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Chapter 855 Humiliation
At Hou'an Salt Manor, Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai had both been tanned into rough, swarthy men. They no longer had the pampered fat they once had, instead giving off a sense of robustness and strength. Gu Laosi, whose back ached from exhaustion, looked at the Sheng father and son with some surprise and asked, "Brother Sheng, I see many officials and wealthy businessmen in Yangzhou have been pardoned and left. Why are you two still here?"

"Humph! That's because they've surrendered to the rebels." Sheng Hong explained with disdain on his face. In fact, he really wanted to go home quickly and find his adorable wife as soon as possible.

"Huh? Brother Sheng, the Ningyuan Army just wiped out 50,000 Song troops. They will definitely become stronger and stronger in the future!" At this time, Gu Laosi was a little confused, because the victorious Ningyuan Army had already initially gained a foothold.

"Hmph! Watch him build a tall building, watch him entertain guests, and watch his building collapse." Sheng Hong, who felt particularly uncomfortable, suddenly felt a surge of sourness.

"Oh? Brother Sheng doesn't think highly of this evil creature Gu Tingye?" Gu Lao Si and Gu Lao Wu next to him looked at each other in surprise, then looked at Su Ning with astonishment and asked.

"Hmph! A traitor is still a traitor after all! How can he compare to the orthodox people of the Great Song Dynasty." Sheng Hong, who was particularly unhappy, said with disdain at a 45-degree angle.

"But... I'm afraid the imperial court will offer amnesty!" At this time, Gu Laosi, Gu Laowu and others also guessed Suning's intention. It was nothing more than resisting the army and waiting to be offered amnesty by the imperial court.

"Tsk! After being recruited by the imperial court, they will need to serve the court. When the time comes, they will definitely be sent to the border to fight against the Liao Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty."

"Ah" Gu Laosi and others immediately widened their eyes in sudden enlightenment, realizing that anyone who was recruited by the court would indeed have no good ending.

Some people may not understand that accepting the amnesty is the beginning of destruction. Then just think about the fate of the 108 heroes in "Water Margin" and you will know. So this is the fundamental reason why the Song Dynasty court was not worried about rebellion at all. You must know that these literati in the Song Dynasty were still very powerful. They could fight against the barbarians of the Liao Dynasty and the Western Xia with the pens in their hands. But it was precisely this confidence that made them fall into a vicious circle of pride and complacency, and soon they suffered the consequences of accepting the amnesty and accepting the rebellion.

In a workshop in Yangzhou City, Wang Ruofu and Lin Qinshuang watched the wives of officials around them being released one by one. Looking at the family members who came to greet these officials, Wang Ruofu and the others unconsciously showed envious expressions, and also hoped that Sheng Hong could come to pick them up soon. For these people, this place is an endless purgatory. There are endless shoes for them to make every day, and everyone has some wounds on their hands.

"Wow, why hasn't the master come to pick us up yet? Does the master not want us anymore?" Seeing that the companions around her were becoming fewer and fewer, Wang Ruofu's patience had reached its limit. She couldn't hold back any more and burst into tears.

"Ah? No! Madam, the magistrate will definitely come." Madam Liu on the side hurriedly persuaded the crying madam, but her eyes were fearfully watching the supervisor not far away.

"Hmph! Just give up on this idea! Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai, father and son, are rare stubborn people. They actually refuse to surrender to my Ningyuan Army. You will never be able to leave here in this life." At this time, the supervisor woman not far away also heard the situation here, and said to several people with disdain and ridicule.

"Ah? No! You must be lying." Wang Ruofu had forgotten her fear of the supervisor and dared to loudly refute the usual villain.

"Honglang! Come and save me! How can you be so cruel?" At this time, Lin Qinshuang on the side could no longer bear it and started crying. She felt like she was abandoned by Sheng Hong.

"Shut up! If you cry again, I'll drag you to the opera troupe to be actors." The supervisory woman was upset and scolded loudly, but she did not whip them as usual. She knew that these women were homeless and poor people.

"what"

"Hehe! The supervisor is not a soft-hearted official. It's useless for you to cry here." Seeing Lin Qinshuang crying there for the first time, Wang Ruofu who was standing beside her felt happy instead.

"Madam, we can't just wait here!" Lin Qinshuang stopped crying and said to Wang Ruofu with sobs.

"Lin Qinshuang, if we don't wait here for the official to pick us up, what else can we women do?" Wang Ruofu asked back unhappily at this time. She was also full of resentment in her heart.

"Madam, we can write a letter to the official and persuade him to surrender to the Ningyuan Army as soon as possible."

"But what if the Ningyuan Army is wiped out?" Although Wang Ruofu was very tempted by Lin Qinshuang's proposal, he was still a little hesitant.

"What are you afraid of? Let's take it one step at a time. I don't believe the government can kill everyone."

"No! We must never join the rebels in rebelling against the imperial court." Wang Ruofu was not a lone opportunist like Lin Qishuang. On the contrary, she had many parents and brothers and sisters on her mother's side. It was impossible for her to join the rebels in rebellion without thinking.

"Madam, weren't you thinking about the husband coming to pick us up just now? Why did you change so quickly now?" Seeing that Madam Wang Ruofu actually refused so decisively, Lin Qishuang became a little angry at this time, because this was not the naive girl in her impression at all.

"Hmph! Mine was taken away by you, little devil. Rebellion will result in the confiscation of property and extermination of the clan. You are a lonely man with no ties, but my mother and brothers and sisters are all part of our family." Looking at the confused and stunned vicious woman Lin Qinshuang in front of her, Wang Ruofu asked in a rare sober moment.

"Uh?"

"Madam, I support you this time. Isn't it just working here? We have nothing to be afraid of." At this time, Mother Liu on the side saw that Wang Ruofu was smart for a while, and immediately looked at Wang Ruofu with approval and said supportively.

"Hmph!" Hearing that Mother Liu also supported her idea, Wang Ruofu looked triumphantly at Lin Qinshuang who was feeling deflated.

"."

At this time, the Ningyuan Army had gathered a total of 80,000 troops. Suning appointed himself as the commander of the Ningyuan Army of Jiangning Prefecture, and also set up three deputy commanders. In addition to appointing Liao Wenjun, who had just surrendered, as deputy commander to lead 10,000 infantry, he also arranged two AI robots to lead 20,000 infantry each. The remaining 30,000 were all cavalry units, which were naturally led by Suning himself. In addition, there were 3,000 hot weapons troops, all composed of robots, and naturally, the cowardly Suning appointed them as his own guard regiment.

"Commander, a message just came from Bian Jing. The former Ningyuan Marquis Gu Tingye opened the Gu family ancestral hall and expelled you from the Gu family tree. In addition, he appointed Murong Yanzhao to lead an army of 30,000 and gathered various militias around Yangzhou to besiege Yangzhou." Jinyiwei commander Su Yi looked at Su Ning decisively and reported the important situation.

"Oh? Murong Yanzhao? This guy is my mortal enemy!" At this time, Suning couldn't help but feel surprised, realizing that the officials and ministers in Bianjing were going to take ruthless action against him.

"Sir, Murong Yanzhao is besieging Yangzhou this time. Our Ningyuan army must be on guard!" At this moment, Wang Zhixin, the prefect, warned Su Ning, worried that after his decisive victory over the Song army, Su Ning might become complacent. "No problem! From now on, all merchant ships passing through will be taxed at 20%. Furthermore, we must strictly prevent Song spies from infiltrating. I will cause prices in Bianjing to skyrocket. Let's see what those great officials can do." Since the enemy had launched another attack, there was no need to compromise any further.

"Yes! Commander." Su Yi on the side immediately bowed and accepted the order.

"Since my name is no longer on the Gu family tree, I will change my name to Suning. Three days later, I will personally lead an army of 60,000 to attack Jiangning Prefecture. Deputy Commander Chen Mingda will lead 20,000 infantrymen to defend Yangzhou City."

"Yes! Sir."

"Wang Zhizhou, immediately announce to the world that from now on, I, Gu Tingye, will change my name to Suning, establish the Great Ning Kingdom, and be called the King of Ning. From now on, I will have no further relationship with the Ningyuan Marquis Gu family."

"Yes! Your Highness Prince Ning."

In fact, when they heard Suning directly call himself King of Ning, Wang Zhizhou and his gang were still very excited. This way, their promotion ceiling was opened. As for whether the Ningyuan Army would be destroyed by the Song Army soon, they no longer had anything to care about, because they had no room to retreat.

When Magistrate Wang returned to his residence, he was still feeling incredibly excited. He had drunk a few more glasses of wine during dinner, and was just starting to feel a bit tipsy when he heard a servant rushing in to report, "Sir Magistrate, there's a man outside claiming to be Su Yi, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, asking to see you."

"Oh? Jinyiwei? Please come in quickly." Wang Zhizhou of course knew that Su Yi was Suning's confidant, so he quickly stood up and went out with the servants to greet him.

"Yes! Sir."

Soon, Su Yi, who claimed to be the commander of the Jinyiwei, was brought in by the doorman. Before Wang Zhizhou could say anything polite to Su Yi, Su Yi looked at Wang Zhizhou and explained, "Sir, Prince Ning has just issued a new order. All the surrendered ministers of the Song Dynasty must immediately go to the Jinyiwei to complete the registration procedures."

"Ah? Registration procedures?" Wang Zhizhou blinked his eyes in surprise and looked at Su Yi in front of him.

"Yes! The prefect is the last one to be invited, so please follow me to the Jinyiwei." Su Yi explained to Wang Zhizhou with an expressionless face.

"Ah? Then I'll have to trouble Commander Song."

At this time, Wang Zhizhou was extremely nervous. He was really afraid that Su Yi would drag him to his death. However, when he thought that he was the first Song official to surrender to the Ningyuan Army, it was naturally unlikely that he would be killed directly. Otherwise, no Song official would dare to surrender to the Ningyuan Army in the future.

When they arrived at the so-called Jinyiwei with fear all the way, they found that many surrendered ministers came out with their hands covering their buttocks. They did not say hello to Wang Zhizhou who came to Jinyiwei, and most of them left in a hurry with a grim face, which made the confused Wang Zhizhou curious.

But following the Jinyiwei commander Su Yi to a small room, he saw a Jinyiwei soldier holding a red-hot iron and a large needle, and branding the surrendered minister's buttocks directly and fiercely. Then he used the needle to push an unknown liquid into the surrendered minister's buttocks, and soon a strange symbol was branded on the surrendered minister's buttocks while he screamed.

"Sir Magistrate, you have already seen it. This is called a code, which is a serial number composed of Arabic numerals. The core members of the Ningyuan Army all have a different code. In addition, that liquid is a liquid chip unique to the Ningyuan Army. All your information will be stored in it." Seeing that Magistrate Wang was already trembling with fear, Su Yi explained concisely at this time.

"Ah? Coding? Liquid chip? Commander Song also has it?" Wang Zhizhou naturally didn't know what a liquid chip was. Instead, he was curious about why everyone had one. His eyes couldn't help but look at Su Yi's butt.

"Of course! Anyone above the rank of a small flag commander of ten people must have their own code and chip, and naturally everyone among you who have just surrendered has one as well."

"what?"

"Sir, you don't want to?"

"Yes! Yes! Of course I am very willing."

"Then, Lord Magistrate, please! I will personally encode and boost the liquid chip for you."

"Ah? Thank you very much, Commander."

Soon Wang Zhizhou took off his pants on his own initiative, and then Su Yi took out a new branding iron and put it directly in the brazier to burn. Then he picked up the red-hot branding iron and branded it directly on the buttocks of Wang Zhizhou who was trembling all over. "Ah"

"Sir, this string of codes has a special meaning. It means we are always one family."

"Yes! Yes! What the Commander said is true."

"Sir, I will be promoting the liquid chip next."

"Ah good."

At first, Wang Zhizhou still felt a little ashamed in his heart, because in his opinion this was a humiliation from the Ningyuan Army. However, when the code was branded on his buttocks, he suddenly became clear-headed. In the future, they will be the backbone of the Ningyuan Army, and naturally their reputation will rise with the development of the Ningyuan Army. It can be regarded as a second spring for him in the officialdom.

The reason why Suning treated these civil officials like this was that he knew that most of them had no bottom line. Only by completely cutting off the possibility of them returning to the Song Dynasty court would he make them follow him wholeheartedly. You know, in the future, everyone will prosper and suffer together as a family.

(End of this chapter)