The rise of the poor

In the dead of night, in the study room at the backyard of the Zhejiang Governor's Office, Zhu Ping'an let out a long sigh, "Alas."

"The three Japanese assassins have been captured. Brother Zhu, why are you still sighing?"

Li Shu brought Huaer and Qiner to bring midnight snack to Zhu Ping'an. She happened to hear Zhu Ping'an's long sigh and asked with concern.

"Yes, Master. No, Master. The three Japanese assassins have been caught. This is a great thing. Why are you still sighing?"

Hua'er and Qin'er came over with lunch boxes and placed the midnight snacks on Zhu Ping'an's table while asking.

"It is certainly a good thing that the Japanese assassins were caught, but now the Japanese threat in Zhejiang is getting more and more serious. Various places have reported the Japanese situation. In just the past three days, various places have reported 18 Japanese incidents, and this does not include those that were concealed. If all places reported the Japanese situation truthfully, I guess the number would be at least twice as much as reported."

Zhu Ping'an picked up the reports on Japanese situation from various places on the table, and couldn't help shaking his head and said with a frown.

"Is it serious?" Li Shu asked.

"It's very serious." Zhu Ping'an nodded, tapped the report in his hand, and said in a low voice, "It's more serious than I thought."

Li Shu stepped forward and picked up a battle report. "Ruian County report, three days ago, a large number of Japanese pirates landed on the eastern border of Rui'an. Soldiers and civilians worked together to defend the city and killed dozens of Japanese pirates, but Li Han and Gao Liang, centurions, died in the battle, 57 soldiers were killed, 32 runners were killed, and 63 young and strong civilians were killed. The gate of Rui'an was once lost. At the critical moment, local tyrants Zhang Tianqiang and Zhang Yangshu, uncle and nephew, organized 800 local warriors to come to reinforce. After a desperate battle, Zhang Tianqiang was killed, Zhang Yangshu was injured, and nearly 100 of the 800 local warriors were killed or injured. Rui'an County was saved with difficulty. The Japanese pirates broke into Wangji Town, burned, killed, looted, and killed thousands of civilians to vent their anger."

Li Shu read the report from Ruian County in a low voice. After reading it, she couldn't help but frown for a long time and couldn't calm down for a long time.

"The Japanese pirates were so cruel. They couldn't take down Rui'an County, so they killed more than a thousand people to vent their anger. They are really beasts."

Hua'er was filled with indignation, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

"Aunt Hua'er, please don't insult the beasts. The Japanese pirates are even worse than beasts." Qin'er was also filled with righteous indignation.

Li Shu then read the next memorial.

"Wenzhou Prefecture reported that two days ago, a Japanese pirate force of several thousand people invaded the Zhejiang coast with 18 large ships, burning, killing and looting all the way to the Huanghua Sea in Yueqing. At that time, officers and soldiers of the Puqi Garrison were patrolling the sea by boat. They saw the Japanese pirate warships from afar and fled. Qin Guang, deputy captain of Puqi Garrison, and Ji Yong, captain of Puqi Garrison, felt that they had a heavy responsibility to protect the territory and the people, so they fought alone in a boat. Surrounded by 18 large Japanese pirate ships, Qin Guang, deputy captain, and Ji Yong, captain, led the officers and soldiers on the same ship to shoot with strong crossbows and arrows, killing many Japanese pirates. Finally, they were exhausted and captured. The Japanese pirates tried to persuade them to surrender, but Qin Guang and Ji Yong kept cursing the pirates. The Japanese pirates were ashamed and angry, and hacked and killed them with swords. The two died heroically."

After reading it, Li Shu couldn't help but frowning again.

"The soldiers in Puqi are really eating for nothing. They actually ran away when they saw the Japanese pirates, eating the people's food for nothing. My dear son-in-law, no, my dear master, you must punish them severely and see if they dare to run away again. Qin Guang and Ji Yong are both officials with backbones, but it's a pity that they were killed by the Japanese pirates in the end."

After hearing this, Hua'er was deeply moved. She despised the garrison officers and soldiers who escaped, and felt sorry for Qin Guang and Ji Yong who died heroically.

"Tiantai County News: Two days ago, Tiantai was attacked by more than 3,000 Japanese pirates. The whereabouts of the county magistrate Wang Fugui are unknown. Tiantai County fell, and thousands of people were slaughtered by the Japanese pirates. The scene was tragic. The local tyrant Wang Pei, who was over 70 years old, called on the villagers to resist and organized a thousand militiamen to build a fort to resist the Japanese pirates. In order to rescue Tiantai County, Wang Pei led the militiamen through Shishoupo and was ambushed by the Japanese pirates. Wang Pei commanded the militiamen to form a long spear formation to resist, but they were defeated by the Japanese pirates and were hacked and killed by the Japanese pirates at close range. More than half of the militiamen were injured or killed, and Wang Pei unfortunately died in the battle."

Li Shu then read a memorial in a low voice and fell silent again after finishing it.

After reading one report after another, Li Shu and others finally understood why Zhu Ping'an sighed.

The situation with the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang was really serious. There were more than ten reports showing that the Japanese pirates had been successful in their attacks frequently. Various places suffered serious losses, ranging from casualties of soldiers to the fall of counties. The people were massacred by the Japanese pirates, with heavy casualties. How could Zhu Ping'an not sigh?

"Master, don't sigh. The guards have soldiers. Give orders to the guards in various places and ask them to increase their precautions and fight the Japanese pirates well."

Hua'er comforted her, saying that in her opinion, all she needed to do was give orders to the garrisons and let them fight the Japanese pirates.

"What Aunt Hua'er said makes sense." Qin'er rarely praised Hua'er, and after Hua'er finished speaking, she followed suit.

"Guard station? Haha." Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but laugh.

"Is the garrison so useless?" Li Shu asked in disbelief after hearing Zhu Ping'an's laugh.

After all, Li Shu came from a noble family and had some knowledge of the Wei Suo system, a national policy of the Ming Dynasty. Although she also knew that the Wei Suo was not as good as before, with its military equipment in disrepair and the use of the old, weak and sick to fill the ranks, and its combat effectiveness deteriorated, it should not be so useless.

"The guards can no longer be pointed at. You have noticed the reports just now, right? There have been several cases where the guards fled when they saw the Japanese pirates. How can we point at them if they ran away when they saw the Japanese pirates?"

Zhu Pingan shrugged and said lightly.

Li Shu and others nodded.

Zhu Pingan continued, "Also, I don't know if you have noticed that there are many reports from local tyrants organizing militias to fight against the Japanese invaders."

"What's wrong with local tyrants organizing the people to fight against the Japanese pirates, son-in-law? This shows that they have responsibilities." Hua'er asked in confusion.

"The reason why local tyrants organized militia to resist the Japanese pirates shows that the garrisons in various parts of Zhejiang Province were already in name only and were becoming increasingly unusable. They were vulnerable to the Japanese pirates. Therefore, local tyrants had to organize militia to participate in the great cause of fighting against the Japanese pirates and protecting their homes, to protect their hometowns and families, and to fight against the Japanese pirates."

Zhu Ping'an sighed helplessly and spoke slowly.

"And the Puqi Garrison that fled at the sight of the Japanese pirates. This Garrison is one of the three best Garrisons in Zhejiang. I looked through the files in the government office and it was recorded that the armament and defense of Puqi Garrison were among the three best Garrisons in Zhejiang. The armaments of other Garrisons were dilapidated, but their Garrison was able to be well-defended. Because the Japanese pirates invaded the Puqi Garrison area almost every year in recent years, Puqi Garrison was the best in terms of material allocation, personnel allocation, and supervision. Such a benchmark Garrison also fled at the sight of the Japanese pirates. Garrisons in other regions can't be relied on." Zhu Ping'an was very disappointed with the Garrison. (End of this chapter)