Rise From the Humble

Zhu Ping'an looked at the smoke from the Japanese pirate camp and the messy camp, estimated the time, turned around and bowed his hands to Magistrate Shang with a serious face, "Master Shang, I have to trouble you with something next."

"Zihou, why should you be polite to me? You are now the commander-in-chief of the city defense. If you have anything to do, please feel free to ask me." Magistrate Shang replied with a smile.

"Master Shang, then I'm not polite. In the next half hour, I also ask Magistrate Shang to recruit as many mules and horses as possible in the city. The more the better." Zhu Pingan was not polite and said to Magistrate Shang.

"No problem, I will take care of this matter, and I will not let Zihou down." Magistrate Shang immediately agreed, and then asked Zhu Ping'an doubtfully, "But why does Zihou want me to help recruit mules and horses? "

"If you want to replenish the horses lost in the Battle of the City Gate, Zihou doesn't have to worry. After this battle, I will spend a lot of money to purchase a group of horses for Zihou that are far superior in quantity and quality to today."

Magistrate Shang said to himself before waiting for Zhu Ping'an's answer.

He thought that Zhu Pingan asked him to recruit mules and horses to supplement the mules and horses lost by the Zhejiang army. After all, the Zhejiang army lost all the mules and horses under its command during the fierce battle in front of the city gate.

However, the number of mules and horses that can be collected in the city is limited, and the mules and horses collected from the common people during the war have to be returned to the common people after the war.

"Sir Shang, I am not here to replenish the mules and horses lost in the Battle of City Gate, but because when the Japanese pirates retreat, I will take the Zhejiang army on mules and horses to see them off, and give them a big gift by the way."

Zhu Pingan smiled slightly and replied meaningfully.

Hearing Zhu Ping'an say that he wanted to leave the city, Magistrate Shang immediately became nervous and his face turned pale with fright. He repeatedly waved his hands to dissuade him and said, "Zihou, no, you must not leave the city easily! We will defend the city. We can stand in the city." It is an invincible place; it is extremely dangerous outside the city. The Japanese pirates are fierce, they have many soldiers and horses, and they are good at fighting in the field. The man named Wang can learn from their mistakes."

"Lord Shang, don't worry. It's one moment and the other. When the Japanese pirates pretended to be defeated, I warned them repeatedly not to go out of the city to pursue the Japanese pirates. But that's not the case now. The Japanese pirates are really defeated and really want to retreat. Besides, Wang Jie and I don't agree. Likewise, I will not move lightly without complete assurance. On this trip, I only led half of the Zhejiang army out of the city. After I left the city, Mr. Shang just closed the city gate tightly. The city of Suzhou is still as stable as Mount Tai; I have mules and horses. I have it in my hand, and I can go as far as I want outside the city. No matter how ferocious the Japanese pirates are, no matter how good they are at fighting in the field, if they can't catch up with me, they can do nothing to me."

Seeing Magistrate Shang's nervous look, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile and assured Magistrate Shang confidently.

"Uh" Magistrate Shang was still hesitating.

"Master Shang said that I am the commander-in-chief of the city defense, but is it a joke?" Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly.

"How could it be possible? Zihou's goods are genuine, Commander-in-Chief. I will arrange for people to recruit mules and horses. I will not let Zihou down."

Magistrate Shang responded quickly.

After saying that, the magistrate Shang summoned his subordinate officials and arranged them one by one, asking them to quickly go to every yamen, every workshop, every street, every government, and every household to collect all the mules and horses that could be collected, and half of them must be collected. The collection should be in place within an hour, and there should be no mistakes.

"The mules and horses of each government office must be forcibly requisitioned in the name of the official; the mules and horses of the private sector must be explained clearly, compensated in the name of the government, and promised to be returned after the war. If the mules and horses are damaged, they will be compensated according to the market price."

Before the officials left, the prefect Shang repeatedly warned them.

"Dadao, you go have breakfast quickly, then take a good rest and recharge your batteries. In about half an hour, we will go see the Japanese pirates off and give them the gifts we have prepared so that they will never forget it."

Zhu Pingan patted Liu Dadao and the others on their shoulders and said to them.

"Young master, why bother you? It's too embarrassing for the Japanese pirates. We can just go and see them off. Make sure you bring the gift. You and Master Shang can wait for us in the city." Liu Dadao, Liu Mu and others persuaded. .

"There is no need to persuade anymore. Giving gifts is not that easy. Giving gifts is an art. You have to make them unable to refuse. I have to follow you personally to feel at ease. Or are you not confident that you can't protect me?"

Zhu Pingan looked at Liu Dadao and Liu Mu with a smile, deliberately irritating the general.

"Of course we are confident that we can protect the young master. With us here, we can guarantee that the Japanese pirates will not be able to harm the young master."

Liu Dadao slapped his chest loudly.

"That's it, let's go eat quickly and have a good rest after dinner." Zhu Pingan patted their shoulders.

Zhu Pingan inspected the area. Except for the soldiers on duty, the rest of the soldiers were sitting on the ground and enjoying breakfast.

Zhu Ping'an casually found a group of soldiers gathering for dinner, found an open space, sat on the ground with them, picked up a bowl of hot rice porridge, stuck two flower rolls in his chopsticks, and put a large bowl of pot dishes and a stack of cold side dishes into his hands. He casually placed it on the ground, knocked the hard-boiled egg on the ground, and chatted with the soldiers while peeling off the egg skin.

The officers and soldiers of the Zhejiang Army had become accustomed to this, but other defenders on the city wall found it too strange.

Zhu Ping'an was such a big official, a fourth-rank official appointed by the imperial court, and the commander-in-chief of the city defense. Even the prefect Shang listened to him and actually sat on the floor with them and ate the same meal. Even the big bowl of food was because of the cooking Because it was late, the big bowl of food was full of leftovers, which was not as rich as what they had in their bowls.

However, Mr. Zhu did not dislike it at all. He ate very deliciously and even smashed the eggs on the ground to peel them off. He sat on the ground and chatted with them about their family affairs.

He even told them a dirty joke, about a butcher who went to a flower house and forgot to bring his silver. The old madam asked Mr. Turtle to follow him home to get it. The butcher's wife asked, why did he need five taels of silver? ! The butcher said that they had caught him pouring water into the meat, and if he refused to pay compensation, he would report it to the officials, and the butcher's wife gave him money.

There was a sudden burst of laughter and laughter on the city wall. The soldiers were no longer afraid of Zhu Pingan, and the atmosphere became more harmonious.

"Master Zhu is too down-to-earth and approachable."

The defenders on the city wall were deeply moved. They couldn't help but envy their colleagues from the Zhejiang Army around them. Mr. Zhu was brave, resourceful, responsible, and approachable. It was a very happy thing to serve as a soldier under Mr. Zhu.

After breakfast, the officials sent by the Shang Prefecture to recruit mules and horses came back one after another, but not many mules and horses were collected.

Hundreds of officials were dispatched to collect mules and horses throughout the city, but only less than 500 mules and horses were collected.

"But the people are not cooperating. Is it because the money given is not enough?" Magistrate Shang asked displeasedly.

"The people are very cooperative."

"Sir, when I heard that it was used to fight Japanese pirates, the people were very cooperative. Many people even asked for no money, no matter how much they were given. They just secretly stuffed it behind their thresholds with low-level jobs, and only told them when they were far away."

All the officials replied one after another.

"Why is that?" Magistrate Shang asked displeasedly.

The officials explained: "Sir, there are not many mules and horses among the people. Our Jiangnan is not suitable for raising horses. The people who own mules and horses in the city are only a few big families. The small families in the city cannot raise horses. There are a little more in the countryside." Some, these are the only mules and horses in the city, but there are still two to three hundred donkeys, but these donkeys are all used to pull carts and grinders and have never been ridden. If you want to ride, you need to train for at least ten days and a half. OK"

"This is too little, less than five hundred horses." Magistrate Shang frowned, how to explain to Zihou.

"Sir, there are actually some horses," an official whispered.

"Where are the others? Why don't you hurry up and recruit them! When is it, why don't you hurry up and tell us." Magistrate Shang said displeased.

"The garrison in our city still has about three to four hundred horses," the subordinate officer replied in a low voice.

"What's the use of their horses? Take my token and recruit all their horses. Tell them that this is a military order. If they violate it, they will be severely punished!" Magistrate Shang took off the token from his waist and immediately road.

"No." The subordinate officer took the order and left.