The rise of the poor

Chapter 1983 Farewell

"Zihou is in a hurry to get on his way, so I won't say any more. To make a long story short, in addition to seeing you off, I am also entrusted by officials, gentry, and merchants in the city. In order to thank Zihou and the Zhejiang Army for saving their lives and protecting their families, they spontaneously raised 50,000 taels of silver and donated it to the Zhejiang Army as military expenses."

"In addition, they also collected 50,000 shi of grain and donated it to the Zhejiang Army."

"I have taken the initiative to issue an official letter in the name of Suzhou Prefecture to accept their donations. The silver has been exchanged for silver notes. This is the official letter transferring their donations to Zihou's Zhejiang Army. These are all the silver notes. Now they are returned intact. I will send someone to deliver the food and fodder they raised to Shaoxing for Zihou later."

Shang Wei kept the conversation short and took out an official letter for transferring the donation and a box and handed them to Zhu Ping'an.

Shang Weiwei was really good at doing things. He accepted the donation in the name of Suzhou Prefecture on behalf of Zhu Ping'an and transferred it to Zhu Ping'an in the form of an official letter.

In this way, it was equivalent to Shang Weiwei and Suzhou Prefecture building a separation wall for Zhu Ping'an and the Zhejiang Army, taking on the risk of receiving huge amounts of money, so that Zhu Ping'an and the Zhejiang Army did not have to bear any risk in accepting donations.

Even if political opponents hold a magnifying glass and nitpick, they cannot find any problems with Zhu Ping'an.

"Thank you very much, Lord Shang, for your care, and thank you to my colleagues and fellow villagers in Suzhou. Now is the time to use silver, so I will not refuse."

As the saying goes, food and fodder must be sent before troops move out. Zhu Ping'an knew clearly that after taking office as the governor of Zhejiang, the first thing he had to solve in order to eliminate the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang was the problem of silver and food and fodder. Money was needed right away, so Zhu Ping'an did not beat around the bush. He took the official letter and box handed over by Shang Weixing with both hands and expressed his sincere gratitude to him.

There are now two thousand Zhejiang troops, and each person's monthly salary is one and a half taels of silver. The monthly salary is three thousand taels, and the annual salary is thirty-six thousand taels.

By this calculation, the 50,000 taels of silver donated by Suzhou was enough to pay the Zhejiang army's salaries for one and a half years.

With the addition of funding from the imperial court, Zhu Ping'an won't have to worry about the Zhejiang army's salary for at least two years.

And the same goes for food and fodder.

One soldier eats about one dan of grain per month, and two thousand soldiers eat two thousand dan of grain per month, which means twenty-four thousand dan of grain per year. Oh, and we also have to count the war horses. The 50,000 dan of grain donated by Suzhou is almost enough for Zhejiang soldiers to feed the horses for a year and a half.

In addition to the food and fodder allocated by the imperial court, Zhu Ping'an would not have to worry about the food and fodder for the Zhejiang soldiers for at least two years.

"Zihou, you guys have to hurry, so we won't delay your journey. I wish you a safe journey. I believe that with Zihou's ability, you will be able to achieve great things in Zhejiang. See you next time, Zihou will definitely make new achievements."

Shang Weiwei knew that Zhu Ping'an was going to hurry on his way, so he didn't say any more pleasantries. After Zhu Ping'an handed over the official letter and banknote, he bowed to Zhu Ping'an and said goodbye.

"I wish Lord Zhu a safe journey and great success." A group of officials followed Shang Wei and bowed to Zhu Ping'an to see him off.

"Thank you, Lord Shang, and thank you, my colleagues, for your good words." Zhu Ping'an bowed in return to express his gratitude.

With Prefect Shang and others seeing them off, Zhu Ping'an and his party set off again, but they had to stop before reaching the city gate.

The road ahead was blocked by ordinary people.

There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. When Zhu Ping'an and his party set out to move, the neighbors and passers-by found out. Word spread quickly, and many people knew that Zhu Ping'an was leaving for Shaoxing to take up the post of governor of Zhejiang. In addition, the commotion caused by the farewell of Shang Zhifu and others delayed the process, so more people knew about it.

After hearing the news, many common people came spontaneously to see him off. More and more people came with their elderly and children, carrying baskets of food and drink. The road leading to the city gate was blocked by the common people.

"Master Zhu, please stay. If you are gone and the Japanese pirates come again, what will we do?"

"Master Zhu, please stay. We in Suzhou will take care of your food and military pay. Please stay here and don't go to Zhejiang to be the governor. Please stay here. We, the people of the country, petition the emperor to let you be our governor of Nanzhili."

"Master Zhu, all thirteen of us in the family are grateful to you for saving our lives. This basket of eggs is what I have saved for the past month. Give it to you and your wife to nourish their bodies."

"Don't leave, please stay, please, Master Zhu."

When the common people saw Zhu Ping'an and his entourage's carriage arriving, they crowded over and shouted to keep Zhu Ping'an. Some used a basket of food to keep him, some pulled the carriage hard to keep him, some cried and shouted to keep him, and some emotional people even knelt on the ground.

"Dear fellow villagers, thank you for your kindness. I will keep it in mind." Zhu Ping'an had to get off the carriage and bow to the people who blocked the road to express his gratitude, thank them for their retention, and do ideological work on them over and over again.

"My son-in-law is a great and good official. So many people are reluctant to let him go and are crying and begging him to stay."

Hua'er, the chubby little maid, opened the carriage curtain a little and saw the common people outside who were frantically trying to keep her, and said with emotion.

"Hehe, Aunt Hua'er, you still call me uncle-in-law. You should change to calling me husband or official." Qin'er covered her mouth and laughed at Hua'er for still calling Zhu Ping'an uncle-in-law.

"Haha, if Huaer is not used to it, just call me 'Master'." Li Shu smiled with her eyes narrowed.

"Yes, call me master." Huaer nodded repeatedly.

"The master is such a great and good official. He has only been here for less than half a year, but they are so reluctant to let him go."

Hua'er looked at the crowd outside who were trying frantically to keep Zhu Ping'an, and couldn't help but feel emotional again, feeling very proud.

"Brother Zhu is certainly a good official. Although he only stayed for less than half a year, he saved the city of Suzhou and their lives. They tried so hard to keep Brother Zhu, not only because they couldn't bear to let him go, but also because they were worried that if he left, other officials wouldn't have Brother Zhu's ability and wouldn't be able to protect them. Just compare it with the tragic fate of the neighboring city of Jiaxing and you will understand." Li Shu saw things much more clearly than Hua'er, and said lightly.

"Yes, young lady, that's what you said. I heard from Aunt Wang in the kitchen that Jiaxing City was occupied by the Japanese pirates for a month. The people there suffered a lot. They killed tens of thousands of people, especially the rich families. Almost all of them were killed. The valuables in the homes of ordinary people were robbed. If you are not careful, the whole family will be killed by the Japanese pirates. Many women have also been raped by the Japanese pirates. When the Japanese pirates retreated a few days ago, they also abducted tens of thousands of people from the city, most of whom were women."

"The common people of Suzhou were lucky to have met my brother-in-law, otherwise they would have suffered. The Japanese pirates came for Suzhou, but my brother-in-law fought desperately to save the city of Suzhou and the hundreds of thousands of people there."

Qin'er remembered what Aunt Wang in the kitchen had said and said with a sad look on her face.

(End of this chapter)