Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 79 Educational and entertaining
In the afternoon, it was the turn of the standard camp and the central army to watch the show.

In order to boost morale, Danchu ordered the recruitment of a troupe to perform in the army to reward the soldiers. He tried to combine education with entertainment, and ordered the troupe to perform "main melody" operas such as "Changbanpo" and "Silang Visits His Mother".

Today, the troupe performed a new play called "Eighty-One Days in Jiangyin", which was based on the story of the righteous people of Jiangyin who fought against the Qing Dynasty and died for their country.

Danchu has never liked listening to operas, but after traveling back to the late Ming Dynasty, there was really not much entertainment.

Opera is a form of entertainment that is suitable for all ages and has the widest audience. If educational content can be incorporated into opera, perhaps better educational effects will be achieved.

Therefore, Danchu entrusted his staff member He Yun to work with the opera troupe to choreograph "Eighty-One Days in Jiangyin". He Yun was from Changshu, and his hometown was close to Jiangyin. He knew a lot about the inside story and was very enthusiastic about choreographing operas.

At noon, nearly a thousand soldiers from the standard camp and the central army had gathered early and sat in a fan shape around the stage. Danchu also patiently came to the center of the stage to experience the educational effect of the opera.

As soon as we sat down, the music started and the opera began.

Opening, explaining the background.

First there was a burst of lascivious music, and then the white-faced Manchu prince Duoduo appeared on the stage. He drank and had fun while deploying military affairs, acting arrogantly and domineeringly.

A soldier came to report that Emperor Hongguang had fled to Wuhu, so Duoduo sent Beile Nikan to pursue him. Liu Liangzuo, the Earl of Guangchang, led his troops to defend the emperor, but Duoduo only sent 300 Manchu soldiers to fight. Liu Liangzuo kowtowed and begged for surrender, asking to capture Emperor Hongguang to atone for his sins and gain merit.

When Emperor Hongguang heard that Liu Liangzuo's troops were coming, he first fled to the home of Liu Kongzhao, the Marquis of Ruyi. Liu Kongzhao refused to accept him, so Emperor Hongguang fled to the military camp of Huang Degong, the Marquis of Jingguo.

Huang Degong sighed and said, "Your Majesty is defending the capital to the death. I can take advantage of the situation, but how can I leave so easily!" He fought with Liu Liangzuo and was defeated. Degong sighed, "There is nothing I can do," and drew his sword to commit suicide.

Emperor Hongguang surrendered and rode into Nanjing in a small sedan chair without a curtain, covering his face with an oil fan. People along the way spat and cursed at him, and some even threw rubble. Duoduo hosted a banquet and ordered Emperor Hongguang to sit below the crown prince from the north.

The first act ends. The army lacks entertainment, so the soldiers watch the play very seriously. The Hongguang Emperor is cowardly, Duoduo is arrogant, Liu Liangzuo is shameless, and Huang Degong is righteous and awe-inspiring, all of which are vividly portrayed on the stage.

Danchu didn't like watching plays, but this play "Eighty-One Days in Jiangyin" roughly restored history, which made him quite curious. Looking around, the soldiers were all looking forward to it, attracted by the plot, with different expressions on their faces, a mixture of regret, hatred, expectation, unwillingness, hope...

In the second scene, officials appointed by the Hongguang Dynasty resigned one after another, and Fang Heng, the magistrate of Jiangyin appointed by the Qing Dynasty, took office. The people of the county were in a rage and planned to resist, but without weapons, money or food, no one stepped forward.

Fang Heng wore a gauze hat and a blue robe, still Ming Dynasty clothing, very young, without family, only with a few servants. Heng entered the county government office, but it was empty, and eight elders came in to see him.

Heng said, "All the counties in Changzhou Prefecture have submitted their books, why is Jiangyin the only one without one?"

The elders left the yamen and discussed with the chief clerk, the teacher, and the gentry. Everyone hesitated and said nothing, and no one dared to take the lead in resistance. So they decided to surrender, presented the atlas, and sent it to Nanjing.

In this scene, Fang Heng was arrogant, the elders were powerless, and the chief clerk, the gentry and others were submissive.

The soldiers in the audience were already angry and were shouting and cursing.

In the third act, Fang Heng led the gentry in the city to the Confucian Temple to burn incense, and many common people gathered to watch.

The chief clerk asked tentatively, "County Magistrate, Jiangyin has already surrendered, so there must be nothing else going on."

Fang Heng smiled and said, "The only thing left is shaving your hair. As for the former, Nanjing has sent four Manchurian soldiers to urge the people of Jiangyin to shave their hair."

An elder said angrily: "My body and hair are given by my parents. I dare not damage them. How can I cut my hair so easily?"

Fang Heng was also angry and said in a stern voice: "This is the law of the Qing Dynasty and cannot be violated."

In this scene, the contradiction lies with Fang Heng. The audience was already boiling with excitement, and the officers around Danchu began to discuss:
"Fang Heng is a scholar, but he is willing to be a running dog of the Qing Dynasty. How hateful!"

"If it weren't for these traitors, how could the Tartars enter the pass? How could the Ming Dynasty decline?"

"This kind of traitor is the most hateful!"

……

In the fourth scene, the news of shaving the hair spread, and the people of Jiangyin were in a rage. The students of the county school entered the county government office and met Fang Heng in Minglun Hall, and made an impassioned speech: "The head can be cut off, but the hair must not be shaved!"

It happened that the officer came to the yamen and presented a document, which was the order to shave the hair from the yamen of Changzhou prefecture. Fang Heng was so excited that he ordered the clerks to copy the order and prepare to distribute it to various places.

The clerk prepared his brush, ink, paper and inkstone and was about to copy it when he saw the shaving order, which had a stern tone and read: "Keep your head but not your hair, keep your hair but not your head", "If one person does not shave his hair, the whole family will be beheaded, if one family does not shave their hair, the whole village will be beheaded". He was so angry that he threw his brush on the ground and said, "I'd rather die!"

Fang Heng was furious and ordered the clerk to be beaten with a stick.

The clerks and servants in the yamen were in an uproar and fled with the clerks.

There were young men living near the north gate of Jiangyin who were skilled in martial arts and were very brave. Upon hearing the news, they rang the gong and rushed into the county government office with their weapons in hand.

Fang Hengyou sat in the hall, looking fierce but weak inside, and ordered his servants to confiscate the weapons.

The young men were excited and said:

"We prepare weapons to defend against the enemy. If you take them and let the enemy use them, I would rather die than obey you!"

"You are a Jinshi of the Ming Dynasty, wearing a gauze hat and a round collar, the clothes of the Ming Dynasty, but you come to be a county magistrate of the Tartars. Is it shameful or ugly?"

……

Fang Heng was furious and shouted, "You are rioters who have no respect for the law. You all should be beheaded!"

……

"Your head should be chopped off!" Some soldiers in the audience were so absorbed in listening to the speech that they mistook the actor for Fang Heng. They took off their straw sandals and threw them at the actor. Then they jumped over their comrades and were about to go on stage to beat the actor who played Fang Heng.

The order in the audience was in chaos, and more soldiers stood up and threw their straw sandals at the actors!

The deputy battalion commander Feng Lin immediately stood up and tried to stop the soldiers, but the soldiers were so excited that they gnashed their teeth in hatred.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The troupe thought quickly and struck the golden gong several times.

Danchu stood up, turned around and shouted, "Quiet! Sit down!"

The Marshal spoke and no one dared to disobey. The soldiers sat down obediently, but they still felt aggrieved.

Danchu did not criticize them, but said: "This is a play, don't take it seriously! Everyone, watch the play carefully, no noise, no movement! Just watch the show!"

……

The drama reached its climax. The young men were so enraged that they surrounded Fang Heng, tore off his hat, and tore his clothes. Fang Heng continued to curse, so the young men decided to kill him.

They set up a tablet for Taizu, divided the troops into teams, raised flags, sounded horns to march and retreat, gathered in the training ground, and discussed battle and defense.

There was a historian named Yan Yingyuan, who had great strategic skills and the people supported him as their leader and followed his orders. He recruited righteous men, built military equipment, collected money and food, blocked the city gates, and actively prepared for war.

When the Qing army arrived, they were defeated repeatedly and lost countless soldiers and horses. As a last resort, Duoduo mobilized princes such as Bolo, Nikan, and Kong Youde to attack the city, using more than 200 red cannons to bombard the city day and night, and finally broke through.

The soldiers and civilians of Jiangyin fought to the end, and no one surrendered. The Qing soldiers massacred the city, killing more than 97,000 people in Jiangyin and more than 75,000 people outside the city. Afterwards, only 53 people were left alive in Jiangyin.

At the end of the play, Yan Yingyuan wrote a suicide poem: "Eighty days of loyalty with hair untied, representing the people of Taizu's seventeen dynasties. One hundred thousand people died together, leaving the Ming Dynasty with three hundred miles of territory." Another unnamed woman wrote a poem: "Exposed corpses and white bones fill the battlefield, a lone loyal man refuses to surrender. I send a message to travelers not to cover their noses, the living are not as fragrant as the dead."

Under the stage, the soldiers were already crying. Danchu's eyes turned red as he jumped onto the stage and said loudly: "Good man, follow me to join the army, kill all the Tartars and restore China!"

The soldiers shouted heartbreakingly: "Kill all the Tartars and restore China!"

(End of this chapter)