(This book was first published on the Let's See Literature Network, referred to as the Literature Network, please support genuine subscription to protect the rights and interests of the author.) ）

"Master, why haven't you told us what our purpose is all this way? The apprentice and the four junior disciples are very strange! Song Yu asked Zhang Feng with some puzzlement.

As Zhang Feng's first apprentice, the four junior disciples had the same questions in their hearts as him, and they were currently on their way to the Shaomu Mountain, where they had just settled in an inn in Luoting Town.

After arranging the juniors and having dinner, Song Yu came to the master's room to inquire.

In the Iron Shirt Gate, they grew up isolated in the Iron Shirt Peak in the far north, and their training was extremely strict, and they all had good martial arts skills, but what they only got from books was far from enough, and they were not proficient in the world.

Along the way, after the war between the Jurchen and the Boxia tribes, and then saw the brutal slaughter between the two tribes of Bohai and Goryeo, and then saw the battle between Chakhan Timur and the Red Turban Army in Shandong, and then went south, I saw that the Yuan army's millions of soldiers and horses were divided and driven away by several Red Turban troops.

And this kind of road down, what you see is the image of thousands of miles of red land, blood flowing like a river, and rotting corpses are all over the field, and it is not until Jiangnan that I see some popularity, which is different from the Central Plains recorded in the book, and it is completely a hellish scene in the Buddhist scriptures.

"Apprentice, this time we went down the mountain to rejoin the business alliance on behalf of the Iron Shirt Gate, but your master did not allow us to act in the name of the Iron Shirt Gate, so we had to go to Shaolin Mountain for a trip, and after a battle with the master of Shaolin Temple, we were ready to open a sect and complete your ancestor's wish!" When Zhang Feng said these words, there was no trace of joy on his face, but there was a sense of loss.

"Master, why do you want to fight with the monks of Shaolin Temple? Why did you start a sect? Doesn't this mean that we will betray the Iron Shirt? Song Yu immediately widened his eyes and asked.

Zhang Feng's words were really difficult for him to understand, and he couldn't make him willing to accept it, the disciples of the Iron Shirt Sect were very famous for their belligerence, and they fought with the Shaolin masters, who were known as the world's first Buddhist and martial arts sects, which Song Yu was also extremely eager for, but if it was said to be a betrayal of the master, this was really difficult for Song Yu to accept.

"Yu'er, this is a letter from your ancestor to your master, you can read it! I knew that what the teacher said was true. Zhang Feng sighed at this time, took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Song Yu.

Song Yu has lived in Tieshan Peak since he was a child, and his feelings for the sect are very deep, although he saw the letter at this time, he still didn't believe it, so he hurriedly took it out and took out the letterhead and looked at it carefully.

"Give me my apprentice Zhang Feng: There are constant disputes in the world, although my Iron Shirt Gate has been away from the world for a long time, but it belongs to the business alliance back then, this time Pyle and other six masters and apprentices went down the mountain to help the business alliance find the common master of the world, and the outside world is not allowed to use the iron shirt door for it, but to join in the name of the new sect."

"Another: The patriarch of the founding sect of this sect suddenly appeared a descendant after a thousand years, named Shang Yu. I hope to visit it, and around it to protect the arch, for the teacher in two years later when he will go out of the customs will see this ancestor in person, in order to seek the art of enlightenment, and wait for the WTO to help the business alliance to pacify the Central Plains, before you can cheat death and get out and return to my iron shirt door. "The name of the payment is the old man Jingsong, which is the name of the head of the family.

After reading this letter, Song Yu's face changed color, and he raised his head and asked in a trembling voice, "Master!" The meaning of the ancestor is to let us return to the Shang Alliance, and we can only return to the door after the world is calm, and there is also a patriarch named Shang Yudi, is it true that the ancestor of the creation sect is a god in the door? ”

After hearing this, Zhang Feng nodded solemnly, and said slowly: "This is the last order left by the patriarch of the founding sect, we must return to the Shang Alliance and return to the Han family in the Central Plains, and protect the ancestor named Shang Yu, this is the order that my master gave me!" Yu'er, you should understand this time, right? It is true that the founding patriarch should be an immortal, otherwise how could there be another disciple after a thousand years? ”

"In two days, we will arrive at Shaolin Mountain, and after a battle with Shaolin monks, we will not only be able to do what I did back then, but also be famous all over the world! This kind of continued competition is something that the teacher does not want to do, but for the sake of the master's life, he also has to do it, hey! Entering the world and being born are not what I want, the division ranks third, and then I will change my name to Sanfeng and go straight to Shaolin! Zhang Feng said with a wry smile, brushing his slightly pale beard with his hand.

"Zhang Sanfeng! Master, you have a good name! Why don't you choose a new name for your apprentice? When Song Yu heard that he was about to enter the Shaolin War in three days, he immediately forgot his curiosity about the disciples of the founding patriarch and the disciples, and instead happily discussed the name.

"Apprentice, do you remember the chain bridge between the Iron Shirt Peaks? It is the use of beginner disciples to practice light skills every day, when you are young, you always see it from a distance and tremble with fright, until you are ten years old to be able to walk on it, so you will be named Song Yuanqiao! Your juniors and disciples can't continue to use their original names, and wait until tomorrow to think carefully about their teachers before renaming them. Zhang Sanfeng shook his head and said.

"Thank you, Master, for renaming the apprentice, and my name will be Song Yuanqiao in the future." Song Yu, the young man who should be called Song Yuanqiao at the moment immediately said with an excited expression on his face, and saluted Zhang Sanfeng.

Zhang Sanfeng smiled bitterly, and when he was about to help Song Yuanqiao, he heard a shouting from the inn.

"Oh no! Killed. ”

"Oh my God! It's a woman in white, isn't it a ghost in white? ”

After hearing this, Zhang Sanfeng immediately pushed the door of the guest room open, only to see that all the guests in the courtyard were running towards their respective rooms in a panic, but the door of the room where the four disciples should have lived was wide open, and there was a strong wind whistling and the shouts of the two disciples inside.

"Not good! Yuanqiao, your four juniors have been attacked! Zhang Sanfeng's face tightened, and he was a little surprised in his heart: "Who actually dares to attack my Iron Shirt Sect disciple?" ”

Immediately, his figure flew up, leaping like lightning from the patio on the second floor several feet away, and landed accurately into the house where the four disciples lived.

"Hey, hey! The little ones are dying, and the old ones are coming! Forgive the concubine for not being accompanied. The masked woman in white in the room once again slammed her palm on the chest of the last disciple, and found that Zhang Sanfeng had jumped into the room, and with a sneer, she walked towards the window that was opening wide not far in front of her.

After Zhang Sanfeng entered the house, he found that the four disciples had fallen in a pool of blood, and the last disciple Cui Suo was the most talented among the disciples, but judging from the strength of that palm, he was absolutely unlucky.

Zhang Sanfeng was really angry for the first time in his seventies, a trace of white gas came out of his head, and he jumped out of the window with a loud shout.

At this time, Song Yuanqiao came to the house, and when he saw the four junior disciples lying in a pool of blood, he couldn't help but burst into tears, and let out a sad roar, he lowered his head and helped him up one by one, and his face became more and more ugly after visiting for a while.

It only took a dozen breaths for him to quickly jump out of the window, only to see the master fighting the masked woman in white on an eaves.

He quickly shouted: "Thief woman, return my junior brother's life!" ”

Li Yanhong's original intention was just to kill the disciples of the Iron Shirt Sect and then want to retreat, but she didn't expect this Zhang Sanfeng to chase him out, Li Yanhong wanted to try Zhang Sanfeng's martial arts, so she was not in a hurry to perform the best light skills and escaped.

At this time, when he saw Song Yuanqiao coming, he couldn't help but feel anxious, and immediately screamed: "Little old man, the concubine is not accompanied!" "At this time, she already knew that Zhang Sanfeng's martial arts and internal strength were much higher than her, if she fought for a long time, she would not be able to persevere, and the young disciple could only kill him next time."

"Hugh away!" Zhang Sanfeng saw that the woman who committed the murder was about to flee upside down, and immediately roared angrily, and a faint golden light came out of his palm, and a huge palm print flew out in an instant and hit Li Yanhong's chest hard.

At this moment, Li Yanhong felt as if all her strength had been withdrawn from her body, but her mouth was shocked: "Innate vitality!" "But with this? With all her strength, she still took a sharp breath, swallowed a large mouthful of blood surging up between her chest and abdomen, and her body disappeared into Luoting Town in a few flashes like lightning.

Looking at the other party's disappearing figure, Zhang Sanfeng's face darkened, and he muttered: "Feng Ming's body method!" I know where your sect is, kill my four disciples, and the old man will come to the door to seek justice. ”

With his skill, he had already inflicted a heavy blow on the other party, but the other party's light skill surprised him, and that kind of light skill could only be caught up by the second senior brother of the Iron Shirt Sect, but he could recognize the other party's light skill and body method, so he could only look at the woman in white with disappointment and glared angrily.

"Master! All four of our juniors are dead, what should we do? "Although Song Yuanqiao has seen countless dead bodies along the way, he is only lamenting the troubled times, but now he sees the death of the four junior brothers who have lived together since childhood, and he can't help but jump in front of the master in grief and ask questions, and the tears in his eyes have blurred his vision."

"Apprentice, go with the teacher to bury your four junior brothers, that woman will be seriously injured when she is a teacher, and her sect is very clear as a teacher! Tomorrow I will be rerouted to Emei Mountain, and I will go to seek justice. Under the anger of Fang Cai, the innate vitality suddenly improved one level, and actually hit the woman in white through his body, which meant that his martial arts were about to break through the first order, Zhang Sanfeng After thinking about it, he was still ready to bury the four disciples first.

At three o'clock the next day, Shang Yu stood on top of a mountain covered with spinach, holding a red stone in his hand and slashing it at the white glazed plate in his hand, only to see a dark black scratch appear.

"Wei Bi, bring the compass and see where the pointer is pointing?" Shang Yu turned his head and said to Wei Bi, who was a little stunned not far behind him.

"Lord Xiancheng, I'll be here soon." Wei Bi reacted at this time, and hurriedly took out the compass from a rucksack and handed it to Shang Yu.

This compass is a thing from Bo, which is a rare thing in the Lai'an County Ya, but in Shang Yu's opinion, it is the same principle as the ordinary compass, but it is easier to carry.

Moving the heavy stone in his hand towards the compass, seeing that the pointer in the compass did not move a bit, Shang Yu nodded, turned his head to Wei Bi and said, "Go and get some firewood, set up a simple stove, I want to heat this stone." He had a very solemn look on his face.

Wei Bi shook his head, he was very puzzled that what Shang Yu was doing now had anything to do with solving the livelihood of the people here, but seeing Shang Yu's extremely serious expression, he could only obey orders, leading several soldiers to build a stove with the same kind of red stones according to Shang Yu's request, and instructed the soldiers to go down the mountain to fetch firewood.

After looking at the stove over there, Wei Bi returned to Shang Yu and said, "Lord Xiancheng, what is this red stone?" ”

Shang Yu smiled slightly: "If my guess is correct, this should be iron ore, just to make sure, if it can make the compass pointer follow it after heating, I can determine its composition." ”

Wei Bi immediately opened his mouth in surprise, and only asked later, "My lord, how did you know that this is iron ore?" Even if it's iron ore, what do we want it to do? ”

The improvised stove over there was burning extremely strongly, and Shang Yu said with a smile: "What is most lacking in my Chuzhou Righteous Army now?" ”

Wei Bi thought for a while after hearing this and said: "It should be the source of soldiers, didn't you say that Chuzhou has a small population and is currently using insufficient troops?" ”

Shang Yu said with a smile: "Wrong! There are too few available soldiers. ”

After hearing this, Wei Bi asked a little puzzled: "Why are there too few available soldiers?" ”

"The weapons in our army are extremely simple, it is caused by the lack of iron, the Yuan Court has controlled the iron tools of our Central Plains for a hundred years, so the most lacking place in Chuzhou is iron, if this red stone is really iron ore, it is very easy to smelt subway ore, so if you smelt and provide refined iron, then do you think that if my righteous army has stronger and better weapons, will it be much stronger?" Shang Yu had a confident expression on his face when he said this.

Wei Bi thought for a moment after hearing this, and then suddenly realized: "It turns out that the adult wants to open the furnace to make iron after making sure that this is iron ore?" ”

Shang Yu nodded and said, "That's exactly what I mean, Brother Wei, the stone should be hot, lift a stone aside for me, I'm going to try it with a compass." ”

Wei Bi immediately went to the improvised stove on the left, picked up a red stone with a wooden stick, and placed it a few steps away from the flames, while Shang Yu carefully approached the hot stone with a compass.

"It's moving, my lord, the compass pointer has moved!" Wei Bi kept staring at the pointer on the compass in Shang Yu's hand with his eyes, and immediately exclaimed excitedly when he saw the pointer move.

At this time, Shang Yu immediately stood up and said to the several soldiers who followed him, "Immediately give me a tour of all the nearby hills, and register the peaks with the same stones for me." When the soldiers heard this, they immediately nodded their heads and ran in all directions.

"Wei Bi, go back to the county government with me immediately, and invite all the blacksmiths in the city and the army to me, and find the best clay tiles! Tell the chief of the nearby town and Li Zheng to come to the county office quickly, and I have something important to announce. ”

When he said this, Shang Yu immediately walked down the mountain, and Wei Bi immediately followed behind Shang Yu with a happy face, promising on his lips, but he was thinking in his heart: "Brother Shang can make weapons, and he knows the affairs of the family, and now he knows iron ore, what else does he know?" How can one understand so much? At this moment, Shang Yu's back was infinitely magnified in his eyes and became extremely majestic.

A few days later, Zhu Yuanzhang withdrew from Tianchang County with more than 40,000 elite soldiers to Lai'an County, and when he arrived at the city gate with more than ten generals, he did not see Shang Yu, the county minister, but only Zhu Zhengqing and Hu Dahai greeted him, which made Zhu Yuanzhang a little unhappy.

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little puzzled, and after entering Lai'an County, he quietly asked Zhu Zhengqing about Shang Yu's whereabouts.

"Zhengqing, is Brother Shang Yuxian sick, why didn't he come to meet me outside the city? He is a local county magistrate, so he has been seen by the generals by not coming to greet me, which makes me a little embarrassed! Zhu Yuanzhang asked a little unhappily.

"Deputy Marshal Zuo, the county Cheng Shangyu is currently building a furnace outside the county, saying that he wants to make iron, recently he found a good iron vein in Lai'an County, ready to open the furnace to make iron, in the morning I have quickly informed him that you are coming, and he also promised to come back to greet you, but I don't know why he hasn't returned yet?" Zhu Zhengqing's face was a little unnatural and said, although Shang Yu said so, but for reason, it was a felony not to come to greet Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Oh! Brother Shang Yu actually knows how to make iron, and after the army passes through the county, I want to go and see how he smelts iron! Hearing that Shang Yu actually found an iron ore vein in Lai'an, and was preparing for iron-smelting, Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately pleasantly surprised, this news is really amazing, Shang Yu is making iron for the future of the righteous army, so if he doesn't come to see him, it's nothing.

In the county office, Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly: "Now that my army has returned to the boundary of Chuzhou, Hezhou is also the gateway to Chuzhou, this time back to Chuzhou, the marshal will ask the marshal for orders, take Hezhou can be defended by the river, in order to stabilize the territory where our army is located, the generals can only drink a little wine today, and return to Chuzhou with the marshal tomorrow, do you have any opinions?" ”

The generals led by Xu Da all stood on both sides and obeyed the order, and they had no opinion on this.

Li Shanchang, who was standing on the left side of Zhu Yuanzhang, nodded, and said in his heart: "The left deputy marshal is finally going to embark on his own road to hegemony, just to see if he can successfully release the military power of Guo Tianxu in Chuzhou, otherwise the third son of the Guo family will inevitably die at the hands of the left deputy marshal." ”

"This is also their own destruction, actually according to the food in the past, and ordered our army to hostile hundreds of thousands of troops, such acts of the generals and tens of thousands of soldiers have long been clear, the deputy marshal of the left is too merciful, if it is not for my advice, he will not attack Hezhou, as soon as these words come out, the generals will know that they will assist my lord." Li Shanchang finally thought of this, and felt in his heart that the hardships of dealing with the Yuan army in the past few months had not been in vain.

The Chuzhou rebels suffered tens of thousands of casualties in battle, but the number of people did not decrease on the occasion of returning, after the battle with the Yuan army, among them the Han soldiers were thrown into the rebel army, and the Mongolian people and the Semu people were slaughtered because of the poor management, which was the rule of the army over the years.

But the Han soldiers who joined the rebel army, after enjoying the same food as the soldiers, immediately had extreme loyalty to the rebel army, in the Yuan army, the Han soldiers were the most inferior cannon fodder, the weapons were vulgar, the food was insufficient and the food was deducted for many years, and although the rebel army was not rich, everyone was equal, and the general and the soldier ate basically the same, which made all the Han soldiers who were forcibly recruited by the Yuan court have a strong sense of belonging.

"Since all the generals have no opinions, then the matter is decided, and all the soldiers in the army are ordered to camp outside the county town tonight, and the county town of Lai'an will supply the food of the army today, and kill hundreds of pigs to reward the three armies." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a laugh.

In the process of advancing the army, the food was not very good, and when he returned to his own ground, he should naturally let these soldiers have a good meal, Zhu Yuanzhang cherished the soldiers very much, which was also his biggest advantage in winning the hearts of the army.

All the generals showed a smile on their faces, saluted Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Xie Zuo Deputy Marshal!" ”

After months of marching, everyone was exhausted, but when they heard Zhu Yuanzhang's previous words, the hearts of all the generals were as warm as spring, and the feeling of exhaustion disappeared for a while.

At this moment, I heard someone shouting outside the main hall of the county ya: "Report, the county Cheng Shangyu is outside asking to see the deputy marshal Zuo!" And said that there was a big gift for the marshal! ”

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but immediately stand up and said, "Quickly order Shang Yu to come to see me!" Hearing that Shang Yu was smelting iron before, he wanted to see Shang Yu very much, and now that Shang Yu had returned from outside the county and was going to give him a big gift, he immediately thought that it might be the iron that Shang Yu had smelted.

The lack of iron in the army, the main material for making weapons, is always a big problem in the army, if Shang Yu can really refine iron in Lai'an, then he can continue to make weapons, which is of vital help to Zhu Yuanzhang's next development, is to Shang Yu to show that he can meet him outside the city, he is not strange, but more fond of this young sworn brother.

The soldier outside immediately said to Shang Yu, who was standing outside the main hall: "Lord County, please go and see Deputy Marshal Left immediately!" It's just that his eyes are fixed on a strange iron weapon carried by several soldiers behind Shang Yu.

After hearing this, Shang Yu immediately thanked the soldiers behind him and said, "Good life, follow me to see the left deputy marshal!" With that, he waved his hand and walked inward.

"No!" Several soldiers gritted their teeth and struggled to carry the strange subway machine towards the main hall.

As a result, the generals and Zhu Yuanzhang saw Shang Yu and the newly made iron weapon, a strange subway weapon, which was enough to double the strength of Zhu Yuanzhang's army in land battles.