Jiangxia takes the Han River to Xiangyang, passing through Mianzhou on Huainan Road, Fuzhou, Jingzhou, and Yingzhou on Shannan East Road, and then to Xiangyang, the capital city of Xiangzhou.
The reason why I chose to go to Xiangyang is because of its convenient water conservancy and transportation.
It can be reached directly by boat from Jiangzhou.
When passing through these places, you can also take a look at the cultural conditions of these places.
When the fleet entered Mianzhou, Song Yang kept frowning.
"Mianzhou is actually lifeless?" Song Tong also looked heavy.
The two of them spent a long time watching along the way with telescopes.
Not a single soul was seen.
Especially when passing through the capital city of Hanyang, Song Yang specifically asked the fleet to stop and search for anyone living nearby.
As a result, the soldiers walked around in a circle, showing no signs of survival.
The only things that can be seen are the highly decomposed corpses, proving that human civilization once existed here.
"Oh, let's burn it. We can't let wild beasts chew it all up."
Song Yang couldn't bear to look any further and gave an order.
The fleet continued to move, and thick smoke billowed out of Hanyang behind them.
The raging flames destroyed everything.
The land in Mianzhou is not fertile, and in previous years it relied on transportation and trade to survive.
Nowadays, trade in various places is not prosperous, and the surviving people of Mianzhou have long since fled in all directions.
Ezhou received many people from Mianzhou.
Of course, most of them did not cross the river and went north.
"Mianzhou will have to stand down here in the future. After all, it guards the Han River waterway and can echo the north and south of Jiangxia."
Song Yang looked at the thick smoke in the distance and said slowly.
"Yes. Mianzhou was considered a strategic location in normal times. It's a pity that no one cares about it anymore due to natural disasters." Song Tong also said with emotion.
"Wang Ran needs to think about this matter. It's enough to leave one or two thousand people here to guard the river mouth." Song Yang thought for a while and said.
The Seventh Uncle Song Tong naturally agreed with this kind of operation. He wanted to secure the place first and then consider developing it slowly later.
The two discussed it briefly.
The fleet also slowly entered the territory of Shannan East Road.
Coming over from Mianzhou is Fuzhou.
The situation in Fuzhou is obviously much better than that in Mianzhou.
When passing through Mianyang, I saw fishing boats coming and going on the river from afar.
When we arrived at the Mianyang River, the county magistrate Zhu Chengguo was already waiting at the dock.
"The magistrate of Mianyang County pays homage to the Prince of Jiangzhou."
As soon as Song Yang's ship docked, Zhu Chengguo led a group of people to bow down.
"Did you know that this king is coming?" Song Yang looked at Zhu Chengguo curiously and asked.
"Go back to your lord. Your Majesty has received the notice from Lord Wang Ben of Jingzhou." Zhu Chengguo answered honestly and moved out of Jingzhou with Wang Ben.
Song Yang sent someone across the river to inform Fang Zhe of his trip a few days ago, so Xiazhou and Jingzhou also knew about Song Yang's trip.
As for Fuzhou, I just came here three days ago.
There is no king in Fuzhou, and the top official is the magistrate of Fuzhou who came to express his happiness.
After the news about the defeat and capture of King Fangzhou spread, Lai Mingxi immediately found Wang Ben and expressed his intention to seek refuge with Song Yang.
As soon as Wang Ben talked to Fang Zhe, Fang Zhe agreed.
In this way, Song Yang's power expanded to another state.
Lai Mingxi is the prince's aunt and has always been a staunch supporter of the prince.
His teacher is also the prince's teacher, and the two of them are classmates.
Although the prince died, he had no plans to seek refuge with Song Yang immediately.
Originally I wanted to put it off one day at a time.
Unexpectedly, Song Yang was already so powerful that he could defeat the King of Fangzhou.
Lai Mingxi was also aware of current affairs and immediately joined Lu Songyang's camp.
Of course, it’s unclear how sincere it is.
Song Yang doesn't ask for much. As long as you don't cause trouble for me and manage people's livelihood honestly, you can secure your position as prefect.
Fang Zhe knew this clearly, so as soon as he received the news, he immediately agreed to Fuzhou's request.
There was not even any demand for resumption of the state.
"Tell me the basic situation here."
Song Yang knew the cause and effect and immediately asked about the situation in Fuzhou.
The remaining population of Fuzhou is between 60,000 and 80,000, 60% of which are in the countryside.
There are only two county towns: Mianyang and Fuzhou Fucheng.
People's livelihood has recovered fairly well. At least this past winter, almost no people died of hunger or cold.
The food reserves are quite sufficient, and with fishing and hunting to supplement them, holding on to this autumn harvest will not be a problem.
Overall it's pretty stable.
This shows that Mingxi is also somewhat capable. Although he has not made dazzling political achievements, he can barely maintain the situation.
Most of the officials in Daqian were like this, such as Chen Fu, Wang Ben, Chen Lin, Wei Guan and others.
This is normal. Comparatively capable people like Wang Ran, Liu Huairen, and Liu Min are still in the minority.
After receiving the report, Song Yang was quite satisfied with Fuzhou.
He praised Zhu Chengguo a few words, which was a kind of praise for his efforts to appease the people and save the people in the past six months.
"Your Majesty, you are full of compliments, which is what a lower official should do. Your Majesty, it's already getting dark today, why don't you go to the county town and have a look?"
The previous reports were all made on the dock. Song Yang originally just wanted to see how Mianyang was doing.
Unexpectedly, Mianyang turned to him, so it was time to get off the ship and have a look.
"Okay, let's go see Master Zhu's achievements in the past six months. Haha." Song Yang said with a smile.
"Don't dare. I still need Prince Qing to give me some advice." Zhu Chengguo waved his hands hurriedly.
"Your Majesty, please come here. Let's walk around the city and come to the prefecture. We should be there in the afternoon." Zhu Chengguo made an invitation gesture.
Song Yang followed him forward in a hundred years, followed closely by Gongsun Qi and a hundred Renaissance Army soldiers.
The seventh uncle Song Tong did not get off the boat. Song Yang went to the city to see the situation. Someone had to stay on board the boat.
It's not that you don't trust Zhu Chengguo, it's just a safety measure.
The most important thing is that Song Yang himself has extremely strong military force. Yu Ming, Gongsun Qi, and Wei Nan together are no match for Song Yang.
As the saying goes, a skilled person is bold, and of course he himself is not afraid.
Uncle Qi was therefore relieved that this fighting madman would enter the city.
Zhu Chengguo only learned yesterday that Song Yang was coming.
It was the prefect who came to Mingxi with a letter and asked him that if Song Yang stayed in Mianyang, he should stay as long as possible. He was on his way here.
Song Yang really came, and Zhu Chengguo sincerely invited Song Yang to visit the city.
I am also waiting for Mingxi to come and see me.
Following Zhu Chengguo into the city, the ruins in the city had been basically cleared.
After natural disasters, some places are rebuilding new cities, and some places are cleaning up ruins.
It depends on the difficulty of clearing the ruins.
Mianyang is not a big city originally. Most of the city's buildings are one-story houses with many wooden structures.
There wasn't much construction waste left after the fire, so it was cleared away by sweeping and pushing.
At least 35% of the county wall is left, so you can still use it if you live in the city.
After more than half a year of construction, almost all the people have lived in wooden houses.
The forest coverage rate in Fuzhou is very high, and people use local materials to directly cut down trees to build houses.
It is easier to build a wooden house than a mud house, and it is also very warm if plastered on the outside.
"The planning of this county is quite good. It can be seen that Mr. Zhu is indeed quite capable."
Following Zhu Chengguo along the way, Song Yang took a general look and found that the city's planning was indeed good.
It's no wonder that Zhu Chengguo wanted to invite Song Yang to the city, and he really had the intention to show off his political achievements.
"My lord, the people here seem to be quite energetic. Although they are not as good as Jiangzhou, they are still much better than the refugees who fled from Jiangbei." Gongsun Qi told Song Yang in a low voice.
After he became the deputy director of water transportation, he was responsible for the exploration of Jiangbei for a period of time.
We often receive some refugees from Jiangbei.
Only after seeing the people in Mianyang can I have an intuitive comparison.
"Your Majesty, this general. Mianyang is adjacent to the Han River, and there are many tributaries of the Han River such as the Mianyang River and the Tongshun River. The fishery is very developed, and the people can make a living by fishing."
Zhu Chengguo's ears were really good and he heard Song Yang and Gongsun Qi talking.
When the fleet came over just now, we saw many fishing boats on the river.
When we got to the pier, we saw many people mending and drying nets.
It is true that most people in Mianyang are engaged in fishing.
It is also because of such unique natural conditions that these people can survive in Fuzhou, a place where the land is not very fertile.
After walking around Mianyang City, Song Yang had a general understanding of the situation.
Zhu Chengguo also introduced it in detail. It was almost dusk.
Zhu Chengguo was about to arrange a dinner when three fast horses came from the south of the city.
When Gongsun Qi saw the fast horse approaching, he immediately stood in front of Song Yang, took out the bow and arrow from his back, and pointed it directly at the three knights.
Song Yang looked at him calmly, even if the horse charged directly it wouldn't be able to hurt him.
Besides, with Song Yang's sharp eyesight, he could already see clearly who was coming soon.
"Don't let go of arrows, don't let go of arrows. We are coming to the prefect! We are coming to the prefect!" Zhu Chengguo waved his hands hurriedly.
"Neighing~" the horse neighed and stopped thirty meters away.
Three knights dismounted at the same time.
The first man looked to be in his thirties, with a bearded face and a slightly serious face.
This man wore an official hat and official robe, and he looked like the prefect.
"I am here to express my happiness and pay my respects to His Highness the King of Jiangzhou. His Highness is a thousand years old!"
Lai Mingxi trotted over with his servants, lifted up his robe and knelt down in front of Song Yang.
"Come on, sir. Get up quickly. We haven't seen each other for more than three years." Song Yang greeted Mingxi with a smile and stood up.
Lai Mingxi stood up and said with a smile on his face: "Yes. It has been three and a half years. The prince has grown a lot and become much stronger!"
Lai Mingxi originally worked as an official in Taipu Temple. Later, he became a disciple of the prince's teacher and got in touch with the prince. Three and a half years ago, he was sent to Fuzhou to become the prefect.
Speaking of which, he and Song Yang left Kyoto together.
Song Yang was joining the feudal vassal, and he was taking office.
When they were in the capital, the two of them didn't have much interaction. Lai Mingxi followed the prince and didn't like Song Yang.
He even regarded Song Yang as the prince's rival, and often secretly gave Song Yang troubles.
There was a four-year age difference between Song Yang and the prince. He was only eleven or twelve years old at the time, so he was no match for the prince.
Fortunately, Song Yang's mother-in-law came forward and asked Song Yang to leave the capital early to join the feudal clan, avoid the center of power, and live a stable life.
Of course, Song Yang couldn't say how much he hated Mingxi. After all, he was not from the same faction.
Everyone is their own master.
"My lord, your style has remained the same over the past few years. The management of Fuzhou is quite orderly."
"I am passing through Mianyang, but I don't want to go through the trouble of making this trip, sir."
Lai Mingxi clasped his fists and said, "It is the official's duty to welcome the prince. Besides, the official also wants to take a boat ride with the prince."
"Take a boat?"
"Xiaoguan sent a letter to Master Fang, and Master Fang asked Xiaguan to also go to Xiangyang..."