The rise of the poor

Chapter 2273 Merlin, what do you think?

“What integrity do thieves have? If they had integrity, would they be thieves?! Zihou, let me teach you a lesson: never trust a thief, no matter what kind of thief he is. What 'robbing the rich to help the poor' or 'acting on behalf of heaven'? It's all nonsense. A thief is a thief. You can't trust any thief. You must remember this.”

Zhao Wenhua curled his lip in disdain, shook his head, and began to lecture Zhu Pingan.

"Thank you for your instruction, Master Zhao." Zhu Ping'an bowed and thanked him, but he was not convinced. Sometimes thieves are more trustworthy than officials, and of course, sometimes beasts are more trustworthy than humans. In short, one should not easily trust anyone.

"Alright, what's your second strategy?" Zhao Wenhua waved his hand and asked.

"Use a feigned attack, offer them great benefits as a pretense of appeasement, lull them into a false sense of security, and then annihilate them in one fell swoop when they are off guard!"

Zhu Pingan said simply.

"How do we appease him? How do we catch him off guard?" After listening, Zhao Wenhua felt that Zhu Ping'an was still making assumptions.

"I'm sending people to gather intelligence on Xu Hai. Everyone has weaknesses, and Xu Hai is no exception. Besides, I believe no Japanese pirate would remain indifferent to the imperial court's offer of amnesty. By targeting Xu Hai's weaknesses and devising a special plan, it will be difficult for him to avoid falling into the trap," Zhu Ping'an said confidently.

In fact, Zhu Ping'an knew Xu Hai's weakness without even investigating him: his mistress, Wang Cuiqiao.

This is a widely circulated unofficial history in modern times, told in great detail and adopted by many people.

However, Zhu Ping'an was unsure whether unofficial histories matched reality. He couldn't act solely based on modern unofficial histories; if they were too far-fetched and differed too much from reality, he would be tricked. To be on the safe side, Zhu Ping'an sent people to gather intelligence on Xu Hai.

"Hehe, Zihou, you're too confident."

Zhao Wenhua chuckled and shook his head upon hearing this. Zhu Ping'an hadn't even gathered any intelligence yet, and Xu Hai's weaknesses hadn't been found, but he was already so confident that Xu Hai would definitely fall for it. Wasn't that a bit too overconfident?

Zhu Pingan is still too young.

"Merlin, what do you think?" Zhao Wenhua turned to look at Hu Zongxian.

After being named, Hu Zongxian narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, and then slowly commented, "Eliminating Xu Hai and Wang Zhi may not necessarily quell the Japanese pirate problem in the entire Jiangnan region, but the Japanese pirates in the Suzhou-Songjiang and Jiangsu-Zhejiang areas can definitely be quelled quickly! Lord Zhu's strategy for eliminating the Japanese pirates is truly eye-opening. I had been focusing on the gains and losses of individual cities and regions, and I had been planning how to wipe out these large and small Japanese pirate gangs in Jiangnan, but I forgot to start from the overall situation. Lord Zhu's strategy has given me inspiration to start from the big picture in eliminating the Japanese pirates."

Hu Zongxian did not believe that eliminating Xu Hai and Wang Zhi would quell the Japanese pirate problem in Jiangnan, but he affirmed that eliminating the two would accelerate the eradication of the Japanese pirate problem in the Suzhou-Songjiang and Zhejiang areas. He also affirmed Zhu Ping'an's strategy for eliminating the Japanese pirates from a strategic perspective.

Hu Zongxian was also a master of balancing things.

"Meilin, what strategies do you have for eliminating the Japanese pirates in Jiangnan?" Zhao Wenhua asked Hu Zongxian about his strategies for defeating the pirates.

Zhu Pingan also held his teacup and looked at Hu Zongxian, wanting to hear Hu Zongxian's insightful opinions on destroying the Japanese pirates and see what his thoughts were.

"Just now, Lord Zhu gave me some inspiration. I think that to eliminate the Japanese pirates, we should first determine the overall situation and then act accordingly."

Hu Zongxian cupped his hands in greeting.

"How do you determine the overall situation? How do you plan before you act? Explain your reasoning." Zhao Wenhua nodded and continued to ask.

"The key figures in the Suzhou-Songjiang and Zhejiang areas are Xu Hai and Wang Zhi. Presumably, there are also key Japanese pirate chiefs in Fujian and Guangdong, to varying degrees. We should focus our attacks on these key Japanese pirate chiefs and pirates, using these as leverage to wipe out the pirates from all sides!"

Hu Zongxian replied.

Uh

You actually listened to Zhu Ping'an, but you went a step further and expanded the key Japanese chieftains from just Wang Zhi and Xu Hai.

Zhao Wenhua.

"Then how do you think we should fight the Japanese pirates? Is the current approach feasible?" Zhao Wenhua pressed further.

Hu Zongxian filled Zhao Wenhua's teapot with tea and then poured another for Zhu Pingan. Setting down the teapot, he slowly said, "This won't work. The main force's combat strength is severely lacking. The guest troops are stronger, but still no match for the Japanese pirates. The main reason I lost to the Japanese pirates was that my soldiers were inferior in combat strength. To solve this problem, I believe we must train a new army. The navy needs training, and the land forces even more so!"

"How long will it take to train a new army?" Zhao Wenhua asked Hu Zongxian.

"With sufficient provisions and pay, it would be ready to use in about six months. But if we want to train a strong and elite force, it would take at least one to two years." Hu Zongxian had some understanding of military training. He had spent some time in the border towns and had some knowledge of the border troops from recruitment to combat.

After Hu Zongxian finished speaking, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Zhu Ping'an, saying, "Lord Zhu has just trained the Zhejiang Army, so he must know more about this matter."

“Zihou, take your Zhejiang army as an example and tell me,” Zhao Wenhua said to Zhu Pingan.

"The Zhejiang Army uses heavy firearms. Training with firearms is faster than with cold weapons. It takes about three months to become barely capable of fighting. However, firearms are much more expensive than cold weapons, at least twice as expensive."

Zhu Pingan briefly introduced the time required for the Zhejiang Army to train its troops. The Zhejiang Army's firearms training is fast, but expensive.

"Hehe, more than double? Forget it then. Firearms are too wasteful. It's enough to just equip the army with more. It's too wasteful for your Zhejiang army to be all firearms. Without the protection of cold weapons, firearms are too vulnerable. Once you get into close combat, it's a nightmare."

Zhao Wenhua chuckled, disagreeing with the idea of ​​fully equipping the Zhejiang Army with firearms, as it was both expensive and dangerous.

“That’s right, the army can appropriately increase its firearms configuration, but a complete firearms system is unnecessary.” Hu Zongxian nodded, echoing Zhao Wenhua.

"The navy must be equipped with more cannons and muskets," Zhu Pingan insisted.

"Hehe, Zihou can talk to Zhou Chong about this," Zhao Wenhua chuckled. "While he's still here, let's make the most of his resources."

It was two hours later when Zhu Pingan returned to the inn, where Yu Dayou had been waiting.

"General Yu, please have some tea." Zhu Ping'an invited Yu Dayou into the room and poured him a cup of tea.

"Thank you very much, Minister Zhu." Yu Dayou clasped his hands in thanks.

Next, Yu Dayou gave Zhu Pingan a detailed report on the situation of the Zhejiang Navy, from the ships and equipment to the training.

"Very good. General Yu is like a dragon in the water. I am at ease entrusting the navy to General Yu." Zhu Pingan nodded in satisfaction.

"This time, the Governor-General intends to personally lead the navy. I would like to ask the Minister for instructions on how I should cooperate."

Yu Dayou asked for instructions.

"Fully cooperate with Governor Zhou in expanding the navy. Report to the Governor in a timely manner on matters such as building more warships, adding cannons, and distributing rations and pay, and train the navy well as soon as possible. Make the navy capable of shouldering the responsibility of a main force navy."

Zhu Pingan emphasized.

"Yes, sir." Yu Dayou nodded vigorously. (End of Chapter)