In the northern border of Xiangtan, Song Mao's troops walked for three and a half days from Xiangxiang to Xiangtan.
The road is rough and the movement is slow.
As soon as they arrived at the border of Xiangtan, they were discovered by the Hengzhou Army on sentry duty.
"Who is coming!" The Hengzhou Army patrol team blocked the way of Song Mao and Zhou Kai.
Song Mao did not dare to show up rashly with a large group of people. He and Zhou Kai dressed up as ordinary people and went to explore the situation.
"Brothers, we are refugees who escaped from Tanzhou and want to make a living in Xiangtan."
"You're from Tanzhou? Going to Xiangtan?"
"Yes, I'm from Xiangxiang and want to go to Xiangtan."
"You don't look like the common people! I think you look like spies for the Tanzhou bandits!" The patrolman looked at Song Mao and his party.
"Take it away!" the captain pointed his spear and said.
"Slow down!" Zhou Kai stepped forward and stood in front of Song Mao.
"Huh? If you resist, he must be a thief. Get him!" The team leader didn't even give Zhou Kai a chance to explain.
There are ten of them, and there are only four on Song Mao's side.
"Bold! This is the second son of the King of Tanzhou!" Zhou Kai shouted loudly.
The squad leader was immediately stunned.
"King of Tanzhou? Second Young Master?" The team leader looked at Song Mao suspiciously.
Zhou Kai had no other choice. He didn't expect these Hengzhou troops to be so cautious and would arrest anyone they encountered.
He was afraid that Song Mao would be captured if he did anything wrong.
"It is this young master. Tanzhou has been lost, and I have come to Hengzhou to seek refuge." Song Mao said it openly.
The team leader saw that he was quite magnanimous and was already unsure.
"Let's do this. You guys wait here. I'll go back and report the news!" the team leader thought for a while and said.
He also asked his men to keep an eye on Song Mao and the four of them.
The squad leader ran away in a flash.
After waiting for almost half an hour, four fast horses came from a distance.
The leader of one of the cavalry was Kang Qiong.
Kang Qiong was on an envoy trip to Jiangzhou a while ago, and when he came back, he was transferred to Xiangtan Defense Envoy, specifically responsible for the Xiangtan defense line.
When the horse arrived, Kang Qiong jumped off the horse, looked at Song Mao and the others and asked, "Is that the second young master of Tanzhou King?"
"That's right!" Song Mao stepped forward and said.
He has not been banned, and there is nothing wrong with him claiming to be here.
The royal family in Daqian can only be regarded as ordinary royal families without titles, and they do not even receive enshrinement from the country.
The number of recipients in each generation is also limited.
"My officer, Xiangtan Defense Envoy Kang Qiong, is polite, sir!" Kang Qiong said, clasping his fists.
He didn't confirm Song Mao's identity, but it was always right to be polite.
What if it's true?
Song Tong is a famous person in Jiangzhou, the seventh uncle of Jiangzhou King Song Yang!
The power of the Crouching Tiger Cannon is still deeply imprinted in his mind.
"Are you Kang Qiong? I know you. Your brother-in-law is Hengzhou Wei Qianhu."
Zhou Kai stood up and said.
"Who is this?" Kang Qiong looked at Zhou Kai.
"Tanzhou Wei Qianhu, Zhou Kai." Zhou Kai reported his family name.
"Oh! It turns out to be Mr. Zhou, polite and courteous!" Kang Qiong smiled and hugged his fists.
He had indeed heard of Zhou Kai. His brother-in-law was in the guard system and had some understanding of the guard system.
Knowing Zhou Kai's identity, he also basically confirmed Song Mao's identity.
"Master! Lord Zhou! Please. Let's go back to the city to talk!" Kang Qiong said with a smile.
He brought four horses, and they could be given to Song Mao and Zhou Kai in two batches.
"No rush! I have a few urgent questions to ask." Song Mao waved his hand.
"Say." Kang Qiong looked at Song Mao doubtfully.
"Is Uncle Wang of Hengzhou still there?" Song Mao asked first.
"Of course!" Kang Qiong replied immediately.
"Is Hengzhou still a great land?" Song Mao asked the second time, extremely seriously.
Kang Qiong was stunned for a moment, then said: "Of course!"
"Okay! I believe you! I didn't come here by myself this time..."
"Seven or eight thousand? That's a lot!"
Song Mao gave an overview of the troops, and Kang Qiong was confused.
He originally thought that Song Maodong was hiding in Tibet and fled to Xiangtan.
I didn't expect that he would fight a bloody path.
"Sir, are you having any difficulties?" Song Mao was a little nervous.
There was a shortage of food everywhere, and of course he knew this.
The seven or eight thousand of them are also short of food. If they hadn't harvested some autumn crops, they wouldn't be able to survive now.
Song Mao is now worried that Hengzhou does not have enough food to accept them.
"There are indeed difficulties. The grain reserves in Xiangtan are not large. I'm afraid it will be difficult to arrange the many people under your command, sir." Kang Qiong frowned and said.
Just as Song Mao was about to say something, Kang Qiong added:
"Let's do this. You first bring someone with me to Xiangtan, and I will immediately send someone to Hengyang to report to the prince. The prince will definitely allocate more food and grass!"
There is indeed not much food in Xiangtan, and there is not much left in Hengzhou.
But the Alliance does!
It was obviously a great achievement for him to take over Song Mao and his gang.
When the time comes, just take charge of Jiangzhou and ask for food!
As soon as Song Mao heard that Kang Qiong was willing to take people in, he immediately sent someone to call for people from behind.
Kang Qiong saw that there was indeed a large group of troops and more than 4,000 strong men, and he was already happy.
If there are more, these strong Xiangtan defense lines will become more unbreakable.
This is another achievement!
"Young Master is so wise and courageous that he can break out of Tanzhou controlled by the thieves, and he can also give the thieves a severe blow. I admire him very much!"
Back in Xiangtan, Kang Qiong took Song Mao and others to talk in detail and learned about what Song Mao was doing in Tanzhou.
"I just want to avenge my father!" Song Mao said seriously.
"Well, yes! It is indeed a pity that the King of Tanzhou lost Tanzhou because of his carelessness." Kang Qiong nodded.
"But don't worry, young master. Now that you've arrived at our place, you can stay here with peace of mind. This year the alliance will launch a general offensive! The King of Jiangzhou has promised to help the King of Tanzhou retake Tanzhou!" Kang Qiong said with relief.
"King of Jiangzhou? Help my father regain Tanzhou?" Song Mao was stunned and confused.
Isn’t the father dead?
Could it be that the King of Jiangzhou is interested in Tanzhou?
People like Song Mao have been hiding in the deep mountains and old forests. If they come out to cause trouble, they will immediately hide back.
He didn't even know that King Tanzhou was still alive, or that Song Yang had formed the Daqian Jiangnan Revival Alliance.
"Yes. The King of Jiangzhou said that he will launch a general attack on Tanzhou in the second half of this year at the latest. At that time, the King of Tanzhou will have troops to escort him back to Changsha!" Kang Qiong nodded.
"What! What did you say?" Song Mao stood up suddenly.
"You said my father is not dead?" Song Mao asked, staring at Kang Qiong.
"Ah? Don't you know, Young Master? Of course the King of Tanzhou is not dead! I saw him in Jiangzhou some time ago!"
Kang Qiong was also dumbfounded. Song Mao didn't even know that King Tanzhou was alive.
"Father...is still alive! Haha! Father is still alive!" Song Maolang laughed loudly.
The two of them argued for a while and finally understood that the news spread by Liu Jinpeng was that the King of Tanzhou was dead.
But in fact, the king of Tanzhou fled to Jiangzhou.
"Haha! What a happy event! What a happy event!" Kang Qiong said with a smile.
"The prince must also be worried about the safety of the young master!"
"Let's do this. I will arrange a quick horse ride for you to take the young master to Jiangzhou!"
Kang Qiong suggested.
"Okay! I am going to Jiangzhou!" Song Mao agreed immediately.
He is now eager to see his father.
He also wanted to send his sister Song Ning to Jiangzhou to reunite with his father.
My sister has suffered a lot in the past few months following him, and she has tanned several degrees.
Kang Qiong agreed and immediately arranged a team of elite soldiers.
The most convenient way to go from Xiangtan to Jiangzhou is to take Yuanzhou and then change boats to Jiangzhou.
Kang Qiong gave Song Mao a seal of approval, which was used for changing ships in Yichun.
Song Mao handed over the troops to Zhou Kai and the civil affairs to Yao Jin.
In the evening, when she heard that her father was still alive, Song Ning cried with joy.
"Brother! Is it true?"
"It's true! My father is still alive! He formed the Daqian Jiangnan Revival Alliance in Jiangzhou with his brother Wang, and all the prefectures in Jiangnan Province joined the alliance!" Song Mao said excitedly.
Kang Qiong had already roughly told him some things, and Song Mao was even more hopeful after hearing this.
"Tomorrow we will go to Jiangzhou to meet our father!"
"Yeah! Let's go tomorrow!"
…
The Song Mao brothers and sisters set out on their way to Jiangzhou early the next morning.
The road is difficult to travel, so it will take at least seven or eight days.
On the other side of Jiangzhou, just after the annual holiday, Song Yang received a letter from Chen Lin.
Langzhou, Jingzhou and Xiazhou came to invest.
Langzhou is the capital of Jiangnan Province, located between Tanzhou and Fengzhou, across Zishui from Tanzhou.
In the second half of last year, Chen Lin gradually came into contact with Langzhou.
The Langzhou royal family has only one youngest son who is only three and a half years old. Now in power is Langzhou King's father-in-law, Wei He Taiping of Longyang County, Langzhou.
He Taiping was not of high rank, but the He family was a wealthy family in Langzhou and almost monopolized the salt and iron business in Langzhou.
So after the royal family collapsed, He Taiping stepped forward to support his young grandson in controlling the government affairs of Langzhou.
Originally, he wanted to live his life peacefully in Langzhou.
As a result, of course he knew that Tanzhou was occupied by thieves.
I also heard that Fengzhou had taken refuge with King Jiangzhou and was developing very well with the support of King Jiangzhou.
So He Taiping sent people to contact Fengzhou several times.
Last month, He Taiping personally went to Fengyang, and under Chen Lin's persuasion, decided to join Song Yang.
Jingzhou and Xiazhou are both the capitals of Shannan Province, but both Jingzhou and Xiazhou border Fengzhou.
And the Yangtze River passes through the state.
Jingzhou had actually known about the situation in Fengzhou for a long time. They even knew that the prince had run away.
After the natural disaster, the royal family of Jingzhou ceased to exist, and the top official was Tongzhi.
Wang Ben, a fellow acquaintance, was from Huainan Road and was an official in Jingzhou.
Looking at the ruined world, Wang Ben also worked hard to restore people's livelihood and sent people to Kyoto and Jiangning for help.
The result can be imagined. When he learned that the world had completely collapsed, Wang Ben immediately put Jingzhou under martial law.
Vigorous efforts were made to organize the people to stock up on food and grass.
He is not thinking about the people, but himself.
The world is in chaos, and if you want to stand firm and maintain your wealth, you must have both soldiers and food in hand.
Fortunately, Jingzhou is rich and has sufficient food and grass.
In order to win people's hearts, Wang Ben did not hesitate to release food at the opening, and also won the support of local people.
In fact, Wang Ben's thoughts are quite similar to Miao Ji's, but his methods are different.
Miao Ji exploited the people, while Wang Ben bought people's hearts.
He originally wanted to wait and see if there was any remnant of Daqian.
As a result, news came from nearby Fengzhou that he had taken refuge with Song Yang.
Wang Ben saw the development of Fengzhou, so he thought that he might as well join Song Yang.
Wang Ben concluded that Jingzhou was far away, and Song Yang in Jiangzhou would definitely not be able to control him here.
Even if he takes refuge with Song Yang, it is only in name.
This way you can huddle together to stay warm.
So not only Jingzhou, Wang Ben also brought Xiazhou to join him.
Currently in power in Xiazhou is Wang Ben’s classmate, the prefect Zhang Wenhai.
The two hit it off immediately, and together they sent envoys to Fengzhou to express their intention to seek refuge with Song Yang.