Han’s Son is Not a Slave

Chapter 45: Good Word

Zhou Shixiang really planned to mark the Qing army prisoners, because he really wanted to recruit these Jiangxi green camp soldiers, but he was afraid that these people would be unreliable. It is said that there is no doubt about employing people, but no doubting people, but even if they become suspicious people, they will also use them. After all, these Jiangxi Green Battalion soldiers have been soldiers for several years. They are no better than those young men who don’t know anything. If they can get them to join the Taiping Camp with all their hearts, it will definitely play a big role, and it will come in handy at critical times. But how can I use these prisoners for my own use, without worrying about them turning back and stabbing myself?

Ge Wu’s words are rough, but the reasoning is not rough. Although people are different from animals, Zhou Shixiang decided to treat these prisoners as animals, and put a mark on each of them that will make them never turn against the water. !

As soon as he said it, Zhou Shixiang put down his job and called a little official who registered the roster and asked him to find someone in the city who would brand the animals.

This request made the little official really confused. He didn’t know what Zhou Shixiang wanted to do with this person, but he didn’t dare to ask more, so he went to find the person.

The one who came over was a middle-aged blacksmith, surnamed Guo, nicknamed “Guo Dachui”, the only blacksmith left in Luoding City, who made a living by repairing pots and knives for the residents on weekdays.

Branding animals is not a technical job, it relies on a red-hot branding iron, as long as the required imprints are made into molds in advance, and then the red-hot imprints can be made on people, so I heard that Zhou Shixiang wanted to make molds and brand people by himself. , also gave one tael of silver and twenty catties of rice, Guo Dachui agreed without hesitation. In his eyes, there is really no difference between branding people and animals. As long as the guests give money, everything is easy!

Zhou Shixiang simply told Guo Dazhui the imprint he wanted to brand. After the latter was stunned, he went home to get the tools and followed Zhou Shixiang to Zhizhou Yamen.

…………

There are 88 Qing army prisoners locked up in Zhizhou Yamen, including Shao Jiugong, who has served as a soldier in Jiangxi Green Camp for a long time. Veteran Youzi, of course, are all Han Chinese. The composition of these people is also relatively complex, and they all have what they did before.

For example, the chief general Shao Jiugong was the first soldier of the Ming Dynasty to attack Kong Guozhi under the commander Jin Shengheng of Zuoliangyu, the Marquis of Ningnan. After Zuo Liangyu’s death, his son Zuo Menggeng led his troops to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the British Prince Azige of the Manchu Qing asked Zuo Menggeng to lead his generals to Beijing for an audience. Jin Shengheng was afraid that the Manchu Qing would cut his military power, so he turned to Ah Zige. Jige asked to lead his troops to attack Jiangxi, to open up territory for the Manchu Qing, so as to keep his military power. Azige occupied Jiangxi because of insufficient troops, so he agreed to Jin Shengheng’s request. From then on, Jin Shengheng became the Jiangxi chief officer of the Qing Dynasty, and Kong Guozhi was promoted to the sergeant because of his many achievements in attacking Jiangxi.

In the fifth year of Shunzhi, Jin Shengheng and his subordinate Wang Deren were dissatisfied with the Qing court’s reward, and raised their flags in Nanchang to return to Daming anyway. As a result, they were defeated the following year, Jin Shengheng committed suicide, and Wang Deren was killed. Kong Guozhi was pardoned by the Qing army because he took the initiative to open the city and surrendered before the city was broken.

Shao Jiugong was Kong Guozhi’s personal soldier, and his master surrendered to the Qing Dynasty again. Naturally, his personal soldier also paid attention to him. Since then, he has followed Kong Guozhi and continued to work for the Qing Dynasty. He once participated in the battle of Li Chengdong’s northward capture of Ganzhou in Jiangxi. The Southern Dialogue of Guangdong participated in the battle of Chaoshan. Because he had been with the Kong brothers for a long time, there was no credit or hard work, so at the beginning of the year, Kong Guozhi released Shao Jiugong to be the chief under his younger brother Kong Guoliang.

The general experience of the rest of the people is similar to that of Shao Jiugong. More than half of the people who had served in the Ming army had previously served in the Ming army, and only a dozen were newly recruited by Kong Guozhi in Ganzhou.

When Zhou Shixiang arrived at the Zhizhou Yamen, he went straight to the cell, where Peng Dazhu was leading someone to guard it. Seeing that Zhou Shixiang brought a blacksmith over, Peng Dazhu couldn’t help but be a little curious. Ge Wu, who came over with him, grinned and told Zhou Shixiang that he was going to be branded, and Peng Dazhu suddenly had a smirk on his face.

“You open the furnace first, and make the mold red!”

Zhou Shixiang instructed Guo Dazhui to do his own business, and asked two soldiers to help him build the stove together, and then when the stove was almost ready, he asked Peng Dazhu to bring Shao Jiugong out. This man was the biggest prisoner and their head, and Zhou Shixiang would definitely use him first.

After Shao Jiugong was brought out, he saw a stove burning with charcoal and blowing wind at a glance, and also saw a guy carving a mold.

It didn’t take him long to wonder, Zhou Shixiang spoke up, and he said to Shao Jiu, “I ask you, are you willing to bring your people to join my Taiping Camp?”

“Join the Taiping Camp?”

Shao Jiugong was stunned for a moment, then nodded sharply and shouted: “The little one is willing, the little one is willing, the little one is a Han Chinese, how could he be willing to make a fool of the tiger for that Tartar! To be honest with the general, the little boy has long been looking forward to returning to Daming. Well, if it wasn’t for Kong Guoliang, the thief watching closely, this little guy might have already cast his mind!”

Zhou Shixiang originally thought that Shao Jiugong would hesitate at least for a while before giving an answer, which seemed complicated in his inner ideological struggle, and it was convincing to look at, but just as he finished speaking, Shao Jiugong patted his chest and said yes.

Duplicity, it seems that this guy is ready for the day of surrender!

Zhou Shixiang sneered: “You said yes, but how do I know if you lied to me to save your life?”

Hearing this, Shao Jiugong pointed his finger at the sky at the time, and said excitedly: “If the general doesn’t believe in the young, the young can swear to God!”

“I never believed in oaths.”

Zhou Shixiang interrupted Shao Jiugong who was about to swear with a word, staring at him coldly, making Shao Jiugong’s scalp hairy. Fortunately, the other party didn’t keep looking at it like this, but calmed his face and said, “Well, in order to prove your sincerity, I’ll have someone print a few words on your back.”

“Printing words? What words?” Shao Jiugong’s eyes widened, but he was secretly amused. Just printing a few words would make me really follow you?

“Don’t you know if it’s printed?” Zhou Shixiang was a little impatient.

Seeing this, Shao Jiugong hurriedly said: “I print, I print!” After a pause, he asked, “I don’t know how to print this word, and where is it printed?” His eyes fell on the burning stove, and he couldn’t help but shudder. , his face turned pale.

“So wordy?”

Zhou Shixiang was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com waved his hand, Ge Wu and two of his subordinates immediately stepped forward and pressed Shao Jiugong, who was already pale with fright, to the ground, and lifted his clothes.

Over there, Guo Da hammer brought the soldering iron that had been burned red by the charcoal fire, and pressed the soldering iron on Shao Jiugong’s back with a gesture.

“Puchi”, a smell of burnt flesh filled the noses of everyone, and Shao Jiugong screamed in pain, “Aah!”

Guo Dachui had never eaten pork and had seen a pig run, so he knew that the cooking time could not be long or short. Over time, this person’s life will be burnt. Short, the handwriting is not clear when the scar is knotted.

In just three seconds, Guo Dachui took the soldering iron away, and then saw that Shao Jiugong fainted from the pain. It was red and black on the back, which made people panic.

Zhou Shi is very satisfied with Guo Dachui’s craftsmanship. The font looks very correct, and the cauldron is very well handled. Although it looks terrible, it is a skin injury, and it will not hurt the muscles and bones. It will be healed in a few days. .

After Shao Jiugong was awake by being splashed with water, the huge pain from his back made his teeth tremble up and down.

After a while, the pain felt a little weaker, and then he barely stood up and asked Zhou Shixiang timidly: “General, what are you branding on my back?”

Zhou Shixiang smiled slightly and said, “It’s a good word, but not many, five words, Shunzhi is a dog.”

Shunzhi is a dog?

When Shao Jiugong heard these five words, it was like being struck by lightning. He was dumbfounded at first, then his eyes darkened, and he fainted again.