Chapter 82

But he was no ordinary incompetent; how ruthlessly he had slaughtered in Chang'an back in the day!

He did not know how many noble clans he had wiped out until their surnames vanished!

Facing such a scene now, how could he possibly panic and lose his composure?

Even if the plan changed, he could adjust quickly!

After a brief thought, he spoke in a cold voice:

"Three days ago, Your Majesty announced an edict in court: all nobles must pay taxes according to their farmland. Your Qiao family owns fifteen hundred mu of fertile land. Calculating an annual yield of twenty shi per mu, the total yield of these fifteen hundred mu should be thirty thousand shi!"

"According to the new edict and our Qin Fa, you are required to pay fifteen thousand shi of grain this year!"

"I issued a notice on this matter three days ago, and the city of Xianyang is plastered with proclamations. You do not know of this?"

The Qiao family head smiled and shook his head: "I do not know. I have never heard of this. Let me make preparations; once ready, I will send it to you!"

Huang Chao narrowed his eyes and directly drew the Shangfang Sword from his hand, saying: "The Emperor has appointed me as the chief officer for tax collection and bestowed upon me the Shangfang Sword, granting me special authority. If you produce fifteen thousand shi of grain today, it will count as your willingness to pay taxes, and I will record this as your first great merit!"

"But if you refuse to pay taxes, then..."

As Huang Chao spoke, he drew his sword with a sharp "Zeng!"

Hearing this, the Qiao family head laughed: "Our Qin Fa stipulates that for all grain taxes, even when collected, there is a ten-day grace period. I only ask for five days of grace, yet you draw your sword against me. What is the reasoning for this?"

He finished speaking.

However, the moment he finished, suddenly, with a "Shua!" a blade of light swept across, and a jet of blood sprayed directly from the Qiao family head's neck!

"This is the reasoning!"

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

"This is the law!"

"Issue the order: have everyone shout loudly that the Qiao family head has been executed for resisting tax payment. Everyone else had better pay their taxes immediately, or they will bear the consequences themselves!"

While issuing the order, he also shouted to the stunned Qiao family members before him:

"Although the Qiao family head is dead, the grain taxes owed to the state treasury for this year remain unpaid. Now, you have only two paths!"

"Either we enter and search ourselves; if we find anything, it will be treated as your entire family resisting tax payment!"

"Or, you pay it up yourselves. In this case, I will report to His Majesty the Emperor, and you will still be recorded for your first great merit!"

He spoke these words.

At this very moment, the Qiao family members present had long since been stunned.

Hearing Huang Chao's words, how could they dare hesitate even a fraction?

They immediately kowtowed and bowed: "We are willing to pay the grain!"

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

Before long, fifteen thousand shi of grain were carried out!

Huang Chao issued another order: "Have people shout loudly that the Qiao family voluntarily paid the grain; this is a great merit. Let everyone prepare quickly!"

Instantly, someone went to shout!

And within the residences of the various nobles!

At first, after everyone heard the news that the Qiao family head had died for resisting tax payment, at that moment, they only felt their scalps go numb!

Everyone's hearts trembled with fear!

Countless people who had resisted tax payment began to waver at this moment!

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

What is this?

This is clearly killing the Qiao family head first, then using the lives of the entire Qiao family as a threat to force them to pay the grain!

At that moment, everyone's hearts trembled with fear.

But there were also those with hard bones who directly ordered the Guanbifu Sect closed; no matter what, they would not open the residence gates!

However, all of this was useless!

When Huang Chao arrived and knocked, finding no one opened the door, he directly ordered people to batter it down!

In just a short while, the main gate was smashed open!

At that moment, Bai Guang, a descendant of Bai Qi, was terrified and shouted angrily at Huang Chao: "Do you know who my ancestor was? How dare you assault our Bai family residence?"

Huang Chao sneered: "I do not care who your ancestor was. Paying taxes today makes you a meritorious subject; refusing to pay makes you a rebel. Calculating your Bai family's ten thousand mu of fertile land, you should pay one hundred thousand shi of grain today!"

"I ask you one question: will you pay today or not?"

He asked; after the Qiao family incident, he had long since lost the patience for kind words!

Upon arriving, he asked only one question: pay taxes or not?

Pay and live; refuse and die!

Even a descendant of Bai Qi was frightened by Huang Chao's ferocity, but he did not disgrace the Qin Great Peacemaker Lord, shouting angrily instead:

"We will not pay! If you have the ability, kill all my Bai family members and let the Qin Great Peacemaker Lord have no heirs!"

He roared in anger. Hearing this, Huang Chao laughed on the spot: "Very well!"

"Today, we will end the descendants of Bai Qi!"

"Kill!"

As he shouted, instantly, all the garrison troops rushed into the Bai residence, killing anyone they saw; men, women, and children, none were spared!

Finally, the old steward, in order to preserve the Bai family lineage, desperately protected a young child and shouted loudly: "Pay taxes! Pay taxes!"

As he shouted loudly, Huang Chao immediately stopped!

Before long, one hundred thousand shi of grain were carried out!

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

All the nobles were completely stunned!

Remember!

That was the Great Qin's Wuan Lord!

And Huang Chao had brutally slaughtered the descendants of the Great Qin's Wuan Lord until only one young child remained!

"Demon!"

"Murderous demon!"

"Killing maniac!"

At that moment, countless nobles shouted!

Countless nobles were filled with indignation!

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

Because... next, no matter which family Huang Chao went to, they obediently paid their grain!

What's more, before Huang Chao even entered the door, they actively placed the grain at the entrance, waiting for Huang Chao to come and inspect it!

Seeing this scene, Huang Chao smiled!

Then, taking the grain, he left directly.

Just like that, relying on the principle of collecting grain without killing, in just one day, he received a full 1.2 million shi of grain in Xianyang City!

This was the entire Great Qin state's annual tax revenue!

And seeing this scene, Ying Su was extremely excited!

He directly praised Huang Chao for doing well!

As for the matter of killing Bai Qi's descendants, he said nothing!

Instead, he felt it was right!

Yes, those who could become nobles, especially top-tier nobles, which of their ancestors were not famous figures?

Among the people Huang Chao killed in later generations, there were descendants of the Tang Dynasty's War God Li Jing, and even descendants of the Tang Dynasty's Yuchi Jingde and Qin Qiong!

The merits they established cannot be denied!

But... the fact that their descendants became a scourge is also a fact!

Not kill?

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

What?

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

Heh... no choice!

Who else could it be? Before transmigrating, he was just an ordinary commoner!

If the common people don't stand on the common people's side, should they stand on the side of nobles, powerful clans, aristocratic families, and capitalists, and speak for them?