Portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang
Written by Wu Han.
Excerpt from Chapter 6 of "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang".
It is good to cite history as a basis
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor tenant household, worked as a monk in Youfang, and called Hua everywhere. After joining the army, he got close to the Confucian literati, got into the bookish atmosphere, and talked about the past and the present. He also used his humble background to pretend to be magical, set up Shinto teachings, scare the common people, colluded with Taoist priests and monks, and faked many miracles. For more than 30 years, Confucianism, Taoist priests, monks, and the three sects and nine streams have all been used as much as possible to consolidate his throne.
He is especially familiar with history, and "Book of Han" and "History of the Song Dynasty" are often read books. Wu discussed with his courtiers in November of the first year: "Han Gaozu chased the cunning rabbit to compete with the military ministers, and the tracking instructions were compared to the Wenchen, although the metaphor was cut, the meaning was too biased after all. I thought that to build a foundation, it is like building a big house, cutting and cutting, and it is necessary to use military attachés and algae painting to whitewash, and it is necessary to be a civil servant. Use text instead of force, for example, if the wall is not even built, how to whitewash?The use of force without text, just as there is only a space frame, rough and rough, without whitewashing, not systematic, neither is right. Those who rule the world must be civilian-armed so that nothing bad will happen. ”
Not long after, he discussed with the prince the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms (during the reign of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty - editor's note), and the prince thought that the fault was in the Seven Kingdoms, and Yuanzhang said: "No." This is the official partiality. When Emperor Jing was the crown prince, he killed the prince of Wu with a game, and after becoming the emperor, he listened to Chao Cuo, deposed the princes, and the Seven Kingdoms rebelled because of it. "On the internal officials, they thought that the ancient eunuchs were in charge of cleaning some palace servant affairs on errands in the morning and evening, and from the Empress Dowager of Han Deng to the female protagonist in the court, and the eunuchs were used as regular servants and other officials, and the eunuchs stole the power and made it a blessing.
Whenever you go, you can cite historical facts as a basis for discussion and admonition.
It seems that he regards himself as the ancestor of Han Gao
He believed that the ideal model figure was Han Gaozu, the first person who persuaded him to learn from Han Gaozu was Li Shanchang. The book I often read is the Book of Han, and the ancient emperor I often mention is Han GaozuAnytime, anywhere, everything is compared to Han Gaozu.
After the destruction of Chen Youliang, the army became more and more prosperous, a bit like the situation after the battle of Chu and Han, and gossiped with his staff Kong Keren: "Qin Zheng was tyrannical, Han Gaozu started with cloth clothes, controlled the heroes with leniency, and became the emperor." Now it is also a group of males, but they don't know how to cultivate the law and Ming military politics, so it can't be done. ”In his mind, he seemed to regard himself as Han Gaozu, and sighed a few times after speaking.
Once reading the Book of Han, Song Lian and Kong Keren were present, and Yuanzhang asked Han Zhidao is not pure, why?Keren thought that the king's way was mixed with domineering. And asked who should be responsible?Keren said that the responsibility lies with Gaozu. Yuanzhang said: "Otherwise, after Gaozu started a foundation, after being destroyed by Qin, the people were already extremely poor, and they couldn't breatheEmperor Xiaowen is a good emperor, and he should make ceremonies and music, compared with the three generations, but unfortunately he didn't pay attention to it, and finally there was only that little achievement. To be an emperor, we must seize the opportunity, three generations of monarchs, and there are talents who have the opportunity to do well. Emperor Wen of Han missed the opportunity, as for Zhou Shizong, he was hard, he was determined and courageous, and he wanted to do a good job, but it was a pity that he couldn't do it at the right time!”
He also asked Han Gaozu what he relied on to be the emperor in cloth?Keren thought that he was good at employing people, and Yuan Zhang said: "Xiang Yu is lonely in the south, does not show benevolence and righteousness, and only praises his ability." Gaozu knew this problem, and in turn he was humble and forbearing, did not admit defeat, and was lenient and tolerant, so he was able to win. Now I am guarding Jiangzuo, appointing sages, appeasing the people, and waiting for changes in the overall situation. If this is not the case, it will not be easy to succeed by relying on military strength alone. ”
When he studied Han Gaozu's personality and style, he subconsciously developed a habit of imitation。For example, Han Gaozu sent Xiao He to build Weiyang Palace before the world was scheduled, and Yuanzhang also built Jinling Palace before the Southern Expedition and Northern Expeditionary Army set off. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the Tian clan, the Zhao clan, the Qu clan, the Jing clan, and the Huai clan migrated to the Qi and Chu countries, and the Yuan Zhang also migrated to the south of the Yangtze River with 140,000 wealthy households. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, he was named the prince's younger brother, and at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, he also happened to build a feudal state. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the people were given more than a doctor, and at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, they also issued an edict that the world's rich people should be given more than 18 years old, and more than 90 years should be given to the people. Han Dynasty, Peng, and Yingbu (respectively Han Xin, King of Chu, who was later demoted to the Marquis of Huaiyin, Peng Yue, King of Liang, and Yingbu Wang of Huainan - Editor's Note), also killed heroes in the early Ming Dynasty, killing again and again, and no one was available when the Jing soldiers were killed.
The two founding emperors of the same country, separated by 1,600 years, are actually teachers and students of the same line!
The bust of Zhu Yuanzhang in his later years is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
Handle all matters in person
Affairs, big and small, must be handled in person, get up before dawn to work, until late at night, no rest, no holidays, let alone the entertainment of the spirit. Because according to custom, all affairs are handled, and the ministers suggest that they use written recitals, and they read them all day long, and sometimes they inevitably feel tired, especially the reports that are intellectually economical and lengthy and impertinent.
After the abolition of Zhongshu Province, the six ministries and courts were directly responsible to the emperor, and government affairs became more and more busy。According to the statistics of September of the 17th year of Hongwu, from the 14th to the 21st, in eight days, the internal and external officials played 1,660 cases, totaling 3,391 things, and on average they had to read or listen to more than 200 reports and deal with more than 400 things every day. Although he has too much energy and works hard, he is an older person in the end, and he feels a little struggling.
Caused a high degree of suspicion
He started with his bare hands, in addition to himself, his three elder brothers and several cousins all died in the year of Renchen, and his paternal relatives only had his nephew Wenzheng, which was really "a single family". The mother clan is extinct, and the wife clan is also dead. After Wenzheng was killed, the sons were young and weak, the foundation was not stable, alone, high up, looking around, no one could pinpoint their henchmen, they had to support it, always be vigilant, be afraid, and not let others plot.
Just like sailing a canoe, the water washes the canoe around, and it can't reach the shore for decades, looking at the water is the enemy, the reef is the enemy, and even the crows flying in the sky are also enemiesEveryone wants to harm him, and they all laugh at him and mock him. From the power,After becoming an emperor, he suffered from a high degree of nervousness, suspicion, and fear.
In his early years, he lived a poor life with insufficient food and clothing, and in his middle age, he was in the army, in a tense life of noisy soldiers and white knivesHaving seized power, after the age of forty, he devoted all his energy to handling affairs and guarding against imaginary enemies. In addition to the physical exertion, coupled with the court life of countless concubines, coupled with the extreme anxiety about people and things, the spirit is always focused on how to maintain that share of everyone's responsibility.
He had a heartbeat disease, and Song Lian thought that he should be pure and have few desires. From time to time, he had a high fever, had strange dreams, and fantasized about seeing the heavenly fairy palace in his dreams. Usually moody, angry to the point of abnormality. The character has become more cruel and tyrannical, seeking excitement, wanting to vent, beating and killing people for a sentence or a word, and torturing people with many bizarre punishments. He suffers from a sadistic illness, using the pain of others to alleviate his own fears.
Killing for sons and grandsons
Amazingly, despite his mental disorder, his intelligence is not reduced. The eldest son, Zhu Biao, was loyal and benevolent, a bit like Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, and received the best education at that time. After the old emperor passed his fiftieth birthday, his energy was a little weak, so he asked his eldest son to help and adjudicate ordinary government affairs, firstly, to share the labor, and secondly, to train the ability of the next generation of emperors to do things, counting on the crown prince to be Emperor Wen of Han, not Emperor Hui of Han. It's a pity that the father and son have opposite personalities, and they are also the same as his fellow emperor father and son, one is harsh and the other is lenient, and sometimes there are conflicts between father and son. The old emperor saw that one generation was not as good as the next, so he had to sigh, stuffy it in his heart, and simply did it himself, revitalized the party prison, killed all the unpleasant civil and military **, cut off the thorns, and paved the way, so that his son could be a ready-made emperor.
Finally the crown prince's academic and political training were satisfactory enough, Yuan Zhang thought that he was entrusted with people, this property was solid and stable, and he could put his mind at ease, but it turned into an accident, and the prince died of illness in the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (1392 AD). The sixty-five-year-old old emperor suffered thisA fatal blow, I was confused for most of the day and couldn't speak, my body weakened day by day, and my hair and beard turned white.
After the death of the crown prince, the prince's sister-in-law Yun Wei was appointed as the emperor's grandson, and at this time, he was only sixteen years old.
The personality of the imperial grandson is very similar to that of his father, he is young and untrained. Although his grandfather also asked him to do things, he was worried about him, afraid that he would not be able to carry this burden, and the generals and ministers would disobey the dispatch in the future. had no choice but to use his hot hands again, using the topic to kill a large number of people, and kill all the generalsEven the only remaining founding fathers like Fu Youde and Feng Sheng couldn't say a trace of truth, so they killed them easily. Thinking that no one will make it difficult for the little grandson, the grandfather has exhausted his efforts.
In vain to support the little emperor
His political ability was partly derived from practical experience and partly from the lessons of history. He believed that the succession to the throne was the most important system for maintaining the peace of the empire, and that there must be a strict rule so as not to cause disputes and coups between clans. The best way to do this is to inherit the patriarchal system. After the crown prince ascended the throne, in order to make the kings settle down and protect and support the great sect, Hongwu ordered the ministers to collect the good and evil of the vassal kings since the Han and Tang dynasties and compile a book, called"Zhaojianlu".and give it to the kings. After the emperor's grandson ascended the throne, he compiled a book with the same meaning, which was called"Yongjian Record".。It was promulgated again in the twenty-eighth year"Emperor Ming Zu Xun".The rules and regulations record in detail all the things that should be observed and should not be done by the emperor, the vassal kings and the ministers, and the future generations who want to change the ancestral precepts will be regarded as traitors and killed. It is hoped that education and system will be used to make the vassal kings loyally obey the future little emperor, the patriarch of the Zhu family.
It's a pity that all this thought was in vain, the second son King Qin, the third son King Jin Xiongwu was ambitious, seeing that the prince was benevolent and cowardly, they refused to settle down, and they were found out one after another, and they wanted to punish serious crimes, and the prince tried his best to save them, so that they could be fine. After the death of the crown prince, King Qin died in the twenty-eighth year and King Jin died in the thirty-first year, all of which died before the old emperor, so they did not make a big fuss. After scheming, the father, son and brother were inevitably intrigued and always on guard, which was naturally a spiritual blow to the old emperor.
"Worry about danger, and work hard every day".
Suspicion and madness, getting worse and worse, the weaker the body, the more unstable the spirit, and the worse the temper. Physical and spiritual interaction, to the thirty-first year of Hongwu (1398 AD),He was seventy-one years oldIn May, he fell ill and could not move, lay down for thirty days, bid farewell to the empire he had created, left the heir and the smiling subjects, ended his life of grievances, and died quietly.
After the executioner died, he also killed a number of people: The palace people who have slept are all martyred, and their families are supported by **, which is called the Chaotian female household.
There is a passage in the will: "I have been in the destiny of heaven for thirty-one years, worrying about danger, and working hard every day." The four words "worry and accumulation" say that the emperor has lived in panic and suspicion all his life, and "never slack off" says how to use all his efforts to maintain this responsibility.
Soon after Taisun ascended the throne, Yan Wangdi really rebelled, invoking ancestral teachings in the name of Jingnan. In the fourth year of Jianwen (1402 AD), he usurped the throne and established himself, which was the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty. It was less than five years before the death of the old emperor.
Yuan Zhang's appearance is not very decent, and he is especially ugly in his later years, with a fierce face。I have found many painters, and the portraits are very realistic, but they are always unsatisfactory. Later, there was a wise man who painted a portrait, and the outline was a little similar, but his face was kind, and he was full of kindness, and then he got the hang of it, and wrote many copies and gave them to the kings. These two different portraits are still available in biographies.
Portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang, Qianlong imperial book.