Six Five, I am Bai Shui Zhu Ba

  That night, the moonlight was bright and clear. Due to the severe drought across the land, this brilliant moonlight would last for over a decade.

  Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to have gone to sleep, but actually only blew out the lights in the house. He approached the window and looked outside through the gap between the windows. After a careful observation, he determined the location of the hidden sentry who was monitoring them. Although the bandits were foolish, they also knew that government soldiers could not be trusted, so they arranged two hidden sentries on the rooftop nearby to monitor Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er's movements at all times.

  Zhu Yuanzhang whispered a few words to Wang Er, who got up and walked out the door, taking big strides before walking to the side of the house to relieve himself. The attention of the two hidden guards was completely focused on Wang Er, and Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the opportunity to slip out of the door, using the shadow of the eaves as cover, and made his way towards the large thatched hut where Zheng Yanfu lived.

  The bandits' mountain stronghold was not heavily guarded, and it can be said that they didn't even have the most basic vigilance. They only arranged sentries on a few roads leading up the mountain, and were completely relaxed inside the stronghold. Zhu Yuanzhang encountered no difficulties at all and arrived right in front of Zheng Yanzhong's house.

  He first stuck his ear to the wall and listened for a moment, confirming that there was no one inside, it seemed that Zheng Yanfu had already fallen asleep, so he pushed open the door and walked in.

  "Who is it?" Zheng Yanfu in the house was startled awake by the sound of the door being pushed open and immediately sat up.

  "It's me!" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice.

  "Huh?" Zheng Yanfu almost instantly recognized Zhu Yuanzhang's voice. When he killed the official and rebelled, wandering helplessly, he had thought of this person countless times, asking him to come and give himself guidance. He didn't expect him to appear at this time, in this place.

  "How did you get into my camp? Good heavens, what are the sentries doing?"

  Taking advantage of the moonlight shining in through the doorway, Zheng Yanfu got a clear look at Zhu Yuanzhang's attire and saw that he was wearing a cotton-padded jacket with a conical hat on his head. It turned out to be Zhu Baihu, who had come up the mountain during the day to persuade him to surrender. At the time, he had been hiding behind Wang Zongbiao's back, and Zheng Yanfu hadn't gotten a good look at him. Only now did he realize that this was the person who had instructed him to kill Zhang Duyao in the first place.

  "So that's how it is..." Zheng Yanfu suddenly realized: "It seems you're not a court official at all, and neither are you and Wang Zongqi genuine."

  He soon became excited, and for him, Zhu Yuanzhang was a savior from heaven: "Finally saw you again, it's great that you came, I really need your guidance now. Please give me some directions, I don't know what to do now, the construction of the mountain stronghold is too difficult, and the government soldiers are much more powerful than I imagined, what should I do now?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang closed the door, and the moonlight was blocked out. The room turned pitch black. He said in a low voice: "I've shown you the way, will you follow it? Last time I told you to enter Huanglong Mountain, but you stayed at this Dongzi Cliff, what were you doing?"

  "This..." Zheng Yanfu hesitated for a moment, and sighed: "I also want to listen to your words, but my brothers won't listen. Let me tell you what happened later..."

  After Zheng Yanfu's rebellion, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, he dispersed and regrouped on Tiger Head Mountain, eliminating some unstable elements, leaving only less than 200 people. Then he let these people disperse again and escaped to the mountains at the junction of Chengcheng and Baishui, planning to follow Zhu Yuanzhang's words and enter Huanglongshan again.

  However, at this time, the problem arose. His idea of transferring to Huanglong Mountain was unanimously opposed by his brothers. It turned out that after the villagers looted a large sum of silver from the county warehouse, their mentality had changed. They only wanted to stay in Dongziya, not far from the county town, and live as bandits, rather than running to the desolate and uninhabited Huanglong Mountain. The reason was simple: these villagers were extremely arrogant after killing officials and rebelling, thinking that they were very powerful and didn't need to fear the government soldiers anymore.

  Zheng Yanfu's persuasion had no effect, and the group went up to Dongzi Cliff on their own, starting to build a stronghold. At this time, a nearby bandit gang also came to join in, namely Zhao Yun's gang of over 100 people. The two forces combined had a total of 400 people. With more people, the thoughts became even more complicated, and Zheng Yanfu was completely unable to control them. Although he was the nominal big brother of the stronghold, in reality, decisions were always made after consulting with the people below. As a result, they dragged on until the government troops came to suppress the bandits... The rest of the story is known to Zhu Yuanzhang.

  "I really don't understand... In the beginning, you all followed me to kill officials and rebel, taking me as your big brother, listening to my arrangements for everything. Why doesn't anyone listen to me now?" Zheng Yanfu said with great anxiety: "Please point it out to me."

  Zhu Yuanzhang listened to his words, and in his heart, he had already figured it out. He forgave Zheng Yanfu for not listening to him and hiding in the Yellow Dragon Mountain. With this knot untied, he could now point it out to him. So, he rubbed his hands together, made a gesture of counting copper coins, and sighed: "Zheng Yanfu, they didn't listen to you because they thought that by not listening to you, they would gain more benefits than if they had listened."

  "What's this? How can you say such a thing?" Zheng Yanfu exclaimed in surprise.

  "Alas!" sighed Zhu Yuanzhang, "People are all advancing with their interests in mind. If you tell them to enter the Huanglong Mountains, they think that after entering the desolate mountains, life will be very bitter and they won't see a future, so they think there's no benefit. But if they stay at Dongzi Cliff, it's not far from the county town, and they can still interact with ordinary people, and the silver money they plundered can also be used, that is to say, the benefits of doing so will be greater than entering Huanglong Mountains, so they won't listen to you."

  "What?" Zheng Yanfu was stunned.

  "The mistake actually lies with you." Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Zheng Yanfu and said in a deep voice, "If you could have told them in simple terms that entering the Yellow Dragon Mountain would be safer, and staying at Dongzi Cliff would cost them their lives, then the comparison of interests would have changed. They would definitely follow you. But since you also thought that the government troops were not to be feared, just like them, that's why we're in this predicament today."

  Zheng Yanfu remained silent, listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's few words, he already understood that the mistake was indeed his own. Afterwards, he thought deeper and couldn't help but deeply admire Zhu Yuanzhang's analytical ability, this person really saw through people too accurately.

  "What should I do now?" Zheng Yanfu said anxiously: "I don't want to surrender, can you teach me a way to defeat the government soldiers?"

  "Impossible!" Zhu Yuanzhang replied without hesitation: "Even if Wu Mu were to be reborn, bringing your soldiers would not be enough to defeat the government troops at the foot of the mountain. Moreover, what you should be considering now is not the government troops at the foot of the mountain, but the problems around you. If I didn't come up the mountain to see you, within three days, your head would be cut off and sent to the government troops at the foot of the mountain. Do you believe me?"

  "What?" Zheng Yanfu was suddenly startled.

  "Haven't you heard the officials and soldiers at the foot of the mountain shouting? Whoever brings down your head will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver..." Zhu Yuanzhang smiled lightly.

  "My brother will never betray me!" Zheng Yanfu said with a hint of anger.

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "With this method, the officials and soldiers don't know how many mountain kings' heads they've taken down. This trick really works every time, I don't think it won't work on your brother!"

  Zheng Yanfu fell into deep thought, let out a long sigh, and agreed with Zhu Yuanzhang's words: "Please show me the way, I'm completely at a loss now."

  "If you really want me to guide you, then you have to listen to me!" Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly.

  "This time I will definitely listen to you." Zheng Yanfu said seriously: "I have paid the price for not listening to you last time, this time whatever you say, I will do it seriously."

  "Alright! Then abandon your stronghold and flee to the ends of the earth!"

  "What? Then my wish to replace Heaven's will..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "Do you know why you can't beat the government troops?"

  "Because my soldiers have no experience in battle!" Zheng Yanfu replied seriously.

  "No way!" Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly, "Because there are too few people under your command. Even if each of them is a good man who can take on a hundred, with unparalleled combat experience, what can they do in the face of millions of government troops? You want to replace heaven and do justice? Go dream! Do you know why I refused to follow your team last time and lead you?"

  "Exactly because you are too weak! Wanting to replace heaven and administer the people, your rebellion won't work this way. It needs a larger scale, more soldiers, and a more majestic momentum in order to possibly succeed."

  "What should I do?" Zheng Yanfu was at a loss.

  "Go and roam the world, travel through all the small counties of Shaanxi, unite all the heroes and good men." Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly: "Even if they can't be united, it doesn't matter. Just tell them to rise up in revolt! Let everyone rise up in revolt together! As long as the whole of Shaanxi is thrown into chaos, with flames everywhere, and the government troops are at a loss, then your wish to bring justice on behalf of heaven will surely come true?"

  "Oh! So that's it." Zheng Yanfu's eyes lit up, his future was originally a mess, but after hearing this, he suddenly felt the clouds parting and the fog dispersing. No wonder, relying only on the uprising army of Chengcheng County, there were only a few hundred people, but if all the countless counties in Shaanxi joined forces to rebel, what kind of momentum would it be? Would they still be weak at that time?

  Zheng Yanfu was overjoyed and said: "You're right... I'll listen to you, I'll go unite all the heroes immediately. Let me think... There are two good men in nearby Baisui, one is Wang Er and the other is Zhu Ba, I can go invite them to come together too."

  "No need for politeness!" Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly: "Zhu Baihu is just Zhu Ba, and Wang Zongqi is just Wang Er!"

  "What?" Zheng Yanfu was shocked.

  Why did Zhu Yuanzhang want to reveal his identity at this time? He felt that it was also time to show off his identity, because he needed Zheng Yanfu to spread his reputation. In the peasant uprising movement, the more people stood in front, the higher their prestige, such as Wang Ziyong. This person's ability is not stronger than Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, but in the Ming Dynasty peasant uprising, his status has always been higher than Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, because he started the uprising early and had high prestige.

  Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to climb slowly, he wanted to occupy a relatively important position in the rebel army from the very beginning, so he also needed to spread his name out relatively early. And according to his observation, Zheng Yanfu was indeed a good fellow, the kind of person who would rather die than betray his brothers, and it was safer to reveal his identity to him, without worrying that he would sell himself out to the government troops.

  "So you are Bai Shui Zhu Ba!" Zheng Yanfu immediately kowtowed: "I really have eyes but fail to recognize a heroic man."