As the Beicang Auction drew ever closer, the various routes leading to the Long'an Trade Route became increasingly chaotic. On certain routes and in some regions, the chaos was especially rampant, a consequence of the various local Garrison Commandant's Offices and Qiankun Bureaus being short-staffed.
In the past, the Weishui Garrison and the Weishui Branch of the Qiankun Bureau would have dispatched reinforcements long ago to handle such a situation. But now, with countless complicated matters to attend to, everything was a tangled mess. Although the Weishui Garrison had made arrangements and adjustments in advance, they were still stretched thin for manpower.
Lacking the strong support of the Weishui Garrison, the situation in the regions along the county's routes grew increasingly unstable.
