Zhu Yuanzhang walked a little way with vain steps, walked out of the middle of a large pile of dilapidated earthen houses and grass houses, and came to the most important place in the side courtyard - the dining room.

All the long-term and short-term workers in the Ma family who can't fill their stomachs are directly calculated by food, and those who work more have two more nests and one more bowl of gruel, and those who work less have two less nests and one less bowl of gruel. Therefore, those who have great strength eat more, those who work diligently also eat more, and those who have little strength and are lazy have nothing to eat.

Zhu Ba is undoubtedly the kind with little strength, he can't plow the land, can't plow the field, can't chop firewood, and finally can only choose the most idle cattle herding work, so he earns the least food, often hungry, unsustainable.

Zhu Yuanzhang is a diligent person, after he ascended the throne and became emperor, he can be called a model worker, and the official duties he handles every day are at least comparable to the workload of dozens of people.

Walking to the door of the dining room, he smelled the smell of gruel and wowotou. Sure enough, these two things are again, you can't eat enough, you can't starve to death, this is the treatment that the Ma family gives them, don't be angry, if you don't want to do it, then you don't even have to eat this little thing. In the past two years, the world has begun to have a great drought, and there are thousands of miles of red land everywhere, and it is already good to be able to get this bit of food in the Ma family, and some people who can't get into the Ma family live even more miserable than them.

He had just walked to the door of the dining room when he suddenly heard a cold voice and said in a strange tone: "Zhu Ba, do you know how to come back from this slack job?" I thought you had escaped with that big scalper. ”

This is the voice of Qi in charge, Zhu Yuanzhang looked over the way the voice came, and saw a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing an ugly black cloth robe standing in the corner, this man looked uglier than the robe, his facial features were squeezed together, his eyebrows were crooked, and he was not a good person at first glance.

Zhu Yuanzhang has already learned to restrain his momentum, he doesn't want to offend Steward Qi at this time, because his body is very weak and he has no power in his hands, he is in a weak position at this time, if he shouts at Steward Qi, it will only be bad for himself, not good. In his previous life, a large reason why he was able to build a large empire from scratch was that he was good at judging the situation. Don't provoke the enemy you can't provoke for the time being, and wait until you have the strength to take revenge.

Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his head and said: "Steward Qi, I accidentally broke my head and fainted when I was grazing cattle on the mountain, and it was late when I woke up, so I came back a little late...... You see that there are blood clots on my hair, so it's not like I'm slacking off. ”

Steward Qi looked at the blood clot on his head, and snorted coldly: "Sure enough, I broke my head, so I won't treat you as a thief who steals cattle, but you didn't bring the cattle back on time, and the progress of plowing the land in the afternoon was also slowed down. These losses will be deducted from your wages, so tonight's dinner is not your share, get out. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, angry in his heart, but the ups and downs of the previous life made him not easily impulsive, he didn't eat a meal, and he might be able to get by, but if he offended the Qi manager, he couldn't live in this place. He can't leave this home now, because no one knows better than him that the next drought will get worse every year, and more people will starve to death every day, which will eventually become one of the straws that will crush the empire.

With his current weak body, he can't do anything after leaving this home, he will only starve to death on the streets, at least he must think of a good body here, think of making some money, and then go out to break into the world.

He believes that with his own ability, he can definitely improve his life, and in the home of such a wealthy and large landowner, there must be a lot of right and wrong, and it won't take long for him to wait for an opportunity to change his status.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't argue, but said seriously in a calm voice: "Qi Guan, I came back late today, it was indeed my mistake, I didn't do a good job, and there shouldn't be any excuses." But I'm really hungry, and I broke my head today because of hunger, and if you don't let me eat this meal, I won't be able to survive tonight, and even if I survive tonight, I won't have the strength to work again tomorrow. My death is only a trivial matter, but because of my death, it has left a reputation for treating people harshly to the subordinates, and it is not very good to spread to Master Ma......"

"Huh?" Steward Qi was stunned, he was not surprised by what Zhu Ba said, but because he dared to speak. Why did this honest, low-key fool coward suddenly seem to be a different person today, and he dared to talk about conditions at length in front of me?

He narrowed a pair of small eyes and looked at Zhu Balai in front of him seriously, only to see that he was still the same old picture, with empty feet, skinny and broken clothes...... But today, there was a little more spirit in his eyes that he usually didn't see, this look, it was a bit like the old man's mouth said that the fool opened his mind, couldn't it be caused by the fall on his head?

However, even if he is a fool and opens his mind, he is still a useless long-term worker, and Steward Qi snorted coldly: "You still have a set of reasons? Because I'm afraid that you will starve to death, I will have to give you food, where do you tell this truth? If every long-term and short-term worker, I don't care if they work well or not, I will give them food, and Master Ma will really look down on me. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Steward Qi, you are right, the work is not done well, you shouldn't take food, I agree with you at this point, but it is also human nature to help me in emergencies, you help me this time, let me have a meal tonight, and tomorrow I will make up for all the work I have done for a long time today...... How many fields do the big cattle owe this afternoon that have not been plowed, and I will be responsible for plowing them all. ”

"Huh?" Steward Qi sighed slightly, this kid ...... It's really a spiritual wisdom, listen to him speak, speak clearly, methodically, first agree with what I said, reveal that he doesn't want to offend me, and then add his own conditions, so that I don't feel abrupt when I hear this condition, just this one, other stupid long-term workers can't compare to him.

You must know that the mountain village husbands in these years are all uneducated old and coarse, they speak straightforwardly, and they often offend people as soon as they open their mouths. Steward Qi himself couldn't grasp the art of speaking to this extent, so as soon as he heard Zhu Ba's words, he suddenly felt a move in his heart: This guy is really smart, I have worked in the Ma family's side courtyard for fifteen years, and I have never encountered such a talkative long-term worker, this guy may be able to be of some use in the future.

Since it is useful, it is obviously not cost-effective to starve to death! Steward Qi turned to the side, let open the door of the dining room, and let Zhu Ba walk in, and then he yelled at the cooking lady by the stove: "Give him food!" ”

The cooking lady raised her head and asked, "Is it still the same as before, a bowl of porridge and a nest?" ”

Steward Qi shook his head and said, "Give him two bowls of porridge and two nest heads, let him eat more today, I see that his head is broken and bleeding, take care of him, give him some food...... I am a very benevolent man to my subordinates......"

"Xie Qi takes care of it." Zhu Yuanzhang didn't hurriedly remember to get the food, but first hugged his fist at Steward Qi before turning around and walking towards the mother-in-law who was cooking.

Hey, kid is really good, if you go to grab the food first, instead of thanking me first, then I have to re-study the attitude towards you, there are many smart people in this world, but not every smart person can be used by me. Only smart people who know how to advance and retreat, who know how to draft water and do not forget to dig wells, can be created, Qi Guan waved his hand with satisfaction, turned around and walked out of the dining room.

Zhu Yuanzhang took two bowls of porridge and two nests, and slowly sat down at the table. He didn't reach out and grab the food and stuff it in his mouth like other hungry people, because that would do him no good.

He knew very well that the more hungry he was, the more he had to eat slowly and slowly, otherwise a mouthful of nests and heads stuck in his throat might kill people, or he would vomit out too quickly, and it would be a waste of hard-won food.

He slowly pulled the head of the nest away, tore off a piece the size of his finger, dipped some porridge, slowly put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, and slowly swallowed the porridge and the head of the nest into his stomach one by one.

He was not the only one in the dining room, there were several long-term and short-term workers sitting in the corner, and a few people looked at him sideways, seeing his slow way of eating, a long-term worker really couldn't stand it, and couldn't help but say: "Isn't this guy so hungry that he doesn't even have the strength to eat?" Why do you eat so slowly? ”

"Stupid one! Tomorrow he will not only herd the cattle, but also make up for the land that the oxen have not ploughed today, so he must not die of exhaustion? ”

"Strange! He actually reasoned with Qi Guan Shi, is that a person who can be reasonable? Not only did he make sense, but he also asked Steward Qi to add food to him, what kind of truth is this? ”

"Shhhh Bad things about the stewards, you don't want to do it here......"

Everyone talked about it, but Zhu Yuanzhang turned a deaf ear and just slowly ate his own food.

At this time, a heroic voice suddenly came from the corner of the wall, shouting loudly: "During the time of eating, there are always rats chattering crookedly in the ears, wordy, are you annoying?" Shut up all of them. This roar was so loud that the huge sound shook the window paper as if it were buzzing, all the noise was suppressed, the dining room became quiet, and the few long-term and short-term workers who were talking in a low voice just now closed their mouths together, and they didn't dare to take another breath of the atmosphere. Although it was quiet, the sound of the loud roar just now was still faintly echoing in my ears for several seconds......

What a momentum! It's a punching material. Zhu Yuanzhang praised him in his heart, but the expression on his face did not change. He looked for the way the voice came from, and saw that in the corner of the dining room, there sat a large man with a dark complexion, his figure was very burly, his hands and feet were long, he was very powerful at first glance, and his face was full of fierceness.

There is this person in Zhu Ba's memory bank, this person's name is Wang Er, and he is also a long-term worker of the Ma family, his surname is bold and impulsive, he loves to fight unevenly, he is a good man, his job in the Ma family is to chop wood, and he also works as a bodyguard and a nurse, usually no one dares to offend him, even if he is in charge, he has to be afraid of him for three points.

But when Zhu Yuanzhang saw this person, his heart was shocked, it turned out that there was also this person in his memory vault, but the person he knew was completely different from what Zhu Ba knew.

This person also has a famous title in history - the second king of white water.

It was this person who started the great peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty......

(Note: On November 17 of the first year of Chongzhen, the two kings of Baishui County raised the banner of righteousness and gathered to attack the filial piety of Pucheng and Zichuan Town of Hancheng.) Then, Jiayin, the king of Fugu, and Zuo, the king of Yichuan, rose together, attacked the castle, and killed the officials. Ansai Gao Yingxiang, Hannan Wang Daliang, regathered the crowd to respond, Yingxiang claimed to be the king of Chuang, and Daliang called himself the king of Daliang. This opened the prelude to the great peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty. ）