Chapter 81

"And what is the price of opposing the new Emperor, you should all understand!"

"Here, I, Li Si, in light of our years of friendship, remind you: do not attempt to oppose the new Emperor, and do not attempt to oppose the new policies!"

"I can tell you clearly: the new Emperor's determination this time is great!"

"Whoever opposes the new policies is simply seeking death!"

"And you, if you trust me, Li Si, then obediently pay your taxes. I, Li Si, can guarantee that as long as you follow me, Li Si, in the future, you will surely obtain a wealth beyond measure! This wealth may be far, far greater than the wealth you possess now!"

"And if you do not trust me, Li Si, then do as you please!"

"When the time comes, and the new policies' swift blade falls upon your heads, do not blame me, Li Si, for not having made the matter clear in advance!"

He spoke these words!

And as soon as these words left his mouth, many nobles laughed on the spot: "You, Li Si, could only reach today because we supported you, and if we wish to drag you down, it is also easy 637!"

"To tell you the truth, the reason Ying Su can be so arrogant is simply because he relies on Li Yuanba!"

"And even if he possesses Li Yuanba and can kill fifty thousand people, what of it?"

"Do the private armies of all the nobles under heaven not number far more than fifty thousand?"

"One hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand!"

"Even an army of five hundred thousand for him, Li Yuanba, to kill—can he kill them all in time?"

"This son, Ying Su, dares to make the nobles pay taxes; that is to provoke the collective anger of all the nobles under heaven!"

"After these three days, if no one pays taxes, and he then lays down his arms and stops, then so be it!"

"If he dares to indiscriminately open a bloodbath, just watch: all the nobles under heaven will surely rise up and turn against him!"

"At that time, with great armies pressing at the borders, killing Ying Su and welcoming the First Emperor back to the throne, Ying Su will bear the eternal infamy of indiscriminately slaughtering the innocent, and you, Li Si, will likely not keep your head!"

Having finished speaking, he turned and left.

And behind him, a large crowd of nobles laughed and left the Prime Minister's residence directly!

And Li Si, watching the departing crowd, at that moment, ground his teeth.

However... there was nothing more to say!

Since all these people do not believe in him and all want to seek their own deaths, what more can he say?

Kind words cannot dissuade a ghost destined to die!

But... he could not help but feel worry arise in his heart!

That was... a rebellion by all the nobles under heaven!

Fifty thousand people, Li Yuanba could still handle!

Add another fifty thousand people, and Han Xin could also handle it!

But what if it were one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, or even three hundred thousand troops?

Relying solely on Ying Su, could he handle it?

He frowned, pondering.

But very quickly, he smiled!

Who is Ying Su?

Ying Su is the new Emperor!

Look, she has only been on the throne for less than two months, yet in these two months, how many great deeds has he accomplished?

And the reason he dares to accomplish so many great deeds is that he also has capital!

At the beginning, he relied on Li Yuanba!

But now, he can rely on Han Xin.

Not only does he have Han Xin, he also has cannons!

Remember, those are cannons capable of firing over a thousand paces away and exploding!

With the power of cannons, how many in this world can block them?

Therefore!

No fear!

Absolutely no fear!

As for chaos under heaven...

If there is chaos under heaven, then let there be chaos under heaven!

Unless those with disloyal hearts are all killed, the people's hearts cannot be united.

And if the people's hearts are not united, how can the state be said to be strong?

Thinking this in his heart, suddenly, Li Si attained enlightenment.

He, who had previously opposed the new policies with ten thousand objections, now suddenly began to persist in them.

Because... there are too many clever people, too many people with selfish hearts!

Having many such people is not terrifying; what is terrifying is that each of these people holds a high position. With a single word from them, chaos can erupt under heaven!

If the court is filled entirely with such people, then this state is not far from destruction!

Li Si thought this in his heart!

The more he thought, the more he felt that Ying Su's decision was correct.

The more he thought, the more he felt that these new policies should be implemented as soon as possible!

Even pilot trials cannot be conducted; conducting pilot trials is still too much of a waste of time!

I can afford to wait, but how can the common people under heaven afford to wait?

"New policies!"

"New policies!"

"Nobles pay taxes!"

Li Si thought this over again and again, clenching his fist each time!

Only three days; once said, they passed!

And on this very day, Huang Chao led a full thousand garrison soldiers straight onto the streets!

These thousand garrison soldiers were naturally allocated to him by Ying Su, not only for collecting grain!

They were also for boosting morale and intimidating the nobles!

They went straight to the gate of a mansion.

This was the Qiao family; their ancestors, though not among the first generals to follow Shang Yang's reforms!

But... after the death of Duke Xiao of Qin, Ying Ying Quliang, they were the group that closely followed Shang Yang and guarded him!

Likewise, their ancestors were among the first beneficiaries of Shang Yang's reforms!

Relying on the military merit system, they fought their way from ordinary commoners all the way to Great Lord of Creation!

Their descendants were even more impressive, actually fighting their way up to the post of Commandant of the Army!

During the peak period, they even commanded a hundred thousand Commandant soldiers in Xianyang City, responsible for guarding the safety of Xianyang City!

And precisely because of this, the entire family were believers of Shang Yang, constantly chanting that without Shang Yang, there would be no Qiao family!

Likewise, they were even more supporters of the legalist system, and even more supporters of Li Si.

Precisely because of this, Huang Chao came here!

Because Zhang Liang had said that starting with the people behind Li Si would be smoother.

After all, once there is a leader who pays taxes, it will directly influence the nobles that follow!

And soon, the main gate was opened.

The current head of the Qiao family was very polite, opening the door with great respect.

As for the attitude, there was nothing to criticize!

This scene made Huang Chao sigh again, Zhang Liang's brilliant strategy!

However, when he mentioned the five-tenths tax grain, the head of the Qiao family laughed:

"What tax grain? We Qiao family are nobles; do we need to pay taxes? My lord, you must have gone to the wrong place; if you want to collect taxes, you should go find the common people!"

He spoke with a chuckle, and the moment these words left his mouth, Huang Chao's expression immediately changed!

What did this mean?

Was he being played?

Did Zhang Liang miscalculate?

Was that politeness also a disguise?

At that moment, his gaze turned cold and sharp, filled with some anger!