Longwu Emperor Zhu Changzi's famous saying "Those who keep their hair are righteous people, and those who shave their hair are refugees" was quickly widely spread by the Nanjing imperial court's propaganda agency.
Various propaganda channels are almost in full swing, trying every means to spread propaganda to the occupied areas.
They even used small-scale scouting battles between Cao Bianjiao and the Qing army to infiltrate propaganda into enemy-occupied areas, or capture some Han prisoners of war who were confirmed to be newly shaved heads, and quietly give them some money to release them for propaganda.
Zheng Chenggong's side, on the battlefield of Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang, immediately followed this routine. Some of the wounded left by the Qing army during the city defense battle were sorted out and those who had just had their heads shaved were given medicine to treat the wounds, and then the prisoners were released and went to preach.
Soften the Han Chinese in the enemy army who are forced to become thieves.
Duduo didn't react at first. At first glance, it seemed that the Ming army actually released the wounded who were injured outside the temple wall during the attack on the temple, so he accepted it. However, he soon realized that rumors began to appear in the army, so he changed his mind.
Quickly tighten the rules and never accept the Ming army to release the wounded again, so as not to shake the morale of the army.
But this kind of thing is not easy to stop. Due to improper frontline operations, Zheng Chenggong's next move to release prisoners of war was directly shot and driven away by the Manchu Eight Banners cavalry supervising the Qing army's frontline operations.
Although the impact was quickly controlled, the army was also required to keep silent, and anyone who dared to spread rumors would be immediately executed. But even so, a small number of Han bannermen and newly shaved puppet soldiers knew about the Qing army's distrust and cruelty towards their own people.
, the seeds of this fear are slowly taking root and sprouting.
Duduo was so angry about this that he asked Sun Zhixian, who helped him come up with the idea of a shaving order, and scolded him. Sun Zhixian had no way out and could only do his best to help Duduo with suggestions, and he refused.
He racked his brains with insults and admonished Duduo:
"Your Majesty, it is a matter of military morale. We can no longer refuse to accept the wounded soldiers released by the Puppet Ming Army. We should accept them well, but after receiving them, we should release these wounded soldiers into a separate battalion and keep them under strict guard. They are not allowed to join other prisoners who have never been captured.
The soldiers will whisper to each other, and if anyone tries to spread rumors, he will be severely punished to death. This way, Zheng Chenggong's conspiracy can be prevented!"
When Duduo heard this, he realized that Sun Zhixian's move made some sense. It was true that the wounded soldiers and prisoners of war had to be collected, and they could not be allowed to pass on information. It was better to manage them separately and form their own army with other appointments.
He immediately ordered the whole army to do as he was told, and temporarily forgave Sun Zhixian.
However, although the matter was settled in this way, the new policy announced by the Ming court in Nanjing finally pierced a thorn in the traitor servant army controlled by the Qing army.
Soon, the situation that Duduo was looking forward to, "the newly shaved traitors dared to be cannon fodder and went all the way to the dark side" was gone forever. Even if Duduo blocked the news, these traitors began to work hard and for a time
This made Dodo very angry.
On the Ming army's side, as the propaganda war continues to grind, the slogans and policies of official propaganda are also advancing with the times and constantly upgrading.
Soon, Zhu Shuren, Shi Kefa and Wumeicun figured out a new policy and began to shout to the traitors in the Qing army:
"In view of Duduo's rebellious behavior and forcibly shaving the heads of the refugees, in line with the benevolence of the Emperor of Heaven, he cannot bear to let ordinary people be dragged into the flames of war. The imperial court's policy on identifying refugees who have their heads shaved is hereby announced:
For those whose blood is confirmed to be Han, as long as they kill a Manchu and the Mongolian chief comes to surrender, they will be deemed to have been forcibly shaved and had no intention of doing so. The military achievements of killing Manchu officers and generals will be recorded as usual and given according to the court regulations.
To reward officials with titles and pardon previous sins.
Those who are unable to murder the Manchu and Mongolian officers, as long as they kill the officers of the puppet Qing and Han army flags for a long time and come to surrender, they will also be considered as being coerced into surrendering, and their previous crimes will be pardoned, but the merit rewards will be reduced by one level compared to those who killed the Manchus and Mongols who came to surrender...
…”
Subsequently, the Nanjing court also issued a list of "Traitor Officers with Long-standing Han Army Banners", which listed three levels of traitors who could be used to exonerate themselves by exchanging their heads for credit.
The highest level are the old traitors such as Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming who have followed the Qing Dynasty for more than ten years, followed by Bai Guangen, Tang Tong and other Hebei generals who surrendered to the Tatars and were historically responsible for the death of Chongzhen, plus a Zhu Shuren.
In the end, Li Chengdong, who killed his master and surrendered to Tartars, was specially singled out.
In other words, as long as one of the subordinates of Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming kills Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming to surrender, or if Li Chengdong's subordinates kill Li Chengdong and surrender, no matter what their original actions were, they will be regarded as "being coerced into shaving their heads as thieves."
All previous crimes should be pardoned and returned to the officials.
Such a flexible moral bottom line would never have been issued by the Ming Dynasty or the Southern Ming Dynasty in another time and space.
Because the Southern Ming Dynasty was supposed to be a group of corrupt Confucians who were kidnapped by morality. Until the fall of Nanjing and even when they fled to Fujian, they always advertised that "Once you are disloyal, you will never be disloyal. If you shave your hair, you are a traitor."
How can this kind of policy help unite the majority of the united front? Historically, the Ming Dynasty's united front was less flexible and flexible than the Qing Dynasty. No wonder the Qing Dynasty united most of the traitors and destroyed them.
What Zhu Shuren is doing now is really subtle and profound. It not only flexibly adheres to the moral bottom line of loyalty, but also gives a step down - kill the superior to surrender, even if you are not a true thief yourself!
This not only gives those who have just been forcibly shaved their heads a chance to prove their innocence, but it also gives those who had their heads shaved a little earlier a chance to come back and make peace with the thieves together. But originally it would have been given to the thieves alone.
People who have been doing this for many years can easily cause people to be dissatisfied, and it can also have negative negative effects on education.
At that time, whether it is Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Li Chengdong or Tang Tong, once the battle situation is unfavorable, they will have to worry every day that their men will kill them and use their heads to dedicate their merits anyway!
Moreover, it would not be easy to promote this kind of policy if it were endorsed by other senior ministers of the Nanjing court. For example, Shi Kefa, even if he agreed to this policy, the enemies would not believe it.
Because Shi Kefa's image over the years has been that of an upright and moral gentleman. If he is said to be a man who temporarily squanders his power and arbitrarily kills his master, the enemy will definitely think:
All of this is an excuse to be tolerated for the time being. When the world is once again stabilized in the future, old scores will definitely have to be settled in the future!
But Zhu Shuren is different. Such a policy is very convincing when told through Zhu Shuren's propaganda. This is all due to Zhu Shuren's reputation of "exterminating filial piety" accumulated over the past five or six years. He is famous for his preference for re-employment and killing foster fathers.
The rebel chieftain's righteous son!
Starting five years ago, when he first arrived in Huangzhou as a colleague, he dared to reuse Liu Sandao, who was forced into a desperate situation by the war, and killed his adoptive father Liu Xiyao to surrender. Later, Liu Sandao served as a benchmark and worked under Zhu Shuren.
Great, now that I have become a general, my salary has only gone up but not down!
Not to mention that later Zhu Shuren engaged in the cultivation of Lin, and forced Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, and Liu Wenxiu to surrender, and also asked them to betray their adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong.
The history of Zhu Shuren's rise is accompanied by a four-year history of persuading his adopted son to kill his father! This has historical accumulation.
Only those people who have made mistakes and sit on the fence will truly believe the united front propaganda released by this kind of person who is willing to use the enemy to kill his father and adopted son.
…
The new round of propaganda offensive by the Ming army soon began to bear fruit. The fear and coercion that the Qing army had built up through the hair-cutting order at the beginning were gradually completely shattered by the Ming army.
The strong man who was finally forcibly shaved off and captured was no longer willing to sincerely work for his life.
There were even some grassroots officers and soldiers of the Han Army who had been thieves for many years. When they were forcibly sent as cannon fodder to attack the vanguard of Jinshan Temple, and faced with the danger of dying in a vain battle, out of fear of survival, they chose to secretly attack before the war.
Kill your own commander, and then run to the Ming army position opposite to surrender to the enemy!
For example, there was a general named Chen Shaozong under the command of Geng Zhongming, an old traitor who had surrendered to the Tatars during the Wuqiao Mutiny in the fifth year of Chongzhen.
Because he was forced by Duduo to fight with Zheng Chenggong for several days in the front line, out of fear of dying in vain, and because he felt that the Qing army might be in disaster this time.
So on the night of the second day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Shaozong secretly assassinated his Shangguan on the eve of being forced to be used as cannon fodder again the next morning.
They broke out of the Qing camp and started an uprising directly in front of the battle lines.
Zheng Chenggong fought hard for many days, and it was already a very difficult battle. It was only because Zhu Shuren had always controlled the Yangtze River waterway and could continuously provide him with reinforcements from the waterway north of Jinshan Temple that he could hold on here.
Zheng Chenggong actually knew in his heart that it would be the best choice to delay the Qing army here to continue fighting a defensive war of attrition, weaken the Qing army with a high casualty exchange ratio, and accumulate quantitative changes in anticipation of qualitative changes, so he has been working diligently.
Now, one of the long-awaited "qualitative changes" has finally come. Because the Qing army was unable to attack for a long time, and because of the Ming army's new policy towards traitors, it actually attracted the middle-level generals under Geng Zhongming to kill and surrender!
Although it was a pity that he failed to kill Geng Zhongming himself and only killed a low-ranking deputy under Geng Zhongming, it was enough to shock the Qing army.
Of course, Zheng Chenggong immediately responded to Chen Shaozong cautiously and resolutely. At the same time, he also kept an eye on it. After putting Chen Shaozong's troops into the Jinshan Temple defense zone, he disarmed him to prevent the other party from pretending to surrender, and then let the waterway fleet escort the people back to Nanjing.
, Zhu Shuren will directly appease and deal with it.
The Qing army had been in chaos for a long time. The Han army flag became more and more in danger, and the morale of the Han army was finally reaching the critical point.
After Duduo learned about it, he was furious and killed several people responsible for the poor supervision. He also deprived Geng Zhongming of his command and handed over the direct command of the Han army's Zhenghuang Banner to the Manchu generals.
When the battle reached this point, Duduo also fell into hesitation. He had already understood that Zhu Shuren was using Jinshan Temple to consume him. Although the Qing army had successfully landed, the Ming army was always guarding the mountain temple. The key was that there was Linjiang Wharf behind him.
, can continuously receive reinforcements through the Yangtze River waterway.
The Ming army was willing to fight him at the expense of human lives. In this combat situation, sooner or later the Qing army's elite troops would be exhausted and they would not be able to get in!
Duduo had to summon his main subordinates to discuss countermeasures again. He had decided to give up the foolish move of storming Jinshan Temple.
This battle of attrition, which lasted for more than ten days, came to a hasty end once again when the Qing army lost many troops and consumed countless ammunition and supplies.