Surviving In The Ancient Times With Limitless Supplies
Chapter 64: Imperial Decree

Chapter 64: Imperial Decree

Wang Yong looked at the eunuch who was coming down from his horse for a few seconds, before following Li Zhiyuan down. They descended the stone stairs from the city wall and knelt before the eunuch to accept the imperial decree. Seeing that everyone had knelt down, the eunuch opened the imperial decree and began to recite.

"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decreed. The Defender General, Li Zhiyuan, together with the Ministry of Revenue, will collect a tax of two million taels before sunset tomorrow. Receive the decree."

After the eunuch finished reading the imperial decree, Li Zhiyuan raised his hands and said, "Li Zhiyuan accepts the decree."

"The eunuch put the imperial decree in his hands and said, "General Li, this one still needs to go back and report to the Emperor. I take my leave first."

Li Zhiyuan handed the eunuch a bag of silver ingots and said, "Thank you, Gong Gong."

"This is what I should do." The eunuch accepted the money with a smile on his face, and hurried back to the imperial palace.

Wang Yong standing behind Li Zhiyuan with worried face and said, "General, we–"

Li Zhiyuan raised his hand to interrupt Wang Yong’s words, his face was gloomy.

With deep disappointment in his eyes, he calmly said, "Take a thousand soldiers and start collecting taxes. Before sunset tomorrow, we need to collect two million taels of silver. Otherwise... we’re all going to die, including our family."

Hearing his words, Wang Yong’s heart sank. He knew that Emperor Ming’s favorite punishment was the capital punishment of beheading nine generations.

With a heavy heart, he clasped his fists and said, "This subordinate accepted the order."

After saying that, Wang Yong went to do his task, leaving Li Zhiyuan standing alone in front of the north gate, holding the imperial edict in his hand, and looking up at the crescent moon.

"This Shang Empire won’t last long..." The night wind blew past, and his soft whisper disappeared together with the cold wind.

Half an hour after Li Zhiyuan received the imperial decree, the silent night of the imperial capital city was broken by countless knocks on the door. Starting from the northern district of the imperial capital city, it spread to the entire imperial capital city.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Wake up! Open the door!" A soldier knocked impatiently on the door of one of the rich merchant’s houses.

"Who is knocking on people’s doors in the middle of the night?! Won’t let people sleep!"

There was a grumble and angry shouts coming from inside, and the closed door opened from the inside. The manservant was terrified when he saw the three soldiers standing outside the gate. He opened his eyes widely in surprise, staring at the gloomy faces of the soldiers in a daze.

Seeing the bewildered expression of the manservant, one of the soldiers said, "Get out of the way."

The soldier pushed aside the manservant and walked quickly into the merchant’s residence. Pushed back a few steps by the soldier, the manservant came back to his senses and quickly stopped the soldier on their way.

The manservant spread his hands to block the soldiers, and boldly said, "Even though you are soldiers, you can’t suddenly break into people’s residence in the middle of the night!"

The soldiers looked at each other for a while before looking at the manservant. A soldier looked at the manservant trembling hands and brave expression for a few seconds, and said, "The emperor has just issued an imperial decree to collect taxes before sunset tomorrow. We are here only to follow our orders."

"Go and call your master. We don’t want to do this either, but we must obey our orders." Another soldier explained to the manservant, with a little helplessness in his tone.

The manservant looked at the three soldiers in surprise, and saw some reluctance and helplessness in their eyes, then said, "I’ll call my master right away."

While waiting for the manservant, one of the soldiers sighed and said, "What crime did we commit in our previous life to get such an Emperor?"

The comrade-in-arms glanced at his sad face, and said in a low voice: "None of us want to do this, including our supervisor. But knowing this in our hearts and speaking out loud are two different things. You’d better keep what you think in your heart. Otherwise... you are not the only one who will lose your head."

Hearing the kind warning from his comrades-in-arms, the soldier came back to his senses. He nodded to the other two and said, "I know."

As soldiers, their dream is to defend their homeland and protect the people. But unfortunately, they live under the ruthless Emperor Ming. Although they don’t want to do all of this, they have no choice and no power to resist.

When the three were waiting in silence, one of them suddenly whispered: "It would be great if Supreme General Xiao was still around."

The other two also thought the same as him, but they didn’t speak any more. After waiting for a few minutes, the rich merchant hurried out. The soldiers looked at his disheveled appearance with pity and understanding.

Looking at the gloomy faces of the three soldiers, the merchant had a bad premonition in his heart. The merchant quickly concealed the anxiety in his heart, and said with a smile on his face.

"These sirs come to my residence in the middle of the night... Is there something wrong?" He asked probingly.

One of the soldiers looked at him and said seriously: "The emperor just issued an imperial decree, ordering us to raise two million taels of silver by collecting tax before sunset tomorrow. We know this is a difficult time for everyone, but none of us can disobey the imperial decree. So, we come to collect taxes in the middle of the night under the order of the Emperor."

Hearing the soldier’s explanation, the merchant’s smile froze. Although he knew that the soldiers were telling the truth, as a businessman who always put profits first, he still couldn’t help feeling resentful towards the three soldiers who came to collect taxes in the middle of the night.