"Master, Master... Are you okay... We are late, please punish us."
When Zhu Ping'an was drafting official documents, Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others came to rescue him anxiously. When they were receiving the sponsored military equipment under the leadership of the personal soldiers of Duke Wei, they were caught off guard and were surrounded by the sudden appearance of chaotic soldiers with strong bows and crossbows. They were only just freed, and as soon as they were freed, they rushed to rescue him impatiently. After learning that Zhu Ping'an was safe, they put their minds at ease.
"I'm fine. Not a single hair is missing. Don't worry."
Zhu Pingan was relieved after seeing Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others were safe. Although he knew that the target of the rebels was Duke Wei, Eunuch He and himself, and Liu Mu and others were relatively safe, he still couldn't help but feel a little worried. Seeing that they were safe, Zhu Pingan was finally relieved, and he wrote fluently without any punctuation. In an instant, a document appeared on the paper.
"Great kindness!"
"Wonderful!"
"Master Xiao Zhu is indeed the top scholar! This document was written in seconds, even a seasoned writer cannot surpass it. It was originally a letter of apology, but after being turned into a letter of request for merit by my nephew!"
After reading it, Duke Wei and his companions praised it highly, without adding or changing a single word, and added their names to the back. After signing, Duke Wei and his companions immediately sent someone to report to the officials in the capital as soon as possible.
To express his gratitude to Zhu Ping'an, Duke Wei added another hundred muskets and five stones of gunpowder.
"So Master Xiao Zhu prefers firearms. It just so happens that I still have two bowl-mouth cannons produced by the Baoyuan Bureau, but I don't have a mother-in-law. Then I will distribute these two bowl-mouth cannons to Master Xiao Zhu's militia to help Master Xiao Zhu."
After learning that Zhu Ping'an preferred firearms, Eunuch He generously said that he had two bowl-mouth cannons that he could give to Zhu Ping'an.
"Thank you, father-in-law."
Zhu Pingan was delighted to hear that Eunuch He could be equipped with two bowl-mouth cannons. The militia was in urgent need of cannons, and although there were only two, the number was a little less, but it finally made up for the shortcomings of the militia.
"Lord Xiao Zhu saved two lives of mine, so why should you be polite to me? These two cannons are just a small token of my gratitude. I will repay you handsomely in the future." Eunuch He said with a smile, holding up his orchid.
"Two lives?" Zhu Pingan was stunned when he heard this. When did he save Eunuch He's life again? !
"One is the physical life of a miscellaneous person, and the other is the official career life of a miscellaneous person." Eunuch He said meaningfully.
"You are too polite, sir." Zhu Ping'an said politely.
"It's not a big deal, it's not a big deal. Master Zhu can send someone to drive to the garrison tomorrow to take away the artillery. Oh, by the way, there is a box of experimental muskets produced by the Arms Bureau in the yamen's warehouse. Master Zhu can take them away as well."
Eunuch He smiled with his eyes narrowed.
Seeing that Duke Wei and Eunuch He had expressed their opinions, Linhuai Hou felt embarrassed and said to Zhu Ping'an, "My dear nephew, I still have a hundred horses in my camp. Although they are not fine horses, they are just ordinary horses, but they can be used for walking and pulling carts. Most of the people in my camp are navy soldiers and they can't be used, so I will give them to you, my dear nephew."
"Thank you, uncle."
Zhu Ping'an accepted all the offers with pleasure.
Today is another great harvest, and Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile on his face.
Let’s take a look at how much wealth the militia has now.
At the beginning, Linhuai Hou sponsored 1,200 sets of old military uniforms, 600 spears, 500 swords, 200 longbows, 200 muskets, and a pile of tattered armor.
Then, the Duke of Wei sponsored 100 sets of new tents, 100 sets of armor, 200 muskets and 10 stones of gunpowder.
Now, Duke Wei added another 100 muskets and five stones of gunpowder. Eunuch He distributed two bowl-mouth cannons and a box of muskets (at least dozens of them). Marquis Linhuai also added 100 horses.
In addition, the imperial court also allocated 5,000 taels of food and wages, and he also won hundreds of taels of silver in sponsorship from Chuxiong and his men... ...
By this calculation, the militia's foundation is not weak. At present, there are nearly 600 firearms and two bowl-mouth cannons... If each person has a firearm, the firearm ratio is almost 60%. I remember that the firearm ratio of Qi Jiguang's troops in the future will only reach 50%.
However, these firearms are not enough, and we will have to find ways to increase and improve the firearms later.
Zhu Ping'an knows the importance and revolutionary nature of firearms better than anyone else in the world.
Let's take it step by step.
Now there is still one thing to do. Zhu Ping'an solemnly bowed to Duke Wei and said, "Uncle, Ping'an has something to ask of you."
"Please tell me, nephew. I will do my best no matter what happens." Duke Wei replied, his words were firm, but he was still a little embarrassed. Seeing Zhu Ping'an being so serious, he thought Zhu Ping'an had taken a fancy to the artillery in his camp and wanted to ask for it. This artillery was a quota of the court, which was a bit difficult to deal with.
However, my nephew is my lifesaver after all. As Eunuch He said, he saved two lives. My nephew asked, so I have to find a way to satisfy him. Well, I got it. Now Eunuch He is here too. I can discuss it with him and ask him to turn a blind eye. I will deal with the two artillery pieces in the camp as "scrapped". What my nephew took away was not artillery, but scrap metal... ...
While Duke Wei was racking his brains, Zhu Pingan spoke up, "Uncle, when we put down the mutiny in Zhenwu Camp just now, I took the initiative and promised your soldiers that I would ask you for credit on their behalf..."
"Ah?! So that's what happened. Thank you for reminding me, nephew. I should reward my soldiers according to their merits."
Duke Wei was greatly surprised. He thought Zhu Ping'an wanted artillery, but unexpectedly he was asking for credit for his own soldiers.
"Old Xu, you can't be stingy. These personal soldiers have made great contributions." Linhuai Hou patted Duke Wei on the shoulder.
"Of course." Duke Wei nodded vigorously, "I have never been stingy with rewards for them."
The matter was settled, and the military equipment sponsored by the Duke of Wei was loaded onto the trucks. Zhu Ping'an politely declined the Duke of Wei's invitation to dinner and said goodbye and left.
"If I had a son, I would want him to be like Zhu Ping'an... Unfortunately, I am a eunuch, so there is no hope for me in this life."
When saying goodbye, Eunuch He looked at Zhu Ping'an's leaving back and couldn't help but sigh.
"Alas, it's a pity that Zihou has already married Shu, the girl from the second family. Otherwise, I would have to marry one of my daughters to him."
Linhuai Hou couldn't help but sigh.
"For men, it's normal to have three wives and four concubines. Old Li, my family has two illegitimate girls. How about you help play matchmaker and let Zihou pick one to be his concubine?" The Duke of Wei touched the Marquis of Linhuai's shoulder.
A concubine?! Linhuai Hou couldn't help but blink, as if he had realized something.
"Hey, Old Li, why are you stunned? Can you please say something?" Duke Wei urged.
"Hehe, there's no rush for this. There's a long time to come. Let's talk about it later." Linhuai Hou laughed.