"Neglectful." Zhu Su patted his head in annoyance.
Zhang Shicheng's remnants had an affair with Japanese pirates, which was clearly recorded in the history books of later generations. As soon as Zhang Ren mentioned the so-called "big army", he should have thought of it.
After all, Suzhou Prefecture is considered an offshore area. Isn't such a large sea area the perfect place to hide troops?
The reason is that it is just a blinding thing. Zhang Ren and other troops had previously called themselves the "Taihu Bandits". Taihu Lake in Suzhou has a radius of nearly 600 miles (Ming Dynasty). Zhu Su thought that these gangsters might hide in the water, but his thoughts were limited to Taihu Lake and did not think about the situation overseas.
Moreover, if it weren't for Shen Hai's incident, deep in his heart, he would not have equated "Japanese pirates" with "the remnants of Zhang Shicheng". Although Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty were divided into "real Japanese" from Japanese islands and "fake Japanese" disguised by Ming people. But deep in Zhu Su's subconscious, he always felt that those Chinese compatriots who were forced to pretend to be Japanese pirates for their livelihood would only appear in the middle and late Ming Dynasty when "the land was annexed seriously, the administration was corrupt, and the people were in dire straits."
After all, Lao Zhu in this era had not even promulgated the "sea ban" policy!
But they never considered that a large part of those remnants of Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng who were unwilling to surrender were hiding in many reef islands off the coastline, obtaining supplies by pretending to be Japanese pirates and "plundering"...
He ordered Shenhai to be arrested and imprisoned, and the entire Shen Garden was under martial law. Zhu Su, who had no time to pay attention to the wailing of the Shen family, hurried to the government office with his people. Along the way, Zhu Su informed Yao Guangxiao of his reasoning. Yao Guangxiao thought for a while and solemnly said: "Your Highness's theory must be correct."
"Commander Yang Lu once led troops to clear Taihu Lake. If the thieves really had an army hidden in Taihu Lake, Yang Lu couldn't have discovered it. Moreover, the water in Taihu Lake had surged in the past few days. If there was really an army hidden in Taihu Lake, wouldn't it be that they were all lost to the lake water? ?”
"And it is impossible to break them into pieces and sneak into the victims. If this is the case, when the chaos broke out the night before, this army should have taken advantage of the chaos to break out from the refugee group in the west of the city and seize the city."
"Furthermore, His Highness and others have also seen those refugees. Most of them have sallow faces and thin muscles, and they don't seem to be fake. There are a few strong men, but even if they are all traitors, they only account for one or two tenths of them, which is not enough to accomplish anything..."
Zhu Su nodded. This was also the reason why he dared to build buildings in the west of the city to lure the enemy. He was sure that most of the refugees in the west of the city would not rebel again after they had enough to eat. There must be only a few thieves in the city who are afraid of chaos and have ulterior motives. After listening to Yao Guangxiao's analysis, Zhu Di over there also frowned: "It seems that the enemy is coming from the sea."
"It will be easier if you know where it comes from!" Zhu Xi continued. "Assemble the soldiers to block these thieves and kill them all without leaving any trace behind!"
"Amitabha, this is... not easy..." Yao Guangxiao shook his head while counting the rosary beads.
Several people came to the government office and happened to see Wei Guan, the prefect who had gone out to pacify the people, also come back.
In order to show the people of Suzhou that Suzhou was safe and peaceful, Wei Guan abandoned his sedan chair and rode a horse, leading a large group of government servants to parade through the city. He was already old and a civil servant who was not good at riding a horse. He had not slept all night last night and was quite shaky on the horse.
Seeing Zhu Su and others hurried over, he hurriedly cheered up and climbed off the horse with the help of a government servant: "I have seen three of your highnesses!"
"How's it going? Has Chen Huike been recruited?"
Seeing Wei Guan's red eyes, he could not hide the worry between his brows.
"Although that woman didn't do anything, we already know what these remnants have to rely on." Zhu Su looked at Wei Guan's shaking legs with some worry. "Originally, I wanted you to summon Suzhou officials to discuss it. But your situation..."
"Why don't you go and take a rest for now?"
"We are facing a formidable enemy. As the prefect of Suzhou, how can I sleep alone?" Wei Guan asked anxiously. "Your Highness, don't be too secretive. It's better to inform the old minister as soon as possible!"
"There's no rush." Zhu Su shook his head. Wei Guan is quite famous among Suzhou officials. If he falls, he may not be able to control the huge officialdom machine of Suzhou Prefecture in a short time. "It's better to gather all the subordinate officials and discuss it together."
"Mr. Wei, it's better to go and rest for a while..."
…
Even though Zhu Su used the private honorific, the anxious Wei Guan still had no intention of resting. He only went to the reception hall with Zhu Su and drank some tea and took a rest. With the orders of Zhu Su and Wei Guan, the government officials dispersed to summon many Suzhou officials to come to the government office to discuss matters. After a while, many officials in power in Suzhou Prefecture, including Ru Taisu who was patrolling in the city, Chang Mao who was cleaning up the aftermath in the dungeon, Suzhou's general magistrates, officials, governors, and Zhaomo who were everywhere making announcements to appease the people, and even those from far away Qianhu Cao Yuan, who temporarily took over the city defense at the city gate tower, Luo Guanzhong, who was still working as an aide with Yao Guangxiao in Shenyuan, and Di Meng, who was chasing the fugitives outside the city and was named Zhu Su's personal guard and secretly the Jinyi school captain, were all summoned return.
Only the commander of the Suzhou Guards Station, Yang Lu, was delayed in arriving. As the nominally highest-ranking military commander in Suzhou, if a thief were to attack, there would be no way around his authority, so everyone would have to wait here.
"This Yang Lu is so arrogant! He asked the three of us and so many people to wait for him. What kind of position does he think he has?" Zhu Ping was very unhappy.
"It has been passed down for a long time... If according to our Ming military law, this person can be beheaded even if he has ten heads!" Zhu Di also frowned. "How did this man become the commander of the army?"
"Your Highnesses, please calm down for the time being." On the contrary, it was Wei Guan, a good old man, who tried to persuade him. "After all, this is not war time, so there is no need for this military method."
"Commander Yang may have other important matters, maybe."
Before he could finish speaking, there was a sound of horse neighing from outside, and then Yang Lu quickly walked in in a panic. As he walked, he apologized: "My three highnesses, please forgive me! There was a chaos in the city last night, and it was inevitable in the guardhouse." The morale of the military is also fluctuating."
"The general calmed the morale of the army and rushed here in a hurry. His highness has been waiting for a long time, and he is guilty of death!"
When he said this, the expressions of some people in the hall suddenly softened a little. There is nothing trivial in the army. As the commander of the Suzhou Guard, he was worried about the morale of the troops and provoked the "bombing of the camp". It is reasonable for him to completely calm the morale of the troops in the army.
"I am very happy to hear that your two highnesses have come to Suzhou." Seeing that the atmosphere had calmed down slightly, Yang Lu turned to Zhu Xi and Zhu Di and said with a flattering smile. "I should have invited your two highnesses to a banquet, but since your highnesses have summoned me, it is reasonable and reasonable for me to prepare some greeting gifts for your highnesses."
"I came in a hurry and didn't have time to make a selection. I had to take out these relatively rare toys from the treasury in the camp. I hope your highnesses, King Qin and King Yan, won't be surprised!" With that, Yang Lu asked someone to carry a few things up.
(End of chapter)
