The next day, Zhu Yuanzhang got up early in the morning as usual, and he walked into the yard to take a look, hey, those nine young people were still standing in the yard last night. Their spirits were extremely sluggish, their faces were full of tiredness, and although their legs were still standing, they could no longer be regarded as horse steps, they could only be said to be barely standing. Several of them were covered in plaster, apparently having fallen in the middle of the night. Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was up, the nine of them hurriedly re-swung their movements and tied up their horses.

Zhu Yuanzhang is generally satisfied with their performance, in fact, he is not a person who likes to torture soldiers all night long, and takes people to practice day and night, he knows the truth of combining work and rest. It's just that these nine young people are still during his inspection, and Zhu Yuanzhang needs to understand the characteristics of their surnames as soon as possible, such as whether they have perseverance, whether they are ruthless enough, and whether they can fight ...... So letting them stand for this night is also the first threshold.

They have survived now and have not escaped, even if they have obtained Zhu Yuanzhang's initial approval.

"Go back and rest!" Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "You have practiced well, you have a future, and you are expected to be healthy." ”

The nine young men breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly retracted their horse steps, and their whole bodies softened: "Brother Zhu, it's really hard to keep fit, I almost couldn't survive this night several times......

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded lightly: "It's really hard, a long, long time ago, when I was 'getting fit', there were several times when I almost couldn't hold on, but ......" He didn't say the words later, only sighed in his heart: In the end, I persevered, and then sat on the whole world.

He remembered the past for a moment, then waved at the nine young people and said, "How hard you are willing to work for it, how much you will gain in the end, okay, go back and rest." Make up for your sleepiness today, and come back to me tomorrow night to learn martial arts. ”

Sent away nine young people, Zhu Yuanzhang started his morning exercise, he was still the same as before, boxing at will, moving his muscles and bones, not seeking to become a fierce general, but in his life, he would not be dragged back because his body was too weak.

After just fighting for a while, I suddenly saw Li Chujiu poking his head at the gate of the courtyard: "Brother Zhu, a few of our own brothers have also come and want to learn boxing from you." ”

"Oh?" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed: "Our own brothers don't have to worry about food and clothing, why do we have to learn from the young people of Xigu Village?" ”

More than a dozen farmers walked into the courtyard and said in a low voice: "Brother Zhu, we heard that Zheng Yanfu and his gang killed all the Zhang family in Chengcheng, is this ...... If one day there are also rogues who come to kill our Ma family...... When I think about it, I am scared, and I always want to learn something to defend myself. ”

There are always two kinds of people in the world, one wants to kill officials and rebel, and the other wants to protect the family and defend the country, and these two kinds of people always exist at the same time. Zhu Yuanzhang already had the idea of rebelling and seizing the world at this time, and this kind of farmer who wants to protect his family and defend the country will be his enemy. But Zhu Yuanzhang will not treat them as enemies...... Because, at the right time and in the right place, people who want to kill officials and rebel and those who want to defend their homes and countries can exchange identities with each other!

People's hearts are very complicated, and sometimes the people who shout the most patriotic are the first to run to become Han Jian...... And those who have been doing evil can become real warriors in the face of the aggressor. Zhu Yuanzhang believed that as long as he used a little means, these farmers who wanted to be enemies of the peasant uprising would eventually join the peasant rebel army, so what was the harm in teaching them martial arts?

"Okay, follow me! Come to me tomorrow night and teach with the young people in Xigu Village. ”

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Since the purple heart was thrown out of the house by Zhu Yuanzhang, the maids of the Ma family finally stopped and no longer appeared in Zhu Yuanzhang's room all the time. It turned out that after the purple heart returned to the inner courtyard, she added fuel and vinegar to say a nonsensical guess, and a gossip began to circulate among the maids in the inner courtyard, saying that Zhu Bugs had fallen in love with a maid from the Zhang family, who was the autumn leaf who had missed the festival.

Together with this rumor, the maids of the Ma family are really heartbroken, how could a good man be robbed by a foreign maid? The relationship between the maids of these two families is not good, because the second young grandmother and the second young master often fight, and the maids of the two families each want to help their masters, and they are also in a state of opposition, and now this is even more fueling the fire. The maids of the Ma family look at the maids of the Zhang family everywhere and are not pleasing to the eye, and the chickens and dogs are jumping all day and night in the inner courtyard, which is chaotic.

Although it is rumored that Zhu Bugs fell in love with Autumn Leaves, Autumn Leaves herself did not have half of the joy, because she was also kicked out by Zhu Bugs like Purple Heart that day, and she didn't feel that Bugs Zhu had the intention of choosing her at all...... Although he became the protagonist of the rumors, he couldn't be happy.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the other protagonist in the rumors, doesn't take this kind of thing to heart at all. He just felt that his life had been a little inconvenient recently, such as the vase on the table, the small flower in it had withered for a long time, but there was no maid from the Ma family to help him change it...... The teapot on the table, which is always empty now...... Clothes need to be washed yourself! Although it is very pleasant to be troubled without a woman around, it is not very pleasant to be without a woman to serve...... As the saying goes, without a woman, it is deserted, and with a woman, the chicken and dog are restless...... Do you need a woman like this?

After all, he is a person who used to be an emperor, and it is the norm for him to stretch out his hands for clothes and open his mouth for food, and now there is no one to serve, which is really inconvenient.

On this day, it was June, the weather began to be hot, Zhu Yuanzhang took a basin of water, sat in the yard to wash clothes, he didn't know if he didn't wash his own clothes, it was really difficult to wash clothes now, because there was drought and lack of water everywhere, it was very difficult to draw water from the Baishui River, and it would take an hour to do such a simple thing as washing clothes.

Li Chujiu's ugly daughter-in-law passed by in front of his yard and saw him washing clothes, so she couldn't help but smile and said, "Brother Zhu, what do you say...... Aren't you looking for guilt yourself? Marry a daughter-in-law early, do you still need to do laundry? With your current reputation, which maid is not a matter of hooking your fingers? ”

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled bitterly.

The mother-in-law smiled again: "Even if you haven't made up your mind to marry, don't sweep out the door with a rod, it's a big trouble now, right?" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang could only smile bitterly.

The mother-in-law lowered her voice and said mysteriously: "If I don't help you talk about it, just say that you don't plan to marry the autumn leaf sister of the Zhang family, last time it was just a momentary gaffe, as long as this news spreads, the sister of our Ma family will come to do housework for you again." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed the clothes in his hand twice in the basin, his brows were furrowed tightly, he was not afraid of anyone to fight the world and play tricks, but this washing clothes ...... cough, it's really a bit embarrassing, why don't you do what Li Chujiu's daughter-in-law said?

Just as he was thinking of this, an exclamation suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

Zhu Yuanzhang lives in the small courtyard of the housekeeper, and the outside is a side courtyard where long-term and short-term workers live, and now there is an exclamation outside, naturally it is sent by the long-term and short-term workers, his heart is tight, what happened? Hurriedly threw the wet clothes in his hand into the basin and rushed out with an arrow.

I saw that at the gate of the side courtyard, dozens of long-term and short-term workers were all drilling inside, and everyone could see a panicked look on their faces, someone ran too fast, and a big red bag fell out of his head, but he didn't care about rubbing the wounds, and was still running back desperately. Some people's clothes were torn in the bushes, and their chests were exposed, which was very indecent, but they could not hide it.

"What happened?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked loudly: "What are you panicking about?" ”

"Brother Zhu, it's not good...... Soldiers...... Officers and soldiers from Xi'an Mansion passed by our door! ”

"Huh?" Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, officers and soldiers passing by? No wonder!

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to the extreme shortage of salaries in the army, the soldiers said that they had a very difficult time, and the imperial court transferred them out to fight, and did not pay them military salaries, which caused them to rob the people along the way. And even if the commander of the army sees this kind of thing, he deliberately ignores it, and the soldiers under his command can grab a point, so that they don't have to ask for military pay from themselves.

Therefore, wherever the officers and soldiers went, it was like locusts crossing the border, frightening the common people to flee in all directions.

Zhu Yuanzhang shouted at the long-term and short-term workers: "What are you afraid of? In addition to your daughter-in-law, what else can people rob in your family? There are a few people who don't even have daughters-in-law, and other officers and soldiers won't rob you if they want to. Besides, our Ma family is not a family that officers and soldiers can rob casually, look at the Jinshi pole at the door......"

As soon as he said this, the long-term and short-term workers were determined.

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his feet and walked out: "I'll go see what the situation is, you guys work hard." ”

He walked out of the small gate of the side courtyard and looked towards the front of the house, only to see that there was indeed a large group of officers and soldiers on the loess road in front of the main gate of the Ma family, and they were sitting or standing, extending along the loess road of the Ma house to the official road. Zhu Yuanzhang, who has had many years of military career, doesn't need to count them at all, just by looking at the size of the army, he can see that this is a small army of about 500 people.

Most of these officers and soldiers wore Mandarin duck battle jackets of the Ming Dynasty, and their clothes were in tatters, and they had obviously not been issued new uniforms for many years. Most of the weapons in the hands are wooden spears, the rods of this wooden spears are cut from sturdy trees, soaked in tung oil to make them strong and tough, and then on the top of the set of an iron spear tip, the spear tip is slender, the front end is pointed, the middle is narrow, and the whole bears a wavy shape.

Only a very small number of soldiers were armed with knives, and the total number was less than twenty. This reason is very simple, the spear needs less iron, but the knife needs more iron, compared to the spear knife is an expensive weapon, in the case of tight military spending at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to arm in large quantities.

And when it comes to actual combat, spears are better than knives. There is an old saying: three arrows are not as good as one knife, and three knives are not as good as one shot. The meaning of this sentence is that if you shoot three arrows at the enemy on the battlefield, it is better to cut him with one sword. It is better to stab the enemy three times, than to stab him once.

Among the officers and soldiers, there were also a small number of officers, wearing chain mail in the style of the Ming Dynasty military generals, with a pointed iron helmet on their heads, the tip of the helmet stretched high, a wisp of red tassels hanging on it, and a sword hanging from the waist. The sword is a weapon used for command, and on the battlefield, the sword is often not used to cut people, but to show the identity of a general.

This army is not as decadent as the group of people led by Ye Yuxuan last time in Chengcheng, but shows a faint evil spirit, Zhu Yuanzhang can see at a glance that this army is gaining momentum and is preparing for war, not a simple marching army.

They ran to this place to fight? Well! Their target is Zheng Yanfu!