After Yan Yingyuan had departed, Wang Chengen, emboldened, whispered, "Your Majesty, promoting a ninth-rank magistrate to a second-rank governor... I fear the other officials will not take it well."
In the Ming Dynasty, a governor was a second-rank official, or a prime second-rank official if they held a concurrent position as a Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.
Emperor Chongzhen shot Wang Chengen a glare. "I stated in the court yesterday that whoever was willing to lead five thousand troops to recover Jizhou would be promoted to a second-rank official. At the time, not a single civil or military official in the court responded."
Chapter 131