Not until the knife falls on oneself does one know the pain.

In the past, whether it was officials, gentry, wealthy merchants, or powerful households, they all divided the people's money three-seven. The gentry would return the money as promised, thinking they could play this game forever.

However, in the eyes of the top elites in the Great Yan Xian Dynasty, they were nothing more than clowns, to be sacrificed when needed.

The local tyrants and scoundrels in Nanping City have been exposed.

Chu Shen watched coldly. Although he currently had a mutually beneficial cooperative relationship with these people, it didn't mean he truly approved of them. He just needed to maintain this relationship for now.

"That's enough! What kind of behavior is this? Are you trying to rebel?" Zhao Hu, the head of the household division, saw his appearance and thought he was unhappy with the noise from the crowd. He stepped forward and shouted loudly, stopping the chaos on the scene. "I'll pretend I didn't see any of this today. Once you leave this place, you'll have to figure it out yourselves!"

A prominent landlord in Nanping City burst into tears, giving a convincing performance. "Lord Zhao, we don't want to rebel. It's the excessive taxes and levies that are forcing us to our deaths. Not only did they raise the tax to fifty percent, but they also suddenly demanded a donation of fifty thousand taels for disaster relief in our small Nanping City... This, this is too much, isn't it?"

"That's right! In previous years, the disaster relief donation was only five thousand taels. This time, it suddenly jumped to fifty thousand taels. Isn't this a death sentence?"

Many people also joined in, no longer fearing Zhao Hu's official position. When it came to their own interests, they didn't care about his government duties.

Zhao Hu was well aware of the shamelessness of these scoundrels, and he laughed in anger. "You bunch of filthy scum, don't you know how much you profited from my son-in-law's influence last year? Did you think you could hide it? Not to mention you idiots, strutting around like you're something. Now that this is the result, you're still here talking to me? Is it useful?"

He repeatedly called them filthy scum and idiots. The faces of the gentry and gentlemen below turned ugly, but they could only listen. Not only because he was the head of the household division and speaking the truth, but also because he was the grandfather of Chu Shen's concubine.

Disgusting, a lowly person from the bottom of society.

However, regardless of the noise and grumbling, they cannot escape the trouble at hand. After everyone finishes making a fuss, they still have to discuss how to handle it.

Can they really rebel? The mere city of Nanping, I'm afraid the court can send down a Gold Core cultivator and wipe them out easily.

Some people want to target ordinary people.

In the past, this is what they did. They exaggerated the taxes to be collected by one or two times, made a show of it themselves, and had ordinary people pay the rest. Then they would take back their own money, and even take a share of the people's money, leaving the rest to the government.

How the government handles it, how they profit from it, that's not their concern, as long as their task is completed, right?

But this time, the amount to be collected is too much. Fifty thousand taels, they have to claim to collect one hundred thousand taels just to break even. Including their labor costs, isn't it around one hundred and twenty thousand taels?

However, the population of Nanping City is only a few hundred thousand, including many elderly, weak, sick, disabled, and poor people. If they can't collect the money, and including the surrounding villages, they can probably only scrape together a few hundred thousand able-bodied men, each person having to contribute about one or two taels.

This is equivalent to the income of many households for a month or even more. Won't there be a huge uproar?

Oh, wait, last year these mud-legged people seemed to have made money too, so they should be able to afford it!

As they continued to discuss, the atmosphere in the hall became harmonious once again. Someone took over, and the gentry and nobles didn't have to suffer losses, so the problem wasn't big.

However, Chu Shen couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

These bunch of insects, I upgraded your industries last year and earned much more than this, didn't I?

But now you stingy people want to pluck feathers from the sheep that just caught its breath.

They're afraid that the people won't revolt!

Together with you bunch of insects, can we achieve good social development and let me live peacefully with my beautiful wives and have children?

"That's enough!"

He slammed the table and looked at a group of people who were not lacking in intelligence but were selfish, short-sighted fools, with a very unpleasant expression on his face.

"Among the people here, there are a total of twenty-eight individuals, all of whom are respected and influential figures in Nanping City. Every one of them is a partner of mine, Chu Shen. Yet, there are those who have such foolish ideas. My heart is breaking!

We have worked so hard together to pull Nanping City out of difficulties, and today you want to push it back down. I am deeply saddened!"

Chu Shen forcefully slammed the table, displaying his intense emotions.

The crowd looked at each other, wondering what Chu Shen, the God of Wealth, was up to.

Chu Shen glanced at the crowd and sighed inwardly, "Do you know where the biggest problem in Nanping City lies? It's not the levies, it's not natural disasters, it's the people's hearts!"

He looked at Zhao Hufencao, "Mr. Zhao, is our Nanping City lacking food?"

Zhao Hufencao shook his head. Although Nanping City has suffered many disasters in recent years, the land is fertile and there are many cultivated fields. Over the years, there has been a considerable amount of stored food. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many refugees coming here to beg for food.

He then looked at the owner of Yuanxiang Hall, Hu Tong, who is also Hu Chuanshan's father. "Old Hu, is our Nanping City lacking money?"

Hu Tong also shook his head. How could they be lacking money? Although the commercial trade in Nanping City was not particularly prosperous in the past, there was still a considerable amount of grain sales and savings. Especially in the homes of various landlords and gentry, they all had hidden silver vaults, where the silver was melted into large chunks, each weighing around a hundred catties.

Chu Shen looked at the crowd and said, "So what are we lacking? Why is Nanping City so lifeless and some places are even on the verge of rebellion before I arrived?"

The crowd shook their heads, with some unable to understand, some having vague ideas, but some knowing the problem but choosing not to speak up, not wanting to offend anyone.

Chu Shen sneered, "Because the money and food are all in the hands of the officials and gentry, while the poor commoners have neither money nor food!"

Although many in the crowd felt that Chu Shen was speaking the truth, it made them feel embarrassed. But only Chu Shen could say such things.

As the leader and core of this interest group, he had made a lot of money with the others over the years, his authority was growing, and his influence was sufficient. It was not a problem for him to bring up the core issue.

"People need to eat. Without money and food, how can they eat? Won't they struggle desperately? When they have no way out and deep resentment, what will they do?"

Many people felt a chill down their necks.

"Or perhaps, do you all think that those poor commoners are really fools, thinking that they don't know where there is money and food?" Chu Shen pointed in the direction outside the city, "It's not just Nanping City. Look outside the city, at the increasing number of refugees. What do you think these people will do when they want to eat but have nothing to eat?"

With his hands behind his back, walking back and forth in the flower hall, he coldly said, "I know that many of you have servants, guards, martial artists, and even cultivators serving you. You also think that there are many soldiers in Nanping City, and that these lowly commoners can't cause any trouble."

"But then, how do you explain the cities that have been breached by the rebels and the gentry that have been massacred? Can anyone teach me?"

Even those who were originally indifferent now felt a chill down their necks.

Yes, in recent years, it seemed that many officials and gentry of the Great Yan Dynasty had died!

A group of people who valued wealth above all else, because they believed that money meant life. But now it seemed that it was no longer the case, and for the first time, they felt a sense of crisis.

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