Bandits attack government troops

  Zhu Yuanzhang returned to his house, tidied up a bit, put on a tight-fitting garment, hung a wooden sword at his waist, and stuffed several large flatbreads into his bosom. He didn't know how many days he would be away, and as the manager of the Ma family's side courtyard, it was not acceptable for him to leave his post without permission. So he asked Li Chunjiu to help take care of things in the side courtyard, and then went to report to Ma Qianjiu, saying that he was going to inspect the villages scattered outside the Ma family's domain.

  The Ma family's industry is not just around the Ma Family Courtyard, there are many villages nearby that rely on the Ma family, such as Xigou Village, which is one of them. These villages are all managed by the side houses, so Zhu Yuanzhang wants to go and inspect them, it's also normal. He is usually calm and does things with great effort, Ma Qianjiu didn't suspect anything and let him go.

  Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er then set out together, following the direction of the government soldiers, hurrying over quickly. The two men's footsteps were extremely fast, and before long, they caught up with the rear of the government troops, then followed from a distance without getting close.

  The scouts of the government soldiers soon discovered Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er following behind to watch the excitement, but they didn't take it seriously.

  In ancient times, when armies went to war, it was common for civilians to gather and watch from the sidelines. For example, in "Zizhi Tongjian", there is a story about a rebellion by an old minister during the Northern Zhou dynasty, who led tens of thousands of soldiers. Yang Jian also led tens of thousands of soldiers to quell the rebellion, and they clashed beneath the enemy's stronghold. On a nearby hill, tens of thousands of civilians gathered to watch the battle, while those in the city came out with small stools, snacks like melon seeds and peanuts, and even parasols to watch the excitement. Later, when Yang Jian was on the verge of defeat, he ordered his soldiers to fire arrows at the watching civilians, scaring them into a chaotic retreat back into the city, which disrupted the enemy's formation... and led to victory!

  In modern warfare, there are still ordinary people watching the battle from the sidelines, but with planes and artillery firing at each other from a few kilometers away, it's not very exciting to watch. Moreover, in modern times, watching battles is too risky, and it's easy to get shot even if you're just lying down. So, the trend of watching battles has somewhat subsided.

  The other day, there was news about a civilian who went to watch a battle and took out his phone to take pictures. As a result, a stray bullet flew over and hit his phone with a loud bang. Fortunately, the bullet was blocked by the phone, or else he would have been done for... Wow, what an incredibly powerful phone! Not only can it take pictures, but it can also serve as a bulletproof vest. Everyone should remember to check the phone's bulletproof effect when buying one in the future...

  But I digress, let's get back on topic.

  Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er followed far behind the government soldiers, who didn't pay attention to them either, but only marched in the direction of Dongzi Cliff.

  Dongziya, located at the junction of Baishui and Chengcheng, is a small mountain with a strange shape. Or it can be said that it is not a mountain, but four or five small mountains spliced together to form a mountain. The mountains are separated by four or five gullies, and there is also a deep cliff. There are caves everywhere on the top and bottom of the cliff, so this place is called Dongziya.

  It has been several months since Zheng Yanfu settled here in the spring of this year. A simple stronghold has been built on top of Dongzi Cliff, with two mountain roads leading up and down. The stronghold is surrounded by wooden fences, with simple arrow towers, and many rolling stones and logs are prepared. More than 400 bandits who came to hear Zheng Yanfu's name have arrived.

  The speed of the troops' march was not slow, thirty miles away, they passed in one day. By dusk, the soldiers had arrived at the outer edge of Dongziya Mountain, set up campfires and cooked meals.

  Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er also took out buns to eat.

  Wang Er looked at the soldiers' camp from a distance and laughed, saying: "These guys eat worse than us, we at least have flatbread, what are they eating, some kind of mush?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang took a bite of his biscuit and sighed softly: "The imperial court is short of money, extremely short of money!"

  "Is the imperial court short of a single penny?" Wang Er said discontentedly: "The officials spend money like water every day, and the royal relatives are all prosperous and wealthy. They say they lack money? I don't believe it."

  "Hmm, officials are not short of money." Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously: "The court is short!"

  "Isn't an official just the imperial court?" Wang Erqi said.

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and stopped talking. In Wang Er's opinion, it was impossible for him to explain clearly why officials and the imperial court could not be lumped together. The reason why the Ming Dynasty's imperial court lacked money was that one of the reasons came from land annexation, and there were too many "yinji" (a kind of tax evasion), so the imperial court couldn't collect taxes. The second reason was due to the unreasonable tax collection, low taxes for merchants, high taxes for farmers, and exemption for scholars... These had ruined the Ming Dynasty's taxation system, which was actually set by Zhu Yuanzhang himself. He really didn't have the face to continue talking about it. He could only hope that in the future, he would have the opportunity to correct these wrong decisions.

  Wang Er smiled and said: "Look at these officials and soldiers eating mushy food, you say they can defeat Zheng Yanfu, I really don't believe it, this time you will definitely lose the bet."

  "Just you wait and see!" Zhu Yuanzhang lay down with his hands behind his head: "Within three days, the outcome will be clear."

  The next day, early in the morning, the officers and soldiers broke camp and began to climb the mountain. The terrain was initially gentle, but after walking for a while, it became more and more complex, with ravines on the east and cliffs on the west, severely hindering the speed of the army's march. Moreover, the mountain was not cool at all due to the drought, the trees looked lifeless, the leaves were not full of water, the air was hot and dry, and there was no wind.

  After walking for a long time, they didn't come across a small stream, and the water bags carried by the soldiers were soon half empty. The morale was somewhat shaken, and the officers and men began to slack off, either walking slowly or taking advantage of the officer's inattention to sit down and rest.

  Wang Er became even more convinced that this army of officials and soldiers was no match for a battle, and in the face of heroes and good men, these mobs would surely collapse.

  That afternoon, the government soldiers finally arrived at the foot of Dongzi Cliff. When they looked up, they could see the mountain stronghold on the cliff, with rough wooden houses and thatched cottages spread out on the top of the cliff. Several bandits poked their heads out from the top of the cliff to gaze at the government soldiers below, then withdrew their heads back in.

  "I wonder if Zheng Yanfu and his men will choose to defend the fort or come down and fight?" Wang Er had never seen a battle before, so he got excited: "I hope they come down and fight, it looks more exciting that way. But defending the fort should be more advantageous for them, unless their brains are fried, they should probably defend the fort."

  "Unfortunately..." Zhu Yuanchang said coldly beside him: "Most mountain bandits have burnt-out brains. Especially when the government troops came to suppress the bandits for the first time, the mountain bandits who didn't take the government troops seriously would choose to go down the mountain to fight, and they would only know to shrink back to their stronghold after suffering losses."

  "Hey, why do you always say that Zheng Yanfu and the others will suffer? After following the government troops for so long, haven't you discovered yet? They don't have any combat effectiveness at all, they're just a bunch of cowards." Wang Er was somewhat dissatisfied.

  A faint whistling sound came from the top of the mountain, followed by a strange cry. A group of bandits in strange attire opened the gate and walked down from the top of the mountain. Zheng Yanfu was at the front, his killing pig knife had long been thrown away, now he held a fine steel knife in his hand. The followers behind him were holding various weapons, some with big axes, some with big hammers, some with big spears, some with double whips, and some with wolf-tooth clubs...

  Heroes and good men, of course, use some extraordinary weapons to show off their greatness. For example, the 108 heroes in Water Margin used strange weapons, which were created by storytellers to add flavor to the story, but ordinary people think that heroes must be like this to be impressive.

  Zhu Yuanzhang estimated that most of the money stolen by this group was spent on making these flashy but useless weapons.

  Behind Zheng Yanfu stood a man holding up a white flag with four crooked and slanted large characters that read: "Replace Heaven, Carry out the Way".

  Wang Er slapped his thigh and praised, "Good fellow! With spirit! Although I don't recognize many big characters, I can barely make out the four words 'replace heaven and punish evil'."

  Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "These guys are too proud of themselves and think they're the only ones who matter."

  The officers and soldiers saw the bandits coming out of their stronghold, and quickly began to form an array. A group of pale-faced, thin, and shabbily dressed soldiers stood in a horizontal row, with their long spears pressed forward together, spearheads pointing outward, and shields made of leather or wood were propped up in front of the array. Although the officers and soldiers were dressed in tatters and the weapons they held were not very neat, Zhu Yuanzhang knew at a glance that this was the posture of going to battle, not telling stories, nor robbing in the green forest, nor performing The Water Margin.

  Yang Hong stood in the array, his treasured sword held high, loudly commanding the troops on both wings to not be disordered. He then turned around and faced several people behind him who were holding large drums and cymbals, saying: "Pay attention to my commands!"

  These people in charge of drumming and gonging are the military band. In ancient times, when fighting a war, the military band was indispensable because once the battle started, with thousands of horses and men shouting and neighing, even if an officer used all his might to shout, only a few people around him could hear it, and commands couldn't be effectively conveyed through language, so the military band had to be used to transmit orders. This is what "drumming to advance" and "blowing the horn to retreat" means.

  If you saw one, during a battle, an officer yelled: "Withdraw!" Then all the soldiers heard the order, stopped fighting and retreated obediently. That's definitely nonsense.

  Yang Hong was still standing beside a little maid named Autumn Leaf, who was pointing at Zheng Yanfu with her finger and shouting loudly: "It's him, he's Zheng Yanfu..."

  "Very good!" Yang Hong took advantage of the fact that the battle had not yet begun and the battlefield was still relatively quiet, shouting loudly: "The big man standing in the front, with a steel knife hanging from his waist, is Zheng Yanfu. The reward for capturing Zheng Yanfu alive is 100 taels of silver, and the reward for killing him is 50 taels of silver!"

  "Yes!" The officers and soldiers were greatly encouraged.

  Zheng Yanfu and his men walked down the mountain slope in a scattered formation, completely disregarding the official army's formation. One by one, they let out strange laughter: "The officials are playing house, haha, as long as we charge, we'll definitely knock them over."

  "Behold the great axe in my hand, I will surely behead that military officer's dog head."

  "My wolf-toothed club wants to smash a few heavenly covers for fun, and this wolf-toothed club was made, but it hasn't been stained with blood yet..."

  Wang Er gazed at these "heroes" from afar, his face filled with envy and admiration, and sighed sincerely: "They're really heroes, chatting and laughing in the face of the enemy's array, I wish I could join them too."

  "Alright, alright!" Zhu Yuanzhang slapped Wang Er's shoulder and said: "Only when you are truly facing the enemy can you be considered a real army. If you're still talking and laughing like heroes before the battle array, you're asking for death!"