Those local gentry and officials naturally did not want to leave any IOUs, for they held power and influence and could reclaim their land whenever they pleased.
However, their subordinates were not so astute.
They insisted that the commoners sign two copies of the agreement before lending them the land.
Some of them even wrote down more land as borrowed than they actually lent.
They did this intentionally to gain an advantage and acquire some land for themselves.
Because of this intention, the IOUs were very important to them.
After all, officials and gentry could directly seize the commoners' land, but their subordinates lacked such authority and relied on IOUs.
During this process, some commoners were unwilling to sign the IOUs.
But under the coercion of those subordinates, even if they were unwilling, they had to sign such IOUs.
After signing the IOUs, they naturally cursed the officials and gentry and vented their dissatisfaction.
Their laments allowed more people to learn about the officials and gentry lending out land.
For those officials and gentry, this was irrefutable proof.
When those officials and gentry realized this, they were stunned.
Then, they looked at their subordinates with ferocious expressions.
The next moment, they roared out.
"You scoundrels, what stupid things have you done? Who told you to leave IOUs?!"
"My lords, we, we were momentarily blinded by greed. We only wanted a little land. We were wrong, we were truly wrong!!"
"Trash, you bunch of trash, die!!"
Seeing that these subordinates had indeed done such things, the officials and gentry could no longer control their anger.
The next moment, he drew his sword and directly slew one of his subordinates.
Your ferocious demeanor frightened many, and at the same time, it made these officials and gentry confess without being questioned.
If they had not done such things, they would not have been so angry.
If they had not done such things, they would not have had to kill anyone.
But now, not only were they angry, they even killed people, which fully proved that they had indeed done this.
This made the leading soldiers smile.
"I've seen fools before, but never such fools. This is truly confessing without being questioned!"
"Haha! He says his subordinates are stupid, but I think he's not much different. His subordinates' stupidity might be learned from him!"
"This is good, it saves us a lot of trouble. Since he has admitted to what he did, it's time for us to act!"
They barely needed to investigate; the soldiers knew this matter was true.
Under such circumstances, the soldiers naturally had no hesitation and acted directly.
All the soldiers rushed towards these officials and gentry.
This charge truly frightened those officials and gentry.
"We are framed, we are framed!!"
"They are slandering us, they are definitely framing us, we have not done these things at all!!"
"They are lying, this is all their nonsense. Don't believe them, don't believe their lies!!"
As these officials and gentry shouted, they desperately resisted.
They knew that if they did not resist, it would be a dead end.
If they resisted, there might still be a chance of survival.
Under such circumstances, they naturally had to resist, and the more fiercely they resisted, the greater their chance of survival.
However, their resistance was not resistance at all in the face of the Qin army.
Their combat power was far inferior to that of the Qin soldiers.
Their weapons were far inferior to those of the Qin soldiers.
In just one charge, a large number of people died at the hands of the Qin soldiers.
At the same time, a general in the army spoke:
"If you do not resist, we will not kill you and will investigate this matter thoroughly!"
"But you claim to be framed while fiercely resisting. Do you think we are fools?"
"Since you dare to oppress the commoners and embezzle their land, you should be prepared for the reckoning!"
"Heaven's wrath can be survived, but self-inflicted disaster cannot!"
After saying this, the soldiers attacked even more ferociously.
In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the Qin army had already killed more than half of the officials and gentry and brought the situation under control.
Then they began to raid their homes.
In the process of raiding, the soldiers discovered not only a large number of land IOUs but also a vast amount of gold and silver treasures.
Much of this wealth was not something an ordinary official or local gentry could possess.
The amount of money and valuables made it obvious at a glance that it was embezzled and misappropriated.
For such officials and gentry, the soldiers showed no mercy.
Lin Tian had already stated that those who committed crimes should be shown no mercy.
Therefore, after confirming that these officials and gentry were indeed oppressing the commoners, the soldiers took action directly.
They raised their swords and began to slaughter indiscriminately. A large number of officials and gentry died at their hands.
Countless corpses piled up on the ground.
Such a scene was undoubtedly very bloody, so bloody that many were stunned.
Then, some of them let out fierce cheers.
"Well killed, so well killed! This beast is finally dead. Father, do you see? Your enemy is dead!"
"Hahaha! Good riddance, truly good riddance! I thought I would never get revenge in my life, but I didn't expect to be able to get revenge!"
"Ah! Dismembered, I will tear him into a thousand pieces, I will hack him to death!"
Someone shouted and then rushed out like a madman, hacking madly at the already dead official and gentry.
His corpse was cut into pieces.
After the first person did this, others immediately followed suit.
The official's and gentry's corpse was eventually hacked to pieces, leaving no good meat.
Even some of the most ruthless even ate his flesh and drank his blood.
The scene was terrifying to behold.
The commoners whose land had been taken by those officials and gentry trembled with fear.
Then, every single one of them shouted:
"We don't want the land anymore, we don't want that land anymore!"
"That land is not our land, we return it to you, we are willing to return it to you!"
"Don't kill me, please don't kill me, please spare my life, I am willing to give up all my land!"