To be honest, from the perspective of the Tongzhi of Zhaoyang, he was unwilling to ask for help.
The previous prefect died quickly, leaving behind not only a huge fortune, but also a vacancy for the prefectural government.
God have mercy on him. If it were a peaceful time, how long would it take for him to wait for a vacancy of prefect? Even if he waited for it, he probably couldn't afford the gift that would get him a promotion.
But the vacant position of Zhaoyang prefect is different. Not to mention that it is located at the border, there will always be people who are not picky. But thanks to the fact that the previous prefect died a violent death, and Zhaoyang also left the impression of "refugees plundering" in the court, no one will come to grab the position of prefect. After all, people don't become officials to build a powerful Chen Dynasty. How can you make money in a place where you can't even protect your life?
Of course, the Tongzhi knew the truth, so he was not afraid. After his active "activities", rumors had already spread that the Ministry of Personnel would soon officially promote him to the rank of prefect on the grounds of "merit in suppressing local rebellion."
If the city was besieged again at this time, whether it was by refugees or by the infiltrated Khmer army, the good impression he had painstakingly created for the court would be gone, and his promotion would most likely be ruined. So when he heard that "the Khmer army is attacking the city, and the higher-ups hope you will go and ask for help as soon as possible, and ask for help from the Lieutenant General of Nandingzhou", he hesitated.
However, the Tongzhi made his decision quickly. If he had nodded a moment later, the long sword of the woman named Xue Wuxia would have really hit his neck. The Tongzhi had no doubt about this. After all, the previous prefect, who had actively saved himself in the fire and even worked hard to clear a safe zone, just couldn't make up his mind when everyone tried to persuade him to die, and just refused to hang his neck on the white silk. The Tongzhi, who was undergoing "pre-job training" nearby, witnessed Xue Wuxia's swordsmanship firsthand. It was crisp and clear. By the time he realized it, the prefect's head was already two or three feet away from his body.
The messenger rushed to the camp of the Lieutenant General of Nandingzhou as quickly as possible. After reading the letter for help, the Lieutenant General of Nandingzhou decided to return to support Zhaoyang as quickly as possible.
After all, as a prefect who is about to take office, the Tongzhi Lord is still very familiar with his colleagues who he will deal with in the future, and it just so happens that the Lieutenant General of Nandingzhou is one of them.
This lieutenant general's dream was to become a general commander, though of course, he had to become a deputy general commander first. However, a lieutenant general who could increase his army from 5,000 to 3,000 by collecting empty salaries certainly didn't want to become a general commander for the sake of defending his country. This was clear to everyone, so the letter from the co-magistrate contained only one sentence.
"Hurry up and help me, brother. We will split all the savings we have accumulated over the years in half."
People become officials for money. If they can get the money directly, then the process of becoming an official or not is actually not very important.
Rather than believing the Tongzhi's credibility and that he would give him half his savings, the lieutenant general believed in his ability to amass wealth. After all, it was rumored that he had collected the body of the previous prefect when he died, and then reported to the court that the prefect was incorruptible, leaving no inheritance, and even paid for the funeral...
Although no one believed this nonsense, it indirectly proved that this Tongzhi had a good way of making money and would not even let go of his superiors' inheritance. The thought of getting half of such a person's fortune was exciting.
If the lieutenant general had arrived in Zhaoyang a day earlier, he would have discovered that the so-called "Khmer Army" was mostly dressed in Qinghe uniforms, with a few still wearing civilian clothing. The best they could do to identify themselves as "Khmer" was to get a few white sheets and write the word "Khmer" in large letters. Honestly, even a three-year-old wouldn't be fooled by such an act, but who could possibly get so many Khmer uniforms so quickly? Xue Wuxia was just beautiful, with a good figure and swordsmanship, but she wasn't a god.
But it doesn't matter. Anyway, the people who were besieging the city under the banner of this people believed that they were Khmer. The people who were besieged in the city and could go out of the city from time to time to buy things and pick herbs also believed that they were Khmer. The official documents written to the court and the letters for help from the lieutenant general were also written by Khmer people. So these people were genuine Khmer.
If the lieutenant general had arrived one day later, he would have been able to truly see the murderous Khmer army after a bloody battle, and these were real Khmer people.
The focus goes back to the night when Xue Wuxia asked the Tongzhi to write a letter asking for help.
Xue Wuxia, who had just finished her work and was reporting back, received the latest intelligence. After a relentless and relentless attack, the Khmer had finally achieved their first major victory in the war. The Tran Dynasty's Chongzuo defenders, along with a deputy general and five lieutenant generals who came to reinforce them, were all killed in the battle. The Khmer had finally broken through the Chongzuo defenses and entered the heart of the Tran Dynasty.
According to the order of the Khmer royal family, the primary task of the army that invaded the heartland of the Chen Dynasty was to "give Cambodia a breather" as much as possible before the Chen Dynasty's counterattack army arrived. Well, to put it simply, it was to grab as much stuff as possible, otherwise the old army would not be able to hold on.
So after the war, the Cambodian army of about 300,000 was left in Chongzuo and divided into three groups and began to plunder everywhere. The Cambodian generals even publicly announced the division ratio, the so-called 50% for the royal family, 30% for officers, and 20% for soldiers, and swore a solemn oath that they would never touch the soldiers' "hard-earned money". This move led to a great increase in the enthusiasm of the Cambodian soldiers to rob, and many middle and lower-level officers also took the initiative to ask to leave the brigade and continue to divide the troops in order to expand the scope of the looting.
According to the intelligence from the Khmer people, Zhaoyang was not a good place. After all, there had just been a refugee crisis here, and even the prefect had died. There probably wasn't much money left. But a mosquito, no matter how small, is still meat, and even chicken ribs, people would eat them if they were starving. So the chicken ribs of Zhaoyang were thrown by the general to the new lieutenant general, Xin Yuetu, who was promoted and arranged to sit on the bench in the army because he recruited bandits and obtained pig iron for the kingdom.
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