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Chapter 859 Taking advantage of the topic
The Song Dynasty was a very strange dynasty in Chinese history. It emphasized culture over military power to an almost abnormal degree. Soldiers with tattoos on their faces were common in the Song army. In addition to preventing these soldiers from deserting, the main reason was that the literati of the Song Dynasty despised warriors from the bottom of their hearts. Of course, this was also inseparable from the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In addition, the Song Dynasty was in a situation where it had enemies on all sides, which naturally made the soldiers become more and more discouraged about the Song Dynasty.

To be honest, the civil officials of the Song Dynasty were really awesome. They handled any issue entirely with their pens and strategies. The endless rebellions, big and small, were easily resolved. There is no need to elaborate on the rebellions that the Song army was able to directly suppress. Once there were rebels with amazing combat power and a certain degree of resilience, the emperor and the officials would use the tried-and-tested "recruitment strategy". The most famous ones were the more than 100 heroes in "Water Margin". After the Liangshan heroes were recruited by the court, they were immediately pulled to the south to fight Fang La's rebels. In the end, the Liangshan heroes and Fang La were all wiped out in the midst of laughter and conversation, so that in the end, people in later generations would think of the magical Song Dynasty when they mentioned "recruitment".

Some of these capable and powerful old bastards in the Song Dynasty naturally wanted to get an official position by rebelling. You must know that a small rebellion would result in a small official position being appointed by the ministers, and a big rebellion would naturally result in a big official position. Once they had an official position, they would naturally no longer think about rebelling, and naturally fell into the trap of the big ministers.

"Your Majesty, the rebels in Jiangning Prefecture proposed dividing the country by the river and are willing to assist our Song Dynasty in attacking the Liao Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty. From now on, the north will be the Song Dynasty and the south will be the Ning Dynasty." Soon, the ministers came to the palace together to meet the old emperor, and then explained the demands of the Ningyuan Army and Suning.

"Hmph! How can these rebels be a match for those barbarians from the Liao Dynasty and the Western Xia?" Hearing that the Ningyuan Army would actually take the initiative to offer to help the Song Dynasty fight against foreign enemies, the old emperor was surprised at first, and then he questioned it with disdain on his face.

"Your Majesty, these Ningyuan rebels are quite powerful. They blew open the gates of Jiangning Prefecture with a single cannon shot, and then all the officials in Jiangning Prefecture knelt and begged for surrender."

"Humph! That's because they are all a bunch of spineless people, especially Murong Yanzhao, who has lived up to the trust of successive Song Dynasty officials. He has even lost his integrity in his old age." Speaking of this group of ungrateful surrenderists, the old emperor was so angry that he trembled all over.

"Huh? Your Majesty, the Ningyuan Army rebels are still very sincere this time. We are also asking the Ningyuan Army to sell firearms to our Song Dynasty, so that our Song Dynasty soldiers will have an easier time." In fact, the three ministers are the ones who know the real financial situation of the Song Dynasty best. Naturally, they want to resolve the rebellion in Jiangnan as soon as possible. After all, the pressure on the Duke of Ying on the border can be said to be increasing.

"Someone, come here! Bring the map here." The old emperor certainly understood the mentality of these eunuchs best, and then he looked at the eunuch beside him with a wry smile and gave the order.

"Yes! Your Majesty."

Soon, the eunuchs brought the emperor's special map, and at the old emperor's signal, they unfolded it before the ministers. Then, with a bitter face, the old emperor said to everyone, "My ministers, the land south of the Yangtze River is the fertile land of our Great Song Dynasty. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that I have longed for have not yet been recovered. Now we have to divide the river with these Ningyuan rebels. Do you think I can really agree to this?"

"Your Majesty." The three great ministers naturally knew this truth, but their Song Dynasty really did not have the capital to drag it out. If they continued to make trouble, they would only become more and more passive.

"Of course I understand the hard work of you gentlemen, but my bottom line is that I can only enthrone Gu Tingye as the Duke of Ningguo, and his fiefdom is Jiangning Prefecture. All Ningyuan troops must withdraw from cities outside Jiangning Prefecture. In addition, since Gu Tingye has been expelled from the Gu family's ancestral hall and family tree, I can give him the surname Zhao, and nominally regard him as my adopted son, and give him the name Zhao Ning. I also hope that he will behave better in Jiangning Prefecture in the future." The old emperor naturally knew that he could not drag it on any longer, so he looked at the three ministers and stated his bottom line.

"Yes! Your Majesty."

The old emperor who made the decision at this moment was heartbroken. The Zhao Song Dynasty had been established for almost a hundred years, and as the fourth emperor of the Zhao Song Dynasty, he had been working hard to govern the country. However, he could not imagine how he could have worked so hard to govern the country to this extent. He was like a broken ship with leaks everywhere and was about to go silent.

"Alas... I feel ashamed towards my ancestors..."

Although Suning had informed Wang Zhixin of the Ningyuan Army's bottom line in negotiations before he left, Wang Zhixin and several senior ministers of the Song Dynasty returned to Jiangning Prefecture again after the first round of talks just for show. After all, they couldn't let the emperor and ministers of the Song Dynasty see Daning's urgency, otherwise the negotiations between the two sides would only fall into endless wrangling.

"Lord Wang, how did the trip to Bian Jing go?" Su Ning looked at Wang Zhixin in front of him with a smile, feeling that the other party was very capable in doing things.

"Your Highness! Everything is going smoothly. The emperor and the ministers in Bianjing are also willing to negotiate. I even suspect that they will contact us actively in a while." Wang Zhixin explained with a smug smile.

"Well, then, Lord Wang, you can rest in Jiangning Prefecture for a few days before heading to Bianjing to negotiate with the other gentlemen."

"Yes! Your Highness, how should we discuss the issue of firearms in detail?" Wang Zhixin then asked about the firearms again, wanting to know Suning's true bottom line and intentions at this time.

"We will only sell rapid-fire muskets and bullets to the Song Dynasty. As for the price, you can negotiate it yourself. As long as it's no less than one hundred taels of silver for each musket and one tael of silver for ten bullets, it will be fine."

"Yes! Your Majesty."

In fact, the Jinyiwei at this time had already learned the bottom line given by the old emperor. You must know that the Song Dynasty court at this time had no sense of confidentiality. These civil officials wanted to put all the court discussions and state affairs in their own collections of essays. Many materials on various firearms written by Song Dynasty civil officials were also spread throughout the Song Dynasty, so it also created many convenient conditions for their Jinyiwei.

Su Ning would not be satisfied with a small title of Duke of Ningguo, so the negotiations could not be really smooth. Anyway, the Ningyuan Army has not stopped attacking the Jiangnan East Road and Liangzhe Road. The negotiations will not affect his plans at all. No matter what the final decision of the Song Dynasty's Bianjing court is, it is irrelevant.

At this time, Jinyiwei Commander Su Yi walked straight into the study and hurriedly explained the sudden situation to Su Ning in a low voice, "Master, the Yangzhou dock just reported that a government ship suddenly broke through the checkpoint and fled towards Bianjing."

"Oh? Which flag is flying on the official ship?" Su Ning looked at Su Yi in front of him with some surprise and asked. This was the first time that the Ningyuan Army had rushed the checkpoint since the rebellion.

"Prince Yong's banner! The official ship is filled with Prince Yong's family, including his daughter, Princess Jiacheng."

"Oh! No wonder they were afraid to be questioned and took the risk of rushing through the checkpoint. They were worried about being detained by our Ningyuan Army."

"Master, what should we do?" Su Yi then looked at Su Ning and asked.

"Su Yi, give the navy an order to send two fishing boats to follow from a distance. When they arrive at the Bian Jing dock, sink them directly." Thinking that the old emperor of Bian Jing was still arrogant, Su Ning was ready to take advantage of the situation.

"Yes! Master, do you want to capture the Princess Jiacheng?" Su Yi may be the one who knows Su Ning's lust for beauty best, so he paused and looked at Su Ning and asked.

"Forget it! It's too ugly."

"Yes! Master."

At this time, Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai were at the Yangzhou dock preparing to board a ship to Jiangning Prefecture. Although Old Madam Sheng had urged them not to be reserved in Yangzhou, Sheng Hong still stubbornly stayed in the land of tenderness for several days. Finally, under Sheng Changbai's repeated urging, he climbed up from Aunt Wei's bed, and then reluctantly followed Sheng Changbai on board the ship.

However, before the passenger ship had time to leave the Yangzhou wharf, it saw a large official ship of 1,500 tons, which directly accelerated and broke through the checkpoint of the Ningyuan Army Navy, and then fled to the northern waterway. It was obvious that the people on the ship were either rich or noble children of wealthy families.

Just when everyone on the dock was waiting to see the Ningyuan Army make a fool of themselves, not long after, two large iron ships of the Ningyuan Army Navy appeared not far away, hanging the official ship. Everyone knew at a glance that the Ningyuan Army was not going to suffer this loss, but they didn't know where exactly to sink the official ship that was rushing to the barrier.

"Father, whose official ship do you think this is?" Sheng Changbai looked at Sheng Hong with some curiosity and asked.

"That's Prince Yong's flag! They must be the family of the Third Prince Yong." Sheng Hong looked at the flags and logos on the official ship and easily guessed the other party's identity.

"Oh? This time Ning Yuanjun has finally caught a big fish!" Sheng Changbai couldn't help but sigh that Ning Yuanjun was really lucky.

"Huh? I heard that Prince Ning is negotiating with the ministers. There will probably be no conflict at this juncture." At this time, Sheng Hong thought that the Ningyuan Army would suffer a loss. After all, he believed that the Ningyuan Army should be very eager to be recruited by the court.

"It's hard to say! Gu Tingye's actions are different from those of ordinary people. No one can predict what choice he will make in the end."

"Ah! These are troubled times!"

"Father, let's go quickly! Prince Ning must have heard about our situation and is probably waiting for us at Jiangning Mansion."

"Okay! Let's go to Jiangning Mansion."

The passenger ship did not travel for long before Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai, father and son, arrived at Jiangning Prefecture. Ning Yuanjun easily brought them to Su Ning. "Sir Sheng, I should call you father-in-law now."

"Ah? I dare not!" Sheng Hong, who was ecstatic, bowed respectfully and said.

"Father-in-law, Changbai, let me tell you a piece of good news. Hualan is pregnant."

"Ah?" At this time, Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai looked at each other in surprise, and then the father and son both bowed and said congratulatoryly, "Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations, Your Highness!" "Well, father-in-law, I have something I need you to do here." Looking at the cautious father-in-law in front of him, Su Ning suddenly had a bad idea in his mind.

"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."

"Father-in-law, I heard that your Sheng family has another branch in your hometown of Youyang?"

"Ah? That's right." Sheng Hong blinked his eyes in surprise, not understanding why King Ning in front of him asked this question.

"I heard that the eldest daughter of the Sheng family, Sheng Shulan, is both talented and beautiful. I want you, my father-in-law, to go to Youyang and bring Sheng Shulan to Jiangning Prefecture. Since Sheng Hualan is pregnant and it is not convenient for her to come, I am still lacking a personal maid."

"what?"

"Why? Father-in-law won't agree?"

"I dare not! I will leave for Youyang now."

"Well, I will send a hundred guards to protect you. After all, the journey will not be peaceful."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration."

"Sheng Changbai, do you want to continue your studies or come directly to be my secretary?" After making arrangements for his cheap father-in-law Sheng Hong, Su Ning looked at Sheng Changbai on the side.

"Your Highness, Changbai still wants to continue his studies." Sheng Changbai hurriedly and respectfully replied to Su Ning, no longer having the carefree attitude he had when he was drinking wine and talking about plums.

"That's fine! There are still many great scholars in Jiangning Prefecture. It's up to you whether you want to participate in the imperial examinations of the Song Dynasty in the future."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Well, go see your sister!"

"Yes! Your Majesty."

At this time, the official ship of the Prince of Yong was driven all the way to Bian Jing by two large iron ships. The Bian Jing dock had naturally become heavily guarded. After all, the dignitaries of Bian Jing had already received the news along the way, and the people of Bian Jing ran out curiously to see the majestic appearance of the Ningyuan Army Navy.

The Princess of Jiacheng County on the official ship saw the security at the Bianjing dock from afar and immediately ran to the bow of the ship with tears of joy, shouting loudly to the Song army soldiers on the shore, "This Princess is here! Help me kill the traitor!"

"County Lady, no! It's dangerous now." At this time, a eunuch hurriedly ran out from the cabin and tightly grabbed the willful County Lady Jiacheng.

"Hmph! What are you afraid of? Didn't you, old slave, see the soldiers on the shore? Even if the Ningyuan Army had ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare to attack us." Princess Jiacheng shook off the old eunuch's pull with disdain, feeling that she had become the arrogant princess again.

"County Lady."

At this moment, the two Ningyuan Army iron ships suddenly increased their speed. In front of the soldiers and civilians in Bianjing, they directly and violently collided with the official ship of the Yongwang family. However, the Princess of Jiacheng lost her arrogance and started to scream in panic again, "Ah, help!"

Unfortunately, the two large iron ships had no idea what it meant to be gentle with women. They did not care about the panic and shouting of Princess Jiacheng, but kept hitting the official ship in front of them again and again. Soon, the official ship of the Yongwang family became pieces, and all the family members of the Yongwang family on the official ship were soaked.

Next, the Ningyuan Army did not use bamboo poles to poke the dignitaries in the water, and naturally they had no intention of rescuing them. Instead, they kept watching the Song Navy not far away from a distance. Seeing that neither the Song Army nor the Navy on the shore made any attacking moves, the two large iron ships of the Ningyuan Army left the Bianjing wharf arrogantly.

Not until the two large iron ships of the Ningyuan Army had completely sailed away did the Song Army's navy dare to step forward to rescue the royal grandchildren and nobles who had fallen into the water. In fact, when everyone on the official ship fell into the water at the very beginning, the loyal servants of King Yong lifted up the fallen Princess Jiacheng. So the arrogant Princess Jiacheng was just frightened out of her wits.

Bianjing, Imperial Palace.

The old emperor was naturally the first to learn the news. After hearing about the Ningyuan Army's brave and incomparable record, he realized that the Ningyuan Army was indeed capable of directly breaking through Bianjing. He then looked at the ministers in front of him and asked, "My lords, what is going on?"

"Your Majesty, it seems that the official ship of Prince Yong rushed through the Yangzhou wharf, and then the Ningyuan Army Navy launched a siege and interception, and then the collision occurred at the Bianjing wharf." Prime Minister Fu hurriedly stepped forward to introduce the details of the situation.

"Well, Wang Xilie, how is Princess Jiacheng?" The old emperor then looked at the old eunuch Wang Xilie beside him and asked.

"Your Majesty, the imperial physicians have already visited Prince Yong's residence and believe Princess Jiacheng is simply frightened and will be fine after a short rest."

"Well, that's not bad! Have the Imperial Hospital send a few more doctors to ensure that nothing happens to Princess Jiacheng."

"Yes! Official."

"My dear ministers, what do you think of the Ningyuan Army's actions?" The old emperor then looked at the three ministers and asked.

The three ministers exchanged wry smiles, and then Minister Shen, with a helpless smile, explained, "Your Majesty, I believe Gu Tingye and the Ningyuan Army know our court's bottom line, and they are dissatisfied and are using us as an excuse to provoke us."

"Humph! Taking advantage of the situation?"

"Your Majesty, Duke Ying has just sent back a report from the front lines that Zhending Prefecture has been occupied by the Liao Dynasty."

"What? Zhending Prefecture is lost?"

The old emperor naturally had no intention of bargaining at this time, and decisively raised the title of Su Ning again, "Grand Minister Han, confer the title of King Ning of Song on Gu Tingye, with the title of County Prince, and the fiefdom of Jiangning Prefecture, and grant him the name Zhao Ning."

"Yes! Your Majesty, the Ningyuan Army has agreed to sell firearms to our Song Dynasty. They just need fifteen taels of gold for a rapid-fire firearm, and one tael of silver for ten bullets." Looking at the old emperor in front of him with a face full of aggrieved and depressed, Prime Minister Shen told him a rare piece of good news.

"Oh? Are you willing to sell that kind of flying cannon and big iron ship?" At this time, the old emperor was greedy and wanted to get more powerful flying cannon and big iron ship.

"I don't want to."

"Ah! Fifteen ounces of gold a handful, that's too expensive."

"Your Majesty, our intention is to purchase a batch first, and then have our craftsmen make imitations. Naturally, we won't need to worry too much about the so-called price in the future."

"Okay! Let's implement this plan."

"Yes! Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)