Lu Tu's gaze swept over the 300 military slaves present: "Since you have joined my ranks from today onwards, I must tell you the rules!"
"First, obey my orders unconditionally. Second, I do not tolerate cowards. Anyone who dares to shrink back in the face of the enemy or abandon their comrades will be killed without mercy!"
Upon hearing this, the 300 military slaves present widened their eyes instantly. This was too outrageous! They had been military slaves in other places before. Although they had been pushed to the front lines during wartime to block the Wuhuan people's charges with their own bodies, they had never been killed for not moving forward. How could they be allowed to live like this?
Seeing the commotion among the military slaves, Lü Tu paid no attention and continued to shout, "My rules are the same for everyone. Not only are we fed every day, but anyone who fights bravely and makes meritorious contributions can be freed from slavery!"
Upon hearing this, the military slaves, who had previously been complaining and grumbling, instantly beamed with joy!
No amount of words can compare to the truth of these two sentences.
In other places, let alone being full, even the millet porridge served once a day was mixed with sand. But here in Lü Tu's place, even as a military slave, one could be fed to the fullest.
And most importantly, being a slave elsewhere means there is no hope of ever being free. Now that there is hope of returning to normal life, how can they not be excited?
The 300 men immediately knelt on the ground, their expressions filled with excitement as they kowtowed to Lü Tu, saying, "Thank you, Your Excellency!"
Lu Tu wouldn't be polite to these completely unfamiliar military slaves; otherwise, it would only cause more trouble.
He shouted sternly, "No need to thank me! Anyone who slacks off or breaks any rules will be executed without mercy!"
After the incident of Yan Lei's leak, Lü Tu decided to use stricter laws to restrain the people under his jurisdiction.
When it comes to social systems, the rule of law is always the most effective way to restrain the people and deter criminals.
He plans to hand this matter over to Xiao Zhong soon, firstly because he doesn't have the energy or time to manage so many things, and secondly to see how capable Xiao Zhong is at handling internal affairs.
Lu Tu turned to Nie Yun: "Take them to dig coal!"
Previously, he was reluctant to let the veterans of the Southern Palace Imperial Guards go to mine coal, after all, the veterans' experience was incomparable to that of these military slaves.
But Lu Tu couldn't care less about the newly arrived military slaves. Someone had to do the work, otherwise how could Hu Delu continue smelting iron? Besides, Lu Tu had already had the village women make hundreds of masks for them to protect them, which would reduce the strain on their bodies to some extent.
In other words, only Lü Tu would consider it. In the Great Yu Dynasty, where the average life expectancy was less than 40 years, who cared about tuberculosis and pneumoconiosis?
Lu Tu looked at the border troops escorting the goods, took out 30 taels of silver from his pocket and handed it over: "Thank you for making this trip."
The border soldier accepted the silver and said with a fawning smile, "You flatter me, Captain. This is all we should do. In that case, we'll head back now."
Their eyes lingered on the dozens of oxcarts, and Lü Tu urged, "Liu Yang, see these people off for me."
The escorting border troops smiled wryly and waved their hands repeatedly, saying, "No need to see us off, Captain. We're leaving now!"
Now that the oxcart has been delivered, why should we let them take it back? These oxen are valuable; spring plowing is just around the corner, and they'll come in handy.
What Yun Tian bestowed upon him, euphemistically called "two days," was actually just some land that had never been cultivated or had been barren for a long time, making it extremely difficult to cultivate.
Without cattle, it would be a huge, time-consuming project; if the labor costs were too high, the grain production would suffer.
After being intimidated by Lü Tu, the 300 military slaves obediently followed Nie Yun.
After everyone helped put the money into the warehouse, Song Yuxi came over with the account book: "Husband, after distributing all the commemorative money, we still have 7,000 taels of silver and jin of millet left."
Xiao Zhong then came over to report: "Reporting to the lord, we lost 185 villagers and 89 soldiers this time."
Lu Tu's head ached after hearing this. The losses this time were too severe. There were only 1,500 soldiers and civilians to begin with, but now nearly 300 have been killed in action. Fortunately, another 300 slave soldiers have been brought in to replace them.
As the burden grew heavier and heavier, Lü Tu also found it difficult to bear, which is the downside of not establishing sustainable development.
The main problem was that the number of people in his territory was too small and the time he ruled was too short, making it impossible for him to achieve complete self-sufficiency.
Fortunately, he had sweet potatoes and a three-year tax exemption. He looked at Xiao Zhong and said, "Mr. Xiao, tomorrow you should send some people around to spread the word that we have eradicated the bandits and exempted them from taxes to the surrounding villages and refugees."
Xiao Zhong was overjoyed at Lü Tu's meaning: "My lord, you and I are of the same mind. When I was chasing Yan Lei, I discovered several groups of refugees. They all seemed to have come from Longcheng."
Lu Tu nodded: "In that case, call Liu Hong along. Safety is the priority. If there are any troublemakers among the refugees, just kill them."
"Please rest assured, sir, I will take care of it right away."
Lu Tu was quite confident in Xiao Zhong's abilities. After all, he had drawn up a map of the surrounding terrain as soon as he arrived. How could someone with such foresight not handle such a simple matter?
Song Yuxi continued, "Husband, if we take in a large number of refugees and other villagers, I'm afraid we'll have to change our work-for-relief method."
Lu Tu nodded: "That's right, I've been thinking about this issue recently. Before, everyone was really struggling to make ends meet. If I hadn't provided work relief, I'm afraid they wouldn't have made it to the New Year."
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