Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

On the south bank of the Yellow River, among the wheat fields and green crops on the plain, three short-clothed men were rushing along the road, leading their donkeys. Unexpectedly, a group of officials in helmets and soap boots came to stop them.

There was only one official in green robes riding a horse, pointing at the three men with a whip and saying, "What are you doing?"

"Woo!" A big man with a round belly grabbed the donkey in front of him, stepped forward and said: "The grassmen sell some rare goods, go back to the village to sell."

As soon as the officer heard that the man spoke with the accent of Kaifeng Prefecture, he didn't even ask where they were from, and said coldly: "Isn't it selling private salt?"

The round-bellied man looked horrified and said, "How dare you! How dare you? Grassmen and others are all responsible people, earn some hard money, and never commit crimes."

"Search!" The green-robed officer gave an order.

The round-bellied man and a few people hurriedly told the officials to be gentle. The group of people got off the sack on the donkey's back, cut the rope with their knives, untied it and checked the contents. After a while, there were some grains, leather goods and other things. An official turned around and clasped his fists and said, "There's only a small bag of salt." The round-bellied man hurriedly said beside him, "It's not even a catty, that's for us to eat, and you can't even sell such a small amount of salt..."

"Get out! Get out!" the green-robed official shouted, "It's you people who are not farming at home and running around, who are the most likely to sneak around and catch criminals!"

The three men hurriedly picked up the sack, led the donkey and left. They all had rags tied on their hands, but the inspector didn't pay attention.

When they were far away, a man cursed and said: "Damn, if it was back then, I would beat that guy to death!"

Another man looked at the towering city tower in the distance and said, "Li Dutou, Tokyo City is just ahead, shall we enter the city?"

Li Dutou was the round-bellied man, and he responded: "Tokyo has a lot of officials and soldiers, and I'm afraid of being exposed if I'm not careful. Our archers have different left and right hands, and experienced veterans can recognize them. There are some streets and alleys in the suburbs, and people living next to the city. There are mixed fish and dragons in these places. Let's find a house to live there first. According to the statements of the captured soldiers provided by the Northern Han people, the place where the armor was made is in the southern suburbs."

"I do have friends in the southern suburbs." The person next to him said.

Li Dutou said: "Don't contact anyone yet, let's be careful in our current status, know people and face but don't know the heart."

A group of people came to the outside of Tokyo. There are many cities here. The government has rebuilt and managed these places attached to the city. The main streets in the north and south are still clean, but the alleys in the neighborhood are unsightly, and there are many dilapidated houses. The three found a remote dilapidated house and paid to rent it out.

The next day, they rode donkeys to a market near Bianshui in the south. The market there was very prosperous and the houses were in good repair. It looked more spacious and tidy than the streets and alleys next to the city wall of Tokyo. Li Dutou wandered around the dirt roads and alleys to inquire about it. This market has only appeared in the past two years. The main reason is that there are many craftsmen and helpers in the armor-making workshop by the Bianshui River.

Li Du turned his head around, and found that all the houses were newly built, and the roads were all dirt roads. There were only some simple fences around the town, and a memorial archway was built at the entrance of the main road, and there was no gate.

As soon as they summed up, they bought some things in the nearest town, got a cart, and put the donkey they brought on the cart. Then he left the town carrying all kinds of things for the tea pancake stand.

When they came to Jiazaofang, Li Dutou and the others were also taken aback, seeing that the scene was very grand. A wide waterway was excavated on the east side of the Bianshui River, leading the river to a valley in the west, and then the waterway and many gates were built horizontally, and the river water poured down from above like waterfalls. Up and down the valley, there are stretches of houses surrounded by a circle of earthen walls, and the huge impact sound of "ding, jingling, jingling" inside has been non-stop. There are still horse heads on the river that diverts water, and various ships pass between them.

The three walked along the road to the entrance of the workshop area, and wanted to pretend to set up a tea stand to see the situation first.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they got there, they saw a tea stall there, and the three of them immediately looked at each other. It was morning, and there were no customers at the tea stall, only a middle-aged man was sitting there, looking unkindly at the donkey cart of Li Dutou and the others.

Li Du and the others drove the donkey to the side of the road, then stepped forward and sat down on the wooden bench, and said calmly, "Here are three bowls of tea to quench your thirst."

The man responded, and slowly scooped up three bowls of tea, and brought them up bowl by bowl. Only then did Li Dutou realize that the stall owner's left sleeve was empty, as if he was disabled.

"Here, look over there." The stall owner smiled and raised his head towards the entrance of the workshop wall. Li Dutou and the others had already seen armored soldiers at the gate of the village.

The stall owner smiled and said, "Do you want to set up a stall here? No, what if you are spies?"

When the men and the others heard the word spy, their expressions changed slightly. Li Dutou forced a smile and said: "Do you think we look like spies? We are all from the city of Tokyo. I heard that it is very profitable here, so I want to come and have a look."

The stall owner said calmly: "There is a town not far to the south, I want to go there for business. Do you think there is a stall here besides me?"

Li Dutou hurriedly asked: "Brother, how can you do business here?"

The stall owner pointed to his left arm: "I used to work in the workshop. One night I didn't pay much attention, and a hammer weighing more than a thousand catties fell into my hand! I almost lost my life, and this is not a disability. But fortunately, the people in the Jiafang Department sent me money every month. I couldn't do the work. I was allowed to do a small business here to make a living. I was originally a craftsman inside, so I can naturally be here."

"It turns out that elder brother is a person who eats the emperor's food. I am disrespectful." Li Du bowed his head and said, "I don't know what is the name of elder brother?"

"Miangui's surname is Lu." The stall owner Lu smiled, "You guys, it's better to save a little trouble, so don't make a fool of yourself. It's not that I don't want you to grab business here, even if I want to, the guard will drive you away."

Li Du touched his forehead: "We already know what's going on, even if it's not for business, we respect people like Brother Lu and want to make friends."

"Ha!" The stall owner Lu smiled and took a hissing breath, "I don't understand what brother means... let's go."

Li Dutou was a little embarrassed and said: "To be honest, our neighbors planned to do some business in the market, but there is no acquaintance here. It's not that we just came here to have a look after being kicked out."

Stall owner Lu suddenly realized and nodded.

Li Du nodded and said: "We saw a wine shop in the market, after the owner of the stall Lu accepts it, how about you and my brothers going to have a drink or two?"

The stall owner Lu had a happy face when he heard it, and he was indeed a good drinker, so he didn't refuse.

So Li Du and the others finished their tea, made an appointment to meet under the archway at Youshi, and left first.

At Youshi, a few people met, and the stall owner Lu took the things home first, and quickly rushed out. A few people went straight to the wine shop, asking for wine and food, and after a few cups of wine, everyone quickly became acquainted, and the four of them wished to become brothers immediately after having wine on the table.

Taking the opportunity, Li Dutou asked the stall owner what he used to do in the workshop. Stall owner Lu patted his chest and said that he was a master craftsman. After he was injured, the workshop could not start without him, so he finally found another master craftsman to work. Li Du bowed his head, complimented him, and said that it would be a great job if his brothers could go in and eat the imperial food.

Li Dutou continued to talk, and after persuading him to drink from time to time, he asked some things, how did the workshop make the armor, and the stall owner Lu said something similar, but he said that the superiors were not allowed to talk nonsense, and he was unwilling to go into details.

The stall owner Lu was very drunk, the restaurant was about to close, and three people came out... and one left the table halfway. At this time, there was an extra carriage outside, Li Du and others helped stall owner Lu, who couldn't even walk, into the carriage, and sent him home.

... The stall owner Lu didn't know how he got back. When he woke up, the sky outside was already slightly bright. He wanted to turn over, only to realize that his whole body was sore and painful, and there was a ball of cloth stuffed in his mouth!

Looking around, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. This room was dilapidated and dirty, and it was definitely not at home. He widened his eyes, and finally found the man who was dozing on the chair next to him.

Hearing the noise, the man opened his eyes to see, got up and opened a broken curtain, and let out a deep cry to the outside. After a while, the round-bellied man came in.

Li Dutou held a short knife in his hand. After sitting down, he scraped lightly on the blade with the fingers of his left hand. His face was cold. Where was the polite smile from yesterday? His voice was cold: "Yesterday, you went back to the market from the workshop and left the car first. My brother followed and knew where your home is. You have a son who is so tall and looks like thirteen or fourteen. Am I right?"

The stall owner Lu stared round his eyes.

Li Du nodded and said: "If you don't listen to me, I'll get your son here and stab him to death in front of you, understand?"

Stall owner Lu shook his head in horror, then nodded with a muffled "woo woo".

Li Dutou pulled out the cloth ball from his mouth. The stall owner Lu immediately begged: "I have no grievances with you, this is, this is..."

Li Du nodded and said: "Don't worry, I went up to the peak to find someone who can make armor, the kind of armor made in the workshop. As long as you serve us, you will be fine, and you will be rich and prosperous. Brother Li doesn't have to do the work yourself, let's find craftsmen, and you teach them how to make armor. How about it?"

The stall owner Lu looked remorseful, and said with a sad face: "Damn me! Just trying to brag quickly, I really don't know... I'm just a handyman in the workshop, why would the master carry things under the forging hammer?"

After hearing this, Li Dutou's face became angry, and he took a deep breath: "You've been working in there for so long, you've always seen it?"

The stall owner Lu said: "I probably know something, and I'm familiar with how the armor is forged, but there are so many things on the forging hammer, and I don't understand why it can move on its own... The workshop is also strictly controlled. Ordinary craftsmen and handymen can only enter one room; I only work in the forging room. There is also a transmission room next door, which I have never entered. Only the master craftsmen of each workshop are allowed to handle everything..."

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