I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 582 Surrender Without Resistance

Chapter 582 Surrender Without Resistance

After rewarding the troops, Feng Yuanbai led his main force straight to Jinfeng Village. But upon entering the village, he found that all the villagers had fled. Feng Yuanbai was somewhat annoyed; it seemed he had made too much of a fuss. Thinking about it, it made sense; with over a thousand men arriving, the people of Jinfeng Village weren't stupid—it would be strange if they hadn't run away.

However, what frustrated Feng Yuanbai was that the friends who came to help him weren't exactly honest; they started grabbing things as soon as they entered. Feng Yuanbai couldn't control them and could only let them take what they wanted.

Having taken everything they could, Feng Yuanbai led his army back to the village. But as soon as they arrived at Yinfeng Village, they saw smoke billowing in the direction of Jinfeng Village.

Feng Yuanbai was very puzzled. He had already told his brothers that they should just rob everything and not implement the "three alls" policy.

Suddenly someone came running up and said, "Brother Feng, something terrible has happened! The army from Hanshan has been mobilized, and the village has been surrounded!"

Feng Yuanbai immediately pounded his chest in despair, realizing he had been tricked!

"What should we do?" the man asked anxiously.

Feng Yuanbai thought for a moment and said, "Feng Yuanlin, no matter what method you use, you must sneak out to Dangtu County and report to Magistrate Niu, asking him to come and save your life as soon as possible!"

Feng Yuanlin quickly said, "Brother Feng, don't worry, I'll swim out of the river secretly and won't be discovered."

……

Outside Yinfeng Village, Wang Wenzhou's men quickly surrounded the village.

Wang Wenzhou, with one arm around Empress Zhou and the other around Li Mei, nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, how are my men doing?"

"Yes, yes!" Li Mei nodded, smiling and complimenting, "My husband is truly amazing!"

Empress Zhou shook her head with a wry smile. "That rascal is so irresponsible! He actually calls a 16-year-old girl 'sister-in-law'! Silly girl, he's saying that to me; he's showing off his strength!"

“Li Hechen!” Wang Wenzhou said.

"Your subordinate is here!" Li Hechen hurriedly ran over.

Wang Wenzhou ordered, "Shout to the villagers and give them the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to come out and surrender, or we will launch a full-scale attack."

"Yes!" Li Hechen accepted the order and left.

In no time, the soldiers surrounding the village began to shout: "Listen up, villagers! You are surrounded! You have one incense stick's time to come out and surrender!"

Inside Yinfeng Village, Feng Xinhui and his son held a meeting with several village elders to discuss what to do. Ultimately, they had no choice but to surrender; how could those with hoes possibly defeat those with swords? Besides, the troops surrounding the village were from Hanshan; even if the villagers of Yinfeng had done something wrong, they wouldn't go too far. Moreover, Feng Yuanlin had already slipped away to seek help, and Feng Xinhui felt that, both publicly and privately, Lord Niu would definitely come to negotiate once he learned of this.

In no time, Feng Xinhui and his son, along with more than 300 villagers and over 1,000 friends who had come to help, headed to the village entrance to surrender.

Feng Yuanbai shouted to the soldiers outside the village, "Don't shoot arrows! We have no weapons. We've come to surrender."

Li Hechen waved his hand and ordered, "Surround them and keep separate men, women, and children under their care."

"Yes!" The special forces swarmed forward, and in no time, Feng Yuanbai and the others were surrounded in the open space at the entrance of the village.

Wang Wenzhou, holding two babies, slowly walked over.

Wang Wenzhou pointed at the villagers of Yinfeng Village and cursed, "What the hell! Are you all sons of the Young Marshal? You're shameless! More than a thousand men, and you surrendered without even daring to resist?"

"Pfft..." Everyone was completely dumbfounded. Who was this guy? Why was he acting so crazy? You're government troops! If we resist, wouldn't we be considered rebels?

Immediately, someone brought over a chair. Wang Wenzhou, holding the baby, sat down on the chair and said with a smile, "No matter the age or gender, shave everyone's head!"

"Buzz..." Wang Wenzhou's words immediately caused a commotion. "Our bodies and hair are gifts from our parents; how can you insult people like this?"

Feng Xinhui wanted to go and negotiate with Wang Wenzhou, but was stopped by the soldiers. He quickly shouted, "Sir, I am the village chief of Yinfeng Village. I would like to talk to you."

Wang Wenzhou nodded and ordered, "Cut off one of his fingers, then let him come over!"

"You son of a bitch! Who the hell are you?"

"Fight them!"

The people of Yinfeng Village were furious when they heard this. "Is this any kind of reasoning? What kind of government official would cut off someone's finger without even knowing the facts? Is this outrageous?"

Under Feng Yuanbai's leadership, the villagers wanted to resist, but it was too late. Now they were unarmed and could not even break through the encirclement, let alone win a battle.

Wang Wenzhou said irritably, "Damn it, they don't even have any self-awareness as prisoners. Beat them! Anyone who dares to make a sound, beat them!"

"Yes!"

Surrounding the villagers were soldiers from a special forces battalion. These men, even on the battlefield, could take on ten men each, and they were armed, though mostly with clubs. In no time, no one in the encirclement dared to speak. Some lay on the ground groaning in pain, while others were pale with fear, crouching on the ground, too afraid to utter a sound.

After Feng Xinhui had one of his fingers chopped off, two soldiers escorted him to Wang Wenzhou.

Despite the pain, Feng Xinhui knelt down and asked, "Sir, may I ask your name?"

Wang Wenzhou hugged Empress Zhou and kissed her, then said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, what's my name?"

Empress Zhou rolled her eyes at Wang Wenzhou, too lazy to pay him any attention. She couldn't understand why he was doing this. From what she had seen in Hanshan these past few days, Wang Wenzhou truly seemed to be wholeheartedly devoted to the people. He genuinely treated the people of Hanshan like family. So why would he treat the villagers of Yinfeng Village this way? Was it simply because they weren't from Hanshan?

"Haha!" Wang Wenzhou laughed, hugged Li Mei and kissed her, saying with a smile, "Sister-in-law, tell this old man who I am."

Li Mei quickly replied, "My husband is Wang Wenzhou."

Upon hearing this, Feng Xinhui's expression changed. The name Wang Wenzhou was known not only in Hezhou, but even throughout the Ming Dynasty. Why would Wang Wenzhou concern himself with a conflict between two villages?

Feng Xinhui thought for a moment and then said, "Sir, our Yinfeng Village and Jinfeng Village have a long-standing feud. For hundreds of years, the two villages have been fighting. It's unfair that you only punish our Yinfeng Village!"

Wang Wenzhou waved his hand and said irritably, "Old man, are you kidding me? Who's the 'master'? I'm just an ordinary citizen of the Ming Dynasty now, and the people I'm with aren't government officials or soldiers. They're all just ordinary citizens of the Ming Dynasty."

"Pfft..." Feng Xinhui was on the verge of tears, feeling that his brain wasn't working properly. He really didn't understand what Wang Wenzhou meant.

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "We are now mercenaries serving Jinfeng Village, and all of you from Yinfeng Village are our prisoners. No matter how I deal with the prisoners, it's not excessive!"

"My lord! Spare my life!" Feng Xinhui felt that things might get messy and the village might be massacred. Wang Wenzhou was indeed a mad dog; he had something wrong with his head.

"Murder is illegal! Why would I kill you? You're not Huang Taiji!" Wang Wenzhou waved his hand and ordered, "Men, drag him away. Quickly shave their heads!"

"Yes!"

Half an hour later, everyone in Yinfeng Village, regardless of age or gender, had become bald.

Looking at so many monks, Wang Wenzhou laughed and said, "Consider yourselves lucky. I don't want to kill anyone today. Listen up, I'll let you go, but don't ever come back to Silver Peak Village. This place has been occupied!"

"Huh?" Everyone was completely dumbfounded. Wang Wenzhou, Lord Wang, please stop joking! This isn't a war between two countries!