Chapter 012 Biao'er can be a teacher
Li Shanchang used to be a minor official. He had never followed a famous teacher, and his ancestors were not a family of poets and scholars.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was still under the yoke of Guo Zixing and the Red Turban Army was still known as a bandit, Li Shanchang knocked on the gate of the military camp alone, specifically asking Zhu Yuanzhang to join him. He had the courage to do so, and his skills were certainly not bad.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very weak at the beginning and had no base. Li Shanchang always followed Zhu Yuanzhang around, transporting food for him, and occasionally he would help when there was a shortage of manpower.
When Zhu Yuanzhang first went to war, he would concentrate all his small forces to attack. When Li Shanchang occasionally stayed behind, he would also lead a small number of troops to fight in the city defense.
In the later period, when Zhu Yuanzhang had more manpower, before each battle, there were a large number of counselors acting as think tanks. Li Shanchang's ability seemed less outstanding, and he stayed in the base camp most of the time.
But from the time Zhu Yuanzhang became the boss until the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were not enough people for several years.
Li Shanchang, who was exploited by Zhu Yuanzhang like this, looked weak and fragile with his clothes fluttering. When he took off his long gown with wide sleeves, his muscular body was probably no less than that of a military general.
The only scholar who could enter Zhu Yuanzhang's core leadership was Li Shanchang. The others were all military generals, most of whom were poor and illiterate brothers from the same county, village, or street as Zhu Yuanzhang.
In order to communicate harmoniously and friendly with this group of people, Li Shanchang had long ago mastered the skill of using physical persuasion first and then verbal persuasion when in doubt.
Chang Yuchun only defected to Zhu Yuanzhang in the 15th year of the Zhizheng reign, the year Chen Biao was born. By then, Li Shanchang's temper had improved considerably. Chang Yuchun also had no chance to work with Li Shanchang.
So, he was beaten up by Mr. Li for the first time.
The several generals who came with Li Shanchang helped Li Shanchang pick up the books while pointing and whispering.
"Oh, it's been a while since I saw Mr. Li beat someone up."
"Mr. Li is still as strong as ever."
"Of course. When I was defending the city with Mr. Li, he could carry a sack of sand in one hand."
"I heard that Mr. Li can fight the Marshal without losing?"
"That must be a rumor. Mr. Li is just a little stronger, and his moves are just fancy. He can't beat us in a serious fight."
"Ah? Are you still going to have a serious fight with Mr. Li? Shouldn't you stand still and let Mr. Li hit you?"
Chen Biao slowly closed his jaw manually.
So, Mr. Li is so powerful?
Li Shanchang knocked Chang Yuchun to the ground, sat on him and punched him twice, then he lowered his sleeves, straightened his robe and stood up.
"You've just returned and you're already causing trouble. The Marshal even said he'd let you come back to rest for a month or two, giving you a chance to make a great contribution and letting you lead the army to attack Quzhou alone. With your temper! Can you handle such an important task?!" After beating him, Li Shanchang finally began to reason with him, "Biao'er, come here, don't be afraid."
Chen Biao moved to Li Shanchang's side and grabbed Li Shanchang's hand that was beating Chang Yuchun.
No fear, no fear, I'm not afraid at all.
Chang Yuchun got up from the ground covered in dust and dirt, rubbing the big bump on his head from hitting the ground, and nodded and bowed to Li Shanchang to apologize.
Even though he didn't even know what happened, it was right for him to apologize first.
This is Mr. Li Shanchang.
Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation was growing, and although some prominent scholars were still picky about him, many others joined him. All those who joined him were first evaluated by Li Shanchang for their character and ability before being recommended to him.
Even though Chang Yuchun was already a "general" under Zhu Yuanzhang, he was very timid when facing Li Shanchang. After all, he only defected to Zhu Yuanzhang in the 15th year of Zhizheng.
"Biao'er, what happened? Uncle Li will help you." Li Shanchang touched Chen Biao's head.
Chang Yuchun was inconsolable. "Mr. Li, you don't even know what happened, and you're already hitting me?!"
The generals came over with smiles on their faces.
"Biao'er, I haven't seen you for a few months. You've grown a lot bigger."
"He's got a big head and a lot of brains, and he looks smart. Hey, while Boss Chen is away, let's eat up all the meat in the jars that Boss Chen has saved."
"If you want to be beaten by the boss, go ahead and try."
"Hey, isn't that Wen Zheng with the bruised face? Biao'er, you're going to let Wen Zheng take you out to play? He's not good enough to protect you. Come to me, your uncle, next time."
"I'm not looking for you, you're not that good at fighting."
The military generals who followed Li Shanchang to handle military affairs were obviously the "Huaixi generals" who lived on the same street as Chen Biao. They were the poor brothers that Zhu Yuanzhang recruited from his hometown after Guo Zixing deprived him of his military power.
Although they were not as close to "Chen Guorui" as Tang He and Xu Da, who would go to Chen's house to eat and drink whenever they had time, they still had a lot of interactions with Chen Biao.
After greeting his uncles and aunts in turn, Chen Biao used short sentences to pretend to be young and told them clearly what happened today: "My brothers and I acted bravely and beat the younger ones, and then the older ones came."
Li Shanchang pushed aside a group of Huaixi generals and picked up Chen Biao and rubbed him.
Oh, my sweetheart, the fairy boy Master Biaoer, is smart, well-behaved, kind, and lovable.
Li Shanchang hugged Chen Biao and scolded Chang Yuchun, "Where's your face!"
Chang Yuchun: "...I was just passing by, really just passing by, and I had no intention of helping Xiaoyu."
It's easy to imagine that anyone capable of fighting Lan Yu must be a junior general under the Marshal's command. He'd only intervene when he was feeling overwhelmed. At most, if Lan Yu lost, he'd return to train Lan Yu and let him fight back, okay?!
Chen Biao tilted his head: "Xiaoyu?"
Zheng Yuchun, one of the Huaixi generals, smiled and explained to Chen Biao, "This is your uncle Zheng's powerful general, Chang Yuchun. The guy Wen Zheng beat up is called Lan Yu, the younger brother of Chang Yuchun's wife."
Chen Biao looked at Chang Yuchun curiously.
Chang Yuchun was one of the few people from the early Ming Dynasty that Chen Biao remembered. After traveling through time, he naturally secretly inquired about Chang Yuchun's affairs.
Surprisingly, Chang Yuchun was not Zhu Dashuai's fellow villager, but a former bandit who defected to Zhu Dashuai in the 15th year of Zhizheng, the year Chang Yuchun was born.
Isn't Chang Yuchun a relative of Marshal Zhu? Chen Biao was extremely puzzled. Could it be that Chang Yuchun was so powerful that he became a relative of Marshal Zhu?
Chen Biao was young and had only just begun to leave his home and wander around Xuanwu Lake this year. He had heard news about Marshal Zhu's men from third parties.
Today was the first time he came face to face with the few famous historical figures of the Ming Dynasty that he remembered, and he couldn't help but look at them curiously.
When Chen Biao looked at Chang Yuchun, Chang Yuchun was also looking at Chen Biao.
He knew that Marshal Zhu had a very mysterious general named Chen Guorui.
Chen Guorui rarely led troops to fight, and even rarely appeared in public. His main task was to do business to raise money and food for Marshal Zhu.
Now the army is getting richer and richer, and the areas occupied by Marshal Zhu are becoming more and more prosperous. It is said that Chen Guorui has made great contributions. The mysterious general is obviously the most trusted confidant of Marshal Zhu.
He also became Marshal Zhu's confidant, but he had never come into contact with this person.
Chen Guorui's existence has always been a thorn in Chang Yuchun's heart.
This thorn is not that Chang Yuchun is jealous of Chen Guorui or something, but that he has never met Chen Guorui, which shows that his status in Marshal Zhu's heart is not as high as outsiders see.
Now Chang Yuchun finally came into contact with the mysterious Chen family.
Those Huaixi generals who were not as good as him in fighting skills surrounded Chen Biao. It was obvious that this group of people were very familiar with the Chen family.
I'm the only one who's not familiar with it.
I am the relative of Marshal Zhu's arranged marriage, but I am not familiar with him.
The more Chang Yuchun thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt, and he couldn't help but glare at Chen Biao.
Chen Biao: " ..." What's wrong with this guy glaring at a kid like me? Could he still hold a grudge against me, a kid, for summoning Uncle Li and smashing a big bump on his head?
Chen Biao tugged at the collar of his scholar Uncle Li and complained confidently, "Uncle Li! He glared at me! His eyes were so fierce!"
Li Shanchang looked at Chang Yuchun quietly.
Chang Yuchun quickly argued: "I didn't! My eyes are just that fierce!"
Li Shanchang snorted coldly and pressed Chen Biao's head into his arms: "He didn't glare at you, but his expression was fierce. Be good, don't look at him, or you'll have nightmares tonight."
Chang Yuchun: "..." That's Chen Guorui's son, not your Li Shanchang's son. Isn't your reaction excessive?
Chen Biao said softly, "I'm not afraid."
He poked his head out from Li Shanchang's protective arms and looked to the side of the street.
Chen Wen Zheng had a reckless personality, so Li Bao'er was naturally worried about Chen Wen Zheng taking Chen Biao out to play alone, so she went out with him every day.
When Chen Wenzhen was fighting, Li Baoer brought several servants of the Chen family to protect the father and daughter who were bullied by Lan Yu, and now he was looking at Lan Yu and Chang Yuchun coldly.
Chang Yuchun glanced at the group of shivering people, then looked at Lan Yu.
Lan Yu avoided her gaze, but suddenly he thought of his sister and glared back bravely.
Chang Yuchun: “…”
Li Baoer bowed to Chang Yuchun and said, "General Chang, for breaking old customs and outdated practices, the Marshal was denounced by scholars as an ignorant and uncultured person. They said that the people under his rule were suffering. The Marshal once said that if you don't make money, you have to fight for your reputation. We poor people understand poor people best. Even without those moral role models, we can still govern our territory well."
Chang Yuchun said, "I will hand Lan Yu over to military court for punishment."
Lan Yu's eyes widened in surprise. Just as he was about to say something, he was pinned to the ground by Chang Yuchun's soldiers, who blocked his mouth with the red scarf on his arm and tied him up tightly.
Chen Biao raised his short arms and bowed, looking very naive: "Thank you, General Chang. General Chang is a reasonable and good man."
When everyone heard Chen Biao's soft words, they looked at Chang Yuchun with funny eyes.
Chang Yuchun was so anxious to have his men tie up Lan Yu, obviously so that he could deal with Lan Yu himself. Otherwise, according to the current rules of the Marshal's army, Lan Yu would be half dead after dozens of blows.
Chang Yuchun looked at the soft little baby and thanked him in a sweet voice. The other colleagues were laughing at him and felt a little embarrassed and annoyed.
He glared at Lan Yu again.
Chang Yuchun respected his wife, Lan, very much. Lan loved Lan Yu, and Chang Yuchun also doted on her, which fostered Lan Yu's arrogant nature.
He himself was a tyrannical person, and Lan Yu's arrogance was not a big deal to him. Lan Yu was very talented in leading troops and fighting, which made him very fond of him and recommended Lan Yu to Zhu Yuanzhang many times.
Now that Lan Yu had actually made him lose face because of the trivial matter of stealing a woman, Chang Yuchun finally decided that he must have a good talk with his wife this time to temper Lan Yu's temper.
After "dealing with" Lan Yu, Chang Yuchun still had to comfort the frightened people.
Chang Yuchun fished out a silver ingot. The young lady who was nearly robbed did not take Chang Yuchun's silver ingot, but crawled in front of Chen Wenzheng and kowtowed several times, then crawled in front of Chen Biao and kowtowed several times.
Chen Biao sighed. Even though he called himself a sophisticated egoist, he couldn't bear it, so he patted Li Shanchang's arm.
Li Shanchang put Chen Biao on the ground. Chen Biao looked up at the young lady and said, "The Chen family has opened a cloth workshop in the east of Yingtian and is looking for female workers. Introduce me as your cousin... or just give me your name. Say that the young master of the Chen family, Chen Biao, asked you to come. The manager will advance you three months' wages, and you can use it to buy medicine for your father."
The young lady's eyes widened in surprise, and then tears welled up in her eyes.
She quickly wiped away her tears and kowtowed to Chen Biao again.
The young lady's old father, who was kicked several times by Lan Yu, also struggled to crawl over and kowtowed to Chen Biao.
Chen Biao hurriedly tried to help the old man up, but... he couldn't.
The young lady burst into laughter and helped her father up. After bidding farewell to Chen Biao, the father and daughter walked towards the east of the city without looking back.
After the father and daughter left, Li Shanchang asked, "Were they originally performing here?"
Chen Biao nodded. "They're so poor they can't even survive, yet they still want to protect their little remaining dignity. This kind of person must be ridiculous in the eyes of the rich, but the uncles and aunts will definitely understand."
Zheng Yuchun smiled and said, "Of course, we've all been through hardship. Biao'er, Da...Brother Chen has taught you so well."
Chen Biao rolled his eyes in front of all his uncles and aunts.
He taught me shit.
The Huaixi generals understood the criticism of their commander in Chen Biaobai's eyes and burst into laughter.
Chang Yuchun looked down at the silver in his hand and felt it was a little hot.
Before he became a bandit, he was also an old farmer working in the fields. Who hasn't suffered?
Chen Biao looked at Chang Yuchun's embarrassed expression and remembered his status in Zhu Dashuai's army. In order not to make enemies for his father, he walked over to Chang Yuchun and pulled the hem of his clothes.
"General Chang... General Chang, silver, silver." Chang Yuchun was still stunned. Chen Biao had no choice but to stand on tiptoe and grab the silver ingot that Chang Yuchun was holding tightly with his small fleshy hands. "The doctor's fee and the three months' advance salary will be paid from General Chang's silver. Then General Chang will not feel guilty."
Chang Yuchun was still stunned.
Li Shanchang frowned and coughed dryly: "Chang Yuchun, why are you holding on to the silver so tightly? Let go!"
Chang Yuchun quickly let go.
Chen Biao looked at Chang Yuchun speechlessly and put the silver ingot into his arms.
Why does this now-famous ever-victorious general, Chang Shiwan, look so foolish? Even after Uncle Li reminded you of the way out, you didn't know how to proceed.
Chen Biao touched the silver ingot in his arms and added, "I will tell my parents to keep a record of every expenditure and send it to General Chang. The Chen family will definitely not covet General Chang's money."
Li Shanchang and the Huaixi generals around him who knew the news all had strange smiles on their faces.
Let the Marshal and his wife keep the accounts and send them to Chang Yuchun?
Okay , that’s great.
Although they have recognized Chang Yuchun, a fierce general who joined in the middle of the journey, even if they were brothers who grew up wearing the same pants, they would be happy to see each other suffer misfortune, let alone a brother who joined in the middle of the journey?
Seeing his brother in trouble and laughing out loud is a symbol of their brotherhood.
Chen Wenzheng walked over, rubbing the bruises on his face, and said with a grin, "That kid named Lan Yu is quite skilled. Why doesn't he use the right path?"
Li Shanchang noted the list of Chang Yuchun's achievements: "Lan Yu was a formidable warrior and achieved many feats. Perhaps he was too idle after returning. Alas, I told the commander-in-chief that I wanted to open an academy in Yingtian for the generals' children to teach them how to read and behave. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a suitable teacher."
When Li Shanchang thought of the literati who had left, he gasped with heartache.
Chen Wenzhen gave a wicked smile, picked up Chen Biao, and held him high above his head: "Sir? Look here, look here, Brother Biao can do it!"
Chen Biao narrowed his big eyes into Tuzki eyes and stepped hard on Chen Wenzhen's face.
Bullshit!
Chen Biao had thought that a mature and rational person like Li Shanchang would definitely rebuke Chen Wenzheng's unreasonable behavior. Unexpectedly, Li Shanchang actually showed a thoughtful and hesitant expression.
What was even more unexpected was that several Huaixi generals behind Li Shanchang all started to make a fuss.
"Okay, okay, let Biaoer teach you!"
"Biao'er wants to teach our brat a lesson? No problem, no problem. He's no better than the guy in my house who's not even a scholar!"
"Why didn't I think of that?"
"Brother Chen definitely won't agree to tire Biao'er out."
"Then while Boss Chen is away, let's... eh? Hehe."
"If you guys are conspiring here now, be careful that Boss Chen comes back and beats you up!"
"But if Mr. Li agrees, I'm afraid..."
Several Huaixi generals looked at Li Shanchang with sharp eyes.
Li Shanchang stroked his beautiful beard and nodded slightly: "It's just some basic teaching of reading and punctuation. Biao'er's knowledge is indeed sufficient."
Chen Biao screamed: "What a joke! I'm only five years old!"
Li Shanchang sighed, "Biao'er, you've seen it too. The Marshal and your uncles are often away fighting. The young ones at home have no one to teach them, and they often get into trouble. If we wait until the world is pacified to teach them, it will be too late. You should teach them some principles first, and don't let them be idle. Uncle Li will continue to look for a teacher outside, and when he finds one, he will replace you."
Chen Wenzheng, whose face was stepped on by Chen Biao, said: "Yes!"
Chen Biao started stomping his feet in front of Chen Wenzheng's face, his voice rising to the level of a later internet celebrity toy called a screaming chicken: "Bullshit! I'm only five years old!"
…
When Chang Yuchun and Li Shanchang arrived, many of the people who were watching the fight dispersed for fear of getting into trouble, with only a small number of people hiding in the restaurants and teahouses on both sides to watch.
Among them, there were three literati in the restaurant and four literati in the teahouse. After watching this farce, they all looked thoughtful.
