Episode 154 The Spirit of Pragmatism

Xiang Xiaoqiang stood on the roof of the car and waved his hands, and soon, the cheers around him calmed down. Xiang Xiaoqiang took the microphone and said loudly in his hometown dialect:

"Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen!! Do you know why the Qing Emperor made such a request to exchange prisoners? With the 70,000 Qing army prisoners in our hands and 80,000 new citizens, in exchange for the 6,000 Ming soldiers in the hands of the Qing army, the Qing Emperor made such a crazy request, is it because he can get any benefits? He won't get anything good! He didn't care if his hundreds of thousands of prisoners lived or died, and even if he wanted to go back, he wouldn't add them to the army anymore, he would just throw them into labor camps and leave them to fend for themselves! So why did the Qing Emperor still make such a request?

"It's very simple, and everyone must understand: he just wants our own people like us to fight each other! It's better to fight! …… There is no doubt that the six thousand Ming disciples who are now in the hands of the Qing captives are all the flesh and blood of our Ming Dynasty, and they are an inseparable part of our Ming flesh and blood! Needless to say, we will never give up on them! However, the 80,000 brothers who have newly joined my Daming, no matter what their previous identities were, have now become legal citizens of my Daming, which is an inseparable part of my Daming's flesh and blood!

"The reason why Emperor Qingyu made such a play is to put us in such a situation: either cut off the left hand or cut off the right hand! …… Of course, if it is a Qing captive, then what we didn't say, in addition to the heartache, there will be the same hatred. But Qingyu let us choose for ourselves, whether we want to be left or right! It's no different from cutting off our own hands! In this case, we will still be heartbroken, but we will no longer be in the same hatred! Because we ourselves will be suspicious of each other and hostile to each other!

"Today, we are all gathered here and arguing about who to give up and who to keep? I don't think everyone should be arguing with each other when they are sitting here! We should urge the government to bring our loved ones back at all costs! That's what we should strive for! This is what the government should do! Now Beiqing is like a kidnapper, holding our relatives in his hands and blackmailing us. Well, if the kidnapper just wants a ransom, then he didn't say it, as long as he makes an offer, we can negotiate how high the price is for the safe return of our relatives! But he wants us to trade other relatives! Let's exchange tens of thousands of Ming citizens! What is this concept?

"Some people say that these tens of thousands of Ming citizens have not joined long ago, and they cannot be regarded as relatives. Okay, then I'm not long after I joined Daming, that is, just a few months more than them! Thinking of this, I'm very scared, Qingyu hates me to Xiaoqiang, it's itchy teeth, if this can be changed, then Qingyu kidnapped Daming one day, and then asked Daming to take me to Xiaoqiang to exchange, then will I also be 'exchanged' like this? Isn't it miserable for me to Xiang Xiaoqiang? ”

When Xiang Xiaoqiang said this, the surrounding citizens were already laughing. The people in the "New Citizens Phalanx" laughed even harder. They were all very happy, because they felt that Xiang Xiaoqiang was his fellow countryman in the end, and he was talking for his side.

Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:

"Let's count on our fingers, if the Qing captives kidnap thousands of Ming officers and soldiers, they can let the Ming Dynasty hand over tens of thousands of their own citizens, such a high percentage, then I have only one person to Xiaoqiang, wouldn't the Qing captives just want to kidnap a Ming soldier, and let the Ming Dynasty hand me over to Xiaoqiang? According to this, if this case is opened, Qinglu will definitely become addicted to being a kidnapper! It's going to come and kidnap our people every now and then, and then threaten us to hand over the people it doesn't like! So, the anti-Qing fighters who went into exile in the Ming Dynasty, the writers who wrote articles to expose the darkness of the Northern Qing Dynasty and criticized the Northern Qing Dynasty, the Dongchang commissioners who organized and led the Northern Qing Resistance Organization, and even our cabinet ministers, the princess of Liaoyang, and even the first auxiliary ministers and His Majesty himself...... As long as the number of people kidnapped by the Qing captives is large enough and weighty, who can't extort it? …… So, it's not something to talk about at all!

"So I came here today to say these few words, firstly, to spit out the blockade in my chest for a few days, to talk to you, and secondly, to say two words to His Majesty Emperor Guangwu of the Northern Qing Dynasty on this public occasion:

"Your Majesty the Emperor, this is boring, really boring. What good is it to do things that harm others and not to oneself? What else can you gain but vent your frustration at not being able to invade the south and make us suffer too? For a country like our Daming, it is unthinkable and impossible to hand over tens of thousands of its citizens to the enemy. If we really do this, then our government is no longer worthy of being our government, and even our Ming Dynasty will lose its legitimacy in an instant. A country that can hand over tens of thousands of citizens to be slaughtered by others, how can it stay in this world normally in the future? To put it bluntly: how will you mix it up in the future?!

"Your Majesty the Emperor, if I were you, I would think about it, if you have such a good deck of cards in your hand, you should play it well and don't waste it. Wouldn't it be a pity if the diagram was so quick that the opportunity to make better use of it was lost. Yes, now our relatives are pinched by you, we are asking for you, and it is not impossible to bow your head. But don't force us to do what we can't do. Surrendering tens of thousands of citizens to the enemy may be able to do it in the Qing Dynasty, but we can't do it in the Ming Dynasty.

"Really, Your Majesty the Emperor, be pragmatic. If everyone is more pragmatic, this time the matter should be satisfactory to both parties. I believe that with the wisdom of His Majesty the Emperor, he will not stubbornly think that the only way to achieve the most satisfactory result is to force us to hand over tens of thousands of citizens to you and throw them into labor camps. There are bound to be thousands of results that will make you more satisfied. I think there must be many things that the Qing Dynasty needs, but there is no shortage of tens of thousands of mouths to eat. If both sides can come up with the same pragmatic spirit as the tacit ceasefire at the beginning of the year, what problem cannot be satisfactorily resolved?

"That's all I have to say."

After saying to Xiaoqiang, he bent down and jumped out of the car. Suddenly, the surrounding magnesium lights flickered wildly, and the silent square instantly boiled. His speech was like a drop of cold water in a hot oil pan, and it suddenly exploded.

Countless reporters shouted, crowding towards the little bee, and shouted at the same time:

"General Xiang, does your speech represent the official attitude of the Ming government?"

"General Xiang, can your speech be understood as Da Ming's soft words?"

"General Xiang, what is the current attitude of the Ming government? What is the attitude of the Ming military? What is Your Majesty's attitude? ”

"General Xiang, you have called Guangwu 'His Majesty the Emperor' many times just now, is it His Majesty the Empress's acquiescence?"

"General Xiang, may I ask how much the Ming Dynasty will pay in order to redeem the captured officers and soldiers? What is the cost? ”

"General Xiang, may I ask ......?"

"General Xiang, please talk about ......"

"...... to the General"

"...... to the Front"

……

The most asked questions are "General Xiang, does your speech represent the official attitude of the Ming Dynasty" and "General Xiang, are you speaking softly to Emperor Guangwu on behalf of the Ming official". But after Xiang Xiaoqiang jumped out of the car, he closed his mouth tightly and didn't explain a word, just smiled and got into the car and closed the door under the protection of the guards.

The guards also returned to the military card behind. Xiang Xiaoqiang's car was suddenly surrounded by dozens of reporters, countless faces shouted against the glass, and the dazzling magnesium light continued to shine through the glass, capturing Xiang Xiaoqiang's appearance of leaning in the car.

The car honked its horn and squirmed through the crowd, and the police finally separated the reporters on both sides, and Xiang Xiaoqiang's cars were able to get out.

As soon as Xiang Xiaoqiang left, the reporters in the square also ran away, and the rickshaw that stopped on the opposite side to watch the excitement was instantly robbed. The reporters grabbed the shorthand transcripts of the speeches in their hands, urged the coachmen, and rushed desperately to their respective newspaper offices. The reporters of the major international newspapers in Nanjing also grabbed the press release and ran desperately to the telephone and telegraph office, where they went to seize a window and strive to be the first to send this extraordinarily big news back to their home newspapers.

The square has been boiling for a long time. No matter which side of the two camps is, they are excitedly discussing. The "new citizens" are very happy, although most of them are of a very low level and do not understand the meaning of Xiang Xiaoqiang's speech, but they always hear Xiang Xiaoqiang's statement unmistakably: handing over tens of thousands of citizens is not something to talk about. The new citizens closed their mouths excitedly, and loudly praised the fellow Xiang Xiaoqiang, in the end, the villager is the fellow, the villager is the fellow, and it is really righteous.

The "group of relatives and friends" all understood the meaning of Xiang Xiaoqiang's speech, that is, although it is impossible for Daming to hand over tens of thousands of citizens in exchange for a few thousand prisoners, it has vaguely promised Beiqing, except that it can't be done by replacing people with Daming, you Beiqing can make an offer, and I Daming is willing to do my best to satisfy you.

They are also very excited, because after all, the previous petition asking the government to exchange tens of thousands of "new citizens" for their own family members is too much, and it is not very likely. But now it's different, Daming took the initiative to say soft words, and asked Beiqing to say "His Majesty the Emperor" even though he offered a price, albeit through Xiang Xiaoqiang's mouth. This was unthinkable in the past. This makes it much more likely that the loved ones will come back. Such a good opportunity, Beiqing will not fail to seize it. Emperor Guangwu was not a fool.

……

They really guessed right. Xiang Xiaoqiang is here today to be an "unofficial, semi-official spokesperson". Yesterday morning, Zhu Yourong called Xiang Xiaoqiang, Shen Rongxuan, and several ministers into the palace to discuss this matter with them. In the past two days, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not made much progress in negotiations with Japan, and Zhu Yourong said that she is ready to make a public speech, surrender to the Qing Dynasty in the north, and express her willingness to pay a large price to ask Emperor Guangwu to release the people back.

Several people immediately discussed it and came up with this idea to Xiaoqiang. Because Zhu Yourong is the monarch of the Ming Dynasty after all, she will come forward directly as soon as she comes up, which is equivalent to playing all the cards. Because for a regime like the Northern Qing Dynasty, the head of the enemy country openly bowed to it, which in itself was a very attractive thing. Because this will become an excellent propaganda material for it to "boost the morale of the people", the Northern Qing Dynasty will be like a treasure. It's a big stack and can't be played easily.

For the Ming Dynasty, the king of a country bows to the enemy in order to save the lives of his subjects, which will only make the people love her more, even in the world, she will never damage her reputation or damage the slightest reputation of the Ming Dynasty because of Zhu Yourong's bowing this time. On the contrary, mainstream countries will regard Zhu Yourong as a "saint" person, the national image of the Ming Dynasty will be even taller, and the image of the Northern Qing Dynasty will be even more despicable.

But after all, there must be someone to provoke the conversation in an unofficial name. After several discussions among the monarchs and ministers, they all felt that this candidate was none other than Xiang Xiaoqiang. Xiang Xiaoqiang has always given people the impression that he is the one who can say this. None of the other generals and ministers could do it.

……

After Xiang Xiaoqiang returned to the headquarters, he immediately received a call from Zhu Yourong.