Those things in the morning

  In the 12th year of Zhizheng (AD 1352), Huozhou City.

  The guardian of the city, Guo Zixing, was deeply pondering a countermeasure in his marshal's mansion. The city of Haozhou had been besieged by the Yuan army for a long time and could not hold out for much longer.

  At this moment, the soldiers under his command came to report that they had captured a spy and asked for the commander's flag to execute him. If it were in the past, Guo Zixing would not have intervened and let the soldiers take the commander's flag to kill him directly. But today, he opened his mouth and asked: "How do you know that person is a spy?" The soldier replied: "This man said he came to join the army, but now the Yuan army has surrounded us, where can anyone come to join the army? He must be a Yuan army spy."

  Kuo Tzu-hsing almost burst out laughing. Desert to the enemy? The Mongol army was about to break into the city, and yet there were still people coming to desert - this excuse was really not very clever. He couldn't help but feel curious, and wanted to go take a look at this spy.

  Then he rode his horse to the city gate and saw a man with a strange appearance. In today's words, this person's face was "di bao tian" (a Chinese idiom meaning someone with a prominent forehead and chin), with a protruding chin, and even more strangely, his forehead also protruded forward, roughly resembling the shape of a crescent-shaped shovel, convex on both ends and concave in the middle (refer to Comrade Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait).

  This person is none other than our Zhu Di.

  Guo Zixing walked up to Zhu Chongba and had the ropes untied, asking him: "Are you a spy? What brings you here?"

  Zhu Chongba calmly replied: "I am not a spy, I have come to surrender."

  Guo Zixing burst out laughing: "What time is it now? Someone still comes to join the army. You don't need to make excuses, wait a moment and I'll have you taken out and beheaded!"

  Zhu Chongba just responded with a single word: Oh!

  Guo Zixing looked into Zhu Chongba's eyes, hoping to see panic, which was one of his usual pleasures.

  But in this person's eyes, he saw only calmness.

  Guo Zixing no longer dared to underestimate this man, it was clear that he was not someone who could be intimidated. So he seriously asked Zhu Chongba's name and background, and when Zhu Chongba said he was sent by Commander-in-Chief Tang, Guo Zixing finally understood that this person had indeed come to join the army.

  Zhu Chongba made a deep impression on him, so he did not assign Zhu Chongba to Tang He's troops, but instead placed him by his side as his personal bodyguard.

  In the army, Zhu Di quickly demonstrated his talent, standing out from other peasant soldiers. He was not only brave in battle but also had a good strategy, handled matters calmly and thought deeply (note this characteristic), and was very righteous, being the first to face danger. All of this gave him high prestige. With the help of his fellow villager Tang He, two months after becoming a soldier, he was promoted to Jiurenzhang, which was his first official position.

  As the commander of Guo Zixing's personal guards, Zhu Chongba was very competent. Unlike other soldiers, he never coveted wealth and every time he obtained spoils of war, he would present them to Guo Zixing. If he received rewards, he would distribute them among his soldiers. Due to his natural talent, he had taught himself some characters and could analyze problems accurately. As a result, Guo Zixing gradually regarded him as his own advisor, and Zhu Chongba's position in the army became increasingly important.

  At this time, Zhu Chongba changed his name to Zhu Yuanzhang. The character "Zhuang" is a sharp jade instrument. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was the same as Zhu Yuanzhang, who compared himself to the instrument of extermination of the Yuan Dynasty, and this instrument was forged by the ruler of the Yuan Dynasty itself. For the next twenty years, they would all fear this name.

  Soup and

  In the army, Tang He was a peculiar person. When Zhu Yuanzhang first joined the army, he was already a thousand households, but he showed great respect to Zhu Yuanzhang. In the military camp, people could see a strange phenomenon: Tang He, who held a much higher official position, always walked behind soldier Zhu Yuanzhang, and seemed completely indifferent to the gaze of others. Even more strangely, Zhu Yuanzhang appeared to think this was perfectly normal and never declined.

  We can't help but admire Tang He's foresight, he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was not a mediocre person, in today's words, he was very practical. It is believed that this advantage also allowed him to survive the turbulent times later on.

  In the army, Zhu Yuanzhang married his wife. Compared with many concubines later on, this wife can be considered one of the key factors in Zhu Yuanzhang's success. This girl was the adopted daughter of Guo Zixing, her father's surname was Ma, and he was a friend of Guo Zixing. After his death, he entrusted the girl to Guo Zixing. The girl's name is unknown, and people in the army called her Sister Ma. Thus, Zhu Yuanzhang became the marshal's son-in-law, and Guo Zixing gained an assistant.

  We can imagine Zhu Yuanzhang's joyful mood, he finally had a home of his own, no longer the unmanaged and unasked Zhu Chongba, when he was hungry, someone cooked for him to eat, when he was cold, someone sent clothes to him, the feeling of having a home was great. This feeling accompanied him for many years.

  The Legend of Miyue: Zhu Yuanzhang Chapter 4

  Chapter word count: 3494 Updated time: July 2nd, 2022 15:43

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang had already been promoted to the position of General Manager in the army, which was roughly equivalent to the director of the rebel army's office. He did a good job and was principled towards those who liked to take advantage of public funds and make false reimbursements. Because he was strict with himself, nobody had anything to say about him. If things went on like this, he might become an excellent financial manager. However, heaven didn't let him live comfortably for long, and soon he would face even greater troubles.

  The main issue is Guo Zixing's composition problem, he is not a peasant but a landlord (can't understand why he would rebel), at that time in Bozhou, the commander-in-chief besides Guo Zixing was four people, led by Sun Derui, and these four people were all peasants, there was a deep contradiction between them and Guo Zixing.

  Soon, the contradictions erupted. One day, Guo Zixing was strolling in the city of Bozhou when he was suddenly kidnapped by a group of unknown people. These people seemed to have no interest in demanding ransom or anything else, and they beat Guo Zixing to death before locking him up. When Zhu Yuanzhang received the news, he was shocked and immediately rushed to Sun Derang's house to demand his release. At first, Sun Derang pretended to be ignorant, feigning surprise and offering to go out and look for Guo Zixing, while also saying some words about not sharing the same sky with the kidnappers, fully displaying the acting skills of an amateur actor.

  Zhu Yuanzhang only brought the soldiers who participated in the beating to Sun Derang's face, and told Sun, "Your corrupt accounts of embezzlement and false reimbursement are all here with me, deal with it yourself."

  Then Zhu Yuanzhang rescued Guo Zixing, who had been beaten half to death, from the cellar of Sun's house. This incident made Zhu Yuanzhang realize that following these people would not lead to a bright future.

  But Guo Zixing also became more and more disgusted with Zhu Yuanzhang, the reason is very simple, Zhu Yuanzhang was stronger than him. For a commander like Guo Zixing who had a violent temper and couldn't tolerate others, he couldn't bear to have someone who might replace his position by his side. One day, he put Zhu Yuanzhang in prison. Adding insult to injury has always been the fine tradition of some people, and Guo Zixing's son was one of them. He ordered the guards not to give Zhu Yuanzhang food, wanting to starve him to death. The kind-hearted Ma Niangzi, in order to save Zhu Yuanzhang, hid freshly baked pancakes in her bosom and gave them to him to eat when she visited him in prison. Every time, her chest would be scalded, but every time she sent food.

  With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?

  Guo Zixing still didn't want to kill Zhu Yuanzhang, so he let him go. After this incident, Zhu Yuanzhang finally made up his mind and broke with these short-sighted people. He applied to Guo Zixing to lead troops on a campaign, and Guo Zixing happily agreed.

  This is the beginning of Zhu Yuanzhang's dominance, once started, it will not stop.

  Let's start from here

  Zhu Yuanzhang led the troops to attack Guo Zixing's hometown, Dingyuan. From this point, it can be seen that his father-in-law was indeed ill-intentioned. At that time, Dingyuan had a large number of soldiers guarding it, and it is estimated that Guo Zixing let him go just because he didn't want to see Zhu Yuanzhang alive again. But Zhu Yuanzhang was Zhu Yuanzhang after all. He found a gap in the Yuan army's defense and captured Dingyuan before withdrawing before the Yuan army could reinforce. After that, he continuously attacked Huaiyuan, Anfeng, Hanshan, and Hongxian, winning four battles in a row, and his momentum was unstoppable!

  After gathering (or possibly drafting) able-bodied men, Zhu Yuanzhang arrived at Zhongli (now east of Fengyang in Anhui), which was his hometown. There he met twenty-four people who had come to join Zhu's forces.

  Zhu Yuanzhang's twenty-four recruits were of exceptionally high quality, including Zhou Dexing who had once calculated his fortune and Xu Da, the number one general in the land.

  These people also had relatives, and soon his troops (directly under him) numbered seven hundred.

  When Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Haozhou again, he had completely understood his own future, so he resigned from Guo Zixing. Guo Zixing was very happy that this annoying person could finally leave far away.

  Zhu Yuanzhang did something unexpected before he set off. He selected 24 people from his own 700 men and gave the rest to Guo Zixing, who was somewhat surprised but still happily accepted them.

  Zhu Yuanzhang's action can be defined as a selection of civil servants, with a ratio of thirty to one, without written examination, and the examiner was Zhu Yuanzhang himself.

  He chose very accurately. Look at the names of these people, Xu Da, Tang He, Zhou Dexing, and all twenty-four of them later became high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty.

  At that time, Huang Chao stood in front of the gate of Chang'an after failing the imperial examination, and with a sigh, he wrote a famous poem:

  Ode to Chrysanthemum

  When autumn arrives on September 8th, my flower blooms and a hundred flowers wither.

  The fragrance of flowers wafts through Chang'an, the entire city is dressed in golden armor.

  Years later, he led an army of over 100,000 men and conquered Chang'an.

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang stood in front of the city gate of Bozhou, looking at the twenty-four people behind him. He knew that if he took this step, he would either fight alone and die, or create a new empire.

  He looked up at the sky, still as gloomy as ever. Making this decision at this time seemed inauspicious, and he couldn't help but think of that unfortunate divination again.

  When parents passed away, when doing hard labor in the temple, when crying painfully at night looking up at the sky, it was also this kind of sky.

  Nothing has changed, it's just me who has changed.

  When all flowers bloom I don't, but when I bloom everything is scared to death.

  To fight against the western wind, I put on a suit of golden armor all over my body.

  No one can stop me, let's start from here!

  Let's go!

  Zhu Yuanzhang's first pot of gold

  Zhu Yuanzhang arrived in Dingyuan again, and for him, Lazhuding was already a familiar place. He quickly organized an army of over a thousand people. He heard that there was a three-thousand-strong army at Zhangjiabao near Dingyuan, which was now isolated and helpless, needing to find a new boss. So Zhu Yuanzhang caught the attention of this army.

  He personally came to Zhangjiabao, took a look at the leader of the village, and was overjoyed; "It's you!"

  The village chief knew him and had dealt with him before, and the village chief called him "Master Zhu".

  When two people meet naturally, they usually chat and talk about their relationships. Who do you know? Do I know them or not? Oh, who are you talking about? We know each other, or we're even brothers! And then there's Zhang San passing away, Li Si falling ill, etc. The more they talk, the better their feelings become, so they eat together.

  At the dinner table, Zhu Yuanzhang finally spoke out his intention. Since you currently have no master, why not follow me and mix together? In the future, when we make a name for ourselves, you will have your share of the profits. The mountain stronghold owner was indeed a pragmatic person and immediately agreed.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed, but he forgot the Chinese custom that what is said at the dinner table can only be believed half of the time, and sometimes not even that much.

  Zhu Yuanzhang later thought: It's better to sign a contract anyway.

  Three days later, Zhu Yuanzhang's envoy arrived at the camp and was warmly received by the leader.

  Come on, sit down quickly, don't be polite. What brings you here this time? Let's go together, we still need to consider this.

  What? I've already agreed?

  When was it? Three days ago? I don't think so. (looking back) Think about it, did we have it at that time? Right, no, we didn't.

  Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! What you said we will definitely consider carefully, don't let Zhu Gongzi worry.

  What's wrong, you want to leave? Don't go, sit for a while. Oh, if you have something urgent, I won't keep you. Go back and give my regards to Master Zhu. Come visit when you're free!

  Thus, Zhu Yuanzhang was thoroughly deceived once again.

  But Zhu Yuanzhang was not an easy person to bully, he let his men invite the bandit leader to dinner, specifically instructing them to prepare a famous dish that had been prepared for a long time. The bandit leader heard that there was a banquet and came quickly, as soon as he arrived at the camp, Zhu Yuanzhang tied him up, the meal was not eaten, but instead became a prisoner himself. Then Zhu Yuanzhang issued an order in the name of the bandit leader to have the people in the mountain stronghold relocate, and thus three thousand people became Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates.

  The next target was Hengshan Mountain, where there were 20,000 troops. However, this was not a force that could be persuaded to surrender. The commander of the army was named Mu Da-heng (the name itself reveals his identity). He had previously followed the Yuan army in attacking Huizhou, hoping to take advantage of the situation and plunder it, but they were unable to capture it. As a result, he led his troops to defend this place. Zhu Yuanzhang led 4,000 men to launch an attack on him.

  This was Zhu Yuanzhang's first battle in which he led a smaller force against a larger one.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was very clever to avoid the daytime and chose to launch a night attack on this armed force at night. A rustic like Miao Daoheng was naturally no match for him, and he surrendered without much resistance. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang's troops became 20,000 men.

  Zhu Yuanzhang reorganized the troops, unexpectedly, he did not say some words like "shared life and death" or "shared fortune", but instead criticized these surrendered soldiers, letting them reflect on why such a large army had no fighting power and easily surrendered. Then he drew the conclusion that this was because of lack of discipline and training, to achieve success, one must strengthen training and establish strict discipline.

  These words are reasonable and well-organized, everyone who heard them was convinced.

  It was after this that Zhu Yuanzhang's troops had an essential difference with those mobs of peasant uprising armies, and in his hands, there was a crack troop.

  At this time, two brothers from Dingyuan came to Zhu Yuanzhang, one named Feng Guoyong and the other named Feng Guosheng. Zhu Yuanzhang thought that both of them were talented people, so he kept them. This Feng Guosheng was later the Feng Sheng who shook the world and swept away the Mongols.

  In the thirteenth year of Zhizheng (AD 1353), Zhu Yuanzhang decided to attack Chuzhou, and at this time, a man walked into his military camp.

  This was a middle-aged man dressed in bookish attire, with a gentle and elegant appearance. Zhu Yuanzhang initially didn't pay much attention to him, but seeing that he wrote well, he let him serve as a scribe. The man also didn't mind, continuing to do his job diligently. One day, while roasting by the fire in his tent, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be muttering to himself: "Fighting every day and everywhere, when will it ever end?"

  "This man replied calmly: During the chaos of the Qin Dynasty, Han Gaozu Liu Bang was also a commoner. He was magnanimous and wise in his appointments, and it only took him five years to establish his imperial career. Now that the world is no longer the same as before, General, your household is in Haizhou (public Haizhou), not far from Liu Bang's hometown. Even if there is no royal aura, you can still get a glimpse of it."

  As long as the general can learn from Liu Bang and follow his actions, the world will certainly be yours!

  Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the scholar in front of him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. Yes, this was indeed his own direction, Liu Bang had achieved it, why couldn't he? He straightened up his posture and bowed to the man in front of him.

  This man is Li Shan-chang, the first meritorious minister of the founding dynasty.

  The Legend of Zhu Yuanzhang Chapter 5

  Chapter word count: 2389 Updated time: July 2nd, 2022 15:43

  Chuzhou is a place of strategic importance, and Song Dynasty's Ouyang Xiu once commented that "all around Chuzhou are mountains", which shows that it is indeed a crucial location that is easy to defend but hard to attack.

  But the defenders of Chuzhou were far from being as formidable as the terrain, at the beginning of the war, Zhu Yuanzhang's brave general Hua Yun led more than a thousand cavalrymen to break through the enemy's position with a central breakthrough tactic, the Yuan army was defeated, and Zhu Yuanzhang led the whole army to capture Chuzhou in one fell swoop.

  After occupying Chuzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang welcomed three important people: his nephew Zhu Wen Zheng, brother-in-law Li Zhen and nephew Li Wen Zhong. Please remember these names, they will all be the main characters in that earth-shaking war later on.

  It seems that Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a place with many talents, the strategists and generals he recruited are not inferior to those of any era, how many talents there were in Anhui!

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang had elite soldiers and strong generals, with strategists as numerous as clouds. He occupied Chuzhou, a strategic location that was advantageous for both advancing and retreating. His vision was no longer limited to the small city of Bozhou or even Chuzhou, but the entire world.

  He was twenty-six years old this year.

  The last hurdle

  Zhu Yuanzhang's smooth sailing seemed to bring no good luck to his father-in-law, Guo Zixing was being criticized severely at this time, in today's words it can be said that he was being struggled against, every meeting would criticize one person with four people, Sun Derang had thought of taking action several times, but thinking that Zhu Yuanzhang was not far away, it was really not good to do so, therefore he squeezed Guo Zixing out of the city of Haozhou and let him step down, to find his own way.

  At this time, Guo Zixing finally understood the difficulties of life. He had no choice but to go to his son-in-law Zhu Yuanzhang for help. But thinking about how he had treated him before, would he still treat himself kindly?

  Upon arriving in Chuzhou, his concerns were dispelled. Not only did Zhu Yuanzhang not hold past grudges against him, but he also yielded the position of commander to him. What was even more astonishing was that Zhu Yuanzhang made a decision that no one could have anticipated.

  He decided to hand over the command of his 30,000 elite soldiers to Guo Zixing. The position of commander was nothing but a mere formality, but handing over military power was astonishing. Guo Zixing was overwhelmed with emotions. In fact, he had never trusted this son-in-law and even considered harming him. He once asked Zhu Yuanzhang why he was being treated this way. Zhu Yuanzhang sincerely replied, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am today. I cannot forget your kindness."

  Guo Zixing finally understood that he was wrong and Zhu Yuanzhang was right.

  When they learned of this news, the people who had originally tried to kill Zhu Yuanzhang also admired him greatly, including Guo Zixing's son Guo Tianxu.

  A person's strength is never shown by violence; those who challenge this principle will inevitably be eliminated from the ranks of the strong by history, as has always been the case.

  Guo Zixing brought his tens of thousands of men, and the grain in Chuzhou was not enough to eat. Zhu Yuanzhang attacked Hezhou, after taking it down, he lived there, and let Guo Zixing have Chuzhou.

  At this time, Sun Dezhai in the city of Hezhou had many soldiers but little food, and he forcibly demanded to go to Hezhou to mix rice for eating. Zhu Yuanzhang was worried about this, but at this moment, he received another message that Guo Zixing knew Sun Dezhai came, also brought several tens of thousands of people, wanting to fight against Sun Dezhai. So the small Hezhou suddenly squeezed in over a million people, and two enemies happened to meet, so they fought.

  But can't fight, why?

  Because there were too many people, Hezhou was just a small county town. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of people came, and the city inside and outside was flooded, just like our Golden Week tourist destinations today. Not to mention fighting, it's hard to even turn around.

  If we can't fight, then let's talk!

  It seems that Sun Dezhai is still reasonable, he said that after all, he is an outsider, and it's better for him to leave. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately went to see him off. At this time, Sun Dezhai was in the city, his soldiers were outside the city accompanied by Zhu Yuanzhang, but no one expected that there was still someone who was secretly plotting.

  This is Guo Zixing, who doesn't care about reason. He only remembers that Sun Delu has humiliated him many times and no longer cares about loyalty. Seeing that there are no soldiers beside Sun Delu in the city, he orders his men to capture Sun Delu, which puts Zhu Yuanzhang in danger outside the city.

  Sun Dezhai's soldiers heard that their commander had been captured, and they were convinced it was Zhu Yuanzhang's doing. Meanwhile, Zhu Yuanzhang also received the news, and the situation became extremely tense. Seeing things weren't going well for him, Zhu quickly turned his horse around to leave, but the soldiers were prepared and threw an iron chain over his head: "Come down, you!" Sun Dezhai's soldiers captured Zhu Yuanzhang and went to negotiate with Guo Zixing.

  Guo Zixing was drinking and appreciating Sun Deliang's expression when the news came that Zhu Yuanzhang had been captured, he suddenly became dizzy. Sun Deliang didn't want to let him go, but Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't be missing either, so he decided to release him.

  But who should be released first became a problem. At this time, Xu Da stepped forward and was willing to exchange himself for Zhu Yuanzhang. After Zhu Yuanzhang returned, he would release Sun Derang, and after Sun Derang returned, he would release Xu Da. This had simply become a tongue twister, what a bother!

  Finally solved the problem, but Guo Zixing's enemy ran away just as he was about to catch him. He couldn't swallow this breath and got heart disease, and actually died after a month. It can be seen that people with narrow hearts really can't do great things.

  But this was not bad news for Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been benevolent and righteous to the end. Now he could finally let go and do what he truly wanted, as his true career was waiting for him.

  Hebei is too small

  Zhu Yuanzhang keenly felt this point, that there could be no great development in this small county town, and his eyes turned to Jiankang (Nanjing).

  Superstition was a common problem for people in feudal times. To want to dominate the world, one must occupy the land of royal energy, and Nanjing is just such a place. The Purple Gold Mountain stretches across the north and south, resembling a giant dragon lurking beneath, while the Stone Mountain overlooks the river with steep cliffs, like a tiger crouching. This is the origin of Nanjing's "Dragon and Tiger" reputation. Moreover, in front of Nanjing, there is also the Yangtze River. Emperors and we ordinary people are the same - when buying a house, we all look at the feng shui. Nanjing has its back to the mountain and faces the water, with really excellent feng shui. Before the Ming dynasty, six dynasties had already established their capitals here. By the time of the Yuan dynasty, this place was called Jiqing Road. Not only is the terrain dangerous, but it's also very rich.

  The surrounding area is not only an important grain-producing region but also serves as a commercial center. Most importantly, it has the advantage of having a canal, which was extremely important in the era when traveling from Beijing to Nanjing took several months by land.

  Feng Guosheng (also known as Feng Sheng) was not only brave in battle, but also had great foresight. He suggested to Zhu Yuanzhang that they should immediately cross the Yangtze River and occupy Jiqing. This suggestion deeply moved Zhu Yuanzhang, who made up his mind to occupy Jiqing!

  But the ship, Zhu Yuanzhang's troops were either cavalry or infantry, only lacking a navy, he was anxious to no end, and one person's arrival brought him a solution.

  His name is Yu Tonghai, Ming history says he was the head of the water army, but in fact this person was a pirate who robbed along the river, often doing similar things to "arriving at the river and asking if you want to eat board knife noodles or wontons".

  But to Zhu Yuanzhang, he was an important figure, killing a few people and robbing some money didn't matter, as long as he was useful.

  He then gathered thousands of warships to attack Caishi first, then break Taiping, and finally reached the final destination, Jiqing.

  These so-called thousands of warships were actually just small fishing boats, and Zhu Yuanzhang's major military weakness - the navy - also became a main factor in constraining his later military operations.