Do you have the strength to force me to join the Liangshan bandits?

Chapter 539 Song Jiang: Thirty Years East of the River, Thirty Years West of the River [2 Updates]

It turns out that everyone Song Jiang brought with him could ride horses, even Zhang Heng, a naval officer nicknamed "Boat Fire."

Li Kui was the only one who didn't learn it, and after losing both hands, he was even less able to learn it.

So Song Jiang and his men mounted their horses and rode off, leaving Li Kui to run wildly behind them, eating their dust...

Fortunately, Li Kui's two hairy legs were strong enough that he managed to catch up.

Li Kui, panting heavily, chased after Song Jiang into the woods and immediately saw him with tears streaming down his face, pounding his chest and stamping his feet, heartbroken and hysterical. At that moment, Li Kui's eyes welled up with tears as well.
"Grasshopper, Iron Flood is coming!"

"Gah..."

Song Jiang, Wu Yong, and Qin Ming were all stunned, only then realizing that Li Kui hadn't followed either.

This is embarrassing...

Even more embarrassingly, Li Kui suddenly pounced into Song Jiang's arms, knocking Song Jiang over like a wild boar!
Li Kui pinned Song Jiang to a large rock, wiping his snot and tears on Song Jiang's chest.

"Don't worry, Guoguo, Tieliu will follow you to the ends of the earth!"

"Wherever the cricket goes, the iron flow will follow!"
"Even if the cricket is washed, Tie Liusheng, who served the cricket, will still just be a little brat under the cricket's command!"

Pshaw! Children say the darndest things!

Song Jiang's face turned green: "Tie Niu, don't talk nonsense!"
"We're perfectly fine, what's with all this talk about dying!"

Although Song Jiang knew that Li Kui was being sincere, how could one curse someone to death to their face?
If it were a time of great success, it wouldn't be so bad, but the problem is that Song Jiang is in such a bad situation now, with his future looking bleak...

Wu Yong and Qin Ming felt quite disheartened, because Li Kui was truly devoted to Song Jiang!
But frankly speaking, Song Jiang had almost forgotten about Li Kui if Li Kui hadn't chased after him...

Fortunately, Song Jiang reacted quickly. After scolding Li Kui, he hugged him tightly and comforted him with gentle words.
"It's good that Tie Niu is back, it's good that he's back..."

Speaking of returning, Song Jiang suddenly remembered Dai Zong. "The 'Divine Traveler' has really been thrown away like a meat bun to a dog!"
I don’t know what it was about Dai Zong that made him willing to leave his good brother!
Everyone stared at Song Jiang and Li Kui with strange looks; to be honest, it seemed a bit fake.

After Song Jiang's tears subsided, Wu Yong reminded him:

"Brother, the Qi army may catch up at any time."

"We need to think about where to go..."

Wu Yong was fine when he didn't speak, but as soon as he did, Song Jiang got angry:
You promised that everything was under your control?
To be honest, Song Jiang no longer trusted Wu Yong as much as before.

It wasn't that they didn't trust Wu Yong's loyalty, but rather that they didn't believe Wu Yong was "better than Zhuge Liang."

Zhuge Liang was known for his flawless strategies, and Wu Yong was almost as good as "having some flaws in his strategies."

But there was no way around it; Wu Yong was the most intelligent person under Song Jiang.

If Song Jiang doesn't trust Wu Yong's strategies, why would he trust Qin Ming's?

Sighing, Song Jiang looked longingly at Wu Yong:

"Please, strategist, teach me!"

Wu Yong sighed: How am I supposed to teach him?
The Song Dynasty had only four major rebel kings.

The State of Qi is definitely not a suitable candidate for surrender.

The Southern Kingdom is Cai Fu's in-law, so they shouldn't be sponsored there either.

The state of Jin was fragmented and had lost its fortune.

The state of Chu is in an even worse predicament, on the verge of destruction!
Where else can they go?
Recruitment?

Now they're all like stray dogs, they can't be called recruited, they can only be called surrendered!
What good can come of a dog surrendering to the court?
Open your eyes and look at the world. The Liao Kingdom is also Cai Fu's in-law. You can't ally with them!
They could also defect to the Jin Dynasty, the Western Xia Dynasty, the Dali Kingdom...

The question is, would Song Jiang be willing?
Even if Song Jiang was willing, would his brothers be willing?

People are considered worthless when they leave their hometown; who will treat them as one of their own when they go abroad?

Seeing that Wu Yong remained silent for a long time, the brothers became anxious, looking at each other.

It would be a lie to say I don't feel resentment. Every time, I just see the light at the end of the tunnel, only to be plunged back into darkness.

If they weren't all Song Jiang's loyal followers, brothers who had gone through thick and thin together, their hearts would have long since broken apart.

Zhang Heng couldn't help but suggest, "Brother Song Jiang, why don't we surrender to the Jin Kingdom?"

"Hmph!" Song Jiang rebuked without hesitation.
"Brother, you are mistaken. This matter must not be mentioned again!"
Even if the Song Dynasty betrays me, I will remain loyal to the Song Dynasty!
"I hope that one day I will be granted amnesty and finally be remembered in history!"

"If one goes against the right path and against the right, Heaven will not forgive!"

"We should serve our country with utmost loyalty, even unto death!"

Qin Ming slapped his thigh: "Brother is right!"

Zhang Heng was speechless.

Wu Yong glanced at Chai Jin out of the corner of his eye and said:
"We all know that our elder brother is loyal and righteous..."

"In that case, I have a place in mind."

Song Jiang quickly pressed, "Strategist, where are you going?"

Wu Yong covered the lower half of his face with a goose feather fan:
"I have heard that Master Chai has an uncle named Chai Gui."

"Chai Gui was also a direct descendant of Chai Shizong and was granted the hereditary title of Prince Liang, with his fief in Nanning Prefecture in southern Yunnan."

"With Lord Chai's connections, why don't we go and settle down in Nanning Prefecture?"

"Is there such a thing?"

Song Jiang looked at Chai Jin: "Why have I never heard you mention this before, Master Chai?"

Chai Jin's expression shifted, and he shook his head with a wry smile:
"That is indeed the case, but I haven't been in touch with Chai Gui for a long time..."

"It's okay if we don't visit each other for a while; just visiting each other more often will make us closer!"

Lei Heng was delighted to hear this:
"I never expected that Master Chai would have this kind of approach!"

"Master Chai, we're counting on you to get to Nanning Prefecture!"

When Qin Ming, Huang Xin, Kong Ming, and Kong Liang heard that there was a place to settle down, they all started urging Chai Jin to join them.

Seeing that Chai Jin remained silent, Song Jiang sighed:

"Master Chai must have some unspeakable secret."

"Brothers, please don't make things difficult for Master Chai. Let's think of another way..."

Chai Jin didn't really want to go to Chai Gui's place. Although they were uncles and brothers, the two families had long since fallen out.

The branch of Chai Gui inherited the title of Prince of Liang, while the branch of Chai Jin only received a certificate of merit before falling out with the prince.

Therefore, Chai Jin preferred to wander the Jianghu with Song Jiang rather than seek refuge with this uncle or brother.

But now they were at their wits' end, and Chai Jin shook his head helplessly:
"Brother, don't worry, we'll go and seek refuge in Nanning Prefecture!"

Song Jiang felt relieved and bowed deeply to Chai Jin:

"On behalf of the brothers, Song Jiang thanks Master Chai in advance!"

With a place to go, the restless morale of the troops calmed down.

Song Jiang drew his sword, intending to strike the rock, but after hesitating, he struck a tree branch instead.
“We’ll definitely come back, you surnamed Cai!”
"Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west. Just wait!"

……

Military camp outside Nanfeng Prefecture.

Du Xue and Feng Tai are integrating the army and working with Han Shizhong and Yang Zaixing to select elite soldiers.

In this battle, due to Du Xue's frantic recruitment of surrendered soldiers, Cai Fu encountered little resistance upon entering the city, and the number of surrendered soldiers reached more than 70,000.

Among the more than 70,000 people, there was a mixed bag of good and bad, with countless elderly, weak, sick, disabled, and pregnant women.

Cai Fu estimated that after the selection process, he could get 10,000 to 20,000 elite soldiers. It can only be said that Wang Qing really has no dietary restrictions.

There were even women who disguised themselves as men, got pregnant in the military camp, and still had to wear armor and carry weapons...

After watching for a while, Cai Fu, still preoccupied with other matters, turned his horse around and headed back to the city.

(End of this chapter)