Wait for an opportunity

  The rooster awakened the sleeping world, and the first light of dawn was scattered in the sky... The people in the courtyard began to increase, and the long and short workers emerged from their own sheds, shouldering hoes, plows, shovels and other working tools, heading towards the fields.

  A new day has begun, and the fall of the Great Ming Dynasty is one day closer...

  Qiguan Shi stood at the gate of the courtyard, using his half-closed eyes to carefully search for Zhu Ba's figure among the people flowing out of the yard, but he couldn't find him. He couldn't help but think: That guy shouldn't still be sleeping in, right? Yesterday he was boxing in the middle of the night and disturbed everyone's sleep, now he might not be able to get up. This idiot, today he not only has to let out the cows but also finish plowing yesterday's unfinished fields. Could it be that everything he said yesterday was just empty talk? If he really is a guy who talks nonsense to swindle food and drink, I'll kick him out tonight.

  Qiguan Shi grabbed the last long worker who was leaving the hospital and said coldly, "Where's Zhu Ba? Is he still sleeping in? Go wake him up for me."

  That long worker was caught by Qi Guan Shi and asked, scared to death, he smiled and said: "Qi Guan Shi, that Zhu Ba guy is particularly strange today, it's still dark before the chicken crows, he took the old yellow cow out of the door, Wang Er asked him where he was going, he said there's a lot of work today, so we need to start early..."

  Qiguan was slightly surprised in his heart and couldn't help but laugh: "This kid is quite sensible, if he had been so diligent a few years ago, how would he have starved to that monkey-like state."

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was already standing on a mountain slope two miles away, holding an old yellow cow. He had a backpack and a sickle in his hand, letting the cow graze freely while he cut grass himself. Cutting grass has two benefits: one is that it can store more fodder, and before the cow is full, you can take it home and feed it on the way, saving a lot of time. The second is that cutting grass can also exercise the body and strengthen one's physique.

  Zhu Yuanzhang had just finished cutting a large basket of grass, and the cow had eaten half its fill. He led the big yellow cow to the banks of the Baishui River, where it drank from the river. By this time, the great drought of the late Ming dynasty had already begun, and the Baishui River, which had once flowed with abundant water, had greatly reduced in volume, becoming like a small ditch. Many irrigation canals in Baishui County could no longer draw water from the river. Farmers could only carry water to their fields using shoulder poles and buckets, which was both laborious and time-consuming. Many areas of farmland were experiencing reduced yields... However, this was still manageable, and they could barely make ends meet.

  Zhu Yuanzhang knew that by next year, the Baishui River would be completely cut off, and at that time, even using a water bucket to fetch water would not work. The peasants would have no clothes or food, and they could only rise up in rebellion!

  That is to say, the longest he can stay here is one year. If after a year he still hasn't gained something from the Ma family or made some preparations, he must leave this place, otherwise he will only get caught up in the waves of peasant uprising with the people of the Ma family.

  After watching the big yellow cow drink its fill, he wouldn't let it continue to eat grass, but instead drove it home. As they walked, he fed the cow with the grass he had cut earlier. By the time they got back to the field next to Ma's house, it was still morning.

  Qiguan Shi was standing on the edge of the field, supervising the farmers at work. Seeing Zhu Ba return so early, he felt a sudden surge of displeasure and shouted: "Zhu Ba, you're back so soon? I told you to graze the cows to fill their bellies, not just take them out for a stroll and then come home."

  Zhu Yuanzhang nodded calmly and said: "I'm already full, don't believe me if you want to check."

  Qī Guǎn Shì walked over to carefully inspect the big yellow cow. By the way, let's mention how to determine if a big yellow cow is full or not. On the cow's body, there are two triangular positions. One side is used to store grass, called the "grass belly", and the other side is used to store water, called the "water belly". If the big yellow cow is full, both the grass belly and water belly will bulge out. Qī Guǎn Shì bent down to take a look, and indeed, the big yellow cow's grass belly and water belly were both bulging out, it was really full.

  He secretly admired that in such a short time, Zhu Ba had put the cattle to good use, it was clear that he was really working hard, this person had really changed his ways, usually lazy like that, now as if he had become another person.

  "It's okay, go plow the land." Qi Guan Shi casually instructed: "Who told you to be so slow yesterday? You rascals just won't work hard unless forced to."

  Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely dissatisfied with the title of "bandit", but he didn't erupt, instead calmly glanced at Qi Guanshi and turned to pick up the plow. His hand had just touched the plow when a person came running from afar, panting and sweating profusely. Zhu Yuanzhang took one glance and immediately found his introduction in Zhu Ba's memory.

  His name is Yang Chao, 25 years old, also a long-term worker of the Ma family. However, this person is different from other long-term workers. He is a trusted confidant of Qi Guan Shi and spends his days flattering him, wishing he could call him father. Usually, he serves as an errand boy for Qi Guan Shi, reporting events in several surrounding villages to him at the fastest speed. Qi Guan Shi also likes this guy's cleverness, often promoting him and promising that if he becomes the inner courtyard manager, he will promote Yang Chao to take his own position. Therefore, Yang Chao works even harder, fawning over Qi Guan Shi without even caring about his face.

  Yang Chaofan rushed to Qi Guanshi's face with a big sweat and exclaimed: "It's bad... they're fighting..."

  "What's going on?" Qiguan Shi glared with one eye.

  Yang Chao hastily said: "The people from Ren Village rushed to our Xigou Village's pond to grab water... Our people naturally wouldn't give in, so the other side started a fight. We only had twenty or so people, but they had forty or fifty... Our people will definitely be at a disadvantage, hurry up and send some men to help!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang heard this and suddenly understood. It turned out to be the case! Xigou Village is a small village on the edge of Baishui County, which is also part of the Ma family's territory. The land there was all bought by the Ma family, and the farmers who cultivated that land were all long-term workers of the Ma family.

  To the east of Xigou Village is Ren Village, but this Ren Village does not belong to Baishui County, it belongs to Chengcheng County. These two villages belong to two different county towns and also belong to two different landlord families. Xigou Village belongs to the Bai family of Shui, while Ren Village belongs to the Zhang family of Chengcheng.

  At the junction of two villages, there is a small pond. The residents of both villages draw water from this pond to irrigate their fields. It used to be fine, everyone drew their own water and didn't bother each other. However, in recent years, problems have arisen. With severe droughts, the water level in the pond has been dropping day by day... As people watched the water level drop, they all felt that something was going to go wrong! So they started fighting over the ownership of the pond.

  In this era, farmers fighting for land ownership rights are not talking about eloquence, but directly speaking with fists and hoes!

  The villagers of the two villages often fought each other, and since Xigou Village had the support of the Bai Shui Ma clan and Ren Village had the support of the Chengcheng Zhang clan, the conflicts between them became more and more intense, from one or two people fighting to four or five people fighting, and now it has developed into a group fight involving dozens of people.

  It has come to this point, it's no longer a matter of whether a village can draw water or not, but rather a matter of face for the Ma and Zhang families! Whoever gives in will suffer damage to their reputation and lose face.

  Qiguan Shi listened to Yang Chao's report and immediately jumped up, shouting loudly: "The sky has turned upside down! Who dares to hit our people? Xiao Chao, hurry up and go get Wang Er for me. I'll gather dozens of capable fighters and we'll go to Xigu Village to teach those fools a lesson. Let them know that the White Water Horse Old Master is not someone to be trifled with."

  Yang Chao responded with a sound, pulled his foot and ran to the Ma family's large courtyard to find Bai Shui Wang Er. Taking advantage of this moment, Qi Guan Shi opened his throat and loudly called out to the long and short workers who were plowing the fields: "Those who can fight come over, follow me to Xigou Village to beat people up. Whoever follows me will have meat to eat tonight, and after making a meritorious deed, I'll reward you with ten copper coins."

  The long workers in the field raised their heads, took a look this way, and those who were timid and afraid of trouble quickly shrank back. The bolder ones, on the other hand, stood out and gathered towards Qiguan's side.

  Zhu Yuanzhang's heart suddenly moved, and he secretly called out: Opportunity! Finally waited for it... The opportunity to change one's identity and status! Although this opportunity is not very good, but making oneself eat better and being more valued is definitely possible.

  He threw away the plow in his hand and rushed forward a few steps, came to Qi's face, and said seriously: "I'm going too!"

  "Where are you going?" Qi Guan Shi looked at Zhu Ba's frail body and couldn't help but feel a little amused: "You're just a monkey, what can you do? Anyone can crush your few pounds of bones with just one hand."

  Several workers who gathered around also laughed and said: "Zhu Ba, have you eaten pig oil and confused your mind these two days? You keep making foolish mistakes."

  "Are you going to fight too?"

  "Yesterday you were so hungry that you fell down, today you want to go fight? Let me tell you something, a hoe hitting your head is more painful than a stone hitting your head, it's life-threatening. With your small build, don't even think about getting into fights."

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "Fighting is not about being fierce or formidable, the key lies elsewhere."

  "What's the main thing?" Several long workers laughed together.

  "Right on target!" Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly, "Even if my strength is not enough, as long as I can land a punch on the opponent's weakest spot, even an iron man will fall."

  A farmhand who had always looked down on Zhu Ba walked over, this farmhand was quite sturdy-looking, apparently years of farming had trained him to have a good physique. He said impatiently: "Zhu Ba, get lost and play by yourself, don't come and drag us down, if I have to take care of you when I'm fighting, what's the point? Are you accurate with your punches? Do you think others are wooden stakes, standing still waiting for you to hit them accurately? With that messy boxing technique of yours last night, I can knock you down with one hand, the farther you get away the better."

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, he knew that if he wanted to seize this opportunity to improve his status, he had to show some skills, so he faced him and said: "Do you dare to fight me?"