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

Chapter 22 Liao Hua, a Famous Scholar of Jingzhou
Mi Wei saw Guan Xing again at noon the next day.

Guan Xing personally paid a visit:

"Lord Mi, thanks to your planning, I have finally gathered enough soldiers and provisions!"

Miwei: "How much?"

"Two thousand able-bodied men were drawn from various households!"

Guan Xing looked refreshed and said.

"In addition, the Pan family... Pan Gong selected two thousand men from Jingzhou who had no ties to the surrendered soldiers of Yu Jin."

“These people were originally intended to be taken in as slaves by various families, but now they all belong to me.”

"Add to the veterans of my troops, and the garrison soldiers from various places outside the city, and we have a total of five thousand men, which is enough to defend Jiangling!"

Mi Wei recalled Zhu Ran, a fierce general under Sun Quan in history, who guarded Jiangling.

Despite running out of supplies and reinforcements, they managed to hold off Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, and others' offensive for half a year with only 5,000 remaining soldiers.

Although the current situation is not exactly the same, five thousand is indeed a theoretically sufficient number of troops to defend the city.

I'm in a great mood right now:

"Haha, I can rest easy now that you're guarding the city!"

Guan Xing solemnly clasped his hands and said, "Please take a seat in the mansion, Lord Mi. I will certainly not fail in my mission!"

After saying this, he turned and hurried away, his armor clanging.

Mi Wei was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening.

Not buddy!

Is it not up to you to decide how to defend the city, and I'm supposed to be the strategist offering advice?

How does that mean "I will not fail in my mission"?

You're talking as if I'm the backbone of Jiangling... You're turning the tables on the Heavenly Gang!

Just as they were about to catch up and clarify the primary and secondary relationships, Mi Fang suddenly appeared.

"Ah Wei."

“These past few days, Zhongfu has figured it out.”

"Jingzhou may be large, but the most reliable people are still our own family!"

"I dismissed those two inspectors this morning."

"From this day forward, you will be in charge of the four departments of military affairs, household registration, grain transport, and law. Work well in cooperation with the General's Mansion to defend this city!"

Mi Fang spoke with a sincere expression.

But how could Miwei not guess what he was thinking?

Clearly, having learned that Pan Jun publicly supported Guan Xing, and with the most active members of the surrender faction being "optimized" and sent to Jiangnan, leaving only easy-going, law-abiding people, the general trend had become clear, so they began to seek a way out.

But that’s fine too.

The four departments of military affairs, household registration, grain transport, and law were all closely related to war.

Now that he had the authority of a supervisor, he could do even more things.

……

The following day, Guan Xing reorganized his troops and arranged defense matters in various locations.

Mi Wei then visited the four departments, urging them to cooperate closely in defending the city.

During this period, they also unexpectedly received two ships carrying Xiangguan rice that had been transported back ahead of schedule.

Upon inquiry, it was learned that when the grain officer turned back to the Yangtze River from Xiangshuikou, he discovered a large number of suspicious ships downstream. He immediately ordered the ships to stop forming a convoy and return north on their own.

The two fastest boats successfully arrived at the warehouse city in the southern suburbs of Gong'an County yesterday afternoon.

There was a government granary there.

But at that time, Gong'an County was in chaos, and there were no officials to come and collect the grain.
So the two ships decided to bypass the police and head straight back to Jiangling.

Mi Wei never expected that his actions yesterday would yield such an unexpected reward.

It's certainly good to have two extra boatloads of rice.

But more importantly, intelligence:

"Are you sure everyone on the ship is dressed as a merchant?"

"Aside from the suspiciously large quantity, they are no different from ordinary merchants."

One of the boatmen answered in this way.

Miwei questioned all the people on both ships carefully, and their answers were largely the same.

After these two ships, no more grain ships returned that day, most of them having met with misfortune.

Therefore, Miwei was fully confident.

Those suspicious ships were Sun Quan's vanguard troops in his surprise attack on Jingzhou.

That is, the two stories of Lü Meng and Lu Xun, who were known as "crossing the river in white robes"!
What's coming is finally here.

He quickly relayed this intelligence to Guan Xing. How Guan Xing then intensified his preparations for war is another matter.

That night, a troop of cavalrymen carrying banners bearing the character "Guan" hurriedly arrived from the north.

"Mi Jun, this is Liao Yuanjian, the former chief clerk of the general!"

Liao Yuanjian... Liao Hua?!

Mi Wei, accompanied by his four clerks, scribes, and assistants, rushed to the north of the city upon hearing the news, and immediately encountered yet another historical figure.

Speaking of which, he had recently learned about this unassuming clerk, Liao, from Guan Xing.

Unlike the mediocre general from the Yellow Turban Army in the historical novel.

The real Liao Hua was born into a prominent family in Zhonglu County, Xiangyang Prefecture. He received a complete education as a scholar-official and was skilled in both literature and martial arts, with a reputation that spread far and wide.

A true scholar from Jingzhou!
It is said that Guan Yu looked down on scholars, but Liao Hua was clearly an exception.

Otherwise, how could he have risen to such a trusted position as chief clerk?

"The military situation is urgent, gentlemen, please do not stand on ceremony and listen to me first."

Liao Hua followed Guan Yu in battle for many years. Although he dressed as a scholar, he had the agility and efficiency of a soldier.

Everyone held their breath in anticipation.

"Firstly, after meeting with Fei Gongju, the Lord decided to break camp and return south. However, the mobilization of the army cannot be completed in a short time."

"Given the large number of warships on the Han River, we cannot ignore them... Gentlemen, you must hold out in Jiangling for another ten days!"

Guan Yu held the title of Marquis of Hanshou, so Liao Hua respectfully addressed him as "Lord Marquis".

The situation described by Liao Hua was roughly in line with Mi Wei's previous predictions; Guan Yu was indeed still somewhat hesitant.

Fortunately, Fei Shi's eloquence lived up to expectations, and the positive and negative effects of both sides canceled each other out, so the return date was within an acceptable range.

Upon hearing this, Guan Xing and the officials from various prefectures immediately looked at Mi Wei.

This is clearly related to the recent actions of Mi Wei and the current situation.

Liao Hua noticed the crowd's reaction, but did not stop:

"Secondly, General Guan (Guan Ping) will lead the vanguard of 800 cavalry south ahead and will arrive tomorrow."

"Actually, I followed General Xiao Guan south, but I rushed here overnight because I was worried that you all lacked the determination to hold your ground."

Liao Hua paused for a moment, then continued:
"The third and final point is that Fei Gongju has obtained the Lord's token and is heading west to Yidu County to mobilize troops."

"Prefect Fan of Yidu has several thousand Yi soldiers under his command, who should be able to defend the western river channel for Jiangling and provide support to the east if necessary."

Upon hearing this, a map of Jingzhou quickly appeared in Mi Wei's mind.

The "Yidu Commandery" mentioned by Liao Hua was originally Linjiang Commandery, which was separated from the west side of Nan Commandery in the thirteenth year of Jian'an.

Geographically, this prefecture is separated from Nanjun by a narrow strip of water, guards the vital passage of the Three Gorges, and connects with Jing and Yi.

As for Fan You, the prefect of Yidu appointed by Liu Bei, historically he chose to abandon the city and flee when faced with Lu Xun's detachment, so he is not worth mentioning.

However, his thousands of barbarian soldiers continued to resist after Guan Yu's defeat and the prefect's abandonment of the city, until they were finally defeated by Lu Xun.

The food may be a bit mediocre, but at least they are friendly forces who dare to defend their territory and fight against the enemy.

With Fei Shi going to supervise the army, at least Jiangling doesn't have to worry too much about its connection with Yizhou being cut off.

This, in turn, determines whether Liu Bei's reinforcements from Yizhou will arrive, and how long it will take.

It can only be said that Liao Hua truly deserved to be the chief clerk chosen by Guan Yu.

In just three short sentences, the most important things were clearly explained.

In any case, everyone was overjoyed to finally hear definite news of reinforcements, and that one of them would arrive tomorrow.

Guan Xing said with an excited expression:
"Since my elder brother will arrive tomorrow, there's nothing to worry about!"

"Don't take it lightly!"

Liao Hua solemnly reminded him.

"Sun Quan's secret communication with Cao Cao, even at the cost of being branded as a traitor, must have been premeditated, and he must be planning to launch a full-scale attack!"

"On the other hand, our army has been fighting hard for several months, and it is about to withdraw south before it has achieved complete success. It is a time when the troops are exhausted and demoralized."

"The slightest mishap will cause the entire situation in Jingzhou to collapse!"

"This is also why Your Majesty is unwilling to abandon the ships and supplies!"

Everyone immediately agreed.

"but……"

Liao Hua's tone softened.

"Thanks to your timely information, the situation has not yet reached its worst point, and there is still time to remedy the situation!"

Upon hearing this, Guan Xing immediately brought Mi Wei to his side:

"We were able to turn the tide this time entirely thanks to Lord Mi's strategic planning!"

"If it weren't for his repeated help, my younger sister and I would have become Sun Quan's prisoners!"

(End of this chapter)