"I didn't understand why you came to Yiwu to recruit soldiers before, but now I understand. The Yiwu people are really brave and fierce. When they fight, they will never retreat, and they don't care about their lives. If we recruit them into the Zhejiang Army, they will definitely be extremely brave in battle."
Liu Dadao looked at the bloody fight below and couldn't help swallowing and muttering.
Looking at the bloody fighting scene below, Zhu Ping'an suddenly felt a fire of ignorance rising in his heart!
Such a brave and brave man, a father and brother who supported the family, now died in a fight!
What a waste of resources!
It's really not worth it!
Fighting against each other, killing each other, dying in vain, it is worthless and meaningless! It is sad! It is lamentable! It is infuriating!
"Let's go. After dinner, we'll hit the road and head straight to Yiwu County Government Office. We'll visit the local magistrate, post notices, and start recruiting soldiers!"
Zhu Ping'an took a deep breath, calmed himself down, said something to Liu Dadao and others, and left first.
Liu Dadao and others followed closely behind.
The group returned to the tea stall, hurriedly finished their mutton soup and fried cakes, said goodbye to the boss and his family, mounted their horses, and headed straight for Yiwu County.
Yiwu County is an old city that bears the marks of time, with gray-black city walls, peeling wall paint, and patinated city gates. Outside the city gates is a bumpy loess road, which splashes yellow sand all over the sky when horses ride past.
"I was blind and didn't know that it was the Deputy Envoy of the Criminal Court, Zhu Ping'an, who had come. Please forgive me, sir."
The gatekeeper looked at Zhu Ping'an's badge and was surprised to find that he was such a high-ranking official. He immediately stepped forward with great fear and trepidation and paid his respects.
"You are guarding the gate impartially, so what crime have you committed? Please stand up quickly. I am passing through your county and have important business to visit your county magistrate. Please send someone to lead the way." Zhu Ping'an took back his badge, helped the gatekeeper up, and said to him.
"Sir, please follow me." The gatekeeper volunteered to lead the way and turned to instruct the soldiers at the gate, "Liu Er, you guys guard the gate well!"
"Thank you very much!" Zhu Ping'an thanked him, and then said to Liu Dadao, "Give him a horse."
The gatekeeper did not hesitate to mount his horse and lead the way.
They soon arrived at the county government office. Zhu Ping'an dismounted from his horse. The gate official instructed the government servants to take good care of Zhu Ping'an and his party's horses, and sent someone to quickly inform the county magistrate that Zhu Ping'an, the deputy envoy of the Zhejiang Provincial Judicial and Surveillance Commissioner, had arrived.
"Just have Dadao accompany me. You can find a place to rest in the county government office. Pay attention to discipline and do not disrupt the order of the county government office."
Zhu Ping'an asked Liu Dadao to accompany him, and asked the others to rest in the front yard of the county government office, and told them not to disturb the order.
The city gate official arranged for servants to lead fifty Zhejiang army soldiers to the guest room to rest.
"I didn't know that Lord Zhu was coming. I am sorry for not coming to greet you in person. Please forgive me." After receiving the report, Zhao Qiancheng, the magistrate of Yiwu, ran all the way to greet him.
"No, no, I am here uninvited. I am an unwelcome guest and I am sorry to cause trouble to your county and Lord Zhao." Zhu Ping'an bowed and said politely. On the way here, he had already found out the name and other basic information of the magistrate of Yiwu County.
"Please come in, Lord Zhu." Yiwu County Magistrate Zhao Qiancheng extended his hand to invite Zhu Ping'an to enter the county government office and led Zhu Ping'an to his office.
After they sat down, County Magistrate Zhao poured a cup of tea for Zhu Ping'an and Liu Dadao, and asked nervously, "I haven't congratulated Lord Zhu on his promotion to acting deputy envoy yet. I wonder what Lord Zhu is here for today?"
Zhu Ping'an's name has become quite famous in several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River recently. He was the first to make great contributions in suppressing the Japanese invasion in Yingtian. Because of his great merits, he was promoted to the acting deputy envoy of the Zhejiang Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office and promoted to a fourth-rank official. Who would not envy him
It was impossible for Zhao Qiancheng to say that he was not envious. His feelings were much deeper and more real than those of ordinary officials.
Because a few months ago, Zhu Ping'an was just like him, the magistrate of a small county in the south of the Yangtze River.
However, several months later, Zhu Ping'an first made great contributions to the anti-Japanese war in Jingnan and was promoted to the assistant of Zhejiang Judicial Commissioner. Now he has made great contributions to the destruction of the Japanese under the city of Yingtian and was promoted to the fourth rank, acting deputy commissioner of Zhejiang Judicial Commissioner.
As for myself, I am a seventh-rank county magistrate.
In just a few months, one was promoted from a seventh-rank county magistrate to a fourth-rank acting deputy envoy, while the other remained a seventh-rank county magistrate.
People's circumstances are so different, like a chasm between them. How can we not be envious
Of course, envy is secondary now, and uneasiness is the main thing. Zhu Ping'an is now the deputy envoy of the Zhejiang Provincial Criminal and Supervisory Commissioner's Office. What does the Provincial Criminal and Supervisory Commissioner's Office do? It is the Neitai Yamen, which is in charge of the criminal and impeachment affairs of a province, and has both judicial and supervisory powers!
Zhu Pingan came to Yiwu without any notice or notification, and went straight to the government office. What was he doing here? ! Was there something wrong with the case I was handling? ! Did someone go to the Yingtian Neitai Yamen to file a complaint against me? !
County Magistrate Zhao couldn't help feeling uneasy.
"Thank you, Lord Zhao. I am here today to recruit soldiers." Zhu Ping'an stated his purpose directly.
"Recruiting soldiers?!" County Magistrate Zhao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard this. It's good that the case supervisor is not looking for trouble with me. Wait, recruiting soldiers, recruiting soldiers from us. County Magistrate Zhao couldn't help but doubt his ears. He looked up at Zhu Ping'an and said in disbelief, "Are you going to recruit soldiers from our Yiwu Guard Station?"
As the magistrate of Yiwu, Zhao Qiancheng knew Yiwu Garrison very well. The barracks of Yiwu Garrison were dilapidated, and there were only about 100 people in the garrison, most of whom were old, weak, sick and disabled. Recently, due to the lack of military pay and the serious disturbance of Japanese pirates, some soldiers were killed or injured, and some deserters ran away. Now it is estimated that there are not even 100 people.
How can these people fight? Zhu Ping'an came to Yiwu to recruit soldiers?! This must be a joke.
Zhu Pingan shook his head slightly and said, "We are not recruiting soldiers from the garrisons, but from the people of Yiwu County."
"What?! Lord Zhu wants to recruit soldiers from all the people in Yiwu County?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Qiancheng couldn't help but stand up from his chair, his face full of shock.
"Your Excellency, you want to recruit soldiers! Please forgive me! Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Taizu set up military households and established garrisons. Military households have been soldiers for generations. This is the ancestral system of our Ming Dynasty! Your Excellency wants to recruit soldiers, which violates the ancestral system. Please forgive me for not obeying your order!"
Zhao Qiancheng bowed to Zhu Ping'an, shook his head vigorously and rejected Zhu Ping'an's request.
"Haha, Lord Zhao, please be patient. I am recruiting soldiers, but I am recruiting militia. I am not breaking the ancestral system. Moreover, I am recruiting militia in accordance with the will of the emperor and the order of the new governor-general, Lord Zhang Jing."
Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly. County Magistrate Zhao's reaction was within his expectations, so he explained with a smile.
As Zhu Ping'an spoke, he took out two official documents from his bosom and handed them to County Magistrate Zhao for reading. One was the "Improvement of Military Preparations" imperial edict issued by the court when he first took office as the assistant censor of the Zhejiang Provincial Judicial Commission, which granted Zhu Ping'an the power to reorganize the military and lead the troops. The other was an official document issued by Zhang Jinggang to Zhu Ping'an to recruit militia, allowing Zhu Ping'an's Zhejiang army to recruit 1,200 militiamen in any of the seven provinces under his governor, including Shandong, Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi. No local official was allowed to stop it and was required to give him wide leeway and cooperate without making any mistakes.
(End of this chapter)