In the Zhang family's house, the aroma of wine and meat filled the air, and the Japanese pirates were dancing like demons.
In the courtyard, the two big black pigs that were once so lively had their final destinations. One was stewed in a big pot, bubbling with the aroma of meat; the other was rotated on a bonfire, dripping with oil. Sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese also had their own destinations, either stewed in the pot with the big black pigs or roasted on the fire.
Two Japanese pirates wearing only crotchless pants were performing sumo wrestling in the yard, while the rest of them sat in a circle drinking and eating meat, or took out a handful of gold, silver and jewelry to bet on the sumo side, or sang Japanese songs while clapping their chopsticks. They were having as much fun as they could.
If it weren't for the fact that Matsuura Sanbanro was always cautious and insisted on not allowing the Japanese pirates to drink too much, and only allowed each pirate to drink one bowl of wine at each meal, these Japanese pirates would have been drunk and unconscious long ago.
Although they could not drink alcohol, they could eat meat freely, which appeased these pirates. Their life in Japan was not so good before. They were lucky to eat meat once a month. They could not eat meat every meal like now. The biggest manifestation is that during the days of landing in Ming Dynasty, although there were constant wars and fighting every day, the bodies of these pirates were getting stronger and stronger. Each of them had eaten like a tiger and a wolf, which looked particularly oppressive.
To set an example, Nao Nao drank a full bowl of wine and smashed it to the ground, indicating that he would never drink too much. Matsuura Sanbanrou did not drink a drop of wine. Of course, both of them ate a lot of meat, and each one was more greedy than the other.
After eating and drinking their fill, the Japanese pirates made a scene again and then rested in Zhang's house as if no one was around.
Of course, Matsuura Sanbanro, who has always been cautious, still arranged five Japanese soldiers to stand guard at night.
Not long after, bursts of snoring could be heard from the Zhang family's house; the Japanese pirates who were resting had all fallen asleep.
The five Japanese pirates on duty at night probably ate too much. People tend to feel sleepy when they are full, and they are no exception.
At the beginning of the night watch, everything was fine, they all did their job diligently, but after half an hour, their eyelids started to droop. However, they could still force themselves to stay awake, but after an hour, they gradually couldn't hold on any longer, they were so sleepy that they could only lean against the wall to support their bodies.
After a while, three Japanese pirates on duty fell asleep leaning against the wall, and their snoring sounds gradually rose.
The remaining two Japanese pirates also nodded their heads from time to time, and it seemed that it was only a matter of time before they fell asleep.
The night progresses one after another.
While snoring was heard from the Zhang family's residence, the temporary camp of the Zhejiang Army under Yingtian City was extremely quiet.
If someone checked, they would find that the Zhejiang army had already left the camp.
After finishing their meal early, the Zhejiang army rested and slacked off. Late at night, around midnight, the Zhejiang army, who had gotten enough sleep and rest, got up quietly, put on their armor, and under the cover of darkness, left the camp and sneaked to the southeast.
The Zhejiang soldiers held branches in their mouths and walked quickly. Apart from the muffled footsteps, there was no sound at all.
"Da Dao, take two nimble and alert people with you to investigate first. See where the pirates are and what the situation is like. Remember, you must be extremely careful and don't alert the enemy. Although we have made arrangements in advance, it is inevitable that things will not go as planned, so it is better to be careful."
Before setting off, Zhu Ping'an stopped Liu Dadao and asked him to take people to investigate first and find out the situation of the Japanese pirates.
Liu Dadao took the order and selected two agile men, changed into night clothes, and went to the southeast to investigate first.
About half an hour later, Liu Dadao and his men came back from their investigation. They reported to Zhu Ping'an excitedly, "Sir, we have investigated clearly. Hehe, the Japanese pirates are in the Zhang family courtyard of Zhangjiazhai. Everything is arranged by you. We saw the bright lights in the Zhang family courtyard from two miles away. These Japanese pirates have no intention of hiding. They are so confident! The peacock tails given by the Miao village are really useful. The Japanese pirates were all fooled. We could hear their snoring from a long distance away. The Japanese pirates spread five spies outside. Three of them were lying at the wall snoring, and the other two were leaning against the wall motionless. They were probably asleep. We were afraid of alerting them, so we didn't dare to get too close."
"Very good." After listening to Liu Dadao's report, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile.
The peacock tail was a medicine that Zhu Ping'an sent people to obtain from the Wuxi Man Miao people, and he brought it back together with a secret knife-cutting medicine.
Peacock tail is not the tail of a peacock. It is a kind of herb picked in the mountains by Wuxi Man Miao Village. It is shaped like a peacock's tail, so it is named Peacock Tail. Peacock tail is not a poison. It is not poisonous, but it can help sleep and has the effect of anesthetic nerves. Wuxi Man Miao collects peacock tails, dries them, grinds them into powder, and stores them for use. Peacock tail powder can be dissolved in water or in wine. It is colorless and tasteless. Wuxi Man Miao uses it as a sleeping pill. It is usually given to people in the village after they are injured to relieve pain. This is a chronic sleeping pill. The medicinal properties slowly take effect, causing people to slowly lose consciousness and finally fall into a deep sleep, just like natural sleep. People who don't know about peacock tails can't find it at all after being hit. Generally, the effect of the medicine is in place in about an hour. The medicinal properties are three times more powerful than the knockout drug that is necessary for murder and arson.
Of course, the knockout drug is a fast-acting drug, and you will pass out after drinking it. Peacock tail is a slow-acting drug, and it takes about an hour for the medicinal properties to fully take effect.
After the peacock tail takes effect, it takes a long time to wake up, ranging from half a day to a day depending on the constitution. If you want to wake up early, you can take "early rise grass", which is also a herb cultivated in Miao villages. It usually grows next to the peacock tail and is considered an antidote to the peacock tail.
Zhu Ping'an knew the pharmacology of peacock tail, so he specially asked people to get a large number of them from Wuxi Man Miao, as a weapon to save people and ambush people. It was also a gift specially prepared for the Japanese pirates.
Zhu Ping'an carefully studied the behavior of the Japanese pirates from Shangyu after they landed in the Ming Dynasty and found that this group of Japanese pirates was treacherous and bold, cautious and arrogant. This group of Japanese pirates often killed people and set fire to other places, and they were not afraid of being pursued and killed by the Ming army.
For example, after landing in Shangyu, the Japanese pirates burned, killed and looted in Funing Town, but instead of fleeing or hiding, they arrogantly used the three-story wooden building of Zhang Yuanwai, the richest man in Funing Town, as their temporary residence, where they ate and drank lavishly and rested. The same thing happened in Jixi County, Jingde County and other places, where they ate, drank and rested on the spot or nearby as if no one was around after burning, killing and looting.
There are almost no exceptions.
However, although the Japanese pirates were arrogant, they were also relatively cautious. Judging from the Tangbao and various news, although the Japanese pirates ate and drank a lot, they were relatively controlled in drinking, and the amount of alcohol they drank each time was not much, which can be seen from the number of wine jars found at the crime scene.
According to the characteristics of the Japanese pirates in Shangyu, Zhu Ping'an specially prepared a big gift for them.
When sending troops from Taohuaji military camp to rescue Yingtian, Zhu Ping'an specially ordered people to make large purchases in Taohuaji. Food, bacon, smoked meat, wine, etc. were all added with peacock tails, and it took thirty modified wooden carts to pull them.
Based on historical data and research on Japanese pirates, Zhu Ping'an concluded that the Japanese pirates would evacuate from Yingtian and would definitely go southeast.
Therefore, people were sent in advance to secretly place these added foods in the homes of the headmen and wealthy people in several villages and towns in the southeast of Yingtian, including Guocun, Niucun, Zhangjiazhai, Erdaohe, Taichangzhuang, etc.
To be on the safe side, Zhu Ping'an also ordered people to put peacock tail powder in the wells of these people. After the matter was completed, "Zaoqicao" powder could be put into the wells to detoxify, and there was no need to worry about the people being poisoned in the future.