Chapter 1983: Farewell

"Zihou is in a hurry to get on the road, so I won't say 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 them to the Zhejiang Army as military expenses."

"In addition, they also raised 50,000 shi of grain and grass and donated them 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 to transfer their donations to Zihou's Zhejiang Army. This is all the silver notes. Now they have returned intact. I will send someone to deliver the grain and grass they raised to Zihou to Shaoxing later."

Shang Weiwei kept his words short and took out an official letter to transfer the donation and a box and handed them to Zhu Ping'an.

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

In this way, Shang Weiwei and Suzhou Prefecture built a wall of separation for Zhu Ping'an and the Zhejiang Army, taking 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 there were political enemies holding a magnifying glass and picking bones and thorns in eggs, they could not find any problems with Zhu Ping'an.

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

As the saying goes, before the troops move, the food and grass must go first. Zhu Ping'an knew that after he took office as the governor of Zhejiang, he had to eliminate the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang. The first thing to solve was the problem of silver and food. It was the time to use money. Therefore, Zhu Ping'an did not say anything polite. He took the official letter and box handed over by Shang Weiwei with both hands and sincerely thanked him.

Now there are 2,000 Zhejiang troops, and each person's monthly salary is one and a half taels of silver. After a month, the monthly salary is 3,000 taels, and after a year, it is 36,000 taels.

In this way, the 50,000 taels of silver donated by Suzhou are enough for the salary of the Zhejiang Army for one and a half years.

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

And the same goes for food and grass.

A soldier eats about one stone of grain a month, two thousand soldiers eat two thousand stones of grain a month, and twenty-four thousand stones of grain a year. Oh, and we have to count the war horses. The fifty thousand stones of grain donated by Suzhou are almost enough for the Zhejiang soldiers to eat and chew for a year and a half.

With the allocation of food and grass from the court, Zhu Ping'an won't have to worry about the food and grass for the Zhejiang soldiers to eat and chew for at least two years.

"Zihou, you are going to hurry, so we won't delay your journey. I wish you a safe journey. I believe that with Zihou's ability, he 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, so he didn't say much. After Zhu Ping'an handed over the official letter and silver bill, he bowed to Zhu Ping'an to see him off.

"I wish you a safe journey and great things." A group of officials also followed Shang Weiwei to bow to Zhu Ping'an to see him off.

"Thank you, Lord Shang, and thank you colleagues for your good words." Zhu Ping'an returned the greeting with a bow.

With Shang Zhifu and others bowing to see him 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 the people.

There is no impenetrable wall in this world. Zhu Ping'an and his party set off to move, and the surrounding neighbors and passers-by found out. One spread ten, ten spread a hundred, and many people knew that Zhu Ping'an was leaving for Shaoxing today to take up the post of Governor of Zhejiang. In addition, Shang Zhifu and others saw him off just now, which made a lot of noise and delayed some time, so more people knew about it.

After learning the news, many people came to see him off spontaneously, and more and more people came to help the elderly and children, and brought food and drink. The road leading to the city gate was blocked by the people.

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

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

"Master Zhu, all thirteen of us in our family are grateful for your life-saving grace. This basket of eggs is what I have saved for a month. Please give it to you and your wife to replenish their bodies."

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

When the common people saw Zhu Ping'an's carriage coming, they crowded over and loudly asked Zhu Ping'an to stay. 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 even knelt on the ground in excitement.

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

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

Hua'er, a little maidservant, opened the curtain of the carriage a crack and saw the people outside who were frantically trying to keep him. She said with emotion.

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

"Hehe, if Hua'er is not used to it, just call me 'master'." Li Shu squinted and smiled.

"Yeah, call me master." Hua'er nodded repeatedly.

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

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

"Brother Zhu is of course a good official. Although he only stayed for less than half a year, he saved Suzhou City and saved their lives. They kept Brother Zhu so much, 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 experience of Jiaxing City next door and you'll know." Li Shu saw it more clearly than Hua'er, and said lightly.

"Well, young lady, what you said is true. I heard from Aunt Wang in the kitchen that Jiaxing City was occupied by Japanese pirates for a month. The people there suffered a lot. They killed tens of thousands of people, especially the rich families, who were almost all 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 were also 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 people of Suzhou are lucky to have met my son-in-law, otherwise they would have suffered. Because the Japanese pirates came to Suzhou, it was my son-in-law who fought desperately to save Suzhou City and embrace hundreds of thousands of people in Suzhou City."

Qin'er remembered what Aunt Wang in the kitchen said, and said with a sad face.