When Zhu Pingan was busy directing the deployment of defenses on the city wall, the discordant voices below the city wall never stopped. Those who refused to listen to persuasion and wanted to escape from the city did not stop crying, cursing, and mocking because Zhu Pingan did not order the city gates to be opened to meet their demands. Especially when Zhu Pingan focused on strengthening the defense of the western city wall, these discordant voices reached a climax, as if boiling over.
"My fellow lords, you have all seen it, right? Although our county magistrate is young, he is very cunning. Look, there are only more than 150 soldiers in the county town, and because the young county magistrate is in the west city, he left more than 60 soldiers in the west city, and only 30 soldiers were left at each of the east gate, south gate, and north gate."
"Everyone knows that the first Japanese pirates appeared at the East Gate, but our young magistrate deployed heavy troops at the West Gate. Isn't this just misusing public resources for personal gain? He deployed heavy troops to protect himself. He said that he would live and die with the county, but he deployed heavy troops to protect himself. I guess when things get hopeless, he will take these heavy troops to break out of the city. This is like being a whore and pretending to be a saint."
"When the Japanese invaders break into the city, we won't be able to escape. The magistrate has these soldiers to protect him, so he can escape at any time."
"Everyone, young and old, open your eyes, polish your eyes, see the true face of this hypocritical little magistrate, don't let yourself be sold and still help others count money..."
The discordant noises under the city wall were becoming increasingly louder, reaching a level that was affecting the war preparations on the city wall. This could not be left alone. Zhu Ping'an put down the stone in his hand, dusted off his hands, and slowly walked to the front of the city wall.
The people under the city wall had been keeping an eye on Zhu Pingan, especially those who were full of resentment towards him because they could not leave the city, staring at him without blinking. When Zhu Pingan came over, everyone focused their attention on him.
"Master Magistrate, you say you will live and die with the county, but you end up deploying a large number of troops to protect yourself..."
"That's right. You say one thing and do another. When the Japanese pirates break into the city, you have people to protect you and can escape at any time. We poor civilians can only be slaughtered by the Japanese pirates."
"Master Magistrate, just to satisfy your false reputation of living and dying together with the county, are you going to bury so many of us innocent people with you? Don't you think you are too selfish? If you really want to leave a good reputation in the eyes of us ordinary people, open the city gate now while there are no Japanese pirates at the west gate and let us escape. We will all remember your kindness after we leave the city."
…
Zhu Ping'an hadn't spoken before he reached the city wall, but those who wanted to leave the city but couldn't had already started to make trouble. At the critical moment of life and death, they didn't care about hierarchy. If you don't let us leave the city to save our lives, what else should we be afraid of
"My fellow countrymen, I, Zhu Ping'an, said that I would live and die with the county, and I will definitely live and die with the county. This time when the Japanese pirates attacked the city, there are only two results for me, Zhu Ping'an, either victory or death. The words in black and white and the red seal on the city wall are still there. My fellow countrymen, don't doubt this. At any time, if I, Zhu Ping'an, abandon the city and flee, you can all cut off my head immediately; even if you are afraid and don't cut me off on the spot, as long as you report it to Taizhou Prefecture afterwards, Taizhou Prefecture will certainly cut off my head for the crimes of escaping from the city, breaking faith, and not obeying the military order."
Zhu Ping'an stood on the city wall, looking at the sarcastic people below, pointed at his head, and explained to everyone in a serious manner.
The crowd under the city wall, which was in an uproar, heard the words and looked up at the official documents with seals posted on the wall. They nodded in agreement. That was right, the documents with the county magistrate's seal had been posted, and the magistrate could not go back on his word even if he wanted to.
but
This is still not right. Since you are going to live and die with the county, why do you selfishly mobilize heavy troops to protect yourself
After someone thought of this, they could not wait to question Zhu Pingan, "Mr. Magistrate, you said something nice, but why did you deploy a large number of troops to stay in West City? You are abusing your power for personal gain and using public property for personal gain. You deployed troops to protect yourself."
"My fellow villagers, the reason why I, Zhu Ping'an, have dispatched heavy troops to focus on defending West City is not out of selfishness to protect myself, but because West City will become the focus of the Japanese pirates' invasion this time." Zhu Ping'an pointed to the ground and explained.
"West City will become the focus of the Japanese pirates' attack? Hahahaha... The magistrate really tells lies without thinking. It is clear that the Japanese pirates appeared outside the East City Gate, and now there are no Japanese pirates outside the West City Gate. The magistrate said that the Japanese pirates will attack West City?! The magistrate really thinks that we ordinary people are stupid and easy to fool."
"That's right, Magistrate. We are not blind, you can't fool us. The Japanese pirates are clearly in the East City, how could they focus on attacking the West City? How can you lie with your eyes open?"
“Hahaha, that’s really funny.”
"Look everyone, the county magistrate is the county magistrate. He can lie with his eyes open without blushing."
…
After Zhu Ping'an explained, there was a burst of sarcasm under the city wall, and everyone questioned Zhu Ping'an's words. You see, the Japanese pirates clearly appeared outside the East City Gate, but you focused on defending the West City Gate. This doesn't make sense.
"The Japanese pirates are using a strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking the west. They use dozens of Japanese pirates to paralyze and deceive our defenders in the east city, and then attack the west city gate unexpectedly in the final attack. Therefore, I focused on defending the west city gate."
Zhu Pingan explained again.
"Mr. Magistrate, you really are a liar. You said the Japanese pirates are from your family. You said they were making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, and they did so."
"That's right. How do you know that the Japanese pirates are making a feint to the east and attacking in the west? If the Japanese pirates attack the East City Gate, the few people at the East City Gate will not be enough to fill their teeth."
"It's a lie..."
"Seeing is believing, words are not. The Japanese pirates clearly appeared at the East City Gate, one after another, and more and more. The county magistrate actually said that the Japanese pirates were making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. It's ridiculous."
The people below the city wall did not believe it and kept making sarcastic remarks.
"If you have paid attention before, you will find that the villages ravaged by the Japanese pirates are mostly concentrated on the west side of the county. Only a few villages on the east side suffered, while a large area of villages on the west side suffered. This shows that the Japanese pirates are concentrated on the west side of the county. If the Japanese pirates attack the county, the west gate will be more conducive to their gathering and attacking... In addition, the villages on the east side are relatively far away from the county, while the villages on the west side are only a few miles away from the county. If we say who arrived first, it should be the Japanese pirates on the west side who appeared at the west gate first, but the Japanese pirates on the east side appeared at the east gate first. So all this is just a trick of the Japanese pirates to make a feint to the east and attack in the west."
Zhu Ping'an pointed towards the east of the city, then pointed towards the west of the city, and explained to everyone with confidence.
Of course he was confident. Zhu Pingan silently looked towards the west of the city and silently shouted, "Bring glory to our ancestors."
In the old forest in the west of the city, not far from the county town, rolling black luck was entangled with the equally rolling blood-red evil python luck, and the murderous aura rose into the sky. The two intertwined and swirled like a tornado, sweeping from the old forest in the west of the city to the sky above the west gate of the county town. In an instant, the black and blood-red luck was like rain, pouring and pouring on the white luck pillars above the heads of the people in the county town. Then, the white luck pillars above the heads of the people turned visibly to black and blood-red...
Blood-red luck represents bloody disasters, and black luck represents death.
This is Zhu Ping'an's confidence.
Of course, Zhu Ping'an certainly couldn't say this to the people. He could only work backwards from the conclusion to the details, and use the details to present facts and reason to the people.
The effect is also quite ideal.
Zhu Ping'an presented facts and reasoned with confidence. When the people under the city wall heard his words, they thought about it and it seemed to be true.
Of course, for those who were stubborn and wanted to leave the city, no matter how reasonable Zhu Ping'an's words were, they didn't believe them. After Zhu Ping'an finished speaking, they were buzzing with rebuttals and doubts about Zhu Ping'an, but no matter the scale, strength or impact, it was much smaller than before, and it was no longer enough to affect the overall situation of preparing for Japan.