Zhou Shixiang really planned to brand the Qing army prisoners, because he really wanted to incorporate these Jiangxi green battalion soldiers, but he was afraid that these people would not be reliable. It is said that there is no suspicion in employing people, but suspects don't need it, but when they come to him, they have to use it if they become suspicious. After all, these Jiangxi green battalion soldiers have been soldiers for several years, no better than those who don't know anything, if they can be made to participate in the Taiping camp with all their hearts, it will definitely play a great role, and it can come in handy at a critical time. But how can you make these captives use them for themselves, without constantly worrying that they will turn around and stab themselves?

Ge Wu's words are rough, but they are not rough, although people are different from animals, but Zhou Shixiang decided, he treated these captives as animals, and branded each of them with a mark that would make them never turn back!

As soon as he said it, Zhou Shixiang put down his job bowl and called a small official who registered on the roster, asking him to find someone in the city who would brand the livestock.

This request made the little official really confused, and he didn't know what Zhou Shixiang was looking for this person for, but he didn't dare to ask more, so he still went to find someone.

The one who came over was a middle-aged blacksmith, surnamed Guo, nicknamed "Guo Da Hammer", the only blacksmith left in Luoding City, who made a living by mending pots and repairing knives for residents on weekdays, but his home was unharmed when the fire on the night before.

Branding livestock is not a technical job, relying on a red-hot soldering iron, as long as the required imprint is made into a mold in advance, and then the red is burned and printed on the person, so when he heard that Zhou Shixiang wanted to make his own mold branding, and gave one or two silvers and twenty catties of rice, Guo Dazhui agreed without hesitation. In his eyes, there is really no difference between branding people and branding livestock, as long as the guests give money, everything is easy to do!

Zhou Shixiang simply told Guo Dazhui about the mark he wanted to brand, and after the latter was stunned, he went home to get the tools and followed Zhou Shixiang to the Zhizhou Yamen

Including Shao Jiugong, the general commander, there were a total of 88 prisoners of the Qing army who were locked up in the Zhizhou Yamen, and they had been soldiers in the green camp in Jiangxi for a long time, most of them were veterans of the green camp in the sixth year of Shunzhi (the third year of Yongli), of course, all of them were Han. The composition of these people is also more complicated, and they used to do everything.

For example, Shao Jiugong, the general general, was the first to attack Kong Guozhi's personal soldiers under Jin Shengheng, the general of Zuo Liangyu, the Marquis of Ningnan in the Ming Dynasty. After Zuo Liangyu's death, his son Zuo Mengeng led his troops to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, when the Manchu Prince Azig asked Zuo Mengeng to lead his troops to Beijing to meet, Jin Shengheng was afraid that the Manchus would cut off his military power, so he asked Azig to lead his troops to attack Jiangxi, open up territory for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so as to keep his military power. Azig occupied Jiangxi due to insufficient troops, so he agreed to Jin Shengheng's invitation, and Jin Shengheng became the chief military officer of Jiangxi in the Qing Dynasty, and Kong Guozhi was also promoted to general because of his contributions to the attack on 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 banners in Nanchang to rejoin the Ming Dynasty anyway, but 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 surrender before the city was broken, and was appointed by the commander of the Qing army, the general of Zhengnan, Gushan Ezhen Tan Tai as the chief military officer of Southern Jiangxi.

Shao Jiugong is Kong Guozhi's personal soldier, the master surrendered to the Qing Dynasty again, and his personal soldier naturally also eyed it, since then, he followed Kong Guozhi to continue to work for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and participated in the battle of Ganzhou where Li Chengdong went north to seize Jiangxi, and last year he transferred south to Guangdong to participate in the Battle of Chaoshan. Because of the long time with the Confucian brothers, there is no merit and hard work, so at the beginning of the year, Kong Guozhi released Shao Jiugong to be a general manager under his younger brother Kong Guoliang.

The general experience of the rest of the people is actually similar to Shao Jiugong, more than half of them have worked in the Ming army, and only a dozen are newly recruited soldiers by Kong Guozhi in Ganzhou later.

Zhou Shixiang arrived at the Zhizhou Yamen and went straight to the cell, where Peng Dazhu was leading people to guard. Seeing Zhou Shixiang bring a blacksmith over, Peng Dazhu couldn't help but be a little curious. Ge Wu, who came over with him, grinned and said with a wicked smile about Zhou Shixiang's intention to burn people, and Peng Dazhu suddenly had a bad smile on his face after hearing this.

"You turn on the furnace first, and make the mold to burn red!"

Zhou Shixiang instructed Guo Dazhui to be busy with his own business, and asked two soldiers to help him build a stove together, and then when the stove was almost born, he asked Peng Dazhu to bring Shao Jiugong out. This person is the biggest captive officer and their head, and Zhou Shixiang must take him first.

After Shao Jiugong was brought out, he saw the stove burning charcoal fire and blowing the wind at a glance, and he also saw a guy carving a mold, and he couldn't help but "chuckle" in his heart, I don't know what the Ming army wants to do.

It didn't take long for him to be surprised, Zhou Shixiang spoke, and he said to Shao Jiu fairly: "Let me 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 violently, and shouted: "The little one is willing, the little one is willing, the little one is a Han person, where is he willing to give that Tartar a tiger!" Don't hide it from the general, the little one has long been looking forward to returning to the Ming Dynasty, if it weren't for Kong Guoliang's dog thief watching it closely, the little one might have already been revealed! ”

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

Duplicity, it seems that this guy has been preparing for the day of surrender!

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

Hearing this, Shao Jiu pointed to the sky when he was in public, and said with an impassioned face: "If the general doesn't believe in the small one, the small one can swear to the sky!" ”

"I never swore an oath."

Zhou Shixiang interrupted Shao Jiugong, who was about to swear, and stared at him coldly, looking at Shao Jiugong as hairy. Fortunately, the other party didn't keep looking at it like this, but his face softened and said, "In this way, in order to prove your sincerity, I'll have someone print a few words on your back." ”

"Printing? What word? Shao Jiugong's eyes widened, but he was secretly happy in his heart, just print a few words to let me really follow you?

"Don't you know when you print it?" Zhou Shixiang was a little impatient.

Seeing this, Shao Jiugong hurriedly said: "I seal, I seal!" After a pause, he asked, "I don't know how this word is printed and where it is printed?" His eyes fell on the stove where the fire was lit, and he shuddered, and his face turned pale.

"So wordy?"

Zhou Shixiang didn't bother to talk nonsense with him, and with a wave of his hand, Ge Wu and his two 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 took 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.

With a "poof", a smell of burnt meat suddenly filled everyone's noses, and Shao Jiugong screamed in pain, "Ahhh ”

Guo Dazhui has never eaten pork and has seen pigs run, so he knows that the roasting time cannot be long, let alone short. If it grows, this human life will be burned. If it's short, the scar will not be clear.

In just three seconds, Guo Dazhui took the soldering iron away, and then saw that Shao Jiugong had fainted from pain. The back is red and black, and it makes people panic when they look at it.

Zhou Shi is very satisfied with Guo Dazhui's craftsmanship, the font looks very upright, and the fire is very good, although it looks terrible, it is a skin injury, it will not hurt the muscles and bones, and it can be raised for a few days.

After Shao Jiugong was woken up by the splash of water, the huge pain in his back made his teeth tremble up and down, and he felt a heart-rending pain, and he wanted to shout, but he didn't dare to shout.

In the middle of the sound, the pain was a little weaker, and then he barely stood up, and asked Zhou Shixiang tremblingly: "General, what are you branding on my back?" ”

Zhou Shixiang smiled slightly and said: "It's a good word, it's not much, five words, Shunzhi is a dog." ”

Is Shunzhi a dog?

Shao Jiugong heard these five words as if he had been struck by lightning, he was stunned at first, and then his eyes turned black and he fainted again.