Chapter 1848 Approachable and down-to-earth
Zhu Ping'an looked at the smoke from the Japanese pirate camp and the messy camp, estimated the time, turned around and offered his hands to Magistrate Shang seriously, "Master Shang, what's next? I have to trouble you with something."
"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, just 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 also 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, "However, Zihou wants my help What are you recruiting mules and horses for?”
"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."
Prefect Shang Before Zhu Pingan could answer, he said to himself.
He thought 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 so that when the Japanese pirates retreat, I will take the Zhejiang army to ride on mules and horses to see them off, and then give them to them as well. A great gift.”
Zhu Pingan smiled slightly and replied meaningfully.
Hearing Zhu Ping'an say 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, "Zi Hou, no, you must not leave the city easily! We occupy the city. If you stay in the city, you will be in an invincible position; if you leave the city, it will be dangerous. It’s extremely rare. The Japanese pirates are fierce, have many soldiers and horses, and are good at fighting in the field. The man named Wang is a lesson learned from the past.” Chasing Japanese pirates; not so at this time , At this time, the Japanese pirates are really defeated and really want to retreat. Besides, unlike Wang Jie, I will not move lightly without complete assurance. On this trip, I only led half of the Zhejiang army out of the city. After leaving the city, Mr. Shang can just close the city gate tightly. Suzhou City will still be as stable as Mount Tai. "I have mules and horses in my hands, and I can go as far as possible outside the city. No matter how ferocious the Japanese pirates are and how good they are at fighting in the field, if they can't catch up with me, what can they do to me?"
Seeing the nervous look on the part of Magistrate Shang. , Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile, and assured Magistrate Shang with a confident look.
“Uh” Magistrate Shang is 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? Zihou's goods are genuine, Commander-in-Chief, I will arrange for people to recruit mules and horses, and I will not let Zihou down."
Zhifu Shang responded quickly.
After speaking, the prefect Shang summoned his subordinate officials and arranged them one by one, asking them to quickly go to every yamen, every workshop, every street, every prefecture, and every household to collect all the people who could be collected. The mules and horses must be collected within half an hour without any mistakes.
“The mules and horses of each yamen will be forcibly recruited 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 lost, they will be treated as follows. Market price compensation.”
Before the officials left, the prefect Shang repeatedly warned them.
"Dadao, you go and have breakfast quickly, then take a good rest and recharge your batteries. After about half an hour, we will go to see the Japanese pirates off and give them the gifts we prepared. They will never forget it."
Zhu Pingan patted Liu Dadao and the others on their shoulders and said to them.
"Sir, why bother to trouble you? It would be too embarrassing for the Japanese pirates. We can just go and see them off. Make sure to bring the gift. You and Master Shang can wait for us in the city." Liu Dadao and Liu Mu and others persuaded.
“There is no need to persuade anymore. Gift-giving is not that easy to give. Gift-giving is an art. You have to make them unable to refuse. I have to follow them personally to feel relieved. Or do you think you don’t have the confidence to protect me? 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 guarantee that the Japanese pirates will not be able to harm the young master."
Liu Dadao slapped his chest with a bang.
"That's it, let's go eat quickly and have a good rest after eating." Zhu Pingan patted their shoulders.
Zhu Pingan inspected the area. Except for the soldiers on duty, the other 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 have become accustomed to this, but other defenders on the city wall find it too strange.
Zhu Ping'an is 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 listens to him and actually sits on the floor with them and eats the same meal, even the bowl. Because the big pot dishes were served late, the big bowls of dishes were all leftovers, which were not as rich as the ones in their bowls.
But Mr. Zhu didn't dislike it at all. He ate it 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 naughty story about a butcher who went to a flower shop and forgot to bring some silver. The old bustard asked Mr. Turtle to follow him home to get it. The butcher’s wife asked why he needed five taels of silver. many? ! 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 and couldn't help but envy their colleagues from the Zhejiang Army around them. Master Zhu has Brave, resourceful, responsible, and approachable, serving as a soldier under Mr. Zhu is a very happy thing.
After breakfast, the officials sent by Magistrate Shang 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 common people are very cooperative.”
“My lord, when I heard that it was used to fight Japanese pirates, the common people were very cooperative. Many people even didn’t want money and would not give it to them no matter what. Go behind their threshold and ask someone to tell them when they are far away."
A group of subordinate officials replied.
"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 used to pull carts and mills and have never been ridden. If you want to ride them, you need to train them for at least ten days and a half."
"This is too few. It's less than five hundred horses." Magistrate Shang frowned, how to explain it to Zihou.
"Sir, there are actually some horses," an official whispered.
"Where are there more, 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 token and left with the order. (End of this chapter)