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."