Everyone was stunned. Lin Yi had only been in Xiliang Commandery for less than two months. Was he really that amazing?
Zhang Zhiwei frowned and said, "It is said that Lin Yi only brought a thousand men with him to take up his post, while the Prince of Northern Liang withdrew the Asura Army. However, thirty thousand civilians chose to defect to Lin Yi. Could it be those people?"
"No way, 30,000 civilians defeated the pride of the Northern Region Barbarians Tuoba Yu?" Everyone exclaimed in unison that it was impossible; this was simply the most ridiculous thing in the All Under Heaven.
Li Anlan looked at Qin Li and said in a deep voice, "Minister Qin, has Lin Yi's army been reported? What's the story behind his 30,000 men?"
The sudden appearance of 30,000 people—does Lin Yi perhaps have a private army?
" Lin Yi's army?"
Qin Li shook his head, just about to say he didn't know, when an old man beside him stepped forward. He was the Grand Commandant's assistant.
"Your Majesty, Lin Yi, the Prefect of Xiliang Commandery, recently sent a memorial to the Ministry of War, stating that they are facing great danger and therefore requesting that Your Majesty allocate funds to train new soldiers. However, his request is rather outrageous, so I have already refused."
"The request was outrageous, so you refused?" Li Anlan was taken aback. This old man seemed to have a decent relationship with Lin Rusong, so why would he refuse?
Even Qin Li couldn't help but glance at him. This old guy was too presumptuous. He refused without even looking at me, the Grand Commandant. How outrageous could it be?
Everyone understood immediately: this guy definitely had a grudge against Lin Rusong, so he was going to mess with his son.
Seeing the looks on everyone's faces, the old man felt wronged and said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, it's not that I have any issues with the Prince of Northern Liang and his son, but Lin Yi's demands are simply outrageous. He's just a prefect, yet he wants to train 100,000 troops and also wants Your Majesty to allocate funds and supplies for him. This..."
Everyone's lips twitched. This was truly outrageous; no wonder the old man had refused outright.
You're just a prefect, yet you want to raise 100,000 troops? That's more than the Prince of Beining Commandery! That's an outrageous demand.
Even Li Anlan couldn't help but twitch his lips, thinking to himself, "Is Lin Rusong's son stupid, or does he think I'm stupid enough to give him the authority to command an army of 100,000? And provide him with weapons and equipment? What is he thinking?"
That's utterly delusional!
Cough cough!
Li Anlan coughed twice and chuckled dryly, "It's not your fault, my dear minister. Lin Yi's request was truly outrageous, and we really shouldn't have granted it."
"Your Majesty, I believe Lin Yi has overstepped his authority. He has 30,000 troops without even reporting to Your Majesty, plus the 50,000 Asura Army, making a total of 80,000 men. This is beyond his authority!" Ran Xianhua, the Prefect of Grain Administration, stepped forward and sneered.
Upon hearing this, Li Anlan's eyes lit up. That made sense; perhaps Lin Yi could be punished.
It would be a bit excessive to punish someone so soon after they've performed meritorious service...
Just then, the old man who had spoken earlier spoke again, saying with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, Lin Yi did report this. Although he sent this memorial more than ten days ago, the journey was a bit slow, so it only arrived yesterday."
puff!
Li Anlan had just taken a sip of tea when he immediately spat it out.
That's fucking outrageous!
The memorial, submitted ten days ago, only arrived yesterday. He looked at Ma Yi beside him and said in a deep voice, " Ma Yi, what were you doing? Are the horses at the post station so slow? It took them ten days to reach the capital!"
Ma Yi was the Grand Master of the Imperial Stud, responsible for managing the royal horses and overseeing the post stations reported by ministers. This guy was acting too recklessly; this concerned important military matters!
Ma Yi's face stiffened, and he lowered his head to explain, "Your Majesty, the Heir of Northern Liang's Xiliang Commandery has never had warhorses, and that Bai Zizai..."
Upon hearing this, Li Anlan suddenly realized that Xiliang Commandery had never submitted any memorials before!
Bai Zizai, that old bastard, has always been dissatisfied with him, so he only contacts the Prince of Northern Liang and completely ignores him, which is why there is no post station for him.
So it seems Lin Yi deliberately stirred up trouble.
The old man chuckled dryly, "Your Majesty, the person who delivered the memorial also said that these are warhorses sent by the Prince of Beining Commandery to support Xiliang Commandery; they are already their best horses."
Forehead!
Everyone was stunned. This was too outrageous! It turned out that these warhorses were a gift from the Prince of Beining Commandery to Lin Yi. Lin Yi was trying to disgust the Emperor.
But Lin Yi is really in a bad situation. If he only has these kinds of warhorses, how did he manage to defeat Tuoba Yu?
Were all of Tuoba Yu's 80,000-strong army women?
"That's not right!"
At this moment, Tan Cheng thought of a question and asked curiously, "If Lin Yi's warhorse is so slow, why did the victory report arrive a day ago?"
Forehead!
The hall was completely silent, except for Li Anlan, who stared wide-eyed and whose breathing became rapid.
Damn it, Lin Yi actually tried to pull this on me! This is utterly outrageous!
Just as he was about to explode in anger, Qin Li whispered, "Your Majesty, Lin Yi has just performed a great service. It would be somewhat unreasonable to punish him now."
"Snort!"
Li Anlan's face turned green; he realized he couldn't afford to offend him anymore.
He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Pass down the order: Lin Yi, the heir apparent of Heir of Northern Liang, has rendered meritorious service in killing the enemy. He is hereby appointed as the Great General Divine Might, promoted one rank, and awarded ten thousand taels of gold. In addition, he is permitted to establish an army of fifty thousand to guard Dayu Pass, and all military pay and supplies will be provided."
As Qin Li said, if this meritorious service is not rewarded, it would likely discourage many people.
"This reward..."
Everyone's hearts skipped a beat. To be honest, the reward was rather ordinary; this person had done something truly remarkable.
Aside from the permission to establish an army of 50,000 and the provision of supplies, everything else is completely fictitious, especially the title of "Great General Divine Might," which is just a nice-sounding name; there's no such thing as a general.
However, considering the Emperor's attitude towards Northern Liang, it's not entirely unreasonable.
Li Anlan had no interest in his ministers' thoughts, but he looked towards Northern Liang and sighed, " Lin Rusong, I underestimated your son!"
Northern Liang Royal City!
Looking at the battle report in his hand, Lin Rusong couldn't help but laugh heartily, exclaiming, "Hahaha, as expected of my son, Lin Rusong! My son is truly remarkable!"
The infamous Great General Divine Eagle, whose army of 80,000 was routed by his own son's 30,000 men, was forced to flee in panic.
What's more, the Formation-Breaking Camp's three thousand men fought against eighty thousand men—that's absolutely terrifying!
"The young master is indeed formidable; that's Tuoba Yu!"
Wang Ziwen couldn't hide his excitement. The young master had actually done something so important; he was genuinely happy for him.
He was originally worried that the Crown Prince would not be able to withstand Tuoba Yu, after all, Tuoba Yu was a figure who once dominated Northern Liang, and was also a top general of the younger generation of the Northern Region Barbarians, definitely not a small character.
Even if he were to personally face Tuoba Yu, he wouldn't dare say he could guarantee a victory.
To everyone's surprise, the Crown Prince had pulled off such a spectacular feat. This battle had terrified Tuoba Yu, leaving him too afraid to fight the Crown Prince and instead turning his attention to Li Sansi.