1320 Going to His Pos (1/2)
On January 11th, the 905th year of Black Iron Calendar, Zhang Tie ended the 2 weeks' union with Bai Suxian and officially left Xuanyuan Fortress to go to his post.
Soon after the news of Zhang Tie's appointment by the commander-in-chief was released to the public, all the people across Xuanyuan Fortress had been shocked. The treatment of becoming a Class III officer of Taixia Country at such a young age was definitely rare in the history of Taixia Country. At least nobody else among all the Class III officers of Taixia Country was as young as Zhang Tie.
The official rank of the provincial governors of lower provinces in Taixia Country was subordinate Class IV; the official rank of the provincial governors of upper provinces in Taixia Country was Class IV; the official rank of the provincial governors of major provinces in Taixia Country was subordinate Class III; the official rank of the provincial governors of immortal provinces in Taixia Country was Class III; the official rank of Cheji Generals of each province was as same as that of their provincial governors; the official ranks of commanders of military regions including 4 ranks from subordinate Class II to Class I. The official rank of the 9 ministers and the generals of the top 4 armies of Taixia Country was Class I; the official rank of the top 3 counselors was immortal class.
At such a young age, Zhang Tie had won the favor of commander-in-chief and was appointed as the assistant of commander-in-chief and Weiji General of the Western Theater of Operations in Taixia Country. His rank was already closely under that of commanders of military regions. Across Peacewest Military Region, Zhang Tie's official rank was just one class inferior to that of the commander of Peacewest Military Region. If Zhang Tie made further progress, he would be promoted to the commander of a military region. How amazing it was!
If it were in peaceful time, such an appointment would definitely arouse a great shock across Taixia Country. People would definitely wonder how could Zhang Tie be appointed to such a high post at such a young age. However, there were not so many stereotypes in the theater of operations, where military regulations were more useful than background and seniority and anything that could help humans defeat demons would prioritize. The commander-in-chief's words had to be strictly followed in the theater of operations.
When the fact that Zhang Tie was appointed as Weiji General and the assistant of the commander-in-chief aroused a shock and disputes among Xuanyuan Fortress and the other 11 bases, Zuoqiu Mingyue's words made all the disputes disappear——Fiery Oil and grains are the dominating factors of our theater of operations. They're concerned about the morale of the soldiers in the theater of operations and the consolidation of the defensive line. If anyone dares make a military pledge that he could do better than Zhang Tie on the two things, I could also appoint him in the same post.
Grain supply could be guaranteed in the Western Theater of Operations as long as they were determined to make it. Even Qianji Hermit didn't go to the fields himself in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. As long as they wanted to guarantee the grain supply in the theater of operations, they could copy the set of measures adopted by Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory for fertilizing the soil and increasing the yield.
However, without Zhang Tie's consent, they couldn't make even one drop of Fiery Oil, not to mention a ton of it. Without Fiery Oil, many things would be empty talk.
Besides Fiery Oil, Qianji Hermit also manufactured airplanes and invented dual-drive engines. Additionally, he even produced some powerful weapons using Fiery Oil.
What was more, the role of all-purpose medicament was growing increasingly important after the holy war broke out. In the theater of operations, the all-purpose medicament had already become one of the most important materials in the logistics supply of the ground force. All-purpose medicaments also belonged to the Zhang family. The others might not get all-purpose medicaments easily; however, Zhang Tie could get as many as he desired.
If they considered it carefully, they would find that Qianji Hermit was really the only one across the theater of operations who was suitable to be the Weiji General despite his age; besides being familiar with farming, Zhang Tie could also invent Fiery oil and make waste profitable. Additionally, he could provide a lot of all-purpose medicament and be proficient in manufacturing various mechanized equipment and weapons.
Additionally, Zhang Tie could guarantee the stability of the rear end with his great battle strength. As long as Zhang Tie was there, he could easily deal with it even if some demon knights broke through the defense line and raided the rear end. It was said that Zhang Tie killed 2 earth demon knights and 2 black iron demon knights in the same combat. The entire process was like breaking a dead branch of a tree. Many people witnessed how he fought those demon knights. It was the Cheji General of Wuzhou province who reported Zhang Tie's military exploits. Additionally, if one wanted to know how many demon knights had Zhang Tie killed when he served as a scout of Blackwater Base, they'd better ask Zhang Tie himself. However, Zhang Tie didn't feel like revealing it to the public; neither did he prove any certificates of that. Therefore, there weren't any corresponding records of his military exploits during the process when he served as the scout of Blackwater Base.
After thinking through it, who dared make a military pledge to the commander-in-chief? Everybody just showed their reverence to Zuoqiu Mingyue inside——What a Military God of Taixia Country! He could make full use of one's abilities.
Of course, after hearing that Zhang Tie was leaving the frontline, many people who treated Zhang Tie as a powerful opponent on the Military Exploits Rankings also felt delighted about it. Because it meant that Zhang Tie could barely accumulate any more military exploits by killing demons since he took the office of Weiji General. At this moment, although Zhang Tie looked to be in a high position being paid high, Zhang Tie's name might not appear on the Heavens Fortune Rankings and be conferred as a duke in the future. Those people of Taiyi Fantasy Sect had such a thought. As they had been totally hostile against Zhang Tie openly, of course, they didn't want to make Zhang Tie outstanding once more. Besides being jealous of the fact that Zhang Tie became the Weiji General, Feng Yexiao the grand elder of Taiyi Fantasy Sect also let out a sigh inside.
...
When Zhang Tie was going to leave Blackwater Base on the morning of the 11th day of the month, Bai Suxian, Bai Runcheng, Feng Cangwu, Mountain Lifting Hermit who had just come back after carrying out his mission, the knights of Lord Guangnan's Mansion, the knight elders of Zhu Clan and Qian Clan who were familiar with Zhang Tie in Northeast Military Region and whose disciples were learning from Iron-Dragon Sect, the clan head of Lu Clan, the elders of Gu Clan, all of these people above came to bid a farewell to Zhang Tie. Loitering in the sky nearby Xuanyuan Fortress, they bade farewell to Zhang Tie. Even so, the group of people who came here to see Zhang Tie off was still not as eye-catching as an official airboat on their side.
”When an awl is placed in the bag, how could it not pierce the bag? When serving as the chief justice of Youzhou Province, he had already inflicted a heavy loss to Heavens Reaching Church and shocked so many people. Later on, although being framed by cunning traitors and experiencing a lot of troubles, Qianji Hermit still remained loyal to the country and stepped forward bravely and shouldered the heavy burden when Taixia Country was in trouble. What you did greatly rose the morale of knights within Northeast Military Region. We're really ennobled by you. Qianji Hermit, bon voyage, wish you have a bright future...”
Although Qian elder's words sounded a bit flattering, it indeed was what many people among Zhang Tie's team thought about at this moment.
The news that Zhang Tie was appointed as Weiji General and the assistant of commander-in-chief was shocking to others; especially to those people who were familiar with him, such as the elders of Zhu Clan and Qian Clan and Lu Dingzhi who once served as the finance director in a small country of Waii Subcontinent. Only these people who came from real official and major clans could sense the importance and influence of Zhang Tie's position.
Class III official rank was really something. The official rank of the provincial governor of Tongzhou Province, a medium-sized province was only subordinate Class IV; the official rank of the provincial governor of Yanzhou Province, a major province was only subordinate Class III; Lu Dingzhi as the finance minister of a small country in Waii Subcontinent was just a subordinate Class V official, so was Zhang Tie when he served as the chief justice of Youzhou Province. A Class V chief justice of a lower province was suddenly appointed as a Class III official of Taixia Country after resigning for so many years. That was definitely a miracle. As long as Zhang Tie was ambitious of being a high official, he could definitely be promoted to higher positions if he didn't make any big mistake. Of course, Zhang Tie's experience was admirable. Across Northeast Military Region, the Class II Cheng Honglie might be the only one whose official rank was higher than that of Zhang Tie. The commander of Peacewest Military Region's official rank was subordinate Class II, which was only a bit higher than that of Zhang Tie. To a certain extent, Zhang Tie's another identity as the assistant of commander-in-chief meant that he could act on behalf of Zuoqiu Mingyue. That was to say, Zhang Tie could almost be arbitrary in the Western Theater of Operations.
At such a young age, Zhang Tie had won the favor of commander-in-chief and Lord Guangnan's Mansion. Additionally, he had a powerful and terrifying battle strength and had grasped so many secret skills and immortal bloodlines. He would definitely have a bright future. After coming to the theater of operations for less than half a year, Zhang Tie had already made tremendous progress while others had just made bit achievements. How could it not make others enviable? Therefore, Qian elder and Zhu elder both showed their reverence to Zhang Tie much more than before.
”Thank you for your blessing!”
Zhang Tie revealed a smile towards Qian elder politely without any arrogance and complacency. The Class III official rank might be very enviable to others; however, Zhang Tie didn't care about it too much as he was neither ambitious nor did he value official ranks and meritorious deeds. Additionally, he had other pursuits. The reason that he took over this position mainly lay in that he felt nobody else could do it better than him. As long as he worked hard, he might save a lot of soldiers, families and commoners and protect more cities of Taixia Country from being destroyed by demons; that's all...
Those knights bade a brief farewell to Zhang Tie one after another.
As for the elders of Qian Clan, Zhu Clan and Lu Clan, Zhang Tie's current official rank could win more respect from people; however, as for many knights, Zhang Tie's military exploits of killing two earth demon knights and two black iron demon knights in one combat was mostly overwhelming. How many earth knights and black iron knights were there in Youzhou Province in total?
All the knights in Youzhou Province who were free today had come here out of etiquette, including Guo Hongyi.
Soon after talking to the humble Li elder of Miyun Prefecture, Zhang Tie had seen Guo Hongyi.
Outsiders couldn't see Guo Hongyi's change; however, the moment Zhang Tie caught sight of Guo Hongyi, he had known that she had dressed up, although it was just a light make-up.