Xia Guangyin looked at Fan Youfu with a sullen face and said, "Steward Fan, since those Jurchens have arrived, according to our previous agreement, I will leave with the other escorts. As for Fan Ji's money, I will give it to you after I return." I’ll give it back to you if it’s not bad.”
"Captain Xia." Fan Youfu advised, "The reason for going out is to earn more money. Why bother struggling with the money? We can reach Horqin in a few days. Commander Xia might as well endure it for now and wait until he arrives in Horqin. These Jurchens will naturally leave."
Xia Guang waved his hand and refused, "No need. Even though I'm just an escort, I know what justice is. I will never deal with Jurchens, let alone in a convoy."
"Boss Xia, why are you doing this?" Fan Youfu looked helpless.
Xia Guang said, "I would like to advise you, if you do any unjust things, you will be killed yourself. If your Fan family colludes with the Jurchens, sooner or later you will be killed."
"So you have to leave, Mr. Xia?" Fan Youfu asked.
"As a man of Ming Dynasty, how could I, Xia Guang, be with those Donglu Tatars?" Xia Guang said coldly.
"Brother Xia is right. As citizens of the Ming Dynasty, how can we be in the same convoy with these Tatars." Someone among the escorts shouted.
There were many escorts around who didn't speak, but they all stood firmly beside Xia Guang.
Fan Youfu saw that Xia Guang was determined to leave and would never continue to go to Horqin with the convoy unless he drove the Jurchens away from the convoy.
However, he knew that he could not drive away these Jurchens. Fan Ji's motorcade still needed these Jurchens to deal with the horse bandits who had intercepted and killed their Fan Ji motorcade. Moreover, these Jurchens had to be carefully served by their masters. He A housekeeper would not dare to offend him.
Fan Youfu raised his head and looked at the sky, and said, "Since Escort Xia must leave, I won't stop him. But it's almost dark, so why not stay in the convoy tonight and leave tomorrow morning?"
"No need." Xia Guang pulled the reins, turned around and said to the other bodyguards, "Brothers, bring all the food and follow me back to Zhangjiakou."
As he spoke, he knocked the horse's belly with both feet and urged the horse to pass by Fan Youfu.
The remaining bodyguards also urged their horses to follow Xia Guang's horse and left Fan Youfu's side.
After these escorts walked away, Fan Youfu's face turned gloomy and he cursed, "They are a bunch of shameless people. In this case, don't blame me for being rude."
After saying that, he turned back to the convoy.
At this time, their convoy, Fan Ji, had already begun to set up camp.
Some guys made fires to cook, several bonfires were lit, the driver took the animals pulling the cart to drink water, and everyone was busy with the work at hand.
The Jurchens sat alone around a bonfire, and around them, all the people in Fan Ji's motorcade were driven away, leaving only the Han who came with them from Horqin.
Fan Youfu returned to the convoy and walked towards the Jurchens.
Before he could get closer, he was stopped by a Jurchen.
At this time, Kutai, who was sitting by the campfire, said, "Zamulun, let him come over."
The Jurchen named Zamulun then stepped aside and motioned for Fan Youfu to come over.
Fan Youfu bowed humbly to the Jurchen named Zamulun, and then walked towards Kutai.
When he arrived in front of Kutai, he said respectfully, "Sir Kutai, I have asked someone to prepare the food. It will be ready in a moment. Please wait a moment, Lord Kutai."
Kutai said without looking back, "Tell your people to prepare more meat."
"This..." Fan Youfu was stunned.
Kutai said in a deep voice, "What? Not willing?"
"No, no." Fan Youfu waved his hands repeatedly and explained, "Master Kutai, please don't misunderstand me. To be honest, there is indeed no meat in the convoy, only some dry biscuits."
"The most indispensable thing on the grassland is wild animals. How come there aren't any?" Kutai frowned.
Fan Youfu smiled bitterly and said, "The convoy is full of my Fan Ji's guys. Many of them can't even use a bow, let alone hunt for prey. So along the way, all we ate were dry biscuits and the like."
"Nikan is really useless." A Jurchen on the side mocked.
The other party spoke in Chinese. Fan Youfu naturally heard everything word for word, but he did not dare to refute anything. Instead, he thought that the other party was right. The Han people were indeed useless. Otherwise, how could the Ming army in Liaodong be defeated one after another? , and finally even the two important cities of Shenyang and Liaoyang were lost.
Kutai looked sideways at Zamulun and shouted, "Zamulun, get him some wild animals we hunted on the road."
"Yes, really."
Zamulun walked to the place where the Jurchens were stacking things, picked up a dead yellow sheep from inside and came back.
When he came to Fan Youfu, he threw the yellow sheep at his feet and said, "Let your people clean up this yellow sheep. We will eat this sheep tonight."
"Yes, yes, yes." Fan Youfu nodded repeatedly.
Then he reached out to lift the yellow sheep on the ground. Unexpectedly, he didn't lift it up. Instead, he was dragged down. A dog gnawed its shit and fell face down to the ground.
The Jurchens who saw this scene burst out laughing and looked at Fan Youfu with mocking eyes.
"Useless Nikan." Zamulun mocked.
Fan Youfu got up from the ground with a blushing face.
He had seen the Jurchens carrying the yellow sheep easily before, so he thought it didn't weigh much, so he made a mistake and made himself miserable.
This time, Fan Yongfu didn't think about lifting the whole goat, but grabbed a leg and dragged it away.
The Jurchens' laughter did not stop when Fan Youfu left. Instead, there were several Jurchens pointing at Fan Youfu's back, laughing so hard that they couldn't close their mouths, revealing their big yellow teeth.
On the contrary, the Han man among the Jurchens looked embarrassed, either smiling or not.
The hiccup passed quickly.
When Fan Youfu came back, he was followed by several of Fan Ji's men, carrying a big pot.
After the Jurchens searched their bodies, they let Fan Youfu and the others pass.
Arriving in front of Kutai, Fan Youfu said with a smile, "Master Kutai, the sheep have been packed. This pot is used to cook the mutton. Do you want to put the iron pot on the stand first?"
He pointed at the iron pot the waiter was holding.
Kutai glanced at the iron pot, nodded immediately, and said, "Go get it!"
Fan Youfu then asked the waiter to set up a pot on the campfire, pour water, and start cooking the mutton.
After finishing it, Fan Youfu drove the waiters away and stayed to take care of the mutton in the iron pot.
After more than half an hour, the aroma of meat wafted from the iron pot.
Fan Youfu grabbed a handful of salt and threw it in.
After smelling the aroma of meat, the Jurchens around them stared at the iron pot without moving.
Kutai shrugged his nose and said to Fan Youfu, "The cooking is good. Let's stay and eat together later."
"Thank you, Lord Kutai." Fan Youfu hurriedly saluted Kutai. Follow "Youdu Literature" on WeChat, chat about life, and find close friends~
