Chapter 1034: All demoted

Drunken Spear, Ye Lai, et cetera had done so much hard work to become Generals; I could not just let Zhu Hai's one sentence cause it all to be lost. Definitely not!

Thinking about this, I said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, I was the one who commanded the King's Hunt. Since we lost, I must be blamed. If you want to punish someone, punish me alone."

Situ Xin apologized, too. "Your Majesty, as the Commander in chief, I was unable to turn the tides of the battle. If you want to issue punishment, you should punish the two of us!"

…

Zhu Hai laughed. The marks on his face were like torn orange peels. "So amusing! Two Generals are actually holding Your Majesty hostage? How do Tian Ling City's generals treat you? All of you are relying on your contributions to blackmail His Majesty? Preposterous!"

He turned around and said to Lochlan, "Your Majesty, Moon and Swirling Abyss cities are staring at us ravenously. War is about to arrive. How can we allow this? We can't let those who make mistakes go unpunished. Your Majesty, please be fair!"

Lochlan frowned. "Ocean Duke, Master Li and Situ Xin are pillars of the empire. How can I punish them?"

Zhu Hai replied, "Your Majesty, I brought the Jiu Li City army over, but I am unwilling to see this."

A General behind Zhu Hai cupped his fist. "Your Majesty, the military's most important matter is to punish and reward fairly. Moreover, Waterfront City was lost; we have to punish them!"

Lochlan sighed. "Master Li won’t gain any salary for three months, half a year for Situ Xin!"

"How could their punishments be so light?"

Zhu Hai said aggressively, "Li Xiao Yao is arrogant and doesn't hold you in any regard. He should be removed from the Royal Army, and then let someone who is more loyal to you lead it!"

"Ocean Duke!"

Lochlan slapped the throne and stood up. He raged but instantly noticed that he had shown too much. He then said calmly, "No one is to talk about removing Master Li from his position. From today onward, whoever mentions it will be beheaded!"

Zhu Hai was shocked. "Your Majesty, can you tell me why?"

Lochlan's voice was as cold as ice. "Apart from him, no other General in the empire is worthy of the Royal Army!"

Zhu Hai said, "General Shao Yang is twenty-nine this year and is great at battling. He will definitely be good enough for the Royal Army General position!"

"Enough!"

Killing intent flashed across Lochlan's eyes. "I will choose who to appoint; you don't need to speak anymore. Only Master Li can be the Royal Army General. Now and in the future, it will be the same!"

Zhu Hai nodded. "Yes, understood."

I heaved a sigh of relief. I had to say something; if not, things would be awkward. "Your Majesty, since I lost Waterfront City, I do need to be punished. Since you can't take away my position, why don’t you drop my rank?"

"Master Li, you…"

Lochlan looked at me emotionally. Since he wanted to turn Zhu Hai's two hundred seventy thousand troops into his own, this needed time. Lochlan said, "Listen to my orders: Suiding Duke Li Xiao Yao will be demoted from Commander in chief to Country Guarding General! Guards General Situ Xin will be demoted by two ranks and will become the Country Protector General!"

Situ Xin was also pardoned. As long as his troops were not taken away, who cared about rank?

…

Zhu Hai said, "Fire Dragon, Xia Yu, Fire Axe, and Autumn Harvest armies should be punished, too!"

Lochlan frowned. "How so?"

Zhu Hai said, "Take away their respective generals’ position!"

Lochlan was stunned.

I said hurriedly, "Definitely not! If so many generals get demoted at once, it may cause chaos."

Zhu Hai cupped his fists. "Your Majesty, since we suffered such a major defeat, the generals should be punished. There's such a rule in the military, right? Why does Your Majesty want to protect the losers?"

The Minister of War said, "Your Majesty, please punish the generals!"

Lochlan sighed. "Okay, then! Okay, then! Minister of War, Minister of Personnel, come over to discuss this with me."

"Yes!"

The two ministers headed over and helped guide Lochlan. Not long after, Lochlan stood up. "Listen to my orders: Fire Dragon Army General Fang Ge Que is demoted to deputy and his rank is dropped to South Protecting General; Country Protector General Dan Taiyu is promoted to commander! Xia Yu Army General Ye Lai is demoted to deputy and dropped by five ranks. South Protecting General Wei Hu is now the new commander! Autumn Harvest Army Zhou Ning is demoted and dropped to Country Protector General; East Protecting General Liang Yin is now the new commander. Purple Spirit Army Murong Han is demoted to deputy and dropped by four ranks to become West Protecting General; Huyan Li is promoted to commander! Violent Thunder Army's Ou Zhidi is promoted; and lastly, Fire Axe Army's Bei Chenfeng is promoted!"

…

After a series of orders, the generals were all stripped off their ranks. However, those promoted were the ones whom Lochlan trusted. Unfortunately, Ye Lai, Fang Ge Que, Drunken Spear, et cetera were demoted, too. As for Q-Sword, who was a Major previously, he used his achievement points to become Fire Axe Army's number 1.

Tian Ling City's various armies returned to their original state, and only Q-Sword and I remained commanders. Luckily, I had firm backing; if not, I would not have been protected this time!

I looked at Zhu Hai. This old fellow did not come here only to provide two hundred seventy thousand troops, did he? He came here to stir trouble, to mess up our army system, and then find a chance to enter, right? Unfortunately, his thinking was too simple. After Luo Xun's matter, even Lochlan would not allow such a thing to happen.

As expected, just when I thought about that, Lochlan announced, "The five armies will go through a revolution and turn into three. The Fire Rhino Army will have one hundred thousand, and General Shao Shiyang will be its commander, guarding the Sea of No Return. As for the Heaven Barrier Army, it will have one hundred thousand; Lin Qiong will be its commander, guarding the War God River. The Earth Ocean Army will have seventy thousand, and Qin Yi will be the commander!"

Lochlan smiled. "Jiu Li City and Ba Huang City have fought before; Master Li was enemies with all of you. I hope that all of you can forget about that and fight for the empire together!"

Zhu Hai had several Generals behind him. A young General stared at me. I recognized him, Lin Qiong. A crazy fellow who I had fought in Ba Huang City before. At that time, we could not fight back against him at all. Now that we had leveled up and I was also appointed Royal Army General, not only were we the same level, I was also slightly above him.

…

Lochlan's goal was really simple, which was to mess up Jiu Li City's original arrangement so that they would lose their cohesion. He sent them to three separate locations, reducing Zhu Hai's control over the three armies. It was a really wise move. Like this, the three armies would fall into the empire's control sooner or later.

Finally, after the punishment was given out, the Generals congratulated one another. With the new Commanders and Jiu Li City's troops, Tian Ling City now had a total of eleven armies. This was greatly beneficial for them with regard to the upcoming country war. Especially with a super Boss Commander like Lin Qiong, he would be of great help!

As for the Fire Rhino Army's original commander, Demon Dragon Fire Rhino, he had already been killed by me.

It was announced: "Those with something, speak; if not, we will scatter!"

I stood up once more and Lochlan asked, "Master Li, is there a problem?"

I nodded and cupped my fists. "Pearl gave me something to support the future ruler. I promised Pearl that once everything is peaceful, I will help build a tomb worthy of her. As such, Your Majesty, please let the Ministry of Personnel send me some manpower to fix Pearl's tomb."

Lochlan smiled. "So it's about Sister Pearl. That's fine; go do it! Listen to Master Li. No one must oppose this!"

The Minister of Personnel said, "How big does the Suiding Duke want Princess Pearl's tomb to be? They're usually split into King, Duke, and Marquis."

I did not bother thinking. "Pearl paid her life for the empire, and she also had royal blood. She was a rare talent, so why don’t we use the king's ceremony? Can we do that Your Majesty?"

Lochlan nodded. "En, Master Li values brotherhood and relationships; I have no reason to oppose! Follow Master Li's words!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

…

There was nothing else. I left the palace and the Ministry of Personnel sent many workers in the direction of the tomb.

When I returned to her resting place, my boots stepped toward her relatively old and ugly tomb. This one was hurriedly dug. After her death, there were so many wars, so I could not help her build a new one. Now, there was finally a chance.

"Open the tomb and move her coffin!" a worker shouted.

I raised my hand. "Wait."

"Why, sir?"

I walked out and picked up a white flower in front of her tomb. I held it and bowed before turning around. "You can begin."

…

When one chose a path, one could not turn back. When I walked alone, I would always think about Pearl who had died.

How good would things be if she did not die?

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