The rise of the poor

When the Japanese pirates withdrew from the city gate, they piled up a lot of obstacles in the gate opening: bricks, stones, earth, carts with their wheels removed, and dismantled residential building materials, making the gate opening a mess and blocking it completely.

The defenders on the city walls opened the gates by climbing over obstacles.

"Fake!"

Zhu Pingan couldn't help but curse when he saw the obstacles in the city gate.

"Young master, what kind of class are you giving?" Liu Dagang and the others scratched the back of their heads. What was the young master talking about? They couldn't understand it.

"It's nothing, quickly clear the city gate openings." Zhu Ping'an waved his hand, directing the city's garrison and Zhejiang soldiers to clear the obstacles from both ends of the city gate openings to create a passage for the army to enter the city.

"I am Zhu Ping'an, the Governor of Zhejiang. Where is the Prefect of Songjiang?" Zhu Ping'an asked the guards inside the city while everyone was clearing the city gate.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the Prefect is currently in the prefectural government office within the city, overseeing operations," the city's garrison replied cautiously.

"Due to overwork, Lord Prefect fainted, but he seems to have already woken up," another guard added.

He was in charge of directing operations at the government office when he fainted.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an frowned. The prefect of Songjiang Prefecture dared not personally command on the front lines, only remotely directing operations from the prefectural office, and yet he collapsed from overwork? How long has it been since the Japanese pirates attacked the city, and he's already collapsed from overwork?!
He didn't even dare to go to the front lines himself, yet he still collapsed from exhaustion. I think he must have fainted from fright after hearing the news that the Japanese pirates had breached the city gates!

"Tell Prefect Han to hold the city gates firmly and not let the Japanese pirates escape. If the pirates retreat into the city, they are courting death. We can then trap them like dogs in a jar and devour this arrogant group of pirates in one fell swoop!"

"You hold the city gates, our army will be the main force, and you can provide support."

Although he had already sent people to call out to the four gates, Zhu Ping'an emphasized it again and even took off his waist token and threw it to the guards in the city, telling them to take it to the prefect of Songjiang and convey his message.

"As ordered."

The city's garrison, carrying Zhu Ping'an's token, ran quickly to the prefectural government office.

"Which direction did the Japanese pirates go?" Zhu Pingan asked the garrison.

The city was in chaos, with arson, murder, and looting taking place in many places. There were at least a hundred fires, and cries came from all directions, including the east, west, and south gates.

There must have been Japanese pirates burning, killing, and looting here, and of course, there were also local thugs taking advantage of the chaos.

"They've been killing, burning, and looting all the way north," the garrison pointed north.

Zhu Pingan had just cleared a narrow passage through the city gate when he dispatched an elite force to pursue the Japanese pirates to the north. He was worried that the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture and the garrison would not be able to hold out for long.

Of course, the city gate archway still needs to be cleared, otherwise the entry efficiency will be too slow.

Songjiang government office.

Prefect Han, like a frightened rabbit, hid in the woodshed of the government office. On the one hand, the woodshed was inconspicuous, and if the Japanese pirates invaded, there was a high probability that they would overlook it. On the other hand, there was a dog hole in the courtyard wall next to the woodshed. It had already been repaired with bricks, but Prefect Han had it dug up again and enlarged a little so that a person could crawl through it. If the Japanese pirates invaded, they could crawl out through this dog hole.

Ahem, it's not about running away, but as the ancients said, "Where there's life, there's hope." It's about having a useful body to serve the emperor and the people.

As Prefect Han was filled with unease, he suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps. Startled, he jumped up and rushed to the door, his face pale and filled with terror, asking, "Have the Japanese pirates invaded the prefectural government?!"

A constable appeared before him, panting and shaking his head. "No, Your Excellency, do not be alarmed. The Japanese pirates did not attack the government office. They burned, killed, and looted their way to the north gate."

"Phew, it's good they didn't attack the government office." Prefect Han breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the Japanese pirates had been burning, killing, and looting all the way to the North Gate. His pale face regained some color, and the fear on his face lessened.

"Then why did you rush here so quickly? You scared me!" Prefect Han, having recovered somewhat, reprimanded the constable.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, that Japanese chieftain sent word that we should open the North Gate so they can leave through it, otherwise..." The constable paused here.

"What else? Speak up!" Prefect Han glared at him.

"Otherwise, we'll slaughter every last one of the chickens and dogs in Songjiang Prefecture, and we'll even take over the prefectural government office to establish our authority first."

The constable returned.

Upon hearing this, Prefect Han shuddered involuntarily, his beard bristling and eyes wide with fury. "What are you thinking? Open the North Gate! Open the North Gate! Let these scoundrels leave now! Are you going to keep them here for the New Year?!"

The city walls of Songjiang Prefecture were so high, and there were so many garrison troops, yet they still couldn't hold the city gates. It wasn't long before the Japanese pirates breached them. Meanwhile, the walls of their government office were only three meters high. It was easy for the Japanese pirates to break in!
Prefect Han dared not even imagine the scene of the Japanese pirates attacking the government office; he was even worried that he wouldn't be able to escape with his life even if he crawled through a dog hole.

"Open the city gates! Open the city gates immediately! Let these evil spirits go!" Prefect Han couldn't wait a moment longer and kept urging his officers.

"Your Excellency, Governor Zhu Ping'an of Zhejiang has sent messengers to the four gates outside the city, ordering us to hold the gates. They attacked the Japanese pirates from behind while they were attacking the city and defeated them."

"Lord Zhu said that if we retreat into the city, it will be like a dog entering a house or a turtle entering a jar. Lord Zhu wants us to hold the city gates and not let the Japanese pirates escape. They want to cooperate with us from the inside and outside, attack from both sides, close the gate and beat the dog, and catch the turtle in the jar!"

"If we open the city gates and let the Japanese pirates go, how will we explain it to Lord Zhu? Will it bring disaster upon us?"

The constable whispered a reminder.

"What brings disaster?! It's not opening the city gates to let those evil stars leave that will bring disaster! Do you know what those evil stars will do?! Let me tell you, they will send our entire Songjiang Prefecture to hell! We will be the first to be hit, and the first place those evil stars will attack is our prefectural government office. None of us will escape!"

"Lord Zhu's Zhejiang army only managed to defeat the Japanese pirates by launching a surprise attack from behind while they were besieging the city. Uh, we don't even know if the Japanese pirates were truly defeated or feigning defeat. The Zhejiang army only has three thousand men, and who knows how many they lost in the battle outside the city. Can they really defeat the Japanese pirates?! We'll be the ones who suffer in the end!"

"As for how to explain this to Lord Zhu, Lord Zhu is the Governor of Zhejiang, and this is Songjiang Prefecture. We are under the jurisdiction of Governor Hu Zongxian of Suzhou and Songjiang! I don't need to explain to Lord Zhu; I only need to explain to Lord Hu!"

"As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood! Lord Hu is an vassal of Lord Zhao Wenhua, and I have already given Lord Zhao a generous gift. I will just give Lord Zhao and Lord Hu another generous gift later. There is nothing that a generous gift cannot explain. If one generous gift is not enough, then two will be enough, and if two are not enough, then three will be enough."

Prefect Han waved his hand dismissively and urged, "Alright, hurry up and open the city gates, let those scoundrels leave." (End of Chapter)