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Chapter 974 Hongmen Banquet

In fact, the entire Shanxi region was looking forward to the arrival of the Qing army, because in their impression, the Qing army was invincible and could easily destroy the rebellious Ningyuan army.

Therefore, the local rich people in Shanxi were naturally happy not to get entangled with the Ningyuan Army, but unfortunately, after the Ningyuan Army soldiers politely presented them with an invitation.

However, they felt a deep murderous intent from this politeness, and then they realized again that the knife handle had always been in Ning Yuanjun's hands.

"Dad, why did the Ningyuan Army suddenly send you an invitation? Is it because they can't pretend anymore and they are interested in our money?" Seeing Lu Dake stunned after receiving the invitation, Lu Yuhan couldn't help but guess doubtfully.

"No! They actually asked me to go watch the game." Lu Dake shook his head in confusion.

"What? Watching the fight?"

"That's right! It seems that the commander of the Ningyuan Army is very confident. He wants to intimidate our Shanxi merchants by fighting against the imperial army." At this time, the shrewd Lu Dake had already guessed the intentions of Suning and the Ningyuan Army.

"Dad, the imperial court has had a tradition of recruiting the invaders since ancient times. Do you think the imperial court will take action to recruit the Ningyuan Army?" Thinking of the mysterious man who she had met at first sight again, Lu Yuhan couldn't help but start thinking about that man's future.

"Humph! The 108 heroes of Liangshan Lake during the Song Dynasty were indeed recruited, but unfortunately, they were ultimately annihilated by another group of rebels, Fang La. So, never underestimate those harmless officials of the imperial court."

"Dad, are you saying that Suning is destined to have a tragic ending?" Lu Yuhan looked at Lu Dake in panic and blurted out.

"Yuhan, how do you know that the commander-in-chief of the Ningyuan Army is named Suning? Did you see him outside the city?" Sure enough, Lu Dake looked at his daughter beside him with surprise and asked.

"I... I secretly inquired about it! I met a young man called the Marshal outside the city. His eyes seemed to be so deep that they could penetrate the void." Lu Yuhan had realized that he had said the wrong thing, and hurriedly explained himself to make amends.

"Nonsense! That's a monster you're talking about."

"Dad, you're talking dirty again."

"Alright! Since the Ningyuan Army wants me to watch the battle, I'll take a good look at their strength. I want to see how they resist the imperial army."

At this moment, Lu Yuhan couldn't help but think of the man's eyes again, and felt that her soul had been taken away by the other's eyes.

At the same time, all the wealthy businessmen in Shanxi received the same invitation letters, and then reluctantly walked out of their respective compounds and gathered in Qi County.

The only thing to be thankful for was that no one cut their braids, as if they really treated them as distinguished guests.

"Zhiyong, this time it's a Hongmen Banquet, you must not go to the banquet." Qiao family's eldest grandmother Cao Yuezhi was panicked and tried to stop Qiao Zhiyong from attending the banquet.

"Sister-in-law, don't worry! If the Ningyuan army wanted to kill us, they would have done it long ago, and this time they just let us watch the battle." At this time, Qiao Zhiyong was much more sober and realized that the Ningyuan army wanted more than just the wealth of their Shanxi merchants.

"Why? Why would the Ningyuan Army do this?"

"Intimidation! They want to intimidate the entire Shanxi merchant group. It seems that the Ningyuan Army commander has great ambitions. As long as you have the strength to match his ambitions, you will definitely be able to gain a certain status in the Qing Dynasty."

"Zhiyong, I don't really understand big things, but you must be extremely careful."

"Okay! Sister-in-law, if there's any danger, I'll be the first to escape."

……

When all the Shanxi merchants arrived at the city gate tower of Qi County, they saw that the city had been surrounded by the imperial army, and each of them was given a telescope by the Ningyuan army.

Just looking at the Ningyuan soldiers on the city wall who showed no fear at all, the local rich people in Shanxi became curious and were looking forward to what means the Ningyuan army could use to fight back.

However, when Suning saw the deployment of the Qing army outside Qi County, he almost laughed out loud in anger. These so-called 100,000 troops were destined to be his target this time.

"Suning, I am General Tomin'a of Shanxi Suiyuan of the Qing Dynasty. I now order you to open the gate and surrender to my imperial army. Just surrender and follow me to Beijing to beg for mercy." General Tomin'a of Shanxi Suiyuan jumped up on his horse and shouted at the city gate tower.

"Tomin'a, my Chinese land has been occupied by a bunch of wild boars like you for too long. God wants me to lead the Ningyuan Army to drive out the Tartars and restore China. I advise you, the nobles of the Qing Dynasty, to endure the endless sufferings and turn back." At this time, Suning made his declaration with great courage.

"Hmph! You're spreading rumors to confuse the people." Hearing his ancestor being called a wild boar, Tuomin'a immediately became angry and embarrassed. He turned to look at the deputy general Le Bin and said, "Le Bin, order the front troops to attack the city."

"Yes! General."

The flag bearers of the Qing army quickly waved their flags, and the vanguard army, having received the attack order, moved slowly towards Qi County.

Suning on the city wall also waved his hand, and the robot next to him immediately sent out a flare.

As the signal flares rose into the sky and exploded brilliantly, an unknown roar suddenly appeared around the 100,000 Qing troops.

"General, a large number of mysterious chariots suddenly appeared on the left and right sides of our army's rear." Le Bin quickly reported the sudden situation to Tomin'a.

"What? Chariot? Those old chariots from the Warring States Period?" At this moment, Tomin'a was naturally confused, his mind still stuck in the ancient Stone Age.

"General, this type of chariot doesn't require horses to pull it. It's just like the Western ships and cannons."

"what?"

In response to Tomin'a's astonishment and confusion, the Ningyuan Army's armored forces opened fire on the Qing army. As the shells fell like rain and exploded, the so-called 100,000-strong army was instantly disintegrated.

Immediately afterwards, the armored forces of the Ningyuan Army pursued and killed the 100,000-strong Qing army with overwhelming force, and soon the area outside Qi County became a river of blood.

Suning did not put down his butcher knife out of mercy, because he felt that a hearty bloody battle was needed to intimidate the Qing nobles. Only by making them understand the huge gap between the two sides could they give up the meaningless resistance and surrender to the Ningyuan Army.

At this time, the local rich men from Shanxi on the city wall were lucky enough to have a telescope each, but they were already frightened by the battlefield before them and their faces turned pale and they were on the verge of collapse.

As we all know, the most famous Shanxi merchants are the Eight Imperial Merchants in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. For the benefit of themselves and their families, they kept supplying scarce materials such as wild boar skins.

After these merchants made considerable profits, they also raised the wild boar skins of the Qing Dynasty outside the Great Wall, which was also an investment in the Qing Dynasty.

So after seeing the strength of the Ningyuan Army today, the weight in their hearts immediately shifted, and many local rich people have decided to invest in the Ningyuan Army.

At this time, the gate of Qi County had been opened from the inside. The Class A and Class C troops of the Mie Lu Army quickly went out of the city to clean up the battlefield, and would directly attack any Qing soldiers who were alone.

Soon when the battlefield outside Qi County was cleaned up, today's battle situation was also counted.

"Reporting to the Marshal, the enemy in this battle claimed to have an army of 100,000, but in reality they only had 80,000. We killed 20,000 of them, with zero wounded and 60,000 captured. Our casualties were zero."

"Very good! Order the Class A and Class C troops of the Exterminating Army to attack the northern Shanxi region. We must capture Datong, Suiyuan and other places in one fell swoop."

"Yes! Marshal."

After the robot deputy general left, Su Ning looked at the local tycoons with a half-smile, "Everyone, now that the show is over, how about you all follow me back to the Marshal's Mansion for a feast?"

"Yes! Marshal." The local tycoons present all answered respectfully. After arriving at the so-called Marshal's Mansion, everyone realized that it was the former Qi County Government Office, and that a banquet had already been prepared for today.

"You're welcome, everyone! Please sit wherever you want." Suning smiled and greeted the local rich men from Shanxi.

"Thank you, Marshal."

"For the first glass of wine, I, Su Ning, would like to offer a toast to everyone. Thank you all for taking care of me, Su."

"Thank you, Marshal."

"But I noticed that many of you still have your braids intact, like this old Master Qiu."

"Ah? Marshal, this time when I go back I will definitely gather all the tribesmen to cut their hair and change their clothes." Old boss Qiu, with gray hair and flying beard, responded hurriedly and panicked.

"Okay! Thank you, Mr. Qiu, for your support."

"Master, I don't deserve your thanks! It's my own fault for not responding sooner."

"Marshal, I am Lu Dake from the Taigu Lu family. I am willing to donate 100,000 taels to support the Ningyuan Army." At this time, Lu Dake raised his glass and came to Su Ning and promised.

"Thank you, Mr. Lu."

"I don't deserve your thanks."

"I guess this must be Qiao Zhiyong, the second master of the Qiao family?" Then Su Ning looked at Qiao Zhiyong, who had been silent all the time. You know, he is the male lead of "Qiao Family Compound".

"The Marshal has a keen eye! The student is none other than Qiao Zhiyong of the Qiao family."

"I have also heard about your family's situation. I am willing to provide one million in the name of the Ningyuan Army as our Ningyuan Army's investment in your Qiao family's assets. From now on, our Ningyuan Army will own 80% of the Qiao family's assets, and your Qiao family can own 20%."

"This……"

In fact, the problem of the Qiao family still lies in the lack of money. The debt hole of their family is really too big.

If they are unable to borrow a large sum of money to get the Qiao family's business running again, the Qiao family will only face collapse.

In the original drama, the Qiao family shamelessly went to the Lu family in Taigu to borrow money. Of course, with the help of the heroine Lu Yuhan, they were able to borrow money from Lu Dake again and again.

But this time, Suning publicly announced that he wanted to invest in the Qiao family's business. The smart Lu Dake would never dare to borrow money like in the original drama even if he was beaten to death. And these are exactly what Suning wants to achieve this time.

"Mr. Qiao, I will be leaving Qi County the day after tomorrow. I hope you can give me an answer before that." Su Ning had already seen Qiao Zhiyong's hesitation at the moment, but instead gave him time to think about it without any concern.

"Thank you, Marshal, for your understanding."

"Everyone, from now on, all industries in Shanxi and Ningyuan Army will likely adopt this military-private partnership model. The specific business operations will naturally be decided by you, the owners. Ningyuan Army will only serve as the controlling shareholder, exercising supervision and financial audits. When you do business in the future, you will also have the protection of our Ningyuan Army."

"Marshal, is the share distribution also based on 20:80?" The astute Lu Dake immediately asked the key point of the question.

"Of course not! After all, the Qiao family's situation is quite special. Your assets will be calculated in detail in advance. The military and private equity ratios are mostly 50:50, 64:64, or 73:73. You should know that some things still need to be discussed slowly."

"..." Immediately afterwards, the local wealthy people who came to attend the banquet started talking about it. This military-private partnership was really too shocking.

"Marshal, my Taigu Lu family is the first to support military-private partnership and is willing to accept a dividend ratio of 64." Sure enough, Lu Dake from Taigu County was the first to stand up. He was willing to invest heavily in the Ningyuan Army.

"Haha, Mr. Lu is indeed a man of great righteousness. On behalf of the Ningyuan Army, I would like to thank Mr. Lu for his generosity."

"Marshal, this is what Lu should do."

"Well, from now on, your Lu family's business will be one of our Ningyuan Army's logistics suppliers."

"Thank you, Marshal."

"Marshal, our Qiu family's Dashengchang is also willing to accept military-private partnership and hopes to adopt the same 60:40 share distribution."

"Haha, thank you Mr. Qiu for your support."

"I don't deserve your thanks."

"In order to distinguish your businesses, all future businesses will be named after your surname. For example, the Qiu family's Dashengchang will be renamed Qiu's Business and will also include the title of a military-private joint venture."

"Yes! Marshal."

"In addition, no private banks will be allowed to operate within the jurisdiction of our Ningyuan Army. Banks established by the Ningyuan Army will be responsible for this. You can rest assured to deposit your gold and silver in the bank, and our bank will also issue corresponding banknotes."

"banknote?"

"Someone, come here! Bring up our Ningyuan Army's banknotes."

At this time, all the local rich men had seen the world and naturally knew about the Jiaozi of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Baochao of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. They couldn't help but turn pale.

Even Lu Dake and Mr. Qiu, who had been beaming just a moment ago, turned pale, thinking in their hearts that Suning and Ning Yuanjun were going to take advantage of them for free.

But when the so-called banknotes were brought up, they immediately attracted the attention and curiosity of these local rich people.

Of course, these banknotes are naturally improved by Suning based on the second set of RMB, and it will definitely be able to quickly establish its own monetary and financial system.

"Everyone, these banknotes are unified as Dragon Yuan. There are eleven denominations in total: ten yuan, five yuan, three yuan, two yuan, and one yuan. There are also fifty cents, twenty cents, ten cents, five cents, two cents, and one cent."

"As for these banknotes, although they are all paper money, you can see that counterfeiting is almost impossible. Our Ningyuan Army bank naturally has anti-counterfeiting marks and equipment to identify them."

"Marshal, this means that gold and silver will no longer be able to circulate in the market in the future?" Qiao Zhiyong, who had been silent at the side, was also amazed, and then looked at Su Ning in front of him and asked directly.

"Yes! The amount of banknotes issued is naturally determined by the amount of gold and silver stored in the bank. The excessive issuance of banknotes that everyone is worried about will definitely not happen."

"..."

The local rich men from Shanxi who were present naturally did not believe Suning's nonsense. They understood that they had to exchange paper for the gold and silver in their hands, but they also realized that they had no ability to resist at all. They could only obey and accept the system of the Ningyuan Army.

……

(End of this chapter)