"Yes! Master Fang, Master Niu sent an urgent report from Fangzhou."
"What a coincidence. Your Majesty also wants to send me to inquire about Mr. Fang's situation. Why has there been no news in the past few days?"
"Master Fang has gone to Fangzhou. If there is a war there, please report it to the prince immediately!"
"Okay, let's not go forward, let's just turn back!"
The boat sent by Yu Ming to Fengzhou was halfway on the way when it happened to meet the clipper sent by Fang Zhe to report the news.
At this time, Fang Zhe had already started to go to Fangzhou.
At the front of the battle, Zhe hurriedly asked Niu Laosan for support. Niu Laosan went out in a hurry and forgot to report a message to Song Yang.
That's why there was no movement in Fang Zhe's place for the past ten days or so.
The clipper went around in a circle and headed back. It was already February 23rd when we returned to Jiangzhou.
"What? King Fangzhou took Xiangzhou and Suizhou? King Fangzhou also invaded Xiazhou and Jingzhou? Lao Fang and Niu Laosan defeated King Fangzhou? And captured him alive?" Song Yang was shocked.
Unexpectedly, only a month after leaving, Fang Zhe was expanding his territory again.
And three states at a time.
"My lord, actually there's more to it than that!"
The messenger who reported the news was Wang Zhen, deputy envoy of Niu Laosan's fleet.
This battle was such a big deal that we had to send someone who could explain it clearly, so Wang Zhen, the deputy envoy who was a former Jiangzhou Guardsman, came back in person.
"Lord Fang has persuaded King Fangzhou, and King Fangzhou has gone back to Fangzhou with Lord Fang to stabilize the people."
"Lord Fang also said that Fangzhou is right in the middle of Shannan East Road. Now that Fangzhou, Yingzhou, Guizhou and other prefectures on Shannan East Road are under control."
"So Mr. Fang is here to stabilize the situation in Fangzhou, and secondly, he also wants to see if there is any chance of relocating Shannan East Road."
Wang Zhen conveyed what Fang Zhe meant, but in fact, Fang Zhe had already written almost everything in his letter.
Song Yang and Yu Ming gathered at the table and looked at the map, looking at each other thoughtfully.
"It is indeed a good opportunity. With Fangzhou in hand, the entire Shannan East Road is already in the bag." Song Yang nodded.
"Go all the way north on Shannan Road to Chang'an, Xijing. If you can capture Chang'an..." Yu Ming pointed to Chang'an on the map.
Taking Chang'an means taking a companion capital.
Daqian has one capital and two auxiliary capitals. The capital is Yanjing, and the auxiliary capitals are Chang'an and Jiangning.
It stands to reason that if you take the capital, you will be qualified to be emperor.
Of course, according to his status, Song Yang is now qualified to be emperor.
It's just that if I don't stand in Kyoto or accompany the capital, I always feel that it is a little unfair.
"Chang'an has now been occupied by the Luo Xin bandit group. There must be heavy troops stationed there. Luo Xin will not give up Chang'an easily." Song Yang shook his head and said.
Song Yang felt that it was not worthwhile to add unnecessary lives to a companion capital.
At this stage, there are insufficient troops and it is not suitable to directly go to war with the Luo Xin Group.
"But this is indeed a problem. Luo Xin has occupied Guanzhong Road. Let's take it down the mountain and formally meet them." Song Yang said in a deep voice.
On the Huainan Road side, both Song Yang and Luo Xin were relatively restrained. The several prefectures in the north of Huainan Road were basically a no-nonsense zone.
If the Shannan Cave Road is connected, people will have to be stationed here.
"Your Majesty, I think Shannan East Road must get it."
Yu Ming pointed at Fangzhou and continued: "Look, Your Majesty, Shannan East Road borders Longyou Road, Guanzhong Road, Gyeonggi Road, Henan Road, Huainan Road and our Jiangnan West Road."
"As long as we stand on Shannan East Road, we can go wherever we want. In the future, if our military strength is strong and we can go north to wipe out the Luo Xin Bandit Group, we can also use Shannan East Road as a springboard to attack Chang'an and Luoyang."
Yu Ming took a long-term view. Geographically speaking, Shannan East Road was a strategic location for attacking the north.
Nanyang, Fangzhou, Shangzhou, Xiangyang and other large cities are also old and important towns, so they should be more convenient for defense when placed together.
If you stand on a few nodes, Shannan East Road will be indestructible.
"What you said, Lao Yu, makes sense. We really should get the Shannan East Road."
"It's just that we don't have many available soldiers now."
Song Yang was a little worried.
Song Chengwang and Ma Cheng are both in Raozhou.
There are not many soldiers in the family.
According to the original plan, troops were still needed to attack Tanzhou, and the troops from Yuezhou and Ezhou could not be mobilized easily.
Based on this calculation, there are only two to three thousand soldiers available.
"Your Majesty, please bring back the Lao Ma and Hu Crouching Artillery Battalions. Raozhou is mainly concerned with people's livelihood. Let's just transfer some people from the counties below." Yu Ming suggested.
Song Yang pointed at the table, closed his eyes and pondered for a while and said: "If we take Shannan East Road, this is the only way."
"Tune Ma Cheng and Song Chengwang back. Promote Liu Huairen to be the co-president of Raozhou and the garrison of Raozhou! Bring the Duchang Fuxing Army into Raozhou to take over the defense, assist Xue Ming and Shen Dan to improve people's livelihood."
"Duchang asked Cui Qiang to serve as the county magistrate, and we will make plans when the situation stabilizes!"
Song Yang thought about it and found that this method was the most convenient.
Duchang is adjacent to Raozhou, and Liu Huairen has three thousand soldiers and horses.
With these three thousand soldiers and horses entering Raozhou, the defense problem was solved.
After all, Raozhou is next to the King of Suzhou. In order to prevent them from advancing westward, it is necessary to keep people on defense.
After things were arranged, Song Yang suddenly asked:
"Where is Wei Nan? Have you left?"
"Go back to my lord. I just left this morning."
"Catch me back!"
Wei Nan was also unlucky. As soon as he left, Shannan East Road changed.
However, he does not need to return to his civil service, but the place he goes to is further than Raozhou...
In the afternoon of the next day, Wei Nan was chased back.
This guy came to see Song Yang with a grimace.
"It's bad luck for you. I've heard about the incident on Shannan East Road."
As soon as they met, Song Yang smiled jokingly.
"My lord, please tell me what to do there! I will leave tomorrow!"
Wei Nan has given up on treatment. He is just a brick that can be moved wherever needed.
"Haha. You are open-minded. Let's rest for a few days. When Ma Cheng and Song Chengwang come back, you will go to Fangzhou with me. Then you will be the garrison of Fangzhou and be responsible for forming the Fangzhou Renaissance Army."
Song Yang smiled and said to Wei Nan.
"Okay, I'm going wherever I go, at least I can get back to the army."
Wei Nan said crookedly, Raozhou also formed a revival army, and Fangzhou did the same.
"Huh? That's not right! Going with you? Are you also going to Fangzhou in person this time?" Wei Nan reacted.
"Nonsense! Fangzhou has expanded into three prefectures at once, and there is more than half of Shannan East Road nearby. If I don't go there, I'm afraid Fang Zhe won't be able to deal with my uncles and brothers!"
Song Yang smiled and said.
This expansion of Shannan East Road may be much more difficult than that of Yuezhou and Ezhou.
Nearly a year has passed since the natural disaster, and the situation on Shannan Road has basically been settled. To break this pattern, more than just force is needed.
I also need an identity.
The King of Fangzhou was originally enough, let's not talk about whether he was really helping Song Yang.
Even if he was sincere, it was a pity that he became a defeated general. How can a defeated general be brave?
So now Song Yang wants to go there personally and take this opportunity to find out clearly all the forces in Shannan East Road.
In the next few days, Jiangzhou began to mobilize troops and generals.
Ma Cheng and Song Chengwang are still on their way back.
However, officials in various counties have made some changes due to the implementation of Shannan East Road.
On February 25th, Qiao Jinglong and Chen Fu entered Jiangzhou Fucheng.
Song Yang directly appointed Chen Fu as the magistrate of De'an County, and Qiao Jinglong was promoted to the magistrate of Fangzhou.
Fang Zhe had already inquired about the situation of Fangzhou officials from the king of Fangzhou.
The prefect is still alive, but he is too old and basically lies at home every day.
I also know that An Jingyuan was appointed by King Fangzhou after the natural disaster, and he is the elder brother-in-law of King Fangzhou.
The position of general judge has always been vacant. It was originally assigned to the brother-in-law of King Fangzhou, but his brother-in-law made his own decision and drowned while swimming in the lake, so the position has always been vacant.
Song Yang now asks Qiao Jinglong to be the general judge, which is regarded as direct management of Fangzhou.
As for An Jingyuan, the sick prefect and brother-in-law of Fangzhou King, Song Yang planned to see it in person before making any plans.
If they knew each other, Song Yang wouldn't bother to change them.
The influence of these people in the local area must be intertwined. It is easy to move them, but it is difficult to get them to work together.
By keeping An Jingyuan, he might be able to manage Fangzhou better.
Qiao Jinglong was temporarily appointed and was somewhat confused.
Although I got promoted, I still have to travel a long way.
And it’s still other people’s territory to clear up wasteland.
"Wang... Your Highness. I'm afraid... I'm afraid..." Qiao Jinglong was a little embarrassed and hesitantly spoke.
"Don't worry. I will support you from behind!" Song Yang patted Qiao Jinglong on the shoulder and said.
Song Yang had said so, so Qiao Jinglong had no choice but to agree.
Of course, Song Yang couldn't let him be the general judge just like a mere commander.
I was unfamiliar with that place. If Qiao Jinglong went there by himself, he would probably die inexplicably within a few days.
So in addition to personally sending him to take office, Song Yang also allowed him to bring a few officials and envoys with him, as well as 500 De'an revival troops.
There are now more than 1,500 revival troops in De'an, and Zhang Sui is also a veteran from Jiangzhou Guard.
Asking Zhang Sui to take 500 revival troops and Qiao Jinglong was enough to protect his safety.
As for the civil servants, Song Yang originally thought that Qiao Jinglong would take Chu Fang to Fangzhou.
Unexpectedly, Qiao Jinglong actually recommended Chu Fang to be the magistrate of Ruichang County.
Chu Fang was the agricultural clerk who led Song Yang to Ruichang last year. He was quite capable and very loyal.
Later, Qiao Jinglong supported him and became the chief secretary of De'an.
"Well. Chu Fang is quite a good person. He is quite capable and has been training with you for more than half a year. It works!"
"Then let Chu Fang go to Ruichang. Chen Fu, please take the handover."
Song Yang looked at Chen Fu.
Although Chen Fu envied Qiao Jinglong's promotion, he also had some benefits.
De'an is much bigger than his Ruichang. Being able to go from Ruichang to De'an is considered an improvement, right?
"Yes. The subordinate must do a good job in handing over the job." Chen Fu responded hurriedly after Song Yang's instructions.
"You two will hand over the work today and finish it as soon as possible. Once it's done, Lao Qiao will come to Jiangzhou and wait. We'll set off when Ma Cheng and the others come back."
Song Yang thought for a while and added:
"It's up to you whether you want to take your family with you or not. This trip will last for several years."