After each emperor ascended the throne, he would reward his courtiers who helped him, and even entertained the people by amnesty.
As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally no exception, and when he ascended the throne in Nanjing, he began to reward his own meritorious servants, and rewarded them according to the size of their meritorious service.
However, in the process of discussing merits and rewards, one of the ministers said that he had a big problem and could not become a high official, and after Zhu Yuanzhang learned of the original commission, he laughed loudly and fulfilled his wishes.
This minister was Guo Decheng, who was a young man of Zhu Yuanzhang, who followed Zhu Yuanzhang all the way to rebel against the tyranny of the Yuan Dynasty, and fought bloody battles many times and made countless contributions.
First, Guo Decheng, who is unwilling to be a high official
Guo Decheng and Zhu Yuanzhang are fellow countrymen, they met at a very young age, and when they played the game of playing the emperor together, Guo Decheng was Zhu Yuanzhang's little follower.
Later, because of the desert, Guo Decheng and Zhu Yuanzhang were briefly separated, and when Zhu Yuanzhang came out of the temple, he was pulled into Guo Zixing's team by a group of good brothers, and Guo Decheng was one of them.
In Guo Zixing's rebel army, Zhu Yuanzhang was promoted quickly, which was indispensable to the credit of Guo Decheng and other brothers, just as the so-called brothers worked together, and their profits were broken.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang came out of Guo Zixing's ranks with his fellow villagers to start a business alone, and Guo Decheng also vowed to follow him to the death, and soon became the most powerful peasant rebel army in Huaixi, and in the subsequent battles, he defeated Chen Youyu and Zhang Shicheng, and Zhu Yuanzhang ascended to the emperor's throne, becoming another Han emperor after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty.
After Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he did not forget those brothers who swore to follow him to the death, as long as they were alive, everyone had fiefdoms and official positions.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was about to give Guo Decheng a reward, Guo Decheng said with a big grin: "I am a big old man, I don't know a few words, and I always love to drink, I'm afraid I can't be a big official." ”
Zhu Yuanzhang listened, or wanted to give Guo Decheng the title of official, Guo Decheng desperately refused to comply, said: "If you really pity me for the merits I have done, you will reward me with a few more jars of wine." ”
Zhu Yuanzhang listened, laughed at the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu, and immediately rewarded Guo Decheng with several altars of good wine, and let people send it to Guo Decheng's mansion.
Guo Decheng may be a rough person, but more is open-minded and generous, not to calculate, not to ask for credit, which makes Zhu Yuanzhang very appreciative.
After the end of the awarding ceremony, Guo Decheng was still in a state of wine every day, sometimes sober and sometimes confused, Zhu Yuanzhang remembered him, and from time to time ordered people to send several altars of good wine.
Sometimes, Zhu Yuanzhang saw Guo Decheng very much, so he ordered people to lay down delicacies in the imperial garden, and then invited Guo Decheng not to get drunk and not return.
It can be said that in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, he always regarded Guo Decheng as his own brother, and never thought that Guo Decheng would betray himself, and this trust was too rare for Zhu Yuanzhang, who was suspicious by nature.
Second, Guo Decheng shaved his home
Because he often drank with Zhu Yuanzhang, Guo Decheng was also a drunkard, so he still caused a lot of trouble, but Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the face of his old friend and forgave him many times.
Once, at the invitation of Zhu Yuanzhang, Guo Decheng once again came to the imperial garden and looked at the excellent scenery in the garden and the fine wine and food on the table.
Guo Decheng once again stimulated the addiction to alcohol, the two of them, so you drank one by one.
After three rounds of drinking, Guo Decheng was already drunk as mud, and his face was glowing red and he said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Thank you Emperor for drinking wine." ”
Zhu Yuanzhang was eight or nine points sober at this time, looking at this crazy and stupid Guo Decheng in front of him, his heart produced a little pity, half heartache, half ridicule, said: "Your hair is scattered, your speech is incoherent, you are really a drunkard and crazy man." ”
Guo Decheng listened to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, looked at his own hair, and blurted out: "Emperor, I hate this mess of hair the most, if you shave your head, then it will be comfortable!" ”
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his heart was not happy, and he was about to cure Guo Decheng's sin, and he thought about it, maybe he had lost his words after drinking, just like that, who let him be one of the few good brothers who were trustworthy and communicative!
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Guo Decheng's entourage to help the drunken Guo Decheng go home.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart was still very uncomfortable. It turned out that Zhu Yuanzhang, because he had been an emperor when he was young, hated that someone mentioned the words "light" and "monk" in front of him, thinking that this was to expose the scars of his past.
After Guo Decheng returned home, he asked about what happened to his entourage in the garden, only to learn that he had lost his words after drinking and understood that he had run into a big disaster.
Worried about his own life, Guo Decheng suddenly frowned, calculated his heart, decided to continue drinking and pretending to be crazy, and ran to the temple in Ying Tianfu to shave his hair, really becoming a monk.
After Zhu Yuanzhang learned that Guo Decheng had become a monk, he completely let go of his heart and decided not to pursue it any further, but instead praised the other party and even let him drink in the temple.
In the years that followed, Guo Decheng continued to live a life of drunkenness in this dynasty, and those heroes who had followed Zhu Yuanzhang to fight the world died and went crazy, and almost did not end well.
Reference: History of the Ming Dynasty