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Chapter 330: 188: Governor’s Prefecture South_3

On this day,

In the spacious hall of Yangshan Prefecture’s Yamen, Lu Yuan sat at the main seat above while nearly a hundred officials, according to their ranks, stood in line and saluted him.

“We pay our respects to General Pingxi!”

A neatly shouted greeting confirmed the master-servant relationship between them.

In the days following the news that officials from Shaoyang and Luyang’s two prefectures were to be selected,

Within the South Sea Prefecture, it was rumored that the court intended to divide the land into fiefdoms and bestow the Jianghu Inborn Grandmasters with the title of sovereigns, and Pingxi General was one of them.

The news came as a surprise, making people question its source.

However, considering the court’s moves in recent years and the fact that one Inborn Grandmaster after another had become the court’s national teacher, it made them ponder deeply.

Now, there is General Pingxi blatantly violating court regulations and selecting officials within the prefecture, yet the court had no reaction to this.

The complacency of this gesture could not help but make many people realize that this news might be true.

Some officials with even more accurate news had contacted disciples of the Nanhai Sect in advance, and they also confirmed this from them.

The court’s recruitment of the Nanhai Sect came with the condition of a fiefdom.

As this news broke out, everyone realized that the heavens of Da Yue or Dongting Prefecture were about to change.

From then on, the master would no longer be the court, but the current General Pingxi.

So, facing Lu Yuan, who was not only their benefactor for promotion but also possibly their future sovereign,

Many of the officials who had been selected in the past month performed the rituals reserved for their ruler, declaring their allegiance openly.

Lu Yuan naturally felt very happy about this and said with a smile: “Very well. You are all talented people from Dongting, and now I command you by the decree of the court to govern the South Sea Prefecture. I will need your help.

Today, I will set up a banquet in the Yamen to treat you all. Drink and be merry, for the future governance of the three prefectures of the South is in your hands.”

As Lu Yuan spent a busy month settling the three prefectures and selecting officials, the news of his conquering the three prefectures finally arrived at the court after being sent back to the prefectural capital.

First of all, the court naturally praised his merits, affirming Lu Yuan’s severe blow to the spirits of the Miao people in Dongting Prefecture after his great victory over the hundred-thousand-strong Miao army.

At the same time, after the three prefectures were pacified, the Poison Sect lost its southern support, retreated to Wuling Prefecture, and saw its momentum greatly weakened, making it difficult to cause large-scale unrest.

The court urged Lu Yuan to quickly defeat the Miao people in Wuling Prefecture and then return to assist Shangguan Ming in dealing with the Zhou people who had crossed the river southward.

That’s right.

Almost two months had passed, and Shangguan Ming, with an army of eighty thousand, had still not been able to capture Anxiang County, which was garrisoned by the Zhou people, and force them to retreat across the river.

The reason was simple: after a fierce attack on the city of Tianmen Prefecture for nearly a month, the Zhou-Chu United Army in Jiangbei, with a force of three hundred thousand, made a decision after discussing with several Zhou Inborn Grandmasters that they would urgently dispatch two Inborn Grandmasters southward to reinforce Anxiang County.

In doing so, Anxiang County became home to a total of three Inborn Grandmasters, including Li Yanjing.

As a result, the Zhou people now surpassed the court’s forces in terms of top-tier strength.

In addition, as the Zhou were defending the city and Shangguan Ming only had twice the number of troops, it was difficult for him to defeat his opponents without superiority in top-tier strength.

After fighting for two months, Shangguan Ming had recruited tens of thousands of civilian workers from Yueyang Prefecture and led an army of more than one hundred thousand soldiers, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of people while still failing to capture Anxiang County.

By now, the court’s army was exhausted and had suffered heavy losses, with complaints all over the military and no strength to continue the offensive.

Out of desperation, Shangguan Ming requested reinforcements from the court while sending a letter to prompt Lu Yuan to quickly deal with the Miao people and come to their aid.

In response, the court made compromises.

They agreed to Lu Yuan’s request to be promoted to General of Pingnan, the Southern Commander of Dongting Prefecture, and the Chief Commander of the South Sea Prefecture’s military and political affairs.

At this moment, in terms of rank, Lu Yuan was now on the same level as Shangguan Ming.

The two no longer had a master-servant relationship in terms of their positions.

It was precisely because of this compromise made by the court that Lu Yuan openly received the homage of his ministers, putting on an assertive demeanor on this day.

Because he knew that the court needed him at this moment and dared not turn against him.

What was there to say then?

Those who are needed often have nothing to fear.

Lu Yuan seized this opportunity to expand his influence greatly; while selecting those loyal to him, he also spread rumors and step by step turned the five prefectures of South Sea into his iron-clad territory.

Now, his efforts were beginning to bear fruit.

After meeting with the officials of the three southern prefectures, Lu Yuan returned to the barracks outside the city after the banquet and left the Yamen to Sun Siwen.

With his good friend managing the three prefectures, Lu Yuan was finally able to free himself from the tedious government affairs and concentrate on military matters without dealing with anything else.

One could say that it greatly relieved his pressure.

Sun Siwen also quickly took charge, and the next day he arranged for officials to take up their posts in each county and prefecture, setting up the framework for local governments.

The many governance measures agreed upon with Lu Yuan before were also quickly implemented.

It had to be said that after being promoted, perhaps hoping to get a good position in the new dynasty, the enthusiasm of these southern prefecture officials for their work was extremely high.

In just one month, they bravely endured long days and nights of overtime labor, without a single day off, and implemented Sun Siwen’s many policies.

Inventory of the population, recruitment of refugees, initiation of local infrastructure, organization of people to resume production, establishment of the county’s militia, sending people to South Sea Prefecture to purchase grain, arranging marriages between soldiers and Miao women…

One by one, piece by piece, although it cannot be said that they were all completed, they had almost begun, and subsequent steps only needed to be followed through to be completed.

Among them, the first two items, the inventory of households and the recruitment of refugees, were quickly completed under Lu Yuan’s close attention.