The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 19: Temporarily appointed as Inspector-General, Acting Military Supervisor

Who is Song Zhongzi?
He was a renowned Confucian scholar from Jingzhou and the teacher of Pan Jun, the prefect of Jingzhou.

Therefore, once this statement and book were made, all eyes naturally turned back to Mi Wei.

The two inspectors, however, were probably not very skilled and didn't quite catch on at first.

But after only a few breaths of silence, someone answered their question:
"Unexpectedly, Lord Mi has already become Master Pan's disciple!"

"With the Lord of the Prefecture supporting him and renowned teachers guiding him, Lord Mi's future is limitless. There's no need for him to rush back to Yizhou!"

The one who spoke was the county clerk.

Mi Wei recalled that he had done a surprise research last night and learned that the other party had briefly studied under Song Zhongzi.

If we were to use the seniority system from martial arts novels, this person would be considered his "fellow disciple, senior uncle".

No wonder the way they address each other has become so friendly.

Of course, if the registrar knew Pan Jun's true attitude, things would probably be a different story.

Fortunately, Pan Jun has been trapped by Guan Xing and is temporarily unable to contact the outside world, so there is no need to worry.

With the registrar taking the lead, the others also put aside their suspicions and began to praise each other.

No wonder the Prefect invited the young Mi Wei to discuss important matters; it turns out he was acting on Pan Jun's orders.

Seeing this, the two inspectors naturally dared not question it any further and awkwardly looked up at the head of the table.

However, Mi Fang was also unaware that Mi Wei had already become Pan Jun's apprentice, and at this moment she was also at a loss.

They just didn't show it.

Mi Wei seized the opportunity and stepped forward, saying:
“Uncle, now that you gentlemen share the same vision as me, why don’t we make a plan soon to prepare for the future?”

Mi Fang thought for a moment, then beckoned him to come closer:
"After all, we'll be crossing the river to attack the city, and I'm getting old. What if something happens..."

"Why trouble your father with such a trivial matter?" Mi Wei said sternly.

"Please sit comfortably in your residence, Uncle, and watch as our children defeat the enemy!"

As he spoke, Miwei lowered his voice again and delivered the final blow:
"Moreover, regardless of who wins or loses in the end, this move will weaken the influence of the local gentry in Jiangling."

"As the saying goes, one thing rises while another falls... Isn't this what Zhongfu would like to see?"

Mi Fang's eyes immediately lit up.

“Ah Wei, your father is too old and useless.”

Mi Fang gently patted Mi Wei's hand.

"From now on, you'll have to share the burden of managing the household affairs with me!"

Miwei bowed and agreed.

Mi Fang had no more doubts and addressed the crowd:
"I've made up my mind."

"Give your men a day to carefully select the troops heading south. The day after tomorrow morning, we will set out to cross the river!"

After speaking, he took off his sword and handed it to Mi Wei.

"From this moment forward, you will temporarily serve as my supervisor, overseeing military affairs!"

"We will send troops the day after tomorrow. Anyone who disobeys will be beheaded with this sword!"

"only!"

Mi Wei took the sword with both hands and sat down in the closest position in front of Mi Fang without hesitation, facing south.

From the chief clerk down to the two inspectors, they were only slightly taken aback, and then showed no further surprise or objection.

……

The following day, Mi Wei went straight to the governor's mansion.

Ostensibly, he went to visit his teacher and, in addition, to confront Guan Xing about his "abuse of power."

Then, Guan Xing took the opportunity to "temporarily detain" him.

Actually, the two went to a secluded spot to exchange information.

"Don't worry, Lord Mi, with Jiao Zhong and his men watching over things, not even a mouse will be able to escape!"

"Has anyone from the Pan family come?" Mi Wei asked.

"Yes, just this morning, a farm steward disguised himself as a passing hunter and tried to shoot a letter into the governor's mansion."

"Judging from Guan Jun's tone, that person probably didn't succeed, right?"

"Of course!" Guan Xing chuckled.

"Speaking of which, the first people to recognize that the steward in disguise were the same group of runaway slaves we rescued before."

"I originally thought that Jiao Zhong didn't have many capable young men under his command, so I entrusted this group of people to him. I didn't expect such a pleasant surprise."

Is this considered retribution for evil?
Mi Wei then asked, "What is Pan Zhizhong's statement? Has he offered any strong resistance?"

“It wasn’t a fierce resistance, just some verbal rebukes,” Guan Xing said.

"You're quite stubborn, saying something about a true man who cannot be subdued by force... You probably want to gain fame through this, right?" "Good for you to gain fame!" Mi Wei clapped his hands and laughed.

"The more he cares about his reputation, the more successful my plan will be!"

“Alright then, I’ll continue playing the role of the mighty villain and help him make a name for himself.” Guan Xing laughed as well.

"By the way, when do you plan to make your move?"

"Deploy troops before sunrise tomorrow."

"Isn't this... a bit too hasty?" Guan Xing asked, slightly surprised.

"We have to go even if it's rushed," Mi Wei said.

"My plan was a risky gamble, taking advantage of the information asymmetry between the two sides to create a time difference... In short, the sooner we act, the better, because delays may lead to unforeseen changes."

Guan Xing nodded as if he understood, then suddenly sighed:
“We are about the same age, and I originally thought that I had studied the classics and that my wisdom was no less than yours.”

"Later I discovered that you were smarter than me, but you still harbored the ambition to surpass me."

"But only today did I realize that I can hardly understand what you are saying... This is probably the feeling of a mediocre person feeling ashamed and embarrassed when facing Marquis Liu (Zhang Liang)?"

do not!
You're really something, thigh!
I have 1,800 more years of experience than you, so isn't it only natural that I say things you can't understand?

Let alone 1,800 years, even in my past life, if I didn't surf the internet for a week, I felt completely out of sync with the world...

Miwei quickly changed the subject:

"Lord Guan, there are two more things I need your help with."

"First, tomorrow morning, send two hamlets of men to the vicinity of the city gate to pretend to chase after those fleeing south. They don't need to actually catch up; just make a show of banging drums and gongs from behind!"

"Secondly, after everyone has crossed the river, remember to send someone to pick me up and take me back to Jiangbei."

Guan Xing readily agreed to the first condition, but was puzzled by the second: "You're going to cross the river with me too?"

"A group of two-faced people. I believe in their belief in living a life of compromise, but I don't believe in their courage to do great things."

Miwei said frankly.

“Especially the Pan family and their close relatives, if we don’t keep a close eye on them, there might be some trouble along the way.”

Guan Xing said, "Actually, as long as someone from the Pan family leaves the city and becomes a traitor, I can use that to get to the bottom of the Pan family. You don't need to take the risk."

“It’s different,” Miwei said, shaking his head.

"If we don't let these people actually go to Sun Quan's command, those who stay behind will always be worried and unable to eat or sleep."

"Anxiety will lead to recurrence."

"Moreover," Mi Wei's gaze sharpened slightly.

"Those who are willing to venture out of the city are mostly already loyal to Sun Quan. Rather than leaving them as a hidden danger, it is better to send them all away."

"Those who choose to stay are more likely to be entangled, making them easier to control and thus more advantageous for our subsequent defense of the city."

"This is a win-win strategy!"

Guan Xing was taken aback upon hearing this, then replied sincerely:

"I can now be certain that, in terms of strategic planning, I am far inferior to Lord Mi!"

No... what kind of strategic planning is this?!
Miwei was completely speechless.

Isn't this simply a matter of those who want to stay continuing to stay, and those who like Sun Quan going to find Sun Quan, each going their own way?

Honest people stay; troublemakers, may you go and don't bother coming back.

What is this called?
This is called optimizing human resource allocation.

Anyone who has ever been employed in society is familiar with this kind of operation, right?
I feel like my thighs have misunderstood me even more!

……

A day later, dawn broke.

After Mi Wei traveled through time, he realized that the common names for the twelve two-hour periods in the Han Dynasty were quite different from those in later generations.

For example, the time of dawn when day and night alternate is called "Pingdan".

It was roughly between 3 and 5 a.m.

The word "平旦" (píngdàn) vividly describes the sun being above the horizon.

The next hour, the sun had fully risen into the sky, hence the name "sunrise".

This is much easier to remember than Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao.

The ancients emphasized "working at sunrise," so city gates were mostly opened at dawn.

At this moment, Mi Wei and a group of carefully selected local gentry youths were sneaking out of the south gate of Jiangling in the dark.

Because the city gate guards, regardless of which side they actually belonged to, were all "one of Miwei's own people," the group left the city without any trouble.

Then, under the command of the leader, the group quickly formed a team and hurried toward the ferry crossing on the river.

(End of this chapter)