The two sentries were visibly shaken, and the expressions on their faces were very bright, if it had been a few days ago, when they were waiting for the officers and soldiers to attack with high morale, they would have heard that there were messengers of officers and soldiers to surrender, and they would definitely shoot an arrow without hesitation. But now it is different from the past, they have learned the power of the officers and soldiers, and found that it is not as easy as imagined to occupy the mountain as the king, and it is not as easy as imagined to do the way for the heavens, and they can't help but have all kinds of emotions in their hearts, although they are not ready to immediately abandon their weapons and surrender, but they cannot immediately drive away the messengers who say surrender.

After struggling in their hearts for a while, the two sentries sighed and put down the hunting bow in their hands, one of them stayed behind to continue the sentry, and the other took Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er and walked to the top of the mountain: "Okay, I'll take you to see Brother Zheng Yanfu, and you can talk to Big Brother yourself." ”

The sentry walked heavily, visibly distracted, and his steps were vain. Wang Er took the opportunity to pull Zhu Yuanzhang's sleeve and whispered in his ear: "Why do you say that we are the messengers of the officers and soldiers to surrender?" We're obviously here to help Zheng Yanfu. ”

"If you want to help Zheng Yanfu, you have to say this......" Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly and said: "The problem that Zheng Yanfu is facing now is not from the officers and soldiers outside, but from inside the cottage, what we have to do is to stimulate the problems within the rebel army, and then take advantage of the opportunity." ”

"I don't really understand!" Wang Er spread his hands.

Zhu Yuanzhang attached to Wang Er's ear and said in a low voice: "When I get to the cottage in a while, I want to pretend that I don't know Zheng Yanfu, so I will leave the matter of speaking to you for the time being, and you say ...... like this."

The three of them walked for a while, and only after a long time did they reach the top of the mountain, the simple cottage appeared in front of Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er, this cottage has about more than 100 houses, all of which are simple huts made of thatch, the cottage has only been built for a few months, and there is no time to build a large number of buildings, it is not bad to have such a scale, it seems that the silver that Zheng Yanfu snatched from the county warehouse played a certain role.

The cottage has not had time to build a wall, only a half-person-high bamboo fence is encircled around it, and the defensive effect is almost equal to nothing. However, there are plenty of stones on the mountain, and the top of the mountain road is full of stones of different sizes, which will make the officers and soldiers suffer a lot if they still want to storm the cottage.

Directly facing the mountain road, a small gate was opened in the bamboo fence, and two wooden arrow towers stood beside the door, which were also guarded by sentinels. The sentry who led the way for Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er stepped forward and said loudly: "The messenger of the officers and soldiers to persuade them to surrender is coming from the back mountain...... They want to see Brother Zheng Yanfu. ”

"What?" The sentry on the arrow tower on the left suddenly became excited, and the bow and arrows in his hand were suddenly full, and he said loudly: "You also bring this kind of person to the cottage?" Get rid of them! I will never surrender. ”

But the sentry on the arrow tower on the right immediately spoke: "Xiao Qi, what are you excited about?" You won't surrender, so you go down the mountain and kill all the officers and soldiers......"

"I ...... I can't win the officers and soldiers......" The sentry named Xiao Qi immediately coaxed.

"Then you roar!" The sentry on the arrow tower on the right said loudly: "It's one thing whether we surrender or not, and we won't drive people away, so let's listen to what they have to say." ”

Xiao Qi sighed and put away the hunting bow.

The bamboo fence door was opened, and the sentry halfway up the mountain no longer led the way, and handed over Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er to the sentry on the arrow tower to lead, and he himself returned to the halfway up the mountain to continue the sentry. Xiao Qi on the arrow tower on the left drooped his head and sat listlessly, but the sentry on the arrow tower on the right ran down, with a flattering smile on his face: "The two military masters want to see Brother Zheng Yanfu?" No problem, I'll take you there. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang's heart was bright, this sentry seemed to have the heart of surrender, so he had such a good attitude towards the "envoy sent by the officers and soldiers to persuade him to surrender", he lowered his voice and asked, "What do you call this hero?" ”

The sentry smiled: "My surname is Fu, and I was born on May 6, so my father and mother named me Fu Wuliu." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "If you surrender to the imperial court and make great contributions to the imperial court, in the future, the flying emperor will be prosperous, and these five or six names will not be available, so think of a better name for yourself." ”

Fu Wuliu said happily: "Well, we have already thought about it, if the Flying Emperor Tengda, I will change my name to Fu Zhi!" ”

"Hmmm! Well done! I'm waiting for you to make meritorious contributions to the court. Zhu Yuanzhang said in a tone, he had seen many people play official tones before, from small officials to big officials, from officials to emperors, it is not difficult to imitate what kind of tone, at this time, imitating the tone and attitude of the envoy to surrender, it turned out to be like a ten.

"Master Jun, what is your surname?" Fu Wuliu asked cautiously.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and said: "I am the hundred households of Shuigen Juntun in Xi'an Prefecture, Zhu Simin." Next to me is my subordinate, Wang Zongqi. ”

"It turned out to be Lord Baihu and Brother Zongqi." Fu Wuliu was in awe: "You went up the mountain to persuade you to surrender, why did you wear ordinary people's clothes, and you also blackened your face and wore a hat......"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and said: "I am a dignified official of a hundred households, and I am in the nest of thieves, if I am seen by an ignorant person, I will play a copy and say that I am fornicating with thieves, which is not beautiful, so I put on a little makeup." ”

Fu Wuliu didn't understand these official words, but he felt that what the person in front of him said was very remarkable, and he believed most of it in his heart, so he became more and more cautious, and took Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er to walk quickly in the cottage towards a big thatched hut in the middle of the village.

"Master Zhu...... Brother Zheng Yanfu doesn't seem to have the heart to surrender......" Fu Wuliu said cautiously: "Be careful when you talk to him, slow down...... If he insists on not surrendering, don't be angry, the little one will persuade him. ”

"You are just a gatekeeper and can persuade the boss of the cottage?" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a disdainful tone.

"I ...... More than just a sentinel! Fu Wuliu became proud: "I have more than 100 righteous brothers, who came to join Brother Zheng Yanfu, as long as I say that these brothers are moved, they are a big vote, and the eldest brother has to consider our opinions." ”

"Well, yes, I'll remember what you said." Zhu Yuanzhang responded casually.

While speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the situation in the cottage, and saw that there were many rogues running in the cottage, holding stones in their hands, and five rogues holding a big log.

The officers and soldiers under the mountain are still shouting loudly, "surrender and not kill," "surrender can get glory and wealth," and so on, and the huge roar echoes in the cottage, and these rogues who are hugging stones and sassalwood are also affected by the roars of the officers and soldiers......

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er, these people who were holding stones and carrying sassholes stopped to watch, and Fu Wuliu explained to them: "These two adults are envoys sent by the imperial court......

After such an introduction, a small number of people's faces shot a light of hatred, as if they wanted to rush up and cut Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er to pieces, but most of the people's faces had various emotions such as fear, joy, and worry.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed secretly in his heart: Since ancient times, what the peasant uprising is most afraid of is attacking the heart. Most of the people who rebelled and rebelled believed in their hearts that the imperial court was orthodox, and they knew that they were thieves, and they always had the idea of living a dishonorable life. Whenever this sentiment prevails, an insurrectionary army can easily disintegrate and divide. During the Peasant War at the end of the Ming Dynasty, many rebels were recruited by the government to surrender, and it was because of this emotion that they were at work. In fact, even the "Water Margin", which these farmers like to listen to the most, didn't Liang Shanbo in it also surrender to the government? These peasants are no wonder about this!

This is also the difference between the peasant war at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the peasant war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty!

In the peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the position of the rebels was much firmer than that of the peasant uprisings at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and few surrendered to the Yuan Zheng Axe, mainly because the rebels were controlled by the White Lotus Sect, and most people's minds were driven by religious fanaticism, which was not easy to shake in this case. Another reason is that the Yuan Zheng axe belonged to the foreign invaders for the vast number of Han people at that time, so the people were more resistant to such a court, and the uprising and rebellion were more determined.

These two advantages were not possessed by the peasant uprisings in the late Ming Dynasty. In the first ten years of the peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the rebels were in a state of wandering around, not daring to fight with the officers and soldiers, almost all the rebels had surrendered to the government, such as the famous Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and others have accepted the government's recruitment, comprehensive analysis of these details, the difficulty of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty was higher than that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

This is also the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang has never dared to act rashly, he must choose the most suitable time and the most suitable place to revolt, and he must not be as hasty as Zheng Yanfu.

He clearly felt that after he had passed, the rogues had gathered in twos and threes, discussing something in a low voice, apparently arguing about whether to surrender or not.

After walking for a while, the three of them finally walked to the big thatched hut in the center of the cottage, Fu Wuliu went in to report, and then asked Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er to go in by themselves, and he returned to the gate of the cottage to guard the arrow tower and go to the sentry.

Zhu Yuanzhang patted Wang Er on the shoulder and said in a low voice: "Remember what I just told you, after I go in, I will pretend not to know Zheng Yanfu for the time being, and you can talk to him according to the method I instructed." ”

"Good!" Wang Er nodded, he glanced at the surrounding rogues, lowered his head and said, "I am beginning to understand why you are pretending to be the envoy of the officers and soldiers to surrender, we can really exacerbate some problems when we enter the village in such an identity." From their attitude towards us, you can tell who is thinking what's going on in their hearts. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly and said, "That's right, the last thing we have to look at is Zheng Yanfu's attitude." If he himself wants to surrender, then there is no need for us to save him......"

"Alas, you're right!" Wang Erchang sighed: "It's really hard to be a hero. ”