I now finally understand why the county dignitary said ‘not more than thirty brothers, but more than thirty thousand brothers’ ……”
The yamen on the city wall opened their mouths wide, with a shocked look at the people underneath the city pouring onto the city wall in a steady stream, more and more, shoulder to shoulder, as far as the eye can see, the people scrambling to queue up to pour onto the city wall seem to be like a long dragon, winding its way upwards, the front of them can’t see the head of the long dragon, and the back of them can’t see the tail of the long dragon.
“Our county honourable one mouth can be worth a thousand armies and ten thousand horses ah ……As long as there is a County Honour, anything is possible.”The soldier next to the magistrate looked at Zhu Pingan’s back and said with a look of reverence, seeing so many people flocking to the city walls to defend the city together, the despair in his heart was swept away and his face filled with hope.
Like the soldiers, the magistrates and soldiers on the city wall saw this scene, and hope grew again in their hearts for defending the city.
The atmosphere of despair that hung like a thick fog over the city of Jingnan County dissipated as if blown by a strong wind.
Breaking the game!
The perilous situation of certain death had ushered in a turnaround. This mobilisation by Zhu Pingan could definitely go down in history.
“Folks, at the time of Jingnan’s survival, you have come forward, you are all heroes, you are all the pride of Jingnan, you are all the guardians of Jingnan, I, Zhu Pingan, would like to pay my respects to all the folks here.”
On top of the city wall, Zhu Pingan looked at the crowd that surged up the wall, the corners of his eyes couldn’t help but moisten, arching his hand and making a long bow towards the crowd.
“County Honour is overstating the case, it should be us who should pay our respects to County Honour. When County Eunuch first came to Jingnan, he was able to guard Jingnan at the risk of his life, so what reason do we, the native-born people of Jingnan, have not to guard Jingnan.”
“Zhi Xian Daoliang, quickly don’t say that, we’re ashamed, we don’t deserve Zhi Xian Daoliang’s praise. If it wasn’t for Zhixian Daoliang’s words waking up the dreamers, we would really be cowards who are still being despised by the Japanese killing us.”
“Great Master Zhixian, you are the guardian god of Jingnan.”
“Governor, we are not cowards, we will fight the Japanese to the end and protect our parents, wives and children.”
“Jingnan is also our Jingnan, we were born in Jingnan and grew up in Jingnan, if Jingnan is in trouble, of course we have to step forward.”
People spoke up one after another, not daring to accept Zhu Pingan’s obeisance.
“It’s all because of Ping An’s incompetence that he has dragged you folks into risking your lives to defend the city, Ping An is here to thank you folks for your sins.”
Zhu Pingan once again arched his hand and bowed long, as the parental officer of Jingnan, he was incapable of guarding Jingnan and was forced to mobilise the people to guard the city, letting the people face the ferocious and inhumane Japanese invaders head on, Zhu Pingan’s heart was filled with guilt.
“Zhixian Daoliang what is your crime, if not for Zhixian Daoliang’s insistence, we would have been killed by the Japanese pirates outside the west gate. Also, Governor Great Master you risked your life to guard Jingnan, we all saw it in our eyes.”
“What does the Japanese attacking the city have to do with the Great Master of the Magistrate. If it weren’t for the Great Master of the County Zhi Xian guarding the city walls, Jingnan would have been overrun by the Japanese long ago.”
“The Governor’s Grand Master is our great benefactor, not a sinner.”
“A clever woman can’t cook a meal without rice, we don’t have any guards in Jingnan, how can we have any defending force, more than 3,000 Japanese invaders attacked the city, it’s only normal that they couldn’t defend the city, it’s only abnormal if they did defend it, the county magistrate is new to the city, so what is the sin of incompetence. Moreover, the county magistrate organised the magistrates and gatekeepers to defend the city, and it was a miracle that he was able to defend the city from more than 3,000 Japanese invaders. Not only is the Great Master of the County not guilty, but he has done a great deal of good.”
“Prefectural Governor is overstating the case, if we don’t defend the city and the Japanese invaders break through the county, we’ll be dead. If we defend the city, we can still fight for ourselves and our parents, wives and children. If it wasn’t for your honour waking us up, we would have had to wait for death.”
People said emotionally, Jingnan is like that, they are more than clear, there is not much power to defend the city, if the Japanese only came with a hundred or so people and could not defend the city, it can still be said that the magistrate is incompetent, but the Japanese came with more than 3,000 people at once, so it can be defended, Zhu Pingan has done well enough, it is unlikely that there is anyone who can do a better job than Zhu Pingan. Last year, the Japanese invaders only came with a hundred or ten men and broke the county.
“Many thanks to all of you folks, all of you folks believe in me, Zhu Pingan, I, Zhu Pingan, will live up to my folks’ trust.”
Zhu Pingan once again arched his hand and bowed long.
The crowd returned the bow.
Those who are on the city wall, the younger brother goes down to the city wall.”
Zhu Pingan stood in front of the crowd, arched his hand and said loudly.
“Great Master Governor, old man I’ve lived seventy years, that’s enough, it’s better to let the younger ones go down. Don’t look at me as old, but I have a body of kung fu, unusual youngsters, two or three of them are no match for the old man.”
“Great Master Governor, as the saying goes, fighting tigers is as good as fighting brothers, and going into battle is as good as fighting sons, we father and brother are only as good as the three of us on the city walls.”
“Great Master Governor, we won’t go down, we’ll defend Jingnan to the death, we’ll fight the Japanese to the end.”
“Zhixian Daoliang such a golden person is on the city wall to die to defend the city, we do not go down to the city wall …….”
The people on the city wall said excitedly, all of them insisted on not going down to the city wall and swore to defend Jingnan to the death.
In order to express the persistence, that seventy year old master blew his beard and eyes, holding the city wall stacks and not letting go.
“Grandpa, uncle, all of you, your determination and courage to guard Jingnan is evident to all of us, but on the battlefield, swords are blind, and the Japanese pirates are ferocious and inhumane, so it will only increase the casualties; moreover, the city walls are narrow, so it is not easy for so many of us to exert ourselves, which gives the Japanese pirates a chance to take advantage of the situation in vain. In addition, all of you folks under the city can assist in defending the city as well, all of you folks can maintain the order of the county town, assist in collecting and carrying timber and stones, and collect faeces and urine ……”
Zhu Pingan had to persuade again and again before he could persuade those who were over 50 years old, those who were old and those who were young, and so on, to come down from the city walls.
After such screening, more than 2,000 strong people were left on top of the city wall, although the number was not as large as that of the Japanese, but it was enough to defend the city.
“All the brothers risked their lives to defend the city, I, Zhu Pingan, have nothing to show for it, but only to treat them with sincerity. All of you will be registered and treated in the same way as government officials and soldiers. All those who are brave enough to defend the city will be rewarded with ten taels of silver per person; those who are injured because of defending the city will be rewarded with an additional ten taels of silver; those who are killed in action because of defending the city will be given an additional pension of fifty taels per person. After this battle, anyone who aspires to serve in the county office or as an officer will be given priority.”
Zhu Pingan recruited literate government officials and people to register all the people, treating them the same as government officials and soldiers, and applying the same heavy reward order that had been issued previously, in addition to promising the people that after the war, anyone who aspired to serve in the county government office or as an official would be given priority consideration.
Heavy reward order, for the people to solve the worries; posting order, gave the people a chance to eat food.
Originally, the people defended the city only with a passion, now with the order of heavy reward, the order of office, the people have no worries, and more hope, to defend the city more actively, full of spirit, high morale.
