The situation in the imperial court was not just unbelievable to Li Si and others; even Ying Zheng found it incredible. Previously, Lin Tian's policies had touched upon the interests of certain individuals. However, he had never imagined that so many people would attack Lin Tian simultaneously. And this was happening right after Lin Tian's army had just achieved a great victory over the Wei army and earned significant merit. This made Ying Zheng almost disbelieve his eyes. Consequently, his expression grew extremely grim as he stared intently at the kneeling officials.
"General Lin has just defeated the Wei army and encircled the entire Wei kingdom within Daliang. What crime has he committed that warrants recalling General Lin Tian to Xianyang and heavily punishing him?"
The killing intent in Ying Zheng's eyes was palpable. If so many officials truly intended to bring down Lin Tian, he would not hesitate to slaughter them all, clearing Lin Tian's path forward. However, at this moment, many officials were so engrossed in the idea of taking down Lin Tian while they had the chance that few noticed Ying Zheng's murderous intent.
Upon hearing Ying Zheng's question, they responded with excitement:
"Your Majesty, General Lin Tian's previous actions have greatly increased the resistance of other kingdoms against our Great Qin, posing a significant obstacle to our Great Qin conquering other states and unifying the six kingdoms!"
"Just like this attack on Daliang, if not for General Lin Tian's indiscriminate killing before, the Wei people would not have resisted so fiercely!"
"Indeed, Your Majesty! If the Wei people's resistance is this strong, one can imagine how fierce the resistance will be when we attack the state of Chu. At that time, Chu will be fully mobilized, and it will be extremely difficult for us to conquer Chu!!"
"Your Majesty, we must give an explanation to the other nobles and the common people on this matter, otherwise, it will have tremendous repercussions for our Qin!"
These nobles and officials had long been dissatisfied with Lin Tian. The reason they hadn't acted before was that they hadn't found an opportunity. Now that they had, they were determined to strike with all their might, gathering a large number of officials. In their view, their collective action was enough to 'force the death' of Lin Tian. They intended to heavily punish Lin Tian first, stripping him of his position as Great General, and then slowly eliminate him. However, their thoughts were beautiful, but the reality was completely different from their expectations.
The more they spoke, the more grim Ying Zheng's expression became. This was because Ying Zheng sensed not only their murderous intent towards Lin Tian but also their desire to interfere with his authority as the King of Qin. These two points were taboos in Ying Zheng's heart, and these ministers had touched upon them. This caused Ying Zheng's killing intent to surge even more.
The fierce killing intent made even Li Si tremble several times. He knew that Ying Zheng at this moment was like a dragon ready to devour people, and if he said anything wrong, he might very well die at Ying Zheng's hands. Therefore, Li Si was extremely apprehensive. Yet, at this very moment, many still failed to perceive the danger.
"Do all of you ministers think this way? Are there no dissenting opinions?"
"Your Majesty, this humble subject has a different opinion!"
After Ying Zheng uttered these words, Li Si did not hesitate to speak. His intervention instantly captured Ying Zheng's attention.
"Speak!"
At this moment, Ying Zheng suppressed his killing intent, wanting to hear other perspectives. He wished to kill all these ministers, but he also did not want Lin Tian to be isolated and without support in the future. Now that someone had spoken, he felt he should listen.
"Your Majesty, this humble subject believes we should not heavily punish Great General Lin. On the contrary, we should greatly reward Great General Lin!!"
"The reason the Wei nobles want to seal the city is because they fear Great General Lin. It is precisely because Great General Lin has reached their Daliang, and they have no means to deal with him, that they need to seal the city!!"
"For a capable person like Great General Lin, we should utilize him even more, because as long as he is here, he can subdue all those who wish to oppose our Great Qin!"
"As long as he is here, conquering other states will be a matter of time!!"
"Moreover, this humble subject has never heard of us encircling the enemy capital and then needing to heavily punish our commanding general to give an explanation to the enemy nation!!"
"Isn't this saying that our powerful Qin needs to submit to a small nation that we can destroy at any moment? How absurd, how preposterous!!"
Li Si's words were not only to appease Ying Zheng but also came from the bottom of his heart. Therefore, he spoke with great emotion, and Ying Zheng applauded upon hearing it!!
"Excellent!!"
"Can the petty state of Wei possibly have the qualification to make our Qin bow its head??"
"Even if the state of Chu were to come, they would still be three parts shorter than our Great Qin!!"
"Do the people of such a nation have the right to influence our Great Qin's decisions??"
Ying Zheng affirmed Li Si's response and also questioned the kneeling ministers. He then gave Li Si's words even higher affirmation.
"Tingwei Li Si has rendered meritorious service in establishing the Qin laws, possesses profound insight, and is learned and knowledgeable. Therefore, I hereby appoint Li Si as the Left Prime Minister of Great Qin!!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!!"
Li Si never imagined that simply by speaking a few good words for Lin Tian, he would directly become the person he had always dreamed of becoming. Prime Minister! Li Si had long aspired to be the Prime Minister of Great Qin, especially when Lu Buwei held the position. At that time, Li Si had wanted to replace Lu Buwei. Back then, Li Si was considered one of Lu Buwei's opponents. At that time, Li Si understood that he needed greater power to have the qualification to contend in various power struggles. However, despite his years of effort, he had only remained the Tingwei of Great Qin, and even when the position of Prime Minister of Great Qin remained vacant, it did not fall to Li Si. He never expected that his words today would directly lead to him becoming Prime Minister. This made Li Si's heart tremble with excitement, and at the same time, he became certain that he must cling to Lin Tian's influence in the future. Only by closely following Lin Tian would his position be extremely stable, and Ying Zheng would appreciate him even more.
The others were also stunned by Li Si's sudden appointment. Many among them didn't understand what madness had possessed Ying Zheng to suddenly appoint Li Si as Prime Minister. However, the intelligent ones immediately understood that Li Si's appointment as Prime Minister was due to his recent words. That is, it was due to Li Si's expressed stance. This caused the expressions of many noble ministers to change. Ying Zheng's action seemed to say nothing, yet it seemed to say everything. By appointing Li Si, he was setting an example and telling everyone his attitude on this matter. He supported rewarding Lin Tian heavily.