My son, how could you be Lü Bu?!

Chapter 5 Former Business Friends

"They've started fighting?!"

"How could they have started fighting?! Zhang Xun, are you serious?"

"Absolutely true! It's all over the place! You guys are so out of touch! You don't even know as much as I, an outsider from Yanmen!"

Following the sound, Lü Ping looked carefully.

Since it was still early and no merchants had passed by yet, three or five minor officials dressed similarly to him were gathered together by the fence on one side of the ferry crossing, chatting in hushed tones.

"Wang Yun and the governor of Wuyuan County are fighting?"

Upon hearing this, Lü Ping immediately became interested and strode towards the crowd, squeezing through the gaps without any hesitation.

"Zhang Xun, what's going on?" He patted the young man who was talking loudly on the shoulder.

"Didn't you say the day before yesterday that you didn't know when the new Prefect would arrive? How come he suddenly arrived today and even got into a fight with Lord Wang?!"

Someone was seen forcing their way in.

The minor officials thought it was some ignorant commoner who couldn't stand the group chatting and wanted to urge them to get things done. Although it was their duty, their anger still flared up, and they instinctively wanted to reprimand them.

But when they saw the newcomer's face clearly, they let out a cold snort, and their anger subsided.

It should be noted that although Shimen Ferry is usually busy, only four or five minor officials registered with the government are present. The rest who help with the work are just so-called hangers-on.

The minor officials who managed to squeeze into the lucrative Shimen Ferry post all had some connections and were well-informed, so they already knew about Lü Ping's ordeal after recovering from a serious illness.

Therefore, he looked down on Lü Ping to some extent—after all, Lü Ping had offended a powerful eunuch and lost his family property, and might die a violent death outside one day.

Despite their disdain, these minor officials, being somewhat cultured, ultimately didn't show it on their faces.

Zhang Fan, who was gathered in the very center and had the best information, was startled when Lü Ping suddenly slapped him. He glared at Lü Ping with annoyance.

"So it's Brother Lü." He raised his chin slightly and looked at Lü Ping through his nostrils.

"Brother Lü, you don't know about this either?"

Lu Ping wasn't annoyed; he just smiled and urged him on.

"I really don't know, Brother Fan, tell me quickly."

Upon hearing the name "Fan Ge'er," Zhang Fan felt instantly refreshed. He let out a muffled groan, coughed lightly, and then began to speak.

"I'm telling you this, but you must never tell anyone else."

"I heard about this from my cousin who works as a clerk in the government office. It is said that the governor came to take up his post in plain clothes without giving prior notice or bringing many attendants."

"Therefore, no one knew that Uncle Fang would come yesterday."

"Yesterday evening, our Wuyuan County Prefect, also known as Lord Wang Zhi, for some reason, suddenly decided to hold a grand banquet for his guests, and set up the banquet and wine right in the government office."

"Although this is not in accordance with the law, he is, after all, the prefect, and he is eating and drinking for free, so everyone goes along with him and stays with him instead of going home."

"Lord Wang has always enjoyed drinking. Before he knew it, without anyone urging him to stop, he had drunk too much. A clerk's wife, seeing that her husband hadn't returned home, decided to stop by and take a look."

"When Lord Wang saw that the woman was pretty, he immediately had a desire to teach her to dance for him. The woman was proud and refused to comply, which angered Lord Wang."

"What a coincidence!"

"This incident was witnessed by Prefect Wang, who was riding straight to the government office. He was furious and immediately drew his sword, pointing it directly at Prefect Wang, and angrily rebuked him."

"But Lord Wang, being a high-ranking official with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), and having been drunk, was angered and rebuked on the spot. Unable to save face, he stood up in a rage and ordered the servants in the office to arrest this newly arrived Governor Wang."

"And then?" a minor official asked curiously.

"How did this matter end? Could it be that the newly arrived governor was actually arrested by Prince Wang? Wouldn't that be tantamount to a rebellion?"

Zhang Fan shook his head, a sigh surfacing on his face.

"No."

"It was the newly arrived governor who arrested Prince Wang."

"Huh???" The clerks exclaimed in unison in shock.

"Our Lord Wang has been running his business in Jiuyuan for so long, how could he have been captured by that new governor? Could it be that he brought a huge number of men with him?!"

Zhang Fan's emotions grew even stronger.

"No, the newly arrived Governor Wang, along with his old servant and a scholar with a sword, made up only three people in total."

"only..."

"This governor and the young scholar were both very skilled and courageous. Before any of the attendants could approach, they stepped forward and took Prince Wang hostage."

"then."

"This Prefect Wang merely raised his seal and gave a cold shout, and everyone present bowed down in obeisance. No one went to save Prefect Wang."

"Even now, that Prince Wang is most likely still not released."

Upon hearing this...

Lu Ping and the other minor officials couldn't help but click their tongues in amazement.

Unexpectedly, this newly arrived Prefect Wang was so upright that he drew his sword on the spot and arrested the head of a prefecture with a salary of two thousand shi for such a trivial matter.

The ferry crossing gradually became busier, with more and more people appearing.

Before the merchant could urge them on, the minor officials wisely dispersed and began their busy day.

Lu Ping stood in front of a middle-aged merchant dressed in fine clothes who had just disembarked from a merchant ship and checked his travel permit, which was the pass of the Han Dynasty.

"Name?"

"Zhen Fang."

"Where are you from?"

"Zhongshan Wuji Ren".

"What items did you bring? Are there any items that are explicitly prohibited?"

As usual, Lü Ping asked the question.

He then opened each of the dozens of bamboo baskets and wooden boxes he had brought with him, checking them against the market coupons to see if there were any non-compliant items inside. Most of them were common daily necessities that were extremely popular among the Xiongnu.

According to custom, iron tools were absolutely forbidden from being sold to the Xiongnu, which was also the strictest point of inspection at most passes.

The saying "one Han man is worth five Hu men" is based on this absolute advantage of iron armor and iron swords versus stone knives and cloth clothing.

Lu Ping's hands kept groping through the bamboo baskets and boxes.

groping around, groping around.

Lu Ping suddenly felt a hollow space in the wooden box, as if there was a hidden compartment. He pressed the hollow space and found a hard object inside, but it was not a hard object like metal.

He squeezed it hard.

Based on his more than ten years of experience working in this field, Lü Ping was able to make a clear judgment simply by touch.

Yes! It's smuggled salt!

Smuggled salt was just as profitable as ironware, and both were prohibited items, but the imperial court's control over it was not as strict as that over ironware.

Lü Ping looked up.

He looked at the Zhen family merchant who claimed to be from Wuji, Zhongshan, and remained silent.

The middle-aged businessman, with a smile on his face and the same expression, simply reached out and touched Lü Ping as if to help him up.

Lu Ping's sleeve suddenly felt heavy!

Well!

A small piece of gold coin is worth at least several thousand five-zhu coins!

Lu Ping remained calm and placed the gold ingot into a hidden pocket in his sleeve.

He casually closed the wooden box.

He casually gave instructions to the servant who was checking the goods to one side.

"The goods are normal."

"Once the taxes are paid, you can leave."

The words were finished.

He exchanged a glance with the middle-aged merchant, whom he had known for several years, smiled knowingly, and then strode toward the next caravan.