On the second day of August, Lu Wenfu finally arrived at the Han River and received the Mongolian envoy Dalu Puman.
Unlike the central capital of The Hague, the envoy to Lin'an led by Hao Yong was sent directly by Kublai Khan, but Tarup Man was sent by Ahema to meet Lu Wende.
They will discuss the Xiangyang market in detail.
Tarup Man is a Mongolian, but he has a Chinese name, Jianshan.
He can speak Chinese and has read books.
From this point of view, many people would regard him as a person who admires Chineseization. But in fact, Lu Puman learned these things just to better make money from the Han people under his father's rule.
He was also known for being good at managing money, so he became Ahma's right-hand man.
On this day, when he saw Lu Wenfu, Dalu Puman shouted impatiently.
"Why do you want me to come to such a hot and humid place? Why doesn't Lu Wende see me in Xiangyang?"
Faced with this kind of attitude, if Lu Wende were here, with his violent temper, he might teach Tarup Man a lesson.
But Lu Wenfu was very talkative and said: "My lord, please forgive me. My brother waited in Xiangyang a few months ago and met Lord Dong Wenbing before he returned to Ezhou."
This title of "Sir" was the title given to foreign leaders in the Song Dynasty. Now that the Song and Yuan Dynasties have negotiated peace, Lu Wenfu uses this as a respectful title for the Yuan people.
What he respects is Da Lu Puman. His elder brother Lu Wende really doesn't pay much attention to the Mongols now, but he respects the rich.
Talu Puman brought a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry, and ginseng leather goods, hoping to trade grain, cloth, and wine with the Lu family.
It is foreseeable that once this trade is launched, it will bring a steady stream of benefits to the Lu family.
"Don't say anything useless!" Tarupu said savagely: "Take me to Ezhou to meet Lu Wende. I can't take a boat and need to go on horseback."
"This... from Hanyang to Ezhou, you must take a boat to cross the river." Lu Wenfu said with an apologetic smile.
"I told you, I won't take a boat!"
Dalu Puman was expressing his dissatisfaction.
He believed that Lu Wende should come to the north of the Yangtze River to discuss with him in person.
Lu Wenfu understood, but he had no choice but to invite Lu Wende again, so he pointed at the Yangtze River and said with a smile: "The Yangtze River is blocked by a natural chasm, so I have to ask you to take a boat to cross the river."
"Exiute."
Tarupuman suddenly muttered something in Mongolian, to the effect that Lu Wenfu was pregnant with Lu Wenfu because his mother's home was robbed.
Lu Wenfu knew that it was not a good thing to say, but for the sake of money, he did not ask the interpreter.
While they were chatting, a Mongolian scout horse rushed over in the distance and reported a few words to Tarupu Man.
After hearing this, Da Lupu raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are you at war with Li Xia? Why didn't you tell Dayuan when the war started?"
"Li Ni sent troops to sneak attack Jiangling Mansion, but he couldn't capture it. My brother will defeat him soon."
Lu Wenfu didn't take Li Xia's offensive seriously. This place was far away from Jiangling Mansion. He didn't know how the Mongolian got the news.
What he cared more about in his heart was wealth. While talking to Tarup Man, he invited him to drink and rest in the temporary pavilion, while arranging the ship's cargo and preparing to cross the river.
…
"Go and escort a group of laborers to move the goods."
"yes."
On the pier of the Han River in the distance, more than three hundred shirtless men began to move the boxes from the small boat to the big ship.
The weather was hot in the afternoon, making people sleepy.
Suddenly, there was a shout from the other side of the ship.
"Catch him! Don't let him get away!"
Lu Wenfu was impatient and asked: "What's going on?"
"There is a prisoner trying to escape."
"A good beating."
Here in Jinghu, all strong prisoners will be used by the Lu family, either serving in the army or as thugs and minions, mostly doing menial work at first.
Lu Wenfu didn't care about this matter, and led Tarupu Man to the big ship.
When I walked to the riverside, I saw a man being pushed to the ground and beaten.
"Snapped!"
"Snapped!"
The boots covered with thorns were swung over and over, beating the man's back to pieces.
Lu Wende always felt something was wrong when he walked over, but he couldn't explain it.
Suddenly, Tarupuman turned around, walked near the man, grabbed the whip from the Lu family attendant, swung it hard, and hit the man hard.
He seemed to think that the followers of the Lu family were not beating people hard enough, so he took action himself.
People around were a little surprised, thinking, what does this have to do with you, a Mongolian?
"Don't shout?" Ta Lupu sneered and whipped him hard again.
"Snapped!"
The man on the ground let out an angry roar from his throat and tried hard to get up, but was held down tightly.
"Make you scream." Tarupu whipped him again.
"..."
~~
The veins on Lu Fu's forehead had popped out, but he couldn't struggle to open them, and his head was stepped into the mud by the river.
Until he was exhausted, someone lifted him up.
Facing him were a round-faced middle-aged man in luxurious clothes and a Mongolian.
"This bitch has some spirit. Where is he from?"
Lu Fu didn't respond.
"Lieutenant Lu, I want to ask you a question!" Someone came forward and shouted, poking his finger into his wound.
Lu Fu frowned and finally responded: "Young man, I'm from Hanshan in Hezhou... I went to Yueyang to do business. I encountered war disasters and lost my money and household registration..."
"So you kill and steal?"
"No!" Lu Fu was furious.
After he became a deserter, he had some valuables on him, which he pawned in Yueyang. He originally wanted to return home along the river, but he didn't expect that he was robbed by water bandits when he arrived in Hanyang.
They were still a group of water bandits who were quite famous on the Yangtze River today. They were led by Liu Shixiong, the "River-Fan Dragon", and Shi Hui, the "Wonderful Planner". Even the Lu Jiajun did not suppress them.
Lu Fu lost his money and finally escaped to Hanyang City. As a result, when he woke up in the ruined temple, he became a fugitive murderer. The jailer also told him that any yamen who took the blame would be exiled or beheaded.
So much.
It was nothing more than bullying because he spoke with a Huaiyou accent and was unfamiliar with the local area.
Lu Fu never dreamed that Jinghu would be so rife with thieves and decayed and dark.
In this way, he became Lu Wenfu's slave.
When he was whipped just now, he thought of many words that Ma Shilong said, "Old Lu, are you sick? You are not a good founding hero. It doesn't matter whether your brother takes the imperial examination or not. I think you have been deceived by scholars.
My brain is broken..."
"He is quite a man." Lu Wenfu ordered, and said to his guards: "Take him with you and treat his injuries properly."
"yes."
…
The big ship crossed the Yangtze River.
The wounds on Lu Fu's body were wrapped up.
But I don't know whether those people forgot or deliberately did not give him food. He was so hungry that he leaned weakly on the bottom of the bilge.
Until someone handed him a lump of gnocchi.
In the darkness, Lu Fu looked around and saw a young boatman.
"Thank you."
"Brother, can you drink some more water? You are so stubborn..."
"Me?" Lu Fu murmured: "I am the most useless one... the most coward..."
He ate the gnocchi and thought of the meaty food in the army, and suddenly understood why his comrades cheered so much when they heard that the country was about to be founded.
After eating, I still heard a "gulu" sound.
Lu Fu raised his head in surprise and realized that it was the young boatman who had a stomach rumbling.
…
After a long time, Lu Wenfu asked someone to take Lu Fu to the cabin above.
When he came back, Lu Fu brought back some food and wine, and even a duck leg.
He handed the food and wine to the young boatman.
"Brother, why are you back? I thought Lieutenant Lu asked you to live with the guards. Brother, can you eat?"
"Eat, I just ate, what's your name?"
"Amao, my dad said I was born in Mao."
"Where's your dad?"
"It's long gone." Ah Mao chewed on the duck leg and his eyes immediately lit up. "I heard someone said that you can live a good life in Chengdu Prefecture, so I became a boatman. It has been two years since I was drafted here.
"
"Over there in Chengdu...the harvest was very good last year."
"Brother, you also know?"
"Yes." Lu Fu sighed, not daring to talk more about this, and said, "I have a younger brother who has been smart since he was a child. He was spotted by a wealthy husband in our village and taught him to read..."
Inexplicably, he mentioned this again.
Ah Mao touched it with his hand, found some scraps of meat that fell on the ground, stuffed it back into his mouth, and said, "You've got a lot of potential!"
"Yes, everyone in the village praises him. This year he will be admitted to the imperial examination." Lu Fu said in a low voice: "If he can pass the examination, my mother will be so happy."
"Of course, that's Master Jinshi!"
When Lu Fu was in the Sichuan-Shu Army, his comrades were too lazy to listen to what he said. When they heard it, they responded impatiently, "Haha, you idiot, Lao Lu, the world is different now. It's time to make contributions as a military general."
Only here, the little boatman named A Mao would be in awe when hearing this kind of thing, which made Lu Fu find a familiar feeling.
"My mother said that when he becomes a Jinshi, he will be in front of my father's grave..."
Just as we were chatting here, we suddenly heard shouts and curses coming from above.
"Little Hozen! Are you lazy again? Master Mongolia vomited, you go and wash it."
"Come here!"
Ah Mao tried her best to suck the cleanly eaten duck leg bone in her hand, but she took it into her arms and then hurriedly ran to the deck...