Chapter 28 In the fourth quarter, the heart is the top priority

In addition to being good at winning the hearts of the people, Zhu Yuanzhang is also very good at buying the "military spirit" of his opponents.In the second year of Longfeng, Zhu Yuanzhang captured 36,000 soldiers from Chen Zhaoxian's army.Zhu Yuanzhang admired the fighting power of this army. In order to conquer the army's morale, Zhu selected 500 strong soldiers from the captive army and said that he would assign them special tasks.These people didn't know what task Zhu had given them, and they were panic-stricken.At night, Zhu withdrew his own soldiers and made these five hundred people his bodyguards.He got into the tent by himself, took off his battle armor, and fell asleep.The five hundred people were so moved that they devoted their allegiance to Zhu Yuanzhang from then on, and the 36,000 captives were thus at ease, and soon became the main force of Zhu's army.

During the Battle of Poyang Lake, Chen Youliang was in a bad mood due to poor military progress, so he slaughtered the captured Zhu Jun, showing no grace.Zhu Yuanzhang used the captives to create a political offensive.After he heard the news of Chen Youliang's killing of the prisoners, he ordered all the prisoners of Chen Jun to be released, and the wounded were sent to a doctor for treatment, and then all of them were paid with travel expenses and sent home.Comparing the two, the high and the low made a judgment, which played a great role in disintegrating Chen's military morale. For those old generals of the Yuan Dynasty who were unwilling to surrender, other rebels generally killed them.However, Zhu Yuanzhang used great patience and tried every means to persuade him to surrender. After he surrendered, he dared to use it freely.Kang Maocai, Marshal of the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, was defeated in Yingtian and was persuaded to surrender by Zhu Yuanzhang.Later, he made great achievements in combat, and was promoted to Marshal of the Qinhuai Wing Water Army in the second year.The Yuan Dynasty "righteous soldiers" Marshal Zhu Liang's ancestors were captured in Taiping, and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately entrusted him with important tasks.Unexpectedly, he rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty a few months later.Later, he was captured by Zhu Yuanzhang again during the battle.Zhu Yuanzhang loved his bravery, released him again, and ordered him to lead a large group of soldiers and horses to attack Xuancheng with Xu Da and others.From this, Zhu Liangzu devoted himself to working hard and made military exploits for Zhu Yuanzhang many times.

Some people refused to surrender after being captured, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not torture them.For example, in the Yuan Dynasty, Nahachu was captured in Taiping. Zhu Yuanzhang "treated him very kindly" and tried every means to persuade him to surrender, but Nahachu said: "I am from the north, and I will never forget the north." Zhu Yuanzhang decided to let him go back to the north. Da and others disagreed, "for fear of causing future troubles."Zhu Yuanzhang insisted on his own opinion, paid them travel expenses, and let them go back to Mongolia. Sometimes, Zhu Yuanzhang's generosity and kindness even reached the level of "overacting".For example, Marshal Lin of the Yuan Army was captured in Yingtian, and Zhu Yuanzhang let him take up his original post with undiminished power.But soon he took the team and fled to Hangzhou.Zhu Yuanzhang got the news and said: "Lin Si, the old master, don't chase after you go." Let him escape without hindrance.

Later historical facts proved that Zhu Yuanzhang's magnanimity and kindness did not come from nature. His excellence lies in his ability to hide his nature deeply for a long time.Of course, once the situation changes and he is no longer required to continue performing, he will immediately show his fangs. For example, when the unification war entered the late stage and the overall situation of the world was settled, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped his policy of preferential treatment of prisoners.In the twenty-sixth year of Zhizheng (AD 1366), general Xu Da captured Gaoyou in Zhang Shicheng's territory, and Zhu Yuanzhang demanded that those useless captives be killed: because Dayuan Tianxia would soon become Zhu Yuanzhang's pocket, He no longer needs to use the policy of preferential treatment of prisoners to buy the enemy's military spirit. Keeping these prisoners can only mean wasting his own food.However, Xu Da could not accurately understand Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions, and the killing of prisoners was not thorough enough. When he attacked Huai'an, he did not continue to kill prisoners. Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he wrote a letter in March of the twelfth year of Longfeng, asking him why he didn't kill more people:

The King of Wu decreed that when Xu Da, the commander-in-chief, captured Gaoyou, many small troops were killed in the city, but none of the leaders were killed.When the army arrives in Huai'an, it will surrender as soon as possible. This is due to the enticement of Sizhou leader Qinghuangqi, not your credit!If March has passed and Huai'an has not yet set in, the reason why you don't kill people is to talk about the future!Carry it out according to Feng. In August of the following year, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to lead an army of 200,000 to Zhang Shicheng, and captured 60,000 of Zhang's army.Zhu Yuanzhang issued a secret order in his own hand, demanding that most of the prisoners of war be executed:

King Wu's own handwriting: The envoy Zhu Ming went to the army and said that he would inform the general Zuo Xiangguo Xu Da and deputy general Pingzhang Chang Yuchun. Jieyin arrived in the capital on the fourth day of November. There are more than 60,000 people in the eye, but they have captured so many that it is difficult to be imprisoned.Send someone to go today and ask you to keep 10,000 to 20,000 of Zhang Jun's elite and brave lieutenant generals in each army. If you are unfit for appointment, you will be secretly removed from the army. This personal letter shows that Zhu Yuanzhang's troops killed at least 40,000 soldiers in this battle.