The rise of the poor

"There are only more than 30 Japanese pirates. If I were Lord Xiao Zhu, I would leave half of the troops to destroy them, and lead the other half to continue on the journey. This way, we can both travel and destroy the pirates at the same time. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"

Lord Tu was still a little unwilling to give in, and spoke to Zhu Ping'an in a preaching tone.

"Thank you for your advice, Lord Tu." Zhu Ping'an didn't want to explain to him anymore and replied indifferently.

"Okay, Zihou is not late. He also wiped out 36 Japanese pirates. He has made great contributions. As for being late, let's not mention it anymore." Zhang Jing waved his hand while sitting.

Then, Zhang Jing extended his hand to introduce this Lord Tu to Zhu Ping'an, "Zihou, you came late, I will introduce you separately, this is Lord Tu Dashan, who was transferred from the Governor of Chuanhu to the position of Left Vice Minister of Yingtian Military Department, Governor of Yingtian, and Superintendent of Military Affairs a few days ago. Lord Tu is well versed in military affairs. When he was the Governor of Chuanhu, he assisted the former Governor of Chuanhu, Zhang Yue, in suppressing the large-scale rebellion launched by the Miao barbarians Long Xubao and Wu Heimiao. After the death of Governor Zhang, he took over as the Governor of Chuanhu, lured and killed the remnants of the Long family, Long Azi, etc., and wiped out their clan, extinguishing the Miao barbarians' rebellion that was about to revive. You two, one is the Governor of Yingtian and the other is the Governor of Zhejiang. You must work together in the future to help me and wipe out the Japanese pirates as soon as possible."

"It turns out to be Lord Tu. I have heard of your name for a long time. It is like thunder in my ears." Zhu Pingan politely bowed to Lord Tu.

What do you mean by "I've heard of your name for a long time"? At least Zhu Ping'an in modern times had no impression of him at all, which shows that he was not famous enough.

It was not until Zhu Ping'an arrived in the Ming Dynasty and was demoted to Jingnan that he learned about the surrounding officials and found out that the Sichuan-Hu region had appointed a governor to quell the Miao rebellion. Governor Zhang Yue quelled the Miao rebellion, but died of illness. The Sichuan-Hu Governor Tu succeeded him as governor.

From the official newspaper, I only saw a piece of news about a large sum of money being paid to kill the remnants of the Long family, including Long Azi, and then exterminate the entire Long clan.

However, the former Governor of Chuanhu was also a big shot.

Although his jurisdiction was not as large as Zhang Jing's, he was a governor after all, and was nominally on the same level as Zhang Jing. No wonder his attitude was so arrogant.

"I have heard of Lord Xiao Zhu's name for a long time, but after meeting him today, I am a little disappointed." Tu Dashan's attitude was a little cold.

The atmosphere suddenly became cold.

"Then Ping'an has no choice but to keep working hard." Zhu Ping'an curled the corners of his mouth slightly, not understanding why Tu Dashan kept targeting him.

"Okay, let's get back to the point. The reason we called you all here today is to unify our strategy for fighting against Japan."

Zhang Jing hosted the event and brought the topic back to normal.

"Everyone, I don't need to say too much about the current situation of the Japanese invasion in Jiangnan. In the past few days, the Japanese invaders of Takulin and Xuhai have been rampant in Nanzhili and northern Zhejiang, and the Japanese invaders of Wangzhi have repeatedly invaded various places in Jiangnan. In addition to these two groups of Japanese pirates, there are countless large and small Japanese pirates who frequently invade our southeastern coast, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil. The people have suffered repeatedly and are in dire straits. Our government troops in various places have repeatedly failed in the battles against the Japanese. I would like to ask everyone present, why do our government troops repeatedly fail in the battles against the Japanese?"

Zhang Jing looked around at everyone with a serious face and asked slowly.

Everyone was silent for a while.

"Mencius said: The weather is not as important as the location, and the location is not as important as the people. Our army has suffered repeated defeats in battles against the Japanese. Is it because the weather is not right for the army, or the location is not right for the army, or the people are not right for the army?! Otherwise, why do we suffer repeated defeats in battles against the Japanese?!" Zhang Jing glanced at everyone and asked again.

Yes, why did the government troops suffer repeated defeats? !

The Japanese pirates came across the ocean, fought in a foreign land, and killed and burned people in the Ming Dynasty, so why were they able to repeatedly defeat the Ming army?
Is it because the time is not right for the government troops?
Are you kidding me! How could the weather not be on the government army's side? Could the Japanese pirates be more adaptable to the weather than the government army?

Does it mean that the geographical advantage is not on the government army's side?
No, because the government troops were fighting on their own land, while the Japanese pirates were fighting in a foreign land. How could they possibly have better luck than the government troops?

That's the people, not on the side of the government army? !
That's even more impossible! The Japanese pirates came to the Ming Dynasty to burn, kill, rob, and commit all kinds of evil. They were the unjust party. The government troops fought against the Japanese pirates and were the righteous party. How could there be no one to fight?

But why did the government army suffer repeated defeats in its battles against the Japanese despite having all the advantages of time, place and people?

This is totally unexplainable. Was Mencius wrong? ! Or was Sun Tzu wrong? !
"Governor, there are not only real Japanese pirates, but also traitors of our Ming Dynasty - fake Japanese. There are quite a lot of fake Japanese. In some pirate gangs, fake Japanese account for more than 40%, and in some gangs, more than 60%. Of course, except for the large-scale invasion of Japanese pirates, the number of real Japanese at that time is the majority, and they are all real Japanese in collusion with fake Japanese. With these fake Japanese, the Japanese pirates can also take advantage of time, place and people." A general stood up and responded to Zhang Jing's inquiry.

This general was over 40 years old, with a very sturdy and strong build, and a beard. He looked like a fierce general.

This general must have a special relationship with Governor Tu Dashan. He sat behind Tu Dashan. Zhu Ping'an noticed that Tu Dashan was whispering to him. This general was very respectful to Tu Dashan.

Perhaps he was a trusted general that Tu Dashan brought with him from his post as Governor-General of Sichuan and Hubei.

"Well, General Li Fengshi is right. At least you see the surface." Zhang Jing nodded slightly and said lightly.

General Li Fengshi? Never heard of him. Zhu Ping'an searched his mind and confirmed that he had never heard of Li Fengshi in modern times.

"Surface?" Li Fengshi was stunned.

"Yes, that's just the surface. You only saw that there were many fake Japanese among the Japanese pirates who acted as accomplices of the Japanese pirates, but you didn't see that some Jiangnan gentry who valued profit but had no intention of supporting the Japanese pirates for their own benefit. You didn't see that some short-sighted Jiangnan people forgot their ancestors and supported the Japanese pirates for the sake of tiny profits!" Zhang Jing said with a serious and indignant face.

"What? The gentry in Jiangnan support the Japanese invaders for their own benefit?" Li Fengshi was even more stunned, his face full of disbelief.

Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but raise his head and look at Zhang Jing.

Everyone present also raised their heads and looked at Zhang Jing.

"Yes, these scum among the Jiangnan gentry are the most important reason why the Jiangnan government troops have repeatedly failed in their efforts to suppress the Japanese pirates."

Zhang Jing nodded vigorously and said seriously.

"Did the Japanese invasion endanger all the people? No, it seems that the Japanese invasion in Jiangnan endangered all the people, but that is not the case. After the Maritime Customs in Zhejiang and Fujian were closed, the imperial court issued a strict order that no sails were allowed to go out to sea. In order to continue to engage in overseas trade and sell their goods overseas, some scum among the gentry in Jiangnan supported the Japanese pirates to occupy Jiangnan, and earned money by exporting goods through the Japanese pirates!"

Zhang Jing further explained. (End of this chapter)