In fact, a bottom-ranking elimination system is more effective than a reward system, but it is not suitable for the current situation. There is still a shortage of manpower compared to the work that still needs to be done.
Lu Tu Chong waved to the crowd and said, "Sun Meng, Sun Kuang, bring 20 more men who can ride horses, follow me!"
Upon hearing about the mission, Nie Yun wanted to go along. He genuinely wanted to stay by Lü Tu's side, even if it was just to help out, he could learn a lot from it.
But he had to continue training new recruits here, so Lü Tu took the land deeds and men and headed to Luzhuang Village and Daozhuang Village.
These two villages were plundered by the Wuhuan people three months ago; half of the houses were destroyed, and most of the people had left.
If it weren't for the coal mines here, this place might have become an abandoned village long ago. And there are countless such abandoned villages in the six towns of the Northern Territory, so there is no shortage of fertile land. This is why Yun Tian is so generous.
Apart from the six border towns, I have never seen any ninth-rank captain obtain a land deed.
The distance to Songshan Village was only about 10 li (approximately 5 kilometers), and we soon arrived at the village entrance.
It has been a month since I last came here. The scene is completely different from that of Kuishan and Songshan villages. The entire Daozhuang village is like the lifeless old locust tree at the entrance of the village, like an old man who is about to die.
The year-end had just ended, and there wasn't even a trace of other colors to be seen. Most of the villagers were middle-aged people over 30, leaving only the elderly, women, and children. The young and strong men had long since left this place and migrated elsewhere.
Even when they saw Lu Tu and his men approaching, they only showed a brief moment of panic. After realizing that they were not Wuhuan people, they lowered their heads and sat blankly outside their own doors, as if waiting for the end of their lives, their eyes seemingly covered with a layer of gray.
Lu Tu rode his horse into the village and asked an old woman, "Grandma, where is your village chief?"
"Dead."
"Is there someone in charge?"
"They're all dead."
Helpless, Lü Tu could only continue to ask, "So how many people are left in your village in total?"
The old woman quickly hugged the little boy beside her tightly: "They've conscripted men three times already, there's no one left. Please, sir, let us go."
Lu Tu said no more, nodded and continued walking into the village. Finally, in front of a dilapidated thatched hut, he saw a dark-skinned boy of about 15 or 16 years old.
"Are you from Daozhuang Village?"
The dark-skinned youth looked at Lü Tu with a hint of hostility, but seeing that Lü Tu was wearing armor and holding a weapon, he did not dare to be negligent and said, "My name is Ban Wei, and my ancestors have lived here for three generations."
Seeing that he spoke in a refined, scholarly manner, Lü Tu asked curiously, "Have you been to school?"
“My father taught me.”
Lu Tu nodded: "That's right. In that case, you should call everyone from Daozhuang Village here to assemble." After saying that, he took out a steamed bun from his pocket and threw it over.
Banwei reached out and caught it. Having been starving for days, he subconsciously swallowed his saliva when he saw the white steamed buns. Even though he was practically clenching his claws, he still asked, "Sir, are you here to collect taxes again?"
Lu Tu shook his head: "No, I was sent by the Commandant to take over your duties."
Seeing this, Sun Kuang rebuked him angrily, "Just go when the master tells you to, why all the nonsense? If you follow the master, you won't go hungry anymore!"
Banwei remained unmoved, holding up the steamed bun in his hand: "Please take it back, sir. If you want me to trick everyone into coming here, I'd rather starve to death."
Lu Tu became interested upon hearing this, having not seen such a principled person in a long time: "Do you really think I wouldn't dare to kill you?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a girl with features resembling Ban Wei ran out of the house. She carried a rusty dagger and handed it to Ban Wei, saying, "Brother, we're not afraid of him!"
Banwei snatched the rusty knife and shoved the girl into the house: "Who let you out? Go back!"
“Brother, we already levied taxes once before, and now they’re levying taxes again after only a few days. We might as well just die, then we can go down to the underworld and reunite with our parents.”
"Yingying, come inside!"
"Brother!" Both of their eyes turned red.
Upon hearing the girl mention that taxes had been levied twice, Lü Tu instantly understood. It was likely that Yun Ao hadn't gotten any advantage from him, and to make up for the shortfall, he was deliberately picking on the weakest link, collecting taxes twice from Daozhuang Village.
It seems that Lu Tu's actions against Yun Ao have had a significant butterfly effect, impacting the villagers of Daozhuang.
However, he wouldn't hold himself accountable for this. The law of the jungle is what it is, and even without him, Yun Ao would still have taken advantage of them. After all, there were no able-bodied men left in the village.
Lu Tu smiled and looked at the girl: "How long have you and your brother been starving?"
"Stop pretending. You officials would love for us to die out without any descendants."
Sun Kuang shouted, "How dare you! How dare you talk back to the Captain!"
Upon hearing that it was a captain, Ban Wei's expression changed. He quickly stepped in front of Yingying and bowed, saying, "Ban Wei greets Captain. Please forgive my sister for speaking out of turn."
It's clear that Banwei loves his younger sister very much; he's no longer as arrogant as before.
Lu Tu waved his hand, signaling Sun Kuang to give them something to eat, but Sun Kuang misunderstood. Cang Lang drew his sword from his waist and shouted, "I'll kill you both today!"
The expressions of the Banwei siblings changed drastically, as if they were facing a formidable enemy!
"Wait a minute! I asked you to get some dry rations for them."
Sun Kuang finally realized what was happening, and Sun Meng slapped him on the back of the head: "You have no sense at all, keep your mouth shut in the future!"
"Take it. Help me call everyone in the village over. From now on, you are under my jurisdiction, and no one will dare to bully or oppress you again."
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