a rank-eight military inspector. Even a military commissioner is only rank-eight."

Li Gui laughed heartily. "Haha... That is also simple! Later on, I shall commit a minor offense and have myself demoted to rank-nine!"

Seeing that Li Gui remained stubbornly fixated on becoming a military inspector, the imperial envoy realized that the bandit leader's wicked ambition had not died and that he still yearned to hold military power.

Military power could definitely not be granted, but the specific method required careful consideration.

To refuse him outright would certainly not do; he could only cut the flesh slowly with a dull blade.

Once Li Gui entered the official establishment, he would learn what it meant for the bureaucracy to speak with a forked tongue, and regaining military command would become as difficult as ascending to heaven.

By that time, the bandit gang would have already been dispersed. Even if Li Gui chose to rebel all over again, he would be nothing more than a solitary individual, no longer worth fearing.

After hesitating for a long while, the imperial envoy finally decided to push through the amnesty first. As for how to deal with this reckless brute afterward, others could worry about that headache.

With this thought, the imperial envoy smiled, cupped his hands, and said:

"On behalf of the imperial court, I agree to this matter. Is the Great Chieftain willing to accept the decree now?"

Li Gui stood up to his full height, laughed heartily, walked down the steps, waved his hand grandly, and ordered:

"Brothers, why haven't you fetched the incense table and other items yet? Let us all welcome the imperial decree together!"

The surrounding men had been waiting anxiously on tenterhooks for ages, and upon finally hearing these words, they let out a collective, massive sigh of relief, returning their suspended hearts back to their chests.

The crowd bustled about busily, quickly bringing out all the items that had long been prepared.

Once all the members of the stronghold had gathered in the plaza, the imperial envoy retrieved the imperial decree, stood before the assembly, and read it aloud in a ringing voice. Starting from Li Gui down to the minor chieftains, rewards and appointments were bestowed upon them all.

Petty officials without official grades were broken up and distributed among the Yishui garrison troops, while those with official ranks were all reassigned to external posts with a strict deadline for reporting.

Then, everyone received the decree, and the imperial envoy distributed gold, silver, wine, and meat on behalf of the imperial court.

These paltry items were far inferior to the regular welfare benefits distributed within the stronghold, but the nature of the event was entirely different—especially those few jars of imperial wine, which tasted exceptionally delicious.

Li Gui himself did not drink a single drop, instead bestowing all of it upon his subordinate brothers, making them all the more deeply grateful.

Little did they know that Li Gui was using them to test for poison, nor did they know how many surrendered generals had met their ends via imperial wine.

Once the imperial envoy had completed the entire procedure and accompanied the stronghold members for a few cups of banqueting wine, he took his leave and descended the mountain.

Zhu Fu and the other two escorted him down the mountain, respectfully watching the envoy's procession disappear from view before returning to the stronghold in high spirits to continue drinking and celebrating heartily.

Meanwhile, upon returning to the city, the imperial envoy immediately summoned Magistrate Ding, urging him to quickly arrange personnel to take over the stronghold and press forward with dispersing the surrendered soldiers to prevent any unexpected complications.