Traveling through time and space and becoming a deposed prince, he just wants to survive!

For this matter, Tang Ming took some people south to the Chuzhou branch.

When Liu Yihui learned that the gang leader was coming, he organized people to go to the riverside dock to greet him, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

The river breeze in winter is exceptionally cold, like an icy blade, mercilessly cutting across the face. It is like a blade carrying the chill, penetrating thick cotton clothes and reaching the bone marrow.

It was already late afternoon when the ship arrived. Tang Ming walked out of the cabin and stood on the deck. He looked like a Confucian scholar, wearing a long blue robe with a collar inlaid with sable fur.

He walked slowly with his hands clasped behind his back. Because the gangway could not bear too much weight, there were people standing on the side of the ship and on the shore, giving people the feeling that an important person had come to inspect.

However, as the leader of the Cao Gang, he is indeed an extraordinary person.

The arrival of this person naturally also affected the Chu Palace.

"Guess, after the leader of the Cao Gang comes ashore, will he go to their branch first, or come to my palace?"

Zhao Heng has recently gathered a lot of people, among whom the Salt Gang is just a secret force. What he needs are people who can work for him openly.

Cui Minghao from the Cui family is the best representative of this group of people.

"Prince Chu, if Tang Ming can't come right away, I don't think he'll have the chance to come again later."

Cui Minghao is a smart man. He knows what Zhao Heng is thinking. Tang Ming came here for the waterway and salt market here. If this matter is not handled well, his coming here will be meaningless.

"Mr. Cui really understands my concerns. If Tang Ming can't figure this out, then he shouldn't have come to Chuzhou, unless..."

Zhao Heng didn't say anything else, but Cui Minghao understood that the King of Chu was planning to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble.

Tang Ming was naturally not a fool. He came to Chuzhou so blatantly and in a high-profile manner. If he did not visit the local king first, it would be a challenge to the king's dignity.

Later, a representative of a small country went on a diplomatic mission. When he arrived in another country, he first met the owner of a small business and then presented his credentials. This made it clear to everyone the purpose of the trip.

On this issue, a person with high IQ would not do such a stupid thing. As soon as Tang Ming got off the boat, he planned to go to the Prince of Chu's Palace.

"Boss, please go to Wangjiang Tower first. I'll have some wine there to welcome you."

Tang Ming looked at Liu Yihui with disdain. He had done a good job in the Shangjing branch. Since the King of Chu had established a connection with him at that time, the headquarters thought that he would seize this opportunity well.

Unexpectedly, after arriving in Chuzhou, this guy actually forgot about the King of Chu and even took over the headquarters of the Salt Gang, which brought him such huge benefits, without informing the King of Chu.

Although Liu Yihui initially wanted to profit for the Cao Gang, he ended up digging a hole for himself.

The most taboo thing for people who live in the outside world is to burn bridges after crossing them. The King of Chu gave them such a big favor by giving them the land of Chuzhou, but in the end he did not share any benefits with others.

If we take this matter seriously, it would not be an exaggeration to accuse the Cao Gang of robbery.

So Tang Ming was very sensible. As soon as he got off the boat, he sent someone to deliver a visiting card, which included a gift worth one million.

Of course, Liu Yihui didn't know about this, and Tang Ming would not let Liu Yihui take care of it. After all, Liu Yihui had offended someone. If this continued, the Cao Gang's foothold in Chuzhou would be in jeopardy.

When Zhao Heng received the visiting card from Tang Ming of the Cao Gang, he did not rush to reply. Whether to meet or not was not a matter of a single word. Sending the visiting card in such a high-profile manner did make Zhao Heng a little embarrassed.

"In my opinion, it's better not to meet this Tang Ming, but accept the gift."

Seeing this, Kong Fanmiao stepped forward to stop Zhao Heng from meeting Tang Ming. He was not only Zhao Heng's aide, but also a Tongpan of Chuzhou.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the status of Tongpan and Tongzhi was similar. Tongpan was mainly responsible for collecting money, similar to the officials in charge of the Finance Bureau and the Tax Bureau.

In the Prince of Chu's Palace, he was also Zhao Heng's military advisor, so even though he said he would not meet Tang Ming, Zhao Heng still respected Kong Fanmiao's opinion very much.

When Tang Ming knew that Zhao Heng did not want to see him but still accepted the gift, he already understood in his heart that this meant that there was still room for negotiation, it was just that the money was not enough.

As long as the opening is made, the rest will be easy. He just needs to wait for the summons.

After Zhao Sheng defeated the Huns in Guangchang County and successfully recovered Weizhou and Yangshan County, he held secret discussions with his father-in-law Li Xin in Weizhou.

"Father-in-law, Dingzhou is a useless place for you. The emperor doesn't dare to let you station troops there. Every time there is a war, you have to go to save the situation."

"Well, we can't guess what the royal family is thinking." After Li Xin finished speaking, he suddenly remembered that Zhao Sheng was from the royal family.

"What I mean is that since Weizhou has become a useless place and the imperial court doesn't have more people to garrison it, I think we can discuss it with the King of Yan and let me take over the management."

"You?..." Li Xin was a little confused at this time. Where did Zhao Sheng get the confidence to say that he wanted to station troops here?

"Father-in-law, every year we intercept the exiles halfway, so the population growth rate is still a bit slow. This wait has lasted for more than ten years."

"Yes, it's a bit slow, but we have no better way."

"Look, Yangshan County doesn't belong to the King of Yan, so we'll retreat and build a trading base in Weizhou. I've seen that the conditions here are very good, especially suitable for garrisoning troops."

In fact, Zhao Sheng did not tell Li Xin that the coal production and iron ore reserves here are the largest.

Another thing is that Zhao Sheng cannot take the weapons used in this battle back this time, especially the muskets and explosives. Once he returns, it is very likely that the court will send people to ask for them.

He had no intention of exposing himself completely before his new weapon came out.

In fact, he has been exposed, but as long as he returns without fanfare and does not reveal too much about himself in the battle report, this will be the best protection for him.

This is why he doesn't want to go back.

Whether it is Shigang Village, Luancheng, or even Pingshan in Jing County, he must give up.

It is said that Zhao Hui went to Yanjing and reorganized his army. He also left Fan Xitong in Yanzhou to work for him.

If you want to keep Fan Xitong, you have to keep Princess Zhao Ying. It is not easy to keep these two people.

At this time, his fiefdom of Weizhou was attacked by the Huns, and he came straight here with 50,000 troops.

He already knew in advance that Prince Zhao was sending troops to stop the Huns, so he felt that bringing so many people should be enough, and he could also bring some more troops along the way.

The journey from Yanzhou to Weizhou is about 600 miles, and it takes four or five days even if you walk fast.

When they arrived near Weizhou, they received a report that the Xiongnu army had been defeated and evacuated.

Therefore, Zhao Hui took only more than 10,000 people to Weizhou to take over the defense.

When Li Xin entertained Zhao Hui, Zhao Sheng deliberately avoided him and Zhao Hui did not see him at the banquet.

"Uncle Wang, why don't I see your son-in-law?"

Zhao Hui was very confused. So many people were gathered together, toasting him, but the only one missing was Zhao Shen, who was the one who could decide the outcome of the battle.

"Prince Yan, my son-in-law is not presentable. If you want to see him, I will arrange to meet him at your place of residence."

"Uncle Wang, what you said is true. Your son-in-law is also my brother-in-law. What is there to be afraid of when he is with me?"

Li Xin did not continue the topic, thinking that if it weren't for the fact that you and the second prince were not on good terms, this person would never be seen.

However, that night Zhao Sheng went to Zhao Hui's temporary residence.

Zhao Hui did not expect to see his sixth brother here, and he was Li Xin's son-in-law.