"Please come in, gentlemen. Please take a seat."
As soon as Taizhou prefect Tan Lun and his entourage walked into the Qiwanzhai Teahouse, the waiter came forward to greet them warmly, welcomed Tan Lun and his entourage into the teahouse lobby, found an empty table, wiped the table and chairs again with the white towel on his shoulder, and invited them to sit down.
"Hey, mate, is there a private room?"
Zuo Zhen put his hand on the waiter's shoulder and asked. He noticed that all kinds of people gathered in the hall and the environment was a bit messy and noisy, especially the table the waiter found for them was close to the storyteller in the middle. There were many tea drinkers surrounding it. They were in the center of the hustle and bustle, and bursts of cheers could be heard from all around from time to time.
"Haha, no need, this place is fine. We businessmen like lively places, the more lively the better the business."
Tan Lun smiled and waved his hand, then sat down first. This time he came to Jingnan incognito to find out the people's sentiments and opinions. The more lively the place, the better for getting news. If he sat in a private seat, then there would be no point in coming to the teahouse.
When Zuo Zhen heard Tan Lun's words, he let go of the waiter and no longer asked for a private seat.
After Tan Lun sat down, he waved to Zuo Zhen and the others, "Don't stand, sit down, all of you, today is the treat for us. You can order whatever you want to eat or drink, don't be polite."
"Thank you, boss." Tan Lun clasped his fists to express his gratitude, then called his officers to sit down one by one.
"Boss, you are doing big business, right? You look very impressive." The waiter in the teahouse complimented.
"Haha, what big business? We are just doing some small business in Taizhou Prefecture." Tan Lun smiled slightly.
"So the shopkeeper is from the capital, no wonder he looks so impressive." The clerk said, "The shopkeeper is here to do business in Jingnan County, right? You've come to the right place, Jingnan is no longer the same as before."
"Oh, why do you say Jingnan is not the same as before?" Tan Lun asked with interest.
"Haha, ever since County Magistrate Zhu came to Jingnan, our Jingnan is no longer the same as before. You made the right choice to come to Jingnan to do business. Not to mention far away places, just take our Taizhou Prefecture as an example. There have been Japanese pirates in the past few days. How many county towns have been destroyed and ruined by them. The shopkeeper must have seen it all along the way from Taizhou Prefecture, but only our Jingnan County was spared. Why? It was all because of our County Magistrate Zhu who made plans and turned the tide, yes, turned the tide, made the little Japanese pirates suffer heavy losses, and saved Jingnan County. So, shopkeeper, you can rest assured to do business in Jingnan. As long as County Magistrate Zhu is here, our Jingnan will be as stable as a rock. You will definitely make a fortune doing business in Jingnan." The waiter in the teahouse said with a beaming face. As a Jingnan native, he was very proud.
"Haha, I'm taking your good words. Oh, by the way, we are new here and we are unfamiliar with the place. It is said that 'a county magistrate who destroys a family, a county governor who wipes out a clan', is this County Magistrate Zhu so good? Can you tell us about it?"
Hearing what the teahouse waiter said, Tan Lun smiled slightly and spoke to the waiter with an attitude of concern for business.
"Okay, of course. Haha, if we talk about our County Magistrate Zhu, we can't finish it in three days and two nights..." The waiter was about to talk, but unfortunately, another customer came to the door, so he said to Tan Lun and others embarrassedly, "Boss, I'm sorry, there are guests, I have to go and greet them. If you want to hear the story of our County Magistrate Zhu, you can listen to the storyteller. He is talking about our County Magistrate Zhu now."
Oh, the storyteller was telling the story of Zhu Ping'an? !
Upon hearing this, Tan Lun and others turned their attention to the storyteller on the stage and listened carefully.
Well, it is indeed about Zhu Ping'an's story, and it happens to be the part about defending the city.
"The situation was critical at that time. There were Japanese pirates everywhere in front of the west gate. There were at least 3,000 of them. When they rushed to attack the city, the Japanese pirate army rolled up rolling yellow earth, just like a monster rolling up evil wind. The Japanese pirates killed people without blinking an eye, and they were also very skilled in martial arts. To what extent were they so skilled? The soldiers guarding the city shot arrows at the Japanese pirates, but the Japanese pirates could catch them with their bare hands. This was much more powerful than snatching a sword with bare hands..."
The storyteller on the stage spoke with great enthusiasm and gestures, which made people feel the same way.
"Although it's a bit exaggerated, there are indeed many Japanese pirates who are very skilled and can catch arrows with their bare hands. We have also seen them in the city." Zuo Zhen said softly.
Tan Lun nodded slightly. He had seen it several times on the city wall and was deeply impressed.
"The Japanese pirates not only caught the arrows with their bare hands, but also threw the arrows back at the city wall, faster and more accurately than shooting with bows and arrows. The soldiers defending the city fell down. The Japanese pirates laughed loudly and slapped their crotch pants against the city wall, mocking the defenders as sissies. The morale of the soldiers on the city wall plummeted. When it was about to collapse, the county magistrate Zhu Ping'an stood up, cursed, "Shoot the fuck out of him", bent his bow and shot an arrow, which hit the crotch pants that were mocking the Japanese pirates..."
The storyteller gestured and spoke.
Hahahaha... ... a burst of laughter rang out in the teahouse.
With a pot of tea and a table of snacks, Tan Lun and others listened quietly to the storyteller's vivid and moving account of the Battle of Jingnan.
"The arrogant Japanese pirates suffered a bloody defeat in Jingnan County. There were more than 3,000 Japanese pirates when they landed. When they fled from Jingnan in a panic overnight, only more than 1,000 were left. In this battle, under the leadership of the county lord, we in Jingnan killed at least more than 1,000 Japanese pirates. After the war, the county lord did not take credit for himself, but attributed the credit to everyone in Jingnan, saying that we are all heroes of Jingnan, and it was because we were not afraid of sacrifice and fought to the death that we defended Jingnan. Mighty is the county lord; great are the people of Jingnan!"
The storyteller slammed the gavel and ended the section about the Jingnan station.
"Well, well said, the magistrate is awesome, and the people of Jingnan are awesome." Everyone in the teahouse was still not satisfied. They had heard this passage many times, but they never got tired of it. They kept cheering and urging the storyteller to say more.
"Heh, didn't they capture 795 heads of Japanese pirates? How come it's become more than 1,000 here? This is too much of an exaggeration, isn't it?!" Zuo Zhen couldn't help but shook his head and raised an objection when he heard the storyteller talking about the final number of Japanese pirates killed at Jingnan Station.
Amidst the cheers, Zuo Zhen's objection attracted a lot of attention.
As soon as Zuo Zhen finished speaking, the tea drinkers at the surrounding tables shifted their attention to Zuo Zhen's table.
"Water? Ha, you are from other places, right?" The tea drinkers at the nearby tables raised their heads and asked.
"Yeah." Zuo Zhen nodded.
"Humph, you can tell at first glance that they are from other places. Let me tell you, the men at this table have all been to the city wall and seen it with their own eyes. You didn't see the scene at that time, it was so tragic. The Japanese pirates attacked the city for a day and a night, and there were layers of dead Japanese pirates under the city wall. Many of them were smashed beyond recognition, and their heads were broken. At first, the Japanese pirates took the dead pirates out and buried and burned them, but later, when there were too many dead, they simply ignored them and let them pile up under the city. The heads we captured are all those that can be found, and there are many heads that cannot be found. We all saw this with our own eyes. The number of Japanese pirates killed must be more than 795, but some of the heads can no longer be found, which is a bit exaggerated, huh."
The tea drinker snorted coldly and said to Zuo Zhen and others.