After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Chapter 554 Action Plan: Deciding to Provide Covert Assistance

"Sigh~ We are all from the Great Zhou Dynasty. When faced with this kind of thing, no one with a bit of backbone would sit idly by."

"But Lord Li, can the two of us really save the people on our own?"

Prefect Li paused, what did he mean by that?

Boosting the enemy's morale while diminishing our own?

Even if the Japanese pirates had a large number of people, they couldn't possibly mobilize thousands of people just to abduct one or two hundred, right?

It's just a tiny place; it's hard to say whether the entire island has even a thousand soldiers.

However, this time they were up to no good, which caught the Great Zhou off guard and almost caused the loss of more than a hundred civilians.

"General, are you overthinking this? Even if they have several ships, they couldn't possibly have that many people, could they?"

The garrison commander frowned. It wasn't that he looked down on his men, but the capital had always been peaceful, and they hadn't really had any major missions in recent years.

Although nominally responsible for the defense of the capital, their actual duties consisted of patrols, and they had not engaged in any actual combat for many years.

"It's not that I'm overthinking it, it's just... well, I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me for saying this, but the people under me are just passable."

In a real fight, they might not be much better than ordinary constables. Although the camp often conducts drills, those are not real combat.

Prefect Li understood what this meant; it was a tactful way of saying that the garrison's fighting strength wasn't very good.

They know they're getting serious, and they're not holding back at all.

That's right. It's a matter of life and death, not something to joke about. We have to bite the bullet and go for it.

"So, according to the general's instructions, what should we do? We can't just stand by and watch the people of Great Zhou be ravaged by Japanese pirates, can we?"

The fact that Prefect Li used the word "waste" is enough to show his disgust for the Japanese pirates and his concern for the people of the Great Zhou.

The garrison commander pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "I think it might be possible to seek help from the Prince of Xuan Nan."

"The Prince of Xuannan? This..."

The soldiers under the Prince of Xuannan were naturally brave and skilled in battle, but how could a prince like himself, a mere fourth-rank official, possibly persuade him to join the fight?

He really dares to think that way, but he doesn't dare to do it.

"Yes, it's Prince Xuan Nan. This time, the prince brought over a thousand soldiers to the capital, all of whom are experts who can take on ten men each!"

You don't know, but in the Southern Border, the Prince of Xuan Nan is the pillar of stability. The Southern Barbarians have harassed the border many times, but they have never dared to truly set foot in the Southern Border.

"It's all because we have a war god prince there to keep things under control!"

The garrison commander got more and more excited as he spoke. Well, who wouldn't talk endlessly about their idol?

Prefect Li ruthlessly interrupted the garrison commander, whose eyes were gleaming with greed, "Alright, we all know how powerful the Prince of Xuan Nan is, and all the people of the Great Zhou know it!"

But the problem is, how can we get the Prince of Xuan Nan to help us?! This is the capital, not the south. Don't you know the Prince of Xuan Nan only brought a dozen or so men with him?

The remaining troops were all stationed outside the capital, and apart from the day they arrived in Kyoto, they never even entered the inner city again!

"What Lord Li means is..."

“I didn’t mean anything by it. Since you respect the prince, you should put yourself in his shoes. After all, the prince is only staying in the capital. Can he really send troops out at will?”

Even if we eventually learn that the troops were dispatched to save the people of the Great Zhou, people's mouths are fickle, and they can't always be manipulated into fabricating stories.

The garrison commander broke out in a cold sweat. Good heavens, he had almost endangered the prince! What a terrible mistake!

"Then, what if we submit a memorial to the emperor and report the matter to higher authorities? Wouldn't it be much more efficient to ask the prince for help?"

Prefect Li shook his head again, "I believe the information on this paper, and you believe it too, but will those above believe it?"

There were no other clues, yet they mobilized the Prince of Xuan Nan based solely on a single piece of paper. Are we crazy, or are the higher-ups crazy?!

What Prefect Li didn't say was that even a single piece of paper could implicate Young Master Jiang of the Hanlin Academy.

He's a civil servant who risked his life to find clues for himself; I can't let innocent people get involved.

It must be said that if Jiang Xiaoqi knew that Prefect Li was actually such a loyal and righteous person, he would definitely give him a thumbs up.

Even if one is not afraid of being implicated at all, one would still appreciate this act of empathy in officialdom.

"Sigh, I was too naive. Oh well! I'll just have to bite the bullet and go for it! Sigh!"

"There's no need to make it sound like we're about to be beheaded, which only boosts the morale of others and diminishes our own."

However, when the enemy situation is unclear, we must be extra careful and make more cautious and thorough arrangements for our actions.

The lives of ordinary people are precious, and the lives of soldiers are precious too; we must do everything we can to protect them!

Upon hearing Prefect Li's words, the garrison commander nodded emphatically: "Prefect Li is right. Let's have dinner at my garrison camp today and make some plans."

"Yes, we know the time and place, but we don't know how many people are on the other side, so we still need to make arrangements regarding personnel."

Even if we are weaker in terms of military strength, we can still overwhelm the enemy with our numerical superiority.

Prefect Li was referring to the human wave tactic, using sheer numbers to overwhelm the enemy, which is not inherently wrong.

However, Prefect Li overlooked one problem: the other side had hostages. No matter how many people they had, they would inevitably have to be hesitant to act rashly.

Prefect Li did not emerge from the garrison camp until the lanterns were lit, his face revealing unconcealed exhaustion.

The food at the garrison wasn't too bad, but he didn't have much of an appetite and only ate a little bit.

"Sir, shall we return to the Prefectural Government Office of the Capital Region now?"

"Okay, let's go back!"

Even after discussing the matter with the garrison commander for a whole day, he still felt quite uncertain.

If only we could gather some martial arts masters, those skilled in light footwork could go and scout ahead first, moving swiftly and avoiding alerting the enemy.

Unfortunately, I don't have any connections in the underworld. Sigh...

He glanced at his own advisor and thought, "Forget it, this one is even less likely to have one."

Knowing a few poor scholars was probably the biggest connection one could have with their advisor.

Just as Prefect Li's sedan chair entered the Jingzhao Prefect's residence, a dark figure leaped out from inside the walls of the Jingzhao Prefect's office.

"Meow~"

"Xiao Hei, well done. Go collect your overtime pay and labor fee for today. Oh, and there's an extra bonus too!"

"Meow~ Meow~ Meow~"

"Haha, you deserve it, no need to thank me. Have some canned food and rest for a while before going back. You must be very tired after watching all day."

Jiang Xiaoqi took out cat food cans, various freeze-dried snacks, and caviar that had just been added to the store from her spatial storage.

Xiao Hei's round eyes lit up as Jiang Xiaoqi moved, and finally, he happily put his spoils back into his boss's possession.

Based on the intelligence brought back by Xiao Hei, Jiang Xiaoqi had basically learned about the plans of Prefect Li and the garrison battalion.

We're just waiting for the day when we actually take action, and then we'll seize any opportunity to provide assistance.