Overthrowing Wei: Starting with Cao Cao's "I'd rather betray the world than surrender

These problems are all increasingly serious.

Lü Ding did not give an answer immediately.

He first had the newcomers gathered outside the village.

Food was delivered daily by the village officials according to a set amount; unauthorized entry into the village was forbidden.

This decision brought relief to many, but also made many others more nervous.

Because this means—

Lujiazhuang began to be considered a "place to go".

On the fifth day, the county sent someone to come once.

Not an official.

He is the village head.

The words were spoken very tactfully.

"There are many homeless people lately."

"The higher-ups have instructed each village to make their own arrangements and not cause any trouble."

There's only one meaning behind their words.

—You now have this ability.

After everyone left, the elder asked in a low voice:

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

Lu Ding looked at the newly built shacks outside the village and did not answer immediately.

good thing.

That's also a bad thing.

More people means expansion of the village.

Expanding the estate means more land, more grain, and more guards.

But once it gets out of control—

This place is no longer a "village".

It's a place that everyone's watching.

That night, Lü Boshe met with Lü Ding alone.

The father and son stood on the village wall, watching the scattered fires in the distance.

"Do you know why I was so eager to suppress the matter?" Lu Boshe asked.

Lü Ding nodded.

"They will come."

"And there will only be more and more."

Lu Boshe said slowly:

"At that time, without a reason, it will be a sin to pick up even one person."

"Now that we have a legitimate reason—"

"Only you have the right to choose people."

The wind blows across the city wall.

The firelight flickered.

Lu Ding suddenly realized—

The true transformation of the state lies not in written declarations.

As this group of people started walking this way.

They did not come to join Lü Ding.

They came to surrender—

order.

Once order is revealed, it can no longer be hidden.

Outside the village, the number of people is increasing day by day.

At first, it was just a few scattered households, standing by the field ridges, watching the smoke rising from the village from afar. Later, they came in groups, not entering the village or causing trouble, but setting up pots, lighting fires, and eating dry rations in the open space outside the village.

They dared not approach.

I don't want to leave either.

It's as if they're hanging on by this land.

On the morning of the fifth day, before the mist had dissipated, more than a dozen temporary thatched huts had already been erected outside the village. The intermittent cries of children, mixed with the sound of the wind, drifted into the village.

The clan elders couldn't sit still any longer.

The atmosphere in the hall was even more somber than in the previous days.

"If anyone else comes, the village will really be in chaos," an elder said first.

"It's not that we can't bear it, it's that we can't," another person added. "The fields are numbered, the grain is numbered, but the people are not."

"Today there are a dozen or so households, tomorrow there will be a hundred."

"We can hold out for a while, but not for a year."

Lu Ding sat in the main seat and remained silent.

He heard it very clearly.

Not a single one of these statements is wrong.

Lü Boshe was also there.

He neither offered advice nor argued back; he simply watched Lü Ding quietly.

Once the murmurs subsided, Lü Dingcai spoke.

"What you all say is true."

There was silence in the hall.

"So—" he paused, "we can't 'recruit' people."

The elders were taken aback.

Immediately, someone breathed a sigh of relief.

But Lu Ding's next words made him catch his breath.

"But it's possible—"

"Borrowing land."

Two words, like falling rocks.

"What do you mean?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Lü Ding stood up and walked to the simple map hanging in the front of the hall.

That's not an official photo.

The terrain was described by the steward himself: fields, water, barren slopes, and old cemeteries were all there.

Lu Ding raised his hand and pointed at Zhuang Nan.

"This area was originally the edge of the public land before the two villages were merged."

"The soil is thin, but it can still be planted."

"Three miles to the south is abandoned farmland."

The elder frowned: "That place hasn't been touched for over a decade."

"Exactly," Lü Ding said. "If no one moves, no one will fight over it."

He turned around and looked at the crowd.

"Those who fled here did not come to rob the banker."

"What they want is a life."

"Giving them a way to survive is more reliable than giving them a meal."

These words silenced the room.

Only then did Lü Boshe speak.

"What are you planning to do?"

Lü Ding answered quickly.

"Liwaitun".

"Only land."

The elders' hearts skipped a beat.

"Where does the land come from?"

"For the first three years of land reclamation, the harvest will be free of charge," said Lü Dingdao. "The entire yield will belong to the household for the first three years."

"From the fourth year onwards, according to the village custom—30%."

Someone in the hall suddenly looked up.

"This...this is attracting people to gather on their own!"

"That's right." Lü Ding didn't shy away from the question. "But it's not about entering the village, it's about attaching ourselves to the garrison."

"They live outside the village, are protected by the village, and do not eat the village's grain."

"If they can survive, the village will be under less pressure."

Lu Boshe stared at him, then suddenly laughed.

"You're turning refugees into a barrier."

Lü Ding did not deny it.

This caused several elderly men in the hall to fall silent.

They understood.

This is a kind of kindness that is so realistic it borders on cruel.

That afternoon, the decision was made to drop it.

It's not a public notice.

It wasn't a lecture.

Instead, they sent someone to deliver the message.

The guards split into two groups, unarmored, carrying only short swords.

They neither drove them away nor made any promises.

He only said one thing to those outside the village:

"Those who wish to leave, may leave."

"Those who wish to plant, go south."

"The land is there, no one's stopping us."

These words carry more weight than any attempt at reassurance.

That very night, someone made a move.

Not a young person.

It refers to those who bring children or elderly people along.

They would rather work themselves to death in the fields than have their shed cleaved open with a knife one night.

The next day, smoke rose for the first time from the barren land south of the village.

On the third day, the hoe fell to the ground.

It is not a neatly cultivated field.

It's a crooked and uneven boundary line.

But that's the line between survival and death.

Inside the village, the drills continued uninterrupted.

On the contrary, it's even stricter.

Lü Ding formally divided the guards into two categories.

One hundred and eighty people, full-time training.

Duty shifts, drills, and night patrols shall all be conducted in accordance with military law.

The reserve team consists of 100 people, who are part-time and train during the off-season for farming.

No longer a "zhuangding".

Instead, it was written into the roster—

Local militia.

Xu Huang began to truly manage troops.

He doesn't teach fancy tricks.

The first thing is to stand.

Stand still for an hour.

The second thing is to leave.

Carrying a ten-pound stone, he walked five miles.

The third thing is to gather at night.

It doesn't light up, and it doesn't make a sound.

Anyone who is slow will be punished.

Punishment is not the same as beating.

The next day, you're to go to the outer village and help someone dig the ground.

That's the heaviest punishment.

Because you will see—

Those people are suffering even more than you.

But they dared not be slow.

On the seventh night, the first alarm sounded.

Not in Zhuangnei.

It is Waitun.

Just after midnight, a flash of light appeared in the direction of Zhuangnan and then went out.

The sentries on night duty did not move without permission.

On command, strike the wood.

Three long and one short.

Inside the training ground, figures quickly gathered.

Lü Ding put on his clothes and went out.

Xu Huang has already lined up.

"Not a major stake," he said in a low voice. "It sounds like a test."

Lü Ding nodded.

Were there any casualties in Waitun?

"Yes," Xu Huang said. "One person sustained minor injuries."

Lü Ding did not hesitate.

"Send out twenty men."

"Drive them away, but don't pursue them."

"Reveal your name."

These four words are the key.

Twenty local militiamen, carrying torches, went out.

No array formation.

They were arranged in a line.

They did not charge.

They simply stuck torches into the ground, lining them up in a row.

Illuminating the night.

It also illuminates—

A short sword at the waist and an insignia on the chest.

It was sewn from white cloth.

One word.

Lü.

Those who linger in the shadows do not stay long.

The flames died down.

But this time, no one in the village felt relieved.

Because everyone knows—

The first wave has arrived.

What follows will not be a test.

Lu Ding stood in the night wind, looking at the scattered lights of the outer village in the distance.

The lights flickered on and off.

But it did not perish.