Chapter 5: Acting Righteously
Lü Ning smiled and said to the villagers: "Fellow villagers, you must unite and confront the bandits or external enemies together if you wish to have a good life. Otherwise, today the bandits may see the daughter of Elder Zhang, and in a few days, they might see the wives and daughters of others. Will you give in or not? If the bandits are pleased, they will come to demand things from you. Will you give or not? If you give, how will you live in the future? Therefore, the only way out for all of you now is to unite against the enemy. Although the bandits are more numerous than you, you have the advantage of terrain. You can use the geography to ambush the bandits. Aren't there many hunters among you? Can you hunt? Why can't you hunt the bandits? What is wrong with using the methods you employ against wild beasts to deal with the bandits? As long as we plan well, prepare thoroughly, set more traps, and create more mechanisms, besides, you are in the dark while the bandits are in the light. What is there to fear? Pick up your hoes, clubs, and bows and arrows; we will surely defeat the bandits."
Lv Ning felt a deep sympathy for the elderly man and understood the mindset of the Chinese people, who tend to focus on their own affairs and often disregard the lives and deaths of those nearby. "Elder, how many hunters are there in your village?"
The old man listened to Lv Ning's words, feeling a sense of confidence in the wind, and his heart was filled with a bit more hope. In fact, the old man was at his wit's end and could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive. "Is what you said true, sir?" Lv Ning nodded seriously at him. The old man was about to kneel down to Lv Ning, but Lv Ning quickly helped him up.
The old man shook his head after listening to Lv Ning's words, saying, "You make it sound too easy. Is it really that simple to resolve?" The old man sighed and continued, "Sir, you do not know that those bandits ride large horses and wield weapons. Even if all the villagers were to mobilize, we would not be able to defeat those bandits. My son was killed by them last year when he tried to resist. Now, even if the people in the village want to help, they do not dare to do so."
That night, Lu Ning stayed at the old man's house. The old man's surname was Zhang, and his family had been hunters for generations. Upon hearing that Lu Ning had a way to help them deal with the band of horse thieves, Zhang's daughter and wife also came out to kneel and bow to Lu Ning.
After hearing this, the old man did not hold out much hope, especially since the young man before him was quite thin and frail; what could he possibly do? "Sir, there is a band of horse bandits more than one hundred miles from our village. They number over two hundred and usually come and go without a trace, frequently raiding the villages for grain and goods. If they are even slightly dissatisfied, they will massacre the entire village, killing everyone. Moreover, I have heard that there are many other groups of bandits in the vicinity. Sometimes our village also suffers from the incursions of the Xianbei, Xiongnu, and other barbarian tribes who come to burn, kill, and plunder. When we encounter those barbarian thieves, we can only flee to the mountains to hide, waiting until they have finished their looting before returning. As for the government, let alone Maji, even Yanmen County is said to be ungoverned now, having been occupied by foreign barbarian tribes. Every winter, they come, and after spring, those barbarians will head north again.
Lv Ning thought to himself that he might have to learn from Lu Zhishen in the previous "Water Margin". He then said to the old man, "Elder, do not be afraid. I have a way to deal with those bandits. Tomorrow, you should gather everyone from the village, and I will discuss with all of you how to deal with the bandits. I guarantee that we will eliminate that group of bandits."
Lü Ning glanced at the old man and, regaining his scattered thoughts, said: "Old man, could you please tell me in detail about your young daughter's situation, so that I may see if I can help you resolve some difficulties"
Lu Ning glanced at the villagers, knowing that they would have little confidence in him. Lu Ning spoke loudly: "Fellow villagers, my name is Lu Ning, and I am Zheng Ziyi from Jianing. I passed through this place and heard that bandits were planning to forcibly take Zhang Daye's daughter, which made me very angry. I have led the villagers to deal with those bandits and completely eliminate them, so that you will no longer be troubled by bandits in the future." Lu Ning needed to choose a courtesy name for himself, as it was a necessity in ancient times.
Old Zhang's family had little grain, and that evening, they served Lü Ning wild vegetables, along with a dish of wild game meat. If this were in later times, it would be considered pure, natural organic food
Lu Ning found himself in a perplexing situation, inexplicably falling into the late Eastern Han Dynasty. For a modern individual, this was undoubtedly fatal. Especially since he was unfamiliar with the laws and characters of the Eastern Han, and lacked any practical life skills, it would be exceedingly difficult for him to survive.
A middle-aged man in the village said, "You can't be deceiving us, can you? What do we have to deal with those bandits? The bandits have guns, knives, and swords, and they ride on large horses. How can we confront the bandits? Moreover, there are more than 200 bandits, while our entire village has less than 100 people. Excluding the elderly, women, and children, we have only about 30 able-bodied men. How could we possibly defeat the bandits? Are you not joking with the lives of everyone in our village?"
After listening to the elder's words, Lv Ning felt a deep inner shock once again. What is this matter? Even the government has fled; what will happen to the common people? It seems that the Eastern Han Dynasty is too weak, and we can no longer see a powerful emperor like Emperor Wu. There will likely be no more campaigns against the barbarian tribes, and the emperor no longer cares about the lives and deaths of the people at the borders
Lu Ning urged them not to be overly polite, and he raised his head to glance at Zhang Laohan's daughter, Guihua. Although she was dressed in coarse linen, she still possessed a certain charm, appearing to be around fifteen or sixteen years old. Her figure was well-proportioned, with a pair of full breasts standing proudly, and her waist was slender, making her a moderate beauty. Such a village girl would be hard to find in ancient villages, and it could be said that Guihua was likely the most beautiful woman in the village, which explained why she had caught the attention of the bandits.
Lu Ning understood that what this kid said made sense. If it were solely based on numbers and weaponry, how could they possibly defeat the bandits? But who is Lu Ning? He has traversed over two thousand years, and the knowledge accumulated over such a long time is not something ancient people can compare to. Even the methods Lu Ning has seen in movies and television would surely be able to deal with this group of bandits; it is just that he cannot clearly explain it to the villagers, nor can he articulate it.
Such a slender young man, no matter how capable he is, could never deal with those bandits. Everyone thinks that Old Zhang is unwilling to part with his daughter, but such talk could implicate the entire village. Many people in the village are actually preparing to hold Lu Ning accountable, urging him to mind his own business
The elder replied, "Sir, in our village, almost all the men are hunters. Hunting in the mountains is our primary source of income. There should be more than thirty adult men in the entire village."
On the second day, Old Man Zhang called all the villagers together and informed them that Lu Ning had a way to deal with the bandits. The villagers came, but not a single person believed Lu Ning, and everyone looked at him with skeptical eyes
Lü Ningdao: "Elder, those horse bandits are not many in number, so why don't the people of the village unite to resist them? We cannot continue like this, allowing those bandits to come back and rob us whenever they please. This is not a solution."