Chapter 76

Yet he was no mediocre man; how ruthless he had been back in the days of Chang'an!

He had wiped out the very surnames of countless noble clans!

Facing such a scene now, how could he be flustered?

Even if the plan changed, he could adjust rapidly.

After a moment of thought, he said coldly:

"Three days ago, His Majesty issued a decree in the imperial court: all nobles must pay taxes based on their acreage. Your Qiao family possesses 1,500 mu of fertile land. At a yield of twenty shi per mu, the total output of these 1,500 mu should be 30,000 shi!"

"According to the new decree and the Qin Fa, you must pay 15,000 shi of grain this year!"

"I issued this notice three days ago and posted it all over Xianyang. Are you unaware of this?"

The head of the Qiao family shook his head with a smile: "I don't know. I haven't heard of it. Let me prepare, and once I'm ready, I'll have it sent to you!"

Huang Chao narrowed his eyes and revealed the Shangfang Sword in his hand: "The Emperor has appointed me as the Chief Commissioner for Tax Collection and bestowed upon me this Shangfang Sword, granting me the power to act with special authority. If you can produce 15,000 shi of grain today, it will be considered a voluntary payment, and I will record it as a top-tier merit for you!"

"But if you do not pay the tax, then..."

As Huang Chao spoke, he drew the sword with a *shing*!

The head of the Qiao family laughed upon hearing this: "My Qin Fa stipulates that for all grain taxes, there is a ten-day grace period even upon collection. I only ask for five days, and you draw your sword against me? What kind of logic is that?"

He spoke these words.

Yet, just as he finished, a flash of light swept by, and a fountain of blood sprayed from the neck of the Qiao family head!

"This is the logic!"

"The Shangfang Sword is as if the Emperor himself were present!"

"This is the law!"

"Pass the order: tell everyone to shout loudly that the head of the Qiao family has been executed for resisting the grain tax. Others would do well to pay immediately, or they shall bear the consequences!"

As he issued the order, he shouted to the stunned members of the Qiao family:

"Though the head of the Qiao family is dead, the grain tax owed to the national treasury remains unpaid. Now, you have only two paths!"

"Either we go in and search ourselves; if we find it, your entire family will be charged with resisting the grain tax!"

"Or, you pay it yourselves, and I will report this to His Majesty the Emperor, still recording it as a top-tier merit for you!"

He spoke these words.

At this moment, the members of the Qiao family present were already stupefied.

Hearing Huang Chao's words, how could they dare to hesitate for even a moment?

They kowtowed directly: "We are willing to pay the grain!"

As they spoke, they quickly ordered people to enter the granaries!

Before long, 15,000 shi of grain were carried out!

Huang Chao ordered again: "Tell the men to shout that the Qiao family has voluntarily paid the grain, which is a great merit, and tell everyone to prepare quickly!"

Instantly, men went off to shout the news!

And in the mansions of every noble!

At first, when everyone heard the news that the head of the Qiao family had died for resisting the grain tax, they felt their scalps tingle!

Everyone was terrified!

Countless people who had been resisting the grain tax began to waver at this moment!

And when they heard that the Qiao family had voluntarily paid the grain and earned a great merit, the convictions of countless nobles collapsed!

What was this?

This was clearly killing the head of the Qiao family and then using the lives of his entire family as a threat to force them to pay the grain!

At that moment, everyone was terrified.

But there was no lack of hard-boned men who ordered their gates closed, refusing to open them no matter what!

However, none of this was of any use!

When Huang Chao arrived and knocked, finding no one opening the door, he simply ordered his men to ram it!

In just a moment, the gates were smashed open!

At that moment, Bai Guang, a descendant of Bai Hu, was shocked and roared at Huang Chao: "Do you know who my ancestor was, daring to storm the Bai family mansion?"

Huang Chao sneered: "I don't care who your ancestor was. Today, if you pay the tax, you are a meritorious official; if you don't, you are a rebel. Based on your Bai family's ten thousand mu of fertile land, you should pay 100,000 shi of grain today!"

"I will ask you only once: will you pay today or not?"

He asked, and after the Qiao family incident, he no longer had the patience for polite words!

He came to the door asking only one thing: pay the tax or not!

Pay and live, refuse and die!

Even the descendant of Bai Hu was frightened by Huang Chao's ferocity, but he did not disgrace the Great Qin Martial Peace Lord, roaring directly:

"I will not pay! If you have the ability, kill every member of the Bai family and let the Great Qin Martial Peace Lord have no descendants!"

He roared, and upon hearing this, Huang Chao laughed on the spot: "Fine!"

"Today, I shall end the descendants of Bai Hu!"

"Kill!"

He shouted, and instantly, all the garrison troops rushed into the Bai mansion, killing everyone they saw—men, women, old, and young, sparing no one!

In the end, the old steward, in order to preserve the Bai family line, desperately shielded a young child and shouted loudly: "We'll pay! We'll pay!"

He shouted, and Huang Chao stopped immediately!

Before long, 100,000 shi of grain were carried out!

And when the Bai family's grain was carried out, all the nobles in Xianyang City panicked instantly.

All the nobles were numb!

You must know!

That was the Great Qin Martial Peace Lord!

And Huang Chao had ruthlessly killed the descendants of the Great Qin Martial Peace Lord until only one young child remained!

"Devil!"

"Murderous devil!"

"Killing maniac!"

At that moment, countless nobles cried out!

Countless nobles were filled with resentment!

But... the effect achieved after the massacre of the Bai family was extraordinary!

Because... from then on, no matter which family Huang Chao went to, they obediently paid the grain!

Some even placed the grain at their doorsteps before Huang Chao could enter, waiting for him to inspect it!

Seeing this, Huang Chao smiled!

Then, he took the grain and left directly.

Just like that, relying on the principle of "pay the grain and live," he collected a full 1.2 million shi of grain in Xianyang City in just one day!

This was the entire tax revenue of the Great Qin for a whole year!

Seeing this, Ying Su was extremely excited!

He praised Huang Chao for doing a good job!

As for the matter of killing the descendants of Bai Hu, he said nothing!

Instead, he felt it was necessary!

Indeed, among those who could become nobles, especially top-tier nobles, which one did not have a famous ancestor?

Among those Huang Chao killed in his later life were the descendants of the Great Tang military god Li Jing, and even the descendants of the Great Tang's Yuchi Jingde and Qin Qiong!

The merits they had established were undeniable!

But... it was also a fact that their descendants had become a scourge!

Not kill them?

If you don't kill them, just wait for the common people to continue suffering!

What?

You ask why Ying Su is so biased toward the common people?

Heh... no choice!

Who told him that before he transmigrated, he was just an ordinary commoner!

If a commoner doesn't stand on the side of the commoners, should he stand on the side of the nobles, the clans, the families, and the capitalists, and speak for them?