At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, a large number of outstanding military generals emerged, among which Xu Da, the first general under Zhu Yuanzhang, was the most famous. Xu Da, whose real name is Tiande, is the hometown of Zhu Yuanzhang. Yuan joined Zhu Yuanzhang's uprising troops at the end of the year and was brave and good at fighting. From the Poyang Lake War to conquering the metropolis and expelling Beiyuan, he made immortal contributions. After his death, Zhu Yuanzhang named him King Zhongshan, and he was the hereditary duke of his descendants. He is very honored. But the sudden death of Xu Da in the 18th year of Hongwu made his death seem complicated.
Later, many people said that Xu Da was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang. In the folk context, Xu Da's death was caused by Zhu Yuanzhang's attempt to kill the hero. After Zhu Yuanzhang acceded to the throne to establish the Ming Dynasty, he killed heroes, from counselors Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen to military commanders Aquamarine and Fu Youde. Almost all the people who followed him to conquer the world died by his sword, and Xu Da was no exception.
A popular saying is that Xu Da had gangrene on his back in his later years and needed rest. But when Xu Da was ill, Zhu Yuanzhang sent a plate of steamed geese. Goose is the most common, and gangrene on the back is the most forbidden food. So Zhu Yuanzhang's intention is obvious. You should eat safely in Xu. -somehow Zhu Yuanzhang left a whole corpse for Xu, which is much better than Hu who was executed that year. Xu Da is very helpless. If you want me dead, I have to die. Do not struggle. In this way, after eating the steamed goose, he died of gangrene on his back. After his death, of course, Zhu Yuanzhang hypocritically pursued a series of titles and titles.
This legend is very popular among the people, and even many history lovers will quote it when introducing Xu Da to others or when the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang. The so-called "birds bow and hide; A sly rabbit dies and a running dog cooks. " This example of steamed goose is perfect. However, if you think about it carefully, the story itself has some difficulties.
Who is Zhu Yuanzhang? He was a tough guy in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. It was no fluke that he stood out in troubled times and finally sat on the throne of the emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang has a principle of doing things and being a man, either not doing it or absolutely doing it. There is no compromise. If Zhu Yuanzhang wants to kill the minister, he can be executed on the charge of "rebellion" in the following year, or he can drink deadly poisoned wine. In any case, he will not choose a path that may not be effective.
Take Xu Da as an example. Zhu Yuanzhang had two choices to kill him. If Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Xu Da's family, he could sue Luo Zhi and make his men fabricate evidence of Xu Da's "rebellion". In this way, he can be killed justifiably and occupy the moral high ground. If Zhu Yuanzhang is just afraid of Xu Da and wants him to die, but he is not interested in his descendants, he can also send someone to poison Xu Da's diet. Whether it is chronic or acute, Xu Da's death can be completely guaranteed. Anyway, Zhu Yuanzhang wouldn't kill Xu Da by steaming geese. How to eat Xu Da steamed goose? After all, the steamed goose itself is not poisonous, but it may get sick. If Xu Da is in better health, there is still a great possibility that he can survive after eating the steamed goose. How could a man like Zhu Yuanzhang, who "does it or not", choose such an unsafe way?
In fact, people who hold the theory of "giving steamed geese" think that the evidence comes from Wang Wenlu during Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, and if there is no accident, it is Wang Wenlu nearly 200 years after Xu Da's death. People who hold this view believe that the record of "sending steamed geese" comes from Wang Wenlu's Collection of Longxing Ci. Wang Wenlu's mother told me when I was a child.
What's more, there is no complete record of "steamed goose" in the book Longxing Ci Collection. The relationship between Xu Da and Zhu Yuanzhang is only a very obscure one, and there is no mention of "steamed goose" at all. Therefore, the so-called story that Zhu Yuanzhang killed Xu Da by steaming geese is just a legend in the folk context.
Historically, Xu Da probably died after years of fighting. Although Xu Da made outstanding contributions, it is understandable that he was impartial, low-key and cautious, never dared to disobey Zhu Yuanzhang's will, and finally died. Crucially, Xu Da died in the eighteenth year of Hongwu. At this time, the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang, Prince Zhu Biao, was still alive, and Zhu Yuanzhang was really crazy. It was after the Prince left before him that we had to say that it was the luck of Xu Da and Xu.
So, this thing is simply fake! Even if Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Xu Da, there was no need to be so obvious.