The most awkward people at this moment were the soldiers brought by Li Da. They stood there at a loss, and logically, they should have avenged their superior who had been killed.
But they knew Li Da better than the villagers of Songshan. He had bullied them a lot on a daily basis, and now, their wives were still lying in Li Da's house.
Seeing Lü Tu looking at them, the men trembled with fear and quickly handed over their broadswords, kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy: "Squad Leader, we didn't see anything, please let us go!"
Lu Tu smiled coldly: "You followed Li Da in committing all sorts of misdeeds, and now you still want to live on?"
The group broke down in tears, crying, "Li Da forced us to do it! We're innocent!"
Lu Tu completely ignored their arguments: "If you have received favors from Li Da, how can you be innocent? Take them down!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Liu Yang swung his knife, severing the man's tendons with a powerful strike. Liu Hu and Zhao Liang also seized the opportunity to chop at the feet of the men, rendering them unable to move and causing them to fall to the ground in agony.
Seeing this, the other villagers of Songshan Village rushed forward and strangled several of Li Da's soldiers on the spot.
Li Da had already bullied him to the point of drawing his sword first, so how could Lü Tu possibly let them go? He understood the principle of eliminating the root of the problem better than anyone else.
Moreover, he was not afraid of being blamed by Zhou Taishan. He had only restrained Li Da and his soldiers in self-defense, and it was the villagers of Songshan who killed them in a fit of anger.
The law does not punish the masses; he can't possibly punish the entire Songshan Village just for a few good-for-nothings.
At this moment, Liu Yang grabbed Xu Fei with a knife and kicked him to his knees: "Squad leader, what should we do with this man?"
The villagers hated the lackey Xu Fei, even more than Li Da, and shouted, "Sir, kill him!"
Shouts of "Kill him!" echoed throughout the room.
Lu Tu gave Liu Yang a look, and Liu Yang raised his knife and brought Xu Fei's head to the ground.
Lu Tu quite admired the Liu brothers. They were ambitious, insightful, and decisive, truly promising talents. Moreover, they had no parents to rely on and obeyed Lu Tu's every word.
"Thank you, Lord Xie, for ridding Songshan Village of this scourge!"
Lu Tu announced loudly, "Starting today, I will recruit 50 strong men from your village to build defensive fortifications at the Niu Mang Mountain pass in the north. Adult men will receive one jin of millet per day, and women and those over 13 years old will receive eight liang of millet per day!"
Upon hearing this, the villagers present were so excited that they almost cried. One pound of millet cost 10 copper coins. Normally, when they went to Wuchuan City to work as porters, they would only earn 5 copper coins a day.
Those who wanted to participate surged forward eagerly. Lü Tu shouted, "Let me make this clear: if even one person dares to cheat or shirk their duty, not only will no one receive any food, but I won't care about you when the Wuhuan people come next time!"
You must understand that I'm paying for this myself, providing food and supplies for your work, all for the safety of my two villages, Kuishan and Songshan!
"We understand, thank you, Sergeant! We will definitely do our best!"
Lu Tu instructed Liu Yang and Liu Hu to guard the area, and told the villagers to bring their own tools to dig trenches at Niu Mang Mountain Pass. He also instructed them to insert wooden stakes and other objects into the trenches, and to cover them with turf after they were dug.
The Liu brothers remembered Lü Tu's instructions well, and soon selected 50 men to go to the Niu Mang Mountain pass.
Lu Tu took Zhao Liang back to Kuishan Village and called over twenty strong laborers to push a cart with him to Wuchuan to buy grain. The order had already been issued, and the urgent matter now was that dozens of people needed to eat every day.
His main reason for digging trenches was to target the mobility of the Wuhuan cavalry. Although the founding emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty had built a Great Wall on the border, it had long been damaged and collapsed into a mere formality after a hundred years of weathering and lax management.
Let alone blocking the Wuhuan army, even wild dogs could cross it. Last time he killed three Wuhuan soldiers, it was because the enemy was too confident and never thought of escaping.
Otherwise, it would be difficult for Lü Tu to catch up, and no one can say for sure when the Wuhuan soldiers will attack. As the defending side, fortifications are always the most secure option.
By providing jobs for the villagers, enabling them to make a living, he can enhance his prestige among them and better manage the two villages.
It seems that at least a lot of food will be distributed every day. If you are lucky, you can get the reward by killing a few Wuhuan soldiers. Most importantly, you can also get military merits!
More importantly, he needs to dispel the myth of the invincibility of the Wuhuan soldiers in the hearts of the villagers!
Of course, we should do something that achieves three goals at once, and we should do it more often!
He only regretted that he didn't have enough money and food, and not enough manpower!
After pondering for a short while, they arrived at Wuchuan City and went straight to the market to buy grain.
The fact that he bought 3,000 catties of grain at once was quite a big deal, which startled the people in the market. Moreover, since they didn't recognize Lü Tu, it immediately aroused envy among many people.
Lu Tu knew, of course, that he would be targeted by many people. He was short of men and food, and more importantly, he lacked weapons. He was eager for these fools to rob his grain, so he deliberately let the villagers he brought swagger back to the village with the grain.
Wuchuan is only 30 li away from Kuishan Village. Halfway there, a dozen or so masked, burly men wielding long knives appeared before them. One of them, with a gruff voice, shouted, "This mountain is mine..."
Lu Tu couldn't help but laugh. There really are some people who are bold and unafraid of death!
He couldn't stand the unoriginal slogan any longer and snapped, "Stop talking nonsense! How many people did you bring? Call them all out!"
This stark contrast left the bandits stunned, and when they looked at the villagers, they were surprised to find that none of them were afraid.
Even the way they looked at us was quite strange, like...looking at dead people.
At this moment, not only Lü Tu, but even the villagers pushing the cart were happy. Their own squad leader could kill three elite Wuhuan cavalrymen, so why should they be afraid of this mere petty thief?
Seeing that Lu Tu was riding in front of them and waving to signal them to stop, the villagers were finally able to catch their breath and sit down to rest, and watch the good show of the squad leader killing the bandits in a relaxed manner!
The burly man at the head seemed to be enraged by this scene. Seeing that Lü Tu had no hair on his face and was unbelievably handsome, he would have blurted out the words "pretty boy" if Lü Tu hadn't had dark skin.
The burly man spat viciously and said, "You fucking arrogant bastard! If you don't want to die, put down the grain and get out of here! Maybe we grandpas can spare your life!"
The other bandits also started baring their teeth and making a show of force, but they suddenly noticed that the villagers opposite them were just grinning like they were possessed.
Even the man on horseback who led them was staring at them with a smile, and the bandits felt a sense of unease.
Lu Tu looked around and, finding no disturbance, dismounted, drew his broadsword from his waist, and walked towards the bandits: "Hand over your valuables and put down your weapons, and I might spare your lives!"
The bandits rubbed their eyes in disbelief and exclaimed in unison, "Huh?"
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