Lu Tu chuckled upon hearing this: "What made you change your mind? Weren't you unwilling to let me profit from it before?"
Guo Erniang sighed softly, "Sir, I am very grateful to you. I almost died here when I contracted cowpox. If I had died, my son would probably have been bullied to death. But you saved me, a widow, and did not refuse to give me medicine because of my lowly status. On the contrary, you gave me very expensive medicine. I remember all of this. How could I do such a thing?"
Lu Tu nodded in satisfaction. Actually, he hadn't intended for Guo Erniang to do Suzhou embroidery, but things just happened to coincide with that.
If Guo Erniang is unwilling, Lu Tu will not force her. But if Guo Erniang really manages to produce Suzhou embroidery, once Qin Qianqian and Uncle Fu arrive in Longcheng and open up the sales channels, won't Suzhou embroidery have a market right away?
Furthermore, Suzhou embroidery, as a top-tier craft, is like Shu embroidery and other techniques, belonging to the category of treasures that are offered as tribute.
If you put this in Longcheng and let the wives of officials and young ladies from wealthy families see it, they'd be fighting over it and it'd sell for astronomical prices.
That will greatly reduce the economic pressure.
Lu Tu nodded and said, "Guo Erniang, don't worry. I believe in keeping accounts even between brothers. How about we split it 55/50?"
Guo Erniang was stunned when she heard this. Her maternal grandmother and mother were both embroiderers, and before it was passed down to her, none of her ancestors had ever seen such an exaggerated proportion as 55.
After all, Suzhou embroidery is not only time-consuming, but the silk threads used are also extremely expensive, which is a major expense.
For ordinary people, if the embroiderers can get 20% of the profits after completing a piece of work, they are already very grateful, as it is enough to cover the living expenses of their family for one or two years.
Guo Erniang waved her hands repeatedly: "Sir, no, I can't take that much. You saved my life and my son's life. If I want to take half of it, then I'm not even a decent person."
Hmm? Guo Erniang's performance exceeded Lu Tu's expectations. A woman adrift in a chaotic world was more righteous than many men, which made Lu Tu sigh.
Seeing that Lu Tu remained silent, Guo Erniang continued to explain, "Lord Lu, you see, we've been eating and drinking your food for a long time, and even the houses we live in were built with your help. I'll only take 30% at most. I want to save more for my son so he can get a wife in the future."
Upon hearing this, Lü Tu laughed and said, "Since that's the case, then it's a deal. It'll be 30% for you and 30% for me. All the materials and supplies will be on me. You just need to do the work. If you need more people, just go to the village and pick some. Each woman who helps you will be paid the same wages as an adult man!"
Hearing this, Guo Erniang breathed a long sigh of relief: "Thank you, sir, I understand."
When Guo Erniang took her leave, her steps became much lighter, after all, this collaboration with Lü Tu had allowed her to make good use of her strengths.
More importantly, it provided her and her son with a long-term source of income. Guo Erniang was confident in her skills, after all, she was considered an excellent embroiderer in the Jiangnan region before, but she was implicated by her husband and ended up like this.
When life is hopeful, people become motivated; this holds true in any era.
At this moment, Jiehan came to Lu Tu's side, prostrated himself at Lu Tu's feet, and used his hands to hold Lu Tu's shoes.
"My lord, I will respectfully address you as my master and pledge my life and blood to you!"
Lu Tu had never seen such a bizarre ceremony before. The soldiers around him looked at each other in bewilderment. After all, in the eyes of the Dayu people, the most solemn expression of gratitude was nothing more than kneeling and kowtowing. This was even done in such a way when it came to their ancestors.
But everyone was stunned by this guy's unexpected act, thinking to themselves: This guy is too good at flattery.
Lu Tu recalled the origin of the Jiehan people's custom. Why did it seem nothing like the Xiongnu and Turks in his previous life? On the contrary, it seemed more like the people from the Arabian region.
Lu Tu extended his hand and placed it in front of Jie Han. Jie Han respectfully held Lu Tu's hand and then kissed the back of Lu Tu's hand: "Respected master, Jie Han is willing to serve you like a dog or a horse. I will draw the location of the Saili tribe for you now!"
Without wasting words, Lu Tu waved his hand and said, "Bring me paper and pen!"
Jiehan was stunned for a moment after looking at the paper and pen, then he grabbed the brush with his fist and began to draw something clumsily on the paper.
Lü Tu and Liu Hong were also analyzing the situation, especially Lü Tu, who had personally gone to the area north of the Great Wall to survey the terrain.
Even though the hand-drawn map by Jiehan was somewhat abstract and rough, it still had obvious markings, indicating that the Wuhuan people also used these markings to remember the terrain.
Before long, a sketch was completed. Jiehan said, "Master, it is actually 800 li from here to the Saili tribe. I lied to you before."
Upon hearing this, Liu Hong stared at Jiehan with hostility, his hand resting on the sword at his waist, making Jiehan's scalp tingle.
Lu Tu took the map and nodded calmly: "I know."
Seeing Lü Tu's relaxed demeanor, Jie Han finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that deception would not be punished. It seemed that Lü Tu was much easier to get along with than the nobles in the tribe, which undoubtedly deepened his loyalty to Lü Tu.
After all, who wouldn't want to follow someone who can put aside past grievances, treat his woman's illness, give their whole family a chance to live, and is also magnanimous?
Moreover, based on Jiehan's observation just now, even a village woman like Guo Erniang spoke with Lü Tu without any distance between master and servant. This shows that Lü Tu had never oppressed the people under his rule, which was very unbelievable to Jiehan!
Lü Tu then grabbed a brush and began to fine-tune the map drawn by Jie Han.
He made the landmarks and terrain he remembered more complete and clearer, making the map more vivid and accurate.
This one move alone left everyone present in awe!
Especially Liu Hong and Jiehan.
As a regular army unit from the capital, they naturally knew how helpful an extremely detailed map was in the battle before mobilization!
The other was the cavalry of the nomadic peoples. They had never seen such a detailed map before, and now that they had seen it, they understood why, for more than a hundred years after the establishment of the Great Yu Dynasty, the Wuhuan people, despite being more valiant in battle, had very few chances of winning and were even driven back to the northern desert, where they lived a difficult life.
It turns out that among the people of Dayu, there really are people with such strong memory and foresight. He was able to draw such a detailed map of the terrain after only traveling the route once!
"Master, you are truly amazing! You must be a war god sent by heaven!"
Lu Tu threw down his brush and cursed, "Stop sucking up to me! I won't punish you for deception today. Just stay here and reflect on your actions. If there's anything else you haven't told me, I'll come back tomorrow!"
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