Zhu Yuanzhang's way of treating relatives, the rise and fall of the family and the historical examination of personal choices
As the saying goes:"One person gets the way, the chicken dog **"。In ancient society, even if there was an official in the family, it would improve the status of the entire family and even the entire clan, if there was a relative of the emperor in the family, it would be even more eye-catching, not to mention the emperor, it was a common practice to worship the marquis. However, since most of Zhu Yuanzhang's relatives died before he became emperor, except for a small number of surviving relatives, most of the relatives can only enjoy posthumous seals.
The second brother Zhu Xingsheng and the third brother Zhu Xingzu are the heirs.
Zhu Yuanzhang's father Zhu Shizhen (formerly known as Zhu Wuzhi) and his mother Chen have two daughters and four sons: the eldest daughter Zhu, the second daughter Zhu, Zhu Fonu, Zhu Xinglong (formerly known as Zhu Chongsi), the eldest son Zhu Xingsheng (formerly known as Zhu Chongsheng), the third son Zhu Xingzu (formerly known as Zhu Chongqi), and the youngest son Zhu Yuanzhang (formerly known as Zhu Chongba).
In the third year of Yuan Zhizheng (1343), there was a severe drought in the Haozhou area, and locust plague and plague occurred in the following year, causing a severe famine. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang's father Zhu Shizhen, mother Chen and brother Zhu Xinglong all starved to death, leaving only Zhu Yuanzhang and another brother Zhu Xingsheng.
There are very few historical records about Zhu Yuanzhang's third brother, Zhu Xingzu, there is no record of him marrying a wife and having children, and there is no record of him after the death of his parents and brother, so some people speculate that Zhu Xingzu was worried that he would die early.
Due to the death of his parents and relatives, there is no food at home. After Zhu Yuanzhang took care of his remaining relatives, he had to separate from his second brother Zhu Xingsheng, his sister-in-law Wang and his nephew Zhu Wenzheng, and fled to other places.
According to historical records, after he divorced Zhu Yuanzhang, he married a wife and had children, but unfortunately, he and his son Zhu Wang both died early and did not live to the day when Zhu Yuanzhang regained his wealth.
In the first year of Hongwu (1368), after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he posthumously presented his deceased relatives with the nickname, of which the eldest brother Zhu Xinglong was posthumously named the king of Nanchang, the second brother Zhu Xingsheng was posthumously crowned the king of Xuyi, the nephew Zhu Wang was posthumously crowned as the king of Zhaoxin, the third brother Zhu Xingzu was posthumously crowned as the king of Nanchang, the second brother Zhu Xingsheng was posthumously crowned as the king of Xuyi, the nephew Zhu Wang was posthumously crowned as the king of Zhaoxin, and the third brother Zhu Xingzu was posthumously crowned as the king of Linxiang.
Zhu Xinglong's eldest brother-in-law.
Zhu Xinglong, formerly known as Zhu Chongsi, is Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest brother. Not only Zhu Xinglong, but his eldest son Zhu Shengbao was also killed in the disaster of the Yuan Dynasty. Fortunately, he left behind a son and a daughter, namely Zhu Wenzheng and Princess Fucheng.
Zhu Yuanzhang was separated from his brother's family, and it was not until he defected to the rebels that Zhu Xinglong's wife Wang was reunited with Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Wenzheng. Zhu Yuanzhang had no son at that time, so he raised Zhu Wenzheng as his own son, and Zhu Wenzheng also lived up to expectations, fought bravely and well, and made many military exploits, such as the attack on Chijing Road, especially the battle to eliminate Chen Youliang, which can be called"Battle of Hongdu"Great victory.
It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang once had high hopes for Zhu Wenzheng, but in"Battle of Hongdu"After not receiving the award, Zhu Wenzheng began to act recklessly in a fit of rage, and even after opposing the dismissal of Li Yubing, the procurator, Zhu Yuanzhang personally escorted him back to Beijing and dismissed him from his post in Tongcheng, and died not long ago.
In the first year of Hongwu (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne and posthumously crowned his nephew Zhu Shengbao as the king of Shanyang, and his niece Princess Fucheng and her husband Wang Kegong as concubines, driving alongside the carriage. Her husband, Wang Kegong, served as the lieutenant of the horses. Wang Kegong later became the governor of Fujian and the commander of the Fuzhou Guard. In the fourth year of Hongwu (1371), there was ** who said that her niece should be renamed princess, but Zhu Yuanzhang said that she did not have many relatives and could not bear to lower her title, so she was still called a princess.
In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded meritorious heroes. Because of Zhu Wenzheng's merits, Zhu Yuanzhang named his son Zhu Shouqian as the king of Jingjiang, and the line of Jingjiang king continued until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and the last king of Jingjiang, Zhu Hengjian, was finally captured and killed by the king of Dingnan of the Qing Dynasty.
The lives of the sisters are different.
Before the Zhu family suffered this accident, Zhu Yuanzhang's two elder sisters had already married, the eldest sister married Wang Qiyi, and the second sister married Li Zhen.
Unfortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest sister and brother-in-law Wang Qiyi died early, leaving no heirs. In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously named the eldest sister as the princess of Taiyuan, and posthumously named his brother-in-law Wang Qiyi as the Duke of Ronglu, and added the horse to the captain.
Compared with the eldest sister's family, the situation of Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister's family is much better. Li Zhen and Zhu Fonu are husband and wife and have a son, Li Wenzhong. In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and they took their sons to escape the war, and Zhu Fonu died in the eleventh year of the Yuan Dynasty (1351).
In the thirteenth year of Zhu Yuanzhang (1353), Li Zhen learned of Zhu Yuanzhang's lineage and brought his son to Zhu Yuanzhang's side. Due to the death of relatives one after another, Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to family affection, so he carefully raised Li Wenzhong to grow up**. In the process of Zhu Yuanzhang's pacification of Jiangnan and the fight against the world, Li Wenzhong repeatedly made military exploits and won honors.
In the first year of Hongwu (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously named his sister Zhu Fengyu as the princess of Xiaoxiang, and his brother-in-law Li Zhen was named the Marquis of Enhui and concurrently served as the commander of the concubine.
In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang changed the title to his sister Zhu Fonu Longxi Eldest Princess, and the following year his brother-in-law Li Zhenzhe entered the Ronglu doctor, the right pillar of the country and the horse Duwei, and Cao Guogong was crowned. According to the records of Wang Shengxian, a meritorious hero of Longxi, Li Zhen's father and grandfather were also awarded this official position for three generations.
In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang specially named his nephew Li Wenzhong as the doctor of Ronglu, the right pillar of the country, and the governor of the left capital, Cao Guogong, participated in military affairs, and earned 3,000 stone a year, and those with outstanding military achievements had inheritance coupons. In the fifth year of Hongwu (1372), Zhu Fengyu was named the Duchess of Cao Guo by his son Li Wenzhong.
In the eleventh year of Hongwu (1378), Zhu Yuanzhang's second brother-in-law Li Zhen died, and Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously named him the king of Longxi.
In March of the seventeenth year of Hongwu (1384), Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew Li Wenzhong died at the age of 46.
After Li Wenzhong's death, his son Li Jinglong inherited the title of Duke of Cao. Li Jinglong did not inherit his father's military talents. In"The Battle of Jingjing", he proved himself to be a mole, not only buried the imperial army twice, but also opened the city gate when Zhu Di led his army to attack the city of Nanjing, allowing the Yan army to enter the city. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, Li Jinglong was first praised as"Respectfully", and then he was dismissed one after another, and finally deprived of his title and placed under house arrest.
Although Cao Gong only passed on three generations, but Li Wenzhong's lineage was continued from generation to generation, during the Jiajing period was named the Marquis of Linhuai, and the tenth grandson Li Hongji was the last generation of the Marquis of Linhuai, after returning to Nanjing, in Nanjing City, Beijing Slope and other places, and then handed over to the Qing Dynasty.
After Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he not only added titles and titles to his immediate relatives, but also knighthoods and nicknames to his collateral relatives. For example, his maternal grandfather Chen Gong was posthumously named King Yang, his father-in-law Ma Gong was King Xu, his uncle Zhu Wuyi was King Shouchun, his cousin Zhu Chongyi was King Huoqiu, and his nephew Zhu Tieguo was King Baoying; posthumously crowned his cousin Zhu Zhongsan as the king of Xia Cai; posthumously crowned his cousin Zhu Zhongsan as the king of Anfeng, posthumously crowned his nephew Zhu Liu'an as the king of Anfeng, posthumously crowned his nephew Zhu Jilai'an as the king of Anfeng, posthumously crowned his nephew Zhu Shenliang as the king of Anfeng, and posthumously crowned his nephew Zhu Run as the king of Yingshan; After his death, his cousin Zhu Chongwu was named the king of Mengcheng, and his daughter was the princess of Qingyang.