Rise From the Humble

The next day, early in the morning, Zhu Pingan convened a meeting with several battalion commanders of the Zhejiang Army to prepare for the expansion of the Zhejiang Army.

All the 8,000 men from this conscription will be under their command. The strength of each battalion will be adjusted from the original 640 men in the 4th Corps to 960 men in the 6th Corps, and an additional 40 men will be added to each battalion. The army was strengthened by one thousand men.

As for the issue of promoting officers, Zhu Ping'an ordered the results of all previous disciplinary performance assessments to be published on a list. The results will be publicized for three days. If you have any objections to the disciplinary performance assessment results within three days, you can apply for verification. After three days, promotions and appointments will be strictly based on the assessment results.

At that time, the newly promoted officers will be posted on the same list for three days. When the new recruits arrive, these newly promoted officers will take office immediately.

"Sir, our Zhejiang Army is recruiting 8,000 troops this time. Fire guns, cotton armor, tents, bedding, etc. all need to be matched. The number of craftsmen in our equipment camp is not enough. We also need iron ingots, cloth, cotton, etc. not enough."

Ou Zhige scratched his head and pointed out the difficulties he faced, mainly time constraints, heavy tasks, lack of manpower, and insufficient materials.

"Don't worry about the iron ingots, etc. I have ordered the allocation of craftsmen from various places. As for the craftsmen, I have also ordered a group of local craftsmen to be temporarily recruited into the camp and let them assist you in the production of weapons and equipment in a streamlined manner."

Zhu Pingan said with a smile that he had already considered and solved these problems mentioned by Ou Zhige.

"Thank you, sir. Our equipment battalion will ensure that we complete the mission." Ou Zhige immediately expressed his stance by patting his chest.

Before Zhu Ping'an's military expansion meeting was over, a police officer knocked on the door to report that a messenger sent by Governor Zhang Jing had arrived and was waiting outside the Yamen.

"Invite me quickly." Zhu Ping'an ordered the messenger to invite the messenger, and then said to everyone in the room, "Okay, as I just said, you all go down and prepare."

"promise!"

Everyone turned around and took orders to leave.

Soon, the messenger sent by Zhang Jing walked in under the leadership of the police officer.

"I humbly pay my respects to Mr. Futai." The messenger stepped forward to pay homage to Zhu Ping'an in a polite manner.

"Without courtesy, I wonder if the governor has any instructions?" Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and asked.

"Back to your lord, the governor has moved the governor's headquarters to Jiaxing City. The governor has specially ordered me to inform you to go to Jiaxing immediately to discuss the matter of suppressing the Japanese pirates." The messenger replied truthfully.

"Who are the officials attending the meeting this time?" Zhu Pingan asked again.

"I don't know the specific details. I only know that the governor asked Mr. Futai to take the humble position." The messenger said in a tight tone.

Since he couldn't ask, Zhu Ping'an didn't ask any more questions. He asked the messenger to go down and have some simple meals and tea. After a while, he made arrangements for the government office. After the arrangements were made, he took the people to Jiaxing to meet Zhang Jing. .

Soon, Zhu Pingan arranged his work, said goodbye to Li Shu and others, took 500 Zhejiang troops to escort him, and set off for Jiaxing. The Japanese pirates have become too arrogant recently, and they must bring more soldiers and horses with them to ensure safety.

Shaoxing is more than 200 miles away from Jiaxing. Zhu Pingan and his party rushed to Jiaxing City at high speed, trying to arrive before evening.

While passing somewhere in Hangzhou Prefecture on the way, Zhu Pingan and his party saw a fire in a village from a distance.

The fire was raging and continuous.

"With such a big fire, I'm afraid the whole village will burn down." Zhu Ping'an squinted his eyes, "Under normal circumstances, fires will only occur in individual houses. It is impossible for the whole village to catch fire. There must be Japanese pirates in the village. Arson inside.”

Zhu Ping'an recited "Guangzong Yaozu" silently, then looked at the village with squinted eyes, and immediately ordered Liu Dagang, "Dagang, you lead two hundred cavalry around the back and outflank their retreat. I will lead the people to press forward. We must solve this problem." Partner with Japanese pirates.”

"I obey, young master." Liu Dagang accepted the order with his fists clasped, and he ordered two hundred people to go around in a circle towards the back of the village.

"Mr. Futai, it's important that we are in a hurry. The Governor is still waiting in Jiaxing City. Otherwise, we'd better take a long detour to avoid it." The messenger reminded Zhu Ping'an, suggesting that he take a detour to avoid this village.

"It's fine if I don't encounter them. If I encounter them, how can I let them go? If I turn a blind eye, listen or not hear, how can I have the face to face my fellow villagers? Don't worry, there are not many Japanese pirates in the village, and they won't waste much time." Zhu Ping'an He shook his head and said firmly.

"Please forgive me, Mr. Futai. How do you know that there are not many Japanese pirates in the village? If you make a wrong judgment, wouldn't it be dangerous? After all, we only have 500 troops on this trip." The messenger said very worriedly.

"I understand Japanese pirates. The purpose of Japanese pirates' robbery is to make money. For the sake of robbery efficiency, most of the Japanese pirates who attack villages are small groups of Japanese pirates. The targets of large groups of Japanese pirates are towns, and the targets of larger groups of Japanese pirates are county towns. No matter how big it is, their target will be Fucheng," Zhu Ping'an said with confidence.

I am a man who operates the radar. Once the radar is activated and the map is drawn, how can I make a wrong judgment?

In his field of vision, in the village in the distance, a puff of black smoke rose into the sky. The black smoke was not thick, indicating that the number of Japanese pirates was not large.

"Master Futai, we can leave the green hills without worrying about having firewood. Once we find that something cannot be done, it is best for us to retreat."

the messenger reminded.

"This is natural." Zhu Pingan nodded and agreed.

After Liu Dagang and his party disappeared into the woods, Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and ordered the other Zhejiang soldiers to follow him and press forward towards the burning village in the distance.

At this time, there was a group of Japanese pirates in the village who were setting fires everywhere. There were about fifty Japanese pirates in this group.

"Damn it, we came to Zhejiang yesterday and came back empty-handed, and today we came back empty-handed again. Let them run! Burn, burn all the houses in the village, I wonder what they will live in when they come back?!!"

The Japanese pirate leader cursed and commanded his Japanese pirates to set fire everywhere in the village and burn down the village.

Because Zhu Ping'an had people notify Zhejiang, especially the people in northern Zhejiang, to take refuge in the county town and prefecture town with city walls, there was no one in the village. The Japanese pirates came back empty-handed and set fire to the houses in the village to vent their anger.

"Boss, boss, look ahead, we found a group of soldiers riding horses and rushing towards us, should we hide?" A sharp-eyed Japanese pirate found Zhu Ping'an and his party and quickly reported to the Japanese pirate leader.

Zhu Ping'an did not hide his tracks, so it was normal for them to find him.

"You are useless, why are you hiding? Let's see how many soldiers there are first?" The Japanese pirate leader glared at him and cursed.

"Boss, I see there are about 200 soldiers." The sharp-eyed Japanese pirates confirmed and replied.

"What are you afraid of with just 200 people?" The Japanese pirate leader said disapprovingly. They have fought with many garrison troops before. They are a bunch of weaklings. What are you afraid of with just 200 people?