Kill him?

  Bai Shui Wang Er! Zhu Yuanzhang's mind was surging with thoughts, he really didn't expect to run into this person here.

  In the years he floated in the sky as a bystander, he had seen this man covered in blood, holding a hatchet, charging into the official army formation, killing dozens of people, and was a fierce good fellow. However, he is not a god, floating in the sky to watch the world, also looking east and west, so he does not know that Bai Shui Wang Er had been a long-term worker at the White Water Ma family before the uprising, nor does he know what his final outcome was.

  After the rebellion of Bai Shui Wang Er, he was soon overshadowed by Fu Guo Wang Jia Tan, Yi Chuan Wang Suo Gua, An Sai Gao Ying Xiang, and Han Nan Wang Da Liang, among others. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang did not pay much attention to him and drifted away to observe the development of things elsewhere. When he turned back to look for Bai Shui Wang Er, he found that Wang Er had vanished into the annals of history, perhaps having been eliminated somewhere along the way.

  At this time, it was still more than a year before the White Water King's rebellion. He didn't seem to have any intention of rebelling, and there was no bloody aura on his body, but the true colors of "Charging General" had already been revealed without a doubt. His every move was majestic and heroic, making people involuntarily sigh in admiration at this good fellow.

  Wang Er walked from the corner to Zhu Yuanzhang's table, and surprisingly, he was still holding two large bowls. He put the bowls next to Zhu Yuanzhang and sat down by himself, his body less than a foot away from Zhu Yuanzhang. One of the large bowls contained thin porridge, while the other bowl actually held two fairly large pieces of braised pork, as Wang Er had more work at the Ma's house and also served as a bodyguard, so his pay was relatively higher, which sometimes meant he got to eat meat.

  Wang Erhao smiled and said: "Zhu Ba, I want to exchange a piece of pork for one of your Wonton heads, are you willing to exchange?"

  This deal is stupid if you don't exchange, Zhu Yuanzhang is not a fool, he knows that if he exchanges, he will definitely gain an advantage, but the benefits that fall from the sky for no reason, he won't pick them up randomly. As the saying goes, being greedy for small gains leads to big losses, and Zhu Yuanzhang, who has seen many deceitful things in the world, has a deep understanding of this. He is absolutely unwilling to easily accept others' kindness, so he calmly asks: "I'm willing to exchange, but I don't know why you suddenly came to me to exchange..."

  Wang Er laughed loudly: "Didn't you crack your head open? Now is the time to eat more, to make up for the blood that flowed out. My body is particularly sturdy, it's no big deal if I don't eat a piece of meat, just let me give it to you to eat. If you're embarrassed, just return it to me later."

  "I still owe you!" Zhu Yuanzhang slowly drank a mouthful of porridge, took a bite of his mantou, and was completely unmoved by the meat.

  "Haha, if you can't pay back then don't pay back!" Wang Er slapped his thigh and burst out laughing: "I'm the kind of person who wants to help others as soon as I see them, are you going to accept it or not? If you don't accept it, I'll get beaten to death by Lao Da's fists."

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was evaluating Wang Er in his heart. Having been an emperor for dozens of years, he had developed a bad habit: whenever anyone met with him and exchanged a few words, he would give them an overall evaluation. This is a habit that any emperor cannot avoid, something that those in power will inevitably develop when looking at their subordinates. Of course, foolish rulers often misjudge people, but wise rulers like Zhu Yuanzhang are extremely accurate in their assessments.

  Wang Er, generous and willing to help others, liked to assist people. Generally, those who like to help others are more influential among the poor, no wonder he could gather a group of peasants to rebel. Moreover, he had a strong personality, was tall and sturdy, with a loud voice and fast speech. This kind of person has great combat power but usually lacks cunning and is easily plotted against. They can be used for charging into battle but not as leaders. After the uprising, he suddenly disappeared, perhaps he was secretly killed.

  Zhu Yuanzhang knew that this kind of person didn't need to be overly guarded against, so he nodded at him and picked up a piece of meat from his bowl, stuffing it into his own mouth. He really needed to eat meat now because his body was too weak; if he wanted to cope with the chaotic world at the end of the Ming dynasty, he needed better food to strengthen his physique. Since there was a foolish big boy sending food over, there was no reason not to continue.

  After slowly swallowing the thin porridge and a piece of meat, his weak body began to regain strength, and after waving his arms, the feeling of floating on clouds disappeared a lot. His mind also became clearer than before. He started to secretly think: Now that I have the energy, I already have basic mobility. Wang Er is sitting next to me one foot away. If I smash the earthenware bowl in my hand on the table, and take advantage of the moment when Wang Er's attention is diverted to the broken bowl, use the fastest speed to grab a sharp shard, cut off his neck artery, maybe I can succeed with one blow... The pioneer of the peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty, White Water Wang Er, will be killed by me here...

  Without him taking the lead in the uprising, Fu Guo Wang Jia Yun, Yi Chuan Wang Shuo Gua, An Se Ga Ying Xiang and Han Nan Wang Da Liang might not have dared to rebel, the peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty would not have occurred, and perhaps the Great Ming Dynasty could have been saved. His own mission in reincarnating into this era would also be easily accomplished! He can smile and become a Buddha.

  No... Zhu Yuanzhang quickly overturned his own idea, he was a bystander in the sky for hundreds of years, and it wasn't in vain. The demise of the Ming Dynasty was absolutely not just caused by peasant uprisings, but rather the result of multiple problems coming together to promote, assist, and influence each other. It was the cumulative effect of countless malpractices of the Ming Dynasty. Simply eliminating a single person like Wang Er would not save the Ming Dynasty. The land suffered from severe drought, yet the country did not provide relief for the people's livelihoods, instead increasing taxes. Peasant uprisings were an inevitable development. Without Wang Er, there would be Zhang San, Li Si...

  Zhu Yuanzhang put down the earthenware bowl in his hand, and the way to save the Ming Dynasty still needs to be carefully considered. Perhaps in the following time, he should think carefully about how to do this thing.

  －－－－－－－

  That night, the bright moon was high in the sky, and the night wind rustled through the trees. Zhu Yuanzhang's body had already regained some strength, so he decided to practice his fist techniques. This body was really too weak, and in order to recover quickly, practicing fist techniques every night was a required course.

  The long and short workers have all fallen asleep, the courtyard is quiet, Zhu Yuanzhang walks to the center of the yard, takes a few deep breaths, doesn't make any gestures, and starts practicing his fist. His boxing technique has no routine, he punches as he thinks, completely without rules, if someone who doesn't understand sees it, they would think he's just casually waving his hands and shaking his feet.

  Actually, he was just casually moving his limbs as a warm-up. Zhu Yuanzhang's previous life started from the most basic foot soldier and went through many life-and-death battles, honing his skills in the midst of thousands of soldiers and horses, south and north expeditions, grinding out a set of unbeatable fist techniques, knife techniques, and spear techniques. Although many of these skills were abandoned in his later years, his body still remembered some of them. At this time, he didn't need to deliberately practice any fist techniques; as long as he could get this body moving, he would possess far superior martial arts skills compared to ordinary people.

  When Chinese people talk about boxing, most of them think that boxing should have a set routine. For example, if you throw a punch at me, I should dodge to the right and then quickly move forward with another punch. The movements should look good, can't be clumsy, and should flow smoothly like clouds and water, without any ungraceful or awkward moves... All this is nonsense!

  Think about it, on the battlefield, there are people all around you, front and back, left and right. When an enemy punches at you, do you have to follow the prescribed fist method and dodge to the right? What if there's a comrade standing in your way on the right side? Can't dodge, just wait for death? Also, why must every move be executed flawlessly, fighting beautifully? On the battlefield, what's the point of being so elegant?

  On the battlefield, there is only one effective method, that is, the method of killing people. Whether it looks good or not, whether it flows smoothly or not, and whether it's called martial arts or not, are all worthless.

  Zhu Yuanzhang didn't practice boxing, he practiced the strength of his muscles and the speed of his reactions. When an enemy threw a punch at him, he could dodge to the right; if there was someone blocking his way on the right, he could instantly change to dodging to the left; if there was also someone blocking his way on the left, he could instantly crouch down; if crouching down didn't work either, he could still jump up... He didn't care about looking good or being aesthetically pleasing, nor did he need precise movements. All that mattered was being able to knock down his enemies and protect himself. And these reactions required sharp eyes, agile thinking, a body reaction speed that could keep up with his thoughts, as well as the composure to calmly face an enemy's weapon!

  His boxing technique may not be elegant, but it is simple and ruthless, every move is fatal, when performing it looks ugly to death, but on the battlefield it can keep him safe for a lifetime of military campaigns, this is not something that fancy-looking flower fist techniques can compare with.

  The sound of practicing boxing finally woke up a few long workers living in the same yard, and those people stuck their heads out of the window to take a look, muttering: "Who the hell is making trouble in the yard at midnight?"

  "So it was Zhu Ba after all..."

  "What kind of messy punches are you throwing? It's so ugly it's killing me, if you don't knock others out first, you'll knock yourself out instead."

  "You should go find Wang Er Gege and let him teach you a set of Hongquan, although with your small build, practicing Hongquan is still a waste, but at least the movements will look better, so as not to lose face here."

  Red Boxing originated in Zhou and Qin, became famous in Tang and Song, and flourished in Ming and Qing. It is very popular in Shaanxi Province, and anyone who has some martial arts skills will learn Red Boxing. Bai Shui Wang Er is a master of Red Boxing, and when he throws his two big fists, the killing energy is overwhelming, making people very afraid. Therefore, the long and short workers of the Ma family all regard Wang Er as the best fighter.

  Wang Er was enthusiastic, and if anyone wanted to learn boxing, as long as they came to his door, he would not refuse to teach. However, ordinary people could not keep up with him for more than two days before giving up, nor did anyone really master the skills.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally aware of the Red Fist, and in his previous life, he had even practiced it. However, he wasn't particularly interested in it, thinking that as long as he could quickly develop a strong physique, the intricacies of the fist technique weren't worth studying.

  "I'm just casually punching, not practicing boxing." Zhu Yuanchang retorted to the surrounding workers who were making sarcastic remarks, and then continued to swing his arms and legs in a disorderly manner.

  The workers burst out laughing, and someone sneered: "He hit his head during the day, it seems that he was stunned to be smarter, but in fact, he became even more stupid."

  "Whatever, let him do whatever he wants, it's none of our business."

  "Alright then, go to sleep!"

  The workers all retreated to their beds to sleep, and Zhu Yuanzhang also got some peace and quiet. He continued to practice his boxing skills with renewed vigor. After a while, he felt that his body had warmed up, his blood was flowing smoothly, and his muscles had been fully stretched. Satisfied, he returned to his own room, covered his head, and fell into a deep sleep. Practicing one's body is important, but rest is also crucial. Zhu Yuanzhang would never abuse his own body, because... good health is the foundation of achieving great things.