Lu Tu rebuked sharply: "Words are meaningless, what evidence do you have?"
Upon hearing this, the second-in-command quickly pulled out a token from his pocket. It had the character 'Zhou' written on it, and it seemed to really belong to Zhou Taishan's family.
Lu Tu held it in his hand and examined it carefully. He found it to be quite heavy. He pried open the corner of the token with his fingers and discovered that it was made of pure gold. He was shocked!
This week, Taishan dared to use pure gold for his family's door badge alone; it seems he's made a fortune!
How could a mere captain possibly both plunder the people's wealth and engage in salt and iron trade with the Wuhuan? This is clearly impossible, and his superiors must have been involved as well.
This is only the city of Wuchuan, and the waters are already this deep. What about the entire six border towns?
Lu Tu dared not think any further. The more he thought about it, the more horrified he became. No wonder the Wuhuan people had been able to harass the northern border for a hundred years without being wiped out. It turned out that they were colluding with the people to suck the blood and sweat of the entire Great Yu Dynasty!
The second-in-command said with a fawning smile, "I see that the long sword in your hand is of the standard border army quality. You must know our Lord Zhou, right?"
Lu Tu's smile deepened: "That's right, Lord Zhou has been kind to me, how could I not know him?"
"That's good, that's good, but we can't let you and your brothers make a wasted trip. Why don't you accept this money as a gift?"
Lu Tu glanced at him sideways: "Then how are you going to explain this to Lord Zhou?"
The second-in-command cupped his hands in greeting: "If Lord Zhou asks, I'll just say that the first-in-command rebelled and ran away with the money! Who told him to be so blind as to dare to rob your things?"
Lu Tu patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction and praised, "Smart! I like dealing with smart people."
"Thank you for your praise, sir. We're still on the same side..." Before the second-in-command could finish speaking, a dagger pierced his throat. He looked at Lü Tu in disbelief, clutched his neck, and collapsed in pain.
Lu Tu stared at his corpse and spat disdainfully: "You dare to call yourself one of my own? You bunch of scum!"
He counted about 230 taels of silver in the box, which was enough for Lü Tu to assemble a small team of several dozen people, and enough grain to supply the workers in the two villages.
But the most urgent task at hand is to completely destroy all evidence here. He still needs to kill the Wuhuan people to earn military merits if he wants to rise to power, so it is obviously not a good time to turn against Zhou Taishan.
He called in several fellow villagers who had come with him, and when they saw the scene inside the thatched hut, they were so frightened that their legs trembled.
Lu Tu pointed to the box at his feet: "See this? This is the silver I seized! Do you want it?"
When their eyes fell on the silver, fear was immediately replaced by greed. Their eyes gleamed as they looked at the chest of silver, but they knew that this money was not so easy to take.
They hadn't done anything; the bandits were all slaughtered by Lü. They weren't even entitled to a share of the silver. They could only swallow hard and shake their heads, saying, "These are all thanks to the squad leader. We dare not ask for anything more."
Lu Tu looked at Huo Ting at the back of the crowd. Huo Ting and Lu Tu were old acquaintances. As fellow hunters, Huo Ting was the most capable among them and was usually quite righteous.
"Huo Ting, what do you suggest we do with this money?"
Huo Ting was surprised that Lü Tu would listen to his opinion, and cupped his hands, saying, "We did not contribute, so it should belong to the squad leader!"
Although the others were greedy, they could only nod in agreement.
Lu Tu said loudly, "Very well, take this box of silver back to my house and store it temporarily for military pay. Each of you can come back later to collect 100 catties of grain!"
Everyone was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly bowed in gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Sergeant."
Although dealing with people was Lu Tu's weakness, he knew that threats of force alone were useless. To gain the loyalty of others, he first had to offer generous rewards so that they would listen to him.
Lu Tu told them to pack the knives and axes left behind by the bandits in the village, as well as 230 taels of silver, into bundles and take them away so as not to attract attention.
He then went to check the remaining huts. When he arrived at a small hut behind the mountaintop, he heard faint noises coming from inside as soon as he got close.
Lu Tu kicked open the door, and a musty, rotten smell wafted out. Inside the thatched hut were more than a dozen naked women lying on a filthy communal bed.
They shielded their eyes from the sunlight with their disheveled hair, and only then could they clearly see the intruder's appearance. At that moment, Lu Tu stood in the doorway with his back to the light, looking exceptionally heroic.
The women struggled to kneel on the kang (a heated brick bed), repeatedly kowtowing to Lü Tu and begging, "Hero, please take us away!"
Who are you?
The women eagerly declared, "My family owns a blacksmith shop in the eastern part of Wuchuan."
"My family sells steamed buns at the market."
“My father is Master Li. If you take me back, my father will surely reward you.”
Lu Tu took a close look at their bodies and felt his stomach churn. These women had been abused by the bandits and were now riddled with diseases.
Everyone had red spots on their bodies, and their thighs were covered in sores.
He couldn't help but clench his fists and mutter under his breath, "These beasts!"
A woman lay dying in the corner. With the help of her companions, she got up and said with difficulty, "Sir, I have been captured by those bandits for half a year. I am already broken and dare not trouble you to take me away. Could you do me a favor?"
"If you ever pass by Hejia Village in the north of the city, could you please tell the villagers that He Hua has married and moved far away?"
Looking at her face covered in grime, yet with a pair of clear eyes, Lu Tu couldn't bear to refuse her. She was only just an adult, yet she had already suffered such a calamity.
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