Chapter 048 Now I Want to Be a Good Person
Zhu Yuanzhang pursued Chen Youliang's defeated army with unstoppable force.
It had long been speculated that Chen Youliang would attack Yingtian. This time, Zhu Yuanzhang made more adequate preparations than in the original history and advanced the front in an orderly manner.
Chang Yuchun offered suggestions, using his own experience in Quzhou and Chizhou, and requested Zhu Yuanzhang to immediately implement the well-field system in all occupied cities.
Chang Yuchun made great contributions during Chen Youliang's invasion.
Zhu Yuanzhang first ordered Chang Yuchun to assist Xu Da and garrison Chizhou with a large force. Xu Da ordered Chang Yuchun to set an ambush at Liuquankou, while he himself opened the city gates and went out to meet the enemy, defeating Chen Youliang's army. Later, Chang Yuchun led 30,000 elite troops alongside Feng Guosheng in the Battle of Longwan in Yingtian, earning him one of the key achievements of the battle.
If it had happened before, given Chang Yuchun's personality, he would have definitely killed the prisoners.
During the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were successive natural disasters, and even Zhu Yuanzhang's territory did not have much surplus food.
If tens of thousands of prisoners of war were directly incorporated into the army, there was a possibility of rebellion; if they were not incorporated into the army, Zhu Yuanzhang would not have enough food to feed these people.
Not only at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but also in the feudal era when productivity was scarce, prisoners were always killed in wars.
Chang Yuchun was always rational to the point of bloody cruelty when dealing with prisoners of war. When he felt that he could not subdue the prisoners in a short period of time and could not afford to support them, he would decisively order the prisoners to be killed.
The opposite of Chang Yuchun was Xu Da, who hated killing prisoners and would do his best to appease them, squeezing out as much food as possible for them.
Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards prisoners of war was the same as Xu Da's. Therefore, when he later sent Chang Yuchun to participate in major battles, he would let Chang Yuchun serve as Xu Da's deputy.
However, in this chaotic world, considering practical interests, Chang Yuchun is more correct.
Zhu Yuanzhang was almost the only person in this chaotic era who did not kill prisoners indiscriminately. This led to the prisoners of war being fickle many times. Hu Dahai and his son, Ye Chen, Geng Zaicheng and other trusted subordinates were killed one after another by treacherous surrendered generals.
His kindness became a joke at the time.
This would not happen until the following year. Moreover, even after encountering repeated betrayals, Zhu Yuanzhang still gritted his teeth and maintained the order not to kill prisoners indiscriminately.
Therefore, during the Battle of Chizhou, Zhu Yuanzhang specifically instructed Xu Da to keep a close eye on Chang Yuchun.
In the original history of the Battle of Chizhou, Chang Yuchun killed half of the prisoners. Xu Da pinned Chang Yuchun down, and Zhu Yuanzhang scolded him. Chang Yuchun then restrained his murderous nature and rarely clashed with Zhu Yuanzhang over this matter.
This time Xu Da had put all his efforts into holding Chang Yuchun down, but Chang Yuchun actually used his experience from Quzhou and did not kill anyone indiscriminately.
Chang Yuchun's suggestion this time, Xu Da, who was deeply moved by Chang Yuchun's restraint in Chizhou, immediately encouraged Zhu Yuanzhang to pay attention to Chang Yuchun's suggestion.
Xu Da said to Zhu Yuanzhang privately: "Boss, don't you want to know what good method Chang Yuchun has found to control his murderous nature?"
Although Zhu Yuanzhang admired Chang Yuchun's bravery, he knew that Chang Yuchun was brave but not wise, especially when it came to people's livelihood. He was very busy at the moment and was planning to put it aside for a while.
After hearing Xu Da's words, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately became curious and summoned Chang Yuchun.
When Chang Yuchun arrived at Zhu Yuanzhang's tent, Zhu Yuanzhang was changing his bandages.
Ma Xiuying glanced at Chang Yuchun and asked in surprise, "The blood is seeping out of your bandage, why don't you change it?"
Ma Xiuying had someone hold Chang Yuchun down and personally changed his bandage.
Chang Yuchun blushed and quickly declined.
Zhu Yuanzhang scolded, "I don't mind, why do you mind? An elder sister-in-law is like a mother. Just treat Xiuying as your mother. Why are you still shy in front of your mother?"
Chang Yuchun: “…”
Ma Xiuying laughed so hard that her body shook: "Yes, yes, treat me as your mother, let me see."
Chang Yuchun looked at Ma Xiuying and Zhu Yuanzhang, who were only a few years older than him, and always felt upset, but the embarrassment in his heart disappeared.
Ma Xiuying untied Chang Yuchun's armor. Chang Yuchun's blood had soaked through the bandages, soaked his inner shirt, and dyed the armor red.
Ma Xiuying cursed, "Don't you feel the pain?! The wound is completely open, and you're still walking around like nothing happened?! If you don't pay attention now, you might die suddenly in the future!!"
Chang Yuchun shrank his neck when Ma Xiuying yelled at him.
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "You deserve to be scolded. Let Xiuying scold you more."
Zhu Yuanzhang used to have few subordinates. He was the marshal, the general, and even the soldiers. When his brothers were injured, no one cared for them. Ma Xiuying took care of everything by herself.
Later, when more women of the soldiers joined the army, Ma Xiuying felt a little relieved.
Therefore, most of Zhu Yuanzhang's brothers had been scolded by Ma Xiuying, and they were all afraid of Ma Xiuying.
Chang Yuchun defected late, and Zhu Yuanzhang's army was already relatively wealthy and did not need Ma Xiuying to work so hard, so this was the first time he was scolded by Ma Xiuying.
Ma Xiuying continued to scold him, "If your child wasn't still young, you should have let your wife follow you. I wonder if you dare to do this again."
Chang Yuchun's face turned pale immediately and he nodded and bowed to admit his mistake.
He didn't want the Lan family to accompany him! That would be so hard!
After he admitted his mistake, he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have heard that Ma Xiuying had just given birth to a child.
Ma Xiuying would not allow women in the army to accompany their children if they had young children. Even if they requested it, Ma Xiuying would not agree. However, Ma Xiuying herself left her newborn child behind and followed Zhu Yuanzhang into battle.
Chang Yuchun didn't know what to feel and didn't know how to answer.
Ma Xiuying helped Chang Yuchun reapply the medicine, washed her hands in a basin, and applied the hand cream Chen Biao had made for her. Then she said, "Seeing you like this, I'm really worried about the others. Chongba, I'm going to check on the wounded camp."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Go ahead, go ahead, and put on your mask."
Ma Xiuying nodded, picked up the simple medical kit that Chen Biao made for her, put on a mask and gloves, and left.
After Ma Xiuying left, Zhu Yuanzhang sat carelessly on a chair and said, "Tian De said that you did an excellent job in Chuzhou and subdued the captives. He told me to take your advice seriously. Tell me, what advice do you have to offer?"
Hearing Xu Da, who had always been dissatisfied with him, speak well of him, Chang Yuchun's eyes flashed and he said respectfully, "I just learned some experience from Yangzhou, combining the prisoner labor reform camp with the well-field system."
Zhu Yuanzhang stopped shaking his legs, the smile on his face faded, and his expression became very serious: "Tell me in detail."
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was serious, Chang Yuchun immediately offered his suggestions.
Zhu Yuanzhang flipped open the booklet and asked: "When did you learn calligraphy? Your handwriting is not bad, but not as good as mine."
Chang Yuchun said, "When the Marshal called on us to study, I invited the teacher."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Chang Yuchun's handwriting, which, though lacking in aesthetics, was still neat and readable, and said, "You've been away fighting for years. Do you have time to study?"
Chang Yuchun said, "I always find time. I have free time on horseback and in camp. After my son started school, I found his flash cards very interesting, so I copied one for myself and made it bigger. I usually put it upright on my horse so I can read it while riding."
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't hold back his serious expression and said with a smile: "You're not afraid that the horse will run into the ditch."
Chang Yuchun also smiled naively and said, "My horse knows the way. It can find its way even with my eyes closed. I'm not afraid."
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "The flashcards are a good idea. They can be promoted. They can shut up those brothers who are lazy and find excuses not to study. If I tell them that this is your idea, will they come and beat you up?"
Chang Yuchun smiled and said, "Then let them come. I won't lose to anyone in a fight."
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Then say it was your idea, and I'll give you credit for it."
After saying this, he was silent for a moment and looked at Chang Yuchun's detailed proposal very carefully.
In fact, what Chang Yuchun wrote was more of a summary of his experiences in Quzhou and Chizhou than an offer of advice.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was reading Chang Yuchun's work summary, Chen Biao was also talking about what Chang Yuchun had done in Quzhou and Chizhou.
The economies of all the cities Zhu Yuanzhang conquered depended entirely on the Chen family. Zhu Yuanzhang trusted Chen Biao greatly, and since his attention was focused on the war effort, he paid little attention to economic matters. Consequently, Chen Biao knew the details of Quzhou and Chizhou before Zhu Yuanzhang did.
After sorting out some intelligence and finding insiders who had returned from Quzhou and Chizhou to inquire in detail, Chen Biao had a new course written to explain to this group of elementary school students the policies implemented by Chang Yuchun in Quzhou and Chizhou, and asked them to write down their thoughts and experiences.
The other teachers assisting Chen Biao at Yingtian Elementary School were all surprised. These students were in their early years, so shouldn't they be memorizing and reciting "Three Character Classic" and "Thousand Character Classic" and other introductory texts, trying to learn as many characters as possible so they can transition to the Four Books and Five Classics?
Why did Mr. Chen explain the national policy of land tax to primary school students? Can the primary school students understand it?
Chen Biao believes that this group of people can understand.
The IQs of ancient and modern people are not much different. Primary school students in modern society can watch the news every day and discuss national affairs with their classmates. Why can't the students at Yingtian Primary School do the same?
He didn't intend to make these people become powerful after hearing these stories, he just wanted to broaden their horizons.
Everyone knows that the biggest difference between modern people and ancient people lies in the amount of information they consume.
Why should we read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles? This is also to expand the amount of information.
Most people's IQs are probably in the same range. The amount of information a person consumes determines their so-called intelligence.
Even if children are ignorant, they will be influenced by what they see and hear from a young age, and when they grow up they will unconsciously transform the information they absorb into their own abilities.
If you think children don’t understand and don’t teach them, you will let them lose at the starting line.
Tsk, losing at the starting line, this description almost gave Chen Biao goosebumps.
Yingtian Primary School is a place where Chen Biao has the final say. Even if other faculty and staff do not understand, Chen Biao will teach whatever class he says and no one will stop him.
Chen Biao hung a large colorful picture full of childlike fun carefully drawn by the Chen family gardener on the blackboard and explained it to the primary school students.
Chang Yuchun fought against local tyrants in Quzhou, distributed land, and let the people have land to farm.
He also imitated Yangzhou to establish a labor reform camp for prisoners of war. If the prisoners were successfully reformed, they would be given land and could be transferred from soldiers to civilians.
If these were the two points, it would be similar to Yangzhou. But Chang Yuchun did something else: he visited the prisoners of war and asked them if they had been abused by their generals. If the generals had committed crimes, he would also bring the surrendered generals to the stage for judgment.
When encountering surrendered generals who had committed extremely serious crimes, Chang Yuchun would behead them in public after announcing their crimes; when encountering surrendered generals who had not committed many crimes, Chang Yuchun would let them undergo labor reform with ordinary prisoners of war and would not give them any special treatment.
This move he made undermined the authority of generals over soldiers and reduced the status of surrendered generals to the same level as ordinary soldiers.
He even let ordinary prisoners of war with good performance manage those surrendered generals with poor performance, and even let ordinary prisoners of war punish those surrendered generals with poor performance.
Chen Biao said, "For ordinary soldiers, it doesn't matter who they join. They will follow whoever can keep them fed. Those who want to defect are surrendered generals. Ordinary soldiers just follow their generals out of habit. Because they know that if the general betrays them, they may be killed if they stay."
"General Chang's move severed the relationship of interest between ordinary prisoners and surrendered generals. From now on, surrendered generals can only represent themselves, not the soldiers under their command."
"General Chang first undermined the surrendered general's authority over the soldiers, and then established in them the impression that they were all equal in the Zhu family army—all captives—and that whoever performed well would rise to prominence. So for the ordinary soldiers, the surrendered general was even their competitor."
Chen Biao asked someone to replace the picture with a color one.
"Ordinary soldiers were incapable of committing much evil, so the work points needed to redeem themselves were few. So, at worst, they could work for a year or two, then receive land and household registration, allowing them to live a stable life farming."
The picture shows a group of people happily plowing the fields and cheering at the bountiful harvest of grain.
"General Chang also set up many exams for them. If they earned enough work points, such as being good at farming, forging and repairing tools, or being able to read and write, they would receive further rewards to improve their lives. If they were interested in joining the army, they could redeem themselves with work points and join the Zhu family army as ordinary citizens."
Chen Biao posted another picture.
Some soldiers were instructing others on how to farm; some were helping people make farm tools; some soldiers changed into scholar's long gowns, holding books in their hands, with a group of students scratching their heads sitting below them; and some soldiers changed into red battle robes, running towards Zhu's army with smiles on their faces.
"What is the foundation of our Zhu family army? It is the well-field system and the common people. So how do we transform the common people into our hard power? General Chang's approach is very inspiring."
Chen Biao felt very emotional.
Chang Yuchun could have come up with something better than what he was doing now, but Chen Biao used existing examples , while Chang Yuchun came up with his own ideas.
Chen Biao is sometimes very surprised. He has done nothing, but the world always changes in ways he never expected.
It's impossible that his birth itself raised the giant wings of steel and quietly changed this period of history, right?
There's nothing so weird about it.
He could only think that this was probably just a parallel world. Perhaps it was natural that what happened in that parallel world was different from the history he had read in books?
Anyway, it definitely has nothing to do with him.
When Chen Biao taught, the teaching materials he used were colorful comic strips, and he spoke in plain language that even illiterate people could understand. The primary school students stared at the comic strips with wide eyes, each of them concentrating intently, as if Chen Biao was not teaching a class, but telling them a good story.
In fact, if all the things Chang Yuchun did were told one by one, it would be an interesting story.
After Chang Yuchun initially implemented his idea in Quzhou, he further expanded it in Chizhou.
This time, he called over a popular opera troupe in Yangzhou and had them perform several operas for Chen Youliang's soldiers, in which Xu Shouhui was sincere to Chen Youliang, but Chen Youliang betrayed his former master.
In the opera, Chen Youliang himself slept on a golden bed, while his soldiers could hardly even get enough to eat, which fully reflected Chen Youliang's cruelty and ruthlessness.
What future do you have following a lord like this?
Would Chen Youliang give you land? Would Chen Youliang order his generals not to insult your families? Would Chen Youliang's wife care about you like our Lady Xiuying did, personally bringing her female relatives to sew your battle robes?
As soon as our Zhu family army walked onto the road and announced our names, the common people began to cry and shout, offering food and drink to welcome the royal army.
What about you guys? You're always hated wherever you go, right?
In the past, we had no choice. We had no food or clothes and were almost starving and freezing to death, so we had no choice but to work for others.
Now that you have a choice, don’t you want to be a good person praised by others?
Chang Yuchun also used his own experience to inspire the soldiers.
I used to be a bandit who robbed houses, but now I am the "Justice Chang Lao Ye" of the people of Quzhou, and the "Marshal Chang who punishes evil and promotes good". I have been painted as a door god by the people of Quzhou and pasted on their doors to ensure safety.
After all, you are just soldiers serving Chen Youliang, unlike me who became a bandit, so your starting point is higher than mine.
In fact, Chang Yuchun never said this, but Chen Biao made up a classic line for him: "General Chang said, I had no choice before, but now I want to be a good person, what about you?"
Elementary school students: "Woo woo woo! General Chang! Chang Mao, your father is so nice!"
Chang Mao, who was only five years old, tilted his head stupidly. Although he didn't quite understand, they were all praising my dad!
My dad is so nice! He makes your son proud!
Not to mention that the primary school students were moved to tears by General Chang's words "now wanting to be a good person", the faculty and staff who were watching and listening, wanting to see whether Mr. Chen could really teach these children about national policies, also wiped away tears.
They understood Mr. Chen's intention.
Are these actions of General Chang different from the stories in the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic? No. The key isn't to help children understand the profound meaning of General Chang's actions, but to help them understand his benevolent and compassionate heart.
Chen Biao's class is very useful.
The elementary school students clamored to emulate General Chang, desiring not only to be good people themselves but also to help others become good. They worked even harder as mediators, each carrying a copy of General Chang's comic book, using his example of educating prisoners of war to teach both sides to be good.
Ordinary primary school students were only moved by General Chang’s unspoken words: “I had no choice before, but now I want to be a good person.” Extraordinary primary school students have begun to study the effects that General Chang’s policies can achieve and the significance that can be learned from them.
Chen Biao wrote down the names of these smart primary school students and gave them special tutoring.
These people will become generals and ministers in the future!
When General Chang's story spread from Yingtian Primary School to the entire Yingtian Prefecture, Hua Yun also dragged Hua Wensun, who could barely walk, to attend the class, scratching his head and studying how Chang Yuchun educated prisoners of war.
Hua Yun also invited Chen Biao to give lectures to the generals and soldiers in the army, and spread Chang Yuchun's spirit of "thinking about being a good person" to the Zhu family army stationed in Yingtian.
Chen Biao was talking until his mouth was dry and he felt annoyed.
He immediately had someone write a series of dramas and storytelling about "General Chang's Education of Prisoners of War" and asked the Chen Family Art Troupe to prepare for the performance.
In less than half a month, literary and artistic works and performances related to "General Chang" became popular in Yingtian.
After Li Zhen wrote a letter to report to Zhu Yuanzhang, the Chen family art troupe set out from Yingtian and brought literary and artistic works and performances related to "General Chang" to all cities under Zhu Yuanzhang's command.
When Zhu Yuanzhang accepted Chang Yuchun's suggestion and Xu Shouhui, an old general under Chen Youliang, surrendered the city, the first thing he did was to implement the well-field system, set up labor reform camps, and let the Chen family art troupe play "General Chang".
Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang simply dismissed Chang Yuchun from his military post and gave him a civil servant position as a "military farming officer," asking him to stop fighting and focus on farming and prisoner-of-war labor reform camps.
Zhu Yuanzhang patted Chang Yuchun on the shoulder and said, "I never imagined that your talent lies not in fighting, but in governance! Boren, you are a talented minister who can save the world and the people!"
Chang Yuchun: “???”
Chang Yuchun refused: "No, no, no, Marshal, I'll just be your vanguard."
I'm no longer a marshal, no longer a general. Can I be your vanguard? Why am I being transferred from the front lines to the rear?!
Zhu Yuanzhang said earnestly, "Boren, the most important thing for us now is how to truly make the territory we have conquered our own. The people in the cities we have just occupied are asking General Chang to come and help them. This is the will of the people, and you have no choice but to go."
Chang Yuchun was overwhelmed: "Marshal! Don't you know who I am? I have such a bad temper, how can I be the one to comfort the prisoners of war and the people!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled mysteriously and said, "Come with me and watch a play. Then learn from it. Do as the play does."
Chang Yuchun was confused when Zhu Yuanzhang dragged him to watch a play.
The Chen family art troupe actually came to the front line.
After watching "General Chang's Farming Records," Chang Yuchun's face turned pale as his colleagues, who were complimenting him with suppressed smiles, asked, "Marshal... who filmed this play?"
What's this "I didn't have a choice before, but now I want to be a good person"?! I never fucking said that!
Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his stubble and said triumphantly, "Chen Jiabiao, you're amazing, aren't you? Hahaha! This play is more powerful than a thousand troops! I've already told the Chen family to teach opera as soon as possible, and to have opera troupes from all over come to Yingtian to learn for free. We're going to spread this play across the country, both north and south of the Great Wall, and let the Yuan Tartars learn from you and be good people!"
My Biaoer is so amazing! The policies of pacifying the people in the play can be directly implemented! This is not a play, this is a direct guide to "How to appease and reform prisoners of war"!
Song Lian and others applauded the performance and summarized the policies in the opera one by one. They are now writing new laws to pacify the people, which will be completed soon.
If the situation allowed, Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted to rush back to Yingtian, hug his son and give him a few big kisses.
My son is awesome!
"Chen family...Biao'er..." Chang Yuchun repeated stupidly.
That five-year-old… no, already six-year-old Chen Jiabiao?! Mr. Chen, what grudge do I have against you?
