He Jiugong was stunned and speechless for a moment, but Qiu Yizhi continued, "Don't worry about this matter. My militiamen can't squeeze into this warehouse. I have already discussed with Mr. Bansong, Mr. Lin, and I will borrow his manor to live in temporarily. I only have about 200 people here, so there is more than enough space."
Upon hearing this, He Jiugong nodded and said nothing.
Qiu Yizhi then said to Liu Qing: "Liu Jiedu, you are the military commander here and there are two matters that are extremely important and must be handled by you."
When Liu Qing heard Qiu Yizi calling him, he quickly stepped forward and said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me, sir."
The merchants who accompanied him along the way were all well-known and worldly-wise men in Jinling City. They racked their brains but could not figure out why a third-rank general of the Jiangnan Circuit had to listen to such instructions from a seventh-rank magistrate of Shanyin County. Although they were puzzled, they did not dare to ask directly.
But Qiu Yizhi said, "This large group of troops is stationed in the city, especially with so many wounded soldiers. First, we must be careful to prevent the outbreak of plague, and second, military discipline is also extremely important. I think this place is very good. These days, the reinforcements coming into the city should rest here and not run around. General Liu, you can allocate another 500 to 1,000 soldiers from Jinling City to guard around here to prevent the outside troops from causing trouble. Military doctors should also be mobilized outside the city to cure these people's injuries as soon as possible."
Liu Qing listened and nodded in agreement.
Qiu Yizi continued, "Also, you are the governor of Jiangnan Road, not the general of Nanjing. The Japanese pirates have only been killed and dispersed, but not completely eliminated. They are always a scourge if they roam to other places. Now the garrisons and militias from various places have gathered under the city. I am afraid that each place is unable to encircle and suppress them on its own. How to deal with this, you should make a plan as soon as possible."
Liu Qing listened and said with a troubled look on his face: "What should I do now? I hope you can give me some advice."
Qiu Yizi said, "I am just reminding you. I really don't have any idea right now. But the Japanese pirates have been severely damaged and will not launch large-scale attacks in the short term. You only need to order all places to strictly guard the city and maintain local security. As for the long-term plan, you can submit a letter to General Cui or the Ministry of War and ask them to come up with the rules and regulations, and then you can act according to the rules."
Although Qiu Yizi did not propose any way to deal with the Japanese pirates, his few expedient measures were enough for Liu Qing to report to his superiors, causing Liu Qing to nod in agreement.
Qiu Yizi said a few more words to Liu Qing, and seeing that it was getting dark, he took his trusted militiamen and went to Lin Shuhan's manor.
When entering the city, Lin Shuhan had already found time to send someone to his own manor to inform the housekeeper that the courtyard needed to be cleaned and prepared for the reception.
The housekeeper of the garden was an old man employed by Lin Shuhan. When he heard his order, he immediately called on his subordinates to clean up. By the time Lin Shuhan, Qiu Yizi and others arrived at the manor under the cover of night, the entire manor had been arranged very neatly and cleanly.
However, the housekeeper only thought that Lin Shuhan came back to stay temporarily and brought three or five good friends with him at most. He did not expect that he actually brought more than two hundred people into the garden, as if he wanted to turn this very solemn and elegant manor into a military camp!
In fact, the manor where Lin Shuhan lived was quite large. Although there were not many houses, there was a lot of open space beside the pond and at the foot of the rockery, which was enough for Qiu Yizhi's two hundred militiamen to live in. Fortunately, after the bloody battle today, the Shanyin militiamen did not suffer any major losses. Tents, bedding, marching pots and other items were all available and not much was lost. So Qiu Yizhi ordered his soldiers to set up camp and rest on the spot, and specifically ordered them not to move any grass or trees in the yard, and not to bury pots and cook to ruin the scenery in the yard.
Qiu Yizhi's instructions were serious, but Lin Shuhan didn't take it seriously. He said coldly: "Just do as you please. With so many people coming in, how can there not be some damage? Be careful or not, move around or not, that's all."
Qiu Yizhi had always known that Lin Shuhan had a perverse and mean temper. No one could restrain him except Wu Ruofei. Unfortunately, his confidante did not come over. So he had no choice but to follow Lin Shuhan's words and said, "Mr. Lin is right. When I have money someday, I will definitely give you another garden."
"Then I, Lin, would like to thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency!" Lin Shuhan replied indifferently.
Qiu Yizi did not respond. Seeing that it was getting late and there was no time to cook, he asked someone to order thousands of buns from the bun shop that was still open in Jinling City and have them delivered to the manor.
This was a big business. When the owner of the bun shop received the order, he was like a general who suddenly encountered a strong enemy. He re-employed people, some kneaded the dough, some lit the fire, some mixed the stuffing, and some steamed the buns. It took two hours to deliver exactly one thousand buns to Lin Shuhan's manor.
At this time, most of the militiamen that Qiu Yizi brought into the city were hungry and sleepy, and many of them had already gone to bed with their clothes on. Suddenly, they smelled the refreshing aroma of the buns and jumped up immediately. After eating them with relish, they could not resist the attack of sleepiness, closed their eyes and fell asleep again.
After a fierce battle yesterday, everyone was extremely exhausted. Until the next day, when it was almost 9:00 p.m., the temporary military camp built in Lin Shuhan's manor was still silent, with only the occasional snoring sounds.
Therefore, when Zhao Chengxiao, who had just finished cleaning up the battlefield overnight, entered the courtyard and saw this scene, he was immediately furious and shouted, "Assholes! I've only been away for less than half a day, and you dare to be so negligent? What time is it, and you are still sleeping? Get up and line up immediately!"
Who knew that these militiamen were so exhausted that they were sleeping soundly. Except for the militiamen in a few tents in front of him who heard Zhao Chengxiao's scolding and quickly came out to line up, the rest of them didn't even hear it and were still sleeping soundly in their tents.
Zhao Chengxiao became even angrier when he saw this, and he pulled the "Black-necked Toad" next to him and ordered, "You have a loud voice, wake them all up!"
The "Black-necked Toad" had worked hard all day and had no time to rest. Seeing others sleeping soundly, he felt envious and jealous. Upon hearing the instructions from the head of the Zhao family, he immediately raised his voice and shouted loudly: "Get up! Line up! Get up! Line up! Get up! Line up!"
His shouts became louder and louder, like a tsunami or a landslide. Not only did they wake up all the militiamen living in the tents, but even Qiu Yizi, Lin Shuhan, Yuchi Jiming, Wen Lingjiao and others who lived far away in the villa were called out. There were also a few soldiers who were sleeping in a daze and did not hear the content of the shouting. They just thought it was an enemy attack, so they walked out with swords in hand and red eyes.
Qiu Yizhi came out of the courtyard, and it took him a long while to figure out what was going on. While tidying up his clothes, he smiled and said to Zhao Chengxiao: "Brother Zhao, you see the brothers were exhausted after yesterday's bloody battle. Why don't you let them have a good rest for a day... or half a day, and then talk about it after they recover their strength?"
Zhao Chengxiao replied with a serious face: "Sir, once you relax on this kind of thing, it will be difficult to tighten it up again. The enemy on the battlefield doesn't care whether they are tired or injured, they will show no mercy!"
What Zhao Chengxiao said was indeed in line with the way of training soldiers, and even Qiu Yizhi, who was eloquent, could not refute it, so he said, "Brother Zhao, what you said makes sense. Since I have entrusted the training and command of these soldiers to Brother Zhao, Brother Zhao, just let go and do it."
So Zhao Chengxiao gathered his men and horses, and without waiting for the militiamen to finish breakfast, he asked two of his trusted personal soldiers to lead them to run around Lin Shuhan's garden. He did not say how many laps they should run or how long they should run. He then said to Qiu Yizi, "Sir, I have cleaned up the battlefield overnight. I would like to ask you to spare me some time to talk about something."
Qiu Yizi nodded, and together with Lin Shuhan, they chose a small pavilion beside the pond. They ordered someone to make tea and asked Zhao Chengxiao to report the situation.
Zhao Chengxiao took out a palm-sized piece of paper from his bosom. On it were several lines of crooked handwriting that others could not understand. He then began to speak: "In this battle, our army killed and wounded a total of 305 Japanese pirates..."
Qiu Yizi frowned and said, "Brother Zhao, I can see clearly from the top of the city wall. It seems that not that many people were killed, right?"
Zhao Chengxiao explained: "There were about 150 people killed and wounded on the spot, and the rest were mostly injured and hiding in the houses outside the city. We searched and found them. In order to deal with these people, eight or nine of my brothers were injured. Therefore, we also captured 22 Japanese prisoners. I don't know how to deal with them. Please give me your instructions."
Qiu Yizhi thought for a while and said, "There is no rush. Even if we feed more than 20 Japanese pirates for three to five days, they won't eat much food. Brother Zhao, please continue."
Zhao Chengxiao nodded and said, "Our army did not suffer serious losses. No one was killed in battle. Your Excellency has heard about this. However, our friendly forces suffered heavy casualties. The total number of bodies we collected from the battlefield is 2,643. Some of them are just broken limbs, which are difficult to count."
Qiu Yizi was calculating in his mind: Yesterday he was at the gate of Jinling City, and according to statistics, the total number of reinforcements was about 10,000. Now there are more than 3,000 people entering Jinling City to rest, plus more than 2,000 corpses, so the total number is only 6,000. I'm afraid there are another 3,000 or 4,000 people who have deserted and fled because of the fierceness of the enemy.
In fact, this is also human nature. When our army was defeated, it was common for soldiers to die or flee regardless of the generals’ restraint. So Qiu Yizi took a sip of tea and said, "Brother Zhao, although these friendly troops are not strong enough and have become ghosts under the swords of the Japanese pirates, they are also Han soldiers after all, and they died to protect Nanjing. Therefore, we cannot disrespect them and we must carefully collect and bury them."
Zhao Chengxiao nodded vigorously after hearing Qiu Yizhi's words, and then asked: "Then where are the bodies of the Japanese pirates?"
Qiu Yizhi frowned, thinking: These Japanese pirates are killing innocent people, they are worse than beasts, just throw them all into the wild to feed the dogs and wolves! Finally, he endured it and said, "They are lives after all, I will discuss with the governor and the governor, burn them to ashes and throw them into the Yangtze River."
Although Zhao Chengxiao was soft-hearted, he was not someone who couldn't tell good from evil. He was relieved to hear Qiu Yizi's words and said, "This is great. Bring it back and I'll have people build a firewood pile. Although the Japanese pirates are bastards, their swords are still good. This time, we picked up more than 300 Japanese swords on the battlefield. Excluding the damaged ones with missing blades, there are still 184 swords left. There are quite a few good swords among them."
Qiu Yizhi thought about it and said, "Okay. Pick out a few of the best swords to make up for the lost swords of our army, and then select ten and send them to me. Jiedushi Liu Qing asked me for a few Japanese swords. I am his subordinate now, so it is not easy to refuse his face." (To be continued)