Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, likes reading history books very much. In his life experience, history books have a direct reference function, giving Zhu Yuanzhang a lot of inspiration from the rise and fall of dynasties.
Eleven years before the founding of the Ming Dynasty (1365). One day, when Zhu Yuanzhang read The History of Song Dynasty and read Zhao Pu's suggestion that Song Taizu "relieve soldiers' worries with a glass of wine", he couldn't help clapping his hands. He deeply regrets ground bow to one side chief Zhan Tong said:
(Zhao) Pu is really a smart man. If you generals don't hand over the relieving as soon as possible, the world in the Song Dynasty may not be as turbulent as in the Five Dynasties!
In history, the founding generals often take credit for themselves, even taking credit for Gao Zhen. How to treat this group of people has always been a heart disease for emperors of all ages. Song Taizu's "drinking poison to quench thirst" not only eliminated the danger of arrogance and arrogance of Han army veterans, but also enabled those heroes who fought side by side with themselves to enjoy their lives. This is an example of successfully handling the relationship between monarch and minister. However, there is another strategy to deal with the founding heroes, which is like an old saying of China: "A bird hides its bow, a sly rabbit dies, and a dog cooks." The emergence of this strategy, as early as "a glass of wine to release the military power", there are many precedents in history. For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Wen Zi, a doctor from the State of Yue, and Han Xin from the Western Han Dynasty both made unfortunate footnotes on this warning. Zhu Yuanzhang started from a cloth, and he admired Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, all his life. Therefore, historians have always said that "the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty acted more like the ancestors of the Han Dynasty". Only Liu Bang's "running dogs" are still quite limited after all, and only stop at Han Xin, Peng Yue, Ying Bu and other generals who are the "masters of Gao Zhen", while Zhu Yuanzhang killed all the founding heroes.
Things have to start from before and after the founding of the Ming Dynasty. In A.D. 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, with Nanjing as its capital, Daming as its name and Hongwu as its year name, which was called Ming Taizu in history. Zhu Yuanzhang originated in the west of Huaihe River, and most of the people who fought side by side and founded the country were people from Haozhou (now Fengyang area in Anhui Province) and its nearby areas. Among them, the founding fathers Tang He, Zhou Dexing and others are still his fellow villagers. These literati military commanders either strategized or rushed to the front, which made great contributions to the establishment of Daming Jiangshan. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded those who made meritorious deeds, and these people were named Qi Huangong. Among them, Six Kingdoms and Twenty-eight Emperors are famous. Especially Han Gong Li Shanchang and Wei Gong Xu Da are highly respected. These people, linked by local, clan and affiliation, formed an intricate Huaixi Group. The so-called "clothing is short and there are many customers, and people in the city are half-Huai" is a true portrayal of the situation at that time.
Many people in Huaixi clique are officials, princes and nobles, and often get fields, first houses, livestock products and even households given by Zhu Yuanzhang. However, these noble royal families are not satisfied with vested interests, but do everything possible to expand their existing privileges. Relying on their power, they invaded the fields, houses and livestock of the broad masses of the people, or seized official land and accepted donations from refugees. In addition to the tenants and etiquette granted by Qin, they also widely stored songs and raised them privately, and made officials serve them without authorization, and even let them sit in Jiahang to make huge profits for themselves. These nouveau riche rely on their high achievements in founding the country. They are not only arrogant, but also indulge their fierce servants and slaves to bully the countryside and fish the people. In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply disturbed. He once issued a decree repeatedly warning heroes not to take credit for their arrogance. And cast the binding regulations into ironclad evidence, saying that if you violate them, you will go to hell. For example, in the fifth year of Hongwu (1372), Zhu Yuanzhang issued the Declaration of "Shen Jie Gong Hou Tie"; In June of 13th year (1380), the Book of Commandments for Officials was issued; 19 (1386) 10, Lu Zhijie was published; Twenty-one years (1388) in July, promulgated the "big high Chen Wu"; Twenty-six years (1393) in March, the Record was issued again. ..... However, repeated requests failed to completely stop Duke Hou Yuanxun's rampage.
The fierce conflict between the monarchical power and the relative power in the early Ming Dynasty intensified the contradictions within the ruling group, which led to the occurrence of the Hu case and the Hailan case.
In the sixth year of Hongwu (1373), Li Shanchang, the leader of Huaixi School, recommended Hu as the right prime minister. In September, the tenth year of Hongwu (1377), Hu was promoted to Prime Minister Zuo. He served as prime minister for seven years. During his tenure, he planted cronies in all parts of North Korea and spared no effort to crack down on dissidents, thus expanding the power of Huaixi Group. For example, Liu Ji (Zibowen), a native of Qingtian, Zhejiang Province, once assisted Zhu Yuanzhang and made great contributions, but he has never been reused because of his contradiction with Huaixi School. In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang made great contributions, while Liu Ji only made sincere contributions, aged only 240 stone. Li Shanchang was named Gong Koryo at the age of 4,000 stones. The following year, Liu Ji retired and returned to China. However, because he once told Zhu Yuanzhang that Hu was not suitable for the phase, he was deeply jealous of the latter and retired for an excuse. In the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), Liu Ji fell ill and Hu sent a doctor to see a doctor, but Liu Ji died soon after taking the medicine. In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang later asserted: "Liu Bowen, he is here, and Manchu is a (Hu) party, but he disobeys every time and eats him." Fa, according to legend, is an artificially cultivated poisonous insect, which means poisoning here. Obviously, Liu Bowen was killed by Hu. Of course, excluding dissidents is not the key to the Hu case.
In fact, the crux of the Hu case is that he is too arbitrary, and many major events such as life and death are often handled without asking Zhu Yuanzhang. This naturally made Zhu Yuanzhang, who had a strong desire for power, deeply feel the crisis of the decline of the autocratic power of the prime minister and the imperial power. Zhu Yuanzhang once summed up the historical lessons:
Since the establishment of the post of Prime Minister in Qin Dynasty, the assistant minister has assumed the power of Prime Minister, so there is a saying that "referring to a deer as a horse". Emperors from the Qin dynasty to the later dynasties did not learn from the harm of the establishment of the Qin dynasty, but followed suit, thus posing a threat to the rule of kings. The reason lies in the professionalism and arrogance of the Prime Minister.
In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang actively took measures to reduce and suppress relative rights. For example, in the eleventh year of Hongwu (1378), he ordered his lieutenants to play things, and then reported directly to the emperor himself without going through Zhongshu Province. However, the situation of Hu ultra vires has not been completely solved. In September of the 12th year of Hongwu (1379), Zhancheng (now south-central Vietnam) came to pay tribute, but Hu and the then right prime minister did not go to war. The eunuch reported it. Ming Taizu flew into a rage and severely reprimanded the minister. However, Hu and Li blamed this on the Ministry of Rites, which retorted and blamed it on Zhongshu Province. This prevarication made Zhu Yuanzhang even more annoyed, so he imprisoned all the people and asked them to recruit the mastermind. Soon, Wang Guangyang was executed. Then, she ordered an investigation into the crimes of Hu and his six Tang families, who illegally accepted the women of officials as concubines. At this point, the contradiction between Hu and his cronies has heated up.
In the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), Tu Jie turned himself in and sued Hu for rebellion. Immediately ordered the arrest of Hu, Chen Ning, Tu Jie and others, and put them to death for "perverting the law and judging". After Hu was killed, the case was not closed and the charges against him escalated. At first, he just said that Hu was "good at planting and framing mistakes", and later he was accused of "communicating with Japan", "communicating with Shandong" and "rebellion", and his involvement continued to expand. More and more accomplices in this case have been investigated, and the scope involved has become wider and wider. It has been implicated for several years and has not been settled. In the 23rd year of Hongwu (1390), Zhu Yuanzhang revived Dayu, and a record of exposing traitors was made public. He took the opportunity to kill dozens of powerful ministers. Li Shanchang, Lu Zhongheng, Tang Shengzong, Fei Ju,, Lu Ju, Jin Chaoxing,,, Li Bosheng and others were all executed for collaborating with Hu. Among them, Li Shanchang, who was listed as the "top scholar", was exempted from investigation because he was a relative of the founding fathers in the 13th year of Hongwu. But 10 years later, some people took Li Shanchang's nephew as Hu's nephew, and the two families had close contacts, so Li Shanchang and Hu * * * conspired, and Zhu Yuanzhang seized the scholar and beheaded more than 70 people in Li Shanchang. In this regard, a poem "Ming Yuefu" written by the Qing people wrote:
Li taishi, Zuo mingxun,
On that day, he was called the first minister.
Hu Wei committed the crime of killing foreigners,
No, it's Goody's kindness.
Li Shifu, pick up the knife and pen.
Although national talents are scarce, I would rather seek less physical strength.
This official is a master and lord protector.
Who can surpass this man in wealth?
Even if you change your mind,
What's more, there is no formal bow.
I have a rich life and want to protect myself.
If you are old, you will miss your children.
Teacher Tai is always afraid of disaster.
Why kill the door while it's dangerous?
What's more, ten years after the incident,
Does Luo Zhi need to hate people?
Confessions of 200 papers,
Will not force the hands of criminal officials.
Julius, the founding father,
Sitting makes sundaes less glorious.
I know Xiao He went to prison to look for ordinary things.
What else did Han Zu look at before!
The new Yuefu believed that Li Shanchang's execution was an out-and-out injustice. In fact, as early as the second year after Li Shanchang's death, Wang, assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance, wrote to defend him, arguing that Li Shanchang's charge of "rebellion" was difficult to establish. He pointed out: Li Shanchang and Zhu Yuanzhang made concerted efforts and fought bloody battles, creating a world equal to the rest of the world. They ranked first in meritorious service, won the title of a male, and won the title of a king when they died. His son was recruited by Zhu Yuanzhang as a Xu, and many relatives also worshipped him as a knight. As a civil servant, he has enjoyed all kinds of wealth and honor to the extreme. He would never risk rebellion for luck. Moreover, if someone says that he wants to plot evil and stand on his own feet as emperor, this crime may still be established. But now it is all wet to say that he will help Hu rebel. Li Shanchang and Hu are only in-laws of nephews and nieces, while Zhu Yuanzhang is in-laws of their children. Not only the relatives and friends of the two families can't be mentioned in the same breath, but even if Li Shanchang helped Hu's rebellion succeed, he was still a "minister first" at best, and his position would never be higher than Zhu Yuanzhang's. These words used by the kingdom are so reasonable that even Zhu Yuanzhang was refuted speechless. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang is not unaware of this. He just made a big fuss about Hu's case and made excuses for killing heroes. In the name of suppressing traitors, take the opportunity to clean up those arrogant civil and military officials who are regarded as Hu parties. Most of them were looted and destroyed. The whole Hu case lasted about 10 years, killing more than 30 thousand people.
In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu (1393), Zhu Yuanzhang also killed General Aquamarine on charges of rebellion. Aquamarine was one of the main generals in Hongwu period. In the twenty-first year of Hongwu (1388), he led 15000 troops out of the fortress to pursue the Mongolian army until he fished in Erhai Lake (now Bell Lake), captured 77000 men and women and returned with great victory. Since then, he has made many expeditions to northern Mongolia, and he has made outstanding achievements. He was promoted to Liang Guogong, the official to the general. Aquamarine has led the army for many years and enjoys a high reputation in the military. Aquamarine has more than ten warriors under its command, all of whom are brave and good at fighting. Zhu Yuanzhang, who started as a martial artist, was originally the most taboo martial artist recruiting. Aquamarine, on the other hand, is arrogant and illegal. In the army, he changed schools without authorization and went into self-study without even listening to your orders. Once the Northern Expedition returned to the division, the customs officials refused to accept it in time, and Aquamarine forcibly entered, which obviously aroused Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicion. Locally, aquamarine invaded Dongchang folk land, privately stored handmaiden and enslaved slaves to evil villages. After that, the suggestion was disintegrated, but Aquamarine was very angry and chased the suggestion. He also asked his family to buy Yunnan salt for smuggling at a price of 1000 yuan (200 kg or 400 kg each). He has always been dissatisfied with Zhu Yuanzhang because he didn't accept the invitation. These practices finally made Zhu Yuanzhang move. In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu, the Royal Guards ordered Jiang Sui to report to Aquamarine for rebellion, and Zhu Yuanzhang cut it and unified the three clans. Many distribution factions that are usually closely related to aquamarine have also been classified as "anti-Party", robbed of property and extinct. At that time, as many as10.5 million people were killed for this case, and almost all the brave generals in the army were killed. Historically, the Hu case and the Aquamarine case are usually called "Hulan's prison". Zhu Yuanzhang thoroughly eradicated the potential threat of the general power to the imperial power through the sapphire case, and the general power was firmly controlled in his own hands. Later, he divided the commander-in-chief into the left, the right, the front, the back and the Chinese army, which restricted each other with the Ministry of War to divide power. The governor's office of the Fifth Army only cares about military status, politics and administration, and cannot directly command the army. Only in wartime, the general company commander was appointed temporarily by the emperor. After the war, the company commander must return to India immediately, and all the troops under his command will be restored to the original guard. From then on, the generals only wanted to serve the country, and the military power came from the court, and they dared not do anything special.
In addition to "Hulan's prison", Zhu Yuanzhang also killed the hero on various charges. Zhu Liangzu, Hu Mei, Zhou Dexing, Wang Bi, Xie Cheng, Fu Youde and Sheng Feng were all killed by Ming Taizu. Among the Huaixi School, Chang Yuchun and Hu Dahai died before the founding of the People's Republic of China. Higher status, leaving Xu Da and Tanghe. According to Chen Shi's Notes, Xu Da was seriously ill in his later years and had gangrene on his back. After he recovered, the doctor told him not to eat steamed goose, which would recur and be hopeless. In the eighteenth year of Hongwu (1385), Ming Taizu remembered Xu Da's achievements and sent inspectors to send food to Xu Da, but it turned out to be a whole goose. Xu Da knew Zhu Yuanzhang's intention, but your life was hard to break, so he had to eat it in front of the envoys with tears in his eyes. Sure enough, he died in a few days. Another hero, Tanghe and Zhu Yuanzhang belong to the same village. When they were young, they used to herd cattle together. Naturally, he knows Zhu Yuanzhang's mind best. So, he took the initiative to surrender the military power and retire to his hometown. Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to Fengyang to build a mansion for him and give him a rich farm house. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were few heroes who died well, and Tanghe was one of them.
Major cases such as "Hulan Prison" lasted for more than ten years, killing more than 45,000 founding fathers and eradicating the power of Huaixi Group. By the end of Hongwu, there were few founding princes left, and Huaixi Group, which had been in power for a period of time, withdrew from the political stage in the early Ming Dynasty. Many people have expressed their views on Zhu Yuanzhang, a cruel killing hero. Zhao Yi of Qing Dynasty thought:
(Zhu Yuanzhang) Win the world with your heroes. When the world is established, all those who help win the world will be killed, and the cruelty is unprecedented!
What Zhao Yi said is natural and true. However, we should also see that under the historical conditions at that time, it was absolutely necessary for Ming Taizu to suppress the emerging forces in the west of Huai River and eliminate the threat to the imperial power. It greatly stabilized the situation in the early Ming dynasty and enabled the newly established political system in the Ming dynasty to continue smoothly. In this regard, a story of Ming Taizu and his prince Zhu Biao is quite intriguing-Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly promoted Dayu and killed the founding hero, and the prince thought that the punishment was excessive. He remonstrated: "Your Majesty has killed too much, for fear of hurting peace!" Zhu Yuanzhang was silent when he heard this. The next day, he deliberately threw a stick on the ground and asked Zhu Biao to pick it up. Zhu Biao is very reluctant. Zhu Yuanzhang lost no time in enlightening and saying, "You are afraid of thorns and dare not take them. Wouldn't it be better if I pulled it out for you? " Obviously, pulling out the thorn from the thorn stick has always been a hidden secret of Zhu Yuanzhang: in his view, Prince Zhu Biao was too weak to hold down the founding fathers after his death. Therefore, it is necessary to solve this problem before his death and eliminate the threat of their military rebellion, so that Zhu Biao can sit firmly on the throne of the emperor. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang regarded "Hulan's prison" as a legitimate reason for autocracy and exclusion of dissidents, which also made the relationship between monarch and minister very tense in the early Ming Dynasty. A large number of so-and-so, let the civil and military officials up and down the court feel insecure. It is said that at that time, before entering the DPRK every morning, Beijing officials always bid farewell to their wives and children and explain their affairs. When he returned safely at night, his family was glad that he lived another day. The "Hulan Prison" in Daxing also greatly damaged the vitality of the imperial court, resulting in the extreme lack of imperial generals and the weakening of the military strength of the central government, which objectively formed an imbalance in the comparison between the military strength of the central government and the princes. When the "Battle of Jingnan" broke out suddenly in Wen Jian's period, it was difficult for Ming Huidi to find a suitable general. "There is no general in Shu, and Liao Hua is the pioneer." Geng Bingwen, who is over 60 years old, led the troops to fight, and suffered repeated defeats. As a result, the political situation in the early Ming Dynasty changed dramatically.
Zhu Yuanzhang imprisoned partisans in Daxing and exiled heroic forces, at the same time, he made his son a vassal king in an attempt to maintain the long-term stability of the regime by relying on feudal vassal kings. He made scholars princes, mainly to resist foreign invasion and assist the royal family. For the former, the focus of frontier defense at that time was to deal with the Mongolian forces in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, so nine prisoners were sealed along the Great Wall and outside. Other vassals who were enfeoffed in the mainland were stationed in various provinces and held hereditary positions. Although he also imposed restrictions on the vassal king, such as not dealing with civil affairs and not granting land, he was puzzled that the vassal king could receive the wing court and consolidate the border defense, and his power was increasing day by day. Politically, the vassal king was given the power to establish his own official family, move to the court to beg treacherous officials, and even had the privilege of sending troops to the "Jun Qing side": economically, he was given a lot of fertile land and huge amounts of rice; There are guards in the military, ranging from 3 thousand to tens of thousands. With the expansion of the king's power, the centrifugal force with the central government is growing. After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the evil consequences planted by the enfeoffment system immediately turned the contradiction between centralization and decentralization from concealment to openness. Shortly after his death, the battle of Jingnan took place. It is not a bitter hero of Zhu Yuanzhang before, but a captaincy he personally cultivated, which Zhu Yuanzhang, who is good at guessing boxing and a killer, did not expect.