53: Chapter 53 Losing People’s Hearts 53: Chapter 53 Losing People’s Hearts And just like that, it’s ten taels of Silver!
This single instance could match their entire year’s military salary!
It was both surprising and delightful for them.
At the same time, they began to secretly grumble to themselves, never expecting that with the departure of the Main General would come such substantial benefits.
For the first time, they even started to quietly wonder why Chen Baicheng hadn’t left earlier.
“Hehe, Commander Fan, aren’t you going to accept the decree and express your gratitude?”
With Lin Yi’s reminder, Fan Niu finally recovered from his shock, hurried to perform a ceremonial bow, and prepared to give thanks.
But just at that moment, the former Capital Commandant Li Bai, who had just been promoted to Deputy Commander, suddenly opened his mouth to speak.
After all, he was a trusted follower of Chen Baicheng.
Although his rank was not as high as Fan Niu’s, his actual power had always been greater than Fan Niu’s.
Precisely because of this, he was the only one among those promoted who felt somewhat dissatisfied in his heart.
After all, although he was promoted, it practically made no difference from not being promoted at all.
However, before he could speak up, Lin Yi, who saw all this, took the initiative to speak.
But Lin Yi did not address Li Bai; instead, he turned his gaze towards each officer present and then spoke indifferently, “Oh, by the way, before I came here, His Majesty also had a word with me.
His Majesty asked me to inquire if any of you have objections to the overall promotions this time.
If there are objections, His Majesty said that we would not promote Commander Chen Baicheng just yet and would call him back.
Then everyone’s current positions would remain unchanged.
Oh yes, and the reward Silver for the soldiers – if the promotions don’t go ahead, I will take it back with me.
Hehe, no worries, everyone, feel free to speak your mind, and feel free to raise any objections.
After all, His Majesty cannot disregard everyone’s sentiment.”
Upon finishing these words, everyone was stunned, and at the same time, they all felt their hearts skip a beat.
They began to cautiously look around at each other, fearing someone would voice an objection.
Many had been waiting in their positions for several years.
They dreamt of ascending to a higher rank.
Even though they cannot leap directly to the position of Great Commander, at least they had moved up a level!
These were the thoughts of the Generals, but the soldiers were even more afraid.
This was pure Silver right in front of them!
If it were all to be squandered by a single word from these officials, they would surely find a way to give them a beating under cover of darkness.
After all, cutting off one’s wealth is like killing one’s parents!
Lin Yi, observing the behavior of those below, couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth into a smile.
When his gaze turned to Li Bai, who had just been about to speak, he saw that this man’s face had already turned ashen.
And clearly, at this moment, he dared not speak.
After all, he was not a fool; if he truly stood out at this time, he would be placing himself in direct opposition to everyone in the Right Martial Guard.
If that were the case, he would likely have no place to stand in the Right Martial Guard anymore.
Once again observing Fan Niu at this very moment, one could see his gaze towards Lin Yi was filled with admiration.
Who would have thought that this little eunuch could shut Li Bai up with a single sentence?
At the same time, it made everyone else afraid to speak out in this situation.
Especially when it came to distributing silver to every soldier, who would dare to make insensitive remarks?
Provoking public anger would surely lead to no good end.
After all, these soldiers are not truly loyal to any single person.
Even Chen Baicheng is no exception; if the interests of the majority are affected, the only option would be expulsion by the group.
Even the Emperor wouldn’t make an exception.
Have you not heard the saying that water can carry a boat but can also capsize it?
After waiting for a moment and seeing that no one spoke up, Fan Niu stepped forward and, with a ‘thump’, knelt on one knee while raising both hands, then respectfully took the Holy Decree from Lin Yi’s hands.
“Subject Fan Niu, on behalf of all the soldiers of the Right Martial Guard, accepts the decree and expresses gratitude!”
Following his action, the surrounding soldiers also immediately knelt down in waves, shouting their thanks for the Emperor’s immense grace.
While Chen Baicheng was still in the Shangshan Room, enjoying the fine wine and listening to the Emperor’s flattering words meant to win him over, Lin Yi had already begun distributing the reward silver to the soldiers with the assistance of Fan Niu.
For a time, every soldier who received their silver was overjoyed.
They also experienced for the first time how wonderful it was without Commander Chen Baicheng!
Unknowingly, the hearts of the entire Right Martial Guard had changed.
Soldiers originally loyal to Chen Baicheng had unwittingly developed a hint of resentment towards him.
They had always believed that it was Chen Baicheng who provided them protection, yet they never expected that it was this very tree that stole the rain and dew meant for them.
Human hearts are easy to sway; even in solid relationships, personal interests hold greater importance.
The process continued until the evening before all the money and affairs were finally settled.
On the other hand, Chen Baicheng, under the Emperor’s deliberate flattery and persuasion, was drinking himself into stupor.
Even when he was carried back to his residence, he noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
As for Li Bai, he had originally planned to sneak off and inform Chen Baicheng about this matter.
But because Chen Baicheng was so drunk, he didn’t even get to see him.
After a brief “We’ll talk about it tomorrow”, Chen returned to his room to practice martial arts with a concubine he had brought in secretly.
As for the concubine, although she heard the commotion outside during the day, she was after all just a minor consort, not free to come and go from the residence as she pleased, and didn’t know what exactly had happened.
She had intended to demonstrate her martial arts to Chen Baicheng and then talk to him about it, but to her surprise, he fell asleep halfway through.
He didn’t even manage to put away his weapons.
Of course, since the dagger used by Chen Baicheng was just a short blade, at most seven or eight centimeters,
To be precise, it should be called a hidden weapon, and thus it wouldn’t cause her any harm.
Once he fell asleep, the consort immediately threw away the dagger with disdain.
Even looking at the sleeping Chen Baicheng, she spat contemptuously:
“Pah, such a grand general, not using an Eight-foot Spear, but at least a Nine-foot Green Blade would be appropriate.
Who would have thought he’d use such a small hidden weapon, not even as long as a finger?
Such a narrow dagger can’t even pierce armor in battle.
Forget it, forget it, I’ll go out later and ride a horse around the stable in the backyard.”