The rise of the poor

Chapter 2191 Xu Wei, Who Couldn't Even Make a Meal

Before leaving Moon Island, Zhu Pingan ordered his men to set fire to the buildings on the island and destroy the Moon Island pier. He also ordered his men to move a lot of bricks and stones from the island and throw them into the sea to create artificial reefs. He also drove many sharpened tree trunks and iron stakes into the sea to prevent ships from docking at Moon Island and to prevent other Japanese pirates from reoccupying Moon Island and causing harm.

This was a last resort, since the maritime ban had weakened the Ming Dynasty's navy, making it unable to control the oceans.

Zhu Pingan ordered Yu Dayou to build the Zhejiang Navy, but it is not yet fully trained, so he had no choice but to resort to this drastic measure.

Upon returning to land, Zhu Pingan and his group went back to the fishing village stronghold to rest and reorganize their forces for a day. The following night, they set off for Meiling.

Upon returning to the fishing village stronghold, Zhu Ping'an immediately wrote a letter and enclosed 50 taels of silver, which he gave to Liu Dadao, instructing him to ride quickly to Yingtian and deliver it to Xu Wei. The 50 taels of silver was intended to support Xu Wei's livelihood.

Zhu Pingan also gave Liu Dadao some travel expenses, instructing him to exchange his horse at the post station with the official document, but emphasized that he must pay the post station fee.

Zhu Ping'an's handwritten letter was a request to Xu Wei to draft a congratulatory message for presenting a white tortoise to him.

History has proven that Xu Wei's talent in writing congratulatory memorials was unparalleled, truly unmatched in the world.

Upon receiving the mission, Liu Dadao immediately mounted two horses and set off day and night towards Yingtian.

Just in case Liu Dadao couldn't find Xu Wei, or Xu Wei was in seclusion preparing for the exam and didn't have time to write, Zhu Ping'an tried to draft congratulatory messages himself. He wrote several, but he wasn't very satisfied with any of them.

It wasn't until late at night that Zhu Pingan stopped writing and gently blew the ink dry.

Zhu Ping'an was generally satisfied with this last congratulatory letter and set it aside. If Da Dao didn't bring back Xu Wei's congratulatory letter, he would use this one instead.

Then, Zhu Pingan continued to wield his brush, writing a detailed battle report on the recent Battle of Moon Island.

In his battle report, Zhu Ping'an apologized for taking it upon himself to persuade Wang Zhi to surrender. He also reported on his close combat in persuading Wang Zhi to surrender, as well as the role and contribution of Mao Haifeng and his Japanese pirates in the Battle of Yuedao.

In his battle report, Zhu Ping'an explained that the reason he recruited Wang Zhi was based on the current situation. He adopted a strategy of "using both suppression and appeasement, and using Japanese pirates to control Japanese pirates" to weaken Wang Zhi and his gang of Japanese pirates, eliminate the remaining Japanese pirates, and control Wang Zhi and his gang of Japanese pirates with strict laws and punishments. If any Japanese pirates committed any acts of Japanese pirates again, they would be killed without mercy and held accountable.

Finally, Zhu Pingan wrote that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Japanese pirate raids in Jiangsu and Zhejiang could be quelled within two years, and the raids in Jiangnan could be quelled within five years.

After finishing writing, it was already past midnight when the moon was bright and the stars were few. Zhu Pingan blew out the oil lamp and went to bed.

After Zhu Pingan fell asleep, Liu Dadao, looking travel-worn, rode his horse into Yingtian City.

Fortunately, with the token given by Zhu Ping'an, Liu Dadao arrived in Yingtian in the middle of the night and was also lowered into the city in a basket.

The horses were boarded outside the city and cared for by others.

Holding the token given to him by Zhu Ping'an, Liu Dadao rushed all the way and arrived at Xu Wei's residence in the middle of the night.

"Xu Wei, Mr. Xu," Liu Dadao knocked on the door to call out.

However, after knocking and calling for a while, there was still no response from inside the yard, but there was some movement from the neighboring yard.

"Bang bang bang."

After knocking for a while without any response, Liu Dadao increased his strength and knocked harder, making the sound even louder.

At this moment, Liu Dadao somewhat understood Zhang Fei in the storytelling tales, and why he burned down Zhuge Liang's house when he visited him three times.

He suddenly had the urge to set fire to Xu Wei's house. "My young master is in such a hurry, and you're sleeping so soundly. How can you sleep like that?"

Finally, after Liu Dadao knocked on the door repeatedly, there was movement in the courtyard.

"Who is it? Why are you making such a racket so late at night? Bang bang bang, bang bang, disturbing my sleep. Don't you have any sense of public decency?"

Xu Wei, shirtless with a towel draped over his shoulder, his large belly protruding, walked out grumbling.

“Mr. Xu, I am Liu Dadao. I have been sent by my young master Zhu Pingan to visit you on urgent business.”

Upon hearing Xu Wei's cursing, Liu Dadao couldn't help but smile and quickly introduced himself outside the door.

"Liu Dadao? Who is that? Zhu Pingan, oh my, my good brother, I've missed him so much! You're his subordinate? Come in quickly, come in quickly! It's like a flood washing away the Dragon King's temple, we almost didn't recognize each other."

Xu Wei couldn't recall who Liu Dadao was, but upon hearing Zhu Ping'an's name, he immediately became excited. His initial wariness instantly transformed into unrestrained enthusiasm. He flung open the door and pulled Liu Dadao inside.

"Hahaha, my humble abode is simple, let me pour you some honey water." Xu Wei was very enthusiastic and wanted to pour honey water for Liu Dadao.

But the next second, he coughed awkwardly, his honey jar was empty, and not a single drop of honey could be scraped out.

"Cough cough, drinking too much honey isn't good for your health. Drink some plain water instead." Xu Wei coughed, put down the empty honey jar with a thick face, and went to pick up the water bottle to pour some water. However, as soon as he picked up the water bottle, Xu Wei couldn't help but cough again.

The kettle was empty; not a drop of water remained.

Liu Dadao was speechless. How did you manage to live like this? There wasn't even any water left in the kettle.

"No need, sir, I have a water pouch with me, I'm not thirsty." Liu Dadao patted the water pouch at his waist.

"Ahem, may I borrow your water pouch? I'm a little thirsty." Xu Wei coughed and held out his hand.

Liu Dadao was speechless. He took the water pouch from his waist and handed it to Xu Wei.

Xu Wei wiped the mouth of the bag with a hint of disgust before pouring the water into the bowl and gulping down two bowls of water in one go.

"Sir, this is a letter my young master asked me to bring you." Liu Dadao took out Zhu Ping'an's handwritten letter from his pocket and handed it to Xu Wei, clasping his hands in a respectful gesture. "Sir, my young master requests that you write a congratulatory letter. Details can be found in the letter from the master. My young master needs it urgently, so please do your best to help."

"It's just a congratulatory letter, no problem, no problem. I'll go into seclusion tomorrow to write it, and it'll be ready in a couple of days." Xu Wei rubbed his stomach a couple of times as he spoke, tearing open the envelope.

As soon as the envelope was torn open, the fifty-tael silver note inside fell out.

Upon seeing the silver note, Xu Wei's eyes lit up, and he grabbed it like a weasel seeing a chicken.

"Oh, you really are my good brother. You knew I was starving, so you came to bring me warmth. If you had come a few days later, I probably would have starved to death. I didn't even have any firewood to boil water."

Xu Wei excitedly kissed the silver note several times.

"Sir, didn't my young master just send you fifty taels of silver a while ago?"

Liu Dadao asked, puzzled.

Is this fatso a money-devouring beast? I gave him fifty taels of silver a while ago, and he's already spent it all?! (End of Chapter)