dmims Chapter 2031 The stingy Emperor Jiajing
Chapter 2031 The stingy Emperor Jiajing
Chapter 2031 The stingy Emperor Jiajing
"Report, Jiangyin County in Nanzhili was conquered by the Japanese pirates led by Xu Hai and Ma Ye this morning. The Japanese pirates burned, killed and looted. The water of the moat outside Jiangyin County turned red. The crows circling in the sky above Jiangyin County blocked out the sun."
At the Zhejiang Governor's Office, scouts led by Liu Mu reported to Zhu Ping'an the news of the fall of Jiangyin County.
Liu Mu returned from the capital yesterday.
The emperor brought back a reward from the capital to Zhu Ping'an: a bag of fruit, a jar of imperial wine, and a letter written by the emperor.
"Zhejiang is plagued by Japanese pirates. You should work hard to deal with them. I await your report of victory in defeating the Japanese pirates!"
After Zhu Pingan received the reward from Emperor Jiajing, he was speechless. Emperor Jiajing was too stingy. He just gave him a bag of fruit, a jar of wine, and a text message.
"Sir, the preserved fruits and imperial wine are the offerings made by His Majesty to the emperors of previous dynasties after the captive offering ceremony. Only the ministers of the cabinet are qualified to receive the gifts from His Majesty. Apart from the ministers of the cabinet, you are the only one who can receive them."
Liu Mu added, looking very proud.
Well, for people in this feudal era, this is already a great reward.
In this regard, Zhu Ping'an could only curl his lips. He had no practical things at all, and he still said shamelessly that he would wait for him to pacify the Japanese invasion in Zhejiang. The Emperor Jiajing was really good at getting something for nothing.
Closer to home.
Liu Mu brought a messenger to report the news of the fall of Jiangyin County to Zhu Ping'an.
"The Japanese pirates are still not quiet on the second day of the Lunar New Year. It seems that they are deliberately trying to prevent everyone from having a good New Year."
When Zhu Ping'an received the news, he couldn't help but frown, and a strong sense of uneasiness rose in his heart. Xu Hai and his gang of Japanese pirates began to attack the county town. This was really a bad signal. If the Japanese pirates could attack the county town in Nanzhili, they could naturally attack the county town in Zhejiang. This meant that the county town in Zhejiang was no longer safe!
It is no longer safe for ordinary people to hide in the county town from villages and towns!
The Japanese pirates were about to attack, but he had too few soldiers available. The eight thousand new soldiers recruited from Yiwu, Dongyang, Yongkang, Wuyi and other places had only been trained for ten days and had not yet formed combat effectiveness, and were far from meeting the requirements for going to the battlefield.
As for Yu Dayou, he was taken away by Zhang Jing and could only be responsible for the defense of the garrison, and he had no right to transfer any troops.
The garrisons in various places were so weak that they could barely defend the city against the Japanese pirates, let alone fight in the field.
A good cook cannot cook without rice, it's really worrying.
"Pay close attention to the follow-up of the Japanese invasion in Jiangyin County. At the same time, dispatch ten Zhejiang troops to be divided into five teams to scout the northern Zhejiang border. They are free to choose the mules and horses in the army. If they encounter Japanese pirates entering the country, they will immediately give the alarm and let the nearby people hide in the county town or the mountains. In addition, authorize the chiefs of each sentry to make decisions on the spot. Depending on the strength of the Japanese pirates, they can block, harass, annihilate or retreat. Regardless of whether their decisions are correct or not, they will not be held accountable afterwards."
In desperation, Zhu Ping'an had to mobilize the Zhejiang Army. In view of insufficient manpower, he could only send out ten sentries to guard northern Zhejiang.
At this moment, Jiangyin County had become a living hell. After the Japanese pirates conquered Jiangyin County, half of their troops were dispersed in various districts in the city, burning, killing and looting.
The wealthy families in the city were targeted by the Japanese pirates who were burning, killing and looting. The guards who used to bully their neighbors and show off their power were no match for the Japanese pirates' swords. All the wealthy families who were targeted had their homes broken into, and their property was killed and robbed. The Japanese pirates committed one tragedy after another with ease, causing widespread grief in the city.
Half of the troops, led by Xu Hai, Maye, Ryuzoji Shingen and Matsuura Shimosaburo, besieged the Jiangyin County Government Office.
The reason for dividing the troops was that after the Japanese pirates conquered the county town, Jiangyin County Magistrate Jiang Zhiqiu did not abandon the city and flee, nor did he surrender to the Japanese pirates. Instead, he used the county government's armory to arm all the county government officials and servants in the backyard, and at the same time gathered more than a hundred defeated soldiers to guard the county government.
Magistrate Jiang was also a decisive man. Rather than giving the Japanese pirates an advantage, he preferred to give his own people an advantage. First, he distributed all the bows, crossbows, armor, swords, and shields in the county government's armory to the yamen runners, servants, and defeated soldiers. Secondly, he opened the county government's silver vault and distributed the only nearly ten thousand taels of silver in the vault to the yamen runners, servants, and defeated soldiers, encouraging them to defend the county government to the death. Finally, he surrounded the county government's granary with straw, poured grease on the straw, and told his trusted men to set fire to the granary if the county government was lost, and not to leave a single grain of food to the Japanese pirates!
Magistrate Jiang also put on armor, picked up a long sword, and went to the front line of the county government wall, commanding everyone to defend the government office to the death.
Under the repeated tactics of County Magistrate Jiang and armed with sufficient bows and arrows and armor in the armory, the yamen guarding force composed of yamen runners, servants and defeated soldiers, although suffered heavy casualties, miraculously held off the Japanese pirates and did not allow them to break into the county yamen gate.
"Come on, come on! If you dare to back down again, this will be your fate! If you break the gate of the county government, I will twist off the head of this damn county magistrate and kick it like a ball!"
Ma Ye was a little irritable. He personally commanded the Japanese pirates to attack the county government office. He did not expect that the motley crowd led by County Magistrate Jiang could withstand his several attacks. This made him feel humiliated in front of Ryuzoji Shingen and Matsuura Shimosaburo. In a fit of rage, he chopped down a Japanese pirate who retreated without permission with a knife, forcing the Japanese pirates to attack again.
Under the command of Ma Ye's bloody Japanese sword, the Japanese pirates once again launched a fierce attack on the county government office.
"Kill him!"
"Dead, dead!"
"Go ahead, rush in and kill them!"
The real Japanese and the fake Japanese all rushed towards the county government office. The wall of the county government office was not high, only about three meters high, and the Japanese pirates could climb up with a human ladder.
"Everyone, if the Japanese pirates rush in, we will all die. Only by fighting to stop them can we survive!"
"I tell you, my life is much more valuable than yours. I will not sit here and wait for death. Don't worry, before the Japanese pirates broke into the city, I had already asked for help from the governor and the Shandong spearmen stationed in Changzhou."
"Reinforcements are on the way now. As long as we hold on for a little while longer, reinforcements will arrive, and then we will be saved!"
"As long as we hold out until the reinforcements arrive, after the battle, each person will be rewarded with an additional ten taels of silver, and those who died in the battle will also receive a twenty tael silver pension. Please rest assured, I swear on my official hat. If I break this oath, I will lose my official hat and my head!"
While Jiangyin County Magistrate Jiang organized the yamen runners and defeated soldiers to fight to the death against the Japanese pirates, he also painted a rosy picture for them, emphasizing that he had already asked for help from outside before the Japanese pirates broke into the city, and that if they could stop the Japanese pirates, everyone would receive an increase in reward.
Faced with life and death, the yamen runners and the defeated soldiers burst out with amazing potential and incredibly blocked the fierce attack of the Japanese pirates once again.
Although, a heavy price was inevitably paid, with nearly half of the soldiers being injured or killed.
In the era of cold weapons and bloody hand-to-hand combat, generally speaking, if casualties exceeded 10%, the army would basically be defeated. Only a famous general with extremely high command ability could keep the army from retreating when casualties exceeded 20%.
Under the threat of death, the Jiangyin County Yamen created a miracle and fought to the death despite nearly half of their casualties.
There was no other way. They were surrounded in the county government office and had nowhere to escape. They could only fight to the death to survive.