The policy formulated by Wu Hou Leihu greatly deceived many powerful nobles in the territory.
In particular, the Hou Mansion's move to divide the land directly turned all tenants in the territory into free citizens, directly cutting off most of the foundation of the local gentry's power.
Without the response of a large number of tenants, the local gentry were no longer powerful, and their influence was greatly reduced. Even the fields could not be cultivated in time, forcing the usually aloof gentry to go into battle in person, almost forcing them into a corner.
It is a pity that the south at this time is no longer the period of the Three Kingdoms and Two Jin Dynasties. The power of the local nobles has seriously declined, and they simply cannot muster the courage to confront the Marquis of Wu.
They were in urgent need of a lot of labor to help cultivate the large fields in the family's hands, so they came up with the idea of buying and selling slaves and refugees. Of course, it was also a small test for Wu Hou.
The household registration management under Lei Hu's rule was very strict. All people who did not declare their household registration within the specified time would have to undergo compulsory labor for half a year once they were found out. After the compulsory labor was completed, they could get the household registration document issued by the government and become a territory.
A glorious member.
During the war era, many people would rather become black households than go to the government to register and receive household registration. Naturally, there was no shortage of such people under Lei Hu's rule.
In the past, these unscrupulous people among the common people were mixed with the crowd, or they were committed to the powerful families of the gentry, so it was very difficult for the government to investigate.
But the situation is different now. The militarized management regulations promulgated by Leihu have completely eliminated the possibility of these black households hiding.
Militarized management is no joke. Under Lei Hu's rule, every village is a camp. All villagers, young and old, are registered reservists. They are under the leadership and command of specialized officers and generals. It is simply impossible to mix in as a gangster.
impossible things.
In addition, the Hou Mansion's supervision of illegal households is also very strict, and once discovered, they will be immediately sent to labor camps without hesitation.
This fact is quite pleasing to the local government. They are eager to get free labor like black households, and the more the better. In the past few years, they have almost wiped out all the black households hiding in the homes of powerful nobles.
This resulted in a serious labor shortage for the powerful noble families, otherwise the nobles and important guards would not have personally cultivated the land.
Anyway, the human resources in the territory were wiped out by the Marquis Mansion, leaving almost no way for the local nobles to survive.
The gentry forces under the leadership of Wu Hou suffered a heavy blow. Not only were the number of people they could mobilize pitiful, but their most important influence also shrunk greatly.
Strict military control was implemented in the territory, and Lei Hu hardly needed any members of the noble clan to help manage the place, which also compressed the energy of the local nobles to the extreme.
They didn't have the guts to confront Marquis Wu directly, so they could only play some tricks that didn't make sense.
For example, he secretly flirted with the southern rebels, and from time to time delivered food and supplies to the rebels, making astonishing profits from it, and at the same time causing trouble for Wu Hou Leihu.
Although the Sui army general Shi Wansui fought consecutively and led the counter-insurgency Sui army to almost sweep through the rebel areas, the terrain and environment of the south limited the speed and efficiency of the counter-insurgency.
After all, the rebels are local snakes. Even if they are defeated and dispersed, as long as they are not all captured and captured, they can quickly gather again and continue to fight against the counter-rebellion Sui army.
This gave Shi Wansui a huge headache, and he even thought about going on a killing spree, but was stopped by Jin Wang Yang Guang, who was in Yangzhou. Naturally, he was extremely angry with the southern forces who were colluding with the bandits.
How angry and dissatisfied would he be if he knew that Wu Houling had the power to conspire with the rebels?
Of course, the gentry forces under the leadership of Wu Marquis can only do so much. They don't have the courage to go into battle naked. If they cause dissatisfaction from both the Sui Dynasty and Wu Marquis, their life will not be easy.
As for recruiting refugees and buying and selling slaves, in addition to solving the family's serious lack of labor trouble, it also meant to test the bottom line of Wu Hou's tolerance for them.
In addition to owning land and a large amount of money and materials, the most important thing for a noble family is to have an armed force sufficient to protect the safety of the family, which is the so-called private army.
Where did the private soldiers of the aristocratic families come from? Aren't they selected from among the many children of the tenant farmers? Only when interests are involved can the private soldiers be more loyal.
Therefore, tenants were not useless to the gentry. They were the main target for the gentry to accumulate money and grain, and they were also the cornerstone for them to maintain their status.
As long as Wu Hou Leihu doesn't stop them, with their money and power, they can recruit enough refugees and buy enough slaves in a short time.
Obviously, the actions of these nobles were contrary to the rules of Wu Marquis, so the officials below reported the news immediately.
"Since they are willing to spend money, let them do it!"
Lei Hu, however, didn't take it seriously and said with a smile: "It's time to replenish the territory after the territory is over, so I'll get it from these powerful nobles!"
Anyway, the territory implements a strict military control system. The local nobles have little interaction with the common people. The purchased slaves and recruited refugees only hang around in the noble manors and have little contact with the people of the territory.
Contact us and you don’t have to worry about breaking the rules.
"General, I'm afraid these powerful nobles won't agree!"
The general who came to report the matter asked worriedly.
"fine!"
Lei Hu waved his hand and said with a nonchalant expression: "Let's wait for these new slaves and refugees to work hard in the noble manor for three years before recruiting them!"
This method is too overbearing.
The general who reported the matter was secretly stunned. He worked with the local nobles to bring the people here, and after three years of "labor training," they finally got an advantage from the Hou Mansion.
I'm afraid that those high-ranking members of the gentry clan will cause trouble.
Lei Hu doesn't care whether they cause trouble or not. Anyway, with the strength of the Hou Mansion growing every moment, as long as the system does not collapse and order remains chaotic, there is no need to worry that these nobles will make trouble.
These guys are the most sensible, and they can only bow their heads and submit to the absolute power. Besides, Lei Hu didn't leave a loophole for them. I really thought they were buying and selling people privately and recruiting landless people without paying any price.
Allowing them to exploit these foreign people for three years is enough. Once these people have fully adapted to the rhythm of life and environment in the territory, they will naturally be completely turned into free citizens and become part of the strength of the Hou Mansion.
As for the local nobles who had their tenants or slaves robbed, anyway, they did not lack money and connections, so they could just continue to buy a new batch.
In this way, the territory will have a steady stream of qualified new blood joining the territory. There is no need to worry about the adaptation of the new blood, and there is no need to trouble the Marquis Mansion to spend energy on coaching these new blood people how to survive in the territory. The local nobles have already helped in advance.
.
Even the closest Taoist Qingxu couldn't understand everything about Lei Hu's thoughts, let alone others.
On the other hand, the local nobles who were cautiously testing the situation saw that Wu Hou turned a blind eye to their actions. They were relieved and excited at the same time, gearing up for a big fight.
If Wu Hou really strictly prohibited it, they would probably cry.
With so many fields under the family's name, it would be a disaster just to see a bunch of pampered tribesmen and guards who were skilled in wielding swords and guns cultivating it.
It is good now that there are finally enough tenants to cultivate the fields, and at the same time, they can be oppressed and exploited, and continue to enjoy the nourishing life of the superiors.
Some gentry families had inflated their ambitions, thinking that Wu Hou had relaxed his suppression on them, and were preparing to recruit young and strong refugees to make up for their previous losses, and even raise the family's military force to a higher level.
In other words, although their life has not been easy in the past few years, the family has accumulated a lot of money and food.
Leihu's ability to govern the place goes without saying. The territory happened to be in a good year, with good harvests almost every year. As a powerful faction in the territory, the granary of the local nobles had never been empty in the past few years.
In addition, the improvement of the official system in the territory has enabled the local nobles to make a lot of money from their businesses. In addition, the taxes collected by the government are not heavy, so the local nobles in the territory have extremely abundant money and food.
Now Lei Hu opened his mouth, and the local gentry, who were extremely short of labor and tenants, used money and food to recruit people.
In previous years, it would have been more difficult to recruit enough manpower in the south due to its vast territory and sparse population.
But it was unbearable that this was during the war, and the rebellion that spread to half of the southern region was no joke. Although the Sui army's counterinsurgency actions were extremely rapid, the rebellion still caused huge damage to production and life in various parts of the south. Several important towns in the south were destroyed.
Groups of refugees.
At this time, it is very easy to recruit people. As long as you are willing to give them a full meal, you can make a whole family of refugees willing to put their fingerprints on the deed of sale.
These thunder tigers didn't bother to pay attention. They had their own local garrison to monitor every move of the local nobles. If they really went too far, they would directly come to warn them.
It's just that this time the situation seems to be out of control, or perhaps the gentry in various places have been suppressed too hard. Now, once the purchasers are released, they are unscrupulous and recruit hundreds or even thousands of homeless people as tenants.
Crossed the line.
Several local noble families went even further, each recruiting three to four thousand people, most of whom were young men and women. This crossed the bottom line that Lei Hu could tolerate.
The local garrison generals did not dare to neglect, and directly led troops to the door to warn them, telling them to stop. It would be best to divide some of the refugees recruited and give them homes to the powerful and honest nobles.
What's surprising is that these families promised well on the surface, but once the garrison generals left, they still went their own way without any scruples, as if they had something to rely on.
At this time, Lei Hu received urgent information from spies on the outskirts of the territory. Two rebels, who had been dispersed and then gathered together by the Sui army's counter-rebellion forces, were secretly approaching the territory. It seemed that they were coming with bad intentions.
How daring!
Lei Hu sneered after hearing the news. Combined with the abnormal reactions of those noble families, what else is unclear?