Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 230 Courtesy before force? Sorry, no more courtesies from now on!

Dawn breaks.

It wasn't the gentle, tender dawn of Suzhou as depicted by literary figures, but rather a chilling, desolate daybreak imbued with the unique chill of war.

As the first rays of gray-white light tore through the thick night sky above the horizon, the military camp stretching for miles outside the silent city of Suzhou suddenly awoke like a lurking beast.

"Boom-thump-thump-"

The deep, penetrating sound of the drums replaced the crowing of roosters, abruptly waking countless people inside and outside Suzhou from their slumber.

Whether ordinary citizens or officials and gentry from wealthy families, people in the city had long been accustomed to the existence of that huge military camp outside the city.

These past few days, that camp has felt like a heavy mountain pressing down on everyone's hearts, making it hard for them to breathe.

But the military remained silent, taking no major actions other than necessary patrols.

But today, everything is different.

Countless people climbed the tower from their windows and gazed into the distance. They saw smoke rising suddenly from the direction of the camp outside the city, dust obscuring the sun, banners fluttering in the morning breeze, and a murderous aura filling the sky!
Immediately afterwards, the earth began to tremble slightly.

Under the terrified gazes of the common people and officials, the massive army stationed in different areas outside the city began to move!
The first to set off were the Xuanda Iron Cavalry, which pressed in like dark clouds. They showed no intention of entering the city, but instead bypassed it. Their iron hooves stirred up clouds of dust as they rushed towards the various transportation hubs under the jurisdiction of Suzhou Prefecture.

Immediately afterwards, the White-Spear Army from the southwest also began to break into smaller units and set off along the official road towards various towns with agile and swift steps.

Even the Jingying garrison, stationed closest to the canal, boarded a large number of boats that had been waiting for them, coordinated by countless figures in flying fish robes, and sailed downstream, their murderous aura surging towards an unknown distance.

The whole process was incredibly fast, decisive, and efficient.

The faces of countless officials and gentry turned ashen at that moment.

The knife that had been hanging overhead finally fell!

His Majesty the Emperor issued no further proclamations or government decrees; instead, he chose to declare his will to the entire city of Suzhou in the most direct and domineering manner.

He did what he wanted to do.

This utterly disregarded and crushing action silenced all the officials and gentry who harbored any illusions. In each other's eyes, they saw only an emotion deeper than fear—

despair!

……

The army had not gone far.

Just when the people of Suzhou thought the army was about to leave, suffocating news began to spread from all directions like snowflakes.

The Xuanda cavalry, like a giant net spread out, seized the vital passages of all the important prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Suzhou Prefecture with overwhelming force.

Within half a day, all the key transportation routes—the canal ferry crossing in Wujiang County, the official road from Changshu County to Songjiang Prefecture, the grain distribution center in Kunshan County—were taken control by these battle-hardened elites from the north.

The cavalrymen, in groups of three or five, stood at the bridgehead and crossroads, their armor gleaming coldly in the morning light. They did not check pedestrians or disturb merchants; they simply stood there quietly.

However, their very existence is the most powerful blockade.

The White-Spear Soldiers' actions involved pressing their incredibly sharp blades directly against the vital organs of this land.

These valiant mountain warriors from the southwest, operating in units of hundreds of households, infiltrated the major towns and cities under the jurisdiction of Suzhou Prefecture like mercury seeping into the ground.

Without disturbing any civilians, they marched directly into government offices, granaries, and canal wharves throughout the region. Without uttering a word, they set up sentry posts and spears at these key locations, adopting a clear posture of military control.

The local officials and clerks didn't dare to breathe loudly in the face of these proud and fierce soldiers who had fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Their usual arrogance and domineering attitude were instantly crushed before the gleaming spearhead.

What was most heart-stopping was their joint operation with the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The vision is pure, yet also the most bloody.

"boom!"

Qian Family Manor, Wujiang County.

The manor owner, Master Qian, was awakened by the terrified screams and chaotic footsteps of his servants. He angrily threw on his clothes and got up, about to yell and curse, when the bedroom door suddenly shattered inward with tremendous force, sending wood chips flying everywhere!
He looked up in shock and saw several Imperial Guard captains dressed in flying fish robes, their eyes as cold as iron, already standing at the door.

The centurion in charge didn't say a word, but simply made a simple and ruthless downward chopping gesture towards him.

There was no platitude about "by His Majesty's decree," and he was given no chance to shout and defend himself.

"puff!"

A streak of blood shot out.

The sound of the Embroidered Spring Blade being sheathed was crisp and clean, as if it had only cut an insignificant rope.

The look of astonishment and confusion on Master Qian's face froze completely. Then, his body slowly went limp, and his head rolled to the ground. The beautiful concubine on the bed was so frightened that she fainted on the spot before she could even scream.

Almost at the same moment that Master Qian's head rolled, the operation inside and outside the manor was already coming to an end.

"The list is here." A junior officer of the Imperial Guard handed a blood-stained piece of paper to a captain of the Beijing Garrison who was cooperating with the operation. "Those on the list are all thugs who beat up government officials and retaliated against those who reported them. Not one will be spared."

"understand!"

The soldiers of the Beijing garrison had already locked onto all their targets with their swords, spears, and crossbows.

Any servants or guards who attempted to resist or flee were shot dead on the spot without mercy.

The entire process, from breaking down the door to the end, took no more than the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn.

Efficiency, precision, and the resulting, bone-deep terror!
In Changshu, Kunshan, Taicang... one silent yet bloody scene after another is unfolding simultaneously.

All those officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants who explicitly obstructed the implementation of the new policies, especially those who relied on their power and violently resisted the law, met their end at the same time.

The emperor, acting unilaterally, was too lazy to comply with the cumbersome procedures of the Three Departments and Six Ministries. Instead, he used the military and imperial guards as the executioners, unleashing the thunderous force of divine punishment to carry out a precise purge of the fertile land of Suzhou, a process akin to scraping the bone to remove poison!
Before today, many Suzhou gentry thought the phrase "kill without mercy" was something from a play. It wasn't until the bodies of familiar figures—friends or acquaintances with whom they had drunk and composed poetry just yesterday—were hung high on the archways of various towns and cities that they truly understood the soul-chilling weight behind those four words.

The emperor's butcher's knife is no longer a metaphor.

It is a reality that truly hangs over everyone's head.

The representatives of the powerful families who had been plotting a "soft resistance" and "delaying tactics" were plunged into utter despair after receiving a series of bloody reports from their stewards.

They finally realized it belatedly.

From the very beginning, this young emperor had no intention of talking to them.

Courtesy first and then soldiers?

No, it's about using force first, and then "courtesy".

Even the so-called "etiquette" was tinged with bloodshed.

The emperor didn't care about their thoughts at all; he was simply using his army and the executioner's blade to clearly and explicitly "tell" them—I have arrived.

My will must be carried out.

Those who disobey shall die!
The humiliation of being completely ignored and treated like an ant is more unbearable than killing them outright.

But ironically, they couldn't even muster the courage to be angry, because the knife hanging overhead was too sharp and too cold!

Just as the entire gentry class of Suzhou was completely stunned by this thunderous and bloody method and fell into a deathly silence of panic, an order was issued from the imperial court in Suzhou.

On behalf of the emperor, Wen Tiren, Minister of Rites, formally summoned all the gentry and clan leaders of Suzhou Prefecture and surrounding prefectures and counties whose names were recorded in the official register to the Suzhou Prefectural Government Office at noon the following day for a meeting.

No one dared to disobey this order.

The gentry who received the order did not sleep all night. They bathed and changed their clothes, putting on their most presentable attire, as if they were not going to a meeting, but to a funeral that had already been destined.

……

Suzhou Prefectural Government Office.

The once solemn and dignified courtroom has now been converted into a temporary meeting hall.

Hundreds of prominent figures from all over Suzhou, however, were like a flock of lambs to the slaughter, silently taking their seats one by one.

The atmosphere inside the hall was extremely oppressive.

No one whispered to each other, and even their breathing was deliberately slowed down.

Hundreds of eyes stared in fear at the figure sitting in the main seat—Wen Tiren.

However, everyone knew in their hearts that what they truly feared was not Wen Tiren.

Sitting here today, Wen Tiren is more like a knife held in the hand of a monarch; his sharpness and coldness stem from the unquestionable will of the wielder.

He was just a shadow; what truly suffocated them was the young emperor who cast that shadow!
Wen Tiren, dressed in a scarlet official robe, remained expressionless.

The more this is the case, the more everyone feels as if their hearts are being tightly gripped by an invisible hand.

Wen Tiren glanced at the sundial outside the hall; the time had come.

He didn't utter a single opening line of his own; he simply cleared his throat and began to speak slowly in a flat, descriptive tone.

The voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears, because everyone knew that every word that followed came from the Emperor.

"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"

With just these six words, hundreds of gentry in the hall, regardless of their status or age, all rose from their seats and knelt down on the ground, forming a dense, dark mass with their heads pressed against the cold floor.

Wen Tiren's gaze swept indifferently over the kneeling figures, as if inspecting a field of crops battered by autumn frost, and he continued to announce the emperor's ultimatum in his flat tone:

"From this day forward, all prefectures and counties in Suzhou shall fully implement the new policy of 'land survey and unified tax payment.' Within three days, all of you present here, as well as the clans you represent, must list and register all the land, deeds, population, and tax payment information under your names for the past thirty years, and submit them to the Suzhou Imperial Court for verification."

These words immediately sparked an uncontrollable commotion among the crowd. Thirty years of grievances! This was an attack on their very foundations!
However, Wen Tiren completely ignored him. He was merely an extension of the emperor's will. He paused, and his voice suddenly turned cold, like a cold front from the north sweeping through the entire council hall. Every word carried the frost of the Golden Palace.

"Anyone found to have concealed, delayed, or falsified information will be subject to immediate 'tax confiscation' by the Imperial Guards, who will carry my imperial warrant!"

He emphasized the words "tax evasion" very heavily.

Wen Tiren paused, seemingly wanting everyone a moment to process the meaning of those two words, before uttering the judgment that truly plunged everyone into the abyss in a flat tone:
“Those who resist taxation shall be treated as treason.”

There was no loud explosion, no thunder.

The words "treason will be punished" were uttered lightly from Wen Tiren's mouth, and the gentry in the room felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave, their blood and even their souls were completely frozen!
Treason... that doesn't just mean a fine, it means the confiscation of their property and the extermination of their entire clan! It's not about taking their money, or even their lives, but about erasing them and their entire clan from this world!

Inside the venue, several elderly people immediately rolled their eyes back, foamed at the mouth, collapsed to the ground, and lost consciousness.

But many more people were ashen-faced, trembling all over, and didn't even have the strength to collapse.

The entire council chamber was deathly silent; there was no more commotion, no more fainting, only a deathly stillness.

Everyone understood that the path of resistance had been completely blocked from the very beginning by that emperor using the most forceful methods.

First came the siege of the city, followed by a bloody purge, and finally, through Wen Tiren's words, this irrefutable "imperial edict" was issued.

This is a multiple-choice question with no options.

Wen Tiren slowly stood up, looking down at the group of local tycoons, and concluded the emperor-led meeting with a pronouncement.

"Gentlemen, take care of yourselves."

Having said that, he flicked his sleeves, turned and left, leaving behind a room full of despair and fear that slowly fermented in the afternoon sunlight.

(End of this chapter)