These civil and military officials eagerly wrote down the amount of silver they were willing to donate and their names on paper.

In their view, it's always better to donate money voluntarily than to have it discovered.

Donating voluntarily can also earn you a good reputation.

If it were discovered that the entire family would be executed by slow slicing, that would be a real loss.

Soon, the two blank sheets of paper were filled with writing.

The amount of money pledged on the blank paper was altered time and time again.

It's clear that these guys are all struggling.

...

The Imperial Study.

Now it has become not only Empress Qian Renxue's office, but also the place where Jiang Tian's subordinates report to him.

Ling Yunzhi stood respectfully before Jiang Tian: "My lord, the civil and military officials in the court are willing to donate a total of 75 million taels of silver."

Empress Qian Renxue was startled upon hearing this.

Over the years, the national treasury has become empty.

In order to support the war on the front lines, the palace's expenditures were cut again and again.

Although Qian Renxue was the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty, her life was far inferior to that of Jiang Tian.

Qian Renxue had also solicited donations from these civil and military officials.

But every time they tried to raise money, the result was always the same: one person was willing to donate 100 taels of silver, and another was willing to donate 50 taels of silver.

In the end, the civil and military officials only raised a few thousand taels of silver.

What can a few thousand taels of silver buy?

Qian Renxue once thought that these civil and military officials were living in poverty.

But to his utter surprise, the civil and military officials in the palace alone pledged 75 million taels of silver.

There are countless other officials, both high and low.

It's easy to imagine how much wealth they have.

These civil and military officials were willing to hand over 75 million taels of silver, and there was more that they were unwilling to hand over.

"Your Majesty, this silver is merely the tip of the iceberg of their wealth." Jiang Tian waved his hand, signaling Ling Yunzhi to step back.

Just then, Lu Wentong, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard stationed in the capital, stepped forward.

"How's the investigation going with your Embroidered Uniform Guard these past few days?"

Lu Wentong cupped his hands and said, "My lord, we were merely investigating the people in the palace hall and discovered that they possessed enormous sums of money."

How many?

"There are at least 150 million taels of silver, in addition to a large amount of gold, gemstones, antiques and calligraphy and paintings."

These are priceless.

Qian Renxue gritted her teeth in anger: "They... are insatiable, they all deserve to die."

“Then kill them all,” Jiang Tian said without hesitation.

“This…” Qian Renxue hesitated, “If we kill them all, many departments will be without staff, and the court will inevitably come to a standstill.”

"It's better to kill these people than to leave them in positions of power without doing any work. It'll serve as a warning to others."

"Then who will do their work?"

"Let our deputy hold them off for now. When we kill them, let all the people of the city have a good look." Jiang Tian held Qian Renxue's small hand. "Firstly, to prove His Majesty's determination to govern diligently, and secondly, to dispel the people's concerns."

"His Majesty has been staying in the palace for a long time, and the people of the capital are already in a state of panic."

"When everyone heard that Zhang Xianzhong was going to attack, they all wanted to take their families and leave the capital."

Qian Renxue stood up: "What... should we do?"

“I’m here. Now that I’m here, nothing will happen in the capital.” Jiang Tian reached out and lifted Qian Renxue’s beautiful chin. “You take care of being beautiful, and leave the rest to me.”

"I don't want to see you working day and night."

Qian Renxue nodded.

[Ding, the anger value of the Second Grand Secretary Pang Hao has increased by 5632]

[Ding, Minister of War Chen Ping'an's rage value +5421]

[Ding! General Zhou Jian's rage value increased by 5212]

[Ding, from...]

The system notification sound kept ringing.

Jiang Tian opened the system panel.

Jiang Tian finally saw that the character panel had started to move.

Jiang Tian excitedly swiped to the character panel.

Bai Qi...

Holy crap, it's Bai Qi, the God of Slaughter and Lord Wu'an of Qin.

He fought for decades throughout his life and never suffered a defeat.

During the Warring States period, the states were constantly at war, and the armies of the various states suffered more than two million casualties, of which Bai Qi killed 1.2 million.

"Qi, Jian, Po, and Mu were the most skilled in military affairs." The Qi, Jian, Po, and Mu mentioned in the Thousand Character Classic refer to Bai Qi, Wang Jian, Lian Po, and Li Mu.

Bai Qi was ranked as the foremost of the four great generals of the Warring States period.

Bai Qi's abilities are truly remarkable.

Bai Qi's ability to fight on the battlefield is evident.

Jiang Tian spent 500,000 rage points and exchanged them for Bai Qi, the Martial Lord of Qin, without hesitation.

[Congratulations, host! You have successfully exchanged for Bai Qi, the Martial Lord of Qin. Reward: 10,000 new Qin soldiers.]

Wow, the system has finally done something decent again.

Previously, you could only exchange for military generals, but now, along with the generals, you also receive corresponding soldiers.

These new Qin soldiers were among the most powerful fighting forces during the Warring States period.

Since Shang Yang's reforms, the Qin state has been training a large number of new soldiers in the Lantian military camp.

The selection and training of new soldiers in the Qin state were extremely rigorous.

During the Warring States period, the Wei state's elite infantry, the Qin state's new recruits (also known as the Qin elite soldiers), the Zhao state's iron cavalry, and the Qi state's skilled warriors were the four most powerful armies in the Warring States period.

The Qin recruits were far more powerful than them, as they had to carry 50 jin (25 kg) of weight and walk 30 li (15 km).

In addition to full armor, the new Qin soldiers also carried spears and strong bows, as well as short swords and fifty iron-tipped arrows.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!