The rise of the poor

Chapter 1988: Taishan Arrives
Zhu Ping'an escorted the Zhejiang Provincial Governor, the Chief Censor, and the Commander-in-Chief out of the yamen and watched them leave.

When meeting them, Zhu Ping'an also gave enough face to his old leader, Lord Zhang, and thanked him for his care in words, which made Lord Zhang blush and made the Zhejiang Governor and the Commander-in-Chief envious.

After being demoted, Zhu Ping'an had been watching Zhejiang and became very familiar with the city. Through in-depth conversations with the three people, he got to know Zhejiang even better.

The current situation in Zhejiang is extremely grim, and the Japanese invasion is extremely serious, much more serious than that in Southern Zhili.

The big Japanese pirate Wang Zhi was the main culprit for the serious situation in Zhejiang and the serious Japanese invasion in Zhejiang.

At the beginning, Wang Zhi had high hopes for the imperial court and fantasized that the imperial court would agree to his request for "trade". On the premise that the local government tacitly approved the private market, Wang Zhi had been trying to control the Japanese pirates under his command (although he could not completely control them). He also pacified (swallowed) several groups of Japanese pirates such as Chen Sipan who were burning, killing and looting in Zhejiang. The situation of Japanese invasion in Zhejiang was relatively controllable.

However, now that Wang Zhi's fantasy of trade has been shattered, he has torn off his disguise. From trying to control his subordinates, he has now driven the Japanese pirates under his command to attack everywhere, burning, killing and looting all over Zhejiang, trying to force the court to surrender and agree to his request for trade through the threat of force.

The Japanese invasion in Zhejiang was out of control.

The number of Japanese pirates under Wang Zhi's command was far greater than that of Xu Hai. They included local Chinese bandits, Japanese samurai ronin, red-haired foreign musketeers, etc. There were as many as 100,000 Japanese pirates directly under his command or under his control.

Now, Wang Zhi occupied Zhoushan Ligang as his nest. He had more than 300 large Japanese ships under his command, not to mention several giant ships he had built, with a length of 120 steps, which could accommodate 2,000 people and could accommodate horses.

In both naval and land battles, the strength is at the level of a behemoth.

The undisputed king of the sea.

Not only that, Wang Zhi also had a base in the Five Islands of Japan, which was almost equivalent to a daimyo in Japan.

As for the garrisons in various parts of Zhejiang, they were old, weak, sick and inadequately trained. Whenever they encountered the Japanese pirates under Wang Zhi, they were defeated and could only rely on the city walls to hold on. Smaller county towns were often breached by the Japanese pirates, and even the provincial capital was breached by them. It was just not like Jiaxing, which was only occupied by the Japanese pirates for a period of time.

The Japanese pirates under Wang Zhi's command broke through Jinhua Prefecture some time ago, burned, killed and looted, and then retreated.

Speaking of Jiaxing, Jiaxing is also one of the eleven prefectures in Zhejiang. It was attacked and occupied by Xu Hai some time ago for more than half a month. It was not until a few days ago that it was "recaptured" by Zhao Chong.

To the north of Jiaxing is Songjiang Prefecture in Southern Zhili. Tuolin and other places in Songjiang Prefecture were occupied by Xu Hai as his nest.

The Japanese pirates under Xu Hai not only plundered Nanzhili, but also the Jiaxing Prefecture in Zhejiang Province, which was located around Tolin.

Therefore, the main Japanese threat to Zhejiang were the Japanese led by Wang Zhi, and the second most important Japanese threat were the Japanese led by Xu Hai.

Because of these two Japanese invasions, the situation in Zhejiang was much worse than that in Southern Zhili.

Now, the pressure comes to Zhu Pingan.

Just now, when Zhu Ping'an met with the governor, the chief judge and the commander-in-chief of Zhejiang, Zhu Ping'an assigned a task to the commander-in-chief of Zhejiang, ordering him to inspect the beacon towers, beacon towers and other facilities in his jurisdiction. If any were found damaged, they should be repaired immediately. If there were no beacon towers, beacon towers and other early warning facilities within a ten-mile radius, new ones should be added immediately and special personnel should be arranged to be on duty. Once any trace of Japanese pirates was found, the beacon fire should be lit immediately to give a warning.

For the time being, there was no way to deal with the Japanese pirates such as Wang Zhi and Xu Hai, so the only thing they could do was to give early warning and reduce the losses.

Not long after Zhu Ping'an sent away the Zhejiang Provincial Governor, the Chief Justice and the Commander-in-Chief, a messenger reported that someone else had arrived.

The person who came this time was not an outsider, but Zhu Ping'an's father-in-law.

Before Li Shu gave birth, her father-in-law came from the south with Li Shu's two brothers.

"Has Taishan arrived? Go tell your wife quickly. I'll go to the front door to greet him first." Zhu Ping'an learned that his father-in-law had come from the south. He sent someone to the backyard to tell Li Shu, and then he trotted to the front door to greet him.

"I didn't know Taishan had arrived. I'm late." Zhu Ping'an trotted to the door and greeted the rich man Li.

"Hello, eldest brother, second brother..." Zhu Ping'an then greeted his two brothers-in-law.

Mr. Li was still as wealthy as ever, with a big belly, wearing a silk cotton coat and a black bearskin cloak.

The two brothers-in-law have gained a lot of weight compared to the last time we met, and they seem to be trying to be as good as the rich man Li.

Behind them was a long line of horse-drawn carriages, at least forty or fifty in number. Each carriage was protected by two burly bodyguards with swords hanging from their waists and bows and arrows on their backs.

I could sense a fierce aura from a distance.

Several of the carriages were enlarged and widened, each with two horses pulling them. The ruts were deep and the horses were panting from exhaustion. The carriages were covered with felt, and no one knew what was inside.

"Alright, stop being polite and take us to see Shu'er. My precious daughter must have suffered a lot."

Mr. Li, the rich man, waved his hands impatiently. He still disliked Zhu Ping'an as always. He looked at Zhu Ping'an as if he was a thief who stole cabbages from his own vegetable garden.

Even though Zhu Ping'an had been promoted to the right vice minister of the Ministry of War and governor of Zhejiang, he still failed to change the attitude of the rich man Li.

However, when Mr. Li, the rich man, mentioned Li Shu, the doting in his eyes almost became materialized, and it really hurt his heart.

"Let's go, brother-in-law. We haven't seen my little sister for a long time. If my little sister is wronged, we will not forgive you."

The two brothers-in-law hugged Zhu Ping'an's shoulders, one on the left and one on the right, and in an instant Zhu Ping'an felt like he was being held hostage by two bears.

"Don't worry, big brother and second brother, we will never let Sister Li suffer any injustice." Zhu Ping'an was grimacing as he was pinched by the two men, and he quickly expressed his position.

“It’s not up to you to decide whether my little sister has been wronged or not. If you want my little sister to have the final say, we have to see it with our own eyes.”

The two brothers-in-law half-held and half-carried Zhu Ping'an and walked into the yard.

"Dad, big brother, second brother" At this moment, Li Shu's surprised shout came from the yard.

then
Then I saw Li Shu with red eyes and a big belly, walking towards me excitedly with the support of Hua'er and Qin'er.

Seeing the rich man Li from afar, Li Shu opened her arms, threw herself into his arms, and started crying with red eyes.

"Nini, my darling, you must have suffered a lot these days with such a big belly." Rich man Li burst into tears instantly.

"Huh?! My little sister has really been wronged."

Seeing their little sister crying as soon as she saw their family, the two brothers-in-law immediately carried Zhu Ping'an up on the left and right, ready to take care of their sister in a moment.

(End of this chapter)