After the Jingnan Defense War, Zhu Ping'an's prestige in Jingnan was at its peak, and he won the love of the people of the entire county. There were even many people who survived the disaster who secretly built a shrine for Zhu Ping'an at home.
Thanks to Zhu Ping'an's good reputation, Liu Mu and his team's preparations went very smoothly.
Jingnan is their home, and protecting Jingnan is everyone's responsibility, but this is not the case with Taiping County. Rushing to Taiping and rescuing neighboring counties is not in the vital interests of the people of Jingnan County. However, after the county government posted a notice to recruit young and strong people, the people of Jingnan County signed up enthusiastically. The original plan was to recruit 500 people, but soon the number of people who signed up exceeded the planned quota, and more and more people heard the news and excitedly came to participate in the recruitment.
"The magistrate defended Jingnan and saved tens of thousands of lives in Jingnan. You, me, and our entire family are still alive because of the magistrate. Now the magistrate is recruiting young men to rescue Taiping County. If you dare not apply, Ergouzi, I will no longer have you as my son!"
An old man with a white beard and a crutch tapped his crutch after hearing the contents of the notice and shouted to his son Er Gouzi.
"Dad, of course I'm going. I signed up to defend the city last time, but the magistrate said I had parents and children to take care of, so he wouldn't let me. This time, there are no restrictions on the notice, so I'm going to go no matter what." Er Gouzi replied excitedly. He paused for a moment, then said firmly, "But, Dad, if your son can't come back this time, you and my mother must take care of yourselves..."
"Don't worry! I'm in good health, your father. You don't need to worry about me. Just go and sign up!"
The white-haired old man was leaning on a cane and waved his hand impatiently, as if he was trying to drive someone away.
"Dad, my son is gone."
Er Gouzi kowtowed to the white-haired old man on the spot, then stood up and squeezed in the direction of the crowd.
There are many such scenes. Although Taiping County has little to do with them, they actively support the announcement from Zhu Pingan and sign up enthusiastically.
Of course, after all, it was to rescue a neighboring county that had nothing to do with their own interests, so the number of people who signed up was much less than the number of people who signed up to defend the city when the Japanese pirates besieged Jingnan. However, Liu Mu roughly counted and found that there were more than 700 people, far exceeding the planned number of recruits. Liu Mu quickly terminated the recruitment.
Because of this, Liu Mu was scolded by many people who arrived late.
Liu Dadao's mobilization went very smoothly. After taking out the documents from the county government, without Liu Dadao saying much, people who had horse-drawn carriages actively contributed their own carriages. Not only that, when people contributed their own carriages, they also put a lot of grain, meat, eggs, fruits and other food on the carriages. No carriage was empty.
Some were happy and some were sad. Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and their preparations went smoothly. However, Liu Dagang's work was not going well. He encountered obstacles everywhere when he inspected the six departments of the county government and recruited clerks from the six departments.
The clerks who had come back to work in the morning with a thick face and as if nothing had happened turned pale with fright when they heard Liu Dagang's purpose. When they heard the meaning of conscription, it was as if they had heard the call of the god of death.
"Ahem, I suddenly remembered that there is an urgent matter of life and death at home. I have to go back to deal with it. I came to ask for leave today. Oh, look at my brain, really, I almost forgot. Sorry, sorry, excuse me, excuse me..." After hearing the meaning of conscription conveyed by Liu Dagang, a clerk turned pale and was stunned for three seconds. Then, as if he was on fire, he made a bunch of excuses full of loopholes and ran away at lightning speed.
I had received the news that Jingnan had been defended, so I went back to the county government with courage. I didn't expect that Zhu Ping'an, this young man, would go to help Taiping! Are you kidding me? What's the difference between this and sending yourself to die? After Zhu Ping'an, this young man defended Jingnan, he was so arrogant that he didn't even know his last name. You were able to defend Jingnan County because of the city wall. With the city wall as a barrier, you could smash stones and splash gold juice from a high position. Even so, it took the death of a whole city wall to defend Jingnan County by chance. Are you crazy to fight against the Japanese pirates? The Japanese pirates were demons who killed people without blinking an eye and ate people without salt. Killing people was like cutting melons and vegetables. Without the city wall as a barrier, your stones and gold juice were useless. What could you use to fight against the Japanese pirates? With the help of young and strong people who had never touched swords and knives, even the regular army of the guards was killed by the Japanese pirates. How many heads of those mud legs were enough for the Japanese pirates to chop! You want to die, I won't stop you, but don't drag me along, you bastard. I haven't lived enough, I won't go and die! You want to recruit me?! Bah! I won't die with you!
"Ahem, me too. There's an emergency matter of life and death at home. Ah, what's the emergency? I, I... My wife is about to give birth. Hi, what a coincidence! Today is the due date. The midwife has long said that I must offer sacrifices to the ancestors outside the delivery room today, otherwise there will be a bloody disaster. Excuse me, excuse me, I'm also sorry..." After Liu Dagang looked at him, a clerk next to him also made a lame excuse and slipped away at the same agile speed as the first clerk.
When Liu Dagang rushed to the next public housing estate, there were actually two clerks working there. However, when Liu arrived at the estate, their faces turned dark because they had already gotten the news and had slipped away.
It is estimated that the first clerk gave a greeting to these clerks before running away. When these clerks heard the news that Zhu Ping'an was going to recruit them to help Taiping, they just ran away as if they had heard the news of the Japanese pirates attacking the city!
Well, Room 6 of the County Government Office is empty again!
The few clerks from the sixth room who had returned with such a thick face and courage once again ran away without a trace.
After Liu Dagang inspected the last public housing unit, as expected, it was empty again. He had clearly seen someone coming in the morning. Liu Dagang clenched his fists in anger, wishing he could catch the person who had sneaked away and beat him up.
"I'm sorry, sir. I messed up my job..." Liu Dagang reported to Zhu Ping'an truthfully with a guilty look on his face, "Originally, six clerks came this morning, but when they heard the news that they were being recruited to help Taiping, they all found excuses to run away. They ran faster than rabbits. No one was willing to respond to the call."
"Haha, Brother Dagang, it's okay. This is all within my expectations. I didn't include them in the plan in the first place." Zhu Ping'an was not surprised at all after hearing Liu Dagang's report. He smiled and comforted Liu Dagang, "To be honest, after hearing the news that they ran away, I was relieved. I'm reluctant to share the credit with people like them."