Chapter 174: Chapter 132: Dongting Savior_2
Translator: 549690339
Ultimately, I could only do my best to maintain the stability of Dongting Prefecture and help the imperial court hold onto its last few peaceful lands. I am not unworthy of the title of Ning Guogong.
However, just over ten days ago.
The last defense of Lu Fangai was completely successful.
The Pillar of Heaven Wuyang Marquis in the prefecture was unexpectedly assassinated by Li Xiong, the master of Pseudo-Shu and the Five Poison Bandits in the prefecture.
With the death of Li Gui, the Inborn Grandmaster could no longer suppress the local area, and the Poison Sect launched the rebellion instantly. Even the
Pseudo-Shu started to raise their troops and invaded Wushan Prefecture.
In a short period, the situation in Dongting Prefecture deteriorated dramatically as hundreds of thousands of bandits emerged.
This sudden deterioration caught the prefect by surprise.
“Your Grace, urgent news from Hengyang Prefecture: local Miao people have rebelled and gathered tens of thousands of followers. They have captured the county town, and now Fu City is under siege. They request the prefecture to send troops for support.”
“Sir, the message from Lingling Prefecture says that three days ago, 50,000 Miao people attacked Fu City. There are Miao spies and martial arts experts ambushing inside the city as insiders.”
With the internal and external cooperation, Lingling Prefecture City has been broken, and the remaining counties have also been looted by the rebels. The whole prefecture has fallen.”
“My Lord, a message from Jiuyi Prefecture says that the Fu City has also been attacked by the Miao rebels. Only a few counties in the prefecture are still resisting. The county magistrates of those counties have sent urgent messages requesting reinforcements.”
“Yangshan Prefecture sends an urgent message that tens of thousands of Miao people have caused chaos in the prefecture and captured the county town. Fortunately, the nearby South Sea Prefecture soldiers rescued them and barely held onto Fu City.
But there are only a few thousand usable soldiers in the city, and they have no strength to repel the enemy. They request the prefecture to send troops to put down the rebellion.”
“Changsha Prefecture also has news of Miao people’s rebellion, with 100,000 bandits surrounding the city. Although there are more than 10,000 soldiers in Fu City, they are unable to repel the enemy and need the support of the prefecture.”
“Wuling Prefecture also has tens of thousands of Miao people…”
Various officials in the prefecture summarized the information received from the local area and reported it to Lu Fangai at the moment.
But after listening for a while, the prefect could no longer stand it, slamming his hands on the desk and shouting angrily, “Rescue! Rebellion! They all rely on the prefect’s office, and local officials can’t think of a solution themselves?
We only have a few thousand soldiers left in the prefecture, and it’s difficult to defend the prefectural city. Where else can we send troops to save them?
Didn’t the imperial court issue a ‘decree to recruit local militias to fight against bandits’?
Now, it’s time for those local gentry and powerful families who have benefited from the Emperor’s qrace to serve their countrv.”
Issue an order to have local prefectures and counties recruit their own forces to suppress the rebellion.
The prefecture must deal with the Shu thieves’ invasion. Where do we have time to take care of them?”
Lu Fangai furiously vented his spleen.
Of course, he knew that local conditions were difficult, but it was no less challenging for the prefecture.
Shu thieves invaded Wushan Prefecture with 100,000 troops.
Although Wushan Prefecture was administratively under the jurisdiction of Xichuan Prefecture, it had been handed over to Dongting Prefecture for management since Jinguan City in Xichuan fell.
That is to say, Lu Fangai now bears the responsibility of managing Wushan Prefecture.
Now, with the invasion of the Shu thieves’ 100,000-strong army, Wushan Prefecture is at risk of being attacked at any time.
For now, the rebellion of the Miao people in the prefecture is indeed severe, but in terms of the threat they pose, they are far less developed and established than the Shu thieves.
Therefore, Lu Fangai’s current main strategy is for local matters to be determined locally, with the prefecture mainly focusing on resisting the invasion of the Shu thieves. Both sides must clean up the mess in front of them.
I won’t ask for help from you, and you don’t need to bother me.
But it seems that even this basic requirement cannot be met.
The prefect vented his anger, startling many of the officials in the room. They looked at their superior’s face and couldn’t say anything for a moment.
Just as the atmosphere plunged into a freezing point, a junior official hesitated but still raised his hand after flipping through a document in his hand: “Your
Grace, I just received a report that I think requires your personal instruction.”
Lu Fangai’s gaze turned over, and he stared at the man, thinking to himself that this fellow was so insensitive to his anger that he dared to disturb him. He was somewhat annoyed and almost wanted to kick the man out.
But considering the current difficulties and someone willing to work for the court, he reluctantly calmed down and said begrudgingly, “What report? Let’s hear it. I want to see what problem has arisen somewhere that requires the prefecture to send troops for rescue.”
“Your Grace misunderstood; this is not a request for assistance report.”
The junior official coughed lightly, stepped out of the line, paid his respects to Lu Fangai, and then said, “This is a report of merit from Shaoyang Prefecture.”
Having said that, he handed over the document with both hands.
A report of merit?
Upon hearing this, everyone present was astonished.
It’s really strange that there is a local report of merit when there are rebellions everyvvhere and local prefectures and counties are in need of urgent help.
Could it be that a local prefecture or county has won a battle?
If so, the local officials and defenders are truly amazing.
Lu Fangai reacted and couldn’t help but grab the report, read it several times, and finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
After a while, he stopped laughing and looked at the people in the hall with a flushed face, “Gentlemen, Shaoyang Prefecture sends good news. Five days ago, 30,000 Miao people planned to attack Shaoyang Prefecture City..”