It's hard to be a hero.

  Two sentries were visibly shaken, their facial expressions extremely vivid. If it had been a few days ago, when they were waiting for the government troops to attack with high morale, hearing that there was an envoy of surrender from the government troops would have definitely shot over without hesitation. However, times are different now, they have experienced the ferocity of the government troops, found that occupying the mountain and replacing heaven is not as easy as imagined, and inevitably had all sorts of emotions in their hearts. Although they did not immediately lay down their arms and surrender, they also could not immediately drive away the envoy who came to persuade them to surrender.

  After a moment of internal struggle, the two sentries let out a sigh and put down their crossbows. One stayed behind to continue keeping watch while the other led Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er towards the mountain top: "Alright, I'll take you to see Big Brother Zheng Yanfu. You can talk to him yourselves."

  The sentry walked heavily, obviously a bit distracted, his footsteps floating and shaking. Wang Er took the opportunity to pull Zhu Yuanzhang's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Why did you say we were the official army's envoys? We're clearly here to help Zheng Yanfu."

  "If we want to help Zheng Yanfu, then we have to say this..." Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly and said: "The problem Zheng Yanfu is facing now is not from the outside soldiers, but from within the mountain stronghold. What we need to do is to stir up the internal problems of the righteous army, and then take advantage of it."

  "I don't quite understand!" Wang Er said with a shrug of his hands.

  Zhu Yuanzhang leaned in close to Wang Er's ear and whispered, "Once we arrive at the mountain stronghold, I'll pretend not to know Zheng Yanfu, so for now, let you handle the conversation. You say..."

  The three men walked for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. After a long time, they finally arrived at the mountain top, where a simple and crude fort appeared before Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er's eyes. The fort had over a hundred rooms, all made of thatched grass and were simple huts. Although the fort was only built for several months and didn't have time to be fully constructed, it was still quite impressive. It seemed that Zheng Yanzhou's silver, which he stole from the county warehouse, played a certain role in this achievement.

  The mountain stronghold had not yet been fortified with walls, only surrounded by a circle of half-human-high bamboo fences, and the defensive effect was almost non-existent. However, there were plenty of stones on the mountain, and the top of the mountain path was piled high with large and small stones. If the government troops still wanted to launch a strong attack on the stronghold, these stones would make them suffer greatly.

  In front of the mountain path, a small gate was opened on the bamboo fence, and two wooden arrow towers were erected at the side of the gate, with sentries guarding above. The sentry who led Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er stepped forward and said loudly: "The envoy of the government army has come from the back mountain... They want to see Brother Zheng Yanfu."

  "What?" The sentry on the left arrow tower suddenly became excited, his bow and arrow were pulled to the fullest, and he shouted loudly: "You also bring this kind of person into the mountain stronghold? Drive them away! I will never surrender."

  However, the sentry on the arrow tower on the right immediately spoke up: "Little Seven, what are you excited about? You won't surrender, so go down the mountain and kill all the government soldiers..."

  "I... I can't beat the government soldiers..." The sentry called Little Seven immediately became flustered.

  "What the hell are you yelling about!" The sentry on the right arrow tower shouted loudly: "Whether we surrender or not is one thing, but it's not necessary to drive people away, let's listen to what they have to say first."

  Xiao Qi sighed and put away his hunting bow.

  The bamboo fence door opened, and the sentinel from the halfway up the mountain walked over here and stopped leading the way. He handed Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er over to the sentinel on the arrow tower to lead them, and he returned to the halfway up the mountain to continue his sentry duty. The little seventh on the left side of the arrow tower hung his head, sitting listlessly, while the sentinel on the right side of the arrow tower ran down, with a flattering smile on his face: "Are the two military uncles going to see Big Brother Zheng Yanfu? No problem, I'll take you there."

  Zhu Yuanzhang's heart was clear, this sentinel seemed to have a mind to surrender, so he showed such a good attitude towards the "imperial envoy sent by the government army", he lowered his voice and asked: "What is the name of this good fellow?"

  The sentinel laughed and said: "My surname is Fu, I was born on May 6th, so my parents gave me the name Fu Wu Liu."

  Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "If you surrender to the imperial court and make great contributions to it, in the future when you rise to power, these humble names of yours will no longer be suitable. Think of a more elegant name for yourself."

  Wu Liu Xi said: "This, I've thought about it long ago. If Fei Huang becomes prominent, I'll change my name to Fu Zhi!"

  "Hmm! Good job! I'm waiting for you to make a meritorious achievement for the imperial court." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a tone and manner, he had seen many people speaking in an official tone before, from small officials to high-ranking officials, from clerks to emperors, it was not difficult to imitate any tone, at this time, imitating the tone and attitude of the persuader, it was surprisingly accurate.

  "General, what's your surname and given name?" asked Xiǎo Xīn with Bā Wǔ Liù by his side.

  Zhu Yuanzhang grunted and said: "I am Zhu Simin, the hundred-household leader of the Water Root Army in Xi'an Prefecture. This person beside me is my subordinate, Wang Zongqi."

  "It turned out to be Lord Baihu and General Flag. Xiu Wu Liu stood up respectfully: 'You came up the mountain to persuade surrender, why are you wearing ordinary people's clothes, with a blackened face, and wearing a bamboo hat...'"

  Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and said, "As a dignified hundred-household official, I have entered the bandits' lair. If some ignorant person were to see me, they would memorialize the emperor about it, saying that I am secretly in league with the bandits. It wouldn't be good for my reputation, so I'll just slightly disguise myself."

  Wu Liu didn't quite understand these official words, but he felt that the person in front of him was very extraordinary, and he believed more than half of it. So he became even more cautious, taking Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er to hurry through the mountain stronghold, heading towards a large thatched hut in the middle of the stronghold.

  "Lord Zhu... Zheng Yanfu seems to have no intention of surrendering..." Fu Wuliu said cautiously: "When you talk to him, be careful and slow down a bit... If he insists on not surrendering, don't get angry, I'll try to persuade him."

  "You're just a gatekeeper, and you think you can persuade the leader of the mountain stronghold?" Zhu Yuanzhang said with disdain.

  "I... am not just a sentinel!" Fu Wuliu became pleased with himself: "I have more than 100 sworn brothers, all of whom came to surrender to Big Brother Zheng Yanfu together with me. As long as I can persuade these brothers, it will be a large group of people, and Big Brother will also have to consider our opinions."

  "Hmm, alright, I'll remember what you said." Zhu Yuanzhang casually replied.

  While speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang was observing the situation in the mountain stronghold. He saw many bandits rushing about, carrying stones and five of them holding a large log. It turned out that they were taking advantage of the fact that the government troops did not attack the mountain today to replenish their stockpile of rocks and logs.

  The officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain were still shouting loudly "Surrender without killing", "Surrender to get honor, wealth and nobility" and other words. The loud roar echoed in the mountain stronghold, these bandits holding stones and wooden clubs were also affected by the roar of the officers and soldiers. Some people moved slowly, some showed a look of distress on their faces, and some had a hesitant light in their eyes...

  As they saw Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er, the people carrying stones and lifting wooden frames all stopped to watch. Fu Wusu explained to them: "These two gentlemen are envoys sent by the imperial court..."

  After this introduction, a small number of people's faces radiated hateful light, as if they couldn't wait to rush up and chop Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er into pieces. Most people's faces, however, showed fear, joy, worry and all sorts of emotions.

  Zhu Yuanzhang sighed secretly in his heart: Since ancient times, peasant uprisings have been afraid of attacking the heart. Most people who rebel against the court are convinced that the imperial court is orthodox, they know they are bandits, and there is always a feeling of living without glory. Whenever this emotion occupies the mainstream, an uprising army can easily disintegrate and divide. During the peasant war at the end of the Ming Dynasty, many righteous armies had been surrendered to the government, just because of this emotion. In fact, even the "Water Margin" that these peasants liked to listen to, didn't the Liangshan Po also surrender to the government? This is not surprising for these peasants!

  This is also the difference between the peasant war at the end of Ming and the peasant war at the end of Yuan!

  The peasant uprising at the end of Yuan was more resolute than that at the end of Ming, with very few surrendering to the Yuan government. The main reason is that the rebel army was controlled by the White Lotus Sect, and most people's will was filled with religious fanaticism, making it less likely to waver. Another reason is that the Yuan government belonged to an alien invader for the vast Han people at that time, so people had a psychology of resistance against such a dynasty, and the uprising was more resolute.

  These two advantages were not possessed by the peasant uprisings at the end of the Ming Dynasty. In the decade or so before the peasant uprisings at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the rebel army was in a state of wandering around and did not dare to fight against the government troops. Almost all the rebel armies had surrendered to the government, such as Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and Luo Rucai, who had all accepted the government's amnesty at some point. Analyzing these details comprehensively, it can be seen that the difficulty of the peasant uprisings at the end of the Ming Dynasty was higher than that of the Yuan Dynasty.

  This was also the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang did not dare to act rashly. He had to choose the right time and place to start a rebellion, and he absolutely could not be as impulsive as Zheng Yanzhong.

  He clearly felt that after he had passed, the bandits gathered in twos and threes, discussing something in a low voice, apparently arguing over whether to surrender or not.

  After walking for a while, the three of them finally arrived in front of the large thatched hut at the center of the mountain stronghold. Xu Wuyi went inside to report their arrival and then invited Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er to enter, while he returned to the gate of the mountain stronghold to guard the watchtower.

  Zhu Yuanzhang patted Wang Er's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Remember what I just told you. When we go in, I'll pretend not to know Zheng Yanfu for the time being. You talk to him according to my instructions."

  "Good!" Wang Er nodded, casting a glance at the surrounding bandits who were discussing among themselves. He lowered his head and said, "I'm starting to understand why you pretended to be an official envoy persuading us to surrender. With this identity, we can indeed stir up some problems as soon as we enter the camp. From their attitude towards us, we can see what's on their minds."

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly and said, "That's right, what we need to look at next is Zheng Yanfu's attitude. If he himself wants to surrender, then we don't need to rescue him..."

  "Alas, you're right!" Wang Er sighed: "It's really hard being a hero."