Nineteen, meticulous person

  Zhu Yuanzhang was a cowherd in his previous life, but he was a self-reliant and diligent one. Although he didn't have the family conditions to read or write, he relied on his determination and perseverance to educate himself, not only writing well but also understanding poetry. In the "Poem of Fury" passed down through the ages, there is a poem written by Zhu Yuanzhang: I killed all the hundred thousand soldiers in Jiangnan, The precious sword at my waist still has bloodstains. The mountain monk doesn't recognize the heroic spirit of Shenzhen city, He only keeps asking for my name.

  Let's talk about math! He once controlled a vast empire, personally handling every document and reviewing each one himself. In the fight against corruption, he had personally calculated countless ledgers, killing those corrupt officials who tried to deceive him until they were scattered all over the fields. A small account book from a rural household was nothing in his eyes.

  "Can you really read and count? Don't deceive me, the account book is right here, show me what you can do." Ma Qianjiu said in a deep voice.

  Zhu Yuanzhang took out an abacus from the study, sat down steadily at the table, and checked the account book by the light of the oil lamp. His left hand turned the pages while his right hand tapped on the abacus, moving swiftly as he was extremely familiar with it. Before long, he had compared all the accounts left behind by Qi Guanshi. After finishing, he picked up his pen to write "Checked!" on the last page of the account book.

  As soon as he picked up the pen, his mind moved, no... I'm not reviewing memorials, what should I write after reading? Moreover, I couldn't casually inscribe characters, the calligraphy from my previous life was majestic and powerful, full of overbearing aura. If written on paper, it would be so powerful that it would penetrate through the paper, and the heroic spirit of a thousand horses and iron knights would be hard to conceal, fearing that it might arouse Ma Qianjiu's suspicion.

  He cleared his throat and decided to hide his clumsiness, so he smiled awkwardly: "Officer Ma, although I can write, my handwriting is very poor, and I don't recognize many characters. How should I sign this?"

  Ma Qianjiu felt a sense of relief in his heart, dispelling his doubts, and smiled: "Just write 'handover here'!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang thanked him and intentionally picked up the brush with an incorrect grip, writing in a crooked and twisted manner: "This place is handed over... From now on, Zhu Ba will be in charge..." Even if someone writes beautifully, if their pen grip is not correct, they cannot produce their usual fine calligraphy. Zhu Yuanzhang's handwriting was extremely ugly, which suited his identity as a cowherd boy.

  However, these crooked and twisted characters were also quite rare in Ma Qianjiu's eyes. He patted Zhu Yuanzhang on the shoulder and laughed: "How did you learn to write and calculate?"

  "When herding cattle... I was bored, so I just casually learned some." Zhu Yuanzhang said offhandedly.

  Ma Qianjiu smiled and patted Zhu Yuanzhang's shoulder twice: "Good kid, not bad! I think you're quite pleasing to the eye." These words were sincere. After Zhu Ba appeared today, he had been low-key and unobtrusive, but when it came to doing things, he was calm and composed, showing a sense of ease and composure that anyone would find pleasing to the eye.

  "By the way, what do you think about Second Master sending someone to beat up Zhang from Cheng City?" Ma Qianjiu suddenly asked.

  If it were Second Master asking, Zhu Yuanzhang would have answered: "Well done, excellent, a great show of strength, and a boost to the Ma family's reputation!" However, when asked by the more composed Ma Qianjiu, Zhu Yuanzhang's response was vastly different. He thought for a moment before speaking in a low tone, "As someone who serves under others, I shouldn't be commenting on Second Master's personal matters, but I think he handled this situation incorrectly. Although our family is wealthy and influential, our elder has already retired from office. A retired official is no longer an official, but a commoner. Since ancient times, it's been said that commoners don't fight with officials. Our family shouldn't continue to feud with the Zhangs of Cheng City; instead, we should try to improve relations. Take this 'Yin Ju' matter, for example - because our relationship with the Zhangs has soured, it can't be resolved, and we've unnecessarily lost a hundred acres of good land. In my opinion, the Zhangs won't let things go at that; they'll continue to cause trouble for our family. We should quickly prepare generous gifts and send them to the Zhangs' doorstep."

  Ma Qianjiu nodded: "You little guy really gets me, you say, we as servants if want to advise Second Young Master, what method is best?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly, and this question couldn't stump him. He pretended to think deeply for half a day before opening his mouth: "Can't be persuaded... Second Master isn't someone that us servants have the qualifications to persuade. The top priority should be to dispatch loyal house guards to hurry to Xianyang Prefecture on horseback and invite back Eldest Master to take charge of this matter, only then can there be a turning point. Otherwise, our family's relationship with the Zhangs of Cheng City will only get worse and worse until it's too late to regret."

  This remark made him suddenly enlightened, he had been thinking hard about how to persuade the second young master who was misbehaving and not doing his job properly, but many methods had no effect, although the second young master also gave him face, but he was after all a born slave, did not dare to point fingers at his own master too much. After hearing Zhu Ba's words, he suddenly realized that now was not the time for him as a servant to speak, and must invite back the eldest young master, otherwise, who knows what tricks the second young master would play?

  Ma Qianji bid farewell to Zhu Ba and returned to the front yard, where he made a decisive decision. He wrote a letter overnight, detailing the events that had occurred in the Ma family's compound, and then dispatched a loyal and reliable house-born slave to deliver the letter, riding horseback to Xi'an Prefecture overnight.

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  After Ma Qianjiu left, the house became quiet again. Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his new home and couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of his mouth.

  The small house has three rooms, a living room, study and bedroom. The living room only has one square table for receiving guests, nothing else. The study is full of things, with a desk, bookshelf, on which are placed the Four Books: "Analects", "Mencius", "Great Learning" and "Doctrine of the Mean"; and the Five Classics: "Book of Poetry", "Book of History", "Book of Rites", "I Ching" and "Spring and Autumn Annals". Writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone are all complete, these things were directly allocated by the front yard, no need to spend money to buy.

  The things in the bedroom are relatively simple, a large wooden bed, and a small cabinet at the head of the bed. Zhu Yuanzhang opened the cabinet, inside which were some personal items belonging to Qi Guan Shi, as well as several large pieces of silver, about twenty taels, and several strings of copper coins. The reward money that Qi Guan Shi had embezzled last time was probably inside.

  Logically speaking, these things should belong to the children of Qi Guan Shi, but Qi Guan Shi was alone and after his death, no one inherited these things. Ma Er Shao Ye was lazy and forgot about it, as a result, all of Qi Guan Shi's property fell into Zhu Yuan Zhang's hands.

  Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even bother to move these things, just letting them stay in the cabinet. His eyes were on the world, and this small amount of wealth was not worth worrying about. As long as he could obtain the world, all the wealth in the world would be his.

  The next day, as soon as it was dawn, Zhu Yuanzhang got out of bed, first practicing a set of fist exercises to loosen up his muscles and bones, then walked to the gate of the side courtyard and stood in the place where Qi Guan usually stood.

  When Qipanguan stood here, his face always had a hint of disdain and his whole body exuded a gloomy aura. But when Zhu Yuanzhang stood here, he smiled warmly and made people feel not the slightest chill, but rather a refreshing warmth like a spring breeze.

  The long and short workers also got up, and one after another walked out of the yard, greeting Zhu Yuanzhang at the gate: "Zhu Ba Ge, good morning..."

  "You're stupid! Now you have to call Zhu to handle things!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Don't call me Zhu Guanshi anymore, it's too formal. Just call me Zhu Ba, I'm brothers with all of you. If you keep calling me Guanshi, it's like you're intentionally looking down on me."

  "Alright, still call me Zhu Ba Ge, haha!"

  "Zhu Ba Ge got up really early today, haha, joking aside, you usually leave the house earlier than us to herd cattle."

  The long and short workers passed by him, one by one, greeting him in turn. Some of the wives of the long workers also followed their husbands to greet Zhu Yuanzhang, but the women were more timid and didn't dare call him "Zhu Ba Ge", instead respectfully calling him "Zhu Guan Shi".

  After a while, Wang Er carried Yang Chao out, wanting to take him to the county government to report the case. Behind him, the two dead party members of Yang Chao were still following, carrying Qi Guan Shi's body. Seeing the long workers chatting and laughing with Zhu Yuan Zhang, he laughed from afar: "Hey, you lazy guys, don't think that just because the manager has been replaced by Zhu Ba brothers, you can slack off. Whoever is lazy and doesn't work hard, hindering the progress of their comrades, I'll hit him with a fist as big as a bowl."

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Wang Erge is right, we brothers are brothers, and jokes are jokes, but the work that needs to be done cannot be neglected. Wang Erge, you work hard and help me take care of our brothers, don't let people in the front yard and backyard gossip about me. If I become the boss after this, and the affairs of the side yard are not handled properly, where will our brother's face be?"

  Wang Er burst out laughing and said: "Alright, I'll help you keep an eye on him! Our courtyard doesn't have any lazybones with the surname Qi, we'll just work even harder."

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly in his heart, the result of heroes colliding with villains is always that the heroes are used by the villains, from ancient times to the present, there has never been an exception.

  Wang Er smiled and said, "I'll go to the government office first. Later, County Master may summon you to ask about what happened last night. You're also one of the witnesses... But this matter shouldn't be a big deal. I'll take these two cowards with me, they can testify, the evidence is solid, and County Master might not even summon you for questioning."

  At this time, a small maidservant suddenly ran out from the inner courtyard. She looked about 13 or 14 years old and was only as tall as Zhu Ba's chest. She was wearing a fine maid's uniform and was spotlessly clean from head to toe. In her hand she held a roll of leather tape measure, and seeing Zhu Yuanzhang from afar, she immediately called out loudly: "Is this the new manager of the side courtyard, Zhu Ba?"

  "I am, and who might you be, miss?" Zhu Yuanzhang replied casually.

  That little servant girl looked at the coarse linen clothes he was wearing, stuck out her tongue and said: "As expected, Miss was right... you really dress terribly."

  "Huh? Don't you think I'm dressed shabbily? Zhu Yuanzhang felt a slight displeasure in his heart, but he didn't show it. He just gave her a light glance and said: "Who exactly are you, miss? What brings you to me?"

  The little girl made a ghostly face: "My name is Zixincai, and I am the maid of the third young lady. The people in our inner courtyard also heard about Qi Guan's death last night. The third young lady said that Second Young Master was careless, and he would definitely forget to prepare new clothes, shoes, and socks for the new steward. She told me to come over this morning to help the newly appointed steward take his measurements and make a new set of clothes... I came over and took a look, and indeed, you're still wearing the same clothes from when you used to do farm work. How can this be? The stewards of our Ma family can't dress like this."

  Zhu Yuanzhang was taken aback and lost his smile, the unpleasantness from just now was instantly thrown far away, this third miss of the Ma family, although she was raised in a deep boudoir where no one recognized her, was indeed a delicate person.