Su Yonglin's speech touched the participants a lot.
The Southern Song Dynasty treated the people like cattle, horses, pigs and dogs, while the Ming Dynasty treated the people as their own people.
Once the completely different attitudes of the two parties towards the people are revealed in front of people's eyes, they will naturally encourage people to vote with their feet.
The people of the Southern Song Dynasty will naturally not resist the rule of the Ming Dynasty, which will greatly reduce the cost of governance and stability maintenance of the early Ming Dynasty. Without this attitude and behavior, the cost that the Ming Dynasty will need to pay for this will be huge.
Of course, the feudal dynasty would also have similar worries and preparations. Their approach was generally to win over powerful local landlords and powerful factions in the newly occupied areas, promising various benefits.
If the local powerful faction accepted the new dynasty, then of course the people of Li would have no say, so they would obey.
The Ming Dynasty did not accept the existence and investment of local powerful factions. It had to deal with the general public and the expenditure would be huge. However, the actions of Zhang Yuejing and the Henan Corps greatly reduced this expenditure.
The people of Xiangfan already trusted the Ming army and the Ming Dynasty, and they would not show resistance or suspicion towards the Ming Dynasty's governance. This mentality would become a huge help for the Ming Dynasty to achieve its smooth rule.
"And I don't know if you have considered that even if a group of people with the same ancestors have been in opposition for a long time under the rule of two different regimes, they will have great differences, just like when the Jin State crossed the Yangtze River from the south to the east, and the country from the north to the south The separation brought about a sense of alienation between the northern and southern Han people, which lasted for three hundred years during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
After the separation of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun from the Central Plains, we spent a lot of effort to eliminate the antagonism between the Han people in the Central Plains and the Han people in Yanyun. This kind of political opposition and separation caused by the opposition of political power can easily make our liberation Mistaken for conquest. "
Su Yonglin said solemnly: "We cannot let the people of the Ming Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty think that our march south is conquest. No, this is liberation. It is about reuniting a family that was originally separated. This is a huge requirement for our military operations. .
Therefore, we must adopt a completely different attitude. In the process of going south, we must make the people of the Southern Song Dynasty realize that we are not going to conquer them, we are going to liberate them, we are going to smash the shackles on their bodies and give them freedom. of. "
Xin Qiji deeply agreed with Su Yonglin's idea, and then put forward his own opinion.
"I think what the chairman said is very important. It will have a very important guiding role for us after we conquer the Southern Song Dynasty and unify Jiangnan. And I also think that what Zhang Yuejing and the Henan Corps did this time was very correct and provided us with provided great political support.
I suggest that we publicize this incident nationwide through the Fuxing Association and widely publicize the significance of liberation, so as to avoid rhetoric such as "The Ming Dynasty destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty and conquered Jiangnan" in the Ming Dynasty.
We must grasp this key point. We are going south for liberation. Our enemies are the superior people, not the people of the Southern Song Dynasty. The two must be separated, and the actions of our army are the best evidence. "
Kong Maojie also realized the necessity of this action.
"Not only at home, but also in the Southern Song Dynasty, wherever our troops are directed, we need to organize revival members to publicize the local liberation actions of the army. We should attract Xiangfan people into our propaganda team in various ways, and use their Actual experience supports our actions.”
Su Yonglin continued to add.
"And this is very meaningful for maintaining the revolutionary and just nature of the army. Our army is a revolutionary army and a soldier of the common people. Even when marching and fighting, we must consider the safety of the common people.
If they are safe, we will be safe. If they care about us, we will have a steady stream of troops that can be put into battle. If we rely closely on them and contact them, we will be in an invincible position. This is the ironclad foundation that the Ming army cannot shake. law.
Specific to the Battle of Xiangfan, the Ming army was already in an invincible position strategically, and could only face minor tactical challenges from the Southern Song Dynasty. However, this challenge proved to be insignificant, and the Ming army was not afraid of the Southern Song army at all.
Under this premise, the Ming army must put discipline and the principle of the people first. It will never tolerate the situation in the second city of Xiangfan reoccurring even once. Even if it happens again, it will be a shame for the Ming army. "
After the speeches of Su Yonglin, Xin Qiji and Kong Maojie, all members' minds opened up.
We discussed it for more than an hour, and finally reached a broad consensus.
A total of six key consensuses were reached at the meeting.
First, the actions of the Ming army and the behavior of the Song army in the Xiangfan Battle should be widely publicized in the country. It is necessary to unify their thoughts and make the people across the country aware of the necessity of going south to destroy the Song Dynasty and liberate the people of the Southern Song Dynasty, as well as the justice of this action.
Second, the justice and revolutionary nature of the Henan Corps' actions were widely publicized within the army, and their spirit was highly praised.
Third, they adopt an attitude of first criticizing and then praising the behavior of Zhang Yuejing and the Henan Corps. The criticism is because they did not take this into account in their pre-war evaluation, and the praise is because they changed their attitude in a timely manner and put the safety of the people first. .
Fourth, recruit people from the Xiangfan area into the propaganda team, follow the army's actions, widely publicize what happened in the Xiangfan area and the actions of the Ming army, and give their own accounts.
Fifth, vigorously promote the revolutionization of the captured areas, and mobilize elite revival members from various provinces of the Ming Dynasty to go south to the Southern Song Dynasty, preparing to establish political power in the former Southern Song Dynasty areas that are about to be captured.
Sixth, implement the [War Criminals Accountability System] for the Southern Song Dynasty.
This war criminals accountability system is the result of the collective efforts at the conference.
It was Shen Ge who first brought it up, saying that he was worried that the same situation would happen in the Second City of Xiangfan when he attacked the Southern Song Dynasty. The bottom line of the Southern Song Dynasty bureaucrats was that there was no bottom line. Who knows whether they would continue to use the people as a shield?
If this situation continues to happen, it will inevitably greatly affect the actions of the Ming army.
The Ming army loved the people, but the Southern Song Dynasty abused the people. These barefooted people are not afraid of those wearing shoes. It is expected that there will be many difficulties in the future, and it will also have a huge impact on the Ming army.
Su Yonglin believed that Shen Ge's views were reasonable, so everyone discussed it one by one, and finally came to the conclusion that a war criminals accountability system should be established.
This is the draft proposed by Xin Qiji.
The specific method of action is because after this battle, it is a foregone conclusion that the Ming Dynasty will suppress the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty has lost all its mobile troops. As long as they want to continue to maintain their rule, they will most likely seek peace from the Ming Dynasty.
If you are worried that they will be stubborn and stubborn, then prepare to go south in Huainan and show them a big battle to make them frightened and not afraid that they will not come to ask for peace.
And once they come to seek peace, they can start operating.
The Ming Dynasty had a huge advantage. At this time, it could ask for anything from the Southern Song Dynasty. On the one hand, it could ask them to cede territory and pay compensation. On the other hand, it could ask them to hold their war criminals accountable.
Specifically, all the families and tribesmen of the generals who led the battle in the Battle of Xiangfan were handed over to the Ming Dynasty for trial.
Their own death does not count, and their families must be held accountable.
You want to commit such a crazy crime and want to die?
Impossible, the family members have to pay the price for their actions.
Ming Dynasty will judge them severely and let them spend the rest of their lives to atone for their actions as war criminals.
Depending on the severity of the actions of war criminals, two, three or even four generations of their descendants may be held accountable.
They must atone for the sins committed by their ancestors from generation to generation, and they will never be able to get over it.
There might be a market for such punishments within the Southern Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty paid great attention to Confucianism. Isn’t it mentioned in Confucianism?
Revenge is possible even for a hundred lifetimes.
This suggestion, which refers to the internal methods of punishing corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty, was put forward by Ma Weiying, deputy chief of the General Staff Headquarters. He suggested that in order to give the greatest deterrent to all bureaucrats in the Southern Song Dynasty, maximum punishment must be given, otherwise it would not be enough to deter the Southern Song Dynasty bureaucrats.
Su Yonglin further believed that this could make a big fuss, and continued to strengthen the public opinion offensive, so that the wavering bureaucrats within the Southern Song Dynasty would gradually realize the corruption and degeneration of the Southern Song Dynasty regime, and then move closer to the Ming government.
It’s really a good way to achieve multiple goals with one stone.
So he agreed to implement this plan.
The Southern Song Dynasty bureaucrats must be made aware of the Ming Dynasty's firm determination to safeguard the interests of the people and the price they need to pay for it.
When the price is too heavy for them to bear, they will naturally make the right choice.
