From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Chapter 48 Transfer

Ye Qingxue looked at the fire-scorched and rock-split marks on the cliff face, then at the rows of corpses covered with tattered sheets on the platform. "You guarded it for fifteen days?"

Lin Yan didn't answer the question. He looked up at Ye Qingxue, "How's things going in Zhenbei City?"

"We held them. The main force of the Northern Barbarians was blocked at Qipanling, and Guli's unit came by detour. They were wiped out by you, and their flank was broken."

Ye Qingxue paused for a moment, then said, "If you hadn't held Guli back for half a month, Zhenbei City might not have been able to hold out."

Lin Yan leaned against the stone wall and let out a long sigh.

Then he turned and walked up the cliff. "I've captured Guli alive and he's locked in the cave. Whether you want to interrogate him or exchange him is up to you."

Ye Qingxue was stunned for a moment.

"You captured Guli alive?" She caught up with Lin Yan and said incredulously, "He's the commander of ten thousand men in the Blood Wolf Tribe—"

"I know."

"You broke through?"

"Just broke through."

Lin Yan stopped and turned to look at her. "Don't interrogate him yet, I'll do it first. He knows some information about the Northern Barbarians, which might be useful."

Ye Qingxue watched his retreating figure in silence for a while, then followed him.

After daybreak, Ye Qingxue's troops began to mop up the remaining enemy forces.

The barbarian camp had mostly retreated, leaving only some wounded soldiers and the remains of their supplies that could not escape, which were wiped out in a single cavalry charge.

The refugees came down from the cliff and knelt on the ground, kowtowing to Lin Yan.

The old woman who had been feeding the baby with her fingers tremblingly placed a cornbread into Lin Yan's hand.

"Take it, take it..."

The old woman said, "I have nothing to thank you for..."

Lin Yan took the cornbread, broke it in half, and returned it to the old woman, saying, "Auntie, the road ahead is still long."

The old woman's eyes reddened.

When Ye Qingxue led her troops back to Zhenbei City, she left behind a batch of grain and medicinal herbs, as well as a hundred-man squad to help clean up the mess.

"The military government's commendation order should arrive soon."

Ye Qingxue said this before she left.

"I'll go get it myself," Lin Yan said, "but I have conditions."

"What are the conditions?"

"Let these people on Iron Coffin Cliff be registered as good citizens."

Ye Qingxue was silent for a moment, then said, "I can't make that decision."

"Then let those who are in charge make the decision," Lin Yan said. "I'll wait here."

Ten days later, the military government's commendation order arrived at Iron Coffin Cliff.

The cavalryman who arrived was the same one as before, but his attitude was noticeably more polite. He dismounted, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and then spoke: "General Lin, the military government has ordered you to go to the military government office in Zhenbei City to receive your reward."

Inside the Zhenbei City Military Government Office, Gao Wenjing sat on a side table.

Sitting in the main seat was Cao Yan, the deputy commander of the Northern Military Prefecture, a fourth-rank military officer. All the examiners from the Military Selection Division were present, and several rows of military officers stood behind the desk.

Lin Yan entered the main hall and bowed with clasped hands.

Cao Yan sized him up. "You're Lin Yan?"

"Yes."

"Not very old."

Cao Yan opened the military report on the table. "In the Battle of Iron Coffin Cliff, with only a few hundred remnants and refugees, you held off Guli's three thousand barbarian soldiers for fifteen days, killing over four hundred and capturing a commander alive. How did you do that?"

"The terrain," Lin Yan said. "Iron Coffin Cliff is surrounded by cliffs on three sides, with only one path leading up. In addition, there are hidden sentries and passages left by the Mountain Battalion. If we can hold the slope, we can hold the position."

"Mountain Camp".

Cao Yan pondered these three words and looked at Gao Wenjing beside him. Gao Wenjing's expression was not good.

"Do you have the Mountain Battalion's token?" Cao Yan asked again.

Lin Yan took out a black jade token from his pocket and handed it over. Cao Yan took it and looked it over.

"It really is Gu Changshan's. He's dead?"

He was chased and killed at Black Wind Ridge, and died from exhaustion.

Cao Yan returned the jade token to Lin Yan, saying, "The military government has a record of what happened to Gu Changshan back then. The Shan Battalion wasn't a rebel army; they were framed by someone in the court. Let's not talk about it anymore."

Lin Yan took the jade pendant back.

Cao Yan opened another document.

"You were previously a registered commoner, but you have passed the military selection examination and been released from the commoner status. Now that you have made military contributions, you are eligible to be granted a military rank according to the law. The remaining troops of the Iron Coffin Cliff garrison will be incorporated into the Zhenbei Army's supply battalion. Lin Yan will be granted the rank of Colonel and stationed at Iron Coffin Cliff."

Lin Yan stepped forward. "Governor, I have another request."

"explain."

"In the Battle of Iron Coffin Cliff, forty-three soldiers were killed and over a hundred were wounded. The surviving veterans were released from military service and allowed to serve in civilian positions."

Cao Yan pondered for a few moments, then picked up his pen and added a few strokes to the document, "Approved. Those who died in battle shall be included in the list of martyrs, their families shall be exempted from taxes, and those who survived shall be recorded in the list of meritorious service."

Lin Yan clasped his hands in thanks, "Thank you, Governor."

Seven days later, Lin Yan returned to Qingzhou City to pick up his mother and sister to go to Iron Coffin Cliff.

In the small courtyard of Liuxiang, Chen was hanging clothes to dry. Lin Xiu squatted in the corner of the yard, writing words on the ground with a twig while muttering to herself.

Lin Yan pushed open the door and went in, and the clothes in Chen's hands fell to the ground.

"Mother," Lin Yan said.

Chen stood up and walked over to him, looked him up and down, reached out and touched the newly scabbed scar on his cheek, her lips trembling for a long time before she finally said, "It's good that you're back."

Lin Xiu threw down the tree branch and rushed over to hug his leg, "Brother! Brother! We won at Iron Coffin Cliff! We heard it all in Qingzhou! They said you captured the barbarian general alive!"

"Who told you that?" Lin Yan rubbed her head.

"Everyone on the street is talking about it! Grandma Zhou, who sells tofu, even gave me a bowl of soy milk!"

Lin Yan took two things out of his pocket and placed them on the table.

The documents for leaving the military register, as well as the military officer's official appointment certificate.

The official documents for leaving the military register were stamped with the seals of the Military Selection Office and the Household Department, while the officer's official document was stamped with the seal of the Northern Military Government.

Ms. Chen held the two pieces of paper in her hand for a long time.

"We're no longer registered as exiles," Lin Yan said. "From now on, Xiu'er can go to school. Mother can go to a proper clinic for medical treatment, and no one will dare to stop her."

Mrs. Chen nodded. "If your father were still alive..."

Before she could finish speaking, she carefully folded the document and put it away in the cabinet. Lin Xiu stood on tiptoe and asked, "Brother, can I go to school now?"

"able."

Lin Xiu jumped up and down with joy, "I want to learn to write! I want to learn lots and lots of words!"

That evening, Lin Yan went to Liuxiang in the south of the city. The tofu stall was still there, and the old woman was squatting in front of it packing up. She straightened up when she saw him coming.

"Did you win?"

"We won."

The old woman nodded. "Did you carve those three vertical lines on the stone?"

"Yes."

The old woman turned over a stone used for pressing tofu. Three weathered vertical lines were carved on the bottom. "I've kept this stone for twenty years. You haven't disgraced the Shanzi Camp."

Lin Yan sat on a low stool at the tofu stall and recounted the important parts of the Iron Coffin Cliff story. The old woman listened without saying a word, but simply cut the last piece of tofu on the stall in half, keeping one half for herself and pushing the other half in front of Lin Yan.

"Gu Changshan owed me, and you've paid it back," she said. "From now on, you don't owe anything."

Three months later.

The slope of Iron Coffin Cliff is paved with stone slabs, and the stone cave at the top of the cliff is full of people.

Wang Tiezhu was in charge of the warehouse, Lu Laonian was smoking a pipe at the cliff entrance, Chen the carpenter had made several new barricades, and Xiong Kuo was leading the veterans of the supply battalion in drills, with shouts of battle ringing out from morning till night.

Lin Yan stood on the cliff top and hung the black jade plaque on a newly carved stone tablet at the cliff entrance.

The names of the fallen soldiers of the Mountain Battalion are engraved on the stone tablet.

The first one is Gu Changshan.

"Chief, the military government has sent people." Xiong Kuo ran up the slope.

Lin Yan turned around.

It was Wang Xiaoyi who arrived, Ye Qingxue's messenger.

"Lieutenant Lin, Lieutenant Ye requests your presence at Zhenbei City." Wang Xiaoyi wiped his sweat. "It's a new order from the military government."

"What orders?"

"You are being transferred to Zhenbei City as the Deputy Commander of the Supply Battalion."

Wang Xiaoyi handed over a military order, "Colonel Ye said to hurry up."

"She didn't say."

Wang Xiaoyi smiled. "But judging from her expression, it's a good thing."