The farmer answered Zhu Yuanzhang like this. He said that the straw is divided into three sections, while the wheat straw is divided into four sections. This is the difference between them. Because the farmer knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was a poor farmer, he knew a lot about farming, so he couldn't fool Zhu Yuanzhang. If you fool Zhu Yuanzhang, you will be killed. Because Zhu Yuanzhang likes people who seek truth from facts and hates people who cheat and play tricks, the farmer will answer Zhu Yuanzhang truthfully. This was also appreciated by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang not only asked the farmer such a question, but then Zhu Yuanzhang asked other questions. For example, after Zhu Yuanzhang asked the difference between rice straw and wheat straw, he also asked why there was such a difference between rice straw and wheat straw. But the farmer also answered Zhu Yuanzhang truthfully. The farmer told Zhu Yuanzhang that rice is sown in spring and harvested in autumn, and there are three seasons in all, so the rice stalk has three sections. On the other hand, wheat is sown in autumn and will not be harvested until next summer. It needs to go through four seasons: autumn, winter, spring and summer, so the wheat straw is divided into four sections. And after answering, Zhu Yuanzhang also appreciated the farmer's honesty and promoted him to a senior official.

It can be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang is very concerned about the daily life of ordinary people, because Zhu Yuanzhang was born in poverty, and he knew that once the life of ordinary people was unsatisfactory, it would bring great threats to the rulers. What ordinary people want is a stable life and food and clothing. So after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he adopted a strategy of recuperation for the people, which made the economy of the Ming Dynasty recover rapidly.

Zhu Yuanzhang can be said to be very strict in dealing with some corruption problems, but very tolerant in treating ordinary people, which is inseparable from Zhu Yuanzhang's poor birth.