Magistrate Zhao was very efficient. In just one hour, two notices were posted in all the conspicuous places in Yiwu County, one for controlling the mining industry and one for recruiting soldiers for the Zhejiang Army. In the most popular places in the county, such as the Shenming Pavilion of the county government, the entrance to the vegetable market, the Nongchao Restaurant, and the city gate, clerks were specially assigned to read the notices to the onlookers and explain their contents.
In addition, more than 30 runners rushed to towns and villages with notices to post them.
"Okay, from now on, we understand that the mine belongs to the government. Whoever the government approves can start mining. If the government doesn't approve, no one should argue. If you argue, you will end up in jail for theft and robbery."
"This is good. Those who occupied the land in the past will be forgiven by the government, and those who did not occupy the land will no longer be able to occupy it. There will be no more armed fights, and we can finally live a peaceful life of mining and farming."
"Ah, this recruitment notice is quite interesting. The Zhejiang Army recruits militiamen, not garrisons. Once they enter, they are not military households, so they don't have to worry about being military households for generations. But this is also a regular army, and they receive military pay from the court. And the pay is so high, a full 1.5 taels of silver per month, which is 18 taels of silver per year. If you get excellent performance evaluations, you will get even more generous pay... ...
"And more, every time you kill a Japanese pirate, you will be rewarded with thirty taels of silver. Thirty taels, isn't this ten thousand times better than fighting with weapons? If you injure or kill the opponent in a fight, not only will you not get any reward, you will also have to worry about being sought for revenge, and even worried about being caught by the government and thrown into jail! But it's different if you join the Zhejiang Army. When you go to the battlefield, if you kill a Japanese pirate, you will get thirty taels of silver, and if you kill two Japanese pirates, you will get sixty taels. You can also become a hero, and maybe even become an official. If you kill a few more Japanese pirates, you can just wait to enjoy a comfortable life in this life."
The crowd gathered around the notice and discussed it. The reactions were mostly positive, but there were also negative voices.
"What do you think? Could it be that the government is deceiving us, luring us into a trap in the name of recruiting soldiers? When we went to recruit soldiers, they arrested us. Which of us Yiwu heroes has not fought for a mine? Mining without permission is considered theft, and gathering a crowd to fight is considered wounding or murder. No matter which crime it is, it is enough to put us in jail for life..."
"No, didn't the mine management notice say that if you already occupy the mine, as long as you pay in kind or taxes, the government will reissue the approval document to recognize it? How could the government go against its own words? Who will listen to it in the future? It won't be so short-sighted..."
There were people who were skeptical and questioning, but their number was relatively small. The yamen clerks in front of the notice also repeatedly assured the onlookers that they could rest assured that this notice was definitely not a trick by the yamen to trick people into going to jail, etc.
Zhu Ping'an led Liu Dadao and others, dressed in plain clothes, and walked around the notice boards in the county, watching people's reactions and listening to their discussions. Seeing that people generally responded strongly and positively, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile. It seemed that there would be a lot of people who would come to apply to join the army tomorrow.
"Big Knife, go and exchange the banknotes for small change so that we can give them resettlement allowances after we recruit soldiers tomorrow."
"I'll go find Magistrate Zhao and ask him to lend me some more clerks to help with the registration, and some runners to help maintain order."
"We also need to clean up the recruiting ground and expand it. There are so many people who are applying to join the army, we must make sure they can accommodate them..."
Zhu Ping'an gave instructions to Liu Dadao and others with confidence, explaining the preparations one by one.
The troops were divided into three groups. Zhu Ping'an went to discuss borrowing clerks and runners from County Magistrate Zhao, Liu Dadao took people to exchange small change, and the rest of the people went to clean up the recruitment site.
Everything was done in an orderly manner, and by the evening, everyone had successfully completed their respective tasks. Liu Dadao successfully exchanged six thousand taels of silver, and the venue was also cleaned up, which was nearly doubled than the planned size, enough to accommodate more than three thousand people.
County Magistrate Zhao was also very easy to talk to. Zhu Ping'an went to him and explained his purpose. Without saying a word, County Magistrate Zhao handed over two-thirds of the clerks and runners of the county government to Zhu Ping'an, leaving only one-third of the clerks and runners who were necessary to maintain the operation of the county government.
Everything is ready, just wait until tomorrow.
In the evening, County Magistrate Zhao enthusiastically wanted to welcome Zhu Pingan and others at a restaurant. Zhu Pingan was reluctant to refuse the offer, and he also wanted Zhao's cooperation in recruiting soldiers in Yiwu. It would be bad to refuse bluntly, but Zhu Pingan repeatedly said that the restaurant was fine, and two more dishes could be added in the county government kitchen. At Zhu Pingan's insistence, County Magistrate Zhao welcomed Zhu Pingan and others at the county government, and the county government kitchen added eight dishes to make it perfect.
After eating and drinking, Zhu Ping'an rested in the guest room of the county government office for a night.
Early the next morning, after a quick breakfast, Zhu Ping'an brought Liu Dadao and others as well as Yiwu County's clerks and runners to the open space in front of the south gate of Yiwu County, which was the recruitment location as indicated in the recruitment notice.
They were afraid of keeping the people who had come early to apply for the job waiting for a long time.
The venue was set up yesterday, and the stage, tables, chairs, benches, tea, etc. were all in place.
At that time, the east was already bright, the morning sun showed half of its face, and thousands of golden rays shone onto the earth through the morning light.
Everything seems vibrant and full of hope.
However, when Zhu Ping'an brought Liu Dadao and others to the recruitment site, they found that the venue was empty.
It was really empty. There was no one there except for the tables, chairs and benches.
"Sir, it's still early. The people may not have had breakfast yet. Wait a little longer. They should be here after they finish breakfast." Liu Dadao scratched his head, thought about it, and found an excuse.
"Maybe." Zhu Pingan did not comment.
Something seems to be wrong, and everything seems strange. It is impossible that all the people in the county did not have breakfast. Is it possible that there are no early risers? How is that possible? This does not make sense...
After waiting for a while, the county town had woken up from its slumber and people began to appear on the streets.
People doing business, hawking goods, driving to the morning market, going out to work, getting up and taking a walk to find breakfast... ...
Some people also approached the recruitment site, pointing and watching from a distance.
Liu Dadao and others were very expectant at first, waiting for people to come and apply, but after waiting for a long time no one came.
"Are you here to apply to join the army? Don't be shy, just come over..." Liu Dadao walked towards the onlookers in the distance. He thought they were shy and embarrassed to come over to join the army, so he took the initiative to ask.
"No, no..." The person in the distance waved his hands and walked away.
Liu Dadao left alone and came back empty-handed.
Until the sun was high in the sky at noon, not a single common person came forward to volunteer to join the army.
What happened?!
What went wrong
Why didn't anyone come to apply to join the army? Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but frown, puzzled. (To be continued)