Thirty-nine, I have made a mistake

  The sky was getting brighter and brighter, once the daylight was fully lit, the team would set off, at that time Zhu Yuanzhang had to follow the team together, he would lose the opportunity to slip out of the team, secretly carrying Zheng Yanfu to offer to the government.

  The time he can give himself is getting less and less, with each breath, the time he has to think about it gets shorter. He needs a reason to convince himself, this reason must make him willing to give up the benefits that are already available to him.

  He began to consider what reward he was most likely to get if he handed Zheng Yanfu over to the authorities.

  At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Red Turban Army rebelled, and heroes such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Youliang, and Zhang Shicheng rose up together. However, what's interesting is that during the early stages of the Red Turban Army's rebellion, their main enemies were not the Yuan government, but rather local landlords and militarized forces who had spontaneously organized themselves. Even in the midst of the Red Turban Army's long-distance battles, they rarely encountered enemy forces from the Yuan government; most of their opponents came from local landlord classes who had organized their own village defense teams, household troops, and protective armies.

  These landlord generals made great contributions in the battles against the Red Turbans, and the Yuan court recognized these self-organized armies and gave them corresponding official positions and titles. For example, Li Sizhi, Zhang Si Dao, Zhang Liangchen and others were originally ordinary people who became officials after being promoted for their achievements in suppressing bandits.

  If Zhu Yuanzhang betrayed Zheng Yanfu and handed him over to the authorities, considering his own merits and current status, the highest possible reward he could get would be to be promoted to a small official in a county town, such as a county lieutenant, chief clerk or historian. Of course, this is just the most ideal possibility, it's also possible that he only got a few ingots of silver as a reward.

  Even in the most ideal situation, being promoted to a county lieutenant would not enable him to stand out and save the Ming dynasty from its predicament. The answer is clearly impossible! To do something in the Ming dynasty, one must have an extremely high official position, he needs to have a higher identity, but the officialdom is not so simple that it can be promoted by making contributions, it also needs to accumulate experience, build relationships, give gifts to superiors... After decades of hard work, step by step climbing up, becoming a county magistrate, a prefectural governor, a provincial governor... and finally becoming a first-rank official after years of hard work.

  Even if he became the Chief Assistant of the Cabinet, could he have saved the Ming Dynasty? The answer is still impossible!

  Zhang Juzheng, isn't he formidable? He implemented the Single Whip Law to improve the Ming dynasty's national revenue. The implementation of the Single Whip Law did have some effect... but was the Ming dynasty saved? No! Zhang Juzheng touched the interests of the entire Ming dynasty's scholar-official class! The consequences are not worth mentioning.

  The other day, Zhu Yuanzhang seriously thought that if he won over all the scholar-officials of the Ming Dynasty, what would happen?

  But that's not all, in the hundreds of years he floated in the sky as a bystander, he saw countless malpractices of the Ming dynasty, such as the sea ban, secret agents, eunuchs in power, party struggles, huge imperial clans, low taxes on people, high taxes on farmers, financial difficulties, corrupt officials... Once wanting to take action to change, it's all complicated and difficult to start.

  There is no army that can be ordered at will, and there is no prestige that can dominate the entire Ming dynasty. Who can turn these things upside down? No one can... Whoever dares to take action will be squeezed by various conservative forces until they are crushed to death, not even leaving a complete skeleton. Even if it's the current emperor, some things still dare not be easily changed...

  Although he was unwilling to admit it, he had to admit that the country he had established with his own hands had become seriously ill and could no longer be cured.

  What should I do then?

  At this time, the little monks in the temple had already gotten up. Two little monks walked into the yard, holding bamboo branches to sweep the fallen leaves in the yard. The broom made a "swish swish" sound on the ground. One little monk smiled at another and said: "Last night after dinner, Master and Shu continued playing chess from the day before yesterday..."

  Another samanera asked: "Oh, then which of the two won?"

  "Guess?"

  "It's probably Master Shu who won... I saw it the night before last when we were resting, Master has been completely at a disadvantage and will be thoroughly defeated by Master Shu soon..."

  "Hehe, you guessed wrong, Master won this time!"

  "It's impossible!"

  "It's really Master who won... He was indeed at a disadvantage and struggling. At this time, Zheng Yanfu from Cheng City came in to worship Buddha, walked by from the side, he seemed to be thinking about something, walking very fast, accidentally knocked over the chessboard, and the pieces fell all over the ground. By the time Master and Master Shu had re-set up the board, they had forgotten where they were before, so they set up a new game."

  "Oh, restart... and Master Shifu lost?"

  "Haha, exactly!"

  Two little monks were chatting and laughing as they swept the yard clean, then walked out, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang standing alone in silence.

  Hearing the conversation between two little monks, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart suddenly moved: The two monks were playing chess, Zheng Yanfu walked over and overturned the board... As a result, the game started again, and the old monk who was originally at a disadvantage won the final victory.

  Zhu Yuanzhang is now facing a messy country, with no place to start, just like playing chess, the whole board has already been set in a bad position, and it's impossible to take back. Even if he struggles hard, defeat is only a matter of time. Why not simply overturn the chessboard! Overturn the country! On the overturned land, re-arrange the situation, start a new game of chess, and when the time comes, with his means, re-place a beautiful chess piece on the board, what's difficult about that?

  In his previous life, Zhu Yuanzhang joined the army at 25 and ascended to the throne at 40. The time it took him to start anew was merely 15 years. Now, in this life, the Great Ming Dynasty still has 18 years before its demise. Time is ample; what does he have to fear?

  It seems we have to take a familiar old road! Peasant uprising!

  Since we have decided on this path, it is now completely meaningless to try to curry favor with the authorities. What needs to be done now is to take advantage of the peasant uprising and grasp control of it...

  Zhu Yuanzhang clenched his fists and was determined in his heart.

  At this moment, in this scene, he suddenly felt that the environment around him was a bit familiar. It was thirteen years ago when he stood in the small courtyard of Huangjue Temple, with several stone tables and stone stools beside him... He held the soup and the letter written to him, considering whether to join the peasant uprising army...

  That day, dawn was approaching and the night was passing, a new day seemed to have infinite hope, but also had infinite despair. The road ahead was uncertain, and he didn't know which direction to take. He made a difficult decision, also the most important decision in his life, he left Huangjue Temple, joined the rebel army, and then... achieved great success! No one under heaven could be his enemy!

  Zhu Yuanzhang took a step forward, walking towards the place where Zheng Yanfu was hiding. This time, his footsteps were more determined than ever, without any hesitation... For Empress Ma, for the Ming Dynasty, and most importantly, for himself, he had set a new goal. Once he had a clear objective, this unsheathed sword would not show any mercy.

  As he walked to the thicket where Zheng Yanfu was hiding, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped in his tracks. He saw that Zheng Yanfu, with his eyes wide with anger, was staring at him from within the thicket. Indeed a good fellow, after being tied up in the thicket for a whole night, not only did he not show any signs of weakness, but instead became even more enraged, with a fierce aura emanating from his body, as if he wanted to burst out of his restraints.

  He seemed to want to struggle and escape, the grass around him was flattened by a large piece, but Zhu Yuanzhang tied him up very cleverly, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of it.

  Zhu Yuanzhang squatted down, untied the cloth strip stuffed in Zheng Yanfu's mouth, and asked coldly: "How is it? After lying here for a night, have you calmed down?"

  "Shut up, you court eunuch! Hurry up and take the old man to be executed!" Zheng Yanfu cursed angrily: "If Grandfather frowns slightly, he's not a hero."

  "Alas, you are even more foolish and impulsive than I imagined." Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "I'll ask you, have you ever thought about what to do after killing the officials and rebelling?"

  "What after killing the officials and rebelling?" Zheng Yanfu didn't know what this Hanzi meant by grabbing him, but listening to his words seemed to have no intention of sending himself to the officials, so he couldn't help but answer along with Zhu Yuanzhang's question: "Continue killing officials and rebelling!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang burst out laughing: "And then what? Continue killing officials and rebelling?"

  "That's right!" Zheng Yanfu said seriously: "What's so funny? I'm going to kill officials for a lifetime, and rebel for a lifetime."

  "Are all the officials of the imperial court fools? Sitting there waiting for you to kill, they won't resist?" Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and waved his hand towards the direction of the hundred-household military farm he saw on the way here: "You're a local, so you should know that there's a hundred-household office over there, with one hundred and thirteen officials and soldiers. There are at least two more such offices in Cheng City, totaling three hundred and thirty-nine officials and soldiers... even if we subtract some who are drawing empty salaries, there are still over a hundred soldiers."

  "What's it to you?" Zheng Yanfu said loudly.

  "It's not going to work out." Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly, "After you kill the officials and rebel, if you don't think ahead about what to do next, but instead continue running around killing officials and rebelling, halfway through, a hundred government soldiers will suddenly charge at you from the front and hack you to death with their swords."

  He smiled and patted Zheng Yan's shoulder, saying: "I know you're a good fighter, and ordinary thugs can't get close to you, but one hundred armed soldiers, you can't beat."

  Zheng Yanfu's face changed color, but he still forced his neck to say: "I have a group of brothers! The villagers of Nanyao Village, Duanzhuang Village, Liu Family Village, Liujia Village, and Chengjia Village all listen to me. These people add up to at least two or three hundred people, so I'm not afraid of a hundred government soldiers."

  "What a joke!" Zhu Yuanzhang burst out laughing: "These mobs, do you believe it or not, just need twenty officials and soldiers to scare them away, these two or three hundred people will scatter like birds and beasts."

  "This..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and said seriously: "Think carefully, what will we do after killing officials and rebelling?"

  Zheng Yanfu hesitated for a moment, then looked up and said: "I understand. After I kill the official and rebel, I will go into hiding as an outlaw."

  "Where will you go to cause trouble?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

  "Where are we going? What's the point of asking where we're going when we're fleeing as bandits? Just pick a mountain and go into hiding." said Zheng Yanfu.

  Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Zheng Yanfu with a pair of shining eyes: "The Tiger Head Mountain in the west of the city? You hide on it, and within five days, you will be caught by the government soldiers, along with your two or three hundred brothers, all finished."

  Zheng Yanfu also knew that his idea was not right, and he hastily said: "How do I know where to go to be a bandit? Damn it, I didn't rebel in the past, how would I know that rebelling has its own rules of one two three four."

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled firmly and pointed at his own nose: "You haven't rebelled, but I have. Do you want to try listening to my words?"

  "What?!" Zheng Yanfu was shocked and his whole body trembled.