Your Majesty said that my life is worthless, so why are you crying when I increase my troops?

"is it?"

Xia Mingyuan sneered, with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"I didn't realize that Mr. Zhou was such a kind person. Could it be that I, Xia Mingyuan, was wrong about him?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Dexing's eldest son Zhou Yanzong could no longer contain himself and rushed to Xia Mingyuan with an indignant look on his face.

"Commander Xia, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"My father is old, and you, a young boy, are bullying him everywhere. My Zhou family has never offended you, so why are you doing this?"

The smile on Xia Mingyuan's face slowly froze. Wang Gang and the others, without saying a word, suddenly drew their swords from their waists and looked at the Zhou family members with unfriendly expressions.

"How dare you! Get out of here quickly!"

Zhou Dexing was so scared that his face turned pale, and a layer of cold sweat oozed out of his forehead. He did not dare to be negligent in the slightest and pulled Zhou Yan behind him.

"Commander Xia, my son has been rude and offensive. I failed to discipline him properly. Please forgive me."

Xia Mingyuan smiled but didn't say anything.

Zhou Dexing's heart was always hanging in the air. He said with some fear: "Commander Xia, the Zhou family has been giving porridge to the hungry people every year in recent years to help the people."

"Although I, an old man, want to do more good deeds to accumulate blessings for my Zhou family, my family assets are limited, so I can only contribute a little."

Xia Mingyuan nodded gently, his eyes gleaming, "So Mr. Zhou went to great lengths to deceive Her Royal Highness the Princess and made me, Xia Mingyuan, the scapegoat."

"Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, you are quite generous to others."

At this point, Xia Mingyuan's voice suddenly turned cold.

Zhou Dexing's face froze, and before he could say anything, Xia Mingyuan suddenly drew his sword and put it on his neck.

"Mr. Zhou, don't think that just because I give you some face and call you Old Man Zhou, you and your family really think you are such a big shot."

"That year, your family deliberately released the floodwaters to drown thirty-four farmhands and embezzled a year's wages. You didn't really think no one knew about it, did you?"

When Zhou Dexing heard this, his face suddenly changed and his legs went weak.

"Commander Xia, swords have no eyes. Please don't play such a joke on me."

"There must be some misunderstanding between us..."

"Misunderstanding?" Xia Mingyuan sneered, "What did your daughter-in-law say to Her Royal Highness the Princess these days? Do I need to remind you again?"

"Zhou Dexing, you want me to give you these hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to enrich your Zhou family. You're really calculating."

"Have you ever calculated whether this silver is enough to buy the lives of your entire family?"

The cold tone of Xia Mingyuan's words was like thunder, exploding in the ears of everyone in the Zhou family.

The Zhou family's children were frightened and burst into tears.

Zhou Dexing trembled all over, no longer daring to resist. He fell to his knees with a thud, "Commander Xia, it was me, Zhou Dexing, who was possessed by the devil and wanted to get my hands on that silver."

"Please, let my family go. I'll leave this old man to you."

Xia Mingyuan grinned, looked down at Zhou Dexing, and suddenly raised his foot and kicked him in the chest.

Zhou Dexing rolled his eyes and fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"At this point, you still want to play this trick on me. I think you won't cry until you see the coffin."

"Come here, I suspect the Zhou family is colluding with the barbarians and intending to harm the princess. Capture these people and bring them back for interrogation."

"Yes!"

The people behind him rushed forward and pressed all the members of the Zhou family to the ground.

"Commander Xia, I was blinded by my own heart. Please give our family another chance."

Zhou Dexing lost his previous arrogance and crawled to Xia Mingyuan like a stray dog ​​that had lost its soul. "I beg Commander Xia to spare my family's life. I am willing to pay a huge price to avoid disaster."

Xia Mingyuan sneered and lifted Zhou Dexing's chin with his foot.

"Wouldn't it have been over if you had said that earlier?"

"Since you have already begged me, this commander is not unkind."

"You want my 130,000 taels of silver to help the poor people, right? Then I'll grant you that."

"You have three days to raise 130,000 taels of silver. The government will send you the account books shortly. According to the account Sun Yaozu collected not long ago, the silver will be returned to the people."

"If your Zhou family can accumulate great merit this time, I can consider letting them go."

As soon as these words came out, Zhou Dexing was shocked.

He raised his head and looked at Xia Mingyuan in disbelief.

"Commander Xia, 130,000 taels of silver is far too much. Even if the Zhou family sells everything they have, I'm afraid they won't be able to come up with that much money in a short time."

Xia Mingyuan smiled contemptuously, his eyes cold, "I've made it clear enough. Remember, they only have three days."

"If you want to regret it after three days, I won't wait any longer. Do you understand?"

Zhou Dexing collapsed to the ground, looking at Xia Mingyuan's eyes as sharp as a knife, and nodded with difficulty.

Xia Mingyuan sneered and put away the sword in his hand.

"By the way, 130,000 taels is just the money to buy your family's lives. You and your daughter-in-law have committed serious sins. If you want to survive, you must do more good deeds."

Zhou Dexing was stunned for a moment, then asked weakly, "I wonder what Commander Xia needs my Zhou family to do?"

Xia Mingyuan shook his head and said calmly, "My army is expanding recently, and the army is short of food and clothing. Mr. Zhou's donation of 30,000 taels for military expenses can be considered a good deed."

"Remember, it's thirty thousand taels per person. No bargaining."

After saying this, Xia Mingyuan turned around and left without even looking back.

Wang Gangyi and his companions put away their swords and quickly followed him.

"Commander, nearly two hundred thousand taels of silver, can the Zhou family come up with that much silver?"

Not long after he walked out, Wang Gangyi grinned with a smile on his lips.

Following the commander-in-chief to extort these wealthy people is both satisfying and a relief. This job is perfect.

Xia Mingyuan's face was calm as he shook his head. "Li Chun has investigated and found that the Zhou family has done a lot of bad things over the years and has accumulated a lot of money."

"Although it's not two hundred thousand taels, it's not much different. It depends on whether they are willing to spend the money."

"You bastard, you dare to plot against me? Today I'll teach you the insidious ways of society!"

After Xia Mingyuan finished speaking, he went straight to Huang's Grain Store without looking back.

When Huang Renji and Old Yuan saw Xia Mingyuan, they were so happy that they immediately came forward to greet him.

"Commander Xia, how come you have time to come and sit with me today?"

"Come on, come on, please come in. I just bought some excellent Biluochun tea in Jiangnan recently. It's this year's new tea. Let's try it together."

Huang Renji nodded and bowed, inviting Xia Mingyuan into the house as if he was serving his ancestor.

"Huang Renji, stop busying yourself. I have something to discuss with you."

Xia Mingyuan waved his hand to stop Huang Renji who was about to get busy, with a calm tone.

Huang Renji was stunned when he heard this. He raised his head and looked at Xia Mingyuan with fear in his eyes.