Chapter 95 Section 5 The Spiritual Cost of Surrender

Wu Sangui could hardly believe that Hong Chengchou would surrender.But after believing it, he felt an inexplicable sense of relief. Hong Chengchou is one of the figures that Wu Sangui sincerely respects among the princes of Chaogungun.For scholars, Wu Sangui has always been conflicted.On the one hand, he is in awe of the profound truths in these people's mouths; on the other hand, these people who speak the truth often surprise him when they do things. These people are pedantic and naive in doing business, but they are better at making money than anyone else, and they are thicker than anyone else in making money.Encountering the opportunity to win fame and reputation, they scrambled to be the first, but when it came time to make a decision based on the charter, they couldn't say what was right, and they all shirked.The high officials of the Manchu Dynasty led many such people. Wu Sangui thought that the empire was ruined by these people.

However, Hong Chengchou is different from them.This handsome man also looks weak on the outside, but there is a penetrating and calm look in his eyes, which is the calmness of a city in his chest, knowledgeable, solid and well-mannered.This scholar who is famous for his articles and knowledge in the capital is not the kind of nerd who can only talk on paper. He put down his brush and stepped on the horse, and beat the famous Li Zicheng to only eighteen riders and defeated Shangluo. Wu Sangui felt that the book says that scholars who cultivate themselves, govern their families, rule the country, and the world should be like this. They are internal sages and external kings.For such people, Wu Sangui admires from the bottom of his heart, they are the bell of the righteousness of the world, and the hope of the empire. Although it is full of darkness, as long as there are a few such great sages, they will set up their hearts for the world and the life of the people. , to inherit the unique knowledge of the past saints, and to bring peace to all generations, the Ming Dynasty will have hope, and the old Zhu's family will not be exhausted.

After the fall of Songjin, people were prepared to grieve, waiting for the news of Hong Chengchou's death.Undoubtedly, another noble figure will walk into the altar, do the tragic burial of the words of Confucius and Mencius, and enjoy the admiration of future generations with Su Wu, Yue Fei, and Wen Tianxiang.Maybe there will be works like "Song of Righteous Qi" left behind, which will become famous through the ages.Emperor Chongzhen even built an ancestral hall and an altar for Hong Chengchou in Beijing. But Hong Chengchou actually surrendered.This brilliant representative of moral articles turned into an ugly traitor in a blink of an eye, falling from a towering moral palace to a spiritual hell overnight.This role change is too fast, it is really difficult for people to adapt.

And uncle Zu Dashou.Wu Sangui and him are like father and son.This once prestigious and then ruined general is actually a kind and majestic old man.This old man had worked hard for the Ming Dynasty, and he had rejected the temptations of the Manchus many times in his life and death.It was only the last time that his wealth and the future of his children and grandchildren made him make another choice. This choice killed his own spiritual life, and all his achievements and loyalty in the past were wiped out.Great loyalty and great treachery, great good and great evil, it turned out to be a sharp distinction between one thought.It's hard to be a human!

The value and dignity of a person's life are not controlled by the self, but are often threatened by the brutality and arbitrariness of the society you belong to. A person often suddenly falls into a mental trap caused by external situations.For example, if the dynasty to which she was attached is destroyed, innocent lives will face the test of loyalty or survival; People will suddenly be implicated and imprisoned because of a crime committed by their relatives, although they may not communicate with this relative at all. Under the strict moral and ethical standards, a person can easily be pushed into the extreme choice of ice and coal, and bear the same strong tearing from the two aspects of nature, humanity and social ethics, and there is no third way to go.

If you don't want to be a loyal minister, you can only choose to be a second-hand minister. If you don't become a gentleman, you can only become a villain. If you don't become an angel, you can only be a cruel devil. If you don't enter the shrine, you can only kneel in front of the pillar of shame in history. Here, there is only the harsh pressure of moral dogma, and no room for flexibility is reserved for the weakness and imperfection of real human nature. In this case, death is even the simplest and easiest option.But to survive, it takes courage.You have to bear the double challenge of public opinion and inner guilt, which is often unbearable for ordinary people. If a person's vitality is not strong enough, he will definitely become fatigued under this heavy pressure and will no longer be able to generate heat.

"Manuscripts of Qing History: Biography of Zu Dashou" has a total of more than 4,000 characters, of which only 32 characters are recorded about Zu Dashou's deeds within six years after he came to the Qing Dynasty: Next year, Shizu Dingding will be the capital, and his birthday will enter the customs.Zi Zepu was the governor of the Ming Dynasty, and he also surrendered.Thirteen years (AD 1640), Dashou died. These boring and plain dozens clearly convey from one side the oppressive and gloomy life of Zu Dashou in the last six years of his life: it is a kind of living. There is such a story in the early Ming Dynasty: Wei Su, Minister of Rites in the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, committed suicide by throwing himself into a well after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty but was rescued.Although he is a Han Chinese, the principle of sticking to one end is higher than ethnic distinctions.When Zhu Yuanzhang heard about this, he thought that he was loyal and worthy, so he recruited and arranged him to be a civil servant by his side.

Zhu Yuanzhang may not have realized at this time that this action of his has put himself and Wei Su into a contradictory situation.He rescued Wei Su because he admired Wei Su's loyalty, but he put Wei Su in a predicament of infidelity.He trusts him out of the quality of using danger, but makes himself the master who encourages his followers. After Wei Su devoted himself to serving him for a period of time, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly realized this. Of course, he could not be wrong, so it can only be that Wei Su was wrong.So in his eyes, this dangerous element is not pleasing to the eye no matter how you look at it.

One day when Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting idle behind the screen in the hall, Wei Su came in from the door with the sound of tuo. Zhu Yuanzhang asked: "Who is here?" Wei Su replied: "Old Minister Wei Su." Zhu Yuanzhang was very disgusted with Wei Su's calm tone, and said coldly: "Old Minister Wei Su, I thought it was Wen Tianxiang!" Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang held a court meeting, and the courtiers brought an elephant domesticated by the Yuan court to perform.Unexpectedly, this elephant may not have adapted to the new environment, and refused to perform, embarrassing the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.In a rage, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the elephant to be killed.But after thinking about it afterwards, he thought that the elephant was loyal to its owner and should be praised, so he ordered it to be buried generously.Then, he asked someone to make a sign with the words "Dangerous as Xiang" written on it, and hung it on Wei Su's body to ridicule the unfortunate old man.Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang found an excuse to exile Wei Su to a remote place, and let him die in humiliation.

We don't know whether the warrior Wu Sangui knew this story, but he must have a deeper understanding of the spiritual cost of surrender than we do. Wu Sangui felt that he was born at the wrong time.