Whether Xue Jing was right to seek refuge with Song Yang, he could not confirm yet.
However, Wang Ran's opinion that Ezhou County should not be solved by force has been proven to be right.
After Xue Jing took office as the Tongzhi of Ezhou, he immediately devoted himself to helping Song Yang conquer the counties in Ezhou.
Ezhou County is already relatively stable, and food self-sufficiency is not a problem.
Xue Jing recommended Xue Jiaoyu to take over the post of county magistrate, and Wang Ran did not hesitate and immediately appointed him.
There are only two officials in Ezhou County.
The county magistrate Xue Jing and the county academic edict Liu Boyang.
For the past month, Liu Boyang has been working part-time as the county seat and bookkeeper.
It is most appropriate for him to take over as county magistrate.
After walking around Ezhou County, I determined that the people had no difficulties in living and their lives were relatively orderly.
Wang Ran took Xue Jing back to Yangxin.
In terms of geographical location, Yangxin is more suitable for governing Ezhou than Ezhou County.
Yangxin relies on abundant water, with access to the Yangtze River in the east and Tongshan Mountain in the west.
From Tongshan, you can go to Xianning, Chongyang, Tongcheng and Puqi counties.
Leaving Ezhou, this time we took the overland route.
Ma Cheng and Yu Ming are going to Jiangxia to visit.
That place is already a wasteland, and we can only travel by land and water.
But Wang Ran wanted to focus on expanding to other places in Ezhou, so the two parties split up.
Before the fleet left, Xue Jing handed a handwritten letter to Ma Cheng and Yu Ming.
This letter is addressed to the Jiayu Xue family.
The Xue family of Jiayu is the largest clan in the area and is Xue Jing's head family. His uncle is the head of the Xue family and the magistrate of Jiayu County.
With his letter, Jiayu can keep it in his pocket.
Of course, that's only if his uncle is still alive.
After the water and land were separated, Wang Ran led the 200 Renaissance troops all the way south, passing through Huangshi and then Daye, and finally arrived at Yangxin two days later.
The first thing I did after arriving in Yangxin was to take Xue Jing by boat to the west and go straight to Tongshan Mountain.
The chief clerk of Tongshan is Xue Jing's cousin, Xue Li. According to current detective reports, the current chief clerk of Tongshan is his cousin.
Xue Jing, who knew the news, volunteered to persuade Xue Li to surrender to Song Yang.
Of course, for safety reasons, Wang Ran also equipped him with a revival army of 200 people, led by Baihu Lin Yong himself.
After a day's sailing, the boat arrived at the south of Tongshan City. People by the river had already reported to Xue Li.
When Xue Li heard that there were five ships coming upstream from Fushui, he immediately took people to check.
When he saw Xue Jing standing on the bow of the ship, an excited smile immediately appeared on his face.
"Sixth brother! You are finally here!"
When Xue Jing got off the boat, he was immediately warmly embraced by Xue Li.
This guy was extremely excited.
"Brother, the matter is urgent, so I came in person without writing a letter."
Xue Jing wanted to talk to Xue Li about joining Song Yang.
However, Xue Li pulled Xue Jing and said, "My dear brother actually knows my difficulties! Follow me back to the city quickly!"
"Difficulty?"
Xue Jing was confused. I'm here to persuade you to join the King of Jiangzhou. You want to raise a problem with me?
"Brother Xian didn't receive my summons? Then why did he suddenly come with troops?" Xue Li was also stunned.
He sent someone to look for Xue Jing, but before the messenger came back, Xue Jing arrived.
Two people and one total.
Well, Xue Li is indeed in trouble.
Chongyang was occupied by rogue bandits.
Not only that, the bandits have absorbed a large number of refugees and have now become a considerable force.
Three days ago, the rogue bandits from Chongyang came with their troops to attack Tongshan.
Fortunately, Xue Li discovered it in time and organized a people's strong team, so he could barely hold on to the offensive.
However, according to the reports from the expedition, the refugee gang in Chongyang has not gone far. They are still absorbing the surrounding refugees and plan to attack Tongshan again.
Therefore, Xue Li sent people to various places to ask for help.
As a result, the first person to arrive was Xue Jing.
Xue Li was also unlucky. From the time he took charge of Tongshan, he never stopped.
Today there will be some mountain bandits, and tomorrow there will be gangsters.
It's so tiresome and exhausting to deal with.
Some time ago, Wang Ran sent someone to deliver a letter inviting him to submit to the King of Jiangzhou.
This guy flatly refused because the Xue family of Ezhou had always been united under the king of Ezhou.
Moreover, he didn't know that the King of Ezhou was dead, so of course he couldn't take refuge in Song Yang just because of a letter.
Today Xue Jing came, bringing with him two hundred well-trained troops. Xue Li finally let go of some of his worries.
"Brother, the King of Ezhou has passed away. I made my own decision and defected to the King of Jiangzhou on behalf of the Xue family."
Xue Li explained the situation clearly, and Xue Jing also made his attitude clear.
Xue Li was stunned. He also had speculations about the death of King Ezhou, otherwise there would be no news for two months.
"My dear brother, it's up to you to take refuge with the King of Jiangzhou. Now you have to help brother deal with the harassment of rogue bandits!" Xue Li pleaded.
Even if Xue Jing is good and Wang Ran sends him a letter now, he will join Song Yang without hesitation.
If you don't find someone to support you, your life will be almost gone.
"How many bandits are there?" Lin Yong listened for a long time. He was only interested in the bandits.
"The total number should be more than three thousand!"
"I heard from the common people that there are two to three hundred people in the core of the bandits."
Although the rogue bandits appear to be very powerful, in fact they mostly hijack civilians who have little fighting ability.
Only the core members are true bandits.
"How many people are there in the county?"
"Trained five hundred people."
"You have a strong people in your hands, but are you still afraid of these rogue bandits?"
Lin Yong glanced at Xue Li with disdain.
Xue Li was also speechless. He was a leader of the people, not a guard.
Moreover, even his 500-strong army cannot receive professional training.
It's okay if the bandits come and they can barely rush through the facade, but if you fight head-on with the bandits, you'll probably be defeated.
"Master Lin, look..." Xue Jing looked at Lin Yong, he didn't know much about military affairs.
"Don't worry, there's nothing to fear from rogue bandits." Lin Yong said confidently.
"The only ones with real fighting power among the rogue bandits are the core group. You said there are two to three hundred, but I don't think there are that many at all."
"In previous years, if there were two to three hundred people in the core of the bandits, then the scale would be at least twenty to thirty thousand."
Lin Yong has been in the guardhouse for many years and has fought against many bandits not once or twice.
"Master Xue, the top priority is to take control of Tongshan immediately and don't let the rogue bandits know that we are coming."
"It will be a good time to catch them off guard!"
Lin Yong's words gave Xue Jing confidence, and he immediately entrusted Lin Yong with full authority to take charge of Tongshan's defense.
The Erbaiyang New Renaissance Army disembarked and successfully took over Tongshan.
At the same time, all the five hundred local people also took up arms.
All people were asked not to leave the city.
Everything is ready, just waiting for the bandits to come.
At dawn the next day, the sentinel reported that the bandits had indeed arrived.
After the bandits retreated last time, they gathered hundreds more refugees.
When they come back this time, the bandits are determined to capture Tongshan.
"Come into Tongshan and plunder for three days!" the leader of the bandits shouted, urging the troops to move forward.
They had no idea that there were two hundred more elite revival troops in Tongshan.
Looking at the rushing bandits, Lin Yong smiled.
This was far worse than the bandits he had fought before.
The refugee running in front was as skinny as wood. He looked like he was charging, but his speed was really slow.
If you look at their clothes and the sticks, hoes, and sickles they wield in their hands, you can tell that their fighting power is not much better.