Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was a person who was very controversial in history. On the one hand, he established the Ming Dynasty, representing the Han people to regain power from the nomads, and his merits were outstanding; on the other hand, he killed too much, and many founding fathers died at his hands. It is this kind of duality that makes many people like to make up stories for him. Many legends about him were later proven wrong. A few days ago, I saw such a story: Zhu Yuanzhang killed a talented literati, and later after reading the poetry of the literati, he killed the guards. What's going on with this story? Is it true or false? We might as well hop on the historic ferry and take a leisurely stroll around.
The story goes like this:
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang first took power and was full of spirit. In a short period of time, he had not yet detached himself from the role of a military warlord when he was fighting the world, and used the harsh punishment in the military camp in the court. The courtiers were unlucky, always beaten to prison for a small matter, and finally lost their heads. And too much killing also made Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicions more and more serious, always suspecting that someone was going to rebel.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang's generals often met chun and often led troops outside, and there were always war reports sent back to the DPRK. One day, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly found that Chang Yuchun's war reports and recitals were different from the past, with gorgeous words and flying literary brilliance. Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Chang Yuchun must have obtained a powerful document. Zhu Yuanzhang paid attention to literature and education at this time, and often told Chang Yuchun to let him treat these literati kindly.
Zhu Yuanzhang guessed correctly, Chang Yuchun did get a good document recently. His name is Zhang Quan, a native of Southern Fujian, who has been familiar with poetry since childhood and is talented. The recitals and war reports sent by Chang Yuchun to Zhu Yuanzhang were all from his hand. Chang Yuchun also attaches great importance to him, in addition to taking great care of his life, he also encourages him to pursue his own future. In the fourth year of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty resumed the imperial examination, Zhang Quan went to take the exam, and as a result, with his own talent, he passed the exam in one fell swoop!
Zhu Yuanzhang also attached great importance to Zhang Quan, and wanted to deliberately temper him and let him go to other places to serve as a county commander, but only a year later, bad luck came. Zhang Quan's old lord Chang Yuchun was involved in a case and was beheaded by Zhu Yuanzhang. From his mansion, many correspondence with Zhang Quan were found. Although there is no rhetoric of rebellion above, it is enough to prove that the two are too close. Zhang Quan then ate melons and was reduced to slavery by Zhu Yuanzhang to do some heavy work. But Zhang Quan did not care, always worked hard and complained, and completed the work properly. After Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Zhang Quan had this attitude, he recruited him back and reinstated him as an official.
But soon after, Zhang Quan's brother committed a crime, and he was implicated again. At this time, Zhang Quan's body was already very weak and could not bear the disaster of imprisonment, so he no longer defended himself and only wanted to die. This time, Zhu Yuanzhang did not give him another chance, and in the autumn of that year, Zhang Quan was asked to be beheaded.
However, just after Zhang Quan's head landed on the ground, a jailer saw a poem on the wall of his cell: The sound of the drums is urgent, and the sky is bright. Huangquan no one asked, late at night whose house. The jailer copied the poem down layer by layer and reported it to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang deeply felt the sadness in it and felt that he had killed the wrong person. But instead of reflecting on himself, he blamed the jailer for not reporting it in the morning. The jailer explained that the prison was dim and had not been seen at the time. But Zhu Yuanzhang did not listen to his explanation, and went so far as to say that he did not keep his duties and did not respect his duties, and even killed this jailer!
That's the synopsis of the story, so how much truth is there? It can only be said that the person who made up this story obviously has no historical common sense, and many places are contrary to historical facts.
There are three flaws in the story:
First, in the early years of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, he was not so cruel and murderous. His mass killing began with the Hu Weiyong case of Hongwu's thirteen years. Until then, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the emperor was still very good. The so-called statement that Zhu Yuanzhang killed the minister to the point of deviating from morality is not true at all!
Second, Chang Yuchun did die in Hongwu for five years, but not because of Zhu Yuanzhang's killing, but because of the long-term military service, he died of a violent illness in the army. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang did not copy his full door, and even Chang Yuchun's title was inherited by his son Chang Maolai, so this point must also be false.
Third, Zhang Quan was allowed to explore the flowers, but was ordered by the county to be released, which is different from the personnel appointment rules of the Ming Dynasty. The top three of the Ming Dynasty imperial examinations, the so-called first class, usually entered the Hanlin Academy directly for training, and the county orders were basically given to those candidates after the top three. If it does not conform to the rules, then it is naturally false at this point.
Write at the end:
Sometimes I really want to fight for Zhu Yuanzhang. He killed so many powerful people and so many corrupt officials, but most of the time it was for his own people. However, the class he vigorously attacked had the right to speak, and often blackmailed him regardless of his face. In the end, even the values of the people were distorted, and they all felt that Zhu Yuanzhang was miserable and easy to kill. Such an emperor who was abandoned by the group he defended was really pitiful.