The rise of the poor

Soon, to the astonishment of the Songjiang Prefecture garrison, the Zhejiang army led a long line of Japanese pirate prisoners to the city gate.

In the dead of winter, the once arrogant and domineering Japanese pirates who had been swaggering around the city were stripped of their coats, left only in their thin clothes, barefoot, their noses running and shivering from the cold, like a flock of lambs to the slaughter, and were chained together by the Zhejiang army.

"Holy crap, I counted from a distance, guess how many Japanese pirates the Zhejiang army captured? At least six hundred!"

"More than six hundred prisoners! Adding the more than five hundred Japanese pirates captured by the Zhejiang Army in the Battle of the South Gate, we have captured more than a thousand Japanese pirates in total. Tsk tsk tsk, as expected of the Zhejiang Army! I heard they have never lost a battle against the Japanese pirates!"

"Those damned Japanese pirates are fierce as hell in front of us, but they're as docile as lambs in front of the Zhejiang army!"

"Hehe, capturing so many prisoners, what else could it be but a great victory? Who just said that the Zhejiang army failed to pursue the Japanese pirates and was instead defeated and killed?! What is this, some kind of ghost or god?! Now that I think about it, we were just judging Lord Zhu's strategic mind with the mind of a useless person. Lord Zhu is a top scholar, a governor, and a minister. How could he not be confident if he could go after the Japanese pirates!"

"Although I lost money, I have to say, the Zhejiang army is awesome, Lord Zhu is awesome, they are truly awesome!"

After their initial shock, the soldiers guarding the city wall couldn't help but give a thumbs-up to the Zhejiang army that was escorting the prisoners back.

Despite their advantage of having the city walls, the Japanese pirates breached the city gates and engaged them in battle. In a single round, over a hundred of them were killed, leaving them too terrified to fight the pirates again.

Look at the Zhejiang army, they came from across the province to help, took the initiative to leave the city to pursue the Japanese pirates, and captured so many prisoners. That's the difference!

You have to admit it, that Mr. Zhu from the Zhejiang Army is truly awesome! Throughout history, people have always judged heroes by victory or defeat; the victor is naturally the hero!
"General, the Zhejiang army is here. Should we open the gate, sir?"

The Zhejiang army has arrived. Should we open the city gates? Someone thought of this and turned to ask the general for instructions, only to find that the general was gone.

"The general has already gone down." Someone reminded him, and when the man looked down, he saw that his general had indeed arrived at the city gate.

"Quickly open the city gates to welcome the Zhejiang army into the city. Once all the Zhejiang army brothers have entered the city, then close the city gates."

This time, the general didn't even need the Zhejiang army to knock on the gates; he immediately ordered them to be opened to welcome them into the city.

The Zhejiang army has already won and captured so many Japanese pirates. If we were to keep them locked up outside the city gates, we would be asking for trouble.

Soon, the city gates opened, and the Zhejiang soldiers led a string of Japanese pirate prisoners into the city. The city's defenders were filled with envy, and the city's people lined the streets to welcome them, offering the Zhejiang soldiers food and drink, and throwing rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs at the Japanese pirate prisoners.

Just now, the Japanese pirates passed through Songjiang Prefecture. In less than an hour, they had harmed tens of thousands of people.

Now that the Zhejiang army had avenged them, they naturally thanked them with food and drink, and incidentally retaliated against the Japanese pirates by throwing rotten eggs and vegetable leaves at them.

"How did the Zhejiang army win?! How were they so powerful?" The soldiers guarding the city wall were extremely curious.

"I've found out that the reason the Zhejiang army achieved such a great victory this time is all due to the skillful command of Governor Zhu of Zhejiang. Governor Zhu led the Zhejiang army out of the north gate of Songjiang Prefecture, thirteen miles away. The vanguard of the Zhejiang army caught up with the rear guard of the Japanese pirates. The Japanese pirates once again cut off their tails to survive, leaving about a thousand men in the rear guard to cover their retreat. The vanguard and the central army of the Japanese pirates turned tail and ran without looking back. The rear guard of the Japanese pirates occupied a local gentry's manor and put up a stubborn resistance."

"The Japanese pirates were very cunning. While the rear guard of the Japanese pirates was putting up a stubborn resistance at the gentry's manor, more than a thousand Japanese pirates hid in a deserted village not far from the manor. They planned to take advantage of the Zhejiang army's attack on the manor to attack the Zhejiang army from the rear."

"But who is Lord Zhu? Lord Zhu is a top scholar, the governor of Zhejiang, and a high-ranking official. How could their schemes and tricks escape Lord Zhu's notice? Lord Zhu had long guessed that the Japanese pirates might have an ambush. He sent scouts, disguised and sneaking, to discover the Japanese pirates hiding in the deserted village. He then used the 'mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind' tactic against the Japanese pirates."

"Lord Zhu commanded the Zhejiang army to attack the Japanese pirates in the gentry's manor. In the midst of the fierce battle, the Japanese pirates suddenly attacked from the deserted village. However, the Japanese pirates did not expect that the Zhejiang army was prepared. The rear guard lined up to meet the attack, and another Zhejiang army ambushed the Japanese pirates from behind. Together with the rear guard of the Zhejiang army, they attacked from both sides, and the ambushed Japanese pirates were defeated."

"After the ambush of the Japanese pirates resulted in a great defeat, the pirates in the gentry's manor also lost their fighting spirit and scattered and fled. Many pirates became prisoners of the Zhejiang army."

A well-informed garrison soldier found out how the Zhejiang army had won and went up to the city wall to share the story with everyone.

"Where is Lord Zhu? Why didn't Lord Zhu come?" someone asked.

"Lord Zhu said, 'We should pursue the enemy with our remaining strength.' After capturing the gentry's manor, he led the Zhejiang army to continue pursuing the Japanese pirates. Because there were too many prisoners, which affected the operation, some Zhejiang soldiers were sent to escort the prisoners over."

The well-informed garrison replied.

"No wonder he's a governor or a high-ranking official. Our Prefect is far inferior to him."

The garrison soldiers couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Not long after, the Zhejiang soldiers who had escorted the captured Japanese pirates back left the pirates with the Zhejiang troops who were left behind. They purchased a batch of grain, food and drink in the city, enough for the Zhejiang troops for about five days, and then went out of the city again.

"What? The Zhejiang army has won again and captured over a thousand Japanese pirates?" The prefect of Songjiang Prefecture was stunned when he received the news.

What's going on? How come the Zhejiang army defeated the Japanese pirates so easily?!
We can't do it?!

It must be due to the incompetence of the garrison commander of the prefectural city!
Soon, news of Zhu Ping'an leading the Zhejiang army to another great victory over the Japanese pirates reached Zhao Wenhua and Hu Zongxian.

Zhao Wenhua narrowed his eyes, tapped the table with his finger, and slowly said, "I thought Zhu Ping'an would suffer a setback when he attacked the Japanese pirates, but I didn't expect him to win and capture more than a thousand Japanese pirate prisoners."

"As expected of Lord Zhu, the spoils he achieved in this attack on the Japanese pirates are no less than those of Zhang Jing."

Hu Zongxian sighed with emotion, his eyes filled with a mixture of envy and regret. He wished he had gone to war with Zhu Pingan back then, so they could have shared in this glory.

With these achievements and honors, I can now secure my position as the Governor of Suzhou and Songjiang. Let's see who dares to say that I am a follower of Yan's faction, frame loyal officials, or use connections to get ahead!

Although I have flattered Yan's faction, framed loyal officials, and used back channels to get this position, I am capable and qualified to hold it!
Unfortunately, there's no going back in life.

"It seems that the Japanese pirates in Tuolin are no longer effective. After the battle with Zhang Jing, the elite of the Japanese pirates have been depleted. Although the Japanese pirates have recovered a lot of their troops, they are all a rabble and cannot be defeated. Therefore, Zihou's attack was very successful."

Zhao Wenhua stroked his chin and analyzed the situation for a moment, then looked at Hu Zongxian, "Merlin, I'll give you a chance." (End of Chapter)