Dawn was approaching, the sun was still below the horizon, the sky was dark, and many stars were still twinkling. Zhu Pingan got up early, no, he got up from his chair. Last night, he stayed up late to finish writing several documents. It was already Yinshi, but he just lay on the table and slept for less than an hour.
Due to severe lack of sleep, Zhu Ping'an felt a little tired after getting up. In order to refresh himself, Zhu Ping'an fetched a bucket of well water from outside. While washing, he also took a simple cold shower in the bathroom.
The well water is very cool, and a bucket of water pouring down from it instantly makes me feel refreshed and alert.
"happy!"
The cold water hit him so hard that Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but shout and poured bucket after bucket of cold water on himself.
After taking a cold shower, Zhu Ping'an immediately became energetic, as if he had been revived.
Post-war reconstruction is a complex undertaking and each one needs to be expedited.
Zhu Ping'an put on his clothes, took the official documents he had written all night last night, and walked out of the third hall quickly, preparing to ask Liu Mu to take ten yamen runners on fast horses to deliver the official documents to Taizhou Prefecture, while he would take Liu Dadao and others to continue going to the countryside.
"ah… "
Zhu Ping'an had just stepped out of the third hall when he heard a scream, and then bumped into Hua'er who was carrying a food box.
Hua'er came from the inner house to bring breakfast to Zhu Ping'an. She knew that Zhu Ping'an usually got up early, so she got up before dawn today to make breakfast. After it was ready, she brought it to Zhu Ping'an as soon as possible.
Hua'er originally wanted to give Zhu Ping'an a surprise, but she bumped into Zhu Ping'an who was going out before she even stepped into the third hall. Hua'er was small in stature, so she only had time to scream before she was knocked backwards by Zhu Ping'an who was in a hurry to go out. However, despite this, Hua'er was still thinking about the food box, and like a rat, she hugged the food box tightly and protected it in her arms.
The expected scene of falling to the ground did not happen, but she fell into a pair of arms. Hua'er opened her eyes in confusion, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Zhu Ping'an. Her face blushed with shame, because it turned out that the young master caught her in time.
"Hua'er, why are you here? Didn't I tell you yesterday that I'm busy lately and will eat out for three meals a day?"
Zhu Ping'an helped Hua'er up, and when he saw the food box Hua'er was carrying, he couldn't help but speak softly.
"Sir, the food sold outside is not as delicious as the food I make. They don't even bother to use oil or salt. What's more, I don't even know if the ingredients they use are clean. I'm so worried about eating it."
Huaer put the food box on the table in the room, counted on her fingers and answered clearly.
Ahem, you are willing to add salt. To eat your meal, I have to drink at least two more bottles of water a day.
Zhu Ping'an looked at the food box that Hua'er placed on the table, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching. It had become a conditioned reflex.
"Young master, hurry up and have breakfast. Only by eating breakfast can you have energy for the day." Hua'er urged with an expectant look on her face.
All right!
Don’t discourage children’s enthusiasm…
Under Hua'er's expectant gaze, Zhu Ping'an opened the lunch box and started eating with his chopsticks. Well, it was a bit unexpected that the food Hua'er made today was a lot less salty than before. Although the taste still needed to be improved, it was much better than before. In order to save time, Zhu Ping'an finished the lunch box in no time.
Young master eats so fast, it seems that the food I cook is delicious... Baozi's maid Hua'er was a little bit overwhelmed, with a look of pride on her little face. If she had a tail, her little tail would definitely be raised up by now.
"Sir, urgent news."
Zhu Ping'an hurriedly finished his meal, took the official documents, and was about to go out when he heard Liu Mu's voice asking for a meeting outside the hall.
"Brother Mu, please come in." Zhu Ping'an invited Liu Mu in.
"Sir, urgent news just came in. The Taiping County next door was captured by Japanese pirates yesterday afternoon. They were the same group of Japanese pirates who fled from our Jingnan. In addition, the two counties of Ninghai and Xianju in the north were also looted by another group of Japanese pirates. It is not clear whether they have broken through the county. I heard from the fleeing people that the Taizhou Prefecture City was also surrounded by Japanese pirates."
Liu Mu came in to report, and each piece of news was more shocking than the last.
Taiping was captured by Japanese pirates? !
Zhu Pingan frowned. What was the Taiping County Magistrate doing? When the Japanese pirates came ashore from Jingnan the day before yesterday and besieged Jingnan County, Taiping County had already received the news, and should have taken precautions in advance? ! The Japanese pirates had already lost most of their troops in Jingnan! They even had no arrows left! How could they be captured by the Japanese pirates so quickly? ! ! ! ! Zhu Pingan really couldn't figure it out.
In addition, Ninghai and Xianju were also attacked by Japanese pirates. Even Taizhou Prefecture was surrounded by Japanese pirates?! It seems that these groups of Japanese pirates are from the same group and chose Taizhou Prefecture as their target for looting! There must be at least more than 10,000 Japanese pirates in this group. More than 10,000 Japanese pirates are a force that cannot be ignored.
Previously, the Japanese pirate forces in Zhejiang were led by Chen Sipan, but they were annexed by Wang Zhi at the beginning of the year.
So, what is the relationship between this group of Japanese pirates and Wang Zhi? Are they the Japanese pirates under Wang Zhi
It shouldn't be.
Logically speaking, according to historical records, after Wang Zhi annexed Chen Sipan, he became the largest pirate force at sea. Wang Zhi's ambitions also expanded day by day, intending to establish an independent country, replace Japan's tribute status, and monopolize trade with the Ming Dynasty. During this period, Wang Zhi was busy annexing the pirate forces at sea and expanding his power; on the other hand, he was busy seeking "tribute". He had great expectations for the court, and for this reason he had been restraining his pirates from going ashore to plunder, so as not to disrupt the overall "tribute". This period of time was a short honeymoon period between Wang Zhi's pirates and the Ming Dynasty, and Wang Zhi would not order his pirates to go ashore to plunder.
However, Wang Zhi's subordinates, such as Xu Hai, did not agree with Wang Zhi's ideas and had always refused to obey Wang Zhi's management. Could it be that they did it secretly? ! It is possible, but unlikely. More than 10,000 Japanese pirates looted Taizhou on a large scale. They did not dare to go against Wang Zhi's will so blatantly and disrupt the overall situation of "tribute".
Then, the most likely possibility is that this group of pirates are not from Zhejiang, but from Fujian and other places. Although Wang Zhi is the most powerful in the southeast, he did not unify the pirates. Many pirates in Fujian and other places do not obey him.
Zhu Ping'an analyzed the origins of the Japanese pirates not because he had nothing better to do, but to analyze the situation.
If they were foreign Japanese pirates, they would not have been able to stay in Taizhou for a long time. On the one hand, the imperial court would have sent troops to suppress them. On the other hand, they came from Fujian to invade Taizhou, Zhejiang, crossing the border. After Wang Zhi annexed Chen Sipan, he regarded Zhejiang and other places as his sphere of influence. He would not allow the Japanese pirates from Fujian to cross the border and would definitely expel them and attack them.
Of course, even if there were Japanese pirates under Wang Zhi who were disobedient and refused to obey Wang Zhi's orders and secretly went ashore to plunder, they would not stay for long. If they were discovered by Wang Zhi, the consequences would be something they could not afford.
Therefore, no matter what the situation was, this group of Japanese pirates would never stay in Taizhou for a long time. They would definitely just rob and run away.
In this case, Jingnan can rebuild with peace of mind. In addition, can he also grab some military merit? As long as the plan is proper, the success rate is very high. This kind of opportunity is rare for a civil servant in a century.
Zhu Ping'an reached out and touched his chin, falling into deep thought.