In 1363, the general Xie Zaixing returned home depressed because he offended Zhu Yuanzhang. Walking into the main hall, he was shocked by the two bloody human heads hanging in front of him, and there was no trace of his daughter. When he wanted to find his daughter, his family congratulated him: "Congratulations!"Xie Zaixing was Zhu Yuanzhang's early right-hand man, and he was highly regarded for his outstanding military exploits. However, Zhu Yuanzhang's "reward" for him was unexpected.
In 1354, Xie Zaixing went on an expedition to fight for Zhu Yuanzhang. Without Xie Zaixing's consent, Zhu Yuanzhang married Xie Zaixing's eldest daughter to his nephew Zhu Wenzheng without authorization, under the pretext of favor. Zhu Yuanzhang thought that it was a great blessing to become in-laws with Xie Zaixing, and he should be happy. In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, although Zhu Wenzheng is a nephew, he is better than his own son. Although Zhu Yuanzhang had many brothers, he was the only one left in the end, and the next generation of the Zhu family was only his nephew Zhu Wenzheng, and Zhu Yuanzhang's son was not born at that time. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not consider Xie Zaixing's feelings, because he was still 108,000 miles away from the emperor's throne. Xie Zaixing was quite unhappy when he learned the news, and complained in his heart: "You Zhu Yuanzhang also take yourself too seriously, you really think you are the emperor." ”
Despite this, Xie Zaixing did not express his dissatisfaction and fought for Zhu Yuanzhang. However, he didn't expect that the states he was stationed in were about to face a big war. The battle began in 1362, when Zhu Yuanzhang was fighting fiercely with Chen Youliang, and both sides invested a large number of troops. At the critical moment, Xie Zaixing's general, Hu Dahai, was killed by the rebels, who switched to Zhang Shicheng's command. Although Zhu Yuanzhang learned that Hu Dahai had been killed and the rebels had surrendered, he had no time to take care of it, because he hoped to solve Chen Youliang at this time. At this time, Zhang Shicheng commanded 100,000 soldiers and horses to attack the Quanzhou garrisoned by Xie Zaixing. Xie Zaixing had a few thousands of soldiers and horses, and without help, he held out for 29 days, resisting the attack of Zhang Shicheng's 100,000 soldiers and horses.
Zhang Shicheng was quite embarrassed when he saw this situation, so he strengthened the siege of Zhuquanzhou. Xie Zaixing learned that the situation was critical, and urgently asked for help from Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew Li Wenzhong, who was not far away. Li Wenzhong sent Hu Deji to lead reinforcements, but his strength was limited and he was unable to resolve the crisis. So, Xie Zaixing tried to create a bluff and spread the news that the generals Xu Da and Shaorong led troops to relieve the siege. When the news reached Zhang Shicheng's ears, he was afraid that Xu Da would come, so he immediately ordered the withdrawal of the army. This battle made Xie Zaixing famous, and Zhu Yuanzhang valued him even more, and handed over all the prefectures to him to garrison, mainly to guard against Zhang Shicheng's attack.
However, things did not go as planned. Xie Zaixing connived at his subordinate Zuo General Manager and Mi Wanhu to do business in Hangzhou, which originally belonged to Zhang Shicheng's territory. Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry when he learned about it, so he reprimanded Xie Zaixing and warned him not to overstep his bounds. Although Xie Zaixing was displeased, he did not complain too much. However, after returning home, he found that Mr. Zuo and Mi Wanhu had been executed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and his head was hanging from his main hall. What made him even more angry was that his youngest daughter was also married to Xu Da by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang's series of operations made Xie Zaixing furious. Without waiting for him to get angry, Zhu Yuanzhang made another move and sent Li Mengeng to take over Xie Zaixing's military power. Xie Zaixing was desperate for Zhu Yuanzhang's distrust and decided to defect to Zhang Shicheng.