After Wang Wu appeared with his army, numerous old nobles paid close attention to his movements and those of his forces.
Upon learning that Wang Wu and his men had indeed killed the great scholars and annihilated an old noble family, many were utterly terrified.
Though their families were powerful and possessed immense wealth, compared to the Qin army, their strength was not worth mentioning.
The Qin army's crushing might would instantly turn them to dust.
Consequently, many old nobles, looking at their wives, children, and elders, ultimately decided to surrender their lands and wealth to secure a path to survival for their families.
They did not want their families to perish only for their lands and fortunes to be lost as well.
Thus, they were willing to start anew.
These were the more rational old nobles; some others chose to flee.
Since staying meant they could not protect their lands and wealth, they would take their families and fortunes and escape.
While this would still result in significant land losses, at least they could preserve their wealth.
Therefore, many old nobles chose to relocate their entire clans to other states.
Among these, the powerful state of Chu was their primary choice.
They believed that once they entered Chu, they could safeguard their families.
However, when they actually reached the Chu border, they were shocked to discover that the border was swarming with Qin soldiers.
These included Wang Jian's main force and Meng Tian's main force.
The two great armies surrounded Chu, preventing it from making any rash moves.
More importantly, they had stationed soldiers to patrol the Chu border. As soon as the old nobles appeared, they were immediately discovered.
"It's those old nobles! They're trying to flee our Qin state through here!"
"Fleeing Qin with their fortunes, they must be aiding our enemies. Capture them!"
Regardless of who these old nobles once were, or what renowned scholars they might have associated with, they were apprehended the moment they appeared at the border.
The consequence of their capture was the confiscation of their wealth, followed by their conscription into labor.
They were apprehended under the charge of aiding the enemy, thus their fate differed from other old nobles.
They were not even given a choice; they were directly taken away.
This method of handling left countless old nobles stunned.
Especially when they learned that many of their female family members were taken for "education," they found it even more unbearable.
"No, we cannot flee Qin through the border. If we do, not only will our fortunes be confiscated, but our fate will be even more tragic!"
"Let's go back. We'll think of a plan first. Simply breaking through is completely unfeasible!"
The border soldiers' methods were not much gentler than Wang Wu's.
In fact, they were even more brutal than Wang Wu.
Under Wang Wu, they at least had some semblance of choice; but at the border, they were directly arrested and forced into labor.
Their families were ruined for generations.
Therefore, many old nobles retreated and began frantically devising strategies.
"With our capabilities, it's impossible to breach the border. However, we are not entirely without recourse!"
"Since we cannot breach the border ourselves, let others breach it for us, and they can escort us out!"
"Others breaching the border? At this time, who else has the strength to breach the Qin border?"
"Individual strength is naturally insufficient. However, a state does! As long as we request aid from other states and express our willingness to offer vast fortunes, those states will surely be tempted, and they will send people to escort us!"
"This… will they truly dispatch troops for us?"
Qin's might was common knowledge.
The current Qin had annihilated other states.
The entire world now consisted only of Qin, Chu, Wei, and Qi. Among these, Qin stood alone, while Wei and Qi were very weak and dared not provoke Qin.
Although Chu was a former hegemon, it still lagged significantly behind the current Qin.
Therefore, in many people's eyes, these three states would not dare to provoke Qin.
However, the clan leaders of those old nobles merely smiled.
"Under normal circumstances, they would naturally not dare to provoke Qin; they could not afford to offend its might."
"But when the interests involved are substantial enough, the situation changes."
"Suppose we offered the combined wealth of the entire state of Chu. Would the King of Chu and his ministers not be tempted?"
"As long as they are tempted, they will surely send troops to rescue us, even if it means engaging in a great war with Qin!"
Although these old nobles were called nobles, their essence was not much different from merchants.
They were acutely aware of how greatly profit could tempt a person.
With sufficient interest, there was always someone willing to undertake even the most daunting task.
Of course, their families alone could not produce such vast sums of wealth.
Even if they could, they would be reluctant to part with it.
They needed to unite with other nobles, have them pool their fortunes, and together request Chu's aid, thereby increasing their chances of success.
Since Wang Wu was already leading his army to campaign against old nobles everywhere, their actions were swift. They soon united more than half of the old nobles and amassed a total of ten million taels of silver.
This colossal sum of wealth shocked the Chu people.
Although Chu was a former hegemon, it was not prosperous at this time.
Its annual revenue amounted to less than one million taels of silver in taxes.
Ten million taels of silver was equivalent to Chu's ten years of tax revenue.
It was even possible that Chu as a whole did not possess such wealth at present.
Upon hearing that the old nobles were willing to offer such a vast fortune in exchange for the King of Chu's intervention, the King of Chu was greatly tempted.
"No, we must save them! We must obtain that ten million taels of silver!"
"Indeed, we should save them. This fortune will either fall into our hands or Qin's. If Qin acquires such wealth, it will be effortless for them to expand their army and attack us."
"We truly underestimated how much wealth those old nobles possessed. If we had known they were so rich, we should have dispatched a force to plunder their wealth after Qin conquered those states!"
Many regretted their earlier inaction, thinking that if they had known the old nobles were so wealthy, they would not have minded their men playing the infamous role of bandits and seizing all their fortunes.
This might have tarnished their reputation slightly, but it would have brought them immeasurable wealth.
However, the current moment was not too late; they still had a chance to acquire the ten million taels of silver.
Indeed, they might even have an opportunity to obtain even more wealth.
Therefore, they contemplated taking action against Qin.
...