In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court regime gradually declined, and peasant uprisings continued to break out. At this time, the Red Turban Army, led by Zhu Yuanzhang, occupied a larger position among the many rebel armies. Many people know that in addition to Zhu Yuanzhang, there are also Chen Youyu and Zhang Shicheng, in fact, the main pattern at that time was like this.
Zhu Yuanzhang's Red Turban Army mainly occupied the Western Wu area, Chen Youyu in Hanyuan, Zhang Shicheng in Eastern Wu, Chen Youding in Fujian, Fang Guozhen in eastern Zhejiang, and Li Siqi in Shaanxi and Gansu. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Youyu, and Zhang Shicheng are well known because they are the most powerful.
And the protagonist we are going to talk about today is in the above forces.
(Zhu Yuanzhang stills)
After Zhu Yuanzhang successively conquered Chen Youyu and Zhang Shicheng, he quickly recovered other forces, some of whom knew that they were invincible and even surrendered voluntarily. In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang unified all the forces and eventually established the Ming Dynasty and became the founding emperor.
At this time, Fang Guozhen and Li Siqi became courtiers of the Ming Dynasty and served Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang gave the two officials and asked them to leave Beijing as soon as possible to take up their posts. However, even at the risk of their lives, the two had to refuse to take office, why?
Fang Guozhen initially made a living selling salt, but was accused of colluding with yuan rebels and thus embarked on the road of rebellion. Later, the imperial court repeatedly sent people to surrender, and Fang Guozhen was eventually surrendered by Yuan, becoming a sea route and transporting thousands of households, and later promoted to participate in the politics of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and was ordered by the imperial court to fight Zhang Shicheng.
(Fang Guozhen stills)
Fang Guozhen fought against Zhang Shicheng seven times and won a complete victory, so Zhang Shicheng also surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty. When Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he also tried to recruit Fang Guozhen many times, but he was reluctant to give the high-ranking official Houlu given by the Yuan Dynasty, so he always negotiated with Zhu Yuanzhang, and neither side could be offended, and he wanted to leave a way back for himself.
After Chen Youyi and Zhang Shicheng were successively destroyed by Zhu Yuanzhang, Tang He, Liao Yongzhong, and others were ordered to attack Fang Guozhen, who was no match for Tang He and others, and was forced to submit to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Li Siqi, also spelled Shixian, initially organized an armed force for the purpose of suppressing the Red Turban Army. Later, Li Siqi led his army to garrison Chang'an, and Wang Baobao attacked many times, but he could not take advantage of it at all, which showed that he still had real ability.
(Li Siqi)
In the second year of Hongwu, Li Siqi formally surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang. After he surrendered, Zhu Yuanzhang sent him to summon Wang Baobao, who, although he insisted on not surrendering, always treated Li Siqi with courtesy.
Fang Guozhen and Li Siqi did have a skill, they could surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang, it was also a wise choice, and what highlighted the intelligence of the two was that Zhu Yuanzhang had sealed them as officials.
In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang began to reward meritorious men, Li Shanchang was named prince young master, Liu Bowen was awarded the title of Hongwenguan scholar, while Fang Guozhen was named Guangxi Province Zuo Cheng, and Li Siqi was jiangxi Province Zuo Cheng. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang did this because he wanted to test the two to see if they would take office. Once this matter is not handled well, there will be a fear of life.
"Destiny Fang Guozhen entered the meeting, and granted The Left Cheng of Guangxi Province ... Ordered Li Siqi to enter the meeting and granted Zuo Cheng of Jiangxi Province. ——Quoted from the History of the Ming Dynasty
(Chen Youyi stills)
These two people were not stupid, and naturally knew what Zhu Yuanzhang meant. So just after the completion of the canonization, Fang Guozhen took the lead in playing, saying that he had been fighting for many years, and his body had accumulated many injuries and illnesses, and now he only wanted to stay in the capital to recuperate, and I was afraid that it would be difficult to rush to Guangxi to take up his post. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately allowed his request to recuperate and ordered feng lu to continue to carry out the post.
Li Siqi also wanted to find an excuse not to go, but the reason for "recuperating" had been used by Fang Guozhen, and he thought about it, only to say that the humidity in Jiangxi was too heavy, and he had been used to it in the northwest for many years, and I was afraid that he would be dissatisfied with the water and soil. Li Siqi not only took the opportunity to resign from his post, but also asked to go to the northwest to become a small soldier.
I have to say that the way the two handled this matter was extremely clever, which immediately eliminated Zhu Yuanzhang's concerns. So how did the two end up?
Fang Guozhen has been recuperating in Nanjing, just under the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang, because the military power was taken back, he did not have actual power, so Fang Guozhen finally died well. However, Fang Guozhen did not deceive Zhu Yuanzhang, because he himself was really ill, and in the seventh year of Hongwu, Fang Guozhen died of illness, and Zhu Yuanzhang personally set up a sacrifice.
When Li Siqi asked to go to the northwest, Zhu Yuanzhang also agreed to his request, because at that time, Xu Da was also in the northwest and could watch Li Siqi. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang asked him to summon Wang Baobao, who still treated him with courtesy, but when he left, he was stopped by Wang Baobao's soldiers.
The soldier said he hoped he would leave a gift, Li Siqi said that he came in a hurry and did not prepare a gift, the soldier said that he hoped he could keep an arm, Li Siqi knew that he could not hide, so he took the initiative to cut off an arm. By the time Li Siqi returned to the northwest, his injuries were already very serious, and he finally died of his injuries because of untimely treatment.
"From the beginning to the end, wait for the courtesy, find the knight to return to the saixia, and resign: 'The commander has a life, please leave a thing for the public.'" Si Qi said: 'I have nothing to lose from afar. The knight said, "May you have a common arm." Si Qi knew that it was inevitable, and the broken arm was with it, and it was not a few pawns. ——Quoted from the "New Yuan History"
(Fang Guozhen statue)
In fact, Fang Guozhen and Li Siqi were both brave and resourceful people, but unfortunately they were generals who could not get Zhu Yuanzhang's trust. At the beginning, the two were named as the provincial left cheng, this position was not very high, because according to the rank of the official position of a province at that time, the provincial left cheng also had the provincial minister and the provincial pingzhang, and they were counted as the three leaders at most.
It is because the position is not high, and there will not be much real power in the hands, many people will think that they have gone to the post, they will not pose a threat to the emperor, and they will naturally be able to save their lives. However, the fact is that although this official position is not particularly high, if the two agree to it, they will not survive in the end. Choosing to stay and hand over military power is the best choice to save your life.
Judging from the ending of the two, I also know that their choice is correct.
(References "History of Ming", "New Yuan History")