In the meeting.

Even though most of the people present in the meeting suspected that general Qing Huan was biased towards the bigger groups non of them spoke since they did not want to anger the general and the large influential groups of nobles or the nouveau riche.

At that moment general Qing Huan started listing the people who were up for promotion "There are no openings for a 4000 man commander or a 3000 man commander but all under them are open I suppose you all know that. For the promotion let us start with the 100-man commanders first we have Hao Yu congratulations I to see more of you. Next..."

The general continued listing names for the 100-man commanders the 300-man commanders then the 500-man commanders "Alright now we are done with the 500-man commanders let us continue to the 1000-man commanders."

Hearing this everyone suddenly tensed. Every 100-man commander prayed that a miracle would happen and he would be promoted directly.

1000-man commanders are very influential on and off the battlefield. Becoming a 1000-man commander with enough wealth for three generations of your family would never have to worry about food or shelter with only the salary you are paid and that is not even including the loot you will get and most importantly being a 1000-man commander would protect you from fighting personally. Every rank is safer than the one before it for example a 100-man commander is safe as long as his men are protecting and so he does not need to fight and 300 man commander is safer than a 100-man commander since he has at least three of them and if all of them do not die or run away he will be safe. 

Now going on that scale you can see how a thousand-man commander is safer than all of those under him since he has ten 100-man commanders three 300-man commanders and two 500-man commanders.

Lin Feng expected to be promoted to a 1000-man army commander since he did not have any deaths in his men in the last month and unlike Ying Zheng, he was on the front lines. While Ying Zheng was in the middle of the army and he lost eighteen men and has around thirty men injured.

Most importantly Lin Feng created great momentum in all of his battles and he always went in ahead of his men to lead by example. Although all his men respected him none of the different camps invited him into their ranks since he seemed to be a risky investment.

General Qing Huan had stopped for a moment when he said his last words to create tension and suspension for what he was about to say next "For the 1000 man commanders there are nine positions available. Alright for the first position is commander Min Hao. Welcome commander I expect great things of you.

Hearing this commander Min Hao bowed and said "Thank you for the trust in me commander I will not disappoint you."

Commander Min Hao was from the general's camp so naturally, general Qing Huan was happy.

There were three different camps on this side of the military. First, it was the Qing family's side whose leader is naturally general Qing Huan. The Qing family's side was the most powerful of the three sides and commander Jin messenger wu and Ying Zheng were naturally on that side. The Qing family's side had control of almost half of the power.

The second strongest camp was the Li family and its leader Li Yue. The Li family had control of more than a quarter of the power in the military camp.

Last but not least is the Ma family which was led by Ma Hui. The Ma family controlled a bit less than a quarter. The Ma family side considered the Li family side its closest ally and enemy. When they were not fighting the Qing family side or enemy barbarians which rarely happened they were fighting amongst themselves.

Almost all the 500-man commanders or above knew that the military was biased towards their own men but they all hope that this time there will be a change or a chance. 'Maybe God has seen me this time.' They all their hope on God most of them unwilling to grovel beneath the feet of the powerful.  Hope is a foolish thing it makes us believe in the things we never thought possible but there are always two sides to a story however stupid hope is maybe just maybe it will be your time next maybe God, the Heavens, the world, the universe or whatever has noticed you and you gave up at last step just as you were about to succeed but you should rather give up unless you have a wall against your back and you can not go back but even if you think you will succeed in the next moment what you could not do for a long time it's better to give up.

Giving up is not a sign of weakness it just shows you are strong enough to know your own boundaries. There's always some relief in giving up.

But then again What's so good about giving up? Is it better to escape from reality to the point where you're throwing away your hope?1

General Qing Huan continued "the second person to get the 1000-man commander is commander Zhang Yi congratulations I wish you all the best." but this time general Qing Huan did not smile or talk too much since Zhang Yi is from the Li family side.

Zheng Yi bowed slightly bowed being neither rude of subservient. "Thank you general Qing."

General Qing Huan did not pay any attention to Zheng Yi's rudeness and continued "The third person for the 1000 man commander position is commander Ying Zheng. I hope you will have great success in this position and will continue to do your great work." General Qing Huan was clearly much brighter seeing Ying Zheng's name since he was in his camp and Ying Zheng seemed to have great prospects and was obedient, he did as he was told and jumped into a hole if you asked him.

Lin Feng was so sure about being promoted when he saw the three people who were promoted before him. If those guys who were not as accomplished as he was were being promoted directly from 100-man commanders it should be easier to promote him who is a 500-man commander. Perhaps they are saving best for last Lin Feng comforted himself.

But when general Qing Huan reached the ninth person he was enraged and stood up.

Seeing a mere 500-man commander wanting to cause trouble everyone was ready to get amused. 

***

End of chapter

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