It was already 9:00 p.m., the sky was clear and the air was fresh. Outside the north gate of Jingnan County, there was a bustling crowd and colorful banners fluttering in the wind.
One hundred horse-drawn carriages, more than six hundred strong men. The carriages were equipped with fenders, carrying food, antlers, war drums and other war supplies. Five of the carriages were equipped with city defense crossbows, so it was not an exaggeration to call them chariots; more than six hundred strong men, all of them were strong men, wearing cloth armor, carrying bows and arrows, holding swords, spears and other weapons, looking very majestic. One hundred chariots, more than six hundred fully armed strong men, gathered together, at first glance, there was also a sense of strength.
Of course, you can't look closely.
If you look closely, you will find that among the more than 100 carriages outside the north gate, there are only 50 horses pulling the carriages, and the rest are pulled by oxen and donkeys; in addition, the young and strong men who seem to be fully armed actually do not have complete cloth armor, and their formation is also disorganized. They whisper to each other, walk around casually, and have little discipline.
However, Zhu Ping'an was still very satisfied with this. The purpose of rushing to Taiping this time was to gain merit, not to fight in the field or to wipe out the Japanese pirates. So more than a hundred carriages and more than six hundred young and strong men were more than enough.
Zhu Ping'an inspected the team, nodded with satisfaction, bowed and thanked and encouraged everyone.
"Brother Mu, Jingnan County is now in your hands." Zhu Ping'an said to Liu Mu before leaving, "After we leave, close the four city gates. No one is allowed to open the city gates unless I come in person or without the county seal."
"Yes, sir. Please rest assured, with these two hundred young men you left behind, I, Liu Mu, will ensure that Jingnan County is safe." Liu Mu clasped his hands together and said confidently.
"Okay, I'll feel relieved to leave Jingnan to you." Zhu Ping'an nodded, feeling very confident in Liu Mu.
"Dadao, Daqiang, you must protect the young master..." Liu Mu repeatedly reminded Liu Dadao, Liu Daqiang and others.
"Don't worry, if you lose a hair, we will all twist our heads off and let you kick them around."
Liu Dadao and his gang patted their chests loudly.
When Zhu Ping'an and his men were preparing to march at the north and south gates of Jingnan, a group of about 60 people were heading towards Jingnan, two miles away from the west gate of Jingnan. The leader was Li Da, the Jingnan prefect who had abandoned the city and fled, as well as Zhang Xiancheng and Yao Zhubu.
In fact, it was not only Li Da, the prefect, who fled the city first, but also Zhang Xiancheng and Yao Zhubu. It was just that Li Da, the prefect, was more high-profile, and Zhang Xiancheng and Yao Zhubu deliberately disguised themselves, so people only recognized Li Da, the prefect, and did not notice Zhang Xiancheng and Yao Zhubu.
Along with them, some clerks and wealthy families also fled the city.
However, not long after leaving the city, they were blocked by Japanese pirates who were waiting outside. Zhang Xiancheng, Yao Zhubu and Li Dianshi were so cruel that they treated the people who followed them to escape as pawns and ordered the guards to push them to the front as shields to block the Japanese pirates. Only then did they manage to escape with their lives.
However, even so, they also lost a lot of people. At the beginning, there were more than 200 people with their families, but now there are only about 60 people left.
"Damn it! I didn't expect that little bastard Zhu Ping'an would be so lucky to defend Jingnan County! If I had known, I wouldn't have run away! It's all Zhu Ping'an's fault. He has ruined me!"
When the Dianshi Li Da thought about how most of his family wealth had been stolen by the Japanese pirates during his escape, and even his beloved concubine had been taken away by the Japanese pirates, he could not help but curse and put the blame on Zhu Ping'an for everything.
If Zhu Ping'an hadn't defended Jingnan County, and Jingnan County was killed and robbed by the Japanese pirates, that would have been great. Then all his losses would have been worthless, and his act of abandoning the city and fleeing was also wise and heroic! But, damn, how did this bastard Zhu Ping'an defend Jingnan! The people who stayed in Jingnan were unharmed, but he fled after hearing the news and lost most of his property and his concubine, becoming a laughing stock in the whole county! All this was the fault of this bastard Zhu Ping'an. Why did he defend it!
"Back then, only a few hundred Japanese pirates conquered Jingnan in one fell swoop. This time, there are more than 3,000 murderous Japanese pirates. Who would have thought that he could actually hold it..." Yao Zhubu couldn't help but sighed.
Although he had heard the details of Zhu Ping'an's defense of the city, such as the gold juice and mobilizing the people, he still couldn't understand how Zhu Ping'an managed to hold on. The Japanese pirates had captured so many counties, and those counties had used similar means before, but they were still breached. Perhaps the only explanation was that he was just lucky.
"Humph, I didn't expect that Zhu Ping'an, who looks honest and simple, is actually so cruel and ruthless. He even forced the people of the whole county to defend the city walls... He was just lucky. Who would have thought that the Japanese chieftain would suddenly turn around and attack Taiping... Humph, if I stayed in the county, I could also defend Jingnan."
County Magistrate Zhang was full of indignation, thinking that it was nothing great that Zhu Ping'an defended Jingnan. If it were him, he could also defend Jingnan County, and even do much better than Zhu Ping'an.
However, he completely forgot that it was him, Zhang Changru, who made the decision to abandon the city and flee upon hearing that the Japanese pirates were approaching!
Upon hearing this, Yao Zhubu glanced at Zhang Xiancheng and twitched the corners of his mouth slightly, but said nothing.
"That's right. How can Zhu Ping'an compare with my brother-in-law? It's just that he is too lucky. When we planned to abandon the city and flee, didn't we also want to kill him with the help of the Japanese pirates? Who would have thought that he could actually defend Jingnan?"
Li Dianshi continued what Zhang Xiancheng said angrily.
"Shh! Have you drunk too much horse urine again? What nonsense are you talking about? How could we abandon the city and flee? Did you even think of using the Japanese pirates to kill Zhu Ping'an? Also, how could we abandon the city and flee? We went out of the city to get help! Don't talk nonsense!" County Magistrate Zhang glared at Li Dianshi.
"Oh, oh, yes, yes, that's what I said."
Li Dianshi shrank his neck and said angrily, then pretended to slap himself on the mouth.
"Master Zhang, Master Yao, Master Li..."
At this moment, a man who looked like a servant came running hurriedly from the direction of Jingnan County.
"But has anything happened in the city?" County Magistrate Zhang asked repeatedly when he saw this.
"Zhu Ping'an, the county magistrate, is preparing his army at the north gate. He has recruited 600 young men, as well as all the county yamen runners and soldiers, saying that they are heading north to support Taiping County, attack the Japanese pirates who have occupied Taiping County, and restore Taiping. I contacted Li Wenshu, the county yamen's household affairs officer, and he confirmed that Zhu Ping'an, the county magistrate, has also issued a document to recruit all the county yamen officials. Upon hearing the news, Li Wenshu found an excuse to run back home. No one was willing to die, and the county yamen was empty!"
The servant replied loudly.
Oh shit!
Rush to Taiping! Attack the Japanese pirates! Recover Taiping!
After Zhu Ping'an had a stroke of bad luck, he didn't know his own weight and wanted to take the initiative to attack the Japanese pirates!
Even the regular troops of the garrison were wiped out by this group of Japanese pirates, and you want to restore peace by recruiting a few hundred peasants? !
I really don’t know how to write the word death!
All the officials in the county government were also recruited!
no!
If I go back this time, won't I be recruited by Zhu Ping'an? You are courting death, don't drag me into it!
County Magistrate Zhang and his men looked at each other, turned their horses around in tacit understanding, and galloped in the direction they came from.
It won’t be too late to come back after the Japanese pirates have completely retreated!