Chapter 571: Hidden Households
Editor: Atlas Studios
The Cui family was an old aristocratic family. In the Tang Dynasty, their power and glory were second only to the Li family. However, when the Tang Dynasty was destroyed, the Li family was the first to suffer a blow. The Cui family then became the leader of all the aristocratic families.
Emperor Shizong of Great Zhou suppressed the aristocratic families, and the Cui family also became the most heavily suppressed. Although they had been suppressed for nearly 20 years, after Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne and promoted the aristocratic families, they immediately jumped to the top of the aristocratic families.
After the Great Zhou fled south, the Cui family also came out and settled down in Dongting County.
Along Dongting Lake were fertile fields that had been reclaimed, and Dongting Lake had long become a place famous for producing fish and rice. Along Dongting Lake were rows of civilian houses. According to the Imperial Court’s data, the number of residents in Dongting County was equivalent to the number of people in a high-grade prefecture. This was only on the surface, and it did not even include the hidden households of the Cui family.
The Imperial Court had repeatedly banned the phenomenon of hidden households. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, because they placed too much importance on the aristocratic families, the phenomenon of hidden households was the most serious.
The wealthy families kept hidden households to avoid the country’s taxes, and the aristocrats also used this opportunity to acquire a large amount of land. Qi Xiuyuan ordered that they were not allowed to keep hidden households anymore. In fact, he wasn’t really counting on them to really register the hidden households under them as citizens. Instead, this was just him warning them not to recruit even more hidden households during this chaos.
Otherwise, he would be sure to deal with them.
Qi Haoran naturally knew what his Big Brother meant. As he did not know much about politics, he did not intend to interfere. Anyway, if he was asked, he would just support his Big Brother. He was more concerned about the reform of the military system.
However, since those people were scheming against him, Qi Haoran would not let them off so easily.
When he went to eat, the three people in the private room beside him were talking about how many hidden households they had already helped the Cui family rear. The three of them were officials from Dongting County and happened to be in charge of registering refugees.
Coincidentally, their voices could be heard from the adjacent room.
Qi Haoran didn’t know who was plotting against him, but it was obvious that that person was mainly targeting the Cui family and not him.
Qi Haoran directly got someone to surround the Cui residence, the Cui family’s manor, and even the county office of Dongting County. The reason was that someone had reported the Cui family for conspiring to rebel with the county magistrate.
The walls of the enormous Cui Manor were tall and the manor occupied an area almost equivalent to that of a city. If not for the fact that Qi Haoran brought many men and split them up into six groups to guard the six gates, catching them off guard, they probably would not have been able to surround the Cui residence.
Qi Haoran did not order his men to kill anyone, but the people were horrified by his actions.
Not long after, the head of the Cui family, Cui Zhi, and the county magistrate of Dongting, Jin Xin, came bound.
The direct descendants of the Cui family were also tied up and guarded not far away. Cui Zhi was so angry that the corners of his eyes turned red. Glaring at Qi Haoran, he asked, “General Qi, what are you doing? What did our Cui family do wrong?”
Qi Haoran snorted coldly and pointed at the guards holding weapons in the Cui family’s manor. “I was just about to ask the Cui family what you people plan to do.”
“Fei Bai, read the ‘Great Zhou Code’ to him.”
As Qi Xiuyuan and his brother had not even chosen their state title, the ‘Great Zhou Code’ still applied. The ‘Great Zhou Code’ that Emperor Shizong had employed as a standard of reference imposed the most restrictions on the aristocratic families. There were requirements for the size of the manor and the thickness of the walls. Moreover, the weapons owned by the commoners were strictly restricted. Qi Haoran could clearly see that the people up there were not holding hoes and scythes, but broadswords and bows.
After Fei Bai finished reciting, Qi Haoran sneered and said, “Previously, I didn’t believe that you would rebel, but from the looks of it, I have no choice but to believe it. If you have the intention to rebel, what have you been doing these two years? Now that all the bandits and rebels in the borders have been pacified, you want to rebel. What fools.”
Stunned, Cui family immediately said, “General Qi, please allow us to report. Our Cui family is loyal to the general and has never had the intention to rebel. Now that the four seas are peaceful, why would we want to rebel now?”
Seeing Qi Haoran’s hesitation, Cui Zhi immediately continued, “You must be bewitched by a traitor. I’m willing to confront the other party.”
Qi Haoran snorted coldly and said, “Fine. I’ll let you die convinced. Men, return to the camp and bring those three people here. Be careful not to let them die.”
Cui Zhi thought to himself that Qi Haoran was indeed provoked by someone. At this moment, he could not be bothered to be angry with Qi Haoran. Instead, he quickly racked his brains to think of who would target the Cui family so viciously.
However, Qi Haoran had already shifted his gaze to the Cui family. “Cui family head, I have a question that I haven’t been able to figure out. Since we have some time on our hands now, I’ll take the chance to consult you.”
Qi Haoran waved his hand and got someone to pull Cui Zhi up and let him stop kneeling. Cui Zhi heaved a sigh of relief and heard Qi Haoran ask, “The walls of your manor are so tall and the courtyard is so deep that your manor is comparable to a city. Why doesn’t your Cui family live here but in the county?”
Cui Zhi’s heart instantly tensed up. He felt that the focus of Qi Haoran’s question was mainly on the first half of the sentence. Hence, he deliberated before replying, “Because it hasn’t been peaceful in recent years, this manor has been built so tall. General Qi, please don’t misunderstand. With the Imperial Court protecting Dongting County, I naturally feel more assured letting my family stay in the county.”
“But the news I received was that you and Jin Xin conspired to rebel. I heard you’re taking advantage of the fact that commoners are re-registering the identities now, to lure the refugees and hid them in a hidden house. However, you are actually recruiting them as troops.”
Cui Zhi and Jin Xin raised their heads sharply and felt a chill in their hearts. The duo was indeed colluding to turn the commoners into hidden households. As long as the commoners heard that they did not have to pay taxes and only had to pay a little rent, they were willing to come over with the title deeds under their names. So far, he had recruited more than 300 hidden households. Together with the previous ones, the number of hidden households he had was equivalent to the population of a high-grade town.
But from Qi Haoran’s point of view, these people could form an army.
Cui Zhi’s face turned slightly pale. He knew that someone was using the matter of him taking in hidden households to frame him for rebellion, but he did not know how much evidence Qi Haoran had obtained.
While Cui Zhi was still thinking, Qi Haoran was already looking at the manor as he said, “Cui Family Head, actually, we’ll know if it’s true or not once we enter the manor and see if there are private soldiers or weapons inside. A thorough search will expose the truth entirely. I’ve never had a good temper and I’m not patient enough. Do you want them to open the door, or do you want me to barge in?”
Cui Zhi’s expression turned even uglier. Jin Xin looked at him anxiously, but because his mouth was gagged, he couldn’t say a word. He didn’t know what was in the Cui family’s manor, but he knew that there were private soldiers and weapons.
Private soldiers were hidden households and their servants. There were about 4,000 of them. If Qi Haoran said that they were private soldiers, they were private soldiers. As for weapons, there was nothing much to be said about them. One could tell just by looking at the shining swords and sabers openly brandished in the manor.
Tears streamed down Jin Xin’s face as he started to regret it. He shouldn’t have conspired with Cui Zhi for that bit of benefit. Rebellion was punishable by execution of one’s nine generations. Now that order had yet to be restored, it was often just a word from the higher-ups. In the future, the history books would not investigate further.
Jin Xin glared at Cui Zhi with some hatred, then looked at Qi Haoran anxiously, hoping that he would remove the gag from his mouth. He had something to say.
Cui Zhi lowered his eyes, unwilling to admit defeat. However, when the three captured people were escorted over, Cui Zhi’s heart turned cold, and what little hope he had previously held in his heart shattered.