Six, Laozi will beat you up

  "Old man, I'll beat you up right now!" The tall worker shouted loudly, taking a big step forward and throwing a punch at Zhu Yuanzhang's face. It was a rural-style boxing move, without any particular technique, just an ordinary fist, but it was fast and powerful. Unfortunately, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, there were flaws everywhere, if he randomly grabbed a soldier from the battlefield with the lowest combat effectiveness, his punch would be ten times more powerful than this worker's.

  Zhu Yuanzhang took a light step back, didn't make any movement and opened his fist. The flexibility of this body is really poor now, can't keep up with the judgment of his brain, if he encounters an expert, he will definitely not be able to withstand one blow, but when facing an ordinary rural boxing technique, it's really no need for too fast action.

  He casually threw a piercing fist, hitting the long worker's abdomen, right at the navel position. Having gone through his previous life's long military career, Zhu Yuanzhang was very clear that if this position were hit by a fist, the force of the punch would impact the ribcage, shock the intestines and bladder, causing the opponent's body to lose its vitality, and in severe cases, even damaging their primordial energy.

  His body was very weak and his strength was not great, so this punch did not reserve its own strength, but instead used all its might to strike... instantly knocking the long worker's body into an arch, clutching his abdomen and retreating three steps before "thud" falling to the ground, tears immediately flowing out of his mouth, saliva and snot flying together.

  Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even bother to look at him again, just slightly shook his head and muttered to himself: "I said it before, one punch is enough."

  That long worker still had an unfulfilled heart, wanting to scold someone, but his abdominal pain made him tear up with a runny nose, unable to say anything, and could only let out a few weak cries.

  Zhu Yuanzhang made a swift and decisive move, punching down his enemy with one blow. It was truly astonishing to onlookers, not just the several workers standing by, but even Qi Guan Shi took in a breath of cold air.

  "This kid... when did he become so formidable?"

  "What a coincidence! Who doesn't know that their stomach can't take a beating?"

  "What kind of luck is this? If you were in his place, you'd still get knocked out with one punch."

  "Is this really Zhu Ba?"

  Several long and short workers who often bullied Zhu Ba's weakness usually couldn't help but retreat half a step, with a sense of fear in their hearts.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied with their reaction, to know that this is exactly what he wanted. For the past two days, he had been keeping a low profile, on one hand familiarizing himself with the environment and recovering his body, on the other hand also waiting for an opportunity. He wasn't someone who liked to keep a low profile, nor could someone who likes to keep a low profile become an emperor. In history, those who became emperors through their own strength rather than relying on a good father were all people who excelled at showing off their abilities to gain others' support or fear.

  He has been waiting for such an opportunity to show his strength openly and fairly, gain recognition from others, and get more benefits for himself.

  Qiguan's eyes narrowed slightly: Zhu Ba really has two brushes, before that he didn't see it, maybe because he was too cowardly in the past, so even if he had strength, he didn't dare to show it off. This time he opened up his wisdom and dared to come out and show himself.

  "Go, you go with them to Xigou Village." With Qi's words, the matter was settled. Zhu Yuanzhang took an important step forward. As long as he performed well from now on, he could get rid of his life as a cowherd and become a bodyguard like Wang Er. Although being a bodyguard might not have much prospects for advancement, eating better would still be beneficial to himself.

  Zhu Yuanzhang believed that opportunities are always available, and the higher your position, the greater the opportunity you can seize, while the lower your position, the smaller the opportunity. Therefore, constantly elevating oneself is a harmless and beneficial thing to do anywhere.

  If he doesn't find a way to stand out, and remains just an ordinary cowherd, when the peasant uprising breaks out in a year's time, he will also miss his chance and be unable to become a maker of history.

  Around the diligent and thrifty Zhu Yuanzhang, forty or fifty long-term and short-term workers gradually gathered. These people were all bold and fearless, and their bodies were generally tall and sturdy. Zhu Yuanzhang was an exception among them. Although he was not short in stature, he had little muscle and looked very thin overall.

  Before long, Yang Chao came back running, with Bai Shui Wang Er still following behind him.

  Wang Er wore a suit of armor today, holding a whistle stick in his hand, looking like an iron tower, majestic and eye-catching. Before he even arrived, his voice came first: "Those bastards from Ren Village are here to bully us again, just watch me crush their eggs today."

  "There are fewer people now, let's set off." With a loud shout from Qiguan Shi, the group hastily headed towards Xigu Village.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was silently counting the number of people in his mind. He wasn't as muddled as Qi Guan Shi, going out to fight without even knowing how many people were on their own side, only knowing there were around 40 or 50 people. How could they be arranged like this? A general leading troops must know exactly how many usable soldiers he has at his disposal, otherwise how can he command them with ease? Even if it was just a fight between two villages of farmers, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't think it could be taken lightly.

  After walking a few steps, he counted clearly that there were forty-eight people in total, not counting Qi Guan Shi. In fact, Qi Guan Shi would definitely not participate in the group beating, which would lose his identity, so he couldn't be counted either.

  The only one who can be considered a good hand is Bai Shui Wang Er, and also consider myself as a hidden good hand. The others are all useless miscellaneous soldiers. There are fourteen people holding wooden sticks, and only I am empty-handed. The most are holding bamboo poles, with thirty-two people. It seems that the majority of people do not have the intention to kill, but just want to use bamboo poles to beat the enemy.

  Zhu Yuanzhang grasped the situation of his own military strength at the fastest speed, although he didn't know if it could be used, but he still did everything habitually.

  The Majia Courtyard is not far from Xigou Village, just five or six miles away. For farmers who work year after year, five or six miles are really nothing, and with a burst of speed, they can arrive in less than an hour.

  Zhu Yuanzhang looked up and saw that on a piece of desolate yellow land, there stood two dilapidated villages. Between the two villages was a small pond with very shallow water, at most only half a meter deep, revealing the aquatic plants growing at the bottom of the pond. Neither village was large, with only about ten households in each. Scattered around the villages were some farmland, which had no crops due to it being spring plowing season.

  The crops have not yet grown, what's the hurry to fight for water? Zhu Yuanzhang sighed inwardly, this was indeed not a matter of fighting for water, but rather a matter of face between the White Water Ma family and the Zhang family of Chengcheng County. You arrange for someone to beat me up, I'll arrange for someone to beat you up, just like that, bickering by the small pond, it's clear that neither the Ma nor Zhang families have much stature, they're definitely not going to become a prominent clan.

  By the pond, there was a group of people swaggering about. Zhu Yuanzhang quickly counted them and found that there were forty-seven of them, one less than their own side. They were facing in the direction of Xiguzi Village, obviously from Ren Village, which is to say they were from Zhangjia Village in Chengcheng County. The original residents of Xiguzi Village had already been knocked to the ground and were lying by the pond, moaning "aiyo aiyo".

  Qiguan Shi saw the situation and didn't say anything to the other party, he stretched out his hand and pointed forward, shouting: "Beat them up! Damn it! They dare to sweep our Bai Shui Ma family's face, today we'll make them look good."

  Actually, before anyone else could react, Bai Shui Wang Er had already grabbed his staff and rushed forward first, shouting: "You thief, watch out for my blow!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and sighed in his heart: I really don't want to participate in this kind of brawl. A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step, and big things must be done from small ones... If you only think about doing big things without doing small things, that's called being too ambitious, and you can forget about making progress. He clenched his fist and followed Bai Shui Wang Er forward, charging ahead. Behind him, more than 40 companions also shouted loudly and rushed up together.

  The Ma family will have helpers coming, and the Zhang family's people are obviously well-prepared. Seeing Qi Guan Shi leading his men over, the other side also let out a loud roar, waving their weapons in hand and charging over. These weapons were nothing more than wooden clubs and bamboo poles, which would hurt if used to hit someone, but wouldn't be fatal.

  Both sides have the same goal, which is to beat each other up badly.

  Zhu Yuanzhang secretly calculated that Bai Shui Wang Er was a "rushing general" talent, and he was afraid that if he rushed forward, he would be able to defeat the opponent and make them fall on their backs. The credit for this battle would all go to him, and the Ma family would definitely pay more attention to Wang Er. After this matter became known, the people of Bai Shui County would also respect Wang Er even more, and his reputation would rise again. This was also an inevitable development in history. A year later, Bai Shui Wang Er led a rebellion, and with one call, the people responded enthusiastically. It was precisely because he had gained relatively high prestige among the people that they regarded him as a good hero.

  This is not a good thing for those who want to show off their talents and gain benefits. Zhu Yuanzhang does not want all the fame to be taken away by Wang Er, he also needs a good reputation.

  Then he gently pulled the front of Wang Er's shirt and said in a low voice, "Wang Er, can killing a chicken be done with a cow knife? It's better to let us handle these guys. You stay behind and provide support, see who's in danger and go help them. This way is better, if you only focus on fighting, you won't have time to take care of your own brothers."

  Wang Er is a dim-witted person, and upon hearing this, not only did he not suspect anything, but instead patted his palm and said: "Huh? You're right! When I start fighting, I forget everything. No way, I have to take care of my own brother." He put away the baton and stopped in his tracks.

  Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the opportunity and jumped into Wang Er's previous position, which was the first place to charge forward...

  This position in ancient Chinese armies was called "First to Board", or the first person to charge into enemy lines. In Japan's Warring States period, it was known as "Ichiban Yari" and held great honor. After battles, those who achieved this feat would be counted among the first to earn merit! As long as you could survive after charging into enemy lines first, promotion and wealth were guaranteed.

  In ordinary gang fights, those who can stand in this position are all leading figures.

  Zhu Yuanzhang wants exactly this position!