After the failure of suppressing the Japanese pirates, Governor Liu fainted for three hours due to anger. No matter how Captain Xu and others pinched his Ren Zhong point or called him, he still could not be awakened. Finally, they invited a well-known local old doctor, who used acupuncture, herbal fumigation and other methods to wake him up. His eyes were empty and lifeless, and he stared at the people around him in a daze. It took him a long time to recall what had happened, and then he sighed heavily.
"Master Liu, Master Liu... You finally woke up. We were so worried. How do you feel now?" Captain Xu and others rushed forward to ask about his health, and repeatedly asked the old doctor to feel his pulse and examine him again, "Mr. Zhang, please check on Master Liu..."
Doctor Zhang came forward with his medicine box, ready to take Magistrate Liu's pulse again to check his physical condition.
"Oh, no, old sir, you don't need to check. I know my own health best. This time, I suffered heavy casualties in the fight against the Japanese pirates, but in the end, nothing happened. The Japanese pirates got away. I was so angry..."
Prefect Liu waved his hand to reject their kindness, sighed heavily again, and said quietly.
Prefect Liu was speaking from his heart. This time, he and Captain Xu mobilized a large number of troops to encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates, and submitted an answer sheet with a score of zero. No, it was a negative answer sheet.
For this campaign to suppress the Japanese pirates, he mobilized more than a thousand soldiers and Captain Xu also mobilized more than a thousand soldiers. In addition, they mobilized another 800 reinforcements later. The two of them mobilized a total of 3,000 soldiers to encircle and suppress 150 Japanese pirates.
With such a large number of troops, the encirclement and suppression of the Japanese pirates should have been foolproof, but the result was shocking. More than 600 people died in the encirclement and suppression of the Japanese pirates, and countless people were injured, but the Japanese pirates escaped unscathed.
This encirclement and suppression became a complete joke.
He originally wanted to take credit for suppressing the Japanese invaders, but unexpectedly, not only did he fail to gain any credit, but he might even be punished for his failure to suppress the Japanese invaders.
Therefore, upon learning the news that the Japanese pirates had crossed the river and left on a raft, Governor Liu fainted from anger.
After Prefect Liu sighed quietly, Captain Xu couldn't help but reveal an expression as if he had lost his parents.
Prefect Liu was anxious and so was Captain Xu. Their situations were exactly the same. Both of them failed to gain credit and were in danger of being punished. They were typical brothers in distress. However, as a military general, his physical endurance was stronger than that of Prefect Liu. Although he was also anxious and sore, he did not faint.
"Hey, Captain Xu, what's the situation now?"
Supported by his subordinates, Prefect Liu sat up on the bed, leaning against a pillow, and asked Captain Xu.
"My Lord, it was late last night and the terrain on the other side was complicated. I was worried that the Japanese pirates would take advantage of us. If they set an ambush, the consequences would be disastrous, so I ordered the troops to stay put and be ready for battle. One stick of incense ago, I saw that the sky was getting light, so I sent Captain He to lead 300 elite soldiers to cross the river to the other side to investigate the traces of the Japanese pirates."
Captain Xu stepped forward to report that he was somewhat worried that Governor Liu would blame him for being afraid of the Japanese and thus missing the opportunity to fight.
Upon hearing this, Prefect Liu nodded and said softly, "Captain Xu's arrangement is very safe, very safe."
Prefect Liu has already deeply experienced the brutality of this gang of Japanese pirates. With the troops at his disposal, he has no hope of wiping out the Japanese pirates and he doesn't even dare to think about it. The only thing he wants now is to reduce the losses. He does not ask for any merit, but only hopes to avoid making any more mistakes.
Captain Xu's arrangement will naturally delay the opportunity to fight and be slow in suppressing the Japanese pirates, but there will be no more losses. It is dangerous late at night, and I will not send troops. Even if the Japanese pirates set an ambush, I will not fall into it, and naturally there will be no losses. I will send people to investigate the traces of the Japanese pirates after daybreak. The Japanese pirates land in order to plunder wealth, and they commit crimes on the move. After robbing one place, they will move to another, and they will definitely not stay in the same place. The Japanese pirates will have run far away by daybreak. There will be no danger if we investigate the traces of the Japanese pirates at this time, and it is naturally safer.
Captain Xu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sir, have a drink of ginseng tea to moisten your throat and replenish your blood." A subordinate considerately brought a cup of ginseng tea and handed it to Magistrate Liu.
"Thank you." Prefect Liu thanked him, took the ginseng tea and prepared to drink it. The cup of ginseng tea brought by his subordinate was just in time. He had been unconscious for a long time and was a little thirsty at the moment. Drinking a cup of ginseng tea was very appropriate.
However, just as Magistrate Liu brought the ginseng tea to his lips, hurried footsteps were heard outside.
"Report!" A long, rapid voice appeared outside the tent.
"Come in!" Magistrate Liu stopped drinking tea temporarily, looked up and called out to the person outside the tent, asking him to come in.
The person outside the tent was let in. It was Captain He, who was sent by Captain Xu to lead a team to scout the traces of the Japanese pirates.
"Captain He, didn't you lead the team to investigate the Japanese pirates? Why did you return so soon? Were you ambushed by the Japanese pirates?!"
Captain He hurriedly stepped forward and asked, worried that maybe something unexpected had happened on the way or that they had been ambushed by Japanese pirates.
After hearing what Captain Xu said, Governor Liu became nervous when he learned that Captain He was the leader of a team sent to investigate the Japanese pirates.
"Your Excellency the Prefect and Captain, I did not encounter any ambush by the Japanese pirates." Captain He replied with a fist salute.
Upon hearing this, Prefect Liu and Captain Xu breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God they were not ambushed by the Japanese pirates.
"Have you found out where the Japanese pirates are staying?" Captain Xu asked again.
Captain He shook his head.
"Then why did you come back so soon?" Captain Xu glared at Captain He and said with some dissatisfaction.
"I have something important to report." Captain He clasped his fists and said.
"First, we were not ambushed by the Japanese pirates, and second, we did not find any traces of the Japanese pirates. Do you have anything else to report?"
Captain Xu disagreed and seriously suspected that Captain He was afraid of encountering Japanese pirates and found an excuse to come back.
"Sir Xu, please be patient. Captain He, do you have any important matters to report?" Governor Liu waved his hand.
Upon hearing that there was no ambush by the Japanese pirates and no trace of the pirates was found, Governor Liu was not too worried.
"I was ordered to lead a team to cross the river to search for traces of the Japanese pirates. We walked four miles along the official road. At the bend of the official road near Qiaotoubao Town, I found that the official road was a river of blood and corpses were everywhere. I went forward to investigate and found... found..." Captain He paused here, with a look of fear still on his face.
"Damned Japanese pirates, they have killed my innocent people again!" Upon hearing this, Prefect Liu could not help but curse.
"Not the common people..." Captain He shook his head in panic.
"Not ordinary people?! Who are they?" Prefect Liu's heart skipped a beat, and he felt something was wrong.
"Your Excellency, I have carefully checked and found a stack of official documents at the scene. It is confirmed that the people killed by the Japanese pirates are Qian Jing, the retired imperial censor, and his family of seven, as well as servants and escorting soldiers!"
Captain He looked up and reported, his face still full of fear.
"What?! Old Censor Qian?!" Upon hearing this, Prefect Liu was struck by lightning. His hand trembled and with a "pop", a cup of ginseng tea fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Then he fainted again.
"Master Liu, Master Liu... Doctor Zhang, Doctor Zhang, hurry up, Master Liu has fainted again..."
There was chaos in the tent.