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Chapter 868 Desperate
At this time, the Gu family was having a very hard time. All their property was confiscated during the house search. Naturally, the fields and shops they had previously owned were gone. What made people even more depressed was that there were no relatives among the three clans of the Gu family who could help them. As for those outside the three clans, they stayed as far away from them as possible. The influence of the Gu family on them was too profound. They relied on the imperial power, so naturally they stayed away from the Gu family.

"Sir, the current situation is that we have no choice but to bow our heads. If we sit and eat every day, there will be no mountain left for us to eat!" Xiao Qinshi realized long ago that their Gu family had no way out. If they did not find a way to suck blood as soon as possible, they might not be able to survive.

"Hmph! I, Gu Yankai, would never ask that evil creature for help even if I die." Gu Yankai refused without even thinking. How could he, such a proud man, agree to ask help from his own son, moreover, a bastard son who betrayed the entire family.

"Sir, it's not a loss for our Gu family to exchange a marquis for a prince. Tingyu's health was very poor to begin with, and now we can't afford to buy him medicine. And Tingwei is only seven or eight years old. What will happen to the two brothers in the future?" As Xiao Qin spoke, she felt aggrieved and depressed and began to cry.

"..."

"Father, you have probably forgotten about your fourth and fifth uncles, right? They are still working as laborers in Hou'an Salt Farm in Yangzhou. The lives of your fourth and fifth aunts are much harder than ours." Gu Tingyu still didn't want to ask Suning for help, but now they were more than at the end of their rope.

"Oh...what a sin!" After hearing what Xiao Qinshi and Gu Tingyu repeated and reminded him, Gu Yankai could no longer hide like a turtle.

"Father, although the emperor has adopted my second brother as his adopted son and also given him the name Zhao Ning, he is still the blood of our Gu family. I believe he must care about the prestige of our Gu family in the army." Gu Tingyu really couldn't find the capital to exchange, and he was still prepared to use the bloodline and the influence of the Gu family to make a point.

"Tingyu, then you and Tingwei should go to Jiangning Mansion. I believe this evil creature will not bully you. Also, ask that evil creature to release your two uncles. He should have calmed down after so much time." At this time, Gu Yankai could only helplessly let his two sons go to Jiangning Mansion.

"Yes! Father."

Originally, Gu Yankai would never compromise with his sons, but when Gu Tingyu mentioned the fourth and fifth sons who were working as laborers in Hou'an Salt Farm in Yangzhou, Gu Yankai compromised again unconsciously. So it can be said that the ones who know Gu Yankai best are Gu Tingyu and Xiao Qinshi. Gu Yankai can give in again and again for these good-for-nothings in the Gu family.

At this time, Xiao Qinshi was undoubtedly the happiest one, because she thought that she was still the kind-hearted mother in charge, and Gu Tingwei was still a good brother who loved each other with Su Ning. Everyone had not yet reached the situation of "playing open cards" in the later part of the original drama, so at this time, Xiao Qinshi no longer thought about the lost Ningyuan Marquis, but instead set her sights on the title of Prince that Su Ning had just obtained. After all, it was very common for the younger brother to inherit the title after the brother's death in the Song Dynasty.

"Da Lang, the second son is a donkey that goes along with the flow. This time when you and Tingwei go to Jiangning Mansion, you must not contradict him. Try to go along with his little temper." At this time, Xiao Qinshi resumed her usual hypocritical attitude, as if she had always been the kind-hearted and generous mother.

"Mother, Tingyu knows." Gu Tingyu responded indifferently.

"Da Lang, this time you should take your wife and Sister Xian with you. From now on, your family will stay in Jiangning Prefecture."

"Ah? Mother, I haven't thought about this." Gu Tingyu looked at Xiao Qin in front of him with surprise, unable to understand why Xiao Qin would make such a suggestion.

"Then think about it carefully! The second brother is now the King of Ning, so he naturally needs people of his own to accompany and help him, such as your grandparents' Dongchang Marquis Mansion." Then Xiao Qin said something meaningful, and mentioned her own mother's family intentionally or unintentionally.

"Okay! Mother, I will mention the Qin family of the Marquis of Dongchang Mansion to the second son. After all, the Qin family has also been implicated by him." Sure enough, the smart Gu Tingyu nodded in understanding. After all, his biological mother was also from the Marquis of Dongchang Mansion.

"Ah! As a daughter, I really feel guilty towards the Qin family. Not only did I make them lose the title of Marquis of Dongchang, but I also nearly had their entire family executed. I will probably never forgive myself for the rest of my life."

"Mother, I will definitely let the second son know about these things when I go to Jiangning Mansion this time. Our Gu family really owes too much to the Qin family of Dongchang Marquis Mansion, and the second son must find a way to compensate the three clans of our Gu family."

"Well, Dalang, I trust you to do the work."

Xiao Qinshi had been complaining to Gu Tingyu for so long, all she wanted was some compensation for her mother's family, the Qin family of Dongchang Marquis Mansion. However, Xiao Qinshi, who was greedy by nature, forgot that Suning would never let them get what they wanted. Perhaps greed had blinded their minds, and they only wanted to pester and ask for things from Su Ning. In fact, Suning had already gotten rid of the constraints of their Gu family long ago.

……

At this time, Su Ning was striding into the princess's back bedroom. Looking at the shy Princess Huirou in front of him, Su Ning waved his hand and asked all the maids and eunuchs to go away. Although these maids and eunuchs were part of Princess Huirou's dowry, they were still afraid of Su Ning, the King of Ning in Jiangnan. Naturally, there was no idiot who would deliberately pretend to be loyal in front of Princess Huirou.

Seeing her personal maids and eunuchs leave so obediently, Princess Huirou, whose heart was already pounding, panicked. She looked at Su Ning in front of her and stammered, "Ning... Prince Ning, what are you going to do to me?"

"Hui Rou, you are my wife now. What do you think I should do to you?" At this time, Su Ning looked at Princess Hui Rou with a smirk on his face and asked back.

"what……"

Princess Huirou was not known for her outstanding appearance. Compared with the women Su Ning had seen, she was at most pretty. This was mainly because of her noble status as the daughter of Song Renzong. In addition, Princess Huirou lived a very tragic life in history, which made Su Ning, a big pig's hoof, feel pity for her.

After more than an hour, Su Ning looked at the exhausted woman beside him and called out, "Hui Rou."

"Hmm?" Princess Huirou responded to Su Ning lazily in a low voice.

"Remember! There is neither Prince Ning nor Princess Huirou here, only husband and wife following each other."

"Ah."

"Hui Rou, you're not scared anymore now, are you?"

"Ah?" "Then let's continue..."

"what……"

After nearly two hours, Suning finally lay down to sleep contentedly. Princess Huirou was naturally thinking back to the beautiful moment just now. She couldn't help but look at Suning with some surprise and asked, "Prince Ning, will you destroy the Song Dynasty?"

"Huirou, why do you think so?" Su Ning looked at Princess Huirou instead of answering, feeling a little surprised by her direct question.

"I heard that the Ningyuan Army is very powerful and destroyed Dali and Jiaozhi in one round. Therefore, our Song Army is no match for your Ningyuan Army."

"Don't worry! I never thought about destroying you, Zhao Song. I just felt that your actions might be a little extreme, so I wanted to do it according to my own ideas." At this time, Su Ning shook his head with a wry smile, and then expressed his true thoughts. You must know that Cao Cao was still a Han minister until his death.

"Extreme?" Princess Huirou was confused by Su Ning's evaluation.

"Ever since the Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty began to use the title of emperor, the Zhao Song Dynasty has been the weakest in more than a thousand years. Not to mention the Liao Dynasty in the north and the Western Xia Dynasty in the northwest, they couldn't even deal with the weak Dali and Jiaozhi in the southwest." Suning expressed his evaluation of the Zhao Song court with some disdain, naturally carrying the views of many later generations.

"Prince Ning, how could you possibly know the hardships my father and his men endured? A war between two nations isn't as simple as most people imagine. Furthermore, military men have always been arrogant and unruly, defying etiquette. Just look at the period from the late Tang Dynasty's separatist regimes to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. How could my father and the ministers truly entrust such important tasks to military commanders?"

"Hui Rou, you know the word 'extreme', right? Your Zhao Song has already gone to the extreme of suppressing military men, and naturally you are completely controlled by those literati. The real masters of the Zhao Song are not your father and the royal family, but those literati who are good at playing tricks and scheming. Naturally, when facing foreign enemies, you will appear to be completely powerless."

"Extreme? Literati?" Princess Huirou looked at Su Ning in surprise and confusion again. She had never heard of or thought about these things.

"Your father has to consider the opinions of the scholars and officials before he can even fart in the palace. How is this any different from the arrogance and disrespect of the warriors? The only difference is that these scholars won't directly confront you with swords. So your father knows everything but can only pretend to be confused."

"This……"

"Huirou, a healthy state and political power cannot be separated from the concerted efforts of civil officials and military commanders, and naturally, certain means are needed to supervise them. However, your Zhao Song dynasty mistook supervision of military commanders for suppression, while blindly indulging and flattering those scholar-officials. Look at the tattoo Di Qing wore daily on his face and his tragic end. Do you think the soldiers of the Song dynasty would truly risk their lives for your Zhao Song dynasty? Or do you think those scholar-officials can resist the barbarians from the north?"

"Huh? Prince Ning, tattooing the face is just to prevent soldiers from running away because they can't bear the hardship?" Princess Huirou retorted with a guilty conscience at this time, but it seemed so powerless and ridiculous.

"Huh? Then why didn't dynasties before the Song Dynasty have facial tattoos? Why did your Zhao Song have this bizarre rule? Do you think your soldiers should turn a blind eye to such an obvious insult?"

"I……"

"Hui Rou, in my kingdom, civil officials and military commanders are equally important and indispensable. I cannot govern the country without either of them. Let your father, the emperor in Bian Jing, see what it means to govern a large country like cooking a small fish."

"..."

Princess Huirou, who is already seventeen years old this year, has never discussed these things with others, but the good education she received since childhood made her know that Su Ning was right. This conclusion made Princess Huirou feel very uncomfortable. She realized that the prosperity of their Zhao Song Dynasty was just an illusory bubble, and they only needed to wait for a random crisis to make the entire Zhao Song Dynasty fall apart.

"Prince Ning, is there still hope for our Zhao Song?" After thinking for a long time, Princess Huirou looked at Su Ning expectantly again and asked.

"I don't know! But maybe there is still a good chance. Hasn't our Ningyuan Army already appeared?" In fact, Su Ning already had a very detailed plan, and Princess Huirou beside him was the most important link. It's just that now is not a good time to explain everything.

"Prince Ning, are you really willing to be loyal to my Zhao Song?" At this time, Princess Huirou couldn't help but look at Su Ning with surprise and asked.

"Haha, I am loyal to the Chinese people, not your Zhao Song Dynasty."

"Is there a difference?"

"Of course! You'll know what I mean if you pay close attention."

"..."

There were no major wars in the Jiangnan area afterwards. Suning had already begun to popularize knowledge within the Ningyuan Army, and took out modern textbooks from the space world and distributed them to the Ningyuan Army soldiers. They were taught uniformly by their flag bearers and generals above the rank of general. You must know that it is very appropriate to let the flag bearers, who are AI robots, teach them. They will definitely complete their literacy education quickly, and then they can be arranged to retire from the army and work as clerks in government offices at all levels, which will naturally further consolidate Suning's rule in the Jiangnan area.

In fact, Suning wanted to start building many schools in the south of the Yangtze River. After the schools in each city were built, he would issue an order from King Ning prohibiting any private school from opening. Children of school age must go to Ningyuan Military School to receive unified education. Naturally, they would use scientific system textbooks such as pinyin and mathematics from later generations. As for Chinese studies, he would continue to retain the traditional education of the Song Dynasty. He believed that he would soon cultivate a large number of scholars who were loyal to him. However, he was a little worried that it would cause a huge sensation and impact in the south of the Yangtze River and the entire Song Dynasty, and would naturally be resisted and excluded by the literati. Therefore, Suning's education plan is currently being carried out in secret.

You have to know that Suning is a domineering person now. Naturally, he doesn't care about the resistance and boycott of these flies. Anyway, he holds the knife in his own hands now, and he doesn't worry that these people will take the risk to resist his rule. At most, they will abandon their homes and move away from Jiangnan. However, this is exactly what Suning wants, so Suning has been secretly advancing this huge plan.

……

(End of this chapter)