The effect of Xu Da's arrow was truly terrifying.
Xu Da was a very cautious man. He did not want to be in the spotlight, so he immediately suggested to Zhu Yuanzhang that everyone who could shoot a powerful crossbow should show off.
"As for you, my lord, just wait until we attack Chen Youliang's lair before taking action!" Xu Da looked like a lackey when he gave the advice.
After entering Anqing City, under the leadership of Xu Da, the soldiers stopped calling him "General" and started calling him "Lord" instead.
In the past, they called him Marshal because Zhu Yuanzhang still needed to wear the title of "Grand Marshal" of the Red Turban Army.
Don't they know what the Han Song Little Ming King is? Now Xu Da can blow down the city gate with a single arrow, so why should Zhu Yuanzhang be inferior to the Han Song Little Ming King?
In the 11th year of Zhizheng (1351), Liu Futong and Han Shantong started an uprising in the name of the White Lotus Sect. Han Shantong claimed to be the eighth-generation grandson of Song Huizong and was the first to raise the banner of rebellion.
Han Shantong was arrested and executed by Yuan Dynasty officials because the plan was leaked before he could successfully launch the uprising. However, people in various places rose up in the name of the Red Turban Army, and the uprising swept across the country.
Although various regions rose up under the name of the Red Turban Army, they all operated independently. Liu Futong, persuaded by some of his advisors, using the "Three Kingdoms" narrative about using the emperor to control the princes, sought out Han Shantong's youngest son, Han Lin'er, from Jiahe, Dangshan, and helped him ascend the throne.
Liu Futong thought he could "use the emperor to command the other princes." But he never expected that the Red Turban Rebellion would take his emperor seriously. Even though they pretended to use the Han and Song dynasty's "Dragon and Phoenix" era names and accepted Han and Song dynasty rewards, they didn't contribute. Instead, they watched Han and Song dynasty fight to the death with the Yuan dynasty while Liu Futong took advantage of the situation.
Zhu Yuanzhang is one of them.
What Liu Futong, a rough man, cannot understand is understood by everyone in the world who has read a little.
The emperor Cao Cao held hostage was the legitimate emperor of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty lasted for nearly four hundred years, and the entire Central Plains recognized the Han Dynasty as the legitimate ruler.
As for Han Song, not to mention that everyone knows that Han Lin'er has no relationship with the emperor of the Song Dynasty, even if there is a relationship, the appeal of the Song Dynasty is really weak, and the appeal of Song Huizong... Song Huizong's status among the people is probably lower than that of Song Gaozong, who killed Yue Wangye.
Zhu Yuanzhang and others' willingness to use the Dragon and Phoenix era names had nothing to do with Han Lin'er, but was related to Liu Futong, who was the most powerful Red Turban Army at the time.
It's a pity that Liu Futong himself didn't think it through. Otherwise, he would have declared himself emperor. Even if he would definitely fail in the future, at least he could have enjoyed being emperor for a few years.
Han Lin'er grew up in the mountains. After being found by Liu Futong, Liu Futong never hired a famous teacher to teach him. He was always a confused "child".
He was helped to the throne without knowing it, and was chased and beaten by the Yuan Dynasty army without knowing it. In the end, because he was the "Emperor of the Red Turban Army", whoever ascended the throne would die without knowing it.
Zhu Yuanzhang's generals had long been dissatisfied with being under the command of such a tragic puppet.
Now, can our commander finally become king?
The official position of that big guy can also be mentioned hehehe!
"Right, right, right, my lord! Wait until we fight Chen Youliang!"
"Is Lonely Mountain next? That city is small, I'll take it."
"No, it's such a small place, of course let me come!"
"How about a draw?"
“What if the other side surrenders before the fight even starts?”
When a person said this, others looked at him with eager eyes.
In the past, everyone hoped that the enemy would surrender without a fight during a siege, but now... it's a pessimistic thing!
Zhu Yuanzhang waited until they finished arguing before pushing his sunglasses up and saying, "Let's draw lots first. If you get the option of surrendering a city, then you're unlucky and can just skip it."
The generals cried out, all very nervous.
Xu Da couldn't help but say: "My lord, Biao'er gave you this, this..."
Liu Ji's tone was very much like that of a Yin-Yang master, and he said in a long tone, "Sunglasses."
Xu Da: "Yes, yes, these sunglasses. Sunglasses are for you to block out the strong light, right? What kind of sunglasses do you wear in the tent?"
Liu Ji, who briefly transformed into a Yin-Yang master, said, "Maybe he wants to experience what it feels like to be blind."
Zhu Yuanzhang ignored them and continued pushing his sunglasses.
He just wanted to show off, and when he had shown off enough he would put it away.
Liu Ji was furious when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang in such a mess.
He just couldn't understand why his lord would do something that would completely ruin his image as soon as he showed a bit of the appearance of a heroic leader?
When Liu Ji saw Zhu Yuanzhang riding alone into the city and people on both sides of the avenue shouting "Long live Zhu Yuanzhang", tears blurred his vision.
But Zhu Yuanzhang reined in his horse, turned around and pushed up his sunglasses. His tears seemed to have turned into dogwood oil, almost stinging his eyes.
How could such a good and heroic ruler suddenly become so ridiculous? Liu Ji really wanted to grab Zhu Yuanzhang by the collar and teach him the etiquette of being an emperor from scratch.
Song Lian couldn't help laughing when he saw Liu Ji sulking.
When he saw Zhu Yuanzhang lift his sunglasses slightly and wink at him, he almost couldn't hold back his smile.
Obviously, one of the reasons why Zhu Yuanzhang insisted on wearing sunglasses even in the big tent was to tease Liu Ji.
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't win an argument with Liu Ji, so he always wanted to make up for it by finding some fun elsewhere.
Zhu Yuanzhang was happy whenever he saw Liu Ji angry.
This pair of king and minister probably have a really good relationship.
After conquering Anqing, Zhu Yuanzhang sent an urgent letter to Chang Yuchun, asking him to come quickly to take care of logistics.
Chang Yuchun received an urgent letter from Zhu Yuanzhang and packed his bags with a numb look on his face.
He was used to it now. Whenever Zhu Yuanzhang conquered a city, he would first send him to fight thugs, distribute land, and set up a labor reform camp in the city. Once order was restored, he would send other generals to guard the city.
Although he was tired from the long journey, he often encountered enemies around him during the journey, which at least allowed him to exercise his skills.
Once, in order to scare the people of the next city so that Zhu Yuanzhang would dismiss him from his position, Chang Yuchun deliberately did not change his clothes, but entered the city covered in blood, carrying a severed head.
Who knew that after he entered the city, the people and prisoners of war were outraged. Some literati in the city were not afraid of him and actually came to ask who assassinated him. They wanted to write articles to criticize and kill the forces that attempted to assassinate Chang Yuchun.
How could Chang Yuchun let them make him famous again? Besides, he really didn't know who assassinated him - there were too many forces that tried to assassinate him before, and he couldn't find out after searching for a long time.
Chang Yuchun comforted the scholars with a bitter face, saying that he was very strong and they didn't need to worry. They didn't need to take risks to avenge him. As long as everyone could behave peacefully as a general... and be the lord's subjects, that would be enough.
Yes, Chang Yuchun already knew that Xu Da and the others had changed their address to Zhu Yuanzhang. He was very sad that he had not caught up with the first batch of fresh and hot ones.
He also knew that Xu Da and his men had a new weapon, one that could blow down a city gate with one arrow, which was terrifying. Everyone decided to take turns using it.
When Chang Yuchun heard the news, he really couldn't hold back his tears.
He couldn't help but write a letter to Zhu Yuanzhang. There were a lot of things in the letter, but when Zhu Yuanzhang looked between the lines, he saw that the whole paper was filled with "I want to play too."
Zhu Yuanzhang almost fainted from laughing.
He wrote back to Chang Yuchun, saying that there would definitely be a decisive battle with Chen Youliang in the future, and that he would ask Chang Yuchun to come back and leave him an arrow to "play with".
Only then did Chang Yuchun calm down and stop causing trouble.
After Chang Yuchun arrived in Anqing, he was attacked and besieged as usual. This time, it was from several forces, including people from the Yuan court.
For some reason, they didn't attack openly. They sent out assassins who wore dark night clothes in broad daylight and would commit suicide by biting the poison sac if they caught anyone.
Chang Yuchun finally managed to capture a living person, but that person was ambushed and killed in less than half a day.
When in doubt, ask Mr. Ye. Chang Yuchun scratched his head, wondering where all those assassins came from. Wouldn't it be better to just fight him openly? Why all the detours?
Ye Zheng smiled and said, "Where did they come from? They came from everywhere except our lord. They covered their faces because they didn't want others to know that they sent people to assassinate you. Oh, now General Chang, your reputation for benevolence and virtue is a banner of benevolence and righteousness for our lord. You are like those great Confucian masters in the troubled times. No one dares to kill you openly, and anyone who kills you will be cursed."
Chang Yuchun was puzzled: "Am I so powerful? Uh, even if my reputation is so great, those people are still afraid of such a small reputation? I don't believe it."
Ye Zheng smiled and shook his head. "They probably don't care about their current reputation. The victors are kings and the losers are bandits. If they can become the ultimate victors, naturally someone will embellish their history books. But some things can be embellished, and some can't. Even if it was Emperor Gaozong of Song who killed Prince Yue, he would still be despised for eternity."
Ye Zheng said quietly, " The pen of history is as hard as iron, as sharp as a knife. Unless forced to do so, who would be willing to face it?"
Chang Yuchun's breathing stopped.
Ye Zheng laughed again and said, "General Chang, I thought you knew about this. If you didn't know, why would you deliberately carry a head into the city, claiming you were assassinated by a group of assassins? And then you would always come back from far away without changing armor, covered in blood? Don't you want everyone in the world to know that you were assassinated, and that your reputation for benevolence and righteousness is real?"
Chang Yuchun: "Ah?" He almost said "ga" instead of "ah".
Ye Zheng smiled and bowed, "Even if there may be people in the city who don't believe in your reputation, seeing you break through the siege of the death squad and risk your life to distribute land to the people, what doubts can they have? These death squads are a testament to General Chang's reputation for benevolence!"
In ancient times, some civil officials who had no ability but wanted to leave their names in history wanted to take shortcuts to leave their names in history. They would always "cheat the court stick" and stick their necks out to curse the emperor, get beaten by the emperor, and build their own reputation.
Chang Yuchun’s “court beating” was not obtained through deception.
Chang Yuchun said dejectedly: "I...have made a mess of things?"
Ye Zheng laughed: "General Chang, please don't say this outside. Just listen to me. Who doesn't want to fight for eternal fame? As long as you don't make any mistakes in the future, you will be worshipped by all dynasties in the future. If others hear you say this, you will really get beaten."
Chang Yuchun wanted to say who dared to beat him, who could beat him. In the end, he sighed deeply and said, "Yes, I should cherish my blessings."
Chang Yuchun was not unaware of such benefits, but he was apprehensive about them.
Because he is not a kind and good person!
He was a tyrannical general, but somehow he became a symbol of benevolence. It made my scalp numb!
Chang Yuchun was very smart. He understood that the more solid his reputation for benevolence was, the more severe the backlash he would face if he did something wrong in the future, even if it was just the slightest mistake.
For other generals, a little bit of their arrogance, cruelty and brutality might not even be recorded in history books, and the people would be accustomed to it.
If Chang Yuchun did these things after gaining a reputation for benevolence, he would not be able to withstand the backlash no matter how great his previous achievements were. His lord would surely execute him with tears, and he would be infamous for eternity.
Who can be a good person all his life?
Who can endure his nature for a lifetime?
Chang Yuchun couldn't imagine such a thing.
Ye Zheng pretended not to know the pain and anxiety in Chang Yuchun's heart. He returned to his room, took out the copied heavenly book, and chuckled as he read it.
Chang Yuchun knew that he was trapped.
But Chang Yuchun was already trapped before he knew it. The most outrageous thing he did now was to rush into the city covered in blood. After rushing into the city, he did not forget to comfort the people not to be afraid, and even prevented the people and scholars from dying for him.
Ye Zheng stroked the heavenly book. Is this enlightenment?
It was worth it for him and his students to build momentum for Chang Yuchun.
Although Biaoer wrote the opera about General Chang by accident, the subsequent articles, poems, and plays were all written by him and his students and then sent to Biaoer for polishing.
Otherwise, how would Biaoer know so many details?
Ye Zheng, also known as Ye Zizheng, is a descendant of Mr. Shui Xin of the Yongjia School.
As long as the result meets expectations, why bother about the process?
…
When Chang Yuchun was depressed, many generals under Zhu Yuanzhang were also depressed.
For example, Zhu Yuanzhang's other two childhood friends, Zhou Dexing and Tang He, after hearing about Xu Da's prestige, took advantage of their relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang and changed their route to serve as siege generals, and then went back after having enough fun.
People have different levels of closeness and distance, and Zhu Yuanzhang is no exception.
However, after opening a back door for the two childhood friends and letting them draw lots first, Zhu Yuanzhang also told them that if they were unlucky enough to encounter the defending general surrendering the city, they should leave immediately and not cheat.
Tang He was very lucky and drew Gushan, an important stronghold to be attacked next.
The defenders of Gushan were Xu Shouhui's trusted generals Ding Puluo and Fu Youde. They were very good at fighting and had a very high reputation. They would definitely not surrender the city easily.
Xu Shouhui had four trusted generals under his command, namely Ding Puluo, Fu Youde, Zhao Pusheng and Zou Pusheng.
Zhu Yuanzhang instructed Xu Da to use a strategy of sowing discord between the two factions. Chen Youliang, who was jealous of Zhao Pusheng's achievements, fell into the trap and eliminated Zhao Pusheng. The other three generals still adhered to Chen Youliang, and Zou Pusheng was still Chen Youliang's Grand Tutor.
Tang He thought he was in a safe position, and this time he would definitely be needed to use rockets to blow up the city gate.
Xu Da and Zhou Dexing held his shoulders on the left and right, winking and cursing him for his arrows missing the target, and were chased and beaten by Tang He.
Then Xu Da and Zhou Dexing teamed up to beat Tang He, while Zhu Yuanzhang watched while drinking water from a kettle.
Tang He was furious with Xu Da and Zhou Dexing, and was about to vent his anger on Gushan.
However, they were still a hundred miles away from Gushan when Ding Puluo and Fu Youde came out of the city to meet them.
Fu Youde even bowed down in an exaggerated manner, crying bitterly, and said that after seeing Zhu Yuanzhang, he realized that he had finally "met the true God!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was also very moved and said that the two men could skip labor reform and work for him directly.
Ding Pulu and Fu Youde were truly sincere in their surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang. They took off their armor immediately, saying that the rules could not be changed and that they would not dare to continue wearing armor until they had undergone labor reform under General Chang.
Ding Puluan said bluntly, "Everyone has heard that only those who have undergone General Chang's labor reform can understand the spirit of the Zhu Family Army and be considered to have integrated into the Zhu Family Army. I sincerely want to become a member of the Zhu Family Army, and this process is absolutely necessary!"
Fu Youde patted his chest and said, "My lord, don't worry. My family has been farmers for generations, and I'm an expert at farm work! I'll be able to pass the labor reform soon and serve you!"
Seeing Ding Puluo and Fu Youde's longing looks, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little confused.
Could something have happened that he had overlooked?
Zhu Yuanzhang wrote to Ye Zheng to inquire about the matter, and Ye Zheng quickly replied, telling Zhu Yuanzhang in detail about the "death warriors helping General Chang to enhance his reputation", and wrote in the letter about Chang Yuchun's predicament of being "trapped" by his reputation without hiding anything.
After reading the letter, Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a long time before he laughed and said, "Have you been trapped by your reputation for benevolence? Chang Boren, Chang Boren."
He showed the letter to Liu Ji, Song Lian and the tight-lipped Xu Da.
The three of them didn't know whether to envy or laugh.
Liu Ji couldn't help but sarcastically said, "How could something we desperately want cause General Chang so much pain? Ha."
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Biao'er once said, 'One man's honey is another man's poison.' Chang Boren is a bloodthirsty wolf, yet he is expected to be a compassionate sheep. Who wouldn't feel uncomfortable when their nature is restrained? But after seeing what happened to Boren, I'm even more convinced that the teachings of a saint are indeed effective."
Even someone like Chang Yuchun can be forced to be a good person, let alone others?
The three of them nodded.
Even someone like Chang Yuchun...
Xu Da stroked his chin. "I heard that Chang Yuchun and I were the left and right gate gods, respectively? If he goes down in history, wouldn't I also go down in history together?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was jealous.
After the change of dynasties, he would certainly no longer be worshipped as an emperor, but Xu Da and Chang Yuchun would probably continue to be worshipped by subsequent dynasties.
I'm so angry!
Well, back to the topic. Ding Puluan and Fu Youde surrendered the city, and Tang He burst into tears.
Zhou Dexing grinned. Is it finally my turn to exclude Tang He?
As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang surrendered along the way until he reached Jiangzhou, the capital of the Chen Han Dynasty, without encountering any resistance along the way.
Zhou Dexing and other generals burst into tears, and looked at Xu Da with envy, jealousy and hatred.
Xu Da touched his head, feeling overwhelmed.
I didn't intend to be so prominent. I gave you guys a chance to be famous together, but who knew you all would have such bad luck? Blame me.
Arriving outside Jiangzhou City, Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his crossbow and said, "It's my turn now."
Zhou Dexing and Tang He had already left with dejected faces. The other generals had been making great progress all the way, but they all looked depressed as if they had suffered a defeat.
Xu Da nudged Zhu Yuanzhang with his elbow and whispered, "My lord, I think they all want to follow Feng Guosheng and Hu Dahai to fight, leaving you and me here alone."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed out loud.
…
Mid-Autumn Festival came again, but my parents still hadn't come back. The dog and the cat could crawl and call "brother" now.
Chen Biao sighed as he used a rattle to make his fourth and fifth brothers crawl.
It was heard that the Chen Han capital Jiangzhou had been conquered and Chen Youliang fled to Wuchang. After that, Marshal Zhu continued to accept the surrender of cities along the way, and only two explosive packs were used so far.
Should my parents come back for the Chinese New Year this year?
Chen Biao thought about Chen Han’s territory and shook his head.
Although Jiangdu, the capital of Chen Han, was conquered, Chen Han still held at least half of its territory. If Chen Youliang's current forces were to be concentrated and fight Zhu Yuanzhang with all their strength, he would probably have far more troops than Zhu Yuanzhang.
After Chen Biao understood the reality in his life, he was speechless to find that the Hongwu Emperor, whom he had always thought would have a smooth start and a smooth outcome, was now really weak.
If Chen Youliang had not immediately led his troops to Yingtian after betraying his master and establishing himself as an independent ruler, and had not suffered a setback and lost his prestige, if Chen Youliang had waited until he had completely absorbed Xu Zuhui's forces, he would have been a truly formidable enemy.
Even if Chen Youliang chose the wrong route every time at important links, and even if the Yuan Dynasty had no time to fight Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhang Shicheng could slow down Zhu Yuanzhang's offensive if he attacked him from behind.
When Zhang Shicheng first occupied Suzhou and Hangzhou, he often clashed with Zhu Yuanzhang. Why, after joining the Yuan Dynasty, did he act like a lazy turtle, not taking any action even when he saw an opportunity?
Chen Biao was just contemplating the domestic situation and complaining about Zhu Yuanzhang's opponents when a steward from the Chen family came to report, "Master, it seems spies from some faction have arrived at the refugee food distribution area at the city gate."
Chen Biao was bored, so he threw the rattle onto the bed. Chen Gouer, who was crawling around, pounced on him and pressed the rattle under his belly, claiming it as his own.
Chen Biao first turned Chen Gou'er upside down, then said, "Oh? I'll go take a look."
It is autumn harvest time again, and Yingtian has another bumper harvest this year.
Life in Yingtian was so good that naturally countless refugees poured in. Hua Yun had no time to go to the front lines, as he was overwhelmed with handling miscellaneous affairs.
Yingtian couldn't support so many refugees. Zhu Yuanzhang's territory was indeed short of labor, but it wasn't Yingtian, which was already nearly saturated with people. Huayun needed to repatriate the refugees to other areas of Zhu Yuanzhang's territory.
But after the refugees arrived in Yingtian, they were basically on their last legs. If they were dismissed immediately, they would have no way to survive and it would definitely cause big problems.
Chen Biao proposed an idea in the name of Chen Guorui, with the Chen family taking the lead in using work-for-relief, allowing refugees to build roads, mine, repair city walls, etc., to replace some of the people's corvee labor.
While the refugees were building up their strength, they also earned "work points". Once they had enough work points, they could go to other cities to claim their own land.
In this way, they not only screened out the refugees who were willing to work, but also allowed them to survive as much as possible.
There was chaos and war outside and the people were living in misery, but inside Yingtian City, there was prosperity and peace, similar to the Yuan capital and Zhang Shicheng's Pingjiang City.
Yingtian City is full of wealthy businessmen, and Chen's Restaurant serves delicious meat and dishes every day. The leftovers are mixed together, ground, filtered, boiled and sterilized at high temperature, and wheat bran and rice bran powder are added to make a sticky paste with salt and oil.
These porridges are the refugees' daily food.
When Luo Ben arrived at the outskirts of Yingtian City, he happened to see the Chen family distributing food to refugees.
To be honest, the Chen family's leftovers mixed together and boiling smelled very delicious.
Robben was very surprised. Could it be that Yingtian had so much supplies that the food distributed to the refugees would only be meat porridge?
He curiously asked the person distributing the food, and when he learned how the porridge was made, he couldn't help but blurt out: "Can people eat this?! Isn't this just pig swill?"
When Robben shouted, the expectant expressions on the faces of the refugees who were receiving food froze.
The Chen family steward's face darkened for a moment, but he quickly smiled again and said, "Judging from the gentleman's attire, he must be a great scholar from a wealthy place, right?"
Robben looked at his scholar's robe and frowned, "So what?"
The Chen family's steward smiled and said, "The Chen family only takes fresh leftovers from restaurants each day, grinds them finely, filters them, and simmers them for a few hours at night, ready to be served the next day. This porridge is rich in oil and salt, and is simmered at high temperatures for a long time, so its hygiene and safety are absolutely guaranteed. It's especially nutritious for those who do manual labor. But you're not wrong, sir. Leftovers like this, with meat, vegetables, and fine grains, are fed to pigs, horses, and livestock by wealthy families like you. They definitely wouldn't reach the mouths of refugees."
Robben's face darkened as he heard the sarcasm in the Chen family manager's laughter.
Those who are capable of being in charge are all eloquent and are no worse than those scholars who are good at debating with others.
The Chen family's steward opened his mouth and continued to chatter, "The food provided by the Zhu family army to the refugees has ingredients and cooking methods clearly written down. To prevent the refugees from being illiterate , all of this was explained when they registered for work-for-relief. If you don't believe me, ask them if they know."
Robben looked at the group of refugees. They all looked at him indifferently. The people in the front were still whispering, asking him not to delay their meal.
Robben took a deep breath and said unhappily, "Even if they are refugees, they are still civilians and human beings! How can you humiliate them like this!"
The Chen family steward laughed again. "Sir, how did you insult me by saying that? You think it's insulting because you have enough to eat and won't starve to death. You think this is inedible, which is insulting, isn't it? You're right to think it's inedible. This isn't food for someone like you who won't starve to death."
Robben was furious: "I've heard Zhu Yuanzhang was known for his benevolence, but now it seems he's nothing but a hypocrite!"
Robben roared this out regardless of being in the enemy camp. Before the Zhu family army who were maintaining order around him could move, the refugees had already surrounded him with fierce expressions.
"Shut up! Don't talk about Marshal Zhu like that!"
"What do you know!"
"Beat him to death!"
"Get out! Get out of Yingtian!"...
Looking at the excited refugees, Robben was shocked and angry.
He was speaking for the people, so why did they see him as an enemy?
"Okay, everyone, be quiet. Those who need to eat should eat and don't delay working hours." A clear child's voice sounded, and the refugees suddenly became quiet. Some people even knelt down and kowtowed after hearing the child's voice.
Chen Biao was carried by Hua Yun personally and came to the city gate wearing a mask.
Chen Biao asked Hua Yun to build a refugee camp. The first thing they did after collecting the refugees was to organize them to take a bath and change clothes. The clothes they changed into were all worn-out clothes collected from the city. After being boiled in boiling water, each refugee had only one set.
After that, the refugee camp's garbage and excrement were cleaned and burned daily, and lime water was sprayed on it daily. Refugees were also prohibited from littering or urinating or defecating anywhere, or their work points would be deducted.
Those who deal with collecting clothes, handling garbage, and processing the daily leftovers from restaurants are all refugees, and these are also counted as work points for labor-for-relief.
However, despite some sanitation measures, there are still many refugees carrying germs, so Chen Biao rarely comes to the refugee center. When he comes, he wears a mask and a hood with a veil on his head.
After two layers of protection, although the protective effectiveness of the mask and veil is questionable, Chen Biao has never fallen ill.
The refugees all knew that the idea came from the Chen family, Zhu Yuanzhang's financial backers, and that the child was the Chen family's young master. Chen Biao's refugee policy was too complicated. Zhu Yuanzhang, his pen pal, wrote to Chen Biao specifically, instructing him to personally explain the rules to each batch of refugees as they received their clothes, registered, and prepared to enter the refugee camp.
So as soon as Chen Biao appeared, the refugees quieted down.
Chen Biao looked at the scholar who was still angry, pulled Hua Yun's beard, and asked Hua Yun to let him down.
Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation for benevolence among the people spread, but scholars were still very hesitant and did not dare to surrender easily. At most, they would flee to a city that Zhu Yuanzhang was about to capture, then pretend to be arrested and sent to a labor camp, where they were "forced" to serve under Zhu Yuanzhang.
Therefore, there was no shortage of literati officials in the cities occupied by Zhu Yuanzhang, but Yingtian still lacked literati.
A scholar who dares to wear a scholar's long gown, ride a valuable horse, and has a sword-wielding guard behind him, if he is not an envoy sent by other forces, must be a famous and talented strategist who is very confident in himself and wants to inspect Zhu Yuanzhang's territory and decide whether to join Zhu Yuanzhang.
No matter which one, Chen Biao, as Zhu Yuanzhang's minister and pen pal, could not offend him.
Chen Biao listened to the tale of the Chen family steward, who was furious and in charge of distributing food to the refugees, and felt helpless. "Uncle Qian, you have such a bad temper... Can't you explain everything to this gentleman clearly from beginning to end? Why do you have to be so sarcastic?"
Manager Qian lowered his head and said, "I know I was wrong."
Hua Yun hurriedly said, "Well, he's not wrong. Besides, it's impossible for him not to be angry when he sees someone insulting the master. Biao'er, stop cursing."
Chen Biao was speechless.
Uncle Hua seems to have a gruff temper like the black-faced Zhang Fei and Li Kui, but he loves to smooth things over in front of him. Is this the ability of Marshal Zhu's first captain of the personal guard?
Chen Biao said: "Okay, you continue to distribute the food."
Then, Chen Biao turned to Robben and said, "Sir, could you please stay for a while and not interrupt their meal? They are all hungry. I will explain this matter to you in detail. Although I have my reasons, it is understandable that you do not accept them."
Chen Biao made a gesture of invitation.
Robben looked at the refugees who were still glaring at him, feeling very uncomfortable. He stiffened his neck and said, "Okay, I'll see what reason you have to humiliate them."
A refugee: "Bah!"
Robben: “…”
Chen Biao: "...Let's go. Everyone, enjoy your meal and don't worry... Hey, stop kneeling and get up."
Chen Biao pulled Robben's robe corner in a familiar manner and pulled Robben aside.
Robben frowned: "How can you be so rude, kid!"
Chen Biao's expression froze, and he immediately bowed: "Sorry, sorry, I'm used to playing around with my husband at home, and I didn't come back to my senses for a moment."
Hua Yun picked up Chen Biao and scolded him, "Biaoer was afraid that you would be beaten by the refugees, so he protected you and hurried you away. It would be fine if you didn't appreciate it, but why are you still scolding me! Do you have any shame to insult such a young child?"
Chen Biao immediately said, "Uncle Hua, don't be like this, he didn't scold me, let alone insult me!"
Hua Yun cursed, "Bullshit! He's so loud! He's just scolding you!"
Chen Biao: "Really not. Oh, Uncle Hua, don't be angry, don't be angry, take a deep breath, take a deep breath."
Hua Yun gritted his teeth hard, and his eyes looked as if he wanted to bite off a piece of flesh from Luo Ben.
Robben, who is well-informed, was actually frightened by Hua Yun.
However, while he was frightened, a very inappropriate thought flashed through Robben's mind.
The teacher was writing "Water Margin" and was looking for material for the role of Li Kui. He was a little unsure about how fierce this fierce, black-faced man who could stare people to death could be.
This person seems to be quite suitable to be the prototype of Li Kui?
After Chen Biao's repeated persuasion, Hua Yun finally did not cause trouble to Robben immediately.
He just hugged Chen Biao tightly and stared at Robben vigilantly, as if Robben was a human trafficker who was going to steal the child.
Robben came back to his senses from collecting materials and felt extremely depressed.
What kind of bad luck has he had today? Why is he always being inexplicably hated by people in inexplicable places?
The place Chen Biao took Robben to was where the Zhu family army squad, assigned to maintain order among the refugees, rested in batches. There was boiled tea and dry food to fill their stomachs, including some delicious dried meat.
Chen Biao asked someone to bring some tea and dried meat. Regardless of whether Robben and his guards ate them or not, he was already showing his hospitality.
Perhaps it was the tea that soothed Robben's anger that finally calmed down, and he was willing to listen to Chen Biao's excuses.
Chen Biao is not quibbling.
Chen Biao asked, "Work-for-relief is recorded in the 'Spring and Autumn Annals of Yan Zi.' During the reign of King Jing of Qi, Yan Zi petitioned the king for disaster relief, but he refused. Yan Zi then proposed building a road and sleeping platform, using starving people as laborers. After three years of construction, the relief effort was finally completed. Since work-for-relief has existed since ancient times, why is it so rarely used during disaster relief?"
Robben frowned and couldn't answer.
He was certainly well-versed in Yanzi's Spring and Autumn Annals, and he had read about the "work-for-relief" policy, but his expertise lay not in domestic affairs but in military power and the broader situation. As the saying goes, each profession has its own specialization, and he had not previously considered these issues.
Seeing that Robben couldn't answer, Hua Yun immediately sarcastically said, "What great scholar? You don't know what a plain old man like me knows? Let me tell you why it's impossible! If you use work-for-relief as a means of relief, then even those who are not disaster victims will come to grab a bite of food. If you ask them to do heavy work, huh, even if they can hold a chopstick in porridge, how much heavy work can they do? To do heavy work, they need salt and oil to sustain them."
Hua Yun held Chen Biao tightly with one hand and pointed at the refugees in the distance with the other: "When they came to Yingtian, they were only breathing their last breath. If they don't eat well and are forced to do heavy work, they will definitely die immediately. But which family can afford to provide so much food?"
Hua Yun talked a lot, leaving Robben confused.
Chen Biao sighed, tugged at Hua Yun's beard to silence him, and explained succinctly, "Refugees are being offered work-for-relief. They need to be well-fed, or their lives will be taken. The Yuan court also intended to provide work-for-relief when they built the dike, but the result was more work than food , and the people died of exhaustion and starvation."
"But if the work is a little lighter, or there's too much food, there's another problem. The imperial court has limited disaster relief supplies, and disaster relief is to provide food for those who can't survive. As long as you're not starving to death, even if you have to eat bran every meal, you shouldn't try to steal food from those who are providing disaster relief. But during disaster relief, it's difficult to tell whether someone is a genuine victim or not."
Chen Biao took out a piece of dried meat from the plate.
That's all the dried meat. Using work-for-relief sounds easy, but without good coordination, it's better to just distribute porridge, which costs less money and grain.
Officials were even less willing to accept work-for-relief, as they could devour 70% or even 90% of the relief money and grain distributed by the court, and the rest would be made into porridge with water. After drinking the porridge, the victims would go back to lie down and save energy, thus neither starving to death nor causing trouble.
Even if the victims starved to death, they died gradually from weakness and had no strength to cause trouble when they died.
Work-for-relief programs brought disaster victims together, and withholding their money and food made it particularly easy for them to cause unrest. Even if the court saw the benefits of work-for-relief programs, officials would likely mess things up.
Furthermore, times of chaos provide a golden opportunity for wealthy families to recruit refugees and develop their own wealth. If the imperial court had a change of heart and properly implemented work-for-relief programs, the wealthy families would be left without a source of free laborers and servants. Therefore, the wealthy families would ally with officials to thwart this.
For the above reasons, the imperial court was very cautious when using work-for-relief.
After listening to Chen Biao's cruel revelation of the secret of "work-for-relief", Robben turned pale.
Chen Biao whispered, "Sir, you treat refugees as human beings, which shows that you are a good person. But these refugees who are about to starve to death are not really human beings. Only when there is no pressure to survive can they act like human beings."
"The Marshal's territory is in ruins and lacks labor. Work-for-relief is indeed the best solution. It can not only reduce the burden of labor on the people, but also allow the refugees to eat well and recuperate in Yingtian before they can be evacuated to other places to reclaim wasteland."
"The refugees are already frail. Without adequate salt, oil, and water, they can't work. But if we provide them with food that's rich in salt and oil, what will the people under Marshal Zhu think? What will the soldiers under Marshal Zhu think? What will the refugees do if they can't eat such good food after they stop being refugees themselves?"
Chen Biao sighed softly.
He thought about it for a long time before coming up with this idea.
No matter how chaotic the world is, wealthy people still eat out every day, and restaurants have a lot of leftovers every day. These leftovers are indeed mostly used as swill to feed livestock.
In modern society, professional pig farms are no longer allowed to use泔水.
Because by the time they collect the swill, it's often been several days old and the food has already become moldy; it hasn't been processed at high temperatures, so it contains bacteria or parasites; some swill contains a lot of garbage and even glass fragments, which can scratch the pig's esophagus...
But the "swill" provided by the Chen family themselves can eliminate these problems.
Fresh leftovers every day will not have any quality problems. After being ground and filtered, they will not scratch the esophagus and make nutrients easier to absorb. Boiling at high temperature for a few hours can kill all viruses and parasites...
This kind of disaster relief food is nutritious, but it is embarrassing to eat.
The Chen family kept publicizing the origin of the relief grain. Any refugee with a little self-respect would rather eat the coarse grain cakes they bought than drink the relief grain.
This is just like many poor people who are unwilling to become beggars as long as they have something to eat.
In order to make the refugees more "resistant" to the relief food as much as possible, Chen Biao also put a lot of bran and a small amount of fishy animal offal fragments in it, trying to make the relief food taste as strange as possible.
After the relief food was prepared, Chen Biao took a bite and almost vomited because of the smell.
Hua Yun swallowed it with difficulty, but was also amazed by the strange taste.
Chen Biao asked, "Sir, do you know Guanyin soil?"
Robben looked a little dazed: "I know."
Chen Biao said: "Eating Guanyin soil can make you feel full, but eating too much can kill you. However, a good official with experience in disaster relief will publicly add a small amount of Guanyin soil to the porridge for disaster relief."
After hearing what Chen Biao said, Robben couldn't help but take a few deep breaths, and then his shoulders collapsed as if they were weighed down by a heavy burden.
Seeing that Robben listened to his words and did not stick to his own ideas and continue to argue with him, Chen Biao had a much better impression of Robben.
He bowed again and said, "If you are no longer angry, you can continue to observe the effectiveness of the disaster relief efforts in Yingtian City. Our disaster relief methods are all written on the notice board at the city gate. If you have any questions, you can directly ask the soldiers and the Chen family stewards. They will surely tell you everything."
Robben was puzzled: "Why? Isn't this the way your Zhu family wins people's hearts? Why would you show it to others so easily?"
Chen Biao immediately said, "My name is Chen Biao, and I belong to the Chen family, not the Zhu family. Sir, please forgive me. Marshal Zhu said that this method can save more lives and allow wealthy families to contribute to disaster relief. If more people can learn it and save more lives, that would be great."
Hua Yun finally found a chance to interrupt, "General... the Lord also said that asking the rich and powerful to contribute some money and food to help the refugees is like asking them to die. But using their leftovers is quite appropriate. Tsk tsk, it's clearly a time of chaos, and there are so many wealthy merchants and gentry here. The leftovers from the Chen Family Restaurant alone are enough to feed most of the refugees."
Adding some bran and offal provided by Zhu's army, the Chen family was able to provide the refugees with food every day. Other restaurants also wanted to show their face, but the Chen family did not give them a chance.
Because Chen Biao couldn't guarantee that other restaurants wouldn't add anything to the leftovers, causing problems for the refugees. If a good thing turned into a disaster, the blame would fall on Zhu Dashuai's father, Chen Guorui, who had given the advice.
Robben's eyes flashed, and then he stood up suddenly and bowed deeply to Chen Biao. "My name is Robben, and I am an envoy from Lord Zhang Shicheng. I would like to apologize to Marshal Zhu and the Chen family for the misunderstanding just now. You are indeed kind people."
Hua Yun also stood up suddenly, holding Chen Biao and taking a few steps back: "Zhang Shicheng's men?! What are you doing here!"
Chen Biao was speechless: "Uncle Hua, didn't Mr. Luo say that? He's here as an envoy. Don't be like this. Zhang Shicheng and we are not completely hostile yet. Don't make things difficult for his envoy. Instead, you should treat him well to show our lord's tolerance."
Hua Yun's face fell in an instant: "Ah? He scolded you, and I still have to treat him well?"
Chen Biao didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I already said he didn't scold me. And Mr. Luo also apologized."
Hua Yun still looked dissatisfied: "Humph."
Chen Biao raised his voice: "Uncle Hua!"
Hua Yun pouted childishly, put Chen Biao on the ground, and stood in front of him to protect him. He clasped his fists and said to Luo Ben, "I am Hua Yun, the general guarding Yingtian under the command of Lord Zhu Yuanzhang. My courtesy name is Shize. Mr. Luo, you can just call me Shize. Since Mr. Luo is an envoy from Lord Zhang, please follow me into the city. I will treat you well!"
Luo Ben glanced at the child peeking behind Hua Yun, then bowed again magnanimously, not taking Hua Yun's attitude to heart. He introduced himself again: "My name is Luo Ben, and my courtesy name is Guanzhong. General Hua, there is no need to be so polite. Just call me Luo Guanzhong."
After the misunderstanding was cleared up, Robben calmed down.
If he had a bad temper, he would have been beheaded by the Yuan Dynasty emperor and his ministers in Yuan Dadu.
Chen Biao, who was peeking around, suddenly widened his eyes.
Luo, Luo what?!