The rise of the poor

Chapter 2012 Zhang Jing invites you
The next day, early in the morning, Zhu Ping'an convened a meeting of several battalion commanders of the Zhejiang Army and ordered them to prepare for the expansion of the Zhejiang Army.

The 8,000 soldiers recruited this time will all be assigned to them, and the strength of each battalion will be adjusted from the original four battalions of 640 to six battalions of 960, with an additional 40 people added to make up a total of 1,000 soldiers in each battalion.

As for the issue of promoting officers, Zhu Ping'an ordered people to post the results of all previous disciplinary and performance appraisals for public display. The results will be posted for three days. Within three days, anyone who has any objection to the disciplinary and performance appraisal results can apply for verification. After three days, promotion and appointment will be strictly based on the appraisal results.

At that time, the newly promoted officers will also be posted on the bulletin board for three days, and when the new recruits arrive, these newly promoted officers will take office immediately.

"Sir, our Zhejiang Army is recruiting 8,000 soldiers this time. We need to equip them with firearms, cotton armor, tents, bedding, etc. We don't have enough craftsmen in the equipment camp, and we also don't have enough iron ingots, cloth, cotton, etc."

Ou Zhige scratched his head and pointed out the difficulties he faced, mainly the tight time schedule, heavy tasks, insufficient manpower and insufficient materials.

"Don't worry about the iron ingots. I have ordered them to be transferred from various places. As for the craftsmen, I have also ordered a group of local craftsmen to join the camp temporarily. Let them work in an assembly line to help you rush to produce weapons and equipment."

Zhu Ping'an smiled and said that he had already considered and solved the problems mentioned by Ou Zhige.

"Thank you, sir. Our equipment battalion will ensure the completion of the mission." Ou Zhige immediately patted his chest to express his opinion.

Before Zhu Ping'an's military expansion meeting was over, a messenger knocked on the door to report that a messenger sent by Governor Zhang Jing had arrived and was waiting outside the yamen.

"Hurry up and invite him." Zhu Ping'an ordered the servant to invite the messenger, and then said to everyone in the room, "Okay, just do as I said just now, all of you go down and get ready."

"promise!"

Everyone turned around and left.

Soon, the messenger sent by Zhang Jing came in, led by the servants.

"Your humble servant greets His Excellency the Governor." The messenger stepped forward and greeted Zhu Ping'an politely.

"No need to be so polite. I wonder what instructions the governor has?" Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and asked.

"Your Excellency, the Governor has already moved the Governor's Office to Jiaxing City. The Governor has specially ordered me to come and inform you to go to Jiaxing immediately to discuss the suppression of the Japanese pirates." The messenger reported truthfully.

"Which officials are going to attend the meeting this time?" Zhu Ping'an asked again.

"I don't know the details, I only know that the Governor-General asked me to invite the Governor-General." The messenger was tight-lipped.

Since he couldn't get any information, Zhu Ping'an didn't ask any more questions. He asked someone to ask the messenger to go down and have some light meals and tea and wait for a while. He then arranged the work in the government office. After that, he took his people to Jiaxing to meet Zhang Jing.

Soon, Zhu Pingan arranged his work, said goodbye to Li Shu and others, took 500 Zhejiang soldiers to escort him, and set off for Jiaxing. Recently, the Japanese pirates have been too arrogant, and more soldiers must be brought along to ensure safety.

Shaoxing is more than 200 miles away from Jiaxing. Zhu Ping'an and his party rode at full speed all the way to Jiaxing City, trying to arrive before dusk.

When passing a place in Hangzhou on the way, Zhu Pingan and his party saw a village on fire from afar.

The fire was raging and spread all over the place.

"With such a big fire, I'm afraid the whole village is on fire." Zhu Ping'an narrowed his eyes. "Under normal circumstances, fires only happen in a few houses, not in the whole village. It must be that the Japanese pirates set fire to the village."

Zhu Ping'an silently said "bring glory to our ancestors", then narrowed his eyes and looked towards the village. He immediately ordered Liu Dagang, "Dagang, you take two hundred cavalrymen to go around and outflanking them from behind. I will lead the frontal attack and make sure to eliminate this group of Japanese pirates."

"Yes, sir." Liu Dagang clasped his fists and accepted the order, then ordered two hundred people to circle around the back of the village.

"Sir Governor, we should hurry up, as the Governor is still waiting for him in Jiaxing City. Otherwise, we'd better take a detour and avoid the village." The messenger reminded Zhu Ping'an and suggested taking a detour to avoid the village.

"It would be fine if we haven't encountered them, but if we have, how can we let them go? If I turn a blind eye and a deaf ear, how can I face my fellow villagers? Don't worry, there are not many Japanese pirates in the village, and it won't take us much time." Zhu Ping'an shook his head and said firmly.

"Please forgive me, Your Excellency. How do you know that there are not many Japanese pirates in the village? If you make a wrong judgment, it will be dangerous. After all, we only have 500 soldiers on this trip." The messenger said worriedly.

"I know the Japanese pirates. Their purpose of looting is to make money. In order to increase the efficiency of looting, the pirates that attack villages are mostly small groups. Large groups target towns, and even larger groups target county towns. If the group is even larger, their target will be the provincial capital." Zhu Ping'an said confidently.

I am a man who operates a radar. Once the radar is turned on and the map is opened, how can I make a wrong judgment?

In his field of vision, from the village in the distance, a cloud of black smoke rose into the sky. The smoke was not thick, indicating that the number of Japanese pirates was not large.

"Sir, if we can keep the green mountains, we will never worry about lack of firewood. If we find that things are impossible to do, we should retreat."

The messenger reminded.

"Of course." Zhu Ping'an nodded and agreed.

After Liu Dagang and his party disappeared in the woods, Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and ordered the rest of the Zhejiang Army soldiers to follow him and press forward towards the burning village in the distance.

At this time, there was a group of Japanese pirates in the village who were setting fires everywhere. There were about fifty Japanese pirates in this group.

"Damn it! We came to Zhejiang yesterday and came up empty-handed. We came up empty-handed again today. Let them run! Burn them! Burn all the houses in the village. I wonder what they will live in when they come back?!"

The Japanese pirate leader cursed and ordered his subordinates to set fire everywhere in the village and burn down the village.

Since Zhu Ping'an had notified people in Zhejiang, especially northern Zhejiang, in advance to take refuge in nearby county towns and prefectural cities with city walls, there was no one in the village. The Japanese pirates came to nothing and, out of their rage, set fire to and burned down the houses in the village to vent their anger.

"Boss, boss, look ahead. We found a group of soldiers on horseback rushing towards us. Should we hide behind them?" A sharp-eyed Japanese pirate spotted Zhu Pingan and his group and quickly reported it to the pirate leader.

Zhu Ping'an did not hide his tracks, so it was normal for him to be discovered by them.

"You are useless. Why are you hiding? First see how many officers and soldiers there are." The Japanese pirate leader glared at him and cursed.

"Boss, it looks like there are about two hundred soldiers." The sharp-eyed Japanese pirate confirmed and replied.

"What are you afraid of with just over 200 people?" The Japanese pirate leader said disapprovingly. They had fought with many garrison troops before. They were just a bunch of weaklings. What was there to be afraid of with just 200 people?