The rise of the poor

"No, don't worry, Zhu Ping'an won't kill us. After all, we are the first pirates to take the initiative to tie up the Japanese chieftain and surrender. You have heard of the principle of buying horse bones for a thousand gold. As long as Zhu Ping'an is a smart man, he will definitely not kill us. Brother, do you think Zhu Ping'an is a smart man?"

The trusted Japanese pirate said with confidence.

"If he is not a smart man, who else is smart? He is the top scholar, the smartest in the world. He is a genuine top scholar. Have we suffered enough at his hands? Take this time for example. We didn't even see them in person, but he beat us to pieces. There are only a few people left alive."

The Japanese pirate said without hesitation that although he was an enemy of Zhu Ping'an, he would never underestimate Zhu Ping'an.

To be honest, he has never met anyone smarter than Zhu Ping'an.

Leader Ma Ye is not good enough, and Leader Xu Hai is not good enough either, otherwise they would have suffered such a great loss at the hands of Zhu Ping'an.

"However, we are pirates after all, and our hands are stained with the blood of ordinary people. How can Zhu Ping'an spare us? These officials always claim to love the people like their own children. Zhu Ping'an may be smart, but can he be an exception?
The Japanese pirate still had some doubts and was worried about Zhu Ping'an, fearing that they would fail to surrender and be beheaded instead.

"Don't worry, Zhu Ping'an will never kill us. Although our hands are stained with the blood of ordinary people, not killing us can prevent ordinary people from shedding more blood. A smart man will definitely know what is more important. In addition to the reasons I mentioned above, I will give you a few more reasons why he won't kill us." The trusted Japanese pirate said with certainty.

"Tell me quickly." The Japanese pirate urged impatiently.

"As for this example, although our hands are stained with the blood of ordinary people, you also know the principle of making amends for your crimes by making meritorious contributions."

"That makes sense. Go on, keep talking." The Japanese pirate nodded and continued to urge.

The trusted Japanese pirate continued calmly, "For this second example, we will offer him Chief Ma Ye. Do you know how much contribution Chief Ma Ye has made to Zhu Ping An? Last time under Suzhou City, Zhu Ping An captured our Chief Chen Dong, and he was promoted from the Deputy Envoy of the Zhejiang Provincial Criminal and Surveillance Department to the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and the Governor of Zhejiang. He is one of the few frontier officials! Chief Ma Ye is as important as Chief Chen Dong. How much reward do you think Zhu Ping An can get?! Such a great contribution was given to him by us. It is reasonable for him to kill us, the trusted Japanese pirates?"

"Well, that makes sense." The Japanese pirate nodded, thinking that the second example also made sense.

"As for this third example, it will also be of great use to Zhu Ping'an." The trusted Japanese pirate continued.

"Ah? We are very useful to Zhu Ping'an?" The Japanese pirate shook his head after hearing this. "What use can we be? We can only fight a little, but compared with the Zhejiang Army's firearms, we are nothing. It's not worth mentioning."

"Of course we are of great use. As the saying goes, knowing thyself and knowing the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger. We are the old Japanese who followed Chief Ma Ye, Chief Xu Hai, and Chief Chen Dong to capture Takulin and make it their lair. We know every tree and blade of grass, every mountain and river in Takulin's lair very well, as well as the situation of the Japanese in Takulin, the situation of Chief Xu Hai, and their collusion with the Japanese state and the real Japanese. These are of great use to Zhu Ping'an. In addition, we have made many friends in Takulin. If Zhu Ping'an attacks the Japanese in Takulin in the future, we can contact them and use them as internal support to lend a helping hand to him. We are alive to play a role in all these ways, and it is for the sake of the overall situation, so they will not kill us." The trusted Japanese pirates cited two more examples of why Zhu Ping'an did not kill them.

The Japanese pirate couldn't help but nodded after hearing this. Although he knew the reason, he was still worried that Zhu Ping'an would not abide by the moral principles and would kill them.

Seeing the pirate's worry, the trusted pirate added fuel to the fire, "Do you know who the original members of the Zhejiang Army were?"

"Didn't he recruit people from Yiwu?" The Japanese pirate touched his chin. He really didn't know about this. He only knew that Zhu Ping'an went to Yiwu to recruit soldiers several times, and now most of the Zhejiang army are Yiwu soldiers.

"They were not Yiwu soldiers. The original members of the Zhejiang Army were a group of bandits who were recruited by Zhu Ping'an."

The trusted Japanese pirate said slowly.

"What? The first members of the Zhejiang Army were actually bandits?" The Japanese pirate was stunned with shock after hearing this.

"Is this true? You are not kidding me, are you?" the Japanese pirate asked in disbelief.

"Why would I scare you? You can find out the truth if you ask around. Remember the last disaster? We survived with the help of overseas relief. A group of bandits came down the mountain and couldn't make ends meet. They wanted to rob Zhu Ping'an's relief food, but they fell into Zhu's trap and were recruited by Zhu Ping'an. He then formed the Zhejiang Army with them." The trusted Japanese pirate said slowly.

"I see." The Japanese pirate touched his chin.

"You said that when bandits rob people, their hands are not stained with blood, right? Could it be that the common people saw that they were handsome and offered things to them with both hands?! How is it possible? The blood on their hands is no less than ours. Zhu Pingan was able to recruit them and even used them as the base to form the Zhejiang Army. Do you think we are still useful if we tie up this Ma Yetou and ask him to surrender to Zhu Pingan and give him such a great credit? Can Zhu Pingan kill us?"

"If Zhu Ping'an can pacify the mountain bandits, why can't he pacify the Japanese pirates? Are the mountain bandits nobler than us?!"

The trusted Japanese pirate asked two questions in succession.

The Japanese pirate's eyes became brighter and brighter. With the example of Zhu Ping'an recruiting the bandits, he felt more confident.

Zhu Ping'an had pacified mountain bandits before. If he could pacify mountain bandits once, he could also pacify Japanese pirates.

Seeing that the Japanese pirates around him were already tempted, the trusted Japanese pirate continued to speak:
"Look at the dynasties, haven't you heard the story of Liangshan Marsh? The emperor of the Song Dynasty recruited all the heroes of Liangshan Marsh, and gave them gold and official positions. Even in the end, Songjiang, the leader of Liangshan, was given a cup of poisoned wine, but who said he was the leader of the bandits? How can the court be at ease if the leader of the bandits is not dead? The other heroes of Liangshan are officials and rich, enjoying glory and wealth, and the court has not taken action against them. We are just small Japanese pirates, we are not Japanese chieftains, we don't have to worry about the court going back on its word after we recruit, we are not worthy of it."

"More recently, the imperial court has mobilized foreign troops in an attempt to wipe us out. The most famous of them are the Guangxi Wolf Soldiers. Do you know the Guangxi Wolf Soldiers? They were rebels who killed officials and rebelled at the beginning. The imperial court sent troops to wipe them out. After a few battles, seeing that they were good at fighting, they recruited them. Now they are dignified soldiers and eat the emperor's food. With so many examples, are you still worried?"

The trusted Japanese pirate curled his lips slightly and looked at the Japanese pirate with encouragement.

"That's right, you convinced me, I'll listen to you, let's go to him, Zhu Ping'an, and try to get rich."

The Japanese pirate gritted his teeth and made up his mind. (End of this chapter)