As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang took people away, Xu Renjie immediately rushed out of his small fortress excitedly, followed by a group of family members, it turned out that when Zhu Yuanzhang left, he did not take away the improvised crude trebuchet, but casually threw it on the side of the road.

Xu Renjie took a few family members and ran towards the trebuchet at a speed like flying, shouting as he ran: "Hurry up...... Carry that thing back to the fort, hahaha, sir, I'm going to study it carefully. ”

Just like there were military fans in later generations, in fact, there were military fans in ancient times, Xu Renjie was a military fan type squire, this guy was just an ordinary rice merchant more than a year ago, but since he led the township army to defeat Chongguang Dao more than a year ago, and then lost to Zhu Yuanzhang, he became obsessed with commanding the army to fight.

There is a fundamental difference between the war he is obsessed with and the war that Wang Er is obsessed with, he likes to command, but Wang Er likes to take the lead and rush forward, which are two different types.

Over the past year or so, he has not only built his home into a military fortress, but also trained a large number of village warriors, read countless military books, studied the strategy of fighting, and also liked to read novels about war, such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was purchased by him with a lot of money, and he read it dozens of times, and his home also stored a lot of messy military books.

In fact, there are not many such people in ancient times, and there is a very famous representative, this person's name is Emperor Zhengde, he is a good emperor who doesn't like to do, he likes to be a general, he gave himself the rank of general, and he did everything possible to sneak out of the capital, and went to the battlefield to command the war, according to historical records, he also personally slashed and killed a Tartar soldier, which is a very strange military fan-type emperor.

Xu Renjie has the same thing as Emperor Zhengde, a good rice merchant doesn't like to do it, prefers to command the army, and even likes to carry all kinds of weapons, but unfortunately he is just a rice merchant, and he is not qualified to get authentic military weapons and siege equipment, so he can only look at the various weapons described in the war book and drool.

This kind of emotion is easy to understand, and there are still many otaku in later generations who want to get a real gun to play, and that kind of mood is similar to Xu Renjie.

When Zhu Yuanzhang pushed the trebuchet out, he was startled, but after the initial fright passed, his heart became fanatical, thinking: If only I could play with trebuchet.

In the end, Zhu Ba didn't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, he turned around and left, the trebuchet was not taken away, Xu Renjie was right to think about it, Zhu Ba's army carried a lot of looted silver and food, how could he take care of a vulgar trebuchet?

He was so ecstatic at this moment that he couldn't even care about the fact that he had just been robbed of a lot of food and money, and rushed to the trebuchet with a few of his servants, and ran towards the fort when he got up, shouting at the servants as he ran:

"I'll lift it carefully for my master, I'll screw your head off if I break it!"

"How do you put your hands? Don't lift that wooden beam, it'll break! Lift there...... It's sturdy there. ”

"Watch your step, don't fall, it's okay if you fall to death, don't break my trebuchet......"

After sweating profusely, Xu Renjie finally returned to the castle with his new toy, and was busy studying it, just like a child who had just gotten a new toy, but unfortunately, he didn't see a name after looking at it for a long time. As a last resort, he invited the old carpenter from the village, and after studying it carefully, the carpenter told him seriously: "Master...... This trebuchet is just a spectacle, and it doesn't have the most critical parts at all......"

"I know it's a good thing!" Xu Renjie snorted angrily: "Zhu Ba said, this is just for me to see!" If this thing really works, I don't dare to move it home, I don't want to live anymore if I have siege equipment? I want you to come here to make me a beautiful little trebuchet like this...... I'm going to put it in the middle of the bedroom, sir, and take a look at it before going to bed at night, and sleep soundly......"

When the old carpenter heard this, he was stunned for a long time......

Not to mention that Xu Renjie was tossing there, after Zhu Yuanzhang left with the soldiers, he walked around in Baishui and passed through countless villages.

Each village reacted differently when they saw him coming, the poor villagers bowed down to him, as if they saw a savior, while the rich villagers avoided him, as if they saw a plague god.

Zhu Yuanzhang was not surprised by their reaction.

After hundreds of years of wandering observations, he knew that no matter which dynasty or generation, once there was an uprising, rebellion or any mass incident, most of the people who jumped out to make trouble were poor, and few rich people were mixed in. Because the rich are the beneficiaries of the current regime, they will not jump up and push to the regime, but will only contribute to the stability of the existing regime.

All the rich people who went bankrupt to support the rebellion must have greater ambitions and want to get a better life, and it can never be anything for the people! I am for world peace! That's.

So Zhu Yuanzhang was not surprised by the reaction of the villagers, he just waved his hand casually, and asked the soldiers to bring the poor people who welcomed him into the ranks.

"Brother Zhu, those who ran away when they saw us obviously wanted to oppose us!" Ma Xiaotian couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to chase and kill them?" lest they become village warriors in the future, and come to war with us. ”

"No need!" Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even kill the squire, how could he kill the rich people, he just smiled faintly: "The later people join our team, the more they will regret it in the future, don't worry about them now, leave them some chance to regret." ”

"Regrets?" Ma Xiaotian was very puzzled.

"Oh my God!" Zhu Yuanzhang said earnestly: "Our army will definitely become stronger and stronger in the future, and all those who join our army can get huge benefits, but the benefits that everyone can get are different, the earlier they join, the more meritorious they make, and the more benefits they will get." And the later you join, the less merit you will make, and the less benefits you will receive. ”

"Oh, is that so?" Ma Xiaotian was overjoyed and said: "I was the first to follow Zhu Bugle, wouldn't I be able to get the most benefits?" ”

"Hahaha! That's right! Zhu Yuanzhang patted him heavily on the shoulder: "So...... Be careful not to die, or nothing good will happen to you. ”

After all the ten miles and eight towns went around, Zhu Yuanzhang took in about a thousand poor people, and these people became Zhu Yuanzhang's free labor, responsible for helping to carry the tax grain or tax silver he collected. And the New Ninth Team and the New Tenth Team, which were originally looked down upon by Zhu Yuanzhang's veterans, have become veterans for these new joiners. They proudly commanded these newly joined villagers to move here and there, as if they were masters.

Ma Xiaotian saw this scene in his eyes, and then he understood what Zhu Yuanzhang said just now, those who joined early were better than those who joined late. The so-called life opportunity is like this, one step to heaven first, and one step to hell later.

In addition to these villagers, Zhu Yuanzhang's team also visited several gentry and landlords in a row, some of them were businessmen, belonging to the low-tax class, and some were Xiucai, Juren, and Jinshi, these people belonged to the tax-free class.

Some people obediently handed over, and some people organized Jiading or Xiangyong to try to protect themselves like Xu Renjie, but in front of Zhu Yuanzhang's army, their Xiangyong army was not vulnerable at all.

But if it continues, there will be nothing to grab, because after robbing several families in a row, the news of Zhu Ba's return to Baishui has also spread, and many squires who have not yet been "visited" by Zhu Yuanzhang have fled into Baishui* County before he arrived, and they have fled into Baishui* County and cowered in the city wall.

And the people outside the city either joined Zhu Yuanzhang's team, or they were scattered around, and it was impossible to reap the benefits from them.

Zhu Yuanzhang no longer led people around, but assembled the team, reorganized the team, divided the soldiers and the villagers who carried the grain into two queues, and walked in the direction of Baishui* County one after the other.

At this time, it is evening, the sunset drags the tired body, is slowly returning to its home in the west, its back drags the shadow of the nearby hill for a long time, hanging down obliquely, Baishui is a city with many mountains and ravines, many ups and downs, so the light and shadow are mottled together, making people feel like falling into a dream.

Zhu Yuanzhang and his army, under the reflection of this dream-like light and shadow, appeared outside the county seat of Baishui*.

The county town does not have a very high city wall, and there is no strong city gate, although last year experienced a big turmoil, but the imperial court did not pay any attention, did not send a penny to repair the city, the city wall is still as high as last year, low and dilapidated. The city gate is the same as last year, just two thin wooden gates...... If you compare Xujiabao with this city wall, you will find that the defense of the county town is actually not as good as Xujiabao.

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang's army appeared under the city, a cry of surprise and shouts sounded in the city: "Oh my God! Here it comes! ”

"Baishui Zhuba is here......"

"Lord Prefectural Order...... Help ......"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at it with great eyes, and saw that there were many heads on the city wall looking out, all eyes were on his army, these heads were men, women, old people, children, scholars, merchants, soldiers, and village warriors...... They all fled into the city from ten miles and eight towns, and they were all people who were unwilling to join Zhu Yuanzhang's cottage.

After the news of Xu Renjie's defeat spread, the county seat was their only hope, and they had been praying in the city for a whole day, hoping that Baishui Zhuba would not run down to the city, but unfortunately, it backfired, that bold Baishui Zhuba really dared to lead the army to the foot of the county seat!