Starting from August 3rd, another group of people gathered in front of the official residence of the Chief Minister of Nanjing, and it grew rapidly. By August 4th, the number of people was close to 10,000. Although it was only one-third of the number of "former Qing prisoners"
One, but the momentum and popularity of the gathering far surpassed them.
These are the families of the thousands of Ming Army prisoners of war. They organized themselves in various places in the past two days, took trains and cars to Nanjing, and prayed with tears and blood for their sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers.
After all, these "relatives and friends" were born and raised in Daming, and they were very familiar with the rules of the game for public gatherings. As soon as they arrived, they went to the police station to register. However, this registration was not for the approval of the police station, but once the
After registering, the police will provide full protection for your gathering. Within the time period and location you declare, only your group can gather. Your opponents or other themed gatherings are not allowed. This can also prevent
Gathering participants from different factions fought in groups, triggering street violence.
But those "new citizens" who had just arrived didn't understand this. They had prepared everything, but they didn't expect to go to the police station to register. As a result, they were the first to arrive, but their territory was "snatched" by others.
The police were also clearly on the side of the "Group of Relatives and Friends of Soldiers of the Ming Dynasty" and rudely pushed the "new citizens" aside, asking them to give up at least half of the space for the "Group of Relatives and Friends of Soldiers of the Ming Dynasty". Those former Qing citizens
The soldiers straightened their necks proudly, spoke plausibly, waved the "Ming Dynasty Constitution" in front of the policemen, and asked the police what they wanted to do and whether they understood the rules. How dare they trample on the sacred right of Ming Dynasty citizens to assemble.
But the policemen took out a copy of the "Law of the Ming Dynasty on Parades and Assemblies of Citizens" and told them: I should have driven you all away, but now that you have come first, it is good to only let you vacate half of the place. No.
I understand but I am still confused.
With just a few words, these thick soldiers choked and rolled their eyes. Many of the angry ones wanted to fight at that time, but were immediately restrained by their companions. They knew that Ming Dynasty was watching them from top to bottom now, and they must let everyone watch.
To accept them is to be a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, not an idiot
The arrogant soldiers of the Northern Qing Dynasty. Now is the time to decide their own destiny. If they are not responsible for themselves, it will be even more detrimental to themselves if they start fighting with the police again. Once the Ming Dynasty still regards them as soldiers of the Northern Qing Dynasty, it will
Send them out without hesitation and bring back your own people.
More than 30,000 "new citizens" complained, raised their buttocks and moved more than a hundred meters east. They were even more crowded and farther away from the gate of the official residence of the chief minister. The "Ming Dynasty Soldiers Relatives and Friends Group" opposite was very popular.
They drove over in an orderly manner and occupied the vacated space.
Since the number of people on both sides was very large and the mood was obviously contradictory, more police were dispatched. Hundreds of police officers holding batons formed two human walls between the "new citizens" and the "relatives and friends group", and
A rope was pulled up in the middle. Several water trucks from the East District Fire Department were also filled with water and parked in the garage ready to go. Once violence breaks out here and the police cannot control it, these water trucks can rush to the scene immediately and use high-pressure
The water dragon rushed away the crowd.
…
Those "new citizens" are all old men. In addition to shouting slogans neatly during the rally, most of the time they sit together and laugh and chat. Many people are even laughing and joking. But the "relatives and friends group" is completely different.
It’s different. Most of them are women and children, the elderly, women and children. And they all show their true feelings, crying and sadness. Their appeal to onlookers is not comparable to that of the "former Qing soldiers" opposite. As soon as they appear
, the balance of public sympathy immediately tilted towards them.
Under the lens of the spotlight, a fourteen-year-old girl burst into tears and choked with sobs as she said:
"...My brother was captured to protect our family and the country... He is the only son of my parents, and I have no cousins. According to the conditions, he was exempted from military service, but my brother still volunteered to join the army... At that time
, my mother and I both cried and asked him why and what he was thinking, whether he no longer planned to have this family... My brother said that now the Qing captives, a million-strong army, have gathered across the Yangtze River defense line and will invade the south at any time.
And our Ming Dynasty does not have enough troops...
"He said that there are many only sons like him in our Ming Dynasty, and everyone is eligible for exemption from military service... However, it is precisely because everyone does not serve that the strength of our Ming army is so tight... He also said that if he joins the army, he will die even if he joins the army.
As long as the Qing Dynasties cannot defeat us, the Ming government will destroy us
The family is well taken care of... But if the Qing Dynasty invades, everything will be over for our Ming Dynasty. We will all be slaves. Then there will be no use for him to live... If he goes to join the army, even though he is alone
The power is very small, but the possibility of Qinglu attacking will be smaller..."
The girl was crying while talking, and by this point she was crying so much that she couldn't breathe:
"... Now, my brother's words have really come true... Qinglu was beaten back, Ming Dynasty was saved, our home, and the homes of many people were saved... But, my brother can't come back...
"
The surrounding spotlights were flashing one after another, and the reporters were immersed in taking shorthand. A photographer also came over, holding a camera and turning the handle "click". The surrounding citizens were all moved, including some ladies.
I was so moved that I wiped my tears.
An organizer of a civil society organization brought a microphone over, stretched it out in front of her, and encouraged her:
"Come on, miss, you say it this way. This way more people can hear it, even the chief minister can hear it."
The girl took the phone and said with sobs:
"...I don't want to think about anything else now. I just hope that Mr. Chief Assistant can save my brother...and let him go home...I, my mother, and my sister are all looking forward to him at home..."
The girl's mournful voice was played by a loudspeaker and echoed in the sky in front of the official residence. The sound of the loudspeaker was so loud that not only people on both sides of the gathering heard it, but even Shen Rongxuan in the official residence heard it clearly.
Immediately afterwards, the microphone was in the hands of another young woman. This young woman was in her twenties. She wore gold-rimmed glasses and looked dignified. She looked like a middle school teacher. Her husband was an army officer and was also captured in the North.
Cleared.
She seemed very strong, but her face was very pale, and she said sadly:
"When the puppet Emperor Guangwu of the Qing Dynasty met with foreign reporters, he already said that if the Ming Dynasty refused to exchange prisoners, then all the prisoners of the Ming Dynasty would be sent to labor camps! Everyone also knows what happened to the labor camps in the Beiqing Dynasty
!That is in the mines, quarries, brick-kilns
Waiting for a place to work as coolies! It is not productive labor at all, but purely punitive and torture! You don’t even have clothes, you just wear torn linen pieces all year round. When winter comes, a large number of people will freeze to death! They eat so much
What a garbage, and only one meal a day!
"Hunger, disease, beatings, overwork, severe cold in winter, exposure to the sun in summer, as well as occasional landslides, water leakage, and gas explosions in mines... The International Red Cross has long concluded that the labor camps in the Qing Dynasty , even more cruel than the Siberian labor camps of the Soviet Union! The average life span of people sent there is less than five years! Women and children generally do not survive the first year, but the healthiest men only live seven or eight years!
"I just want to ask Shen Rongxuan, those people across the street were still prisoners of war a few months ago, and they still want to come to massacre and enslave us. They may have been defenders in the most miserable labor camps... Why are they like this? Are you about to become a citizen of the Ming Dynasty? Shen Rongxuan, is this the decision made by your government? Are you really going to keep these guys who have not washed the blood off their hands and let them tarnish the word 'citizen of the Ming Dynasty'? Glory? Or are you going to let those soldiers who really shed their blood to defend Chinese civilization die miserably in labor camps? Is your government planning to do this?...Okay, if you really do this, we orphans and widowed mothers will Naturally, I can't do anything to you... But you have to be careful. When the Qing invaders invade the south again, is there anyone willing to shed blood and sacrifice in order to defend the sacred word 'citizen of the Ming Dynasty'?"
After the female teacher finished speaking, her pale face turned red with excitement. Tens of thousands of "Ming Army relatives and friends" and the surrounding citizens burst into warm cheers and applause.
The "New Citizen's Square" across the street couldn't stand it anymore, and the surrounding citizens looked at themselves less friendly. Each of these former soldiers from the Northern Qing Dynasty felt great pressure, and a sense of fear sprang up from behind, as if Tomorrow I will be escorted back to Beiqing. Once I have tasted the pride and dignity of being a "citizen of the Ming Dynasty", if I go back to Beiqing and become a "fart citizen", life will be worse than death. What's more, what is the possibility that those of them who voluntarily stayed in the Ming Dynasty and obtained the "green cards" from the Ming Dynasty would not enter a "labor camp" after returning to Beiqing?
A former Qing soldier stood up on a stool, waved his arms and started talking. But his voice was too soft and could not be heard at all. So, immediately there was another reporter with a very eye-catching voice, dragging a microphone towards him. Come here, give him the microphone and let him speak.
This former Qing soldier was in his mid-twenties and his face was flushed. He took the microphone and spoke with a Shandong accent that immediately echoed over the official residence:
"...I mean, eldest sister, you can't say that! We used to be sorry for you, but at that time... we didn't know you were so good at that time! I need to know the people on your side at that time You are all so good, the officials are so good, and the people are so good. Even if I risk my life and run away, I can't follow you and fight you! We also want to live in peace, and we don't want to fight. I also know that people will die in war. Isn't that right! Who is not raised by his parents? We are the same after all... We don't know each other if we don't fight! Sister, are you right?
"...If others don't say it, let's talk about me. It was only after I came here that I realized how good the Ming Dynasty is. In the past, in the north, newspapers and radio broadcasts said how bad your place is and why the people don't do anything. They go to the streets all day long to make trouble, and it’s as chaotic as a hut... I still think those people who run south are stupid! Only when I came here did I realize that all those years in the north were in vain! At least your soldiers still know why. We are fighting, we don’t even know why we are fighting! Who do you think is pitiful?... I just fight how the officers tell me, and just like that, so many people would run away all day long! If it weren’t for the wishes the officers made , said that if you enter Nanjing, you can steal money and wife, there are still many people running away!
"Hey, look at my mouth... But having said that, eldest sister, you said that we have your blood on our hands, which is really unfair to us! Sister, please feel your conscience, do we have your blood on our hands? Do we?
Weren't we still in the north of the Yangtze River when you took us prisoners? We didn't even see what Nanjing looked like.
Come on, why are your hands stained with your blood? It’s true that your plane whined and blew up our brothers’ legs and arms! Sister, those who have blood on their hands are all those bastards from the Eight Banners Division.
Yes, don’t talk about those turtle things, even we can’t wait to give them to you..."
He was shouting like this, and his words were rude but not rude, which aroused the resonance of many people. The sparse applause rang out, and soon spread, and the applause and cheers from the "new citizens" were also loud.
, no less than that of the "Friends and Relatives Group".
…
At this moment, several cars suddenly stopped on the side of the road, followed by a military vehicle. A dozen soldiers with live ammunition jumped out and stood in a row.
Soon, the boiling sounds around them began to quiet down, and more and more people noticed these vehicles. And many people saw that these soldier brochures belonged to the People's Guard.
A guard quickly ran to the car in the middle, bent down and opened the door. The soldiers on both sides stood at attention and saluted.
A young officer stepped out of the car, held up his big-brimmed hat, and then looked around at the people around him with a smile.
Suddenly, the spotlights flashed densely, and countless clouds of white smoke rose into the sky.
The place in front of the official residence was abuzz again.
This person is Xiang Xiaoqiang.
Xiang Xiaoqiang actually took the initiative to show up at the rally! The reporters who had been eager to interview Xiang Xiaoqiang for many days finally found a place to vent. Countless reporters stretched out their cameras and notebooks and squeezed towards Xiang Xiaoqiang. The two rows of soldiers immediately
Form a circle in front of Xiaoqiang and protect him firmly in the middle.
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said nothing. He turned around and climbed up using the roof of the car. He stood on top of the car so that everyone could see him first.
When the "Friends and Relatives Group" saw Xiang Xiaoqiang, many people immediately cheered. Especially the girls. Because the anti-Qing heroes in the Nanjing Defense War, the hero who personally captured the people on the opposite side, General Xiang, finally came to support
They got it. Now their side is much more powerful.
Xiang Xiaoqiang took a microphone and shouted in the most authentic Shandong dialect:
"Brothers——!!! Brothers, sisters, young and old, gentlemen——!!! Everyone listen to me!!!"
…
Tens of thousands of "old and young men" on the "new citizens" side also cheered immediately, and the cheers were louder than those on the other side. Because their most powerful fellow in Nanming, the northerner Xiang Xiaoqiang, came. At this time, they