Chapter 67: Zhao Yun's Next Move Chapter 68: To Kill or Not to Kill

  Zhu Yuanzhang jumped out from the grass by the side of the road, smiling and saying: "Zheng Yanfu brothers, congratulations on regaining your freedom!"

  Zheng Yanfu let out a long sigh and said, "You're right, it's not that I gave up on them, but they gave up on me. If you hadn't enlightened me, I would have died in that house by now."

  The four loyal brothers behind him came up one by one to pay their respects to Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er, these four people were Zheng Yanfu's iron-clad younger brothers, only he was the leader, when they heard Zheng Yanfu call Zhu Yuanzhang "Zhu Ba Ge", they also bowed down and called out "Big Brother". The names of White Water Zhu Ba and White Water Wang Er, they had also heard of them before, knowing that the two men in front of them were the two great heroes of White Water, these four young men's eyes were full of worshipful expressions.

  Seven people went down the mountain together, Zheng Yanfu was betrayed by his brothers under him, and he was a bit disheartened and didn't say much. He walked quietly with a dark face. Zhu Yuanzhang patted his shoulder and smiled: "Want to see the final outcome of Zhao Yun's gang?"

  "I want!"

  "Then follow me!" Zhu Yuanzhang led the group, going down from the back mountain and circling around to the side of the government army's camp: "Sleep well tonight, tomorrow morning you can watch a good show."

  That night, they spent the night without a word. The next day, at dawn, as soon as it got light, the officers and soldiers got out of bed, the camp opened, and row after row of armed men came out of the camp, shouting loudly towards the mountain: "Surrender quickly!"

  "Zheng Yanfu, hurry up and surrender, I'll give you a high-ranking official position!"

  "Was there a big commotion on your mountain last night? Haha, surrender quickly!"

  The chaos on the mountain top last night was also seen by the government soldiers, but the cautious and timid government soldiers did not dare to take advantage of the situation to attack the mountain. Instead, they quietly observed from below and waited until dawn to mock the people on the mountain with strange words and phrases.

  Zhu Yuanzhang, Wang Er and Zheng Yanfu etc. were lying on a small hillside several miles away from the side, watching the movements of the government soldiers from afar.

  Only the main gate of the stronghold on the cliff top suddenly opened, and a large group of bandits slowly walked down from the top of the mountain, with their hands raised above their heads, holding up the only few pieces of armor in the stronghold, without any weapons hanging on their bodies, nor were they carrying white flags or anything.

  Some authors unfamiliar with ancient history like to write about people surrendering by holding up a white flag, but this is actually an incorrect way of writing. The white flag represents surrender and was stipulated in the Western Treaty of Westphalia, later adopted by the Geneva Convention as a symbol of surrender in modern warfare. However, during the late Ming period, holding up a white flag did not mean surrender; on the contrary, it had a provocative tone.

  A defeated army should be "detached flag and drum", with armor in both hands held above the head, this is the standard surrender posture of ancient China. To wave any flag, whether white or red, represents that the army still has the will to fight, and absolutely cannot raise a flag when surrendering.

  Doubtful friends can think about the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, among which there is a banner called "Zheng Bai Qi", when going out to fight, it is holding a huge white flag. If according to the saying that the white flag equals surrender, then this "Zheng Bai Qi" army would become a surrendering army, no matter where they go, they are indicating surrender to the enemy, where is the prestige?

  Looking at the unarmed and defenseless bandits, who were descending the mountain with their armor held high, the government soldiers let out a huge cheer: "They've surrendered! The bandits have surrendered!"

  The unequal soldiers entered the camp to pass on the message to Yang Hong, and Yang Hong had already brought dozens of close guards out of the camp, with Xiaoye following behind him.

  Zheng Yanfu watched from the side, gritting his teeth, as the bandits on the mountain came down in groups. Zhao Yun walked at the front, with a charred corpse in his arms. The corpse was burnt to black coal, and its features were indistinguishable, but it could be seen that he was a tall man when alive.

  Although it was clear that the bandits had come down from the mountain to surrender, the fearful officers and soldiers still formed a military array, in case the bandits suddenly became violent and hurt someone. Yang Hong stood at the front of the array with a smile, loudly asking: "Who are you?"

  Zhao Yun shouted loudly: "I am Zhao Yun, the second master of Dongzi Cliff. Zheng Yanfu refused to surrender to the heavenly army, I have killed him and now bring his corpse to surrender."

  Yang Hong was overjoyed: "Good! Very good! Zhao Yun, you're a good guy! Bring Zheng Yanfu's body over and take a look."

  Zhao Yun hastily ran over with a few quick steps, while the other bandits stood far away, keeping a safe distance from the government soldiers.

  It's not easy for bandits to surrender to government troops, it's not as simple as walking up and putting their hands together, if they were so obedient, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong wouldn't have risen again after their fake surrenders. Usually when bandits first surrender to government troops, they still maintain a sense of vigilance towards the troops and are unwilling to easily put themselves under the blade of the troops.

  Zhao Yun approached, and Yang Hong looked at the charred body in his arms and frowned: "This corpse is so black, who can still tell if it's Zheng Yanfu?"

  Zhao Yun hastily explained: "Last night, the little man led his brothers to surround Zheng Yanfu in the house, wanting to take his head. Unexpectedly, he set fire, and when the fire went out, we entered the house, and he had already been burned like this..."

  Yang Hong's eyebrows furrowed tightly as he turned to the nearby autumn leaves and asked, "Come quickly and take a look, is this guy Zheng Yanfu?"

  The charred corpse of the autumn leaves scared her, she covered her eyes with her hand, took a careful look, and quickly turned her head away, actually not seeing clearly, and stammered: "Look at the body shape... it should be..."

  "Should? Is it or isn't it?" Yang Hong shouted at a small maid, "Take a closer look."

  "Yes!" Akira was startled by his official authority, after all, she was a young and inexperienced maid who had never seen the world before. She was so scared that she began to talk nonsense, only wanting to finish her own affairs quickly, saying: "Yes, he is Zheng Yanfu."

  "Haha!" Yang Hong didn't care whether what Qiu Ye said was true or false, anyway they were out to catch bandits. It wasn't important if they caught the leader of the thieves or not, as long as there was a witness who could prove that he had caught the leader, that would be enough. He deliberately used a fierce tone to scare Qiu Ye, just wanting him to quickly make up his mind and say that this was Zheng Yanfu. Even if they found out later that it was wrong, the responsibility wouldn't be on him, but on the witness for speaking nonsense. He only needed to report his achievements to his superiors and that would be fine.

  Yang Hong slapped a palm on Zhao Yu's shoulder and laughed loudly: "Good job, your surname is Zhao, right? Not bad! You've made great contributions, the official is very happy, haha, follow me, let's go back to Xi'an Prefecture to report our achievements. I'll get you appointed as a high-ranking official."

  Zhao Yun was overjoyed, he had a simple mind, and as soon as Yang Hong said so, he immediately believed it. His bones were all soft, and he even forgot about Zhu Baihu and Wang Zongqi's affairs, which were now beyond the nine heavens and ten earths.

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  In the distant woods, Zheng Yanfu spat with force: "This soft bone! From now on he will be the imperial court's loyal dog, I must kill him."

  "I'm afraid it won't be your turn to kill." Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Yang Hong will help you kill, just wait and see."

  Several people quietly watched as Yang Hong and Zhao Yun walked into the camp with their arms around each other. Before long, a banquet was set up in the open space in the middle of the camp, where Yang Hong and Zhao Yun indulged in food and drink together. During the feast, it seemed that Yang Hong had promised many benefits to Zhao Yun, who was beaming with joy. The Ermao troops standing at a distance also received attention, as government soldiers pushed out several carts of food and sent them over to the Ermao troops, letting them eat and drink to their heart's content.

  The good intentions released by the officers and soldiers made all the bandits relax their vigilance. Many bandits no longer held the idea of escaping at any time, relaxed their mood, sat down to eat, drink and chat. The officers and soldiers and the bandits became harmonious and very cordial.

  The officers and soldiers sent a team up the mountain, burned down the village on the mountain with one fire, and then started to break camp, returning in the direction of Xi'an Prefecture.

  Zhu Yuanzhang and others followed far behind, just like when they came. The officials and soldiers, as usual, paid no attention to them, treating them as villagers who had come to watch the excitement.

  That night, the government troops camped on a low hill, while the bandits' camp was set up at the foot of the mountain. Zhu Yuanzhang and others rested in a small grove one mile away.

  As soon as the sky turned dark, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled at Wang Er and Zheng Yanfu, saying: "There's a good show to watch tonight, want to go see?"

  The answer goes without saying, a group of people followed Zhu Yuanzhang to the edge of the official army's camp to watch the show. They crouched in a forest very close to the two armies' camps and could even hear the voices inside the camps clearly.

  In the big camp of officials and soldiers, lanterns were lit, and a night feast was laid out. From time to time, Yang Hong's laughter echoed as he urged people to drink. Zhao Yu had already gotten drunk, his tongue thick and speaking indistinctly. Meanwhile, in the bandits' camp, the lights had been extinguished, and all the little rascals had fallen asleep.

  Around the time of the second watch, a sudden crash was heard from the soldiers' camp, followed by Zhao Yun's mournful cry echoing far and wide in the stillness of the night.

  "This... could it be that the storytelling masters often talk about, smashing a cup as a signal? Two hundred knife and axe wielders rush out from under the account?" Zheng Yanfu was somewhat stunned.

  "It's almost enough, but to deal with Zhao Yun, two hundred knife-wielding men won't be needed, twenty will do." Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Next is the key part... let's see what a night raid looks like!"

  Only the sound of war drums came from the camp of the government soldiers, hundreds of soldiers rushed out, most of them holding long spears, a small number of banner soldiers and flag soldiers holding torches, rushing towards the bandits' camp...

  The bandits were awakened by the sound of footsteps, hastily getting up, but they had been blinded by the good behavior of the government soldiers during the day and had not made any ideological preparations for battle. Hundreds of government soldiers rushed into the bandit camp, their long spears stabbing down fiercely...

  Lamentation, indignation, unwilling questioning, wailing, remorse...

  Everything falls silent in the darkness...

  After everything had quieted down, Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and patted Wang Er and Zheng Yanfu on the shoulders, saying very seriously: "Once you've embarked on this path of killing officials and rebelling, you can only move forward. If you retreat, this will be your outcome!"

  Wang Er and Zheng Yanfu nodded in unison, deeply convinced.

  They did not know that Zhu Yuanzhang actually deliberately brought them to see the outcome of Zhao Yu and his gang, because Zhu Yuanzhang had already planned to cultivate them as his own hands. What he needed was a resolute and unyielding underling who would take the road of rebellion, no matter how difficult the situation would be in the future, and have the courage to rebel to the end, never compromising with the court. Therefore, he deliberately let the two see this scene, believing that after watching this great play, Wang Er and Zheng Yanfu's hearts would be greatly shocked.

  The most important thing in ruling others is to control their minds.

  Six Eight, kill or not kill

  The next morning, Zheng Yanfu took four loyal followers to bid farewell to Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er. He was going to roam Shaanxi as Zhu Yuanzhang had said, striving to unite more heroes to join the rebellion together.

  Zhu Yuanzhang knew that he would definitely succeed, or even if he didn't do this, by the autumn of next year, many righteous armies would rise up at the same time, such as the originally scheduled White Water Wang Er Uprising, Fu Guo Wang Jiaxin Uprising, Yi Chuan Wang Suogua Uprising, An Se Gaoying Xiang Uprising, and Han Nan Wang Daliang Uprising.

  However, Zhu Yuanzhang still let Zheng Yanfu go, the reason is simple, he needs to borrow Zheng Yanfu's mouth to spread the name of Bai Shui Zhu Ba, and make his influence exist quietly in the internal of the rebel army, when the heroes rise together, he can use his reputation to do many things.

  After sending off Zheng Yanfu and his gang, Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er walked back on the road to Ma's house.

  Zhu Yuanzhang didn't change much, but Wang Er changed a lot. He learned many things on this trip and it's hard to digest in a short time. Zhu Yuanzhang knew he needed some time to sort out his thoughts, so he didn't disturb him either.

  The two of them rushed back to the Ma family ahead of the government soldiers. Zhu Yuanzhang casually and randomly reported the situation in the nearby villages to Ma Qianjiu, and managed to muddle through without arousing any suspicion from anyone.

  Half a day later, the officers and soldiers returned to the Ma Mansion. Yang Hong displayed Zheng Yanfu's charred corpse in front of Second Young Mistress, who confirmed it was indeed Zheng Yanfu through Autumn Leaf. Second Young Mistress wailed before the charred body and held a memorial service for her family members, thus settling this vendetta. With satisfaction, Yang Hong carried the several thousand taels of silver given by Second Young Mistress back to Xi'an Prefecture to report his achievement.

  Not long after, the imperial court appointed a new magistrate to Chengcheng. The Zheng Yanfu rebellion that took place in the seventh year of Tianqi ended with this conclusion. In everyone's heart, Zheng Yanfu was already dead.

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  One morning several days later, Zhu Yuanzhang was teaching boxing in the courtyard. Recently, more and more people came to learn from him, not only a group of young men from Xigou Village but also many poor people from other villages with various motivations.

  Some were really here to learn boxing, and in their hearts, they had the idea of mastering the skill to kill officials and rebel. Some wanted to use boxing to protect their families and defend their country. Others pretended to come and learn boxing, but actually came to eat and drink for free. The world was difficult, and many common people could not make a living, so when they heard that Bai Shui Zhu Ba Ge was generous and willing to help the poor, they flocked here to ask for food.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was not unaware of their intentions, but still took his own monthly silver allowance to buy food and distribute it among them. For Zhu Yuanzhang, money was just a number; what truly mattered was his reputation. These people took advantage of him for food and drink, while he used their mouths to spread the image of himself as generous and charitable - why not?

  Wang Er often came to help him teach people boxing. After returning from Dongzi Cliff, Wang Er was silent for a long time. When he regained his spirit, he became more powerful than before. He vaguely felt the intention of Zhu Yuanzhang's training for these people, so when he replaced Zhu Yuanzhang to teach boxing, he was very serious and would strictly require the disciples who learned boxing.

  Those who practiced boxing for a few days and couldn't hold on would remind Wang Er of Zhao Yun and his gang... He had no good face for such people, those who were not determined enough would be driven out by him, and he played the role of a gatekeeper for Zhu Yuanzhang.

  The good man who welcomes people is Zhu Yuanzhang, and the evil man who drives people away is Wang Er. This way, not only is Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation for being generous and open-handed maintained, but also the team members who stay behind are all the best.

  This day Zhu Yuanzhang finished teaching boxing, the sky was already completely dark, he returned to his small house, took off his clothes and threw them on the table, revealing his upper body. There were already three smelly clothes thrown on the table, all his spare clothes were here, this is going to be a big trouble... Tomorrow is laundry day again.

  At the thought of doing laundry, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyebrows furrowed deeply, he should be nicer to the maids at home.

  At this time, the door of the small house suddenly rang softly, and a timid female voice outside asked: "Zhu Ba Ge, are you there?"

  "Hmm?" Zhu Yuanzhang heard it and knew it was the voice of Autumn Leaf, and he couldn't help but feel a little surprised in his heart. The sky had already darkened, what was she doing coming to his door?

  To know the big household, not only the young lady must pay attention to her virtues, but also the maid is very particular. Running to find a man in the middle of the night, if discovered, would be impossible to explain even by jumping into the Yellow River. Since she came to me at this time, she must have made up her mind with great determination.

  "Present! What is it? Speak from within. If you are seen at my gate, the matter will become troublesome."

  The gate was gently pushed open, and the small figure of Autumn Leaf slipped in quickly, covering the door tightly. Apparently, she too was afraid of being seen. As soon as she entered the house, under the dim light of the oil lamp, she suddenly saw that Zhu Yuanzhang wasn't wearing clothes, only wearing pants, with his upper body revealing a perfectly toned physique. Her pretty face immediately turned bright red: "Zhu Ba Ge... you... why aren't you wearing clothes?"

  "Hey! I'm getting ready for bed in my own home, what's with the clothes? You're the one who's causing trouble by running over here in the middle of the night."

  Akira listened to these words, lowered her head and was stunned.

  Zhu Yuanzhang saw that she seemed to have something to say, so he pointed to the stool at the edge of the table and said: "Sit down and talk... The teapot on the table... Cough, it's empty. I never make this stuff, so there's no water to drink. Don't blame me for being a bad host."

  His hut has not been cleaned for a long time, the teapot is not only empty but also hasn't been washed for a long time, it's probably grown mold inside. Now he doesn't even want to use it to drink water. On the table, there is a small vase with a wilted trumpet flower in it, no one knows when it was put there.

  Autumn leaves slowly sat down at the edge of the table, took a look at these few pieces of equipment that had not been touched for a long time, and then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's several stinky clothes. She couldn't help but think to herself: It seems that Zhu Ba Ge driving away Ma Jia's maid is true, there are no women in his family taking care of things. Is it really true what everyone says, that he doesn't like Ma Jia's maid, but likes me? Ah, I came here to talk about serious matters, what am I thinking about?

  "Qiu Ye calmed down and said seriously: 'Zhu Ba Ge, I know you don't like me, but there's something on my mind that no one can talk to about. I know Zhu Ba Ge is a good person, so I have to tell you, otherwise, if I keep it inside, I'll go crazy.'"

  Zhu Yuanzhang's temples throbbed with pain. This woman... Don't tell me any romantic nonsense, or I'll go mad.

  "Autumn leaves said in a low voice: 'It's about Zheng Yanfu...' "

  "What?" Zhu Yuanzhang's spirit suddenly lifted up.

  Autumn leaves hung her head, like a child who had done something wrong: "Zhu Ba Ge, I'm a bad woman, I told everyone a huge lie. That charred corpse... after thinking back carefully, it seems it wasn't Zheng Yanfu... but Yang Qian Hu is so fierce, and my mistress was also full of hope to see Zheng Yanfu's corpse, I... I didn't dare say... I was afraid that if I spoke out, they would all be disappointed, and would blame me for misidentifying the person..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang understood at this point, that when Autumn Leaf identified the body earlier, she was frightened by Yang Hong and hastily said it was Zheng Yanfu's corpse. Later on, she thought of some inconsistencies, but by then it was too late to change her statement.

  The autumn leaves hung their heads, and two lines of tears flowed down their faces: "I don't know what to do anymore... Zhu Ba Ge, everyone says you're the smartest person, even smarter than Da Shao Ye and Ma Guan Shi. You tell me, what should I do now?"

  She bowed her head and wept, revealing a section of her white nape, with several strands of hair disheveled. If another man saw this, he would surely feel some heartache. But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't feel any heartache at all; in his past life and present, he only felt heartache for Empress Ma. He looked at Autumn Leaf's white nape and couldn't help but think: This woman is very dangerous... Zheng Yanfu is now one of my important pawns, and the fact that he's still alive can't be spread from this woman. Moreover, she has heard my voice before, although I was suppressing it at the time; now it seems like she hasn't figured out that the mysterious guest was me, but ultimately, she's an unstable factor. Unstable factors should all be eliminated...

  Generally speaking, heroes in the world cannot tolerate any factors that threaten their own safety.

  Zhu Yuanzhang carefully looked at her nape, thinking to himself: She came to find me in the middle of the night, and didn't want anyone to know, so no one should know that she came to find me tonight. If I use my hands to strangle this neck, I can make her die quietly without even being able to cry out for help, then secretly carry her corpse out of the mansion and bury it in the mountain where the cowherd is, and it will be as if nothing happened.

  As he thought, he slowly approached Akane's side. He walked very slowly, with a heavy heart, and when he decided to kill the woman, a strange feeling of discomfort suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart. This uncomfortable feeling didn't know where it came from, was it his heart? His brain? Or a sense of guilt?

  If he was still the Zhu Yuanchang of his past life, and hadn't spent hundreds of years wandering in the sky, he might have already taken a step forward and strangled her neck mercilessly. In his previous life, she wouldn't even frown when killing someone, but after floating in the sky for hundreds of years, watching all sorts of human emotions and worldly affairs, he had also undergone some changes. He saw the true, good, and beautiful things in the world, saw perseverance, dreams, hope, sympathy, faith, and other beautiful things...

  He also heard the evaluation of people in later generations for his ruthless killings, which was not a good evaluation, and there was a big deviation from what he imagined as the wise and powerful founding emperor. Often, someone would compare him to a killer, a butcher, or a slaughterer. Some said that he was a good emperor but not a good person.

  He was initially dismissive of these comments, but as time went on, he also reflected on his actions in his past life. There are many ways to protect oneself, not just by killing. To achieve great ambitions, there are also many methods, not just through iron and blood. The weak also have the right to survive, and killing the weak cannot demonstrate one's own strength. In this life, if he has the opportunity, he wants to be a good emperor, and also a good person.

  The woman in front of me, should I kill her or spare her life?