The excruciating pain from his buttocks caused Li Xin to instinctively let out a painful roar, which also brought him back to his senses from the buzzing in his head.
"One blow!"
There were military officers nearby who were specifically responsible for counting, and they would shout out the numbers.
"stop!"
The wicked man waved his hand, and the Xuanjia soldiers who were about to continue the execution immediately stopped. The military sticks were only a hair's breadth away from Li Xin's buttocks.
Li Xin's body tensed, his teeth clenched so tightly he was ready to receive the second blow, but it was all in vain.
"General...?"
The wicked man's lips curled slightly upwards, but his face remained stern as he reprimanded the officer, "Who taught you to count like that? One round is one stick, how can you count them separately?"
The officer and Li Xin both gasped in shock.
This round is two strokes of the stick, fifty strokes would be a hundred strokes, isn't this obviously going to kill Li Xin?
Li Xin suddenly turned around, glanced at his own buttocks, and had the illusion that from this day forward, he would lose his buttocks.
The officer hesitated, then whispered, "General...this...this...we're going to kill General Li Xin!!"
To everyone's surprise, the wicked man showed no mercy, shaking his head and saying, "General Li Xin is young and promising, and his skills are superb. What is fifty strokes of the cane?"
"Just fight!"
The Black Dragon Armored Army doesn't mince words; they operate on strict military orders, instantly bringing their batons down.
"Smack!"
Caught off guard, Li Xin's eyes bulged out, and he was in so much pain that he didn't even have the strength to scream.
The soldiers of the Xuanjia Army kept moving their hands, the sound of their batons striking each other incessantly, almost creating afterimages as they swung them.
Li Xin's face was as white as paper, his brows were full of ferocity, and he clenched his teeth to prevent himself from letting out a single painful scream. He could be considered a real man.
As the baton continued to fall, Li Xin became increasingly listless.
Now, he has no thoughts left and has entered a state of sagehood.
All the promises of being enfeoffed as a marquis or appointed as a general, all the talk of commanding a million elite troops... were shattered by the beatings of the military.
At that moment, he had only one thought left: to end this beating as soon as possible!
"Good...good job...Ni, did you see that?"
"Waaaaah..."
The venting curses mixed with sobs made the scene extremely noisy.
The wicked man shifted his gaze from Li Xin and said in a deep voice, "Listen up, Qin soldiers: if one soldier is bad, the whole army will be bad."
"The root cause is ultimately the fault of the commander-in-chief."
"This time, your crimes will be forgiven in exchange for your military merits in this battle, and the spoils will be reduced from 30% to 10%. Do you accept this?"
"We are guilty, thank you for your forgiveness, General."
The shouts of the soldiers immediately rang out in the city. How could they dare to say anything? Didn't they see that Li Xin was still being beaten up?
If even Li Xin, as a deputy general, is treated like this, if the evil man really investigates, will these lowly soldiers still have a chance to live?
The wicked man stopped mentioning the matter and instead began to target the people of Wei.
"Gentlemen, are you satisfied with my handling of this matter?"
"After all, I am a general of Qin, and as a subject I cannot overstep my bounds. I reported this to the King of Qin last night, and the King will decide on the final punishment for Li Xin."
“You all know that the Qin law is strict. Li Xin has committed such a crime, which violates the law.”
"Furthermore, even if it is because of war with an enemy country, how could Li Xin, as a Chinese, do such an outrageous thing against his own people?"
“On the battlefield, even if everyone is slaughtered, it can be justified. But to abuse innocent people and respectable women violates the principles of being a soldier and a general.”
Wei Min wasn't stupid; he could naturally understand the meaning behind his words.
The wicked man is a Qin general, and so is Li Xin. You are enemies, and it is right to show no mercy to enemies.
But I still took it upon myself to punish Li Xin. However, since we are all officials in the same court, I couldn't really execute Li Xin, could I?
Thinking of this, Wei Min was actually moved.
In the end, no one in Wei protected them; instead, Qin generals did what Wei should have done.
After a while, the difference became apparent.
Countless Wei citizens were wavering and decided it would be better to join the Qin state!
Seeing that people's hearts were wavering, the wicked man continued to speak fervently: "Gentlemen, to tell you the truth, it is not that we Qin people are warlike, nor is it that my King of Qin is tyrannical."
"What have the people of Qin been striving for generation after generation?"
"For survival!"
"The people of Qin endured countless hardships and displacements before finally gaining a foothold. With the world in constant war, the people of Qin were deeply concerned."
"They know, they know how bitter that suffering is."
As he spoke, the wicked man forced out a few tears, as if he had witnessed the whole ordeal of the Qin people.
He said, "Therefore, the entire Qin state is united and committed to the cause, hoping to end the centuries of endless wars and sweep across the land with our own strength, bringing peace to the world."
"For this reason, the fine sons of Qin fought one after another, even lying in the ground to die. At the most difficult time, the threshold for recruiting new soldiers in the country was already below fifteen."
Aren't they afraid?
"Don't laugh at me, but I was under fifteen when I joined the army."
"......"
Words that are half-true and half-false are inherently difficult to distinguish, and coupled with the lack of widespread education, those who are uncultured are most easily moved.
Provoked by the wicked husband's few words, she wished she could join the Qin state right now.
It's not that they're stupid or easily fooled; it's just that what this guy said makes some sense.
"Gentlemen, since you can't resist, you might as well join us."
The wicked man, having finally revealed his true intentions, patted his chest and said, "I guarantee that Wei will never be able to reclaim Hedong Commandery, and you will enjoy the same treatment as the Qin people."
A stir ran through the crowd, and quite a few people actually started to have designs on it.
Seeing this, the wicked husband quickly sent someone to summon Li Balang.
Shortly after, Li Balang arrived upon hearing the news.
With just a wink and a glance at Wei Min's expression, he instantly understood what the wicked man was up to.
Li Balang cleared his throat and said with a righteous expression, "People say that my Qin state is tyrannical, but they don't know that my king has already promulgated a new policy and implemented the new policy of 'integrating the poll tax into the land tax' to reform the agricultural tax."
"Pitying the suffering of the people, and in order to seek fairness and justice, he forcefully promulgated a policy that required officials and gentry to pay taxes together. All subjects were required to pay taxes, and no one could be exempted."
"......."
These words echoed in the ears of the Wei people, stirring their hearts and making their blood boil. They even envisioned the peaceful and prosperous life of the Qin people.
them....
I'm so envious!
Look at the lives other people are living, and then look at what you are suffering.
In an instant, they filled in the blanks in their minds, connecting the scenes of the wicked husband's two attacks on the city, and the Qin soldiers' actions became less unacceptable.
"The Qin state is tolerant; if you truly wish to enter Qin, you will enjoy all its policies and decrees!"
Li Balang also concluded with similar words, leaving the decision to Wei Min.
The wicked man's lips curled into a slight smile; he refused to believe the people could tolerate the policy of merging the land tax and poll tax. He knew that no one could stop the wrath of the poor peasantry!
'
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
