Lu Tu's eyes lit up: "What leverage? Tell me!"
"I know Zhao Wuyou is trading salt and iron with the Saili tribe of the Wuhuan!"
After Li Laoba confidently recounted the story, thinking it was a bombshell, he soon noticed that Lü Tu and the others' expressions were strange!
Because not only Lu Tu, but even the soldiers around him all had a calm expression.
It seems he knew about this a long time ago, a piece of information he risked his life to find out. So why did Lü Tu already know? Could it be that there was a traitor among Zhao Wuyou's people?
Hiss! Upon thinking of this, it was Li Laoba, the one who had revealed the bombshell, who was the first to gasp in shock.
"Lord Lü, you don't already know about this, do you?"
Lu Tu nodded: "Tell me something I don't know."
"You knew that Zhao Wuyou was targeting you like that, so why did you still let him stay in Huaishuo?"
Lu Tu wondered what was going on in this kid's mind. He knew about this matter, but he didn't have any solid evidence. Besides, in the eyes of the corrupt court of Dayu...
Even if Lu Tu had evidence, he might not be able to bring down a military commander; he was merely a minor official of the seventh rank.
"You have no value, so get going."
Lu Tu waved his hand dismissively. Blood was still dripping from the tip of Nie Yun's knife. Li Laoba was so frightened that he shouted again, "Zhao Wuyou is infertile!"
"What did you say?"
When Li Laoba saw that the tip of the knife was only one centimeter away from his neck, cold sweat poured down his forehead: "I said Zhao Wuyou can't have children, he's a congenital eunuch!"
Lu Tu and Nie Yun exchanged glances. Although this matter would not help bring down Zhao Wuyou, everyone has a gossipy nature. When they learned that Zhao Wuyou, that bastard who had done so many bad things, was actually infertile, everyone present could not help but feel overjoyed and laughed out loud.
"Hahaha... Zhao Wuyou, that bastard, really can't have a son!"
"So what if he became a captain? He's still a eunuch, and he's married so many concubines. Did he do it just to watch others have fun?"
Even Lu Tu himself couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, "If this guy can't have children, it will still have an impact on us."
"Brother, what do you mean?"
Lu Tu waved his hand to stop everyone's laughter, then said in a deep voice, "Once a man is born unable to perform in that area, his mentality will most likely become extremely dark. Moreover, judging from Zhao Wuyou's behavior, he may become extremely crazy in the future!"
"So from now on, we'll have to be wary of Zhao Wuyou in the most insidious way possible. Pass down the order: leave only 30 brothers to keep watch, and everyone else, including the villagers of Pangjia Village, will go mining!"
"Yes, sir!"
Li Laoba and the others knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads, seemingly waiting for Lü Tu's next orders.
Lu Tu suddenly spoke up: "Get up. Starting today, come back with me. If there is a chance, I will let you return to Huai Shuo to see your family."
Upon hearing this, Li Laoba and the others burst into tears: "Thank you so much for sparing our lives, sir!"
They themselves knew what despicable things they had done. Let alone being in Lu Tu's hands, even according to the law, they should all be executed. But since Lu Tu spared their lives, even if he took them back to Wuchuan, it was the best outcome for them.
Two days passed in this way, and Lu Tu's men had already mined a lot of sulfur and iron ore. Based on the previous iron smelting losses, Lu Tu calculated that this iron and sulfur ore was enough to forge weapons and bows for tens of thousands of people.
As for building armored cavalry, Lü Tu had never even considered it, nor was it something he could consider at the moment. The biggest drain on such cavalry was not the refined iron, but the horses.
After all, the rider, armor, and weapons weighed a good two to three hundred pounds. If the warhorse were to carry them for a long time, it would be impossible for it to withstand such weight. This means that even a heavily armored cavalryman would need to be equipped with three to four warhorses at the same time.
The demand for food and supplies increased exponentially, to the point that we dared not even think about it.
Seeing the two warehouses full of ore, Lü Tu waved his hand and said, "Let's leave tonight and get back to Wuchuan!"
"Yes, sir!"
The villagers of Pangjia Village had already packed their bags, and when they finally heard Lu Tu's order to go to Wuchuan, they were overjoyed.
In their hearts, going to Kuishan Village and following Lü Tu's command meant that they could live a very good life and would no longer have to eat chaff and wild vegetables or be bullied by others. For the border soldiers and civilians in the chaotic world, this was better than anything else!
Led by Pang Wei, Lu Tu and his group bypassed other villages along the way, spending a whole day without any major incidents before finally seeing the city gate of Kuishan Village.
When the villagers of Pangjia Village saw the towering city gate, they thought they had arrived in Wuchuan and wondered, "We've only been traveling for a day, and we've already reached Wuchuan City? This Wuchuan City looks brand new, as if it was just built."
Nie Yun laughed loudly from the side, "What nonsense are you talking about? This is just our lord's hometown, Kuishan Village. This city wall was built by our lord with his own money!"
Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned to learn that Lü Tu had personally funded the construction of the city wall.
They couldn't even dream of it: why would a village of the same size as Pangjia Village need such a high wall? Who was it meant to defend against?
Especially Li Laoba and others, they were secretly glad that they were able to come here alive with Lü Tu instead of following Zhao Wuyou to fight here later. If Zhao Wuyou and his troops came here and saw such a towering city wall, what would they think?
By this time, the villagers of Kuishan Village had discovered Lü Tu, and thousands of them rushed over. Most of them were refugees who had fled from Huai Shuo earlier, and some even knew the people from Pangjia Village.
They started whispering among themselves: "What are you doing here, you old codger?"
"You shameless widow Liu, what are you doing in Wuchuan instead of seducing men in Pangjia Village?"
Lu Tu shouted, "Shut the hell up, all of you! Let's get down to business!"
Upon hearing Lu Tu's shouts, everyone hurriedly took over the heavy carts.
At this moment, Xiao Zhong quickly ran over and cupped his hands to Lü Tu from a distance, saying, "My lord, you've worked hard. This time you've returned with a full haul; it's truly a great victory!"
Lu Tu patted his shoulder, then began searching in the crowd until he spotted several pretty figures. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. When a man is away from home, his most cherished thought is naturally his beloved wife.
"Mr. Xiao, take these items to the warehouse first and have Hu Delu come and collect them. I will be going into seclusion for three days starting tomorrow, and I will leave everything to you during this time!"
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