The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 321 You Are Lying

“Originally, I wanted to ask whether you wanted to live or die, but now, I don’t think I need to ask anymore. Then, I think all of you should know what you should do next.”

All the people present were the famous big shots in Qinzhou, and none of them were stupid, so they certainly understood what Li Ye meant. In the final analysis, he wanted nothing more than money and food. It was a matter of course because this was what it was called the military disaster.

Wherever the troops went, vegetation and livestock would die, and ordinary people would suffer great losses. When the so-called Imperial Army went out to battle, they needed to raise food most of the time. Since the troops couldn’t produce food, they naturally had to ask ordinary people for it.

What Li Ye meant was that they had to give money and food to the troops. Moreover, Qinzhou had to constantly offer food to support the logistics from now on when the Imperial Army sent troops to the north and continued to attack Hedong in the future.

However, when the officials and squires inside or outside the hall heard Li Ye’s words, they didn’t refuse to do so but breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that it wasn’t their loss but their honor for Li Ye to ask them for money and food.

“When the Imperial Army suppresses the rebels, and the soldiers fight on the battlefield, we, the civilians of the Tang Empire, should raise food for the army!” The Qinzhou Inspector General immediately showed his attitude on behalf of all. “No matter how much money and food you want, we will go to raise it immediately as long as you tell us. We promise that we won’t delay the troops’ date for the battle!”

The Qinzhou Inspector General was sincere and enthusiastic. What he said didn’t make room for retreat. If Li Ye was greedy, they would pay a lot.

But none of the officials and squires objected, and all of them echoed the Qinzhou Inspector General. Many of them spoke passionately that they were willing to offer all they had to help the country.

Even with Li Ye’s knowledge and mind, when he saw everyone’s attitude, a thought flashed in his mind. “Are they 100% loyal to the Tang Empire?”

Of course not.

Li Ye soon reacted.

The Imperial Army led by the Pinglu Army came to Hedong under the banner of suppressing the rebels. Li Keyong was the rebel who didn’t listen to the orders of the imperial court and had a large number of troops with evil intentions. Whether the people all over the world believed it or not, Li Ye and his soldiers must believe it.

Since Li Keyong was the rebel of the imperial court, then the Qinzhou officials and soldiers, who helped him resist the Imperial Army, were also guilty. The Hedong soldiers and the Qinzhou officials and civilians might not agree with this statement previously, but now, they had to agree with it since Qinzhou was captured.

Because Li Ye called the shots now.

As the guilty people of the defeat, if Li Ye wanted to annihilate their whole families, they had no room to resist when they faced 100,000 troops and countless Great Cultivators who were above the Spiritual Master Realm.

And Li Ye also had the reason and the possibility to do so.

The reason was that Li Ye did it to frighten other counties in Hedong. It was possible for Li Ye to do so because he had done this when he dealt with Weibo previously. He did this to the Weibo commissioner.

If a guilty person wanted to survive and keep his position, he had to redeem himself by making achievements and he had to pay a price.

The provision of food for the army was Li Ye’s condition.

Of course, the Qinzhou officials and squires were pleased to accept it, no matter how much food Li Ye wanted. Even if they couldn’t give out enough food themselves, they would “borrow” it from ordinary people.

As long as they could survive and keep their family possessions, it was a supreme victory for the Qinzhou officials and squires. As for the price they needed to pay, it was not worth mentioning.

Some officials and some heads of the major families made up their minds to make a good performance later and offer more food. If they could give Li Ye a good impression, they might have good luck in the future.

As for the extra provisions of food, they would naturally ask ordinary people to bear it. As the Qinzhou squires, they had large fields of fertile farmland and thousands of tenant farmers.

As for the officials, that would be easier. They just needed to collect tax under all sorts of pretexts, such as duck-raising tax, house-building tax, and even walking tax—if you walked on the official road, you had to pay money according to the distance. In this way, they wouldn’t worry about collecting money. This was how the so-called exorbitant taxes and levies came from.

Li Ye glanced at everyone. Facing their impassioned statements, he was clear-sighted and calm. “I’m very grateful for your understanding. Secretary-general, you discuss this with them.”

Li Zhen was the secretary-general. He was standing by the side now. He bent and said, “At your command! I want to ask how much food Qinzhou should give?”

Li Ye smiled. “Of course, they should act according to their capability. They should give as much food as they can.”

Li Zhen said, “Yes”, respectfully.

Suddenly, Li Ye stopped smiling. “But I have to remind you that raising food for the army is your only chance to atone for your guilt. If you want to force ordinary people to hand in food, this crime is as serious as rebellion, so you should think it over.”

Everyone was a little stunned. Then, they felt as cold as if they were all covered with ice and snow. They instantly understood Li Ye’s determination.

The officials originally intended to take on all things and then forced ordinary people to bear it, or they intended to advise the Inspector General to collect tax under all sorts of pretexts. Now, they all felt uneasy as if there were thorns on their backs. Because Li Ye released a little breath, all their evil thoughts vanished, and they no longer dared to do that again.

When they brought back their thoughts from the cold and wanted to express their attitude again that they would resolutely carry out Li Ye’s orders, they all stood stunned there because Li Ye was no longer on the main seat.

Li Ye certainly wouldn’t waste too much time on this matter. He had left to do something else.

Li Ye left so fast that they couldn’t react at all, so it was just like Li Ye disappearing into thin air.

The officials and squires in the hall, who had the lowest cultivation, were the practitioners of Qi techniques. After they thought of it for a while, they became serious.

Previously, they only knew that Li Ye had high cultivation and had reached the Spiritual Master Realm and that even the immortals in the Land Buddhism could do nothing to him.

Now that they personally experienced Li Ye’s strength, they knew that seeing was better than hearing. They deeply realized the horror of Li Ye, so they didn’t dare to disobey Li Ye.

Many people couldn’t help but think that maybe, Prince An had become the most powerful person in the empire.

As soon as they thought of it, it took up their minds and they couldn’t help but think more.

“What does it mean if Prince An is already the most powerful person in the empire? What does it mean when two generations of Prince An become famous all over the world in succession and have outstanding cultivation?”

Some people couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of this and didn’t dare to think any further.

The Qinzhou Inspector General first reacted. He quickly turned to the courtyard and bowed toward the sky. “Farewell, Your Highness Prince An!”

The officials and squires in the hall quickly restrained their minds. They turned to bow and said together, “Farewell, Your Highness Prince An!”

...

Li Zhen didn’t discuss it with them for a long time.

There were only two topics in the discussion. One was how much food Qinzhou should offer, and the other one was how much food each person should bear.

Of course, few topics of the discussion weren’t the real reason for the short discussion time. Both topics carried enough weight and were troublesome enough to cause a lot of fights. In ordinary times, it wasn’t easy to find a balance among the interests of all sides. It was possible for them to quarrel for many days.

But today was different.

Li Zhen first asked the Qinzhou Inspector General to find the tax records of previous years. After he evaluated the financial situation of Qinzhou and the specific situation of all the major families, he decided on the amount of food. After getting the specific figure, the Qinzhou Inspector General distributed the share of each major family according to their situation.

Naturally, no one would object to Li Zhen’s decision, and they didn’t dare to do so, even though they had to offer a lot of food.

To Li Zhen’s surprise, after the Qinzhou Inspector General distributed the share, everyone had no objection. Clearly, the Qinzhou Inspector General knew about the situation of the major families very well. He did it according to their actual circumstances, so they didn’t quarrel over it.

With this in mind, Li Zhen glanced at the Qinzhou Inspector General. This potbellied middle-aged man with a red face, who had been scared to death by Li Ye at the meeting previously, really had some real capabilities.

After completing the task, Li Zhen immediately went to report it to Li Ye.

...

After meeting with Li Zhen, Li Ye continued to deal with documents until late at night.

When several hundred thousand troops went out to battle, every soldier had to eat, drink, piss, and excrete. Each army belonged to different vassal states, so they would have friction and disputes. After they conquered a city, the soldiers would also have conflicts with the local powerful people—of course, most of the time, it was the soldiers who looted property and women... Li Ye needed to overall handle all the stuff, which wasn’t an easy task.

Besides the suppression of Hedong, Li Ye also needed to resolve the Pinglu military and political affairs. There were also different kinds of military and political priorities, accidents, regular reports, and so on. Moreover, Li Yan would also inform Li Ye of the major plans of the imperial court... Li Ye paid attention to the world’s situation as well...

Therefore, Li Ye had his hands full.

But now, Li Ye was a Yang Spiritual Master with strong spirits. He could finish in two hours what had been done in a day, so he didn’t need to bury himself in dealing with the affairs all day.

In the next day morning, when Li Ye opened the door, he met Song Jiao face to face, who already reached the threshold and raised her hand to knock at the door. The two people bumped into each other, chest to chest, and then, they separated immediately. Song Jiao’s plump breasts shook immediately, very breathtaking.

Normally, however, it was impossible for the two people to bump into each other. Because of their high cultivation, they could control their bodies to an unimaginable level, and they could retreat very quickly at any time.

Song Jiao’s delicate makeup and gorgeous facial features were slightly weird because of her stunned expression. Panic appeared on her pink-and-white face, like a caterpillar. After feeling shocked, she looked at Li Ye with her watery eyes, motionless.

Li Ye wasn’t conscious of doing something wrong. Instead, he laughed and joked. “Are you scared?”

Song Jiao brought back her thought from surprise. She immediately became angry because of embarrassment and blushed. She said, “You did it on purpose!”

Li Ye spread his hands and said innocently, “You’re questioning the moral quality of the Grand Prince of the Tang Empire!”

While feeling angry, Song Jiao gnashed her teeth. “You’re lying. With your cultivation, couldn’t you notice that I was at the door?”