Lu Mingzhi was imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
Lu Mingzhi was very depressed. As early as the end of the Song Dynasty, his family had traveled across the oceans and traveled around Southeast Asia. Finally, they settled in Luzon and took root in Tortoiseshell Town (today's Philippines). Now they have become the leading richest man in Luzon.
There was great power there. He was not in charge of this trade route to the Ming Dynasty before. Even if he was not said to be a playboy in the family, he was still a rich man who lacked experience.
This time, he heard his father mention to him that the Lu family had established a line with the Duke of Ming Dynasty. The stability of this line would earn more profits in the future. On a whim, he suddenly thought of the colorful world of the Central Plains.
He was the third son of the patriarch and the youngest son. He had always been favored because he had less experience. The old patriarch considered that the youngest son should also gain some experience, so he agreed with him.
request.
In fact, having a connection with the Duke of Mingfu is also highly confidential in the Lu family. Only the core members of the family know this secret. However, the Lu family leader naturally has no need to hide it from his own son, and he said
When he revealed this secret, he never expected that Lu Mingzhi would want to take the boat to the Central Plains on a whim.
Unexpectedly, this son had too little experience. When he encountered a slight setback, he revealed his trump card and showed off his family's relationship with high-level officials of the Ming Dynasty. As a result, Ji Wenhe, a thoughtful person, took advantage of him.
Lu Mingzhi still doesn't understand why Ji Wenhe was so polite at the time but locked him up after extracting his words. Until he entered the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, he still didn't know the reason. However, he was not treated harshly along the way.
He also didn’t know how harsh the Ming Dynasty’s criminal law was. In his opinion, there was no problem that couldn’t be solved with money, but now he didn’t have a chance to meet the person in charge and bribe him with money. So in prison, he was not only depressed, but also depressed.
There is not much fear and worry, and the ignorant are fearless, which is also a blessing.
Lu Mingzhi was lying on the prison bed bored and thinking wildly. The cell door clicked. Lu Mingzhi sat up suddenly and saw the cell door opened wide. A man slowly walked in. This man was tall and had heavy eyebrows.
His complexion is dark, his eyebrows are slightly high, his eyes are slightly sunken, his chin is smooth but he has no beard. He wears a hat and a hat on his head.
Lu Mingzhi jumped to the ground and shouted: "What's going on with you people in the Ming Dynasty? Why did you detain me for no reason? I brought the boat here in person because your Duke Fu Guo of the Ming Dynasty has a close relationship with my family.
Daming, I didn’t expect you to be so rude to me. I will never let this matter go. When I go out, I must seek justice from Duke Fu!"
The man looked him over with his bright eyes and smiled slightly. The smile was very warm. The person who came was Zheng He, one of the top eunuchs in the palace and a close confidant of Zhu Di.
"Is this your first time coming to Daming?"
"That's right! In the past, our boat has always been very peaceful. I didn't expect that something like this happened just after I took the boat back. What on earth do you guys..."
Zheng He interrupted him and asked: "So, you have never seen Mr. Fu Guogong?"
Lu Mingzhi said confidently: "That's right, I haven't seen it! But your auxiliary Duke once took the initiative to send someone to make friends with my Lu family. My father said this himself, how could I not know."
Zheng He frowned slightly. The boy in front of him was clearly a playboy with no scheming and lack of experience. He was caught smuggling and trafficking, and he dared to blatantly show off his backstage connections. He was so superficial, he was really a living treasure.
Zheng He added: "We were ordered here just to confirm your relationship with Duke Fu. If what you say is true, we will naturally let you out and treat you with courtesy. But who knows if you are bluffing?"
, pretending to be related to Duke Fu? You said that Duke Fu has a close relationship with your family, so why did Duke Fu become friends with your family, and why did he travel across the ocean to find your family?"
"this……"
Lu Mingzhi really didn't know the reason. After thinking about it, he said: "This... of course it's because my Lu family is the most powerful maritime merchant in Luzon, and your auxiliary prince wants to do business with my family."
Zheng He stared at him with bright eyes, and asked: "Of course? Do you think you take it for granted?"
Lu Mingzhi blushed and defended: "Why not? I am a merchant ship here. I will hand over the goods to his people. His people are responsible for protecting our safety. Fortunately, we did not encounter pirates, but we were confused.
I was caught by your people!"
Zheng He frowned again, knowing that he couldn't get anything useful out of the useless mouth of this second-generation ancestor, maybe even the third-generation ancestor, or the fourth-generation ancestor. He thought for a while, suddenly his heart moved, and asked again: "Are you the leader?"
Your father is so relieved once he takes the boat out to sea? Don't you have someone on your boat who is used to traveling by sea to help you? "
Lu Mingzhi said: "Of course there is. My old housekeeper Lei Mucai has been with my father all his life. He has always been in charge of this route. I went out with the ship this time. I originally wanted to deliver the goods and then come to Daming."
Seeing the local people, who would have thought that, inexplicably, I would see all kinds of prison cars and prisons of yours along the way..."
Zheng He suddenly asked: "Has the Duke of Fu asked your Lu family to search for the whereabouts of anyone in Luzon?"
Lu Mingzhi was stunned and asked curiously: "If you do business, do business. Who are you looking for?"
After Zheng He heard this, he turned around and left. When two government officials who were standing far away saw him coming out, they immediately rushed over and locked the cell door. Lu Mingzhi rushed to the fence and shouted after him: "Hey, what do you mean?
If you don’t believe me, you can ask Duke Fu! Let me out, let me out!”
Zheng He turned a deaf ear and asked the prison chief: "Where are all the servants of this man being imprisoned?"
The cell leader nodded and bowed and said: "Eunuch, this man named Lu is an important witness. He was imprisoned here alone just now. All his servants are imprisoned together. Twelve people per cell are in the ordinary prison. Eunuch's side
please……"
In the ordinary prison, there are twelve people in a small cell, which is already overcrowded. There is also a toilet in the corner. Although they have a break every day, they use this time to take turns cleaning the toilet, but
There were so many people using it that it couldn't stand, and the cell still smelled bad all day long.
Most of them are sailors, and they are all burly and strong men, because they have weapons on their ships. If they encounter pirates on the way, they have to pick up weapons and fight while escaping, so they are all extremely strong.
Man.
In the opposite corner of the toilet, at the very end of the wall, sat an old man with white hair. The best position was given to him. Obviously, he had the highest status in this cell.
This is also true. This old housekeeper was born in the Lu family and grew up in the Lu family. He has served three generations of the Lu family. When the head of this generation was a teenager, Lei Mucai accompanied the head of the family to travel to Nanyang to do business. In the Lu family,
Lei Mucai definitely has a place, and is not just as simple as a servant. In fact, in Tortoiseshell Town, Luzon, the Lei family also has its own business name and sea-going ship, which is close to being a semi-independent business name that annexes the Lu family.
It's just that although this business was founded by Lei Mucai, it was handed over to his son to take care of. Lao Lei worked hard for the Lu family all his life and was highly regarded by the Lu family. He was able to buy his own family business, establish his own business, and also have
Lao Lei is grateful for the support and help of the head of the Lu family, and plans to serve the Lu family in this life.
Therefore, in terms of status, he is not as good as Lu Mingzhi in the Lu family, but in the hearts of these sailors and warriors, his status is higher than that of Lu Mingzhi, and he is deeply respected by all the children and members of the Lu family.
When Butler Lei was out for a walk the day before yesterday, he was quietly pulled aside by a jailer. The jailer told some things between him and his real transaction partner, He Tianyang. This was something only the two parties involved in the transaction knew. He obtained his
Trust, and then told him some things. In fact, he knew a little about these things before, because the head of the family had explained it to him before, but through this person, he knew more details.
Butler Lei was so experienced that he immediately realized that there might be something wrong within the Ming Dynasty, and that the auxiliary Duke might also be in trouble. He was entrusted by the family leader to take the third son out to sea. The loyal old Lei naturally wanted to protect the third son at all costs.
When the young master returned, he knew that everything the jailer told him must be the key to getting out of trouble, so he kept it in his heart.
The old housekeeper was huddled in the corner, concentrating on these things while contemplating these things. Suddenly, the cell became quiet. The old housekeeper opened his eyes and saw several guards walking to the cell, opening the door and looking inside.
, shouted: "Lei Muchai, come out!"
Lei Mu was taken to a quiet cell. There was only one person in the cell, wearing a hat and hat, sitting quietly on a prison bed.
Single cells with prison beds are places where prisoners with higher status or more important status are detained, but this person is obviously not a prisoner.
He raised his head, looked at the prisoner who was brought in front of him, smiled faintly, and said: "The lives of you and your third young master are tied to the next sentence I am going to ask you. You have to answer it seriously!"
Only then did Lei Mu regain his composure and asked cautiously: "I wonder what this sir... wants to ask?"
The man in front of him was beardless, and the well-informed Butler Lei had vaguely guessed his identity, but he needed further confirmation before he could tell what he knew.
Zheng He said: "The Duke of Fu has given you the convenience of merchant ships. As a price, have you ever entrusted you to find a person on your behalf?"
Lei Muchai's eyes flashed, he hesitated to speak, and seemed worried. After a while, he reluctantly replied: "Yes! I don't know who the person the Duke of Fu is looking for, but... he did.
Entrust me, the head of the Lu family, to look for a person in Luzon who has recently come from China."
Zheng He said: "Although Luzon is smaller than our country, it is also densely populated. But how can we find this term?"
Lei Mucai said: "Of course there is a portrait as proof."
Zheng He smiled more cheerfully and said slowly: "I heard that you were born as a scholar and served the head of the Lu family since childhood. The scholar of a wealthy family is involved in playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting. You must be able to draw more superficial portraits.
.I have half a painting here. If you can take it, your young master’s life will be saved!”
Zheng He slowly took out a roll of paper from his sleeve and opened it. There are very few people in the world who recognize the emperor's appearance. Even if many people have been officials all their lives and have never seen the emperor's appearance, if they go to the emperor often,
The emperor's ministers, who were paying homage to Tianyan, could recognize only the half of the face above the bridge of the nose that the portrait in this painting was none other than Zhu Yunwen.
Zheng He placed the portrait in front of him, took out a charcoal pen and pressed it on the portrait, looking at Lei Muchai quietly.
A quarter of an hour later, Zheng He led Butler Lei out of the prison door of the Ministry of Punishment, and said to Li Qing, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, who had rushed over after hearing the news: "This man is an important witness. According to the Holy Order, I will take him away! On the day of the trial,
The complete jade returns to Zhao!"
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