To be more precise, the entire powerful gentry group in the south was shocked.
When they reacted, they were naturally dissatisfied and angry.
"I thought it would be great to become the Marquis of Wu. If no nobles come forward to help, he will cry sometimes in the future!"
"Hmph, the dignity of the noble family cannot be violated. Marquis Wu will suffer a lot in the future!"
"Does Marquis Wu still dare to completely offend the nobles? Let's wait for his follow-up actions!"
"..."
The noble community was in a state of excitement, but Lei Hu remained motionless and was not affected at all.
He really has no intention of using the gentry to govern the place. If he can't easily handle a mere half a million people, wouldn't his career as chief minister in his previous life be in vain?
It won't be too late to deal with the powerful nobles who are disobedient and want to cause trouble secretly, and then slowly manage the place. At the moment, the people under the jurisdiction of Wu Hou mainly focus on recuperation.
Fortunately, both the Taihu Lake area and Qiantang County are rare fertile lands, with dense water networks and fertile land, and most of them are plain and hilly terrain, which is very suitable for development and farming.
However, the limited fields that have been developed, most of which are high-quality paddy fields, are concentrated in the hands of local powerful people and noble families. Even if ordinary people have fields in their hands, they are basically dry land with low productivity.
More ordinary people have no land and can only become poor tenants, enduring repeated exploitation by local tyrants and nobles, as well as the government, and their lives are miserable.
Just talking about the Shen family of Taihu who had just broken through the defense of Wubao with his sword, the benefits of collecting his personal guards from the Shen family were simply shocking.
A mere Shen family has a hidden population of three thousand, and most of them are young men and women, with less than one-tenth of the population being elderly and children.
This is nothing, those world-famous families are powerful. Whether it is in official history or in the story world of Double Dragon of the Tang Dynasty, Taiyuan Li clan has an army of 100,000. Where did these people come from?
As long as your brain is not broken, you will know that these 100,000 troops are the hidden population of the Li clan.
In terms of numbers alone, the noble families in the south were far less powerful than the aristocratic families in the north.
In addition, the collected fields are also measured in hectares. The Shen family in Taihu alone has hundreds of hectares of paddy fields, not including the hidden acres, as well as the shops in the city, the small islands in Taihu Lake and other industries, all added up.
The number is quite astonishing, more than enough to support an army of a thousand men.
After breaking through Shen's Wubao in Taihu Lake, Lei Hu did not go on a killing spree.
When Shen's Wubao was breached, Shen's several defensive soldiers died. When Lei Hu's personal guards surged in, no matter whether they were second-rate masters or ordinary soldiers, they were all captured without any resistance.
If not, Lei Hu's personal guards wouldn't mind sending them to the West.
The number of trained young men alone, whether they are Shen clan members or Qingzha in hiding, exceeds 500. Including young women, the number must be at least close to a thousand.
In Lei Hu's eyes, this was a labor team with great potential, and he didn't want to waste it in vain, so he killed it all.
Not to mention that he is not so murderous, with Lei Hu's amazing martial arts skills, and he is not worried about the revenge of these prisoners in the future, it is better to squeeze out the remaining value of these prisoners for now.
If you want to be rich, build roads first!
This principle applies no matter where it is placed and in any era.
Lei Hu was the big boss in charge of the Ministry of Industry in the Red Mansion World in his previous life, and was also known as the "Infrastructure Maniac". At this time, he became the Marquis of Wu and was in charge of elite places such as Taihu Lake and Qiantang County. How could he not do something big?
Infrastructure construction, develop these two precious places in advance?
The great development of the south was not fully developed until the Southern Song Dynasty. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the south was already the food production and fiscal and taxation center of the empire.
The Taihu area and Qianchi County alone, as long as they are developed properly and rely on their own advanced agriculture and technology, they can easily feed a population of more than 20 million, and their living standards are much better than those in the north!
Ever since Lei Hu wanted to occupy an area in the south and become independent, he had set his sights on the Taihu area and Qiantang County. Not only could he get both places, but he could develop a population of tens of millions if he got just one land and become an important city in the south.
Powerful force.
As for the local governance strategy and construction plan, he has been thinking about it for a long time, and now it is time to implement it in an orderly manner.
Sure enough, a horse will not be fat without night grass, and a man will not be rich without windfall!
Just by taking down a little-known Taihu Shen family, Lei Hu collected money, grain, cloth, population, fields and other materials and resources, which was enough to provide the initial capital for the large-scale development under his jurisdiction.
Can last longer.
If you wait until the crops in the fields begin to be harvested, they can last longer.
In other words, Lei Hu was clear-minded and very rational, otherwise he might not be able to resist the temptation and massacre and rob the powerful families under his control.
If that were to happen, regardless of whether there would be serious consequences, the looted money, grain and materials, as well as the acres of mountains and forests, would probably be enough resources for the development of the entire Wuhou area.
It's a pity that the number of people under Lei Hu's rule is too small. It's no joke that those powerful nobles have been established in the place for many years. Once they want to resist and cause trouble with all their strength, the entire territory may be in chaos.
By then, the Sui army, which has completely pacified the south and is free to move, may take advantage of the situation and call Lei Hu's independence in the name of helping to pacify the area empty talk.
On the list of Taihu Shen's prisoners, Lei Hu was surprised to see an unfamiliar name: Shen Faxing!
This name was no stranger to him who was familiar with official history and the history of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It was the place where Yang Guang raised his troops in Wu County after Yang Guang was killed. However, his abilities were limited and he was easily killed by the other rebel forces.
However, an existence that can leave its name in history books, even if it is just a cat or a dog, is not a simple character.
At this time, Shen Faxing was only an older boy of fifteen or sixteen years old, and he was still an extremely young rookie. Lei Hu naturally did not need to worry or be afraid.
The captured Shen clan members and their private soldiers were quickly organized into several labor teams and began the hard work of building roads and bridges under the supervision of their personal guards.
It has to be said that the spiritual energy of the world here is rich, and the physical fitness of the creatures nurtured is quite good, especially the strong laborers like the Shen clan members and clan soldiers who have practiced different martial arts. The efficiency of their work is quite amazing. One person
Comparable to three to five ordinary warriors in the world of Red Mansions.
In other words, the captured more than 500 young men of the Shen family and the clan soldiers were enough to be worth the more than 2,500 strong men in the world of Red Mansions.
This is amazing!
Especially the beginners among the captives. Although the strongest ones are only acquired peaks and are still one step away from the innate ones, they can do so much if they are asked to help build roads and bridges. One person can even do it.
Compared with modern construction machinery.
As long as the organization is used properly, the captured Shen clan members and clan soldiers alone can completely repair the official roads in several counties in the Taihu Lake area. They are all gravel roads paved and crushed back and forth by rolling stones.
The captive Shen clan members and clan soldiers have a clear division of labor. The ordinary Shen clan members and clan soldiers are naturally responsible for repairing and expanding the official roads, while the work of quarrying and gravel is all done by the elite gang.
Hundreds of kilograms of stone were as light as nothing in their hands. Those acquired masters who had reached the second-rate level in the world would naturally break the big stone into small stones when they patted it with their palms.
As for the rolling stone mill that weighs a thousand kilograms, in the hands of these second-rate acquired masters, it is not a heavy object. Not only can it be easily lifted, but it can also be dragged along for miles without blushing or out of breath.
When it comes to rivers, it is very easy to build bridges and drive piles. Those second-rate masters don't even need to take action. Among the captives, the third-rate master of the Shen family can drive a thick wooden pile into the muddy water for several feet with one palm, creating a bridge several feet wide.
As long as there are enough materials for a small river, a solid wooden bridge can be built in just half a day.
The efficiency of infrastructure construction involving the participation of experts is incredible. It is almost as efficient as modern construction machinery. It is very easy to just build roads and bridges.
The captured Shen clan members and clan soldiers were not used to it at first, or they could not let go of the dignity of the gentry clan and do these lowly jobs. However, after being severely punished by Wu Hou's personal guards with whips several times, they became completely honest and did whatever they were asked to do.
Absolutely nothing.
Fortunately, the guards of Marquis Wu who were in charge of supervising the work were not harsh. As long as the tasks were completed on time and in quantity, there would be no problem in keeping them fed. This made the middle and senior leaders of the Shen clan finally feel relieved.
As long as you are not a fool, you will react at this time.
The Shen family in Taihu became the leading bird, and was killed by Wu Hou Leihu. Ever since the Shen family's misfortune, the powerful nobles in the Taihu area and Qiantang County have been honest and settled, and they have taken the initiative to come and meet them from time to time.
This is simply unreasonable for the Shen clan members who are undergoing "reform through labor".
Later, the captured Shen clan members hated other noble families under the rule of Wu Hou even more than they hated Wu Hou.
In addition to the fact that Wu Hou Leihu is too powerful and they know that they have no chance to take revenge, this is also a special case of "only worrying about the numbers but not the inequality"!
When the Shen family was in turmoil, a group of nobles under the rule of Wu Hou were so powerful that they often added fuel to the flames and fanned the flames.
Co-author: Now the Shen family is in bad luck. They were punished by "reeducation through labor" by Marquis Wu. They are busy with endless chores every day and live a hard life that is worse than that of ordinary people. We don't know when it will end.
The rest of the families who have secretly manipulated and fanned the flames must also suffer the same consequences. Is this fair?
So soon, the Shen clan started a verbal war with a group of powerful gentry families under the rule of Wu Hou through hidden forces.