The mystery of the end of the heroic generals The cruelty and impermanence of history
Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang were representatives of the people's anti-Japanese army, from ordinary people to the last great emperor, only two people in Chinese history have done this. The ministers who followed these two people to fight the world did their best along the way and made great achievements for their masters. However, after the establishment of the Han and Ming dynasties, there was a similarity between the two dynasties, and that was the lack of meritorious heroes who could die with dignity. Is it the two dynasties that unloaded their armor and returned to the field, unloaded the mill and killed the donkey? Or is there something else, and that's what we're going to talk about today.
Among the heroes of the Han Dynasty, to"Three heroes of the early Han Dynasty"Han Xin, Zhang Liang, and Xiao He are the most valuable. Among them, Han Xin has the greatest credit. Han Shin was called by later generations"Divine Soldiers", he showed great military talent in the battle with Xiang Yu. Han Xin successively destroyed the states of Wei, Dai, Zhao, Yan, and Qi. It can be said that Han Xin destroyed half of Liu Bang's country.
Although Han Xin was loyal to Liu Bang in his early years, Liu Bang naturally had doubts. When Liu Bang traded with Xiang Yu, he deprived Han Xin of his military power and turned him from the king of Qi to the king of Chu. Soon, Liu Bang arrested him for treason and demoted him to the Marquis of Huaiyin.
Liu Bang's series of actions were obviously intended to weaken Han Xin's power, but Han Xin was indifferent to this and united others to resist. However, Empress Lü and Xiao He tricked Han Xin into the palace and killed Han Xin before he could act, thus destroying his three clans. Han Shin's life came to an end. Han Xin's fate may represent the fate of most ministers, but even Xiao He did not have a good ending.
Like the Han Dynasty, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang began to weaken the power of his ministers. Almost no one could escape the palm of Zhu Yuanzhang's hand. Lan Yu, Hu Weiyong, and even Liu Bowen couldn't escape this poisonous hand. There are so many heroes in the Ming Dynasty, in addition to Tang He, Geng Bingwen, Guo Ying, and Mu Ying, there are also many good deaths, but what they have in common is to distinguish between right and wrong.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bang initially suspected that most of these heroes were arrogant soldiers, but there was no one in the palace. Especially Lan Yu, who angered Zhu Yuanzhang again and again, and finally Lan Yu rebelled and joined forces with Hu Weiyong, which completely angered Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang finally made up his mind to solve this problem.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bang treated the heroes like this, and the same is true for their children and grandchildren; These heroes held heavy troops and formed alliances, and had a very great influence on later emperors, so in the Han and Ming dynasties, it was not uncommon to unload the mill and kill donkeys.