In the third year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (AD 1370), Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of Ming Dynasty, made great contributions to the establishment of the country. Among them, he has established six princes, which is the highest title that a detained person with a different surname can get when he is alive. They are: Li Shanchang Han Guogong, Xu Guogong, Cao Guogong, Song Guogong, Deng Yuwei Gong and Chang Yuchun Zi Changmao Zheng Guogong (Chang Yuchun died in the second year of Hongwu). Remarks: Zhu Yuanzhang later created three dukes: Tanghe, Liang Yu and Fu Youde.
After the political struggle at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the families of the six founding fathers continued until the end of the Ming Dynasty, and there were four surnames and five families (the Xu Da family had two lords) who still maintained their titles, which fully enjoyed the country's prosperity. Historically, many people were unlucky at the end of the dynasty. Needless to say, ordinary people can only passively bear the pain caused by war and regime change.
Then there is the upper class of the old dynasty, first of all, the royal family is the most unlucky, followed by the nobles of the previous dynasty, and the family of the six emperors who founded the Ming Dynasty is no exception. Li Shanchang and Sheng Feng were both killed by Zhu Yuanzhang when the Ming Dynasty was founded, and their descendants lost their titles. Even if he lived to the end of the Ming Dynasty, he was just ordinary people and ordinary officials, so he skipped it. This paper mainly introduces the performance of the family heirs of the other four founding dukes in the late Ming Dynasty in the face of national survival.
One: Wei Guogong Xu Yunjue and Ding Guogong Xu Yunzhen.
Xu Da family is the most special heroic family with different surnames in Ming Dynasty. They have two dukes, Zhu Yuanzhang gave a duke of Wei, and Judy, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, gave a duke of Ding. No matter in what way, the Xu Da family enjoyed the greatest favor of Ming Chengzu. Such a family should definitely be a family that should work hard for the country in the case of national survival.
Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty perished, and the descendants of Xu Da, although living in Beijing and Nanjing, could make the same choice, that is, surrender. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1644), Li Zicheng's army attacked Beijing, and Xu Yunzhen, the Duke of Beijing, surrendered to Li Zicheng. After Xu Yunzhen surrendered, she didn't get better. Li Zicheng's general Liu Zongmin wantonly "bought off" these former dignitaries, and Xu Yunzhen was brutally tortured to death.
In the first year of Nanming (AD 1645), the Qing army captured Nanjing, and Xu Yunjue, a Wang Wei of Nanjing, surrendered to the Qing army. The same is surrender. Xu Yunjue's fate is much better than Xu Yunzhen's. He was not killed, but his family property was lost. For the surrendered Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was more generous than Li Zicheng, and Li Zicheng robbed money and killed people. The Qing dynasty probably thought these honors were too useless and not threatening. They only rob money, not kill people.
According to the notes of the literati at that time, Xu Yunjue's descendants were later reduced to taking money for criminals. It can be seen that Xu Yunjue's family did not continue the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty after the surrender, except for saving their lives.
Two: Linhuai Hou Lizu's Letter
Hou Linhuai is a descendant of Li Wenzhong, Duke of Cao, and the title of Duke of Li Wenzhong was abolished by Judy after it was passed on to his son Li Jinglong. Later, in the Jiajing Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing found out the descendants of Li Wenzhong and named him Linhuai Hou, which lasted until the end of the Ming Dynasty. In the first year of Hong Guang in the Southern Ming Dynasty, Li Zushu, the Duke of Huai, surrendered to the Qing Dynasty with a large number of Nanjing celebrities.
As for the outcome of Li Zushu and his descendants after surrender, there is no more literature record, which should be similar to that of famous officials such as Xu Yunjue. They were robbed of their money by the Qing Dynasty and preserved by the descendants of the Li Wenzhong family in modern times.
Three: Huaiyuan Hou Changyanling
Chang Yuchun won the title of Duke of the Kingdom, which did not spread to the late Ming Dynasty and was abolished after the war in Jingnan. Because Chang Yuchun's daughter married Zhu Biao, the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang (who died in the 11th year of Hongwu), and she also gave birth to two sons for Zhu Biao. Therefore, the Chang Yuchun family is considered as the son of Zhu Biao and a series of consorts of his Zhu Yunwen (Chang Yuchun's daughter is nominally his first mother).
After Judy won the throne, it was natural to suppress his diehard loyalty and relatives. There is also a saying that the Chang family was involved in the "Aquamarine Case" (Chang Yuchun's wife is Aquamarine's sister), and his title was cancelled by Zhu Yuanzhang. In short, the title of Duke of Chang Yuchun disappeared when the Ming Emperor Judy arrived, and Emperor Jiajing gave the descendants of Chang Yuchun the title of Huaiyuanhou.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the last generation of Huai Yuanhou was a regular extension of his age and still had a little backbone. After the downfall of Hong Guang in the Southern Ming Dynasty, he did not surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but lived in seclusion. "When the country died, he irrigated the garden himself and died in rags."
Four: Dingyuan Hou Deng Civilization
Deng Yu's title of Duke of the Kingdom has only been passed down for one generation, but it disappeared when he arrived at his eldest son, Deng Zhen. Because Deng Zhen's wife is the daughter of Li Shanchang's grandson, and he was also implicated in the murder of Li Shanchang. "The eldest son was renamed Shen Guogong ... his wife, Li Shanchang's grandson, was also a loser and was killed by traitors." However, the Deng family was not involved in the rebellion. Deng Yu's other sons survived and passed on to Jiajing Dynasty. Emperor Jiajing gave the descendants of Deng Yu the title of Dingyuan Hou.
The last Dingyuan Hou was Deng, who lived in Beijing. When Li Zicheng's army entered Beijing, the Deng family was martyred, and it was also the only one of the six male families established in the Ming Dynasty.