Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 8 Joining Lao Zhu’s team

"My parents have worked hard all their lives. In summer, we would wait until thunderstorms to get water for the fields. Sometimes we would even go there in the middle of the night. In winter, we would often stay in the snow for three to five days in order to deliver winter sacrifices to the rich man. To catch a wild animal."

"Not to mention that men like our eldest brother and second brother are so tired from farming day and night that they can't even straighten their backs. Let's just say that our sister-in-law, that is, the donkey's mother, gave birth to a donkey in the field when she was a child. She didn't dare to look for it. Wen Po didn’t even take a confinement period, she cut the umbilical cord after giving birth and continued working, and our second sister-in-law also had to go to the fields to plant rice when she was pregnant.”

"Ashiba actually suspected that they starved to death because they didn't work hard!"

"What kind of heart of stone do you have to ask such a stupid question?"

"If you hadn't been kind to my sister-in-law and donkey'er, we would have killed you right now!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was really angry, and he directly grabbed Zhang Cheng's lapel in his hand, and raised Zhang Cheng in front of him, gnashing his teeth and accusing him, with tears in his eyes.

"Master, calm down."

"I'm just joking, I don't really think so."

"I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have questioned the hard work of your father, your brother, your sister-in-law, etc. like this."

Zhang Cheng saw that he had really touched Zhu Yuanzhang's sore spot, and he felt the same way when he said this for the first time, so he understood why Zhu Yuanzhang broke his guard. After Zhu Yuanzhang let go of him, he bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and took the initiative to say goodbye. Sorry.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked a little better now, but he still said angrily: "There can be no joking! Everything you wear and eat is not made by people like them. How can you have the nerve to say so about people who provide you with food and clothing?"

"Yes!"

"I made a mistake."

Zhang Cheng continued to apologize and echoed: "We Han people have always been the most diligent. We can say that they are short-sighted, ignorant and narrow-minded, but we cannot say that they are lazy and don't work hard."

"We agree with this."

"Not just my family, we have never seen a villager starve to death due to laziness since we were young."

Zhu Yuanzhang agreed with Zhang Cheng's words without hesitation.

Zhu Yuanzhang himself was the youngest son in his family.

It is said that people love Yao'er. As the youngest in the family, Zhu Yuanzhang did receive more love from his parents. After his parents died of starvation, he was taken care of by his brother and sister-in-law for a long time, so he also had great feelings for her brother and sister-in-law. .

Also.

Although he was even more naughty because he was the doted on youngest son in the family and often caused trouble in the countryside, the neighbors were also quite tolerant of him. Even when his parents died of starvation, a wealthy neighbor gave him a land for burial and The straw mat on which the body was wrapped.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang has always been full of affection and trust for the neighborhood life in the form of autonomy and mutual assistance in the countryside, and he also misses it very much.

So much so that he has always been more willing to trust the people in the countryside than the bureaucrats and subordinates.

After he became emperor, he even allowed the elderly in the countryside to participate in many political functions.

Zhu Yuanzhang actually gave these rural people important powers related to the fate of the country, such as tax collection, criminal assessment, and supervision of officials.

This was unimaginable when other emperors were in power, and it can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was simply betraying his own ruling class by doing this.

even.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang believed that it would be better if there were no officials in the countryside, after becoming emperor, he strictly prohibited officials from going to the countryside to disturb the people, and for the first time gave the villagers the power to arrest officials.

of course.

Also because Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to family ties and the emotions between fellow villagers, he was angry because Zhang Cheng questioned whether his family members starved to death because they did not work hard enough, and because Zhang Cheng said that Han people have always been diligent and diligent. Agreed, couldn't help but look high on Zhang Cheng again.

"Young Master, I made a deliberate joke just now because I wanted you to understand that just reestablishing the so-called ethical order will not prevent hard-working people like your father from starving to death."

Zhang Cheng also continued to say something at this time.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded without objection.

then.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked a little ashamed and said: "We know that in an era of peace and order, people will starve to death, but what can we do?"

"All we can do is to reestablish the order of ethics and religion, so that our descendants will be valued by us, and then no longer die of hunger! We cannot do anything to prevent people from starving to death in the world!"

"It's just that I have too high expectations for Yuan Zhang! Yuan Zhang can't afford it."

In fact, Zhang Cheng did habitually demand a post-modern revolutionary from Zhu Yuanzhang, who was just a peasant uprising. Zhu Yuanzhang had obviously realized that Zhang Cheng had too high expectations for him.

"But Young Master, do you really think that after you, the Zhu family, become nobles and can serve as officials for generations like today's Tatar nobles, you won't starve to death?"

Zhang Cheng then asked Zhu Yuanzhang with a sneer.

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent.

Zhu Yuanzhang then said: "Let us think about it again. We can't do it now to ensure that the people will not be hungry or cold for generations to come. We can only promise that we will try our best to end the chaos and bring order to the world, so that the people will not be hungry or hungry even if they are cold." On the contrary, it will not lead to chaos in the world and the collapse of rituals and music."

Zhang Cheng nodded after hearing this, knowing that he really shouldn't ask too much of Zhu Yuanzhang. Instead of talking about ideals, it would be better to talk about treatment, and said:

"In that case, let me get straight to the point. If the master wants me to serve as his staff and serve him, he will give me an annual salary of five hundred taels. I need to give one hundred taels as a base deposit first, and the rest will be paid at the end of the year. I I only agreed on a one-year cooperative relationship with the young master. As for the next year, we can discuss whether the young master wants me to serve again."

Zhang Cheng had no intention of working for Zhu Yuanzhang in vain. He is not so generous that he spends his time following Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country without getting any benefits.

Although he cannot carry bulk cargo between two time spaces, carrying some small items with him in his pockets will not disappear out of thin air after arriving in another time and space.

Therefore, Zhang Cheng planned to follow Zhu Yuanzhang to experience the establishment of a new empire while also making some money by bringing some gold and silver back to increase his own assets.

In any case, the assets purchased in the modern world will not be confiscated even if the emperor of this era wants to confiscate his home.

"Don't you scholars say that a gentleman should be ashamed of his words and profits, and should aspire to the world?"

Zhu Yuanzhang also asked this question in surprise because Zhang Cheng asked for salary. What he meant was that Zhang Cheng, as a scholar, had the nerve to directly ask for salary and negotiate salary.

Zhang Cheng said: "I am not a gentleman. Like the young master, I am a kind but selfish person."

"There are actually scholars who actively refuse to admit that they are gentlemen."

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled, and then said: "If we don't give you a salary for so many years, will you really want to sit back and watch the troubled times exist and let more people starve to death?"

"You just asked us so many questions, don't you hope that I can prevent people all over the world from starving to death in the future?"

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang talked with Zhang Cheng about his ideals.

"Young master can say that in order to maintain the order of ethics and religion in the future, he can sit back and watch people starve to death due to natural and man-made disasters, and not allow them to rebel in the new world. Then why can't I sit back and watch the current troubled times end more slowly because I don't participate? "

"I don't ask you to be great, so why should you ask me to be great?"

"Besides, could it be that because the young master is reluctant to give up the annual salary of five hundred taels, there will be one less person in the world who is willing to help the young master settle the troubled times as soon as possible and save the people from starving to death?"

Zhang Cheng replied directly.

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Of course not. It's just that his actions are surprising. Scholars should not be so profit-oriented."

"Young master is also a well-informed person. He must know that it is better to talk about interests openly than to talk about benevolence, justice and morality while men steal women and prostitute them secretly."

"As the saying goes, a gentleman loves money and acquires it in a proper way. Although I am not a gentleman, I still hope that my property will be acquired in a proper way, instead of not taking away a penny on the surface, but secretly taking bribes and working hard to make money."

After Zhang Cheng answered with a smile, he asked Zhu Yuanzhang: "Do you prefer the latter?"

"Of course not!"

"We are just disappointed. I am disappointed that I am not a real gentleman. Unfortunately, I thought that since I would use precious meat sausages to relieve the hunger of my sister-in-law and my donkey, I must be a moral gentleman with a kind heart and a Bodhisattva heart." Who would have thought that Shi Shi valued money so much that he even expressed his unwillingness to help Yuan Zhang end the troubled times if he didn't get money."

Zhu Yuanzhang replied.

Zhang Cheng clasped his hands behind his back, looked outside and said: "There is no way, people die for money and birds die for food. If I don't have money, how will I support my wife in the future, how will I support myself, and buy property for them so that they will not be hungry for generations to come?" Death? Now that the young master is running to calm down the troubled times, isn't he only thinking about his own family? "

"Too!"

"Yuan Zhang appreciates his honesty, but maybe Yuan Zhang doesn't understand him enough."

"Can you just fold treasure banknotes?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and asked Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng replied: "No! Young Master should know what is happening with Yuan Ting's treasure notes! But it can be converted into gold."

Zhang Cheng wanted to take his salary and return to the 21st World in exchange for money, but he naturally didn't want to take any Yuan Ting treasure notes.

In his opinion, although there is not a lot of silver in China in this era, with Zhu Yuanzhang's current status, he must not worry about not being able to get 500 taels of silver every year. After all, he has already copied a lot of gold and silver from the Yuan Ting government's inventory. .

of course.

Zhang Cheng did not intend to ask for too much at once, which Zhu Yuanzhang could not afford. The annual salary of 500 taels he wanted now was what he thought was a reasonable price based on the current prices and actual conditions.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and handed over to Zhang Cheng: "We agree to your request and ask you to be our counselor for one year with an annual salary of five hundred taels."

Zhang Cheng responded with a salute: "Then please ask the young master to prepare pen and ink, and we will write the deed."

Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly asked people to prepare the Four Treasures of the Study. Since he was still just a manager under Guo Zixing, he did not particularly want to be an emperor in the future, so he had no idea of ​​letting everyone in the world rule for him, so he happily He agreed to all the detailed requirements proposed by Zhang Cheng, wrote the deed himself, and signed and pledged it with Zhang Cheng.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang now lacks literary advisers who do not regard him as a monster and thief but are willing to work for him.

You know, most scholars now still regard Zhu Yuanzhang as a thief, despise him, and will only scold him when they see him.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang is not so repelled by scholars who are willing to cooperate with him because of money. He even wishes that scholars all over the world would respect him more because of money instead of treating him as a thief.

"This method is quite interesting. All selfish motives are put on the surface."

Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang signed the deed and paid a deposit of one hundred taels of silver, he started talking with a smile, and said to Zhang Cheng: "From now on, I will call you to the top, just like our brothers."

"Row!"

Zhang Cheng knew that Zhu Yuanzhang asked him to call him Shangshang, implying that he promised to only treat him as one of his own in the rebel army, just like he regarded him as his own brother and asked himself to call him Shangshang, so he agreed. , and asked Zhu Yuanzhang:
  "I wonder what ministry my superior plans to arrange for me?"

　Thanks to Pineapple Bear for the tip, and Happy New Year!

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)